Millennial Mage (A Slice of Life, Progression Fantasy) by JLMullins

Category: Original

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Female Lead, GameLit, High Fantasy, Magic, Progression, Slice of Life, Supernatural

Status: Stub

Published: 2022-06-20

Updated: 2023-09-01

Packaged: 2023-09-02 20:05:55

Warnings: Traumatising content

Chapters: 171

Words: 560,464

Publisher: www.royalroad.com

Summary:

The Wilds relentlessly reclaim all things. Humanity shelters within their ever-dying cities. Mages create the only path forward.

Tala had to fight tooth and nail in the Magic Academy to forge a path to power that was her own. She knows it’s her duty to use that power to serve humanity, defending them against the creatures of the untamable wilds. However, she skipped a few steps in her education, like apprenticing to someone who actually knows what they’re doing.

Now, Tala has to balance learning as fast as she can with paying off the veritable mountain of debt the Magic Academy dropped on her shoulders for the opportunity; not to mention staying alive.

Even though she should only be a Mageling, the world considers her a Mage. Bless the stars she directed most of her magic toward survival.

I do hope you enjoy this tale, but let me know what you think either way! Critique, both positive and negative, is welcome.

Release schedule is weekly: M-W-F

Thank you for your time and for giving this story a try.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:If this is found on a site other than Royal Road, or the linked Patreon, it was not posted by the author. Please find this tale, here:

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/47826/millennial-mage

Image Gallery

Series Cover:

Map:

As a preventive note: I am aware that this is not how cities are located, in general. There is a very specific, in-world reason for the regular spacing. i.e. It's a feature, not a bug. 😁

The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Hello!

This is the publishing plan as it stands. I will try to keep this up to date, and expand it as more information becomes available. 😊

Abbreviations used below:

- MountainDalePress.store = MDP

- Royal Road = RR

- Kindle Unlimited = KU

DATES: [Those after May are subject to slight alertation.]

Book Title

Chapters

Removal from RR & Patreon

Audio on MDP

Released on KU

Audio on Audible

Mageling

1-40

Feb-28

Mar-15

Mar-15

Apr-19

Mage

41-70

Apr-11

Apr-19

Apr-19

May-24

Binding

71-103

May-16

May-24

May-26

Jun-28

Bound

104-135

Jun-20

Jun-28

Jun-28

Aug-23

Fusing

136-172

Aug-15

Aug-23

Aug-23

Oct-18

Fused

173-199

Oct-10

Oct-18

Oct-18

Nov-22

EXPLANATIONS:

Why is the Audiobook coming out on MDP's website first?

- Amazon takes 60% of the sale price of audiobooks.

- Any book sold on MDP does not have that majority taken off the top.

- So, we are offering it on MDP for 1 month to allow those who want to support the story more, to be able to do so at the same or lower price.

- MDP audio [via BookFunnel] is available in ALL markets, unlike Audible.

Why not only sell on MDP?

- Audible is the core market for audiobooks, and we would end up with fewer listeners and readers in the end, if we didn't sell there.

- Thus, 1 month on MDP, then on to Audible.

Are these published books just the chapters that will be pulled down?

- By and large? Yes, with deep edits done, and the content feathered to address some issues raised.

- There are also small sections added where they were needed to make for smoother beginnings and endings to each book.

- Additionally, all bonus chapters for book 6 will be included in that book. There were not bonus chapters before book 6.

Why are the chapters being pulled down from RR?

- Amazon policy, unfortunately. I've been able to get another week, by tweaking how I handle the pre-orders, but I still have to take down the content.

If there is anything else you want to know, please ask! I'll try to add it here, going forward.

Thank you for joining me on this adventure! 😁

J.L.Mullins

A note from JLMullins

Purchase:

- Mageling

- Mage

- Binding

- Bound

- Fusing

Chapter: 1 - New Beginnings

Frost licked over Tala’s already sensitive skin, accompanied by the static tension of power rippling through her from an outside source.

With a pulse of darkness, she left her old life, her adolescence of learning and exploration, behind.

She crouched low in the center of a large, white-speckled, granite room. It was the shape of a half-sphere, each block sculpted and placed so precisely that had she not known better, she’d have believed it was carved from a single piece.

Though, I suppose a Material Creator could have summoned the room into being, fully formed. That was unlikely. If her schooling had taught her anything, it was that magic was expensive; why would anyone do something with it, which could be done by hand?

Beneath her were the empty grooves of a spell-form, an anchor used to draw a target in and recombine them.

Everyone said teleportation was tricky, and that was true, in part. Disintegration and expulsion of a person was incredibly simple. Calling that person, and all their requisite pieces, back from the ether and putting them all back where they belonged, now that was tricky business.

She shivered, as much from the fading cold as from the existentially terrifying thoughts. A person’s soul does most of the work, Tala. It’s not like the scripts could get your insides wrong.

She glanced down at her hands and saw fading red traces where her spell-lines should have been. She let out a short groan. Well, that didn’t work…

Blessedly, she saw her own dark hair, roughly shoulder length, swaying in her peripheral vision. The inscribers at the academy shaved all the students’ heads to allow for the easier adding of spell-lines, but in her soul—how she viewed herself—Tala had hair. Thus, somehow, her recombination had returned it to her. Now, I just have to find an inscriber capable of leaving it be.

Huh… my skin is still raw. Shouldn’t it be as healed and complete as my hair? She supposed that some things just didn’t make sense.

Tala heard several of the guards gasp as one voice stuttered out, “She’s… She’s naked!”

A commanding voice cracked out. “Go check her! If the teleportation acolytes at the academy managed to leave her clothes behind, who knows what else was forgotten.”

Take charge of your life, Tala. She sighed, standing fully upright, back straight.

An uninscribed guard, a tall, broad-shouldered and grizzled man, stepped back in surprise at the sudden movement.

Tala looked around the room, ignoring the man. A waist-high stone wall stood in a circle halfway between her and the smooth granite of the outer walls. It was broken only in one place, allowing access to the inner circle.

Everyone—six guards and two Mages—was staring at her.

One of the Mages, heavens bless him, was coloring so that the red was easily visible, even under his spell-lines. He was sparsely clad, as befit an on-duty Mage, and he was, somehow, blushing nearly down to his navel.

Tala cleared her throat, speaking softly but letting her voice carry. “Nothing’s for sale, gents, so please stop window shopping.”

Three of the guards turned away, blushing in turn. The two others grinned but averted their eyes. The one already in the circle with her huffed something near a laugh but turned slightly away, keeping his eyes to himself.

That poor mageling flushed even redder and turned, putting his face against the outer wall. The female Mage, likely his sponsor, rolled her eyes and walked forward with a blanket taken from a pile that rested on a shelf laden with supplies.

She was practically naked herself, cloth covering as little as possible, while maintaining the semblance of modesty. Her lines were proudly on display, their magic unhindered by covering. She was not young, but wrinkles had yet to render her inscriptions faulty. Both Mages were fit, if not well-muscled—as most Mages had to be. Changing size or shape would almost universally ruin your spell-lines, as well as force your inscriber to rebuild your spell-work from scratch. That was assuming the distortions didn’t make such work impossible.

Make no mistake, Mages, one and all, were vain creatures, but it wasn’t their vanity that inspired scrupulous attention to their own bodies, so much as devotion to their art.

The older Mage moved with practiced grace and fluidity, obviously aware of her every gesture, careful not to brush any of her lines against others. Such contact would usually be safe, but so would juggling knives; it was the unexpected that killed, and when spell-lines were involved, there was far more than a cut hand on the line.

The older guard walked beside her as Tala strode to meet the Mage. If she had to guess, he had strategically placed himself between her and some of the other guards, blocking their view of her. Thoughtful of him.

A furnace blazed on the opposite side of the room, and its heat was slowly taking the teleportation chill from her. Quickly, now. Don’t let them see how embarrassed you are. She found herself blessing the chill, which had kept the flush from the surface.

As the Mage drew close, she lowered her tone to keep it from carrying. “The chill does many things, dear, but it doesn’t hide every sign of your embarrassment, at least not from those who know to look.” She draped the blanket over Tala’s shoulders. “Now, how did you arrive in such a state?” She frowned. “Why does it look like someone put you through a sandblaster? You’ve raw, new skin across your whole body.”

Tala gave a formal half-bow, clutching the blanket close, while trying to affect a nonchalance that she did not feel. Though it was soft, the blanket still chafed lightly on her skin. The rawness had little to do with the unclad teleport, though it was still her own doing. “I’m Tala, Mistress, newly graduated from the academy.”

“Yes, dear. You may call me Phoen. You have not answered my questions.”

Tala cleared her throat, glancing away. “Well, you see, Mistress Phoen. Our current teleportation spells strip away spell-lines and won’t take any gear, save the clothes on your back.”

“Hmmm?”

“In studying the formula, it looked like it might be some factor of mass, beyond the organic being teleported, that is why at least a modicum of clothing always comes. Metal only comes if the person was wearing armor, and then not very much of it.”

Phoen sighed. “So, you thought to, what? Modify the spell somehow? Child, you are lucky you didn’t scatter yourself across half of inner-solar space!”

Tala’s eyes widened. “Oh, no! Absolutely not!”

Phoen narrowed her eyes. “Then, what?”

“I guessed that, without clothes to teleport, other material would be brought along.” She held up her hands. The red marks were already faded into bare visibility. “But I missed something.”

“…Wait…”

“Hmmm?”

“Do you mean to tell me that you went into the teleportation circle… naked?”

Tala cleared her throat and looked away. As she did so, she was able to see two guards using heavy metal tongs to move a crucible from the furnace to the short wall. They then poured the contents, liquid silver, down a funnel set into that stone.

She knew the formulas needed for this spell-form well. Precisely two pounds of silver.

The metal flowed out of a spout low in the wall and washed through the grooved lines of the spell form, which was set into the floor.

She didn’t know what preparations had been laid into the stone to ensure the silver would always distribute evenly and cleanly. She hadn’t studied the Builder Arts, after all. Nonetheless, the Mages’ work was flawless, and the spell-form was filled once more, allowing the silver to cool evenly, creating strong, solid spell-lines.

Tala had found variations of this catching spell that used a combination of metals, thus making them much more efficient from the perspective of materials, but the difficulty in casting interlacing liquids quickly meant that the uniform version was vastly easier to use, and thus the most pervasive.

Phoen sighed. “Mact!”

The young mageling jumped, turning around. “Mistress?”

“The spell-lines are reset. Take your place.”

“Yes, Mistress!” He scurried around the women and went to sit in the center of the spell-lines, a hand resting within hand-sized outlines to either side of him. He sat straight, his core tight, his limbs carefully aligned. He took a deep breath and exhaled.

Tala felt the power ripple out from the boy, activating and resetting this teleportation receiver.

Without delay, Mact stood and returned to his master.

“Well done, Mact.”

“Thank you.” He smiled happily, almost to himself.

“Now, girl. You are beginning to tire me.”

Tala sighed. “Yes, I went into the circle naked. Yes, I was lectured by the Mages on the other end about the folly of it. Yes, I know that teleportation magic isn’t intended to work on naked subjects.” She pulled the blanket closer together in front, and the top billowed out slightly, causing it to fall from her shoulders, exposing her back.

The grizzled guard let out a little startled exhalation, then started to laugh.

Tala spun on him. “What’s so funny?”

Phoen let out a similar sound and barked a laugh of her own.

Tala turned back. “Mistress Phoen?”

“You seem to be cleverer than I’d thought.” After a moment’s pause, she amended, “Or, your cleverness bore more fruit than we’d guessed.”

Tala frowned. Then, her eyes widened in realization. “My keystone?”

“Yes, your keystone looks intact. Come, I’ll examine it.”

Tala thanked the guard and followed Phoen from the room.

Mact tried to follow, but Phoen sent him back with several stern words.

Less than two minutes later, Tala was sitting in a small side room, a blanket covering herself strategically while leaving her back exposed. She was naturally straight-backed, her feet flat on the floor, knees bent at as close to right angles as the seat allowed—as she’d been trained.

Phoen took nearly five minutes examining the spell-lines in excruciating detail. “Child, what type of Mage are you?”

“Immaterial Guide, Mistress.”

She grunted. “That explains it. I’m a Material Creator. None of these mean a thing to me. Though, they do look intact. You’ll need an inscriber to look these over.” She sighed. “Fresh from the academy, right?”

“Yes.”

“If you’re here, I assume you’ve signed a contract with the Caravanners, or maybe the Constructionists or Wainwrights? Though, I didn’t think the latter two took on magelings, here…”

Tala grinned. “Not yet.”

Phoen blinked at her, cocked her head to one side, and then sighed. “Oh, child.”

“What? It’s the law.”

“If that inscription is still viable, you have a case, but they may not be happy about it. They might just turn you away.”

“I…” Tala hadn’t thought of that. Magelings got such poor pay until they could buy some spell-lines themselves. In addition, they had to operate under a full Mage, bound to obey them, subject to their schedule and whims. Once the mageling had scraped together enough to afford their own spell-lines, though, they were a Mage, and it was common law that a Mage commanded a much higher salary. She’d not considered that, given a choice of paying her a high salary or not hiring her, they might simply not hire her. She cursed.

Phoen quirked a small smile. “You must have been a joy to your teachers.”

Tala bristled. “My teachers loved me.” After a moment, she amended, “Most of them, anyways.”

Phoen just grinned.

“Well, what can I do?”

“You have to decide whether or not to gamble. Don’t tell them you have inscriptions until after the contract is signed and accept the lower wage; or tell them, and possibly lose any chance at work. No one else is hiring those of your quadrant in this city… that I know of.” She smiled ruefully. “If you were a Material Creator, I’d throw you out on your ear for hubris.” Even so, her eyes twinkled. “But not everyone’s as crotchety as I. Perhaps you’ll be lucky.”

Tala frowned. “So, I’m naked, likely for nothing… Lovely.”

Phoen opened her mouth to comment, but Tala held up a hand.

“Please… I know I’m asking for it, but please don’t.”

Phoen patted her on the shoulder. “I’ll get you some clothes, dear. I have a friend who’s an inscriber, and she should be able to verify your spell-lines. Then, you can make your own choice.”

“Thank you… for everything.”

* * *

Half an hour later, Tala was dressed in surprisingly soft, simple clothes and heading out of the great doors, several floors below the teleportation receiving areas.

She wore no shoes for two reasons. First, shoes were expensive and should be custom-made to be more help than harm. Second, some Mages preferred going barefoot, and in this, Tala’s oddities were no exception.

Phoen’s inscriber had verified that Tala’s keystone spell-lines were intact and functional. Blessedly, the trickiest portion of her inscriptions had been maintained.

While most spell-lines were scripted thin to avoid interference, the keystone was always made as robust as possible. As a result, the keystone only had to be refreshed every year or so, with normal casting. Heavy casters still only had to have that work redone every six months, at the most often.

In contrast, the ancillary spell-lines could be used up in days—faster with heavy casting. Even standard amounts of magical work forced many inscriptions to be refreshed every couple of weeks.

As a result, the work and materials required for the keystone were tremendous. In general, Mages spent as much on the once- or twice-a-year keystone work as on all the ancillary inscriptions for the rest of the year combined. In many cases, the keystone work could cost as much as two years of ancillary lines.

Ahh, math. How I hate how much I need thee.

She paused before exiting the tower fully, taking a moment to admire the craftsmanship of the arch and doors that stood open, allowing entrance into the teleportation tower. Magic rarely makes beauty. And the beauty of this work spoke of human labor.

Tala shook her head. I can’t imagine striving to add embellishments to buildings that won’t last even four centuries. Even so, she enjoyed them. She idly wondered how many passersby had already gained a measure of pleasure from the elaborations. Maybe, that’s enough.

Turning her gaze outward, she looked out on Bandfast for the first time.

The sky above the city was the deep blue of a clear autumn day, with a scattering of thin, high clouds. She loved such days, such skies.

Below the clear blue beauty, from this high vantage, she could easily see six layers of the city’s defenses. All but the outermost were still in place, making the burgeoning nature of the city even more apparent. It’s in the farming phase.

Indeed, the city’s outermost active defenses encompassed vast tracts of farmland. Those defensive scripts were enormously taxing and would only last for the first hundred and fifty years of a city’s life. By the growth on the land, the city was close to halfway between leaving the first and entering the third phase.

The only ring beyond the farmland was the mines, but those would have been abandoned in this second phase city, their defenses already depleted.

When the farmland’s defenses faltered, the workers would move inward to the foundries, ore processing plants, and raw-goods refineries of the third ring.

Inside of that were factories, workshops, and artisan shops, which stood ready within the next layer of defenses.

The next layer contained the clerks and organizers of the city.

Inside that, the final layer of defenses held the homes and services like the teleportation tower.

The fifth phase of every city simply allowed for the buttoning up of all loose ends, and the sixth kept those remaining people comfortable as they prepared to leave and then left. She’d heard mention of other tasks and opportunities surrounding the final years of a waning city, but had never delved too deeply. As a new Mage, she knew better than to consider work for the Harvesters Guild, at least for now.

One hundred years of mining, an additional fifty years of farming, fifty more of refining, fifty of manufacturing, then twenty-five years each of closing down and departing.

Three hundred years: the lifespan of a city, with only the last twenty-five years of waning to lament the end.

All of this to keep humanity safe.

As if on cue, she felt a thrum of power and saw a lance of lightning strike from one of the outermost towers into the sky. The piercing scream of an eagle split the air, despite the great distance, and she was able to see the great beast spiraling downward to crash into some poor farmer’s field. Not too poor. That large corpse would bring substantial payment to the one who had lucked into receiving it. Assuming it didn’t drop on their heads.

She sighed, contemplating the slain creature. I have not missed that. The academy, for some inexplicable reason, did not have to deal with arcanous or magical beasts. Yet more unknowns.

Tala shook her head, coming back from her reverie. This city still has at least a hundred and fifty years. Probably closer to two hundred, if she had to guess. She would be long dead before it was fully abandoned. Unless I go back to the academy…

For reasons that no one had been able to explain to her, the longer someone stayed at the academy, the slower they aged, but also the weaker their abilities with magic became. Finally, after endless pestering, Tala had determined that even the faculty had no idea why it worked as it did.

She smiled to herself, realizing that she’d fallen back into musings. To the Caravanner’s main office. That would be in the ring one out from where she stood, with the other bureaucratic and guild offices.

The inscribers would be here, in the innermost ring, and she itched to have her spell-lines refreshed, but she lacked the funds to pay for such services. Like most students, she left the academy not with accounts bursting, but indebted to the institution for her training. She, herself, had… other debts, as well.

I’m delaying again.

With no further introspections, she strode through the archway and down the front steps, allowing herself to enjoy the artistry of the carvings as she passed.

The streets were busy but nowhere near capacity. After all, this section contained the housing for nearly the city’s entire population—as well as several of the smaller market areas—and had been built accordingly. The majority of the population would be about their work—mostly farming, given the city’s phase.

Even so, the streets were far from empty.

Several large arcanous animals trudged through the streets, led by handlers. There were oxen, whose shoulders stood twice her height; horses, both massive and diminutive, pulling loads that seemed comically overlarge for them; and even several clearly arcanous pets padding alongside their owners. In every case, a simple scripted collar enclosed the arcanous animal’s neck, denoting them as tamed or domesticated, exempting them from the city’s defensive magics.

Thankfully, Mages didn’t need to wear any such thing, as human magic seemed to function differently enough that wards could differentiate.

As her eyes scanned those she passed, she was able to pick out the occasional Mage by their bearing and fluid manner of movement, not to mention the spell-lines evident across their exposed skin. Most also wore Mage’s robes, but not all.

To her surprise, she also saw an arcane, a humanoid arcanous creature.

What had caught her attention at first was the leather collar he wore, though it was tucked low, almost entirely hidden by his shirt’s collar. As she’d looked closer, ensuring that her eyes hadn’t deceived her and that it wasn’t just an odd fashion choice, he’d turned to regard her. She hadn’t noticed his gaze until after she’d seen the metallic spell-lines on the leather collar.

When she had felt his gaze, her eyes flicked up, meeting his, and she felt frozen to the spot.

His eyes were blood.

No comparison held the weight of truth save to say that his eyes were spheres of fresh, liquid blood, unbroken save for small circular scabs in place of pupils.

Tala swallowed involuntarily. He’s looking at me. She tried to smile politely and turn away, but she found she couldn’t force herself to turn.

Around his eyes, true-black, smooth skin forced the orbs into starker contrast, making their deep shades seem almost to glow. Subtle hints of grey lines ran under that skin in patterns very like spell-lines but somehow utterly different. Like seeing her own language written with the phonetic alphabet. The concepts seemed familiar while remaining utterly opaque to her interpretation.

She tried to turn away, again, and actually felt resistance like she was fighting herself. A tingle of her own power, emanating from her keystone, proceeded the answer: Allure. He’s somehow manipulating the conceptual nature of reality, forcing my attention to remain locked on him.

As an Immaterial Mage, she could work with non-substance aspects of the world, such as gravity, dimensionality, and molecular cohesion, but warping the magnitude of concepts? That… that had disturbing implications.

As if in response to her thoughts, a different set of lines seemed to flicker into prominence around those wounding eyes, and she found herself turning away in confusion. What is wrong with me? I stare at something I’ve never seen before and suddenly insist that it must be magic.

She shook her head at her own foolishness. Then, another prickle rippled out from her keystone, a subtle warning, and she froze. Conceptual manipulation… would the concept of believability count? She spun, her eyes ripping across the crowds, trying desperately to find the arcane once more. She had the flickering impression of an amused smile but nothing more.

After another few moments of frenzied searching, she was left with a subtle, low-level itch from her keystone and the growing concern that she’d somehow imagined the brief encounter. I… I need to get to the Caravanner’s Guild.

Why had she allowed herself to get lost in her own musings once more?

Tala huffed. I’m never going to get anywhere if I don’t get going.

Without a backward glance, she passed through tremendous gates, the southernmost of eight sets, to breach the gargantuan innermost walls.

Those walls were also carved with beautiful, intriguing reliefs, showing the Builder’s attention to detail. When building a cage, make it a pretty one.

She sighed, pushing those thoughts away, along with her others. A cage with doors flung wide hardly counts. At least, that was what she wanted herself to believe; what she needed to believe if she were going to maintain her own sanity. Human cities are to keep violence out, not humans in. She did not contemplate that the results were virtually indistinguishable.

She strode purposely onward, now, and though she had to ask for directions twice, it took her less than an hour to find the building that she sought. When she did, she hesitated, standing across the street and observing the flow of traffic in and out of the building, itself.

This is it, Tala. You need to decide. Will you take the easy way? Or risk it all? She laughed. It was hardly a risk. Even if no one would hire her, the academy wanted her to pay them back, plus she had her parents’ debts, which had led to her sale into the academy’s tutelage. No, they wouldn’t let her stay unemployed, though who knew what pittance they’d give her if they were forced to find employment on her behalf…

Not helping, Tala.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Now or never.

Without further delay, she strode through the wide, double doors.

Chapter: 2 - The Caravanner’s Guild

Tala took a deep breath as her feet carried her through the front door of the Caravanners’ main office.

The doors were simple, if wide, and they stood open, allowing for easy foot-traffic in and out, of which there was a steady flow. The arch which held the doors was easily wide enough for four people—five of Tala’s size—to come through shoulder to shoulder, with a bit of room to spare.

The room she entered was a wide receiving hall, with clerks working in alcoves around the outside, as well as some more senior workers moving through the shifting groups of their prospective clients.

Here, almost every business was represented.

Restaurants negotiated food shipments either for more specialized crops not grown within this city or beginning to establish contracts for when the city’s farming phase ended; artisans similarly negotiated for materials and to ship their goods to other cities; and countless others sought or negotiated similar services.

The Caravanners also carried mail from city to city, along with other goods, and they did a brisk trade in that respect.

In truth, this guild was one of the pillars of human civilization. They were unique in the quantity and regularity of their ventures through the arcanous wilds. Only the Builders dealt with beasts more often than the Caravanners, and they didn’t do trips through the wilds so much as they fielded vast, long-term expeditions out into them, building the continuous wave of cities. Well, there was the Harvesters’ Guild, but their goal was slaying beasts and taking from them, so it was hardly a fair comparison.

She returned her mind to her present time and place. There is power within these walls. She felt a growing sense of excitement at the prospect of working for such an important group.

She had barely taken five steps through the door before she was noticed by a clerk with copper and silver spell-lines covering her face, clearly focused around her eyes. “You! Mage. Can I help you?”

Tala smiled and strode over to the young woman, where she waited behind a high counter. The clerk was not wearing Mage’s robes, opting instead for a simple, if elegant, single-piece dress. It allowed her freedom of movement, without being a distraction for those she worked with. She had long, dark-blonde hair, pulled into a loose braid. Tala almost frowned at that. I’m seeing a lot of inscribed with hair. Is there something different about the inscribers in this city? Now was hardly the time for that line of thinking, however. Tala smiled. “Yes, I am looking for work.” If Tala had to guess, the clerk was only a few years older than she, herself.

The woman nodded. “I’d hoped so. May I?” She tapped the scribing around her eyes.

Be decisive. Tala nodded once.

The clerk blinked, seemingly with specific intent, and her spell-lines pulsed with power.

As before, Tala’s keystone let her know that she was in close proximity to, or the target of, magic, but the feeling wasn’t unpleasant. A simple inspection.

As before? She had the stuttering impression of blood and darkness but couldn’t pull a coherent memory together. Must have been a bad dream. She dismissed the fractured recollection without further thought.

To Tala’s unenhanced eyes, the effect on the clerk’s face looked very similar to a heat haze, though with a little more light to it. Even that indication was a vast improvement on what Tala had seen before her time at the academy. My body is acclimating to magic detection.

Her instructors had said that, in time, she wouldn’t need to continue getting inscriptions for the magesight at all. Her body would learn how to see the signs for itself, and her mind would interpret the input in ways that mimicked the spell-line-granted vision.

It was, in truth, another thing those teachers didn’t truly understand, but they likened it to a skilled merchant learning to know weights and measures without the need of a scale over time. He could simply pick up a sack and know the weight of its contents. No magic involved.

Tala had always been skeptical, but it seemed she might have been wrong, again. The tell-tale signs were there. It would be nice to forgo that expense… Magesight was so often used that the inscriptions around a Mage’s eyes were almost always the most often refreshed.

She was letting her mind wander, again. She focused back on the clerk, just as the woman nodded and blinked again, deactivating her magesight.

“Yes, you will do nicely, Mage. Indications suggest an intact keystone.” She smiled widely. “You must have had quite the run of bad luck to so completely deplete the rest of your inscriptions; I can’t detect even a single ripple of non-natural magic from anything except your keystone.”

Tala laughed, nervously. “Yeah, well. I’m alive, and here, so…” She smiled, trying to put forward confidence. So much for being able to decide whether or not to be considered a Mage… She hadn’t considered a magesight inspection this early in the process. More the fool, me.

The clerk waved a hand. “I don’t need the details. You are an Immaterial Guide, yes?”

“Yes…” Tala cleared her throat. “I apologize, but I didn’t catch your name.”

“Oh! How silly of me. You may call me Lyn Clerkson.”

“Mistress Lyn, a pleasure to meet you. I’m Tala.”

“Tala…?”

“No family name.”

“Mistress Tala, then.” Lyn smiled.

Tala extended her hand.

Lyn shook it happily. As she did so, her sleeve pulled up, and Tala was able to get a better look at the extensive spell-lines twining about Lyn’s forearm, wrist, and hand. So, a full Mage? Or she was just more heavily inscribed than the non-Mages Tala was used to.

“Are all the clerks here Mages?”

“Oh, no. I’m one of the Senior Exchequers, here. Specifically, I’m in charge of the recruiting and handling of new recruits.” She made a motion with her arms that mimed excitement. “Yay! Right? I’m glad I was here when you wandered in.”

Tala blinked at Lyn several times, trying to figure out what to make of the girl. “Yeah. I suppose I’m glad, too.”

“So, have you ever empowered bigger boxes?”

She blinked several times, trying to make sense of the question. “What?”

“Apologies. That’s how I always think of them. I mean have you ever empowered spatial enlargement scripts? Not many Mages have, outside the Caravanners’ Guild, but I figure it’s good to ask.”

“Oh! You mean expanding the available space within a given container?”

Lyn brightened. “Yes! Do you have experience?”

“Some, but not on any large scale.” The idea had fascinated Tala enough that she’d pestered a teacher into giving her extra lessons and materials on the subject. Even so, she’d only empowered the spell-lines involved a few times.

Lyn’s smile grew, genuine excitement evident in the expression. “Oh, that’s just wonderful! Teaching new Mages how to twist their mind ‘just so’ can be a… time-consuming process.”

Tala nodded in acknowledgment. “Yeah, it took me nearly a month before I was able to get past the mental blocks.”

Lyn laughed, and her tone took on that of someone quoting an oft-heard refrain. “If you don’t believe it’s possible, it isn’t.”

Tala smiled in return. I just might like working with you, Lyn.

“But only a month? That is quite quick!” She paused, then cleared her throat. “You don’t have to answer this, but I have a pet theory I’d like to test.”

Tala tilted her head, curious herself. “Oh?”

“Did you have any background in physics or geometry before your first attempt?”

She laughed. “No! And having spatial distortion theory in my head definitely made those harder to tackle.”

A small, knowingly contented smile tugged at Lyn’s lips. “I’d thought so! It always seems that the more ignorant Mages are able to master more obscure aspects faster.” She paled, her smile faltering. “I am so sorry! I didn’t mean—”

Tala held up a hand, grinning. “No harm meant; no harm done. I was ignorant.”

Lyn cleared her throat. “Even so. I apologize.” She took a deep breath and let it out quickly. “Now, then. We really should get to business. Are you looking for work on your way to a particular city, work within this city, or were you hoping for a longer-term contract?”

Tala’s grin slipped back to a casual smile. Her research had not been in vain. Once I’ve enough to fund my own inscriptions, I can just do piecework to get between cities. That would leave her free to do as she pleased… Once my debts are paid off… Her smile weakened, just slightly.

“Longer term is better paid, and we do offer signing bonuses for certain contracts, and an Immaterial Guide with spatial distortion experience is definitely in that wagon!” After a brief pause, she added, “At least for certain contract lengths.”

“What is the shortest contract with a signing bonus?”

“Hmmm… Let me see.” She pulled out a stone slate and began manipulating the text on the surface, seemingly flipping through magically stored pages. “It looks like, for your quadrant, we can offer a contract of one year or ten trips, whichever is completed sooner. You are obligated to take a minimum of one trip every other month, including within a week of first signing.”

“And the rate?”

“Four ounces per trip, and the signing bonus is four ounces.”

Tala deflated. One ounce of silver would buy a good meal, but not much more than that. That was lower than an average worker’s day wage, and she doubted the trips only took a day. How do people survive on so little? “How often could I take trips? Is there a minimum waiting time?”

Lyn blinked, seemingly confused at Tala’s dour tone. “No… but even the shortest trips take nearly a week, and most Mages like to have time to spend their earnings in whichever city they arrive in. That, on top of getting re-inscribed and allowing any change to the scribings to set… I’ve known very few to make a trip every month.” She wobbled her head slightly, seeming to hedge. “Well, excepting those who do ‘out and back’ work. Those tend to do two trip blocks, then take longer breaks in between.”

“Time to spend…” She was frowning.

Lyn opened her mouth in an understanding ‘Oh!’ “Apologies, again, Mistress Tala. Four ounces gold.”

Tala found herself frozen in surprise. Four ounces… gold. An ounce of gold was a hundred times as valuable as one of silver. Yeah, a month to relax after each trip would be quite nice. That, and her debt to the academy, on top of her parents’ debt… Now, also mine… was 487 ounces gold, twenty ounces silver. One hundred twenty-two trips. Ten years. She’d been expecting the debt to follow her for her entire life unless she found alternate means of paying it off. I can make ten years work. Though, she wasn’t accounting for expenses.

Lyn quirked a questioning smile. “You haven’t done much contract work, have you? You don’t seem to have a good idea of your value.”

“Clearly not.” No one had been willing to give her solid data.

“Well, that is our fault. If we advertised better, maybe we’d have gotten you in here sooner!” Her smile firmed up. “And I can assure you, with as well-traveled as you’ll be after even a short contract, we wouldn’t dream of underpaying you. We’d never hold onto Mages if we tried that.” She gave a little chuckle.

Tala nodded distractedly, not really hearing Lyn’s continued dialogue. “Maybe… Is there a slightly longer contract available? Could I negotiate better rates for two years or twenty trips? A higher signing bonus? Oh! And after the contracted trips, what is the piece job rate, going one way?”

“All great questions. If you aren’t on a contract, and we have a caravan in need of a Mage of your type, your rate would be three-and-a-half ounces gold, though that can vary slightly from trip to trip. For a three-year, twenty-trip contract, the best I can offer is a trip rate of four-and-a-half ounces, with a one-trip-value signing bonus.”

Ninety-four-and-a-half ounces gold… Tala was speechless. Even with her inscriptions, that should cover over a sixth of her debt, with some to spare. She thought she had a good guess of how much her spell-lines would cost. She hesitated.

Lyn’s smile grew. “It won’t increase the signing bonus beyond four-and-a-half ounces, but if you sign a five-year or thirty-trip contract, I can give you five ounces per trip. You won’t be as free to choose your destinations, as those rates are a bit too much except on more lucrative runs.”

“What about frequency?”

“There are many of those leaving every week, but they tend to be a bit longer, closer to two weeks on average.” She hesitated. “I should be clear, even at the lower rates, the trips will range from one to four weeks. You could always choose the shorter trips, but that is frowned upon—as you can imagine. We try to give as much freedom as possible, but we don’t like to see that abused.”

Tala nodded. Five years. She hesitated. No, thirty trips. Each around two weeks… She could fulfill her contract in less than half the prescribed time. Just about thirty percent of my debt gone in a year and a half, in one contract? That’s a great start, Tala. She grinned. “I’m interested in a thirty-trip contract, but let’s talk terms. What all is provided on the trips? Do I need to bring my own supplies, shelter, gear? What expenses should I expect to bear, and what ancillary support will the guild be providing?”

Lyn’s smile turned slightly predatory. “Let’s see what we can work out.”

* * *

Nearly two hours later, Lyn and Tala sat across from each other in comfortable chairs, sequestered in a back room of the Caravanner’s headquarters.

Empty mugs of tea stood on the table between them, alongside a contract.

“Here.” Lyn turned the scripted stone tablet around, passing it back to Tala. “I think this represents everything we’ve agreed to.”

The text was not written on the stone, though it seemed to be. The words were manifest there from the contract archive, and once Tala willingly put a drop of her blood to the slate, with the intent to confirm the agreement, it would be logged as officially binding. Lyn had already placed her own blood in one corner, using a small, sharp protrusion on the tablet, in place for that purpose.

Tala scanned the document quickly. It outlined a statement of her own qualifications; those that were verified within the system, such as her certification as a Mage, were highlighted, while those based on her word were set apart. The wording, and the magic in the contract, would annul any obligation from the Caravanner’s Guild if she had been false. Indeed, there were steep penalties if that were to be the case. Thankfully, she’d avoided any falsehoods.

Beyond her own merit, the agreed-to payments were outlined, along with other restrictions and benefits.

She was required to have a certain level of preparedness before accepting an assignment, as well as to modify her preparations to meet any specific requirements for the given trip. She would additionally be granted food for the duration of any voyage. She had forgone the standard offerings of an attached servant, to manage the day-to-day responsibilities, and a private wagon for her personal residence while outside city walls.

Her magics, once she was reinscribed, were mostly bent towards survival, so safety shouldn’t be a concern. As to the convenience of it, she could bear a little discomfort to pay off her debt more quickly.

That in mind, she’d negotiated for greater pay in exchange for less convenience and a bit more danger.

Thus, the agreed to per-trip payment, as well as her advance, had been raised to five-and-a-half ounces gold, and she would not be limited to the high-value or longer missions. Apparently, most Mages expected a luxuriously appointed carriage and highly skilled servant, and Tala had gotten Lyn to admit that those items easily cost the guild upwards of one-and-a-half ounces gold per trip. Thus, Tala was offering them a bargain.

Everything on the contract was, indeed, as they’d agreed, and it was written with plain, easy-to-understand language, as Common Law demanded.

Tala pricked her finger on the sharp nub, and it retracted immediately after.

With an effort of will, she allowed her gate to open, and magic flickered through her body, infusing her blood just as she touched the cool stone. The drop of blood that had been building on her finger vanished into the stone, and the tablet turned a pleasant, emerald green, denoting full confirmation.

Without an inscription to direct and release its power, the magic still flowing through her left Tala with a nervous energy. She wanted to get up and run. Her keystone didn’t help, as it wasn’t meant to use up excess power.

Lyn had been watching the contract, and when she noted the change to green, she smiled. “Your consent, as well as your words, have been accepted.” She looked up at Tala. “Welcome!” Her smile spread with genuine enthusiasm. “I’m so glad that you came to us.” She tilted her head, seeming to consider for a moment. “Do you have an inscriber in the city, yet?”

Tala thought about Phoen’s friend, but she didn’t really know them well, so she shook her head. “No.”

Lyn’s smile seemed to settle into one of satisfaction. “I figured not. Now, no self-respecting inscriber would dare get handsy with a Mage of our guild, but I know of one who’s better than average.”

Tala… hadn’t thought of the issue of finding an inscriber herself. She nodded gratefully. “Thank you. Are they your inscriber?”

“She is, yes.” Lyn nodded. “Though it’s one of her apprentices that does the work on me, directly. She’ll have closed up for the evening, but I know where she likes to grab dinner. We can join her if you’d like, and if you two get on, you can have your spell-lines inscribed tomorrow.”

Tala’s eyes flicked to Lyn’s hair. Though it was held up in a utilitarian style, it was clearly quite long. Even so, Tala thought she saw hints of spell-lines among the roots, confirming her suspicion that something was different about this city’s inscribers. A smile tugged at her lips. “That sounds like a great plan.” She hesitated, her smile faltering, but after a moment’s indecision, she decided to push forward. “When would I get my advance?”

Lyn’s smile shifted, again, becoming a knowing smirk. “We can grab it for you on the way out. I’m off anyways.”

“Oh! I held you up?”

Lyn waved away the concern. “Not really. I always have to finish up my work, regardless of the time. Today? Getting this contract worked out was the priority.” She stood, smoothing out her simple dress.

For the most part, Mages’ robes had quick-release ties so that the Mage could shed the garment with speed. Most Mages expressed their power from many locations, so cloth coverings added difficulty and expense when the spells breached the cloth to escape.

There was also the danger, in more restrictive clothing, that a garment could pull the skin in an unexpected manner, altering a Mage’s spell-lines in unexpected or dangerous ways. The net result was that most Mages wore as little as they could manage while casting and covered themselves with Mage’s robes in between such workings.

Tala… well, she ascribed to a different philosophy of casting. She ensured that the manifestations of all outward expressions of power originated from her hands. It was a weakness if she were ever truly hampered, but she’d seen that as an acceptable tradeoff.

Lyn’s own choice of a simple dress spoke volumes about her life, as well as her work as a Mage. She did not expect, or have need, for quick, complicated castings, nor did she seem to have any concern about having to remain mobile. In short, she led a safe life.

“Tala?”

“Hmm?”

Lyn was standing, half turned away, seeming to be waiting. “Are you coming?”

“Oh!” Tala stood in a rush. She’d allowed her mind to wander, again. “Yes. Let’s go.”

Tala followed as Lyn led her through the now mostly empty main hall of the guild. They came to a small counter, tucked into a back corner, where an unlined clerk asked Tala for a drop of blood.

The clerk confirmed her contract and that money was owed. He frowned when he saw the amount, and Lyn was forced to take him aside for a quick, quiet conversation. Apparently, no one had received a signing bonus as high as Tala’s during his time working this station.

Finally, he was satisfied, and he presented Tala with a small pouch of coins. She counted it, at his prompting, and when she had verified the amount, he marked her as having been paid. That complete, he hesitated. “I know it isn’t my place, but may I offer a word of advice?”

Tala had already begun to turn away but hesitated at his question. “Umm… sure? I’m happy to learn, where I can.” As she responded, she’d turned back towards the middle-aged man.

“Always count your pay. No one should ever try to short you, but mistakes happen, and after you confirm receipt, even the best-intentioned pay clerks can’t give you more.”

She contemplated that for a long moment, then nodded. “I see.”

He quirked a smile. “If anyone gives you grief for counting, it is reasonable for you to remind them that you are giving your word that you received the full amount. The only honorable thing for you to do is check before so swearing.”

She smiled in turn. “Clever. I’ll remember that. Thank you.”

He gave a small bow. “Welcome to the guild, Mistress Tala.”

She gave a nod in return. “Thank you.” She hesitated. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

He blinked at her a few times, then looked down at his tunic.

Tala followed his gaze, then flushed. A small wooden placard was affixed on the left side of his tunic’s chest, his name clearly written out in white lettering.

He cleared his throat. “You can call me Gram.”

“Gram… A pleasure to meet you.”

He quirked another smile. “And you, Mistress Tala.”

Lyn let out a small laugh, leading Tala away, across the hall, and out the doors.

Chapter: 3 - Dinner

The sun was setting as Tala and Lyn walked the city streets towards food and introductions.

Tala had the comforting weight of money in a pouch at her belt, while still retaining the hesitancy of the recently destitute. This money would have to provide for her until her first trip, as well as outfit her for that venture, and she still had no idea exactly what that entailed.

Thankfully, Lyn was leading them purposefully towards their goal, so Tala wasn’t delayed or sidetracked by her many musings. I really do need to focus on my surroundings more… In school, her introspections had kept her away from too much notice and allowed her to skirt the attention of many who might otherwise have called upon her or used conflict with her to elevate their own positions. Out in the real world? It was likely to get her killed.

As if to highlight the very lack of awareness she was contemplating, Tala was suddenly led from the busy, if relatively quiet, main streets into a crowded courtyard, filled with people, tables, and portable kitchens.

Mature trees stood, pleasingly distributed throughout the space. She noticed several braziers as well, though they were unlit since it was a warmer autumn evening. Ceramic plates, magically altered to release gathered sunlight in an even glow, provided a comfortable, if not bright, illumination.

There were people at every table, but no table was truly full. While the seating was biased towards the center of the space, the food carts—for that was what the cart-bound kitchens were—encircled the lot, doing brisk business.

Many passersby ducked into the area to buy food before continuing on their way, but some stayed, grabbing a seat as others vacated it, creating a slowly rotating, constant group of people.

It reminded Tala of the academy’s dining hall—if the people had been excited to be there and the food had ever smelled this good.

She inhaled deeply, instantly imprisoned by the rapture of succulent smells.

She couldn’t distinguish the smell of any one dish, or even one stall, among the milieu, but the combination was a joy and a half.

Lyn was staring at her again. “Are you okay? You look like a starving dog presented with a steak.”

Tala grinned. “It has been far too long since I’ve had a meal that smelled this good.”

Lyn quirked an eyebrow. “You still haven’t.”

Tala’s grin broadened. “What do you recommend?”

They made their way over to a particularly overburdened cart, lorded over by a large, but not truly rotund, woman. “Mistress Lyn! Good to see you!” The woman came around to the front of her cart to enfold the much-smaller Lyn. “And who is this waif you bring to my kitchen?”

Her reply came out muffled. “This is Mistress Tala. She’s new to the city.” As Lyn was released, she turned towards Tala. “Mistress Tala, this is Gretel.”

Tala began to bow. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Gret—” But she was cut off as Gretel scooped her up in an overpowering embrace.

“Welcome, child.” She turned and picked up a meat pie, thrusting it at Tala.

Tala took it, marveling at how thick and sturdy the crust felt. Not a drop of filling was evident on the outside as she took the proffered food. “Oh! Ah… What do I owe you for this?”

Gretel laughed. “Girl, that one’s on me. If you aren’t compelled to buy more after you eat it, well, that’s my fault for making them too resistible.” She winked.

Tala smiled and took a bite.

There were no words for the culinary delight, which the pie encompassed. It was a light cream, vegetable, and poultry mixture, with exactly the right blend and ratio of spices.

Gretel served several other customers while Tala devoured her own acquisition.

When she was, once again, up in the queue, Tala sang her praises of the offering.

“I like this one, Mistress Lyn. Will she be about for long?”

“I hope she will be, at least every so often.”

Tala nodded her assent. “I can promise I’ll be back. How much for another?”

“Five copper.”

Five ounces copper. So cheap? How? “How? These are amazing!”

Gretel smiled in response. “My customers usually get five or six.” She gestured to the other carts in the area. “We try to make our portions small so that our patrons can enjoy a large variety.” She leaned in close as if sharing a secret. “But, tell you the truth, most who try mine just fill up right here.” She straightened and winked again.

“Mistress Lyn, can I buy you a few?”

“Oh! Sure? That really isn’t necessary, Mistress Tala.”

She waved away the objection. “Nonsense. I’ll take ten.” She dug around in her money pouch before pulling out a one ounce silver coin. “Can you make change?”

“Easily.” Gretel took the silver, verifying the weight, and returned four much smaller silver coins, a tenth of an ounce each, and ten one ounce coppers. “So, you can easily try some of the other stalls if you’d like. I can’t hog all the good customers, now can I?” She winked yet again.

After tucking the coins away, Tala gave a slight bow. “Thank you.”

Gretel handed over the ten small pies on a wooden platter. “Mistress Lyn knows what to do with that when you’re done. I look forward to seeing you again, girl!”

Tala gave a wave as she followed Lyn towards one side of the courtyard. As they approached, Tala was able to guess where they were heading.

One table was a bit emptier than the others. A striking woman sat on one short side of the long, rectangular table.

Tala could not tell her age, or much else about her, because most of her features were obscured by the most all-encompassing, intricate set of spell-lines Tala had ever beheld. The woman, herself, was clothed as if she were expecting to cast, meaning with as little covered as possible. In all fairness, however, the intricacy of her inscriptions, and their pervasive nature, left the woman looking as if she wore a skintight outfit of woven silver, copper, and gold.

It was beautiful.

They approached, and Tala set their tray down in front of a couple of empty seats beside the woman. The inscriber lifted her gaze from her own platter of simple foods to regard Lyn and Tala, and Tala felt the telltale tingle of magic. Her eyes showed her minute ripples of power across the woman’s face, indicating that she’d activated her magesight.

“Mistress Holly, this is Mistress Tala.” Lyn gestured to the seated woman. “Mistress Tala, Mistress Holly.”

Tala bowed slightly. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“You’re cast quite dry, aren’t you?”

Tala hesitated, then quirked a smile. “I suppose I am.”

Holly’s head tilted to an inquisitive angle. “No? Interesting. If casting didn’t strip you of your ancillary lines, what did?” She leaned closer, even as Tala sat. “You must tell me.”

Tala cleared her throat. “I… um…” She swallowed and glanced to Lyn. “I was teleported here.”

Lyn’s eyes widened, slightly, but she didn’t comment.

“Teleported. That seems to be true. But why would you only have your keystone replaced…?” Holly’s eyes snapped back to Tala’s own. “You didn’t, did you?”

“No?”

“Be decisive. I can’t see the truth of your words if you have no confidence.”

“No. I did not have my keystone replaced. It was maintained through transport.”

Holly pushed herself backward, just a bit, nodding happily. “I knew it. I knew it. There is an… ethereal aspect to your keystone, as if another’s power was forced through it. Why it didn’t break your gate I’ve no idea, but I suppose by Hethron’s third law…” Her mutterings slowly faded below Tala’s ability to hear them, and she turned to Lyn.

“Is she… always like this?”

“Hmmm? Oh, yes. She’s quite brilliant, and so most of her conversations are with herself.” Lyn shrugged. “But she’s the best, and I quite like you.”

Holly’s eyes narrowed. “Still not giving you a discount.”

Lyn rolled her eyes. “Let’s eat. I’m starving.”

Thus, as night truly fell upon the city, Tala sat with new acquaintances, surrounded by the sounds of revelry and the hum of conversation.

This just might be possible. I might just be able to work free of this burden.

* * *

Tala licked her fingers clean of her last meat pie and leaned back, comfortably stuffed.

Holly finished the last of her own food, savoring a fruit tart, which had been covered with fluffed cream.

“Now. Give me some blood.”

Tala’s lazy comfort flashed away in an instant. “What.”

Holly held out her hand, palm down, revealing a circle of bare skin, surrounded by vaguely familiar silver scripts. “Your blood, Mage. I need it to access your scripting records.”

Tala looked to Lyn, but the woman just shrugged. “It’s how she operates. My understanding is that it allows her to directly overlay the schema on her client within her vision, instead of having to do comparisons.”

Tala found herself nodding. “That does sound easier.” She glanced at the hand, still extended her way. “If a bit… gross.”

Holly rolled her eyes. “Well? Mistress Lyn did bring you here for this, right? Let’s see what we have to work with.”

Reluctantly, Tala pricked her own finger, willing a spark of power into the blood just as she pressed a drop down upon the empty circle of Holly’s flesh.

She had a moment of feeling oddly disjointed, but it passed as quickly as it had come. Her skin is much tougher to the touch than I’d have guessed.

As the blood came into the circle, silver scripts all over Holly’s body flickered to life, their power then flowing into lines of copper or gold. “I see.” The older woman stood. “Come, now. Stand up. Let me get a good look.”

Feeling incredibly self-conscious, and aware that they were in a highly public place, Tala stood.

Holly began moving her about, looking at various parts of her like an alchemist deciding if an herb was worth processing. Holly made an appreciative sound as she inspected Tala’s hands but scoffed as she looked elsewhere.

Finally, Holly poked her in the side of her left breast, just softly enough to avoid leaving a bruise. “Whoever designed these was a gifted idiot.” She snorted a laugh as Tala rubbed the side of her chest discreetly. “And he was likely in love with you.”

Tala froze. “What?”

Holly waved away the question but then seemed to answer it anyway. “Much of this is incredibly clever and well-structured; the majority of your surface inscription is interlinking hexagons of protection, each of three parts: first, a strengthening of the inter- and intra-cellular bonds, silver to sense for stress on those bonds with copper to be activated to counter the stress; second, inscription to reform bonds if they are broken despite the aforementioned work, again with silver and copper acting in concert; and finally, a mild enhancement of signal speed through your nervous system, when your heart rate rises, again silver to copper.” She shook her head. “Such a stupid trigger. That should be passively on, all the time, with gold so that it lasts longer. That way would actually take less material on average, and we could increase the effect… though you’d have to get used to it…”

Tala blinked. “But the other two features?”

“Hmmm? Oh, those are quite well executed, but you’ve no obvious defense against magic.”

Tala glanced away. “I’ve found a different method for handling that.”

“Care to share?”

“Not at the moment.” She looked down. Something shifted subtly in the air around Holly, and Tala felt an odd, subtle pressure from the woman’s presence.

“Fine, fine.” She looked back down at Tala, and the pressure faded. “The poor boy seems to have been afraid to take your feminine curves into account. It is almost like he built it around a man’s body, roughly your size, and slapped it onto your skin.” She shook her head, again, before poking the side of Tala’s breast once more. “So much unused surface area! And, in this case, unprotected.” She scowled. “He likely didn’t want to be seen as focusing on your chest.” She glanced down. “Or your hips, so he ignored them.” Another huff escaped her. “All it did was highlight his attention all the more.”

Tala was quite flushed with embarrassment but decided to press on. “And the rest?”

“Hmmm? Oh, no human is a flat plane, so he had to account for curves in the hexagonal connections, and he did quite well in modifying the scripts for rotational orientations.”

Tala blinked, trying to follow. She only had the most basic understanding of inscription theory.

“And… I’m losing you.” Holly sighed. “He did a good job.” She glanced at Tala’s head, clearly focusing on something only she could see. “Good use of standard mental enhancements, here, but again with the heartbeat trigger.” She sighed, once more. “His true genius came in the implementation of your hands!” She grasped Tala’s hands. “I don’t know why you only want your expressions to originate here, but I’m not here to judge.”

Tala did not comment on the obvious contradiction.

Holly looked at Tala’s right hand, obviously seeing inscriptions where there was only blank skin. “You focus on gravity manipulation for attack and submission but not area of effects!” She held the hand out towards Lyn for a moment before the latter’s raised eyebrow seemed to remind Holly that there was nothing there for anyone else to see. “Oh, right.” She looked to Tala. “Can you actually control this?”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

“The structure of these spell-lines is incredibly dependent on your ability to attenuate your focus. You must be a savant, incredibly lucky, or ridiculously stubborn.”

“How would luck factor it?”

“To not have killed yourself with these or been killed as you tried to use them.”

Tala cleared her throat. “Well, it did take quite a while to get them to work as I wanted…”

“So, stubborn, then. How many targets have you been able to indicate?”

She hesitated, not wanting to admit the truth. Well, if I’m not willing to tell her the truth, I probably shouldn’t let her work on my inscriptions… “Three or four, at a practice range, but I have difficulty getting more than one while under pressure.”

Holly nodded as if satisfied. “That makes sense. Especially with the odd methods of your mental enhancements. Imagine throwing a Mage’s thinking to the wind as soon as they need to be at their most disciplined.” She shook her head.

Tala frowned. “Wait, faster thinking made it harder?”

“Different thinking made it harder. Faster connection speed doesn’t speed up your mind so much as reduce the time between thoughts. That will change how you think as much as how fast.”

Tala… actually understood that. “So, you can improve on this?”

Holly snorted. “Can a fish swim?”

I suppose that’s a yes…

But Holly had already returned her attention to Tala’s hands. “Despite the… flaws, it’s genius how he got around the difficulties of…”

Tala stopped listening. She knew how her magic worked and that it had been a pain to learn how to use the unusual style of spell-craft, but she had never regretted the choice. Her magic was precise and efficient. She was a scalpel next to the headsman’s axe of most gravity manipulators, and she sipped metals.

Tala’s mind returned to Holly when the woman snapped her fingers in front of Tala’s nose. “You aren’t listening at all, are you?”

Tala cleared her throat. “Well, I do know what my scriptings do.” She sat back down at the table, as Holly didn’t seem to need to inspect her directly anymore.

Holly sighed. “We have a lot to discuss, and there is much we can improve. Your designer only thought of your inscriptions as multilayered, without truly embracing the potential of three-dimensional workings. I see other layers for muscle and bone spell-lines, and that shows a depth of thinking.” Holly smiled briefly at her own pun. “But they could, and should, be intertwined, unified.”

“I’ve… I’ve never actually been able to test out those other layers.” She glanced to Lyn, who was staring at her with shocked fascination. Deeper inscriptions weren’t rare, per se, but they were unpopular because they could be very painful, and if they weren’t done perfectly, they led to magic poisoning at a much faster pace than even the most frivolous Material Creator would experience. “I hadn’t decided to commit to using them, yet.”

Holly waved the objection aside. “Don’t be foolish, of course you’d never get these as they are. You’d be dead in a week.”

Tala hesitated. They aren’t that crude… Are they?

“No, no. I’ll get this worked up for you in just a day or so.” There was a strange light in Holly’s eyes.

Tala leaned back, suddenly wary. “Ummm… What will this cost me?”

“Hmm?” Holly was already moving her fingers through the air as if manipulating something Tala couldn’t see. “Oh, my alterations to your pattern won’t be cheap, but they will be worth it. The spell-lines themselves should only cost four or five ounces gold, but with the modifications, I wouldn’t be surprised if you only need refreshing for your passive scripts every year or so, but I’ll know more after I finish the changes.” She glanced to Tala’s hands. “Though, of course, your own use of the active abilities will force more regular inscription of the lines around the functions for your hands.”

Tala blanched. Five ounces gold. Just for the inscriptions? How much would this crazy person charge for the schematic? “I only have five-and-a-half ounces of gold for inscriptions and to outfit myself for my first job.” She glanced at the empty wooden platter. “Well, five-and-a-half ounces, less fifty ounces copper.”

Holly paused, glancing to Lyn. “What rate will she get?”

Lyn cleared her throat. “That is confidential.”

Holly waved a frustrated hand. “Fine, fine.” She turned back to Tala. “I’ll get you the basics for your first two jobs if you swear to come straight back here and not let another inscriber muck up my work. I’ll take a day to finalize the schema, and then three days to do the actual inking…” She began muttering to herself again, but Tala had, once again, hit a mental block.

Three days of inscription work? She supposed if it were really only required every year or so, that would total less than she had been expecting. It was the same with the cost of the work, itself, but it was front-loaded, and she did not have enough money as it was. She cleared her throat, drawing Holly’s attention back. “I will need at least half an ounce of gold for another necessity.”

Holly’s eyes narrowed. “More secrets, eh?” She drummed her fingers on the table as she finally sat down once more. “Or, perhaps, the same secret.” She looked into Tala’s eyes, but Tala glanced away. “Fine. Five ounces gold, with a promise of prompt return, and”—she glanced to Lyn, then back to Tala—“eight ounces gold upon your return. Fair? I’ll finalize your inscriptions, then.”

After two trips, Tala should have an additional eleven ounces gold, before any expenses, so she should be able to afford it, but… She looked to Lyn.

The other woman sighed and shrugged. “She’s the best, honestly. Most of our Mages won’t let anyone else work on them if they can help it.” After a moment’s hesitation, she added, “Well, in truth, most are satisfied with her apprentices.”

Holly scoffed. “Of course they are. Most just want to throw fireballs or some other simple nonsense.” She gestured to Tala. “This creature wishes to do true magic.” She grinned. “You will play a golden harp beside their hide drums!”

A harp is easily drowned by the sound of drums… Tala opened her mouth to reply, but Holly cut her off.

“A long bow beside a wooden club, then, if instruments aren’t well known to you.”

Tala tried to object again, as the instruments in question were so basic the assumed lack of knowledge on her part could only be insulting, but Holly overrode her, again.

“But as I was saying, you will need at least three days to adjust to even the first stage of enhanced signal speed, both in your own head and in your nervous system as a whole.” She scratched an itch behind her left ear. “I bet you’ll have at least three cardiac arrests before your brain and heart work out a new rhythm. Expect lots of hiccups, too.”

Tala’s face hardened. “Excuse me.”

“What did you expect? I’d leave your involuntary mental functions alone? That would be dangerous! Imagine enhancing only a portion of your mind. You’d be lucky not to fry within your own skull.”

“That is not what I—”

“And moving! I can’t wait to see you try to walk.”—She patted Tala’s arm. — “You’re young, though, that part should acclimate in a matter of minutes.”

“Hold on a mo—”

“Yes, this will be a work of art, my next masterpiece will reside on the canvas of your power. Lesser Mages will not be able to comprehend your majesty when I’m done.” She stood, in a rush, turning and striding away.

“Wait a minute!”

Holly ignored her but called over her shoulder. “Mistress Lyn, you’re her handler, right? Book her two jobs, leaving in a week, and returning as soon thereafter as possible. Make them safe, or I’ll never get my money. Bring her by the shop tomorrow evening.”

Lyn called a vague sound of affirmation.

Tala spun on the woman. “What do you mean, okay? I didn’t agree to anything!”

Lyn shrugged. “You won’t get a better deal, and honestly, I’d be surprised if any other inscriber would take you now that Holly is interested.”

Tala glowered. “You’ve tricked me.”

“Into the best inscriptions this side of heaven? Yes, yes, I did.” The clerk looked almost smug.

“She’s going to kill me! You heard her.”

“She won’t leave you dead. It’s not hard to restart a heart if it actually goes that far.”

Tala growled. “I don’t like being backed into things.”

“This is for your own good.”

“You didn’t understand any more of what she said than I did.”

“I didn’t need to. She has never failed to improve the magic of the Mages she works on. And I figured that she would be fascinated by your… unusualness.”

Tala’s eyes narrowed. “You said she was better than average.” A dawning sense of understanding was growing within her. “You knew that she’d be like this.”

Lyn quirked a smile. “And you knew that a fresh graduate shouldn’t really be getting a Mage’s rates.” She winked. “I’ve got to ensure we get your true worth from you, or I’ll look bad.”

Tala’s mouth dropped open. “You… knew?”

“Suspected. You know, one of the reasons a mageling is paid less is that their inscriptions, and their use of them, aren’t fully worked out yet.” She shrugged. “Mistress Holly will take care of that.” Lyn smiled, again, patting Tala on the shoulder. “I’ve just helped you become who you wanted me to believe you were.”

Tala groaned and put her head into her hands. “I suppose I deserved that.”

Lyn’s voice had just a hint of sympathy in it. “It won’t be so bad, Mistress Tala. Come on. Let me buy dessert. You can stay at my place tonight.”

Tala looked up hopefully. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. You’ve a busy week ahead.”

Reluctantly, Tala followed the other woman to a nearby food cart to select a consolation.

Continue the Story [Book 1 - Mageling]

The Wilds relentlessly reclaim all things. Humanity shelters within their ever-dying cities. Mages create the only path forward.

Tala had to fight tooth and nail in the Magic Academy to forge a path to power that was her own. She knows it’s her duty to use that power to serve humanity, defending them against the creatures of the untamable wilds. However, she skipped a few steps in her education, like apprenticing to someone who actually knows what they’re doing.

Now, Tala has to balance learning as fast as she can with paying off the veritable mountain of debt the Magic Academy dropped on her shoulders for the opportunity; not to mention staying alive.

Even though she should only be a Mageling, the world considers her a Mage. Bless the stars she directed most of her magic toward survival.

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 41 - To the Ending Grove

A note from JLMullins

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Tala was, by every metric that mattered, a Mage.

Sure, she still lacked some basic knowledge that she would have gained as a mageling, under a master, but she was getting by just fine.

Just fifteen days out from the academy, and she’d reached a level of recognition that would likely take her classmates years to achieve.

She had operated as a Dimensional Mage for the most recent caravan from Bandfast to Alefast, earning quite a bit of gold.

The other Mages she interacted with recognized her prowess and authority.

She had magic inscriptions that left her nearly invulnerable to most threats. I’ll even get the remainder of my inscriptions as soon as I get back to Bandfast.

And now, she had her own magical items to explore and exploit.

Inside her newly acquired dimensional storage, Tala reached out and placed her right hand back on one wall and pushed power out, directing it straight from her gate into the surface, just as she had with the first cargo wagon she’d tried to empower.

The wall greedily drank in the magic, and there didn’t seem to be any resistance due to her lack of a mental construct to shape the power.

Even more interesting. As she continued to feed the wall magic, she watched the hole overhead shift slightly to rest beside one wall and gray ladder rungs sprout from the wall, along with shelving around the opening itself.

“Now, this is amazing.” The changes she’d described were complete, so she cut the flow of power and pulled her hand away. As she did so, she felt a staggering, whole-body exhaustion set in. She felt nearly as bad as she had after creating her first Archon Star. What was that?

As she thought back, she realized that the lack of resistance had caused her to dramatically underestimate the amount of power she was funneling into the artifact. Instead of just taking power directly from her gate, she’d been pulling from the reserves around her keystone. She was used to draining water from a spout, and this had been like removing the top of the barrel and overturning it.

She groaned. “No fair. I’m trying to work with you, and you drain me?”

There wasn’t a response, per se, but the feeling of expectant waiting diminished to almost nothing.

“That’s not an apology, but I’ll take it.” Tala, you’re talking to your pouch… She groaned, again, and pulled herself up the ladder and out of the hole. With stiff movements, she placed all her carefully arranged piles onto the shelves surrounding the hole and drew the pouch closed, satisfied. She absently patted the side of the bag. “Not too bad.” Not helping. Sanity check, Tala.

She moved through some brief stretching to relieve the soreness, but she knew that her physical ache was just a manifestation of deep magical exhaustion.

She eyed the two items that she’d left out, aside from her clothing for tomorrow.

The vial containing her blood Archon Star and the artifact knife.

Tala, you’re tired. Don’t do anything foolish. She picked up the vial and opened the top, looking in on the drop of blood.

She held the knife in her other hand and looked back and forth between the two. What’s the worst that could happen?

Tala tipped the vial over, dripping the blood onto the pommel of the knife and directly into the small void in its magic.

As she’d hoped, the magic of the knife accepted the Archon Star with ease; the blood vanished as if she were confirming a contract.

She watched in fascination with her magesight as the artifact’s magic subtly shifted to incorporate her Archon Star. Physically, the knife darkened in color until the steel was almost black-gray. In the handle, more of the flecks took on a red tint, and those that were already red brightened in color.

Just as with the Archon Star itself, Tala was now aware of exactly where the knife was and its current condition: perfectly fine.

Then, she was struck with a hammer of weariness. She would have said it was soul deep, and that was more accurate than she’d like to admit, even to herself.

She dropped the knife and crawled lethargically to her bed before collapsing into blissful sleep.

* * *

Tala groaned into wakefulness, the room positively glowing around her.

She immediately felt her knife nearby and fumbled around on the bed, trying to find where she’d dropped it. Her hand met the hilt. There you are.

Lying there in her comfortable bed, she felt a flickering wave of tiredness threaten to pull her back into slumber, but she resisted. Nope! Time to get up, Tala.

She pushed herself upright, looking around the brightly lit room.

The artifact lights were still glowing, but their illumination was pale compared to the outside wall of her room, which positively radiated luminescence under the dawn’s light.

East-facing room, indeed. She glanced down at the knife and quirked a smile, setting it on her bedside table. It was good to have a weapon, ready to hand. If I’d had that under the wagon, I’d not have needed the soldier’s sword.

She hesitated at that. I had my camp knife. I did need a sword. Still, she felt like her new knife would have fit the bill, somehow. Strange.

She stood and arched backward, first working out the kinks of a night spent in an unnatural position. After that, she moved through her morning stretches, looking within herself to verify that each was targeting the correct muscle groups. That done, she moved through her exercises, deciding to add a couple at the end when she noticed several sectors of muscle that weren’t worked well enough.

That done, she turned towards the bath but hesitated. After a brief pause, she picked up her belt pouch and her sheathed knife, taking them with her into the bathroom.

After a quick bath—she was running later than usual, after all—she refreshed her salve, guided by the magic detector. Both the salve and detector she pulled from the pouch, and both were returned.

Finally dry and ready, she let out a long sigh. Last time I have to put these on. She pulled out her blood-stained clothing and pulled them on.

They weren’t precisely filthy, but they were far from clean. The seamstress should have something better this afternoon. She needed to move quickly if she was going to get to eat breakfast, swing by the blacksmith, and get to the ending grove that Trent had marked for her before noon. That’s what I get for sleeping late, I suppose.

Dressed, with her knife and pouch at her belt, she surveyed the room. There was nothing of hers remaining. I’ll be back. Still, it didn’t feel like her room, not permanently. That’s good; it isn’t.

She left, heading back to the dining hall, where she was able to grab a quick, hearty, and portable breakfast, foregoing the huge spread in favor of a less awesome but more ‘grab-and-go’ meal. They would only let her have two cups of coffee, so she guzzled those before departing.

Cloth sack of food safely tucked in her pouch, she strode from the inn and towards the blacksmith.

It was a bright morning, and even after her routine tasks, it was still somewhat early. There were citizens walking about, but not nearly as many as there would be soon enough. She pulled one piece of her breakfast out after another, eating them with gusto to sate her all-too-familiar hunger.

I really need to get better about monitoring my expenditure of power… Using magic didn’t directly affect her hunger, but the mental and physical strain of such definitely contributed to her appetite.

The blacksmith was waiting for her when she arrived, and she paid him the additional silver for prompt delivery of her tools.

The pliers easily vanished into the bag, but she had a bit of a comical time maneuvering the fruit picker, on its 10-foot pole, into her pouch. She ended up having to angle it quite extremely to allow it to fit well enough for her to draw the bag closed.

“Thank you, Pedrin.” The poor man had watched with obviously subdued mirth at her struggles.

“Our pleasure, Mistress. I hope that you return to us again, for any of your smithing needs.”

“I believe I just might. Good day.”

“Good day, Mistress.”

Without further delay, she strode towards the easternmost gate, as that was the one closest to the grove she sought. The streets were beginning to get busy, and the sky overhead was becoming a true, pale sky-blue as day took firm hold at last.

She grinned to herself, licking the last of her breakfast from her fingers. Today will be a good day.

There was a short line to exit the gate, and she waited patiently… for the most part.

It took the better part of a quarter-hour to reach the front of the line.

“Name, reason for departing, and time of expected return?”

“Mage Tala, on a personal errand, and late afternoon.”

The guard frowned. “I don’t see you on any jobs list for outside the city.”

“As I said, I’ve a personal errand.”

The guard’s frown deepened. “But… you’re not on the lists.”

Tala took a deep breath in through her nose before puffing it out in a quick, calming exhale. “Guardsman, are you meaning to imprison me within this city?”

The man blinked. “What? No! Mistress, I would never—”

“Then, note that I have departed, on a personal errand, and will return well before nightfall.”

“We can’t send anyone out after you if you don’t return.”

She gave him a flat look. “I didn’t ask you to.”

He looked more than a little uncomfortable. Thankfully, a man who seemed to be his commanding officer stepped forward. He must have heard the end of the discussion because he bowed to Tala. “Mistress, my apologies. You are, of course, free to leave the city. Thank you for registering your departure with us. We will notify the”—he glanced at the slate the other guard held—“Caravan Guild of your journey, and we will relay any communications from them upon your return, after lunch.”

Tala blinked at him. The Caravan Guild… Rust! “Oh! My… I completely forgot that I didn’t pack a lunch. I’ll be back, shortly. When I return, do I need to check in with you, or can I simply walk out?”

“You may depart at your leisure.”

“Thank you, and thank you for your timely reminder! I’d hate to have gone hungry.”

She turned and strode away, as fast as she was able while maintaining a modicum of dignity. It took her another half-hour to reach the workyard near the city’s northern gate, where she found twenty cargo-slots awaiting her empowerment.

The foreman appeared to check a watch as she arrived, but he seemed satisfied by what he saw because he smiled and waved. “Mistress! Are these set up to your satisfaction?”

She gave them a quick glance before nodding. “They are indeed. Thank you.”

She quickly moved through the now-familiar mental and magical motions of empowering the cargo-slots, though the doubling of their number left her feeling a bit spent by the end. I could have gone slower, and that would have been easier. But she needed to go.

She verified that the foreman didn’t need anything further from her, and she turned to stride purposely back towards the eastern gate.

All told, her forgetfulness had cost her more than an hour, but she thanked the heavens that she’d been reminded before departing. That would have been very bad.

She waved to the guards as she walked out through the eastern gatehouse and threw her arms wide to bask in the sun streaming down upon her as she stepped free of the city.

The magic in the air hit her like a cool wave, revitalizing her and filling her with energy. She didn’t precisely absorb magic from the air, but she did feel it ease the strain on her body, in ways that she didn’t quite understand.

Always more to learn.

She also noticed a strange pulling that manifested in the magic around her, causing it to distort and seem to flow into her belt pouch. Recharging, after being in the relatively low magic of the city? It was an interesting idea, but it was not her current focus.

She pulled out the map as she walked, verifying her memory and checking for landmarks. As the first part of her path mainly took her across land that had been within the city at some point in the past, the ground was incredibly level and smooth, making for an easy, quick pace.

As she walked, she tried to note her balance, posture, and breathing without allowing them to dominate her thoughts. She nudged each of them in the right direction, again without forcing the issue. Little steps, Tala. Little steps.

She kept her senses sharp, ready to retreat or fight if any creature approached her, but she didn’t see any.

Make no mistake, there was plenty of magic in the region—and even quite a few small, arcanous creatures—but nothing that would be a threat to a child, let alone her. That’s odd. Maybe another group swept through before me?

She had left a bit later than most people she’d seen exiting the eastern gate.

Even so, she didn’t allow herself to grow lax. Her eyes were ever-moving, and she tried to be as inconspicuous as possible.

She was just over an hour outside the city, and more than halfway to the grove, when she felt flickers of dimensional magic and turned to find the terror bird regarding her from a dozen paces away.

Lovely, just lovely.

The bird currently stood just shorter than her, its heavily built body likely three or four times her weight.

They stared at each other for a long time. “I wish you could talk.”

The bird shook itself like a dog shedding water.

“I suppose that means ‘no,’ but I already knew you couldn’t talk.”

The bird didn’t react.

“What do you want from me?”

It bent down and mimed tearing a bit of meat from a kill.

“You want meat?”

The bird bobbed its head.

“Can’t you kill something yourself?”

It settled down on its haunches, not quite sitting but clearly at its ease.

“You don’t want to…” Tala groaned. “I can’t possibly feed you enough for you to survive.”

It shook again.

“You don’t want me to feed you enough to survive?”

Shaking.

She groaned again. “You just like the taste of the jerky…”

Bobbing.

She let out a sigh. “Will you go away if I give you some?”

The bird hesitated, then gave a small bob.

“You just lied to me. You can’t even talk, and you lied to me!” She found a grin spreading across her face despite herself.

The bird shook itself, but there wasn’t much intensity behind the movement.

“You know, you can’t follow me forever.”

The bird lifted slightly into what was obviously an aggressive crouch.

“I’m not challenging you, bird. I’m stating a fact. You can’t get into cities, and I will be in many cities. You know—” She’d been about to say that she wasn’t the only human with jerky, but she realized that telling a dimensional terror bird that it could get tasty treats from humans it considered helpless was not the best plan. She scratched her forehead. “Fine. Fine! I’ll give you some.”

The bird stood upright, clearly perking up at the idea. It shifted back and forth from foot to foot as it waited.

Tala fished out a big chunk of jerky and contemplated for a moment. I’m not letting it get close to my hand, even if it can’t actually bite off my fingers. On a whim, she pulled back and tossed it off to the side.

A ripple of magic passed over the terror bird, and it shrunk to the size of a large cat. A second pulse caused it to vanish from where it had been and reappear alongside the still-flying jerky, which it snapped from the air. A third pulse of magic took the bird and jerky from her sight altogether.

She didn’t feel any other points of dimensional power, so it had moved out of her magesight range. The entire process, shrinking and transporting twice, had taken the bird less than an eyeblink.

That is a terrifying creature… I can’t continue to call it ‘bird.’ It needs a name. Something else to think on.

She sighed and turned to continue her trek through the lush wilds, towards the distant grove.

* * *

Almost an hour later, she had the distinct impression that the bird was back, even though she hadn’t sensed any dimensional magic. Following a self-destructive whim, she fished out a second large hunk of jerky and randomly flung it to the side.

Twenty feet from her, the jerky encountered a brief flicker of dimensional power and vanished.

She hadn’t seen the bird at all.

“You know,” she called out, “I can’t just feed you for free. There has to be some give and take, here.”

There wasn’t a response, and she didn’t have any way of knowing if the creature had heard her. It doesn’t really matter. I’m talking to a bird.

She crested a small rise, small enough to not have been depicted on Trent’s map, and she saw the grove of ending trees before her.

They were starkly beautiful in their loneliness. This used to be part of the farmland around Alefast.

Unlike in other clusters of trees that she’d passed, no other foliage grew near them, and every tree looked exactly the same. Well, not exactly the same. They were clearly all the same species, though.

I wonder why the one we passed on our way here was alone, but these seem to be living in harmony. They were often close enough for the branches to touch, and their unnatural swaying caused the limbs to click or rasp together, creating a constant undercurrent of fairly disturbing sound. So that’s what I was hearing. The sound had been growing louder on this portion of the trek.

Tala glanced down at herself. She was not fond of the state of her clothing, but she had no interest in having to trudge back to the city naked. I’ve still got the shirt the terror bird ripped open and the one with a hole in the chest from where Brand stabbed me.

Her pants were in a little better state, thankfully. The blood-stained shirt was her most intact shirt, but she could work with the cut and stabbed ones if necessary.

Her belt, however, that she wasn’t willing to lose.

Toward that end, she decided to use her iron salve on the belt and belt pouch. She reasoned that the belt pouch’s magic, like her own, was below the surface, so it wouldn’t be negatively affected by the salve. In addition, the opening would still be free to draw in magic, as it had continued to do throughout her trek.

That decided, she opened the pouch and found two surprises.

First, the fruit picker was clearly standing upright, instead of at the crazed angle she’d finagled it into in order to close it. When she peeked inside, it appeared as if a hole, just bigger than the handle, had opened up, going deep enough for the entire lower portion of the tool to fit in, allowing the basket and hooks at the top to rest comfortably within reach, while still being out of the way. “Huh. That’s pretty neat.”

Second, the items she’d placed on the upper shelf now each seemed to have somewhat customized resting places, allowing for more secure storage and easier access.

“I think I’m going to like you, bag.” She decided that the storage’s ability to mold itself was likely directly connected to how much power it could draw in, so her being outside the city had allowed it to shift more easily. “Seems that feeding you magic is going to be a wise decision.” It can’t possibly be a bad idea to give power to a semi-sapient, dimension-warping item. Not at all.

Changes noted, Tala got to work. She pulled out her small glue bottle and painted her palms with the flexible substance. As soon as the paste had dried on her palms and the inside faces of her fingers, Tala pulled out an iron salve bar, working the salve into the leather of her belt and the outside of the dimensional belt pouch. That done, she placed her knife into the pouch and pulled out the fruit picker.

With deliberate care, she worked iron salve into the entirety of the ten-foot wooden handle of the tool. Patience in the present removes frustration in the future.

Her work finally complete, she stood, ready to approach the ending grove.

She wore her blood-stained shirt, and she’d changed into the pants that were similarly speckled. Her belt held only the belt pouch, and her hands held only the fruit picker. Let’s do this.

She walked forward and spotted the first bunch of endingberries on the closest tree.

She carefully maneuvered her fruit picker up and used the hooks to pull the berries free.

As she did so, several of the nearby branches swayed to bump the wooden handle of the tool. Thankfully, the iron salve protected it just fine, and nothing came of the interactions save brief, impotent flashes of magical power.

She moved methodically around the edges of the grove, trying to stay out of reach of the moving branches. She had only gotten the fruit picker’s basket about half-full when a tree moved much more than any previously had.

She had no warning as a branch descended and impacted her back.

There wasn’t nearly enough force to harm her, or even knock her off balance, but the tree’s magic was still imparted.

A ripple of destructive, disintegrating power flowed across her skin but couldn’t penetrate her own application of iron salve.

Her shirt did not fare so well, and it puffed to dust, falling to the ground around her.

Tala groaned, looking down at herself. That’s just great.

She had a decision to make. Was she going to continue harvesting half-naked, or would she risk another shirt?

The one the bird tore up wouldn’t be too much of a loss.

She stepped away from the grove and pulled that shirt out, putting it on quickly. There.

As she looked back towards the grove, she paused. Not worth it. She removed her belt, placing that within her pouch, and then she tucked the pouch beside a very prominent rock. Much safer to leave it here.

Moving back to the edge of the tree line, she was even more careful as she continued to fill her basket, dodging the increasingly numerous, wildly moving limbs.

Finally, she’d filled the little basket of her fruit picker, so she withdrew to a nearby boulder, which was poking out of a rather lush field.

She retrieved the dimensional pouch from the base of the rock and fished out one of the jugs, placing it securely between her legs on the rock. Then, with the pole leaning against the rock so the basket was in easy reach, she went to work.

In quick succession, she would take up an endingberry, twist it apart, and drop the two halves into the open jug. The seed would go into her mouth, where she would suck off the juice, enjoying the building buzz of power. Then, she would take the seed and hurtle it back into the ending grove, where it would land among the roots of its ancestral kin.

To her surprise, the seeds of these endingberries did not build towards destruction nearly as quickly as those of the lone tree in the wilds had. As a result, she had almost a minute to work with each berry, if she so chose, leaving it a far less dangerous process.

Maybe this is why there weren’t any other trees around that one? None of the seeds could get far enough away for the seedlings to establish… It was an interesting thought. Though, the closeness of the trees in the grove before her made that an unlikely reason.

She’d considered keeping the ending seeds, as she had those from that singular tree, but in the end, she realized that she didn’t want to be carrying around what amounted to a massive box of destruction.

Trent would approve of her decision, she assured herself, and that helped make the choice all the firmer.

Many of the endingberries had retained their stems. For those, she used the iron pliers to help remove them before she processed the berries like the others. In the end, the single basket from the fruit picker allowed her to fill the jug somewhere between a quarter and a third full.

Alright. Now, we’re getting somewhere. And back to work she went.

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Noelle

Archons:

Liban D., Jan Jakubcik, Todd Gagel, Ethan Cruikshank, StickyP, Thom Dimmock, Bast, Archit Goel, Taliesin , Levi Cox, Derik Botha, BtBurns , Sylvain Arguillere, Kai , Enif , Haakon Pedersen, ShotoGun, foldedcorners, Torauth, Scyfe , peter mattoon, Vishnu Gopal, Isaac Deroche, Travis McHenry, George , Cypernetic, Sid Labite, Manusc, William Mark Ambler, Ted Witbrodt, Tyler, David Otis, Sekander , Alice Gonzales, Nathan Impey, Jake Thomas, RepossessedSoul , Robert P, Darkdej , William Francom, Gull, Samuel McCarren, Drake Morgan, Robin Richards, Mark Mansilla, Primordi, Onill007 , Bloodorange17 , Paul Becker, Randy Klein, Justin Reagan, Krishnayash, Katarak, Asael Sklar, DT , Jeff091 , Ian Radspinner, Mac , Epikos, Dawson Anderson, PaleMire, rwn , sethorizer, Z. Cs., MrAcerulez, Tim Ferguson, RageBone , just_a_potato , Tabletsalt , Jo, A Avery P., Ð°Ð½Ð´Ñ€ÐµÐ¹ Ð¨, Arkeus, Embessor, George Hicken, Peter , matthew bird, TheLazerCat , Shakez44, someguy , Damian Zhou, RottenTangerine, Exxator , Budgie, Ceeney, Paul Rettig, Christian Kenney, book_nerd , Erling Egilsson, Frank By Estenstad, Tzucaza ., Colin Reed, Archivist0 , TorbjÃ¸rn Haugstad, SomethingWicked , Jabberwocky , Ryan Naquin, Reodude, Bryan Kane, Kristof Dohrmann, Mr. Bigglesworth, Woronve, Tyresse, Samuel Allen, Disclancer, Isaac Boyles, Dominic French, Hazza Vanderbyl, Miles Pettey, David Jeltema III, Tanmania, Jim Smith, Tarun Elankath, Arc4203, Austin Woodard, Thomas, J03MAN , dave hutch, Joey Nguyen, a, James Walsh, Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, Yenin , Mason Erickson, Jeremy Engelberg, Harry Williams, Dave Caspers, Nemerle , Matt M, Devarya Raman, FastFoodNation, Kyle Kampo, Ilundihl, Dhruv Garg, Darcy Lessard-Patola, Axathero, Alpenmann, Hibou Ronchon, lightzeus10, Enaz the great, GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, DANTE, Jason Roper, Dan Weiss, Moritz Hauff, Dax, Joshua Hutton, V , MePe , Azure , cm123 , Thaco4 , Haggai Klorman, Seth Richter, Misha , Sean McCrohan, Logan , T.E. N., felix , Kiernan Lynch, Sebastian Viller, Daniel K, BossDawg, Pigeon F, Al, Colin Ford, Arakhil, Rutger Boll, Redbeard , ryan ukeiley, Oxylus, Timothy Alexander, nugitoBambino, Ã˜yvind Birknes Langhelle, Haran , Viria , Lerous, Eugene , Ryan Silveira, TheFool, Nicholas Anile, Anthony Melano, Thomas Van Roy, Tom Clough-Macready, Alexey , Matt M, Jackson Andrews, Alex Foster, william wallace, PatronTurtle , devarian , Jonathan Brewster , Eric

Mages:

Rheklr , Adam Richards, PsiBear , Setaria, Seri, Mathias Schwendimann, Jackson Ragland, Matthew Werth, Sharrod Brathwaite, Paradox, Christopher Crews, M1styczny, Cody Landis, Werkrat , Ryan Kemner, Alex Weatbrook, PortlandPhil , Alphabetical, Will C, Rick Brandon, tlove, Mark Zhang, Brad Babnik, RotWeisseWaffel, Sean Carter, Almost Famous, brett thomas

Magelings:

Desertdoe , Chad Lowe, Chevron8 , no, Michael kim, Matt DiMeo

Inscribed:

N. A.

Chapter: 42 - Well… That’s New

A note from JLMullins

For those who are interested, our discord is live!

Discord link: https://discord.gg/SfTUv2vn9z

Enjoy

Over the next hour, Tala filled the fruit picker seven more times, each time moving back to the rock, or another convenient seat, to process her harvest.

During that time, she lost another shirt and two pairs of pants.

With one of each left, she was forced to continue her work without other covering.

It wasn’t unpleasant in the cool weather, but it definitely left her feeling like every tree, rock, or bush held some hidden watcher.

She filled both glass containers completely and ate a picker-basket full of the berries for lunch, supplemented by the travel food she’d purchased in Bandfast. No need to let this go to waste.

She drank a lot of water, though it did little against her building headache. Is this from lack of coffee? It’s probably from too little coffee. She grumbled unpleasantly about the stinginess of inns.

Her lunch now finished, she looked down at herself and noted that her fingers were stained a near maroon, and there were some drip stains on her chest as well. She could only imagine what her face looked like if enough had gathered to drip down off her chin. She had tried to be careful, knowing that every drop of juice held power, but there was only so much she could do. She let out a resigned sigh. Oh well. I suppose I’ll bathe when I get back to the city.

Attempts at rationality aside, she was quite irritated at the waste of power that the juice represented, and she resolved to be even more careful going forward. Though, I don’t really know how I could be… Such a resolution, without a plan, was probably doomed to failure.

She pulled out the keg she’d purchased and set about emptying the initial containers into it. They filled it quite nicely, just as she’d hoped. She set the keg’s lid in place and pulled out a wooden mallet.

She’d purchased the mallet in Bandfast, along with several other random odds and ends, to help round out her options if unexpected things happened. As she’d hoped, it had turned out to be a wise choice.

It was a bit more difficult than she’d expected to properly set the keg’s lid, but she got it done, mentally referencing the barrel seller’s advice and instructions. Glad I asked, or this would have gone a lot more poorly…

With the full keg again stashed in her belt pouch, she had two empty jugs, ready to fill.

Here we go. Once more, into the grove.

Without clothing to protect, she was a bit less careful in this initial step, favoring speed over safety, and she was brushed, struck, and poked at least half a hundred times over the next hour. They never seemed to reach her skin, so she didn’t pay the brushes to much attention.

Her speed paid off, though, as she filled the two jugs and ate her absolute fill of the endingberries.

No wonder no one harvests these. I’d be dead a dozen times over. A hundred, more likely. From her experience, only her iron salve had kept her intact.

She withdrew for the final time, settled down on a comfortably flat boulder, and finished processing the last harvest. Then, she stored the fruit picker in the convenient hole prepared within her belt pouch. Is hole the right term? Carrying case doesn’t really work. Mount? Slot? It didn’t really matter.

She absently licked her fingers clean, relishing the tiny influx of power added to the storm within her with each drop. It had been a very productive outing. Not without its costs, however. She’d lost two shirts, three pairs of pants, and quite a bit of hair. She reached up and felt her patchy scalp with a sigh. She had not come through completely unscathed. Still, I’m alive, and there is no way I would have been without my peculiarities.

She had kept her hair growth inscriptions from activating, knowing that she could easily exhaust them if she let them trigger for every disintegrated chunk of hair. The salve that I worked into my hair helped some, but not as much as I’d hoped.

That said, she was ready to restore herself to a state that didn’t resemble someone newly recovered from a ravaging disease. Tala was about to let the magic loose when she had a realization. I’ve no idea if it will grow all my hair the proper length to recover from baldness, or if it will feather the growth so that the result is correct.

She knew that the inscriptions would restore her hair, but like most acts of magic, she didn’t know exactly how.

Well, there’s no time like the present to learn. So, she allowed power to flow through the activation scripts in her scalp and above her eyes.

Her hair did grow only as much as needed, and she felt the tingling power of one of her eyebrows returning to form. The other was miraculously untouched. Good to know. It isn’t wasteful. Though, in truth, she had expected nothing less from Holly’s work.

She regarded the two jugs alongside the keg, and decided that she wanted to contain and maintain the magic as much as possible.

She’d already worked iron salve into the outside of the keg, so she was able to place that back in her pouch with a happy smile.

The jugs were a different problem, given that they were glass and couldn’t really absorb the salve.

In the end, she pulled out two medium cloth sacks, turning them inside out and coating the insides with her salve before inverting them once more and placing a jug within each. I’ll have to buy another keg if I mean to store these longer-term… She’d been cognizant enough to finish filling her iron flask, and that was comfortably stored alongside the keg, its iron the only containment that vessel needed.

Now, the jugs were bound in iron salve, so the magic in the berries shouldn’t fade too quickly—if at all.

She felt positively brimming with power from the berries that she’d eaten. Unlike before, when she’d had her palms uncovered along with her eyes as possible escapes for the power, now only her eyes were open, and her inscriptions were actively working to keep power from flowing through that weak point.

Thankfully, those were gold inscriptions, like those of her passive enhancements, and should easily last until her return to Holly. The idea had been to prevent hostile magic from getting into her through her eyes, not escaping, however, and she could feel, and even see through her magesight, wisps of power slowly leaking from her open eyes.

She blessed the stars that none of the flailing branches had ever caught her in the eye; she wasn’t sure her inscriptions would prevent the entry of magic that was physically thrust into her eyeball. That would have been a disaster.

Her palms were not open now because she’d left the glue in place after treating the keg and fruit picker handle, earlier, and a healthy coating of iron salve had melded with the paste through the course of her work.

The power had nowhere to go except what little could escape from her eyes, and she felt it settling in within her, strengthening her, and adding weight behind her enhancements.

If she were being honest, she felt as if she could stand before a siege cannon and take the blast. Thankfully, such weapons of war hadn’t been seen by humanity in centuries, but they were still a subject of fascination for Tala. The idea that she could withstand one was intoxicating. And she found herself basking in the feeling of power, in the sunlight, in the ambient magic swirling around her, and in the cool breeze playing across her bare skin.

Woah, girl. Focus. You are standing, naked, in the Wilds, acting like some crazed nature sprite. Tala opened her eyes and let her arms fall back to her sides. Better.

The sun was past its zenith, and the afternoon was waning around her.

With a sigh of contentment for a job well done, Tala pulled out a pair of almost pristine pants, by her usual standards, and the shirt with the single repaired stab hole over her left breast. It was a much nicer shirt than she’d been wearing, but the stitched hole was obvious. She was not a practiced stitcher. Seamstress? Tailor? Probably didn’t matter.

She shrugged to herself. Either the seamstress will come through, or Brand’s tailor will make me some new clothing.

As she turned to go, she felt a twinge, which somehow reminded her of her knife. Right, I should put that back on my belt, so it’s ready to hand. She stuck her hand into her dimensional storage to search for the knife and found it immediately in her hand. Huh, I guess I instinctively knew where it was.

She felt a bit of tiredness wash over her, but it wasn’t anything worth considering deeply. She hadn’t truly stopped all morning, with even her short breaks filled with work. It made sense that she’d feel some weariness in a moment’s pause.

She shrugged as she fastened the blade to hang opposite her belt pouch, balancing out her belt nicely.

Tala turned her steps back towards the city gate but paused when she came to the same rise that had first let her see the grove below. I didn’t take even half a percent of the fruit that’s down there…

It wouldn’t be hard to come back tomorrow. She could buy a few more kegs and spend a bit more time collecting. The power thundering within her was a potent argument for such a course of action.

That’s a good default plan. I’ll keep my options open, though. That decided, she turned her back on the grove and headed back towards the city.

As she walked, she followed her usual routine: reading, taking notes, sketching, and otherwise contemplating the myriad ideas and theories she’d come across.

For one new addition, she added the occasional bit of entertainment; every so often, she would toss a small bit of jerky in a random direction and watch it vanish in a flicker of dimensional energy. In for a copper.

As to her musings, she used her note-taking to help herself organize her thoughts and ideas surrounding difficult concepts.

A central figure in her thoughts was her knife.

The connection she felt with it was strong—much stronger than what she’d felt with her Archon Star—but it still felt like a thin thread of what it could and should be. If I want to strengthen the connection, do I give the knife power, or do I forge more stars and unify them with it?

More to the point, though, what would that gain her? Why would she want that connection strengthened?

The belt pouch had continued to siphon energy from the countryside as she’d gone about her tasks, showing no signs of slowing, but the knife hadn’t shown any signs of such. Is it storing up for lean times? Making up for time spent in the city? She had no basis for comparison. I can ask Artia’s husband tonight.

She hesitated. And what is the knife doing? Another question she couldn’t answer. Another thing to investigate, I suppose.

There was something else that required more immediate attention, however. No matter what she chose to do with another Archon Star, she knew that she needed to make more. Grediv had all but commanded her to make one vastly more powerful than she’d ever managed before.

Towards that end, she began building an Archon Star in her finger, just as she had the second and third times, being sure to hold the mental construct to which she slowly added power. Even so, she still contemplated the knife, occasionally drawing it from its sheath for examination, inspecting its magics more closely.

She was careful, her few experiences of exhausting herself magically lending her caution. She had no desire to lapse into sleep, alone in the Wilds.

Even so, she pushed herself, treating her magic as a muscle and seeking the balance between a comfortable strain and overexertion as she moved the power from her gate, through herself, to concentrate within her finger. It was an incredibly difficult balance to maintain.

As she walked, she began to sweat with her internal strain, but it was a good sweat, one that spoke of progress well earned.

It took her two hours to walk back to the city gate, and by the sun in the sky, it was still another couple of hours before sunset. I can make it to the gate. She held her focus as she approached and was greeted by the guard on duty.

“Hello! Can I get your name, please?” He seemed a bit hesitant, and he was staring at her mouth.

What is his issue? “Mistress Tala.” She kept herself from panting but only barely. Surprisingly, Adam’s breathing pattern was incredibly useful for just that.

“Mistress Tala… Mistress Tala.” The man was searching through a list, eyes still occasionally flicking up to glance at her. “Ah! There you are. Welcome back. There are no messages for you.” He still seemed a bit hesitant. After a moment, he seemed to come to a decision. “Did you notice any creatures or combat while outside the walls today?”

Tala frowned. I just want to get through. “No.” She almost stopped there, but her innate curiosity got the better of her. “Why?”

The guard shrugged, marking something down. “Others have reported empty battlefields, places torn up by various types of magic or painted with blood, too dark to be human.” He gave her a meaningful look. “In any case, we’ve not had any reported encounters with beasts, arcane or magical, east of the city today.”

Oh! The berry juice stains. I wonder if it looks like I’ve been eating raw meat… monster meat? She cleared her throat. “Ahh… Thank you.”

He gave her another searching look, then shrugged, dismissing her. “Thank you, as well.”

I suppose it’s no crime to hunt creatures, and even if I was doing it, my reasons are my own. Or some such… With no further comment, Tala walked into the cool shade of the gatehouse. I can make it a block or two. She came out the other side, still focused on the Archon Star building in her left ring finger.

Her magesight focus was entirely within herself, homed in on the spell-form steadily growing within her blood. She had set all other thoughts aside, trusting to the general safety of a city in broad daylight.

As she took the final step of those first two blocks within the city, she glanced around. I can go another two.

So, she made her way back to the inn; once each goal was reached, she set another just a bit further. She maintained her concentration and continued to funnel as much power as she could without overtaxing herself.

In truth, it felt like carrying the heaviest weight her body could manage without injury as she continued to push for just one more block.

Then, almost unexpectedly, she was in her room. That’s it. I’ve got to get it out.

She fumbled at her belt, pulling the knife so that she could prick her finger.

Don’t let the inscriptions activate. She diverted a small fraction of her thoughts to her finger’s spell-forms, pulling power away from those intended to keep her skin whole, just as she did every time she needed to confirm a contract or transaction. Done.

She also needed to tame the power of the endingberries, racing through her system in quantities vastly outstripping those she’d worked with before. She had to draw it away from the site of the cut, or they would prevent her skin from being pierced. Also done.

Tala lifted the knife and paused. I’m an idiot; I’m not thinking clearly. Her focus was split so many ways, and she knew it was close to breaking. I’ve got to move fast. With careful motions, she sat and pulled out an iron vial. I almost just let this drop onto the floor. What would that have even done?

She held her finger over the open vial and carefully slit her skin, allowing the drop of blood to flow out. She maintained full control over the power until it left her body.

As the drop appeared, three things happened in quick succession.

First, her magesight became outward-focused again, and she saw the power within the Archon Star. Not bad, Tala. It was at least as potent as the one she’d placed into her knife the night before, and that had been the combination of multiple efforts. Not bad at all.

Second, as the drop fell free of her finger, her inscriptions activated behind it to close the small cut flawlessly.

Last, her once again free mind realized something. Oh… the knife.

The Archon Star, forged within blood, seemed to sense its like nearby. As it fell, its path changed drastically and instantly.

The drop ticked sideways, briefly stopping against the handle of her knife, which was still held firmly in her grip. Even with that instantaneous pause, there was no time to act, and in less than a blink, the minuscule drop of blood had rolled down the handle and into the pommel, precisely where the other star had gone the night before.

Well, that choice is gone, then.

The knife quivered in her hand, a ripple moving through it from tip to butt, and after the tremor passed, she was a bit surprised by the changes.

The blade’s color had returned to a more natural steel gray, though there was depth to the color that reminded her of the difference between red paint and a ruby. The handle’s material now resembled nothing so much as a night sky, where every star was the deep, vital red of liquid blood.

Give a knife a blood star, and you get what you gave? She felt something deep within her chest like the sadness of missing a friend or the joy of hugging a loved one, and at the same time, she felt a resonance within the weapon she still held. Instinctively, she knew that her bond to the knife had deepened, for better or worse. Thankfully, there was no increase in her exhaustion. Apparently, increasing a bond didn’t have the same tiring effects as creating one—well, aside from the strain of creating the star used for such.

Grediv said that the Archon Star would allow me to exert control outside of myself. She could already push magic into something that she was holding, so she took the knife’s sheath from her belt, placed the knife in it, and placed both items on the nightstand beside her bed.

How far can it work? She still felt the knife, but not as if it were in her hand. The feeling was more like how she could reliably point at the sun while standing in its light.

She stepped back until a good ten feet of space was between her and the knife. Then, trusting her own instincts, she gathered up a bit of power and pushed it towards the knife.

It was as easy as moving power towards or away from inscriptions within herself. Easier, in fact, if that was possible.

The knife drank in the magic thirstily, and Tala cut off the flow. Can I draw power back?

She tried, using the same sort of techniques, but got nothing. Hmmm… Can I move it?

She tried to shift the power within the knife, but it was like trying to move a pen by thinking at it: utterly ineffective and headache-inducing.

This is getting nowhere. I can’t move power out of it or within it; all I can do is give it power. I don’t really see a point to that… She sighed.

But, Tala, you can give it power… at a distance! She snorted a laugh. That’s true, and unique, I suppose. She smiled. It’s something.

The seamstress wasn’t likely to be by for another hour or so, then she had dinner with Artia, Brand, and Artia’s husband. What was his name? She hadn’t met the man, but Artia had spoken fondly of him, and he seemed like he might have some of the answers she sought. It was like Adam, but not… Adrill! That was it. She smiled in satisfaction at remembering.

So, she had a bit of time before the seamstress and dinner with Artia, Adrill, and Brand. How to spend the time?

Tala decided that she should go buy one more keg, at the very least, as well as the tools to tap the one she had, for when that time came. Maybe a larger iron jug or flask? There were too many things to spend money on. She’d have to consider it on the way. She was almost to the door when the light pressure on her back came to the forefront of her thinking.

Right! The knife. She turned to go back and pick it up, reaching out in preparation, even while still across the room.

In that instant, she felt a tugging, and the knife, sheath and all, zipped through the air to stop lightly in her hand, the handle perfectly situated in her grip for instantaneous use. A pulse of tiredness followed as if she had just sprinted across the room, lifted a heavy crate, and sprinted back, crate in hand.

Tala stared down at the knife, now firmly in her grasp. “Well… that’s new.”

A note from JLMullins

Advanced Chapters are available on Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/MillennialMage

A special thanks to MM's patrons! [Note: Patron list was pulled the night before posting. I apologize to those that missed.]

Transcendent:

Noelle

Archons:

a, A Avery P., Al, Alex Foster, Alexey , Alice Gonzales, Alpenmann, Anthony Melano, Arakhil, Arc4203, Archit Goel, Archivist0 , Arkeus, Asael Sklar, Austin Woodard, Axathero, Azure , Bast, B'eliar An'Zoth Lord of Daze, Blacktide , Bloodorange17 , book_nerd , BossDawg, Bryan Kane, BtBurns , Budgie, Ceeney, Chris Fox, Christian Kenney, cm123 , Colin Ford, Colin Reed, Cypernetic, Ð°Ð½Ð´Ñ€ÐµÐ¹ Ð¨, Damian Zhou, Dan , Dan Weiss, Daniel K, DANTE, Darcy Lessard-Patola, Darkdej , Dave Caspers, dave hutch, David Jeltema III, David Otis, Dawson Anderson, Dax, Derik Botha, devarian , Devarya Raman, Dhruv Garg, Disclancer, Dominic French, Drake Morgan, Embessor, Enaz the great, Enif , Epikos, Eric , Erling Egilsson, Ethan Cruikshank, Eugene , Exxator , FastFoodNation, felix , Fiddle Sticks, foldedcorners, Frank By Estenstad, Froyo Baggins, GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Geoff, George , George Hicken, Giantorange , Gull, Haakon Pedersen, Haggai Klorman, Haran , Harry Williams, Hazza Vanderbyl, Helge, Hibou Ronchon, HjÃ¶rtur Ãžorgeirsson, Ian Radspinner, Ilundihl, Isaac Boyles, Isaac Deroche, J03MAN , Jabberwocky , Jackson Andrews, Jake Thomas, James Walsh, Jan Jakubcik, Jason Roper, JC, Jeff Gault, Jeff091 , Jeremy Engelberg, Jeremy McMahon, Jim Smith, Jo, Joey Nguyen, Jonathan Brewster , Jonathan Timm, Joshua Hutton, just_a_potato , Justin Reagan, Kai , Katarak, Ken Williams , Kiernan Lynch, Krishnayash, Kristof Dohrmann, Kyle frasch, Kyle Kampo, Lerous, Levi Cox, Liban D., lightzeus10, Logan , Mac , Manusc, Mark Mansilla, Mark the Gamer, Mason Erickson, Matt M, Matt M, matthew, matthew bird, Max Gustavson, MePe , Michael Holloway, Mikkel Poulsen, Miles Pettey, Misha , Moritz Hauff, Mr. Bigglesworth, MrAcerulez, Nathan Impey, NaudhizSowilo, Nemerle , Nicholas Anile, Nikolaj Rosander Madsen, noah stevens, nugitoBambino, Onill007 , Oxylus, PaleMire, PatronTurtle , Paul Becker, Paul Rettig, Peter , peter mattoon, Pigeon F, Primordi, RageBone , Randy Klein, Redbeard , Reodude, RepossessedSoul , Robert Allen, Robert P, Robin Richards, RottenTangerine, Rutger Boll, rwn , Ryan Naquin, Ryan Silveira, ryan ukeiley, Samuel Allen, Samuel McCarren, Scyfe , Sean McCrohan, Sebastian Viller, Sekander , Seth Richter, sethorizer, Shakez44, ShotoGun, Sid Labite, someguy , SomethingWicked , StickyP, Sylvain Arguillere, T.E. N., Tabletsalt , Taliesin , Tanmania, Tarun Elankath, Ted Witbrodt, Thaco4 , TheFool, TheLazerCat , Thom Dimmock, Thomas, Thomas Stewart, Thomas Van Roy, Tim Ferguson, Timothy Alexander, Todd Gagel, Tom Clough-Macready, Torauth, TorbjÃ¸rn Haugstad, Travis McHenry, Tyler, Tyresse, Tzucaza ., V , Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, Violet, Viria , Vishnu Gopal, William Francom, William Mark Ambler, william wallace, Woronve, Yenin , Z. Cs., znarken

Mages:

aazurekilla, Adam Richards, Alex Weatbrook, Almost Famous, Alphabetical, Brad Babnik, brett thomas, Christopher Crews, Cody Landis, Igors Zvaigzne, Jackson Ragland, John Growcott, John Marcus, Jonathan Rudel, M1styczny, Mark Zhang, Mathias Schwendimann, Matthew Powell, Matthew Werth, Paradox, PortlandPhil , PsiBear , Re1ncarnated Salamander, Rheklr , Rick Brandon, RotWeisseWaffel, Ryan Kemner, Sean Carter, Seri, Setaria, Sharrod Brathwaite, tdb, tlove, Werkrat , Will C, Zagig Yragerne

Magelings:

Chad Lowe, Chevron8 , Desertdoe , DT , Matt DiMeo, Michael kim, no

Inscribed:

N. A.

Continue the Story [Book 2 - Mage]

The Wilds reclaim all things. Humanity shelters within their ever-dying cities. Mages and Archons create the only path forward.

While Tala is still burdened with an overly large debt, she needs to balance repayment with learning opportunities and surviving the arcanous creatures increasingly focused on her. Additionally, she must explore her newly acquired magical items, investigate a potentially lethal source of consumable power, and get back home with the caravan, trusting her defensive magics to keep her whole.

She has found that the world is bigger than she ever imagined, and what she had thought was the peak of power is only the beginning of her journey as a Mage.

A note from JLMullins

Link to Purchase: https://geni.us/Mage

The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 71 - I’m Going to Become an Archon

A note from JLMullins

With a new month, here's a quick Patreon plug. 😁

The Magelings ($2) are 4 chapter ahead, Mages ($5) are 9 chapters ahead, and Archons ($10) are 19 chapters ahead.

Patreon URL: https://www.patreon.com/MillennialMage

Sighing, Tala took one last look around her room before turning around to see Lyn standing in the doorway.

“Gah!” How did I not hear her? She thought back, and realized that she had, in fact, heard her arrive, but hadn’t registered it. I’m going to have to figure out how to control that better…

Lyn smiled. “I know it probably feels even smaller now, after the wilds…”

Tala smiled, her stance softening. “It’s wonderful, Lyn. Thank you, again.”

Lyn’s smile widened. “So… you’re sure you want to stay?”

“Absolutely.”

The older woman stepped forward and gave Tala a quick hug. “Good.” After the brief contact, she pulled back. “How about I go grab us some dinner?”

Tala brightened. “That sounds fantastic! How about some more of Gretel’s meat pies? I feel like I could eat a dozen…maybe two.” She felt her stomach rumble slightly. “Make it three? And anything else you think looks good…” I lost a few earlier, rather violently…

Lyn gave her a questioning look.

“Holly said I needed to eat, a lot.”

She shook her head. “Fair enough. I’ll do that. Take some time, settle in. I’ll be a bit.”

“Sounds good. Thank you, Lyn.”

“See you soon.” She left without another word.

Tala stretched, again. “You know, if I’m going to be without my salve for a bit, I should enjoy baths more often.”

Terry looked at her skeptically.

Tala coughed, looking away. “You have no idea how often I’ve taken baths, before.”

Terry let out an oddly deep, seemingly disbelieving, chirp.

“Fine, well, I’m going to ready a bath.” She grabbed one of Holly’s books and her review notebook, using the latter to narrow down what to study in the former as she strode from the room. The Digestive System was her first focus. A smile tugged at her lips, and she glanced back, seeing the terror bird on her bed, and the tools on her writing table. It looked horribly bare, but it also looked right. Not that I’m going to leave it like this. She smiled.

Time to relax.

* * *

Tala’s bath was not quite ready before Lyn returned with food.

Tala had forgotten that a fire had to be built to heat the water in this place, and she hadn’t wanted a cold bath. I’m getting spoiled, it seems.

She had filled the tub and just stoked the fire when Lyn called out to her. “Dinner!”

“Coming.” Tala walked out, moving carefully as she continued to read, only to find Terry already sitting beside Lyn, eyeing the basket full of mini meat-pies. Another basket of food sat off to the side, the contents wrapped in linen.

Lyn smiled up at Tala. “Can he eat one?”

Tala shrugged. “I’ve seen him eat worse.”

Lyn smiled and tossed one to Terry. The bird devoured the mini-pie quickly.

Tala grinned. “Watch this.” She grabbed one of the pies, then looked to Terry. “Up for some showing off?”

Terry tilted his head, eyes on the pie, and gave a slight nod, hunkering down, almost dancing from foot to foot.

Tala tossed the pie to the side.

Lyn opened her mouth to protest but stopped. “Where’d it go?”

Tala had had her eyes on Terry the whole time, and still, she’d only seen the barest flicker. The only difference was that he’d changed position, slightly, and was now wolfing down the little pie.

“Tala…” Lyn focused on Terry. “How old is that terror bird?”

Tala grinned, devouring her first pie. So good! Garlic and yams, and is this beef? “Not young.”

“The shortest cool-down I’ve seen between teleports was in a dimensional rabbit. It could jump every three seconds or so.”

Tala shrugged. “Not too different.”

Lyn had a serious look on her face. “It was hundreds of years old, Tala. My understanding from my passing curiosity is that the time is halved every decade or so, for non-sapient users, and the time increases, the larger the thing teleported.” She narrowed her eyes, examining Terry more closely. “Is he a dwarf terror bird? That might explain some, but he’d still need to be close to a hundred and fifty years old, at least.”

Terry looked inquisitively to Tala, but she slightly shook her head. “Could be, I suppose. Who knows for sure?” She ate another pie. Oooo! Parsnips and beets? Nicely blended flavors, too. I wouldn’t have thought those would go with pork so well.

Lyn stared at her for a long time, then sighed. “Fine…” As she took up and began eating her first pie, she was watching Terry. She finished her first, and started on her second, suddenly throwing another off to the side.

Terry seemed to instantly shift positions, again eating the newly acquired pie.

“Less than an eyeblink…” She examined Tala, again, and sighed. “Fine… I won’t dig.”

Tala smiled. “Thank you for dinner. What do I owe you?”

Lyn waved the question off. “Welcome home, that’s what you owe me.” She smiled. “I assume you want to get back on the road, as soon as Mistress Holly’s done and you have your chat with the Guild?”

Tala hesitated. “Maybe…” She thought about the training that she’d been doing, as well as the mounting advice to create a sufficient Archon star. Plus, she’d promised the Guardsman’s Guild she’d give them some time. “What would it mean for our contract, if I became an Archon?”

Lyn froze, new bite of meat filling her mouth. After a long moment, she began chewing once more, and eventually, she swallowed the savory treat. “Tala. How likely is that?”

Tala shrugged. “Depends on the answer?”

Lyn sighed, deeply, scratching beside her right temple, eyes squeezed shut. Under her breath, she muttered, “Give me strength.” After another long moment, she opened her eyes and smiled. “Tala, dear friend, that would constitute a material change to the services you could offer the Caravan Guild.”

Tala thought back. There was a clause about something like that… “Sooooo…?”

“So, at the very least, we would retest you, and alter the arrangement accordingly. The most common result would be that you’d be allowed to take on two contracts at once, being considered a dimensional Mage, and a Mage protector of the wagon train, assuming you’d be capable of that.”

Tala perked up at that. “So, half my inscriptions would be covered? And I’d earn a gold ounce for each arcanous encounter the wagon’s survived?”

“You’d earn that for your team, but basically, yes.” Lyn confirmed.

That would be so utterly fantastic. “How does that work, anyways? If one thunder bull attacks, versus a herd of ten, is that the same pay, because it’s one encounter?”

Lyn sighed, again. “Depends. If there’s any indication that you personally caused the encounter, then you get nothing additional. If it is unavoidable, then it depends on the quantity and power of the beasts in question. Ten thunder bulls directly defended against would be three ounces, gold, added to the payment of the protectors.”

Tala was nodding. “That sounds fantastic.”

Lyn was giving Tala a very wary look. “What are you planning…?”

Tala gave the other Mage a quizzical look. “I’d think that was obvious. I’m going to become an Archon.”

Lyn groaned, putting her head in her hands.

Tala popped another meat pie into her mouth, and Terry flickered just slightly, then held very still. She turned to regard the bird; its dimensional magic burst obvious. “You know, I can sense when you do that.”

Terry looked her right in the eye, then tipped back his head, opening his mouth and allowing the four meat pies he’d snatched to slide down his throat.

Tala just laughed, and Lyn looked up in confusion. “Terry. I’m going to feed you. Is human food so much better than what you’re used to?”

The bird locked gazes with her and bobbed up and down, letting out a low, resonate squawking affirmation.

Tala cleared her throat, handing Lyn another meat pie. “Now, my room. What can I do in there?”

Lyn looked between her two housemates and sighed. “This is my life now, isn’t it…”

Tala grinned. “Just when I’m in town.”

“Right! You never answered my question.”

“Oh… you’re right.” Tala thought. “I just did two contracts, so I’d be good for four months, right?”

Lyn nodded hesitantly. “Yes, but it would look bad, and lower your priority for taking contracts.”

Tala nodded. “Understandable. A month then? I think I can do what I need to by then…Though, I’ve no idea what becoming an Archon requires…. I’ll try to have that at least started in a week and a half. I shouldn’t do anything too crazy until Mistress Holly’s done.”

“That goes without saying.” Lyn took another bite, speaking around the food. “And don’t forget your meeting with a senior guild official.”

“Right…Assuming my contract isn’t dissolved-”

“As I said, I should have been informed if they were going that route.”

Tala nodded. “Assuming that’s true, a month should be a good amount of time, but I’ll know more in less than two weeks?”

Lyn sighed. That was becoming a habit. “Alright, Tala. I won’t start looking for your next trip, yet.”

“Thank you. Now, my room?”

“Do what you like with it, just please don’t break down any walls or destroy the furniture. If you want something different, let me know, and I’ll pull what’s in there, out.” Her eyes twinkled just a bit. “You can buy whatever you want to put in there.”

Tala rolled her eyes. “Yes, with my thousands of gold ounces, I shall customize this room to perfection.”

Lyn just smiled back at her. “If you so choose.”

Tala ate one last meat pie, feeling a bit past half-full as she swallowed the final pieces. Her eyes fell on the other basket. “What’s in there?”

“My, you weren’t kidding.” Lyn grinned. “This,” she picked up the basket, handing it to Tala. “This is a selection of desserts. I certainly don’t need them.” She picked out a chocolate puff-pastry. “So, you should take them before I eat them all.” She winked.

Tala rolled her eyes. “Thank you.” She took the basket, and began eating, savoring each bite. “Mmmmm… Thank you.” She sighed contentedly. “Well, I’ve a bath on. I should get to that. Good night, Lyn.”

“Goodnight, Tala.”

Tala walked back and placed the basket of pastries into her room. Then, leaving her books beside the basket, she moved to the steam filled room, undressed, let her hair down, and climbed in.

Terry didn’t join her, but she sensed him from the direction of her room through the collar, with no added feeling of warning. Close. Likely on my bed.

With her next few days already planned out, she simply relaxed in the water, allowing the embers below the tub to keep it just below her maximum temperature.

This is nice.

* * *

Tala woke early, her window still showing no sign of morning’s light. Even so, she knew it was time to rise.

No nightmares last night. She would have thought that all the fees she’d been forced to pay the day before would have made the nightmares more prevalent, not less. Don’t knock it, Tala. Just be happy. So, she put them from her mind.

She glanced under her covers and felt herself smile at the subtle, yet obvious, glow. True to her guess, the light didn’t even illuminate the blanket above her, but she could clearly see herself, fully covered in the magical lines.

She stood slowly, then with careful deliberation, she moved through her wake-up routine: stretching and exercising her mind, magic, spirit, and muscles.

The last was expectedly surprising.

I knew there would be improvements, but this seems incredible. Every single exercise, she had to shift towards harder variations, and even so, she struggled more with proper form and balance, than with the strength required for the movements. In the end, she was left frustrated with her lack of control more than any missing strength.

A clear way to improve, I suppose.

Her room wasn’t really big enough for the longer range calling of her knife, so she simply did a couple dozen summonings from around five feet, at which point, she had to lay down due to dizziness. That’s right, Tala. Overwork your soul. That seems wise. She’d still been focused on how much her physical strength had improved that she hadn’t been as careful as she should have been. I’ll be more careful next time. I swear…

While she was trapped on her back, the spinning room holding her prisoner, she contemplated the day’s tasks.

Charge the cargo-slots, go to the Guardsman Guild’s training yard, go to the Constructionists Guild, massage…then Mistress Holly. She felt tension grow at the last. Maybe, I could skip, today? At the thought, a memory of Holly’s visible aura of power surfaced, and she shuddered. Maybe, I won’t skip…

Still unable to stand, she began making random noises, playing with what sounds she could make. I’m bored… She looked to the side, even the act of turning her head brought her near to retching. She stared at Kit from across the room. “Must get book…”

The pouch did not respond.

“Terry?”

The bird shifted in his corner, opening one eye to regard her.

“Can you bring me my pouch?”

Terry tilted his head, regarding her. Then, he was suddenly beside her on the bed, the dimensional magic blip unpleasant in her current state, though less so than she’d expected.

She felt a light pressure on her arm, then Terry let out an oddly indifferent, low, thrumming squawk. The bird vanished back to his corner and curled back up.

“You’re no help.” She raised her arm lightly, looking where she’d felt the pressure. “Did you just try to cut me?”

Terry chirped happily.

“Still happy with your decision, eh?”

Happy chirps were her only reply.

“Won’t help with the pouch?”

He settled back down, closing his eyes.

“You’re kind of mean.” Hey! Moving my arm didn’t make it worse. She flexed, bringing her arms up in front of her, her hands clapping together with surprising force. She felt the last vestiges of the ending-berry power left in her system drain away, and a crack like thunder exploded through the room. She felt extra power shunt to the inscriptions around her ears, protecting them from the incredibly loud sound.

Terry jumped up, looking around in alarm.

Tala felt a fresh wave of dizziness at the loud sound, despite the dampening scripts.

Lyn’s voice floated their way. “Tala? Is everything ok?”

Tala groaned, and she heard Lyn hurrying to her door.

“Can I come in?”

“Sure…”

The door opened, and Lyn stood in it, regarding her for a long moment. “Tala.”

“Yes?”

“Why are you naked?”

“It’s my room.” And…I forgot to get dressed.

“I asked if I could come in.”

“And I answered.”

“Usually, that question is to determine decency.”

Tala groaned. “Decency can wait for my head to stabilize…”

“Are you ill?”

“No. I just overworked my soul.”

Lyn sighed. “From anyone else, I would assume that to be a joke.”

“From anyone else, it just might be.”

“What do you need?” Her tone had taken on a maternal cast.

“Apparently, a blanket…”

Lyn snorted, striding into the room and moving the blanket that was bunched up beside Tala to cover her. “There.”

“Thanks…”

“So…” Lyn sat down on the bed beside Tala. “What was the noise?”

“I clapped.”

“You clapped…”

“Yup.”

“Is that a metaphor? Some obscure training technique based on the heroes of yore? Or…?”

“No. I just clapped.”

Lyn looked at the other Mage’s palms, seeing the subtly glowing scripts, just like those that covered the rest of her. “Seems like it was a hard clap.”

“Yeah.”

“Please refrain? It was quite loud, even out in the living room.”

“Will do, boss.”

Lyn shook her head. “Do you need breakfast? The work-yard is expecting you to drop by this morning, and I’ve written down the information for your other appointments. The sheet is ready for you.”

Tala groaned, again, and sat up. Surprisingly, the room remained steady. “I think I’m ready.”

Lyn stood, keeping her back towards Tala. “Well, get dressed first, please?”

It took barely any time for Tala to pull her clothes back on. She decided to go with the immortal elk leathers again, given she was going to the training yard this morning.

Terry appeared on her shoulder as she stepped out of her room. A smile on her face, Tala took a moment to look around herself.

To her right, directly beside her at the end of the hall, was the door to Lyn’s room. Across the way was the door into the bathroom, and beside the bathroom door, closer to the living room, a window let in the beginnings of the first light of day.

The building was a simple construction, with poured stone floors, lightly textured and likely sealed. The walls were painted plaster over stone. Heavily built. The floor was dark, the walls light; it produced a pleasing atmosphere.

Why have I never just stopped to take it in?

She felt herself smile. She didn’t have any deadlines. Nothing was demanding she become ready. Sure, she had tasks that she wished to do, but that wasn’t what she meant. She had no obligations on her overall time, not at the moment.

She moved down the hall, which was wide enough for her and Lyn to pass each other quite easily.

Tala came out into the living room and saw Lyn sitting at the table off to one side, food laid out. “I thought food wasn’t included?”

“Well, I figured two meals wasn’t quite a pattern.” Lyn smiled. “I was informed that you developed a…liking for coffee.”

Tala was quite sure that ‘liking’ hadn’t been the word Lyn was going to say. She was about to comment, but then she saw the coffee in question, in a mug beside the other place at the table. Tala immediately forgave Lyn all implied slights and sat down, taking a deep pull of dark, decadent, deliciousness.

So smooth, so dark, so perfect.

They ate quickly, as both had many things to accomplish that day.

Lyn and Tala left at the same time, saying their goodbyes as they went in different directions: Tala to the work-yard, and Lyn to the Caravan Guild’s main office.

Tala took her time walking through the city, enjoying being back in Bandfast.

It had a different feel to it than Alefast, more relaxed, less…imminent. I suppose that’s what happens when you’re one wall away from the wilds.

There were similar mixes of architecture, and the people didn’t really look different, save Bandfast citizenry seeming a bit more relaxed. Maybe a bit heavier too… It was an interesting notion. Does safety lead to weight gain? That can’t be the only factor, obviously, but it was entertaining to consider.

Many people gave Terry odd looks, but no one seemed particularly alarmed by him. Tala fell back into her habit of reading, sketching, and jotting down her thoughts as she walked, both to keep her mind occupied and to prevent her from sprinting through the city. Mostly, though, she read. I have to get through my anatomy review, after all.

She was still having a bit of an odd time moving, each of her movements more powerful than she was expecting. Interestingly enough, the method of walking, learned at Adam’s suggestion, leant itself marvelously to the task, as she was used to careful, precise movements, and her enhanced nervous system adjusted to the changes in her power quite rapidly.

As Holly had implied, and Tala had discovered the night before, she felt ravenously hungry, and she was sure it was her new inscribings that were causing the hunger, even if not directly. They were working on reshaping her at a fundamental level and that required nutrition.

Towards that end, Tala bought no less than ten pasties of various kinds for the wonderful price of a single silver. As she walked, she occasionally tossed out bits of jerky, noticing the instantaneous, slight shift of Terry’s weight when he moved out and back, always having caught the meat.

She did not share the pasties.

Terry did not hold it against her. Much.

Finally, she reached the work-yard and the waiting cargo-slots.

The first one, to her surprise, charged incredibly slowly, taking a full minute to reach its maximum. She frowned. The mental construct is right… After a long minute of thought, and ten bits of jerky flicked randomly, she had a realization. I’ve just been using my left-over power-flow to charge these up. And my scripts are using most of that, now.

That actually reminded her of her items. She had charged them as part of her training earlier that day, and it had taken longer than usual. She’d just attributed that to the city being utterly devoid of free-floating power. Maybe it was something else? Since she was already thinking of them, she decided to top them off. If I can be hungry, why not them?

That done, she moved to the next cargo-slot and concentrated.

She formed the mental construct, just as before, but now, she reached inside. She saw, as well as felt, almost all of her power pouring from her gate into her spell-forms. She grabbed the entirety of that flow and channeled it down her right arm, through the mental construct, and into the second cargo-slot.

She exhaled.

The indicators flickered to life in rapid succession.

Blinking in surprise, Tala pulled back her hand. Less than two seconds? The cargo-slot in front of her was fully charged and ready to go.

Hesitantly, she moved to the next one and repeated the process.

Done.

She moved down the line, charging the remaining seventeen with little more than the time it took to touch them and take a quick breath.

That was…amazing! She had noticed a slight dip in her internal reserves during each charge, as her active scripts continued to use her power. That store of power had needed to be refilled by her gate, once the inflow was available again, but it was a minimal dip.

She heard the sound of a single person clapping, approaching from behind. “Wonderful! I can see you took my suggestions to heart and have improved remarkably.”

“Master Himmal!” Tala turned around, giving a slight bow. “It’s wonderful to see you again. Thank you, once again, for your advice.”

He smiled, folding his hands before him. “Think nothing of it, Mistress Tala. You have progressed tremendously in just two short weeks.”

She smiled. “Thank you.” As she focused on him, she saw the same oddities to his aura as before, but more clearly this time. The underlying color was suppressed, but obviously red. What she could see of it was fractured, somehow broken, and as she examined it closer, she could see that parts of it were much closer to orange than she first realized. Not uniform? From what little she understood, that seemed…bad. Well, he did say that he’d broken something with his gate. It’s probably related to that.

“Now, I can see that my hopes were not unfounded. We are nearly done with your custom set of cargo-slots, and I am glad that I added the ability for the larger capacities to be enabled. We should be able to get you a set close to four times those measly constructs, with added additional benefits for more fragile and valuable cargo. With those sizes, you’ll be able to have some outfitted as passenger and bunkhouse variants. You’ll be able to have a full caravan in just two or three wagons, depending on the Mage Protectors.” He shook his head. “The cooks will never leave their own wagon behind.” He smiled whimsically, speaking under his breath. “I would so love to examine one of their chuck-wagons one day.”

I knew it! That wagon and what the cooks could do within never made sense. Brand hadn’t just been messing with her after all. She smiled. “You and me both.”

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Chapter: 72 - Are You Heavier?

Tala passed a bit of time with Master Himmal, but eventually bid him goodbye, promising to come by to test out the custom cargo-slots near the end of the week.

She had been surprised that he hadn’t commented on Terry, but she supposed arcane pets weren’t too uncommon. She fell back into her routine as she walked to the training ground that Adam had indicated. She was almost done with the first set of topics she’d noted for review. Good thing, too. Holly’s got to have something to work on, or she’s likely to be cross.

When Tala arrived, she was startled by what she found.

It was a sprawling compound, with the training yard open to the street so that passersby, or the curious, could watch the training. Good for recruitment, I guess?

The training yard was at least a hundred yards long, and half that wide. There were sections of grass, dirt, and paved stone of various sizes interspersed throughout. Across the entirety, hundreds of men and women were stretching, sparring, practicing techniques, or otherwise working their muscles.

To her surprise, her magesight picked up the ebbs and flows of power throughout the yard, and not just from the healers, ready to help if those sparring were injured. Power moved through these people in a manner that she could only equate to that of the arcanous creatures she’d seen. Not the elemental magics, obviously.

Even so, she could see that, to a variety of extents, these guards would be stronger, faster, and more durable than the average citizen. How are they doing that without inscriptions? The power was clearly coming from their own un-inscribed gates, but she couldn’t see anything directing it.

Something to investigate, I suppose. She’d seen hints of it in Adam, before, but it was being fully brought out as those before her worked to push themselves.

Around the training yard were quite a few buildings. Some appeared to be additional training halls, either to allow for more private or more sheltered training. It was a cool morning, but not painfully so for the average person. Probably why most of them are outside.

Other buildings seemed to be instructional classrooms or administrative offices from what little she could see. Overall, it looked more like a school, which emphasized physicality, than a barracks and muster yard. I suppose that’s what I get for assuming. She felt a smile tug at her lips.

The sparring drew her attention, and she noted that those who were using weapons were using wooden or padded varieties, though they didn’t seem to be pulling their strikes, whether armed or barehanded. In fact, as she watched, one of the combatants broke a training sword over another’s shoulder, the strike drawing blood and breaking bone, if the deformation of the shoulder that she could see, even at this distance, was any indication.

Before the man’s first scream had died down, a healing Mage was beside him, the healer lighting up to Tala’s magesight as he quickly repaired the injury. Clever, so they can train at full power, get used to injuries and not lose much training time. She thought for a moment. I wonder if they ever let the injuries stand? Might be useful to practice fighting while impaired. That was a question for another time.

Quite a few citizens were standing along the road, either individually or in groups, watching the goings on. Many more slowed down as they passed, mixtures of admiration, envy, and contempt across their faces. There is someone who will look down on any endeavor, I suppose.

Without slowing, Tala walked forward, crossing the almost invisible line between street and training yard. Immediately, one of the nearby Guardsmen stood and came her way.

“Mistress? How can we serve?”

“I am searching for Guardsman Adam. He’d asked me to come by today.”

The Guardsman bowed. “Would you be willing to wait here? I can go inquire on your behalf.”

Tala simply nodded, and the guardsman jogged off, ostensibly to do just that. Many of the others in the yard were glancing her way, but no one seemed to pay her much more attention than their initial glance.

As she continued to look around, she could see parts of many of the techniques that Adam had taught her, demonstrated in the movements of those across the yard. It was fascinating to observe how a simple striking pattern was altered for use with a spear, mace, or sword, and how each of those differed from the others. There is such depth to the practice.

A few minutes later, the guardsman returned, gesturing towards one of the central buildings. “Guardsman Adam is expecting you, and he awaits you there. Would you like a guide?”

Tala shook her head. “No, thank you. I can find my way just fine.”

He bowed. “Good day, Mistress.”

“Good day, Guardsman.”

He returned to his practice, and she strolled through the training yard, weaving in wide arcs to avoid interfering with anyone.

As she walked, she took in the beautifully clear sky above and basked in the morning light. Many are likely still rising, and here I am, at my second task of the day.

There were, of course, the sounds of exertion and cries both of attack and of pain filling the air around her. As she walked, she saw no fewer than twelve healing Mages spaced around various parts of the yard, and she might not have spotted them all. A healer for every twenty people or so? Seems excessive but must work for them.

She came to the building in question, and looked up at the simple, sturdy architecture. There was a beauty in its utility, and she found herself smiling at that.

“Mistress Tala!”

Her gaze dropped, and her smile changed just slightly to one of greeting. “Guardsman Adam. Seems I found the right place.”

The Guardsman was wearing loose-fitting clothes, clearly meant for exercise, and he had a light sheen of sweat to him.

Spent the morning training? She stepped forward, into the building.

“Mistress Tala. This way, please.” He led her deeper into the building and down a series of interconnecting hallways. As they walked, he used a cloth to wipe much of the sweat from his head and arms. “Thank you for coming.”

“Thank you for being willing to train me.”

He grinned. “This is a rare opportunity. Master Rane is already here.” He added the last as an afterthought.

They came to one of the instructional rooms and entered together. Some thirty men and women, all in their twenties, sat facing the front of the room. They were all dressed similarly to Adam, and they each seemed to have a notebook and a means of taking notes, and each was doing just that.

A much older man, at least in his fifties, sat at the front of the room, also facing the last remaining occupant.

Rane was just finishing his sentence as they walked in. “-the force is therefore redirected, or avoided, without actually being guided.”

In the silence that followed, Rane waved to Tala, smiling, and she waved back.

The older man stood. “Thank you, Master Rane. Can anyone tell me a key take-away from his last point?”

A woman near the front spoke up. “He doesn’t have to concern himself with dodging, because his opponent’s attack causes him to be moved out of harm’s way.”

The older man frowned. “Yes and no. He will not need to focus on taking the action, that is correct. However, if any attack met by that defense, no matter how small, causes him to alter direction to mitigate the damage, that means that Master Rane is constantly subject to forces outside his direct control. He would have to be even more aware of the incoming attacks than if he simply moved out of the way beforehand or braced to take the blow.”

The woman frowned in turn. “Then, why is it better?”

A man in the back of the room spoke loudly in response, “Because unexpected movement is better than unexpected injuries.”

A few people smiled at that, and Rane nodded, responding, “Precisely. I could close my eyes and simply stand still and be fairly safe. I’d be utterly ineffective, but safe from mundane attack.”

The main instructor smiled. “So, you will each write up a basic overview of a fighting style for Master Rane, and in coming classes, we will compare it to what he has actually been using.”

Rane smiled. “I hope to learn something. I make no claim at perfection.”

The instructor had noticed Tala and Adam entering, and he turned to them now. “This is Mistress Tala, and you all know instructor Adam.”

Those present returned a chorus of greetings.

“The central project of the next two weeks will be creating, then perfecting, a fighting style for Mistress Tala, here. That portion of your assignment for today will be to construct a series of tests to determine the scope and limit of her abilities, so that we can build a style that maximizes her effectiveness. Mistress Tala.”

“Yes?”

“Would you give us a basic outline of your combat capabilities?”

Adam whispered. “Including physical and defense, please.”

Well, I guess I have good timing, at least. Tala cleared her throat, suddenly feeling nervous as she walked out in front of the gathering. “Hi.” She waved.

A smattering of ‘Hi,’ ‘Hello,’ and ‘Greetings’ came back to her.

“So, as an Immaterial Guide, my abilities differ slightly from Master Rane’s.” She nodded to the other Mage. The listeners were already writing. “As I am able to alter non-tangible properties of the world around us, my defenses mainly involve the increased strength of humanity’s natural traits.”

The same man in the back of the room called out. “What does that mean?” Several students grinned at this comment too or chuckled.

Tala cleared her throat, again. “Well, just as a stick-pin would not easily enter your skin, my magic makes that resistance more potent. It takes a much greater force to split my skin-cells apart, or to harm them directly. Similarly, all my underlying structure, both bone and soft tissue, is strengthened and reinforced. If those bonds are broken, my natural healing processes are accelerated to repair the damage nearly instantaneously.”

“Does that apply to your muscles?” It was a different questioner.

“It does.”

“So, does that mean you can work-out and see immediate results?” Yet another.

“Not immediate, but much faster, yes.” She smiled. “Also, my power does not create matter. I must eat to provide material for that healing, and thus, I can’t heal from unlimited damage, as I would quickly burn through my body’s supplies.”

“Why not alter your body to store more?” A fourth speaker.

“Great question. That is another of my inscriptions. My adipose tissue, and other similar portions of my body, are now inscribed to store more, more efficiently. I can effectively have much larger reserves, without seeming to have such.” Though, the appetite that brings on might cause issues with my coin pouch…

Two questions came in at nearly the same time: “Does that mean you eat way more?” and “How are you not too buff to move?” She stopped trying to identify the individuals asking the questions.

She smiled. “I do have to eat a lot more, though that will slow down in time, at least until I pull from those increased reserves and have to refill them. As to my muscle mass, my inscriber is quite clever, and my muscles, when they do repair, do not change size, simply becoming denser and more powerful.”

“How much stronger than normal are you?”

“I’ve not tested, specifically, but in the range of four to five times what I was without the inscriptions.”

There was a chorus of mutters through the room at that. “Are you heavier?”

Tala laughed. “I suppose I am, and will continue to become, heavier until the reworking, strengthening, and reserve filling is complete.” She cleared her throat, glanced towards the door where Adam and Rane waited. She smiled, feeling much more confident now that she was so far into it. “Offensive wise, I have gravity alteration spell-workings, and a knife, which can become a sword for short periods of time.”

There was silence at that.

The instructor waited a moment, then asked. “What sort of gravity alterations?”

Tala nodded. “I can either restrain or crush. My restraining magic lifts the target from the ground and alters the effects of gravity on them to keep them aloft.”

“What?” Another listener.

“They will float there on their own.” She smiled, simplifying. “Crush will increase the force of gravity upon the target four-fold. If the target is not killed or fundamentally altered, usually leading to death, it is increased four-fold, again. This continues until the target is dead or fundamentally altered.”

Absolute silence filled the room for a long moment. Finally, a woman near the front swallowed visibly and asked. “So… why do you need to fight hand to hand? Why not simply use magic to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to…be done with it?”

The instructor looked incredibly relieved that someone else had asked that question and smiled. “Excellent question, Cona.”

Tala nodded. “First, I can have only a few targets before I must be re-inscribed. Thus, I cannot use that to deal with large numbers of enemies, and if I am near the beginning of a venture, I must be sparing. Second, there are some beings who can operate under such conditions, at least for a while, and it burns through a lot of power to take them out in this manner. That also reduces the number of targets I can affect.”

The girl was nodding, seeming to understand. “So, you need to be able to fight lots of weak creatures, or incredibly strong beasts, but those in the middle you can simply crush?”

“Well, I would prefer to crush the most powerful as well, but that is generally correct.”

The group seemed to better understand.

She had an additional thought. “Oh! I also have a repeating hammer.”

“A what?” Some of the listeners seemed to know what that was, but not all.

“A repeating hammer is a magical hammer which redirects force from the striking face, back away from the tool. It effectively can break through anything that a hammer could damage at all, in a single blow.”

The instructor nodded. “That is sufficient, I believe. More can be revealed by the testing they will devise.” He looked to Adam, then back to her. “You will be available for testing, tomorrow?”

She shrugged, smiling. “Sure. How long will you need me for?”

He thought for a moment. “If you arrive when you did, today…” He seemed to be contemplating deeply. “Let’s say four hours on the outside. We’ll spend the time before you get here, weeding out all the duplicates and refining the plan. So, that should be enough time.”

She grunted. “That should work.”

The instructor relaxed visibly. “Then, after that, I think we will need a day without you, to compile the first ideas. We can begin testing them the day after?” He hesitated. “I can assure you, Mistress Tala, I will be overseeing the entire process, along with several other experts, and we will have a truly spectacular result.”

She smiled. “That sounds wonderful. Thank you.”

Tala waved to the group as she departed. Rane walked out with her.

“Hey.”

She glanced his way. “Hi.”

“Are you still mad?”

She frowned. Mad? Oh! Right… She sighed. “No, Master Rane. It isn’t worth the effort.”

He grunted at that. “Well…I’m glad.”

She shrugged.

“So…what are you up to today?”

“I’ve got a lot going on, today.”

“We could grab lunch? You’re looking a little pale…” He shook his head. “Sorry, that’s not really relevant.”

I guess he noticed my missing iron salve. That was fine, she wasn’t trying to hide the fact. She shook her head, in response. “I really don’t have time.”

He seemed to deflate a bit.

With effort, she kept from either sighing or rolling her eyes. “I’ll have more time tomorrow, but just a bit.”

He perked up. “Lunch, then?”

She quirked a smile. “After whatever crazy assessments they come up with? I’ll probably need it.”

“It’s a plan, then.” He smiled.

“Sounds good.” She glanced ahead, to the archway back out onto the training grounds. “I really do have to go, but thank you for asking.”

He smiled and waved her off. “See you, tomorrow.”

* * *

Ok, Tala. Avoiding it won’t help. Let’s get this over with.

Tala held herself stiffly upright, as she walked into the Caravanner’s Guildhall, marching straight through to one of the main desks near the back of the atrium.

“Good morning, Mistress. How can I assist you, today?” The young man, sitting behind the desk, smiled warmly at her.

“I’m Mistress Tala. I was informed I needed to meet with a senior guild official?” Come on, come on. This is not what I want to do… No. She needed to be here. This had to be dealt with.

“Mistress Tala…” He looked through a large appointment book on the desk in front of him. He turned the page, beginning to frown. “Mistress Tala… I’m sorry, I’m not seeing you in the collated calendar. Who is your appointment scheduled with and when did you schedule your appointment for?”

Tala hesitated, then felt herself coloring. “Oh… I didn’t know I needed to schedule it. I was simply told one was needed.” Whenever I was ordered to attend a disciplinary meeting, I had to go right away, and I was seen right away… This, apparently, was different. I have to schedule my own session to be reprimanded. She almost snorted a laugh. I guess, I should have expected that.

The young man checked a few more pages, then looked up, apologetically. “It doesn’t seem to be here, and no Senior Official is available, today. Who were you supposed to meet with, again? Perhaps, I can get you in tomorrow.”

Tala opened her mouth to answer, then closed it. I have no idea.

The young man seemed to understand. “I see. That’s more than fine.” He nodded, consolingly. “I’d recommend reaching out to your Guild handler, or point of contact, and ask them to schedule the required meeting.”

Tala nodded, feeling incredibly embarrassed. “I’ll… I’ll do that. Thank you.”

“Happy to assist, Mistress. I wish I could have done more. You have a good day.”

* * *

Ten minutes later, Tala had shaken off her embarrassment and was again walking the streets of Bandfast, this time heading towards the Constructionists Guild. As she was walking, she realized that the pace of her reading was much faster than expected. She could now read much faster than even on the recent caravan trip.

I guess the enhancements made my movements easier, freeing up more of my mind to focus on reading? It was as good a reason as any other she could think of.

The books were a masterwork in-and-of-themselves, at least the one she was currently referencing was. It contained detailed schematics of each organ or organ system as they were discussed, coupled with cleverly rendered schema, illustrating their three-dimensional nature, along with how they would accomplish what they did. It was, unsurprisingly, incredibly detailed on the how. If Tala didn’t understand what, and how, the magic was supposed to work, it wouldn’t function. In the worst case, it could malfunction and destroy the parts of her body inscribed.

I didn’t really expect to delve back into anatomy and physiology so deeply, so soon…

She’d always preferred physics, hence the nature of her offensive spell-forms, but the work Holly would be doing now was incredibly dependent on Tala’s second favorite subject, just as she’d suspected it would.

I’m just glad that I already had specific interest and knowledge in the muscular-skeletal system, along with the vascular, or I’d have to have done a bunch of research before even yesterday’s inscribings…

She sighed. It was fascinating, and Holly had gone out of her way to make the writing engaging, but it was still a dense subject matter.

How did she even have time for this?

Tala supposed that the general overviews would be common to anyone getting any given organ inscribed, so those would just have to be copied over.

And it’s not like I’m the first person to have my organs enhanced. This is probably just an amalgamation of those techniques, slightly modified for my particular make-up.

She hesitated, even stopping in the middle of a stride. Wait… how did she know the exact dimensions of all my organs to make properly shaped spell-forms… She placed a hand on the back of her neck.

How much is this script analyzing and recording?

She thought back. Holly said that it would monitor everything about me… She groaned. Well, I did understand what it would do…I suppose I just didn’t assume it would be literal…

She sighed, continuing on her way and returning most of her attention to the current portion of this book.

Tala finished the first subject in her list-to-review by the time she reached the Constructionist Guild’s local office. Closing the book with a satisfying thunk, she tucked it into Kit and looked up at the beautifully designed façade. Rust me, they really didn’t spare on the expense of this place.

While highly detailed, the elements were tastefully interwoven to give an overall inviting, if humbling, atmosphere. Tala smiled as she walked to the large front doors.

There weren’t a lot of other patrons at the moment, but that made some sense. This guild didn’t have as much to do as the Caravanners. Though…are the Wainwrights a subsidiary? That made sense, and most guilds worked in that way. Guilds of guilds…ah, society. How wonderful your complications.

She found herself grinning.

As she stepped across the threshold, she felt a tingle in her keystone, indicating magic had been directed her way, and a wave of power pulsed out from behind her. There was no specific spell-form to it, but it had the overpowering sense of an infrared aura. Did the door just scan me and announce my classification?

An attendant appeared, entering from the side. “Mistress, how can we serve you today?” His eyes glanced to Terry, and there was definite curiosity, but he didn’t comment beyond his initial question.

Tala pulled out the sheet that Lyn had written up for her. “Hello, yes. I was sent here by Mistress Lyn of the Caravanner’s Guild. She said I should ask for Master Boma?”

The attendant paused, power rippling over his face as he looked at her. “I apologize Mistress, but Master Boma usually does not attend to the needs of those below Archon…” He was clearly torn. “Mistress Lyn sent you, you say?”

Tala nodded.

“Very well, let me check with him, and see if that name changes anything for him.”

“Thank you.”

“You may find it more comfortable to wait in there.” He pointed off to one side. “There is a waiting area through that archway, and you’ll find refreshments available, while you wait.”

With a smile and slight bow, the man turned and went back the way he had come.

“Well, Terry, let’s see what refreshments they have for us.”

A note from JLMullins

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Mage:

Ivo Havener, aazurekilla, Abdel Elnagga, Adam , Adam Richards, Akiven, al , Alex Almond, Alex Scriber, Alex Weatbrook, Alexander BÃ¶ckenholt, Alexander Belousov, Almost Famous, Amelia, Anton Selling, Azure , Carl Clements, Chevron8 , Cody Landis, Connor Beeson, Connor C, David , David Stedman, DT , eik, Evan Thompson, Fabian , Gert Wallis, Gleadge, Hodge Wasson, Inslayer , Jackson Ragland, James Beaudreau, Jan, Jeremy Leonard, Joe , Jon, Jonathan Holtmann, jwin, Keifru , Kevin Bui, KingWoh, Kyle, Lasse Pedersen, Leeyan , mallix , Mark Zhang, martianwalk, Mathias Schwendimann, Max Oberg, Maxim Lukiyanov, MaxM, Moritz MÃ¼ller, Mystearical, Naimah , Nicholas Johnson, Noppes , Ozimandius, Paradox, Pavel Kovalyov, Peter Edlund, Pietro Ferretti, Reminder, Renata Soares BrandÃ£o, Rick Brandon, Runehkt, Ryman , Scott Holt, Scryde, Sean Carter, Sean S, Setaria, SirGuy , Stuart Anderson, Sundancer, tachi-kawa, Tarantism, tdb, ulrik aaby, Werkrat , Zagig Yragerne

Mageling:

Alexander Lease, Cameron , Chad Lowe, Chris K, Connor Moffat, Daniel Moses, Dave Burkett, Desertdoe , Douglas Turner, Elessar Beverly, Gusten Nyberg , Isaac Larkin, Joost Boere, Jordan Grandits, Ken, Michael kim, N. A., NNeil , P.R. Bakker, Robert Rosenthal, Sid_Cypher , SushiAddict , Travis Hampton, Wayan-Gwie Lapointe, Zellcos

Inscribed:

Ari Mononen, Daydeus, Isaac Fratti, Jonathan , Matt DiMeo, nikrowd , Stephen

Chapter: 73 - Flow

Tala sat in the nicely appointed waiting room.

The furniture was comfortable, but not so much so that she wished to stay here for a long time. It appeared robustly made, and didn’t creak or budge even when Tala, herself, shifted. It was mostly a dark wood in construction, though she couldn’t tell if that was the wood itself, or a stain. Heavy canvas, a darker blue in color, covered the cushioned portions, and she had little trouble imagining the pieces lasting for years, or even decades, with moderately heavy use.

She ignored the somewhat bland art of the walls, choosing instead to begin the next topic of review from Holly’s books, a mug of coffee in her hand. If this is available every day, I might need to come by more often… Though, she doubted they would be happy with her dropping in, just to get coffee… I wonder if they have wine available, later in the day?

As she thought about it, the freely available beverage did not make her hopeful for reasonable prices for their services. Ah, well. We’ll have to see.

The coffee was well brewed, as far as she could tell, and filled a little happy void in her chest. She smiled as she drank. This is nice.

There was nothing for Terry.

He was only somewhat mollified by a few chunks of beef jerky, which Tala tossed out randomly. I wonder if he minds? Maybe, I should just give him the pieces… She shrugged to herself. “Terry, do you mind me tossing the jerky?”

He gave her a clearly confused look.

“I mean, do you want me to just hand it to you, instead?”

He seemed to consider, then shook himself, his eyes moving back to her empty hand.

She grinned. “Fair enough.” She pulled out another chunk and tossed it in a random direction. Well, there we have it.

As she waited, she continued to read, and absently charged her magic items. I could forget later; might as well keep them topped off whenever I think of it.

After close to a quarter hour, a short, stocky Mage walked in. “You’re the one Mistress Lyn sent?”

Tala stood, her keystone tingling, indicating magic was directed her way. “I am.” Her magesight showed the man to be an Immaterial Guide, just like her.

Unlike her, he had inscribings that very closely mirrored those she’d seen on Master Himmal and his assistants. Focused on analyzing and working with magical items.

His aura was a deep yellow, just far enough from orange to no longer truly be that color. It was contained, somehow, and seemed to almost be held up for display. How does that make sense?

His magesight was already active, even though the inscribings she could see indicated that it wasn’t always on, like hers was.

“I assume that you are Master Boma?”

He grunted. “I am. Why did the Caravan guild think you need to see me? You clearly aren’t an Archon, and any mortal work can be handled by…” He trailed off as Tala drew and held up her knife. “Girl, what, by the stars, have you done?”

Tala just smiled. “I read that I can merge items of power into soul-bound artifacts to increase their base power. Is that true?”

He gave her a long look, then took the offered knife, examining it critically as he spoke. “Of course, it’s true. That’s the primary way to alter and shape such. Otherwise, you have to use an item in very specific ways for…well it depends, but it’s always a long time. That can cause the power to shift and grow to more suit you.” He shrugged absently, clearly talking from a depth of experience as he examined the weapon. “Some are more fluid than others.” His gaze flicked to her eyes. “Child, this knife is starving, even while bound to you. You don’t have the strength of spirit to support this bond properly.” He gave her a hard look. “I assume you were told not to bond anything else? How did you even bond this so weakly?” He gave her a long look. “You’re not bound to…”

Tala simply waited as he rambled on. After all, the man wasn’t leaving room for her to answer any of his myriad questions.

“Ahh, so you came to the spell-form without proper guidance and didn’t know what to do with it?” He looked back at the knife. “This has to be the weakest Archon star I’ve ever heard of. How is it stable?” He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter, it clearly is. So, you want to increase the power of this item then?” He finally stopped there, awaiting a reply.

“Yes. I’m building the power of the bond daily, and I have a host of harvests that I think will be compatible with the knife.”

Boma grunted. “Well, we’ll see about that.” He sighed. “Come on, then.”

“Umm… I’m sorry, but how much will this cost?”

He gave her a long look, then sighed. “It completely depends on what we’re working with, but the absolute cheapest it would be is one ounce, gold. If you have some insanely complex things to work with, it might be a hundred. I won’t know ‘til we’re in the room.”

Tala frowned.

Master Boma sighed, again, shaking his head. “I won’t do anything that will cost you even a copper, before we discuss and agree to a price. Alright?”

She smiled just slightly. “Thank you. That sounds quite acceptable.”

He gestured back towards the room’s exit. “Let’s go.”

Terry flickered up to her shoulder, and the Archon paused.

“That is an interesting creature. Secondarily bound to you via that collar, yeah?”

Tala nodded. She’d recharged the collar along with her other items every time she topped them off.

“You’re not fooling anyone, birdy.”

Terry cocked his head.

“Well, fine. I’m sure you fool most people, but not those who know what to look at.” He moved his gaze to her. “Your defenses must be insane, child. I’ve never seen a terror bird that old, and they universally grow in power over time…Still, he seems to like you. Don’t loose him on the city, please?”

She smiled a bit guiltily. “It’s a training collar, so he has to stay close to me.”

“Small mercies. I don’t want to have to hunt the two of you down at the end of a trail of blood. That sounds very irritating.” He looked back to Terry. “As for you. I’d have just killed you, had we met in the Wild. You mind your Mage. Understand?”

Terry crouched just slightly, eyes narrowing.

Master Boma squared up with them, relaxed but clearly ready. “This won’t be a test, creature. If you make me, I’ll break you like an egg. The city is no place for a wild animal. Know your limits and mind your betters.”

Terry hissed, but settled down, turning away from the Archon and tucking his head under a tiny wing.

Tala, for her part, felt like Boma wasn’t just posturing, even though she couldn’t discern any explicitly offensive spell-forms from his inscribing. If nothing else, he probably has a host of items to use…somewhere.

Master Boma shook his head but didn’t comment further. He strode from the room, carrying Tala’s knife. She followed without complaint or comment.

They went back through the entry atrium and down a side hall into a large room, closed off by heavy, iron-clad doors. Inside, the stone walls and ceiling were coated with overlapping iron plates, which seemed to be lacquered. To keep them from rusting, or from getting iron dust on anything? Probably both.

Boma closed the heavy doors behind them, dropping a bar across to prevent unwanted entry.

The center of the floor was blank, flat stone, but Tala’s magesight showed her that under the top six inches or so was an incredibly complex interlacing matrix of currently inactive spell-forms. How can I see them so clearly, even while they’re inactive?

It was far more complex than what she could easily understand, even with her magesight providing some insights. Below those appeared to be more iron panels, if she understood the odd reflection effect that she saw correctly. They seemed to be designed to be removed from a room below. What is that for? She decided not to walk on the floor over the dormant magic, just in case.

“Now, girl, I assume that you have the harvests in that dimensional storage?”

Tala nodded.

“Put them over there.” He pointed to the center of the room.

So much for not walking on that portion of the floor… She sighed and did as he asked, taking the pouch off of her belt, opening it, and pulling out the feathers and talons.

Boma followed her and began examining each piece as she pulled them out. When she finally finished, he grunted. “Well, you weren’t wrong, these should be compatible, but they aren’t going to expand the versatility of the knife. They’ll just make its magic more potent, more efficient, more effective.”

“Meaning?”

He gave her a flat look, then sighed. “Meaning, if done correctly, it will be able to cut through harder material, even some magics, and stand up to more abuse. It looks like this weapon can shift shape, that will likely happen more quickly, and with less effort on your part. We can likely use the feathers to help strengthen the blade’s connection with you, as well, so the poor artifact will stop starving from a weak, unsupported soul.” After a moment, he shook his head. “That might be too much to ask. Even so, the melding will allow you to feed it more easily as your soul grows in strength.”

“Fair enough.”

“Do you wish to incorporate all of this, together?”

Tala shrugged. “If you think that’s best? I’m not exactly an expert.”

He gave her a long look, before just shaking his head, again. “This knife is bound to you. Assume that’s forever, as the alternatives are worse than death. Trust me on that. I think it reasonable to put this investment in.”

“Then, I’ll bow to your experience.”

He snorted. “It’ll be two gold for the working, and that’s the guild-to-guild rate. If I treated you as an individual, it would be five.” He gave her a hard look. “You did come because of a guild representative, correct?”

He’s giving me the choice? Maybe, he has to tell someone, somewhere that this is a guild job, or that he reasonably assumed so? She didn’t care, really. “Yes, sir.”

He nodded, a slight smile tugging at his lips. “Good.” He began arranging the feathers in a circle, overlapping them to make a continuous stair-step, the quill angled slightly inward. “Drive the knife into the stone here.” He drew a line on the stone with his finger.

How did he do that? As she did what he asked, the blade easily pushing into the hard stone, she analyzed what she’d seen. He altered the reflectivity of the material, changing its color. It was a clever use of Immaterial Guiding, but it seemed a bit frivolous.

The feathers and knife in place, he placed the talons in a smaller circle, hooked blades pointed outward, within the circle of feathers. That done, Boma stood. “Your bird will need to wait by the door.”

Terry flickered over without need for additional prompting.

Boma quirked a smile, looking at Terry. “Thank you for not wasting everyone’s time by pretending ignorance.” He turned to Tala. “You will stay in the center, here.” He stripped off his Mage’s robes, tossing them on the floor back near Terry and leaving himself in only short pants, which ended near his mid-thigh.

He took a deep breath, seeming to center himself. Then, to Tala’s magesight he exploded outward, a flood of magical tendrils lancing out from countless places on his now exposed flesh, entering the floor to interact with the intricate mesh Tala had previously detected, below the surface. Magic danced through a thousand intricate patterns on his skin, as he seemed to control each individualized thread as it, in turn, manipulated those below the stone floor.

Portions of that hidden inscribing activated, harmonizing with Master Boma’s spell-forms, and the stone shifted, portions sinking downward to form a detailed spell-form seemingly engraved into the floor. This shifting wasn’t the moving of joints, but the stone, itself, moving as if carved, shaped, sanded, and polished into form.

Further activations on Master Boma’s part caused liquid copper to flow through the channels and depressions, clearly guided by the forms below the surface.

I wonder if that’s a more complex version of how the teleportation rooms function, hidden spell-forms below the stone. “Won’t I be caught in the working, if I stay here?”

He looked over at her, clear bemusement across his face, even as he continued his work. “Girl, you are soul-bound to the knife. You could be on the other side of the city, and this would catch you. It’d just take more power and more metal, so you’ll stay there.” After a moment he added an additional command. “Sit cross-legged around the knife, and place both hands upon the hilt.”

She complied. “Wouldn’t the iron keep the working from leaving this room, if I was elsewhere?”

“If you weren’t soul-bound, yeah. Magic doesn’t need a pathway through physical reality to flow across a soul-bond.” He paused again, seemingly moving through a more difficult manipulation of his magics, before he gave her a level look. “I’ll forgive your ignorance, because these are all Archon level concepts, but please, make a proper star and elevate yourself soon, yeah? Your lack of understanding is painful, and I’m forbidden from correcting your deficit as you are, now.”

Tala stopped asking questions. I am so, incredibly glad that I didn’t attempt this on my own. Seeing Boma’s work, the very idea seemed laughable. The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.

The spell-form was now complete and filled, Tala sitting in an open circle in the middle. The lines of the spell-form ranged in size from thread-thin to as large as her little finger. It was all copper. If she had to guess, she’d have said it was at least four or five pounds of the metal, and that was just what she could see on the surface. I’d have thought gold would be preferred… She hesitated. No, that much power would be a waste, and likely much, MUCH, too expensive to be practical. And with copper, when not all the metal is used up, they can still deactivate the spell, and reuse that material, next time.

She knew that this spell-form likely had depth, meaning there were layers below what she could see. Thinking back, she remembered seeing holes in the stone, likely the pathways towards those lower portions. Plus, this is using the material from the spell-form below the stone, and using up Master Boma’s inscribings, too… Two ounces, gold, was sounding like a better and better deal as she contemplated all that was involved, here. Might be barely more than cost…

She looked up, noticing a secondary circle, closer to the door, fully inscribed, prepared, and intermeshed with the main circle surrounding her. Master Boma sat down in that circle, tendrils of power still connecting him with the workings.

Tala looked around herself, trying to take in all she could.

“Mistress Tala.”

Tala looked to the older Mage.

“When this activates, the magic will flow through you, the knife, and your materials. You will be given choices on how the integration will occur. I strongly recommend that you choose the one you came here for. Don’t be tempted by the other things presented. As much as you’ve been a bit annoying, your ignorance is understandable, and I’d hate to end the morning by killing an inhuman abomination.”

She frowned. “What? I don’t understand…”

He sighed. “I know, child. Please just remember what I said.”

She nodded, hesitantly, and he reached out, placing his hands on perfectly sized imprints to either side of him. The threads of power seemed to collect, moving across his skin until they all seemed to originate from his hands, flowing into the stone. His gate opened wide, the power flowing outward became a torrent, and Tala’s magesight was instantly overwhelmed by a wave of refined power.

Her vision went white as a torrent of magic slammed into the knife and, through it, into her.

* * *

She was outside herself, without form, looking into a white void.

It wasn’t bright; it wasn’t dim; it simply was, and it was white.

An instant, or perhaps a decade, passed without anything violating the purity of the void.

Then, there, before her bodyless gaze, stood…herself, but different.

Tala stood, wings stretching from her back; her hands and feet ended in razor sharp talons, and her eyes were solid black: inhuman and predatory. As she watched, the wings and talons retracted, fading into her flesh as if they’d never been, but the gaze remained the same: hungry, barely intelligent.

Tala moved back from that visage of herself and saw another standing nearby.

The second form was her as well, but covered with short, black feathers. Her legs were more like Terry’s, with reversed knees, and her torso was hunched forward, arms reaching to tear at her victims. Her talons were wicked looking, clearly designed to shred that which she attacked, and her eyes…

How do these eyes look even more feral?

She was not behind those eyes. Well…of course she wasn’t, because she was looking from the outside, but there was no humanity in that face. What she beheld was a beast of basic hunger and predatory need.

She shuddered, or she would have if she’d had a body.

The third version was a human-seeming Tala, but with her arms replaced by wings of sharpened metal. She somehow knew both that this version of her could fly, and that the wings were a permanent feature. No retracting these for normalcy…

The next Tala on option looked mostly normal, a knife in hand: her knife. As she watched, power flowed into the knife and the arm holding it changed into a huge, winglike blade, incorporating the knife, and making it an extension of her physical form.

The body incorporation looked like a medley of silver and black metal, interwoven into a symphony of death and sharp edges.

That looks interesting. It looks almost like one of the wings from the third option.

Next to that was a similar manifestation, but this time, the sword changed into a monstrosity, completely separate from her own physical body. The blade was nearly a dozen feet long, the hilt growing to be more than large enough for two hands to grip it with ease. Despite the tremendous size, the mirage of her seemed to wield it with effortless ease.

Hah, it’s light as a feather. She considered for a moment. It looks like it would cut more like an ax than a razor. That could be a pain. Also, I can’t imagine fighting in close quarters with that, or near anything, no matter how light it was.

She moved on.

Finally, after dozens more, the last figment she saw was of her as she was, holding the knife.

In the figment, power gushed into the weapon, and it instantly flowed into the shape of a familiar sword, as it had looked to her before. Though, there were now hints of a feather-like texture to the hilt, as well as the field of heat within the wire outline of the blade.

Somehow, she knew that the lack of increase to size and reach had been translated into power within the blade itself. She felt an overwhelming, instinctual cry from this final version, a hunger and unified purpose. This weapon existed to be wielded by her to hunt, to kill, to protect her from harm.

Yes. The weapon, the extension of her will, resonated with her very soul.

She looked at her options, for she knew that’s what they were, and understood what Master Boma had meant. The first options somehow integrated the two physical forms and her basic nature lost. She was not strong enough to fully unify with this weapon and stay as she was. Does that mean I could get wings later? If I was stronger?

Maybe.

It might be worth asking…once she was an Archon and people would answer her questions.

Do I want wings? She shook her…soul? I don’t have a head to shake…But now is not the time for such considerations either about my headless state or whether or not I want wings.

She approached the last manifestation and indicated acceptance.

Power shattered through her and the knife; her very-self felt as if it was being scraped raw.

* * *

Her vision splintered back into normal sight, and she found herself sitting cross-legged on the smooth floor of the room, knife resting in her palms.

All traces of the arcane harvests and spell-forms were gone, and Master Boma was standing over her.

“Good, still human.” He turned and walked towards the door. “I’ll work up the exchange tablet. Take your time.”

Tala looked down at her hands and the weapon resting atop them. She felt more connected to the tool than ever before. It felt like her heart beat within the knife, though the tool didn’t pulse. It was as if the knife was her long lost love, but also someone who had been her companion for decades.

Yet again, she was struck with how it felt more a part of her than her own arms. Strange…Yet, obviously as it should be…somehow.

There was a hint of feather-like texturing in the pattern of the blade and handle, making the metal, at least, look like a form of patterned, folded steel.

She extended her blade to the side and poured power into the blade, watching it flow outward, taking on the shape of the sword more quickly and easily than ever before.

She still couldn’t maintain it for more than a handful of seconds, and even that would be a strain, but it was a marked improvement, regardless.

She brought the extended blade in to look at it, lifting her hand to grip the blade, before she hesitated, realizing that that would be foolish. Don’t burn your hand, Tala, or stress your inscribings. Even so, as she’d brought her hand close, she’d noticed something.

In a direct line with the blade’s edge, she felt her power being pushed back, driven back into her defensive scripts and away from the flesh, itself. As the edge came closer, the scripts themselves seemed to be straining, as the magic in them was put under stress. This will cut so much easier than before, even through magically defended materials. She found herself grinning. The power just flows away before it.

Flow. That seemed fitting. “I will call you: Flow.”

A note from JLMullins

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mÃ¸llegaard, Mark Dolson, Mark Cuthbert, Marius , Maria Moberg, Margus234, Marcus Pehan, Marcel Amendt, Maksim, magutb, Magnus Benzein, Maggi von Da, Mac , MaÅ¥o MikuÄ¾Ã¡k, MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, M1styczny, M , Lyael, Luke Roberts, Lukas Wittendorff Nielsen, Ludger , Lord Falco, Logical System, Logan , LM, Lizbeth , lightzeus10, Lida, Liam K, Levi Cox, Lerous, Leon Ernst, Leendert Kortlever, Le GarlantÃ©zec, Lawrance, Laurids Jensen, Lachlan Priest, Kyle Kampo, Kyle frasch, Kyle Eastman, Kristian Ries, Kristian Olesen, Krishnayash, Krikor Chichadjian, krapotge, Klecksi, klabuster, Kirvin, Kiran, Kiernan Lynch, Kevin McBride, Kevin Green, Kevin, Kenyaa , Kenneth , kenneth, Ken Williams , Keith, Keira Wulfe, Katarak, karmaslap , Kamren Livingston, Kai , Kaeson, Justin Reagan, Justin Gray, Justin , Justin , just_a_potato , Julia O, Joshua John Wallace, Joshua Hutton, joshua carlile, josh mitchell, Josh Fryza, Joseph Sutherland, Joseph , Jordan Cronin, Jonathan Timm, Jonathan Brewster , Jonah 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Frederic Axt, Fraxx, Frank By Estenstad, Frank, Francesco Giorgini, FoolRegnant , Findell , FieryFern, Fiddle Sticks, fennek , Felix Adler, felix , Felipe Andrade, faite kellander, Faeblood , Exxator , evilperson41 , Eugene , Ethan Cruikshank, Erling Egilsson, erik lindquist, Eric Wharton, Eric Staind, Eric , Epikos, Ensos2, Enif , Enaz the great, EmmaLeia, Embessor, Ell Lan, Elias Leutgeb, dwarftoss58, Dustin Qian, Drew Gilmour, Drake Morgan, dragonslaver, Dr.Quick, Dorian Lee, Dorian Grizzle, Doomerjunky, Dominic French, Disclancer, Dire Wolf, Dhruv Garg, Devin , devarian , DeusCap, Derrick McDowell, Derik Botha, Derek, dennis malatesta, Deion Bollinger, Dax, Dawson Anderson, David Turner, David Schleimer, David Otis, David Jeltema III, David H, David Dezwaan, David Brims, David , Dave Caspers, Darkdej , Darcy Lessard-Patola, DANTE, Daniel Smith, Daniel Robson, Daniel K, daniel edery, Dane Edwards, Dan Weiss, Dan , Dan , Damian Zhou, Ð°Ð½Ð´Ñ€ÐµÐ¹ Ð¨, czyz, Cyrus McEnnis, Cristi Palincas, CountChocula, Cory Eis, Connor Oswald, Conner T, Colin Reed, Colin Ford, Cole Nyquist, CMGreenspon, cm123 , Clin C, Clayton Carson, Clara, chumponimys, Christian Kenney, chris o, Chris Hibbert, Chase128, chad ensey, Ceeney, Carl Minden, Cai , BurnNote, Budgie, BtBurns , Bryan Watson, Bronk, Bricyn Abel, Brian, bostjan , BossDawg, Bosparan, book_nerd , BoB, Bloodorange17 , bio1445, Bernardino Campa IV, BeatleNerd, Bast, bambi125, Baldur Norddahl, Bacon Macleod, B C, Azra, Axolo, Axathero, AverageGuy , Austin Woodard, Asomite7999, Asael Sklar, arty, Arqain, Arnfinn Gjorvad, Ardenn Eriksen, Archivist0 , Arc4203, Arakhil, AParticularIndividual, Ao , antab , Anna Turner, Anh Vo, Angela, Andrew Holland, Andrew Goudie, Andrew , Andrew, Andre Cote , Alteron, Alpenmann, Allora Lee, Allan Tam, Alice Gonzales, Alexandra Hunt, Alexander Graber-Tilton, Alexander Dupree, Alex Griffin, Alex Foster, Alex , Alex, Al, Akshai Chundra, Aelynn, Adrian Gorgey, Adam, Aclys , Aaron Sofaer, Aaron , Aapjuh , aantonides ., Ãsak, A Avery P., a

Mage:

Ivo Havener, Zagig Yragerne, Werkrat , ulrik aaby, tdb, Tarantism, tachi-kawa, Sundancer, Stuart Anderson, SirGuy , Silveredgallium, Setaria, Sean S, Sean Carter, Scott Toreki, Scott Holt, Ryman , Runehkt, Rick Brandon, Renata Soares BrandÃ£o, Reminder, Pietro Ferretti, Peter Edlund, Pavel Kovalyov, Paradox, Ozimandius, Noppes , Nicholas Johnson, Naimah , Mystearical, Moritz MÃ¼ller, MaxM, Maxim Lukiyanov, Max Oberg, Mathias Schwendimann, martianwalk, Mark Zhang, mallix , Leeyan , Lasse Pedersen, Kyle, KingWoh, Kevin Bui, Keifru , jwin, Jonathan Holtmann, Jon, Joe , Jeremy Leonard, Jan, Jackson Ragland, Inslayer , Hodge Wasson, Gleadge, Gert Wallis, Fabian , Evan Thompson, eik, DT , David Stedman, David McGillicuddy, David , Connor C, Connor Beeson, Cody Landis, Chevron8 , Carl Clements, Azure , Anton Selling, Amelia, Almost Famous, Alexander Belousov, Alexander BÃ¶ckenholt, Alex Weatbrook, Alex Scriber, Alex Almond, al , Akiven, Adam Richards, Adam , Abdel Elnagga, aazurekilla

Mageling:

Zellcos, Wayan-Gwie Lapointe, Travis Hampton, SushiAddict , Sid_Cypher , Robert Rosenthal, P.R. Bakker, NNeil , N. A., Michael kim, Ken, Jordan Grandits, Joost Boere, Isaac Larkin, Gusten Nyberg , Elessar Beverly, Douglas Turner, Desertdoe , Dave Burkett, Daniel Moses, Connor Moffat, Chris K, Chad Lowe, Cameron , Alexander Lease

Inscribed:

Stephen , nikrowd , Matt DiMeo, Jonathan , Isaac Fratti, Daydeus, Ari Mononen

Continue the Story [Book 3 - Binding]

The world reclaims all things. Humanity shelters within their ever-dying cities. Mages and Archons create the only path forward.

Tala has returned to her new home, her mission successful, and her money-pouch temporarily refilled. Gold is still an ever present concern, but more pressing hurdles lie before her. Her inscriptions have been renewed and completed, granting her newfound power that she must learn to control, and she has a long list of tasks to complete before she can join the ranks of the powerful Archons.

As she delves deeper into the mysteries of the world, barely even hinted at by the Academy, Tala has discovered the secrets of the truly mighty: the creation of an Archon Star. The Mage isn't content to follow the standard path. She's determined to forge her Archon Star from an unconventional material, a gamble that could either lead to her triumph or her downfall.

Tala isn't one to shy away from a challenge, but only time will reveal if her daring plan will pay off when it is time to complete her Binding.

A note from JLMullins

Link to Purchase: https://geni.us/Binding

The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 104 - That Seems Bad

A note from JLMullins

With a new month, here's a quick Patreon plug. 😁

The Magelings ($2) are 4 chapter ahead, Mages ($5) are 9 chapters ahead, and Archons ($10) are 19 chapters ahead.

Patreon URL: https://www.patreon.com/MillennialMage

The second day of the venture to Makinaven was much like the first, excepting crystal entities and arcanes and Archons dropping through.

The guardsmen drove off more than a dozen arcanous creatures, varying from the quite common thunderbulls to a few massive reptiles. One of those seemed to have been stalking one of the thunderbull families and took exception to the guards having driven them off.

Rane took care of a half-dozen more minor threats to their progress.

Tala never left the wagon top.

Instead of begrudging her restriction, after all she could see that Mistress Odera was correct in every instance, Tala kept a ready watch on their surroundings, usually being among the first to notice any potential threat. All the while, she continued her study of Holly’s texts. She wanted her knowledge surrounding her inscribings to be as deep and thorough as possible.

They made camp late that afternoon, just more than two hundred yards from the close edge of the reaching canopy, far overhead. The hard part of the journey would start the next day, it seemed.

The forest was an interesting presence beside the camp; the trees, starting at almost a hard line, were taller than anything she had ever seen, short of a mountain. Their branches spread out wide, interlacing with those around them. Their shape seemed much more like maple trees than pine.

Even the somewhat shorter specimens, at the near edge, were tall enough that Tala thought they might be able to strike the wagons, should they fall their way.

Let’s hope that doesn’t happen… She could probably catch such with a Restrain, but she’d never attempted to affect something that large, before, and Restrain was a more complex working than Crush.

Yeah, I could Crush a tree no problem, but that wouldn’t help us if it were falling our way. She put it out of her mind, though, as it was quite unlikely in any event.

Rane and Tala sparred before dinner, to the great enjoyment of the passengers and off-duty guardsmen. Their display caused more to brave the cold for longer periods, many opting to eat their dinner while continuing to watch.

Eventually, however, night had truly fallen, and Tala had eaten a quadruple portion of dinner. Pasties never get old.

Tala was given the first part of the night-watch as Mage protector, and Rane and Mistress Odera bid her goodnight. Mistress Odera gave her several bits of advice and requested that she be roused if anything of note seemed to be happening.

Tala agreed with a smile.

That first part of the night passed with similar non-issue. Terry slew a night puma, a great cat that used shadow magic to stalk its prey.

He detected it, somehow, and slew it outside of the area between the wagons, near the edge of where she could see in the poor light.

He also ate it before Tala could notify the guards to log the encounter. When she checked with those on duty with her, none had seen the beast, to corroborate the kill. Ah, well. At least he got a meal out of it.

She still found it marginally intimidating when Terry swallowed things much larger than his standard form. The night puma had been more than eight feet in length, nose to rump, and Tala would have guessed it weighed more than she did, even accounting for her gravity enhancement.

Still, it was handled. No issue at all.

She hesitated at that. Is there no issue, because nothing has happened, or do I think there’s been no issue, because the arcane returned, and removed memory of such?

She shivered at the thought, causing Terry to shift on her shoulder, though he didn’t open his eyes.

Well, I suppose if it had returned, it would have manipulated me, causing me to not even consider its interference. Great, so she only had to worry about the arcane’s involvement when she didn’t consider that it could have been involved.

She felt her left eye twitching. “Tala… you are making yourself crazy. You cannot possibly allow that to be how you think of this…”

She shook her head. All I can do is keep on, and resist anything that I can.

It was small comfort, but it did seem to help.

When Rane took over the watch around midnight, Tala gratefully slipped into sleep atop her reinforced cot, happy to end an unremarkable day and happy that it had been just that.

* * *

The next morning, after her daily routine, a sparring session with Rane, and breakfast, Tala noticed Mistress Odera walking her way.

“Mistress?”

“Good morning, Mistress Tala. Walk with me, will you?”

“Sure.”

Tala fell into step beside the much older woman, moving towards the forest. “What do you know of this forest?”

She thought back to the information she’d read up on in preparation for this trip. Summarize, she doesn’t need a recitation of all of that. “It’s full of magic, though not specifically in the air. The trees have more power than those in other low-magic regions, and there are more arcanous creatures than on the open plains. I haven’t looked closely at the trees’ power-flow, though.” Her magesight had noted it at a great distance, and she hadn’t focused on it since.

“Go on.”

“It’ll be colder? Not much direct sunlight reaches the ground. There aren’t established roads through the trees, obviously, so the travel time is much less certain.”

“All true.”

“Almost no undergrowth? The trees deeper in grow massive and block even more of the sun, leaving the forest floor mostly bare of vegetation.” She looked up at the trees which literally scraped the sky, uplifting branches creating trailing crevices in the lowest clouds as they moved past.

Mistress Odera nodded. “So, you know the basics.”

“They are as big as I was warned.” Tala grunted. “Even yesterday, I thought I was just mis-seeing, somehow.”

“They truly are spectacular. The Mezzannis used to make their homes in these trees.”

“Mezzannis?”

“An arcane species. Never enslaved humanity, per se. They were one of the few to completely collapse when we gained our freedom.”

Tala frowned. “That’s terrible. We wiped out an entire race, which wasn’t doing us any harm?”

Mistress Odera quirked a small smile. “They didn’t enslave us, Mistress, because you don’t put your beef cows to work in the fields.”

Tala hesitated, narrowing her eyes at the older woman. “Wait…”

“The Mezzannis subsisted on ambient magic and human flesh.”

Tala shuddered. “I feel like you purposely led me astray, there.”

“Of course I did. I was curious how you would react to the elimination of a supposedly peaceful people.” She nodded, her smile growing. “I am glad of your response.”

“So… All gone?”

“Gone? No, but the decrease in magic, both natural, ages ago, and then that induced by our cities, caused the majority to wither away into lesser versions of themselves, all those that didn’t die outright.”

“So…most are not dead?”

“Some melded with the great trees, losing most of their sentience, and all of their sapience, in order to live on. It is because of them that these giants can move on occasion, though rarely while observed. That is one added difficulty in traversing this part of the human wilds.”

“…the trees move. Like an ending-tree? They’ll try to hit us? Or, do you mean…?”

Mistress Odera gave a small smile. “The trees can migrate. They move through the ground without truly disturbing it, and often reposition to hamper travel through the region using either trunk or roots as barriers. Though, they aren’t clever or inter-connected enough to block the route entirely. When humans aren’t around, those that can move tend to drift away from each other, making it less obstructive over time.”

And now the references to varying routes and lengths of travel make a lot more sense. She hesitated. Wait… “You said that some of them melded with the trees, but not all?”

“No, not even most. Most that still remain are no longer conscious beings. They are arcanous humanoids. We call them Leshkin.”

Leshkin? This is their original home? I knew that some were found here, but this is where they come from? She found herself giving an involuntary shiver. The Leshkin waged a mindless war on humanity every millennia, or so. Now that I think about it, wasn’t the last one almost that long ago? She thought through her memories of the various informational texts she tried to devour in the last week, adding them to stories from her youth. Maybe a hundred or a hundred and fifty years out if the pattern holds. “That isn’t great, is it.”

Mistress Odera shook her head. “Pernicious creatures. From what we’ve learned, each has a heart of sorts, hidden well beyond human reach: a seed from which they will re-grow if killed. As such, they lack even animalistic instincts for survival. Any that catch wind of us will attack and will continue to do so until they are obliterated. They will not retreat and cannot be driven off.”

The two women stopped walking, a bit past half-way between the wagons and the forest edge.

“Their hatred of humanity is deeper than even the arcanous animals’ aggressive instincts.” Mistress Odera’s eyes flicked to Terry. “Your companion will have some trouble with them, as their form is nothing more than animated, magically altered vegetation. You will have trouble because that plant matter has a caustic sap flowing through it, under high pressure.”

Tala had read of that.“Wouldn’t that be an issue for anyone?”

“Of course, but most people are used to being wary, of being in danger. You are accustomed to being invulnerable.”

Tala found herself nodding. “Noted. Acid will definitely stress my inscriptions more than a sharp cut or blunt hit, but I should be able to endure, so long as I’m not submerged, or the like.”

Mistress Odera gave her a long-suffering look. “Funny you mention submersion.”

Tala did not like the woman’s tone. “Oh?”

“There are, on occasion, pit-traps filled with their sap, usually in hollows. A misstep will break through the thin layer of turf and drop the unlucky into wells of acid.”

“That’s just lovely.”

“Quite.”

Tala sighed. “I have been thinking about releasing my increased weight. It’s very useful in some few circumstances, but not many. In all others, it’s actually pretty irritating to deal with. Do you think that wise?”

Mistress Odera hesitated. “Possibly. There are creatures that will snatch a person up, and carry them up nearby trees, and they are more numerous than the pit-traps. Your weight would be an advantage against such foes.”

“Certs, right?” Human-like in form, but much bigger and with much shorter legs, proportionally. As a result, they were just taller than humans, on average, and they could easily run on all fours, while remaining mostly upright. Their heads were more like elk or rams, with horns or antlers, depending on the subspecies. Their feet were as dexterous as their hands, and they moved through trees more easily than a horse ran across open plains. Tala glanced up at the canopy before them. Yeah… that could be…bad.

“That’s correct. They can survive a fall from the canopy and are known for attempting to drop directly onto wagons, or oxen.”

“Great, so keep my eyes above us, too.” As expected, I suppose…

“The guards are very good at watching for branches moving irregularly, but if you can, keep your magesight perceptive in that direction. Yours is always active, correct?”

“It is.”

“Good. That should help, as well.”

Tala nodded. As she thought about their talks, a question came to mind. “So… Leshkin are about human in size. What should I watch for, specifically? Are there any common signs of their presence or approach?” She’d studied many creatures from this region, but she knew that her knowledge wasn’t complete.

“Lesser Leshkin are closer to child sized. Though, if two combine, they will match a grown man in height and bulk. As to your question, they move about in human form, most of the time. Otherwise, watch for fast-growing plants, filled with unusual power.”

“Hold on a moment, combine?”

“Oh, yes. Two of the lessers can meld into a warrior. Those even use wooden approximations of human weaponry, blessedly mundane, but made of some wood that leaves them more effective than any human metal.”

Tala nodded. Ingrit’s list had Leshkin weaponry as one of the most lucrative harvests on this route. Tala had read about the warriors, but she’d missed the part where they were just combined lesser Leshkin. Too much variation and nuance to fully read up on, in advance… “Can two warriors join? Wait,” She shook her head. If the pattern holds, “that’s a Leshkin knight, right?”

“Correct. They have something akin to plate armor, but again from mundane, if sturdy, wood. Some knights will have magically enhanced weaponry or armor.”

“And two knights…” Tala thought back. “A juggernaut?”

“Precisely. Twice the height of a man, everything they use is strongly magically empowered. If we attract that much attention, we are in a lot of trouble.”

Two to a warrior, two of those to a knight, and two of those to a juggernaut. “That’s just eight. Eight are so much trouble?”

“Only if they have time and forethought to join. It isn’t instantaneous and the process seems to require connection to a great tree for magical energy. It usually only happens if there isn’t an easy chance for them to attack, so they take time to prepare before joining the battle.”

Ok. So, that’s why the information I found discussed how to counter groups of the lessers. Groups won’t be combined as much as possible.

“The lessers are much faster, so they usually try to soften up a target first, or act as distractions, when units fight together.”

Historical enemy of mankind, indeed. “So…why do we have cities in here?”

Mistress Odera snorted, humorlessly. “Because the cycle of cities through this region is all that beats them back, even if just briefly. The centuries, between when the last forest city fades and we establish the next, see the Leshkin swarming deeply into the plains. They are more an annoyance than anything, but they make every route, every city, less safe.”

And the last forest city will wane in a little over a century and a half… That lined up with her understanding of historical conflicts with the Leshkin. “Alright. So, what else will we be facing in there?”

They spent a few more minutes discussing what to expect.

Belatedly, as they were finishing up, Tala asked. “Shouldn’t Rane have been here for this?”

“We already talked. He fills a much more standard role as a protector and has read up on the proper actions and strategies for someone like him on this route. You are a bit out of the ordinary.”

She grunted. “I suppose I can see that.”

Mistress Odera met her eyes with a searching look. “So, I noticed that you didn’t do any practice with your new gravity manipulation, yesterday.”

“I thought it better to focus on the caravan and improving the efficiency of the inscriptions I already have active.”

Mistress Odera gave her a long look, then shook her head. “Oh, child. You really are trying, aren’t you.”

Tala frowned in irritation. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Mistress Odera waved her off. “Unimportant, now. I want you to begin practicing as soon as we get underway. Keep your eyes out, but work on using that inscription. Until you have it under control, you are working with an incomplete powerset, right?”

“True enough.”

“I’m heading back to take up my post on the cargo-wagon. Why don’t you take a more detailed look at the trees with your magesight, then join me?” After a moment’s pause, she added. “Don’t get closer. Don’t start an engagement with anything, if you see it.”

Tala nodded. “As you say, Mistress.”

Mistress Odera moved back towards the caravan, and Tala, for her part, turned to regard the giant trees before her. She focused, allowing her magesight to really dig into what she saw.

Her eyes immediately widened in shock.

Each tree seemed to have sent its roots further down than she could easily discern, as well as so far out that she stood well inside the radius of their reach, even though the canopy ended another hundred yards in front of her.

That wasn’t what had evoked the reaction, however.

Power. The forest was drawing in power from all around it, almost like a human city. Most of what she could see flowing into the forest came from deep in the ground. The trees, after using some of the power, seemed to release the rest from the tips of their branches, to fill the air.

Even so, the magic didn’t stay there long, and the results weren’t even half as concentrated as the magic around Alefast. The power in the air seemed to be steadily flowing deeper into the forest. Towards Makinaven.

How dense would the power be, if the city wasn’t here to lessen it? She shivered at the thought. So, anything in there will be more power-dense than the arcanous beasts of the plain. That was a lovely thought.

She briefly wondered why the Archons hadn’t just burned the whole thing down, but as she considered, she doubted that the arcanes would allow such, and the action might even bring some of those uninterested in humanity down upon them. We’re in a strange stalemate. We have to defend ourselves, but we can’t do anything that’s too effective, or we could be starting an active war that we couldn’t win.

She grimaced. The more I learn, the more I wish I’d been content with ignorance… She snorted at that. She knew, very well, that even if she could go back, she wouldn’t. Blissful ignorance is a false paradise.

She sighed, moving to turn back towards the wagons when Terry perked up, his eyes locked on the trees.

Tala followed his gaze and saw what looked like a pile of flowers, slowly growing up from the forest floor, near one of the closest trunks.

Her magesight showed a complexity of power that she couldn’t comprehend at this distance, and she almost moved to investigate. Is that what Mistress Odera meant?

Thankfully, her better reason prevailed, and she stayed put. It’s not because Mistress Odera told me to stay back. I’m choosing the wiser path on my own.

Once the flowers had reached a height roughly equal to Tala’s chest, they condensed, forming the shape of a small person, eyes of vacant darkness regarding her from its place, near one of the closest trees. Though Tala’s normal sight saw only unending night in those black holes, her magesight saw blazing beacons of power. Is that what I looked like to others?

The depictions she’d seen in informational tomes did not convey the wrongness of the creature. I really can see detail at a crazy distance… She’d not encountered many instances where she focused so closely at something so far, but that was hardly the most pressing thing, at the moment.

The thing tilted its head to the side in clear confusion. Don’t anthropomorphize, Tala.

The small form continued to look her direction for a long, silent minute. Finally, it slowly began walking forward. Its movements were fast, but jerky. The result was faster than a quick walk but looked more akin to a puppet’s movements than that of a man. A puppet controlled by a drunken child…

“Terry, go get Mistress Odera’s attention.” Tala began walking backwards, unwilling to put her back to the advancing creature.

Terry vanished. The flickers of dimensional power behind her indicated that he was doing as she’d asked. At least, I hope so.

She moved with careful but quick steps. No reason to trip while escaping that horror… As such, the flower-being was gaining on her, steadily, leaving dragging, irregular footprints in the snow. Even so, it didn’t, yet, seem hostile. More than anything it seemed…curious?

It can’t see me properly. Do I look like one of its own…? Why doesn’t it see the caravan?

Tala was about fifty yards from the caravan when the Leshkin reached the edge of the overhanging canopy. When it did, it froze in place, head jerking back and forth, seemingly seeing the caravan for the first time.

It threw its mouth wide, thorn-like teeth growing larger, stretching towards the center of a wholly inhuman, circular maw. A screech, high and wild, issued from the churning depths. Blessedly, there were no answering cries from behind it, within the forest.

The flowers of its exterior shifted into a pattern reminiscent of scales, and much larger thorns sprouted from its fingertips and toes.

Without warning, it rocketed forward with a sudden burst of speed, leaving a trail of flower petals in its wake.

The being seemed to have forgotten Tala, and was aiming to pass her by, seeking the caravan.

Yeah, no. Tala drew Flow, connecting void-channels to it as she pulled it free.

The weapon blossomed into a sword, and the Leshkin seemed to take notice, but didn’t alter its path.

It whipped past her in a rush, Tala striking out and cutting through it with seeming ease.

Behind her, the Leshkin sprayed a bubbling yellow fluid from the cut Tala had made in its side.

Some of that acid splattered Tala’s back, immediately eating through her elk-leathers, and began burning at her skin. Why aren’t the ending-berries stopping it? The part that missed her sizzled through the light layer of white snow.

Allowing a moment’s distraction, she looked within. Tala saw that something about the creature’s blood was pushing against her magical defense, moving the ending-berry power back more effectively than that of her inscriptions.

Tala growled, spinning around to face the creature. She bent her will towards her ending-berry reserves and forced that magic back into the areas still under assault by the acid.

The power began diminishing but not too quickly. That removed the strain on her inscriptions and most of the strangely burning itch. Well, Xeel did imply that I’d have trouble with some of the forest creatures… And hadn’t Ingrit mentioned something along those lines, too? She definitely mentioned the Leshkin, but I don’t think she discussed their effect on ending-berry power. But ending-berries had fallen out of favor during a Leshkin war. I think I might be starting to understand why.

Tala fully faced the Leshkin as it tumbled to a stop, immediately picking itself back up and facing her in turn. It hesitated, seeming to examine her, before glancing over its shoulder, the head turning far more than a human neck could.

It shrieked again, spinning and launching itself towards the caravan.

Tala cursed. That…that seems bad.

The guards had seen the beast, now, and Mistress Odera was clearly looking their way from atop the cargo-wagon.

A single quarrel thwacked into the creature’s chest, and Tala saw the scripts on the shaft’s length ignite, inverting the Leshkin’s power for use against the beast.

The Leshkin lost all cohesion, the blooms exploding outward to be carried back into the forest by a wind that Tala couldn’t feel or detect.

A note from JLMullins

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Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Chieki

Archon:

Ryan Tran, Greg Shields, Feltenix, Aria, MoneyTree, William Mark Ambler, Samuel McCarren, Timothy Alexander, Jonathan Timm, Disclancer, T.E. N., Sebastian Viller, Kiernan Lynch, Nick Tinsley, vincent beaulieu, Isaac Deroche, Yenin , David , Arnfinn Gjorvad, Tyler Shepherd, Marius , Nicholas Anile, Matt M, Hazza Vanderbyl, Joshua Hutton, Nonie, Zigeblo , Rachel Prochner, Maksim, Maggi von Da, klabuster, Irisa, Derek, sethorizer, RageBone , Primordi, Onill007 , Matt S., Jo, dragonslaver, Horathio , Viria , Lerous, Oliverthms , Moritz Hauff, Misha , MePe , Hibou Ronchon, GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Dax, Exxator , Cristi Palincas, Budgie, book_nerd , bostjan , Helge, BtBurns , Bast, Max Collins, Z. Cs., xIron Gamerx, Wyv, william wallace, William Priess, WhisperInTheVoid, WarNachos, Vlad Orlov, Tzucaza ., Travis McIntosh, Travis McHenry, Tomas K, Tim Ferguson, Thomas Stewart, Thomas Goyne, TheLazerCat , Thaco4 , Ted , Taliesin , Tabletsalt , Stephen Pearson, Spencer Reetz, someguy , Solar , Shakez44, Seth Richter, sedael , Sean McCrohan, Ryan Naquin, rwn , Rutger Boll, Robin Richards, Robert z, Robert P, Robert McNitt, Robert C Croke, rizen, RepossessedSoul , Redbeard , Randy Klein, Preston West, Philipp Ziehe, peter mattoon, Peter , Paul Pintea, PatronTurtle , Paper Crane, PaleMire, OlivierA, nugitoBambino, noah stevens, Noah Morris, MrAcerulez, Messe, Megacheez , Max Gustavson, Matthew Powell, Matthew Davis, Matthew , Matt M, Mason Erickson, Mark Dolson, Margus234, Marcus Pehan, Lyael, Logan , lightzeus10, Levi Cox, Leendert Kortlever, Kyle Kampo, Krikor Chichadjian, Kirvin, Keira Wulfe, Kamren Livingston, Kai , Justin Reagan, Justin , Justin , just_a_potato , joshua carlile, Joseph Sutherland, Jonah of the Whale, Jim Smith, Jeffery Nickelson, Jeff Gault, Jeff Barton, Jedediah Wolfgang, James Walsh, James Nagy, Jacob Ellis, isaiah , Isaac Griswold-Steiner, Isaac Boyles, Ian Radspinner, Ian Duncan, Haran , Haggai Klorman, Gustav Burkhardt, Gull, Gremlin, George Hicken, Geoff, Frank By Estenstad, Frank, Fiddle Sticks, Felipe Andrade, evilperson41 , Eugene , Erling Egilsson, Eric , Enif , Enaz the great, Dorian Lee, Dire Wolf, devarian , David Turner, David Otis, Darkdej , DANTE, Damian Zhou, Cyrus McEnnis, Colin Ford, Clin C, Clayton Carson, Christian Kenney, Ceeney, Carl Minden, Bryan Watson, BossDawg, Bloodorange17 , Baldur Norddahl, Bacon Macleod, B C, Austin Woodard, arty, Archivist0 , Arc4203, antab , Angela, Andrew Holland, Alice Gonzales, Alex Foster, Alex , Al, aantonides ., A Avery P., Eric Staind, Laurids Jensen, voltic, Kenyaa , Nikolaj Rosander Madsen, Tangyorange, mattias hessleryd, Magnus Benzein, David H, znarken, Ray Robitaille, dennis malatesta, Le GarlantÃ©zec, NaughtyPaws, CMGreenspon, Brian, Andrew Goudie, Ink's Muse, Chris Hibbert, Jago , Axolo, John Growcott, daniel edery, Colton Rutherford, Zrell , Asomite7999, Alexander Graber-Tilton, Glenn Clemente, William Fullerton, Skygo, Andy, Adam, Jayden Kirkham, sm0ze, simon_cola, AParticularIndividual, cm123 , Ruy, Schelm , Leon Ernst, Frederik De Proost, Siphor , Xavier Joanblanq, Ryudachi, Lizbeth , Jannes , Frederic Axt, BoB, perhaps , Morceaux, Ludger , Zax, Zanthras, Yaksher, William Francom, Wesley Miller, Vikram Ahluwalia, Vanyel Siegel, TorbjÃ¸rn Haugstad, tlove, Tirraon, Timothy Burago, Tim , ThreatLvlPurple , Taylor , Tarroyn , Tarantism, Steven C, Spiff, Skarsol, Sdff , RottenTangerine, richreggio, Rawin Ranatunga, Pedro Derze, Oakenbear , Noah Williams, Nathan Fahrenbach, Mr. Bigglesworth, Mitch, Michael Mooney, Melting Sky, Max Sweet, Mark Zhang, MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, M , Lord Falco, Lida, Lachlan Priest, kenneth, Keith, Kaeson, Joseph , John Smith, John Hadel, Joe Smith, Jiokuy , Jeremy James, Jeremy Albert, Jason Morse, Jarrod Manzer, James, Jake Pellegrini, Ian Anderson, Guppy, Gamecats, Findell , Ell Lan, Dustin Qian, Dr.Quick, Dorian Grizzle, Doomerjunky, DeusCap, David Brims, Daniel Zellmer, Conner T, Cole Nyquist, chris o, chad ensey, Bronk, Bricyn Abel, Bosparan, BeatleNerd, AverageGuy , Arqain, Anh Vo, Andrew, Allora Lee, Alex Griffin, Alex, Adrian Gorgey, Aclys , Aaron Sofaer, Aaron , Ãsak, Kristian Olesen, mark mÃ¸llegaard, Kenneth , Alteron, Willshaper, Ivo Havener, PortlandPhil , Pietro Ferretti, Kyle, James Beaudreau, Adam , NNeil , TomÃ¡Å¡ BlÃ¡bol, John Loder, hellunit , Grimizen, Drumic , Sam Oppy, Luke Roberts, Gyslain Desgagne, Allan Tam, Max W, Mcnoodlies , Lonewolf, Solarnis, Nathaniel Baxter, Tim , Joel sant, Silberwolf325 , Mark, Kermity , Nava, Jakob HÃ¶ltzig, Traian, Friesen , Grausheira , Amaury , Zach Adams, William Davis, Thomas Reyda, sings_with_toads, Shahked Bleicher, Sean Panajotovic, Seadrake, Sabrina Coble, Rip Woodham, Reid Palmquist, Reed Montemurro, reafan, Ramapriya Rangaraju, Phlorez , Philip , Overprepared GM, OpCrystal , Notcreepycreeper, Nooooooooooool , Noah Jones, Noah , Nate D., Mudith Mallajosyula, Mr. Bro, Mountainking , Mikael Svensson, Midnight Harbinger, Michelle Goodman, Michael She, Lanhail, Klecksi, karmaslap , Julius A, Joy , Josh Fryza, Johnathon Walters, John Noone, John D'Arcy, Jeremy Durbin, Hornblower , HeartHawk, Gordon Freeman, gokief , FoolRegnant , erik lindquist, dwarftoss58, Drew Gilmour, Deion Bollinger, David Schleimer, David, DaShoe, Dan , Dan , Chris Fox, Bernardino Campa IV, Ben Roberts, Alexander Dupree, Kasper Lynderup Jensen, Olof DahlstrÃ¶m, walliz22 , Matt H, Vitaly S Alexius, Vervacitus , Joshua allen, Alex LeBlanc, NotAWeeb, Rena , Paris Chambers, M.S.McGowan , TrueDragonLord, Oliver Firoozan, Rokthum, Alex Wilson, Mohammad Muzhaffar Bin Omar, Lynd Koh, ajcaspers, Aifer, Steffen Tufteland, SideraX , con kelly, umair sarwar, Tom Roettger, Svarog, Seth Bryant, Sandoz, Ryan Hearn, Robert Mullins, Patrick Blatti, Odunski, Noshei , Mikkel , Michael Hickman, Micah Wallis, Meierfrac, Mechrono, matt markert, mars kiyu, Lindsay Weinberg, Knightfire, KÃ¶ck Nikolaus, Josiah Bills, Joseph A Golebiowski, Jasen Nichols, Jacob trent, Hazel Smith, Gunnar Crider, Grumlen, Griffin Hurley, Garagathor, DroidC , Draega, DeathOfOld , Dave, Daniel , Collateral_ink, Chris Mantakounis, Chris, Charles , Ceromus, Caleb, C Howard, Bradly Feller, Andrius , Andrew C Kerr, adam1 , Aaron Greene, ×“× ×™××œ ×–×™×œ×‘×¨×©×˜×™×™×Ÿ, Cirex123 , Que Tea, Lukas Schaefer, Alexander Hoffmeister, Jan Joost Sijbesma, Emil Korintenberg, Adam Andersson, DBuck , Thernn , Shane Lawrence, Jorge Khouzam Filho, Brendan M., ScottDR, Dillon Adams, Daniel Preston, Helland, Vladerag, Tom, Timothy Swartz, Shakai , Ryan, Rhettro, Pieter-Jan Van Steenkiste, Patrick Cole, Omar Wazir, minicheatbook, Mike Lump, Ledo13, Justin Sharpe, Justin Marble, Jon Nay, Joe Pohlman , Jason Johnson, Grel, Ethan , EmissaryOfZork , Derek Walker, Darune Albane, Cordelia , Connor Sunier, Chloe Winter, Cabbage God, Alexander Penkin, Atorn Gaming, Octa, GG, schnixxes, Ruben Custers, Moreau Arthur, Sebastian Lindqvist

Mage:

Pigeon F, Bain-Lindsay , Jonny, Sekander , Joshua John Wallace, Jackson Andrews, Will C, BurnNote, Scott Holt, Jackson Ragland, FastFoodNation, Setaria, Zagig Yragerne, Lasse Pedersen, eik, ulrik aaby, Jan, Fabian , Anton Selling, Gleadge, Reminder, Werkrat , tdb, SirGuy , Sean Carter, Rick Brandon, Maxim Lukiyanov, Mathias Schwendimann, Gert Wallis, Alexander Belousov, Alex Weatbrook, Alex Scriber, al , Ryman , Stuart Anderson, mallix , Moritz MÃ¼ller, Sean S, Ozimandius, Max Oberg, Evan Thompson, Carl Clements, Amelia, Adam Richards, Abdel Elnagga, tachi-kawa, Silveredgallium, NebulaeDreamz, Michael Anaya, martianwalk, Jonathan Holtmann, Jeremy Leonard, Jason Case, James Hadfied, Hew, GopherAtl, flipp gallardo, Cybernetic Angel, Corey Boatright, Connor C, Alexander Lease, Sebastian S, Rectum, Tandroll, Rory natynczuk, Caillin McKay, Taweriot , Marinus , Deneas , Gordon Garbers, Thimo Gubbels, Lambda 0479, Robert, MeatyLock , Hajakuja , Amit Gupta

Mageling:

Nathan Impey, SomethingWicked , N. A., Miles Pettey, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Jason H, John Marcus, R , Desertdoe , Naimah , Connor Moffat, Gusten Nyberg , Robert Rosenthal, Michael kim, Matt DiMeo, Dave Burkett, Chad Lowe, P.R. Bakker, Joost Boere, Isaac Larkin, Elessar Beverly, Chris K, Sid_Cypher , Kevin O'donnell, Hamish Macintosh, S , moniker, Lance Linked, Daniel Moses, Matt Button, hwood, Xaim , Sansvoid, roborobo1 , John Smith, Forrest Venable, Daniel Staub, ashandarei, Alex Diaz, Ian , Faris Bissex

Inscribed:

DT , Chase128, Charles, fennek , Alastair Dent, nikrowd , Isaac Fratti, Ari Mononen, Daydeus, Jonathan , ImBaroqe, Anks , PeM

Chapter: 105 - Practice

A note from JLMullins

With a new month, here's a quick Patreon plug. 😁

The Magelings ($2) are 4 chapter ahead, Mages ($5) are 9 chapters ahead, and Archons ($10) are 19 chapters ahead.

Patreon URL: https://www.patreon.com/MillennialMage

Tala sat on the wagon top as it trundled towards the trees. The caravan was underway, and Tala had a task before her.

Per Mistress Odera’s instructions, she was preparing to activate her active gravity manipulation for the first time. I really should have done this a week ago… But there had just been too much else to do. I still haven’t even started experimenting with spell-forms in my lungs, either… No. This took priority.

She placed her palms on her elbows, left arm going above right. She carefully positioned her fingers per Holly’s instructions, getting into the very awkward and specific position required for the initial activation. I know we didn’t want this to activate on accident, but this is a bit ridiculous.

Even so, she followed the instructions given, closed her eyes, and entered the required mental state.

Control.

Power whipped through her, filling the gold inscriptions in her left breast and radiating outward into the others linked to them. A few of the forms made subtle additions to her magesight as well, utilizing the base scripts to give her needed information.

The miniscule copper links placed to kick off this first activation burned away, leaving her with another active draw on her power.

It was a massive drain.

Tala’s eyes opened, widening in surprise as she felt her reserves begin to steadily, if slowly, empty. With quick, practiced technique, she forged one of her standard void-channels and connected it to her body and the inscriptions there.

The added flow was just enough to satisfy the much greater demand for power. Great… Any time she didn’t have an active void-channel, she would be losing power. I need to understand this spell-working better. That should increase the efficiency and reduce the draw.

She thought she could hold the single void-channel for most of a day. Even so, it wasn’t enough to refill what she’d lost. So, she quickly forged a second void-channel and dispersed it a few seconds later when her reserves were refilled.

That done, she opened her eyes, and had to blink back tears.

The entire world seemed to have a uniform, additional color layered overtop both her normal vision and that of her magesight. Not quite a color, more an added depth.

She felt her mind hitch at the additional facet of information.

Thankfully, given that the new portion of her sight was directly linked to her magesight, it functioned the same. Now that she had taken in the gravity of everything around her, it faded from her sight. Only differences will be highlighted.

She glanced down at her hands and was greeted by such a difference. The ‘light’ of gravity was deeper, coming from her body, the effect seeming to highlight the weight of difference. Tala huffed a chuckle at that. Well, that’s exactly what it is, so that’s probably why I perceive it that way.

Once she’d acclimated to that, her extra perception with regard to her own body faded as well. Only changes will manifest.

She’d picked up a small stone for practice and set it near her feet during the initial activation. As such, she picked it up to hold, focusing on it to bring back the ‘other light’ that indicated gravity’s effect.

She brought her left, middle finger down to press against her left thumb, her other fingers curling naturally into the position she’d had Holly lock the ability behind. I can’t make changes, unless I have this hand position, for now. It seemed a wise precaution.

Increase. She applied her will and felt a marked uptick in the power drain. She immediately created another void-channel. The ‘light’ increased minutely, but the increase in weight was much, much too little for her hand to register. All that, for this?

She thought for a long moment. What am I doing, exactly?

She was dumping power into an effect, without considering how it would be accomplished. She remembered her inefficiency with charging the cargo-slots, before she’d fully utilized a mental model. She recalled how horrible her skin’s defenses were before she understood the bio-chemistry behind inter- and intra-cellular bonds.

Yeah, that’s what’s happening, here. I haven’t bothered to really understand how this is doing what it’s supposed to do.

She thought for a moment.

It’s exactly like my crush. As soon as the thought entered her mind, solidifying into a mental construct, the new, added drain on her power greatly diminished. The stone got noticeably heavier, if still just minutely.

That’s right. Take that 10% extra weight and crack! She shook her head, a smile tugging at her lips. Hey, it’s a start.

She bent her will towards increasing it, and over the next hour was able to raise the stone’s weight by nearly 50%, then slowly return it to normal. It was a colossally glacial process, but Tala thought she could make it faster, in time.

Practice it is, then.

* * *

Tala watched the false twilight landscape around their small caravan.

It had taken her nearly two hours to fully adjust to the dappled green light. Even still, she kept thinking that she saw movement out of the corners of her vision, but it was just the obscuring leaves and branches, high above, swaying in a wind she couldn’t see. Or, moving on their own…

Now that they were past the forest’s edge, the massive trees were actually spaced fairly far apart, with few exceptions.

Those exceptions seemed to be growing just too close together to get a wagon through, thus diverting them from their intended course. Whenever they came to such blockages, at least one of the trees was invariably one of the migratory variety. Tala’s magesight told her that the magics within were much more complex than the average specimen of tree. Even so, they lacked the level of complexity of an arcanous creature.

As things would have it, it was always easier to divert to the left, or east, around the barrier. When they tried to go right, or west, the terrain became more difficult, often with great tangles of roots slowing them down or just making the path impossible.

The tree trunks were colossal, as befitted their height. If Tala was estimating correctly, the larger trees, past the leading edge of the forest, were close to nine hundred feet tall, and approaching two hundred feet across. In general, the trees grew around that far apart, making it a very dense forest, relatively speaking, while still having a lot of clear ground for them to traverse.

Thus, any given diversion took them only around four hundred feet out of their way, but it was still quite inconvenient, as the arrangement of the trees made it difficult to tell where paths through were, until they drew close.

The whole scale of this place twists the mind. She assumed that the trees got as much of their needs from the magic, which they were drawing up from the earth, as from sunlight, and that made the closer crowding less of an issue.

The fact that any light reached them at all was a testament to the sparseness of the canopy. Those limbs are huge, though! It was mainly the leaves that were sparse, barely forming a single layer between them and the clouds, all told. She even caught some glimpses of those clouds, occasionally.

It was cold enough under the trees that the ground was frost covered, but it didn’t seem like much snow got through to the forest floor, at least not here.

The guards had attached an interesting device to the front of the cargo-wagon’s shaft, between the two oxen. It extended out in front of the animals on a hinge. To Tala, it looked mostly like a weight, resting on a set of wheels that moved up and down to stay in heavy contact with the ground. It seemed incredibly complicated, since it could move and swivel, while not hindering the turns or movements of the oxen and wagon in the least.

To prevent the oxen from falling into a pit-trap?

That was probably a good idea. The oxen were pretty key to the whole venture.

Huh… what would happen if the oxen were slain? It was probably worth asking. If it were up to her, now that she thought about it, there would be scripts embedded in the wagon that could do the work of the oxen, in the case of an emergency, but they would also be too expensive for regular use.

That in mind, she took a moment away from her practice, and watching their surroundings, to examine the wagon more closely with her magesight.

There wasn’t active magic to stand out to her, but she thought she detected the intrinsic power of metal embedded, swirling through various parts of the vehicle.

I wonder who can activate it, and how? She was probably better off not knowing.

I can be trusted not to activate it. Tala decided to redirect her mind to other topics. Sometimes she felt like she was herding a toddler, while trying to direct her own mind.

Rude. She would get over it.

She felt a tickling from the edges of her magesight and looked up.

Something was moving through the canopy nearly directly overhead. As she opened her mouth to call out a warning, one of the guards on the chuckwagon beat her to it.

“Above!” He directed their attention to the one that Tala had seen, though she noticed some of the other guards pointedly looking elsewhere. To ensure it’s not a distraction?

The Cert clearly seemed to notice their attention, vaulting off the massive branch it had been charging across.

Tala immediately brought her middle finger back to her left thumb, focusing on the falling animal and dumping five void-channels’ worth of power through her mental construct, through the spell-form, and towards increasing the beast’s weight.

In the roughly six seconds before it impacted, beside the cargo-wagon, Tala was able to increase its weight by only about 10%, if she was understanding the new aspect of her sight properly. That barely increased the speed of impact, only increasing the energy of such by a bit.

The beast stumbled in its landing. The oddity of gravity’s effect changing seemed to have caught it by surprise.

Tala continued to bend her will towards increasing it, even as guards jammed lances into it with passing charges from horseback.

This Cert didn’t have any elemental abilities, that she could see, and all the power in it seemed focused on its normal functions. A bit like me, I guess…

As such, the lances were mainly mundane, and didn’t have the huge impact that those using the creature’s own power would have achieved.

Tala glanced to Mistress Odera, but the woman shook her head. “No. Master Rane has it handled.”

As if on cue, Rane swept by at incredible speed. Force struck the beast’s chest and blew through it, while the creature’s increased weight helped with anchoring the thing to allow for a through-and-through, upward cut.

Blood fountained into the air, and a chorus of deep, guttural notes rained from the canopy, above.

Tala swept her gaze across their green ceiling, seeing hints of creatures looking out from behind the power-filled branches, where they were very difficult for her magesight to pick out. How many are there?

Mistress Odera’s voice was clear as she spoke. “They are ambushers more than fighters. They know we’ve seen them. Expect them to retreat but be wary just in case.”

The next minutes were incredibly stressful, as the wagons slowly left the pack behind. The beasts, for their part, didn’t seem to be following, at least not those that Tala was able to pick out. Those watched the wagons depart until tree-trunks blocked direct line of sight.

Mistress Odera finally breathed out a sigh of relief and nodded. “Return to regular observance.”

The guards responded to her command, seeming to relax.

Back to practice, then.

The rest of the day passed with little of note.

They were attacked quite a few more times, but it was always by singular creatures.

Some ten lesser Leshkin, total, five more Certs, a white stag that emitted blinding pulses of light, three medium-sized reptiles that reminded Tala a bit of Terry, and two night-pumas fell before Rane and the guardsmen.

Mistress Odera only had to shield them once, when a Cert dropped from directly overhead. The woman angled her defense, shaped as a flat plane, so that the beast rolled off to fall the rest of the way to the ground. There, it was quickly dispatched, just like the others.

All told, Tala was an ancillary resource who barely helped, though she did get a lot of practice with her gravity manipulation.

By the time they made camp that evening, Tala understood how it worked well enough to be able to alter gravitational effects by close to ten percent per second, with sufficient power devoted to the task. Thankfully, her increased understanding also meant that the void-channel to her body was no longer required, while she wasn’t actively making modifications to the gravity around her. That’s good, at least. I don’t want to think what would happen if I ran out of power in the night…

The rate of change that she’d reached was still nowhere near fast enough to replace her Crush, but it was nearly six times her earlier pace.

Every step draws me closer to where I want to be. She knew that her future progress would be slower, but it wouldn’t stop any time soon.

Their camp that night was in a slightly larger-than-average gap between several trees. She’d asked Mistress Odera if there was any danger of being fully surrounded and blocked in during the night, and the woman had simply said that it rarely happened. So, not never…

Still the older woman didn’t seem concerned, so Tala had returned to her practice.

As Tala walked across the wagon-top, thinking about her progress gave her an idea, and she decided to reduce her weight by ten percent, just to see what it would be like. The magic affected her easily. As it originated within her, her iron salve didn’t block it.

She tripped immediately…on the smooth wagon top. Seriously?

Her every movement felt wrong. Even so, she gritted her teeth and went through her exercises with the altered gravity, forcing herself to adjust. Alright, then. I need to practice under as many different levels of gravity as possible.

She didn’t really know how, exactly, it would be useful, but she didn’t like that she was so incompetent with such a minor variation.

But should I practice large variations first, or subtle ones? She had no idea. I should ask someone…

It was too bad that everyone was busy with their evening duties. Rane walked in a wide circle around the wagons, checking for any hidden lairs or traps.

Mistress Odera and the guards seemed to be thoroughly checking the ground between and immediately around their campsite in much greater detail than Rane could hope to achieve with his wide sweep.

I should go ask if I can help. She sighed, dropping off the side of the wagon.

She slammed into the ground, fracturing the already frozen soil. She ground her teeth, feeling how much ending-berry power had been required to absorb the blow. Ok. I’m calling it. I can always put it back on, now that my active manipulation is up and running.

As Terry appeared on her shoulder, Tala brought middle finger and thumb together, and she began dumping power into reducing gravity’s effect on her. It took every void-channel she had and nearly a minute to reach a normal weight, or close enough to be irrelevant.

She was able to watch her hand and compare that to her sleeve as a way of matching the gravity ‘light’ from each, nearly perfectly.

Yeah… I should have released that ages ago… She hadn’t really considered how easily she could place the effect back on, if she wanted. I’m a bit foolish, sometimes…

She approached Mistress Odera, a literal spring in her step. Thankfully, she got used to her lightness before stopping beside the other woman. “Is there anything I can do to assist?”

“I don’t think at the moment, Mistress, but thank you for checking in.” Mistress Odera glanced to Terry. “Now, you, good avian, would you be willing to do a sweep of the surroundings? You can move faster than all but a horseman and will draw less attention than one of the mounted guards.”

Terry cocked his head, then glanced towards Tala.

Tala smiled at her friend. “If you want, might be nice to stretch your legs?” He’d been a bit lazier that day, not really leaving Tala’s side very often.

He bobbed and vanished.

In less than an hour, the camp was as secure as they could easily make it, and dinner was being served.

Tala and Rane sparred once again, to the delight of the others in the caravan.

Tala was having a bit more trouble, today, given her normal weight.

She was a bit faster on sideways and upward movements than before, but she couldn’t anchor against Rane’s blows as easily, and the result was that she was flung about much more often.

It was a stark lesson in humility, and plainly showed just how complacent she’d already become in accepting certain hits. I should probably practice with even less than normal gravity…but not today. In truth, she should wait until she could match Rane before pushing further, but she doubted she would have the patience. We’ll see.

After a particularly brutal bout, Tala was taking a break to drink deeply from her water incorporator when she felt something bump her shoulder.

Tala turned to see Terry, the size of a small horse, looking at her.

A silence had fallen over those watching. They seemed to be curious more than anything else, as they’d all seen the bird in his smaller form, and the guards knew he could get bigger. Many had even seen him at this size, over the last few days.

“What’s up, Terry?”

The bird bobbed to her, then tapped Flow with his nose and flicked his head towards where she and Rane had been sparring.

“You want me to fight some more?”

He bobbed, then shuffled that way.

Her eyes widened. “You want me to spar with you?”

He bobbed again, seeming much more excited.

Tala swallowed, though her mouth had been empty. “Well, I suppose it could be good practice…” What under the stars am I agreeing to?

Terry did a happy little shuffle, then appeared in the cleared area, crouched and ready.

“Well, alright then. Let’s see what we can do.”

A note from JLMullins

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Transcendent:

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Archon:

Ryan Tran, Aria, Feltenix, Greg Shields, MoneyTree, Samuel McCarren, William Mark Ambler, Timothy Alexander, Disclancer, Jonathan Timm, Kiernan Lynch, Sebastian Viller, T.E. N., Nick Tinsley, Isaac Deroche, vincent beaulieu, Yenin , David , Arnfinn Gjorvad, Tyler Shepherd, Marius , Matt M, Nicholas Anile, Hazza Vanderbyl, Joshua Hutton, Nonie, Derek, Irisa, klabuster, Maggi von Da, Maksim, Rachel Prochner, Zigeblo , dragonslaver, Jo, Matt S., Onill007 , Primordi, RageBone , sethorizer, Horathio , Lerous, Viria , Dax, GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Hibou Ronchon, MePe , Misha , Moritz Hauff, Oliverthms , book_nerd , Budgie, Cristi Palincas, Exxator , bostjan , Bast, BtBurns , Helge, Max Collins, A Avery P., aantonides ., Al, Alex , Alex Foster, Alice Gonzales, Andrew Holland, Angela, antab , Arc4203, Archivist0 , arty, Austin Woodard, B C, Bacon Macleod, Baldur Norddahl, Bloodorange17 , BossDawg, Bryan Watson, Carl Minden, Ceeney, Christian Kenney, Clayton Carson, Clin C, Colin Ford, Cyrus McEnnis, Damian Zhou, DANTE, Darkdej , David Otis, David Turner, devarian , Dire Wolf, Dorian Lee, Enaz the great, Enif , Eric , Erling Egilsson, Eugene , evilperson41 , Felipe Andrade, Fiddle Sticks, Frank, Frank By Estenstad, Geoff, George Hicken, Gremlin, Gull, Gustav Burkhardt, Haggai Klorman, Haran , Ian Duncan, Ian Radspinner, Isaac Boyles, Isaac Griswold-Steiner, isaiah , Jacob Ellis, James Nagy, James Walsh, Jedediah Wolfgang, Jeff Barton, Jeff Gault, Jeffery Nickelson, Jim Smith, Jonah of the Whale, Joseph Sutherland, joshua carlile, just_a_potato , Justin , Justin , Justin Reagan, Kai , Kamren Livingston, Keira Wulfe, Kirvin, Krikor Chichadjian, Kyle Kampo, Leendert Kortlever, Levi Cox, lightzeus10, Logan , Lyael, Marcus Pehan, Margus234, Mark Dolson, Mason Erickson, Matt M, Matthew , Matthew Davis, Matthew Powell, Max Gustavson, Megacheez , Messe, MrAcerulez, Noah Morris, noah stevens, nugitoBambino, OlivierA, PaleMire, Paper Crane, PatronTurtle , Paul Pintea, Peter , peter mattoon, Philipp Ziehe, Preston West, Randy Klein, Redbeard , RepossessedSoul , rizen, Robert C Croke, Robert McNitt, Robert P, Robert z, Robin Richards, Rutger Boll, rwn , Ryan Naquin, Sean McCrohan, sedael , Seth Richter, Shakez44, Solar , someguy , Spencer Reetz, Stephen Pearson, Tabletsalt , Taliesin , Ted , Thaco4 , TheLazerCat , Thomas Goyne, Thomas Stewart, Tim Ferguson, Tomas K, Travis McHenry, Travis McIntosh, Tzucaza ., Vlad Orlov, WarNachos, WhisperInTheVoid, William Priess, william wallace, Wyv, xIron Gamerx, Z. Cs., Eric Staind, Laurids Jensen, Kenyaa , voltic, Nikolaj Rosander Madsen, Magnus Benzein, mattias hessleryd, Tangyorange, David H, znarken, Ray Robitaille, dennis malatesta, Le GarlantÃ©zec, CMGreenspon, NaughtyPaws, Brian, Andrew Goudie, Ink's Muse, Chris Hibbert, Jago , Axolo, John Growcott, daniel edery, Colton Rutherford, Alexander Graber-Tilton, Asomite7999, Zrell , Glenn Clemente, Skygo, William Fullerton, Adam, Andy, Jayden Kirkham, sm0ze, simon_cola, AParticularIndividual, cm123 , Ruy, Frederik De Proost, Leon Ernst, Schelm , Siphor , Frederic Axt, Jannes , Lizbeth , Ryudachi, Xavier Joanblanq, BoB, perhaps , Morceaux, Ludger , Ãsak, Aaron , Aaron Sofaer, Aclys , Adrian Gorgey, Alex, Alex Griffin, Allora Lee, Andrew, Anh Vo, Arqain, AverageGuy , BeatleNerd, Bosparan, Bricyn Abel, Bronk, chad ensey, chris o, Cole Nyquist, Conner T, Daniel Zellmer, David Brims, DeusCap, Doomerjunky, Dorian Grizzle, Dr.Quick, Dustin Qian, Ell Lan, Findell , Gamecats, Guppy, Ian Anderson, Jake Pellegrini, James, Jarrod Manzer, Jason Morse, Jeremy Albert, Jeremy James, Jiokuy , Joe Smith, John Hadel, John Smith, Jon Lundy, Joseph , Kaeson, Keith, kenneth, Lachlan Priest, Lida, Lord Falco, M , MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, Mark Zhang, Max Sweet, Melting Sky, Michael Mooney, Mitch, Mr. Bigglesworth, Nathan Fahrenbach, Noah Williams, Oakenbear , Pedro Derze, Rawin Ranatunga, richreggio, RottenTangerine, Sdff , Skarsol, Spiff, Steven C, Tarantism, Tarroyn , Taylor , ThreatLvlPurple , Tim , Timothy Burago, Tirraon, tlove, TorbjÃ¸rn Haugstad, Vanyel Siegel, Vikram Ahluwalia, Wesley Miller, William Francom, Yaksher, Zanthras, Zax, Kristian Olesen, Kenneth , mark mÃ¸llegaard, Alteron, Willshaper, Ivo Havener, Adam , James Beaudreau, Kyle, Pietro Ferretti, PortlandPhil , NNeil , TomÃ¡Å¡ BlÃ¡bol, John Loder, Grimizen, hellunit , Drumic , Sam Oppy, Luke Roberts, Gyslain Desgagne, Allan Tam, Max W, Elsie Nnaji, Mcnoodlies , Reodude, Lonewolf, Solarnis, Nathaniel Baxter, Joel sant, Tim , Silberwolf325 , Mark, Kermity , Jakob HÃ¶ltzig, Nava, Friesen , Traian, Grausheira , Amaury , Alexander Dupree, Ben Roberts, Bernardino Campa IV, Bryan Kane, Chris Fox, czyz, Dan , Dan , DaShoe, David, David Schleimer, Deion Bollinger, Drew Gilmour, dwarftoss58, erik lindquist, FoolRegnant , gokief , Gordon Freeman, HeartHawk, Hornblower , Jeremy Durbin, John D'Arcy, John Noone, Johnathon Walters, Josh Fryza, Joy , Julius A, karmaslap , Klecksi, Lanhail, Michael She, Michelle Goodman, Midnight Harbinger, Mikael Svensson, Mountainking , Mr. Bro, Mudith Mallajosyula, Nate D., Noah , Noah Jones, Nooooooooooool , Notcreepycreeper, OpCrystal , Overprepared GM, Philip , Phlorez , Ramapriya Rangaraju, reafan, Reed Montemurro, Reid Palmquist, Rip Woodham, Sabrina Coble, Seadrake, Sean Panajotovic, Shahked Bleicher, sings_with_toads, Thomas Reyda, William Davis, Zach Adams, Kasper Lynderup Jensen, Olof DahlstrÃ¶m, walliz22 , Matt H, Vitaly S Alexius, Vervacitus , Joshua allen, Alex LeBlanc, NotAWeeb, Rena , Paris Chambers, M.S.McGowan , TrueDragonLord, Oliver Firoozan, Rokthum, Alex Wilson, Mohammad Muzhaffar Bin Omar, Lynd Koh, Aifer, ajcaspers, Steffen Tufteland, con kelly, SideraX , ×“× ×™××œ ×–×™×œ×‘×¨×©×˜×™×™×Ÿ, Aaron Greene, adam1 , Andrew C Kerr, Andrius , Bradly Feller, C Howard, Caleb, Ceromus, Charles , Chris, Chris Mantakounis, Collateral_ink, Daniel , Dave, DeathOfOld , Draega, DroidC , Garagathor, Griffin Hurley, Grumlen, Gunnar Crider, Hazel Smith, Jacob trent, Jasen Nichols, Joseph A Golebiowski, Josiah Bills, KÃ¶ck Nikolaus, Knightfire, Lindsay Weinberg, mars kiyu, matt markert, Mechrono, Meierfrac, Micah Wallis, Michael Hickman, Mikkel , Noshei , Odunski, Patrick Blatti, Robert Mullins, Ryan Hearn, Sandoz, Seth Bryant, Svarog, Tom Roettger, umair sarwar, Cirex123 , Que Tea, Alexander Hoffmeister, Lukas Schaefer, Jan Joost Sijbesma, Emil Korintenberg, Adam Andersson, DBuck , Jorge Khouzam Filho, Shane Lawrence, Thernn , Brendan M., Dillon Adams, ScottDR, Daniel Preston, MenacingSand, Helland, Alexander Penkin, Cabbage God, Chloe Winter, Connor Sunier, Cordelia , Darune Albane, Derek Walker, EmissaryOfZork , Ethan , Grel, Jason Johnson, Joe Pohlman , Jon Nay, Justin Marble, Justin Sharpe, Ledo13, Mike Lump, minicheatbook, Omar Wazir, Patrick Cole, Pieter-Jan Van Steenkiste, Rhettro, Ryan, Shakai , Timothy Swartz, Tom, Vaulex, Vladerag, Atorn Gaming, GG, Octa, schnixxes, Moreau Arthur, Ruben Custers, Sebastian Lindqvist

Mage:

Pigeon F, Bain-Lindsay , Dominic Weibel, Jonny, Sekander , Jackson Andrews, Joshua John Wallace, Will C, BurnNote, Jackson Ragland, Scott Holt, FastFoodNation, Setaria, Zagig Yragerne, Lasse Pedersen, eik, ulrik aaby, Jan, Anton Selling, Fabian , Gleadge, Reminder, al , Alex Scriber, Alex Weatbrook, Alexander Belousov, Gert Wallis, Mathias Schwendimann, Maxim Lukiyanov, Rick Brandon, Sean Carter, SirGuy , tdb, Werkrat , Ryman , Stuart Anderson, mallix , Moritz MÃ¼ller, Abdel Elnagga, Adam Richards, Amelia, Carl Clements, Evan Thompson, Max Oberg, Ozimandius, Sean S, Alexander Lease, Connor C, Corey Boatright, Cybernetic Angel, flipp gallardo, GopherAtl, Hew, James Hadfied, Jason Case, Jeremy Leonard, Jonathan Holtmann, martianwalk, Michael Anaya, NebulaeDreamz, Silveredgallium, tachi-kawa, Sebastian S, Rectum, Tandroll, Rory natynczuk, Caillin McKay, Deneas , Marinus , Taweriot , Gordon Garbers, Lambda 0479, Thimo Gubbels, Amit Gupta, Hajakuja , MeatyLock , Robert

Mageling:

Nathan Impey, SomethingWicked , N. A., Miles Pettey, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Jason H, John Marcus, R , Desertdoe , Naimah , Connor Moffat, Gusten Nyberg , Chad Lowe, Dave Burkett, Matt DiMeo, Michael kim, Robert Rosenthal, Joost Boere, P.R. Bakker, Isaac Larkin, Chris K, Elessar Beverly, Sid_Cypher , Kevin O'donnell, Hamish Macintosh, Daniel Moses, Lance Linked, moniker, S , hwood, Matt Button, Xaim , Alex Diaz, ashandarei, Daniel Staub, Forrest Venable, John Smith, roborobo1 , Sansvoid, DRg, Faris Bissex, Ian

Inscribed:

DT , Chase128, Charles, fennek , Alastair Dent, nikrowd , Isaac Fratti, Ari Mononen, Daydeus, ImBaroqe, Jonathan , Anks , PeM

Continue the Story [Book 4 - Bound]

The world reclaims all things. Humanity shelters within their ever-dying cities. Mages and Archons create the only path forward.

Tala, a newly Bound Archon, strives against challenges, new and old, as the world opens up before her; even if her understanding is far from complete. Her responsibilities to her caravan have increased, with the newly added complication of being under the watchful eye of an overseer.

Determined to embrace and decipher her newfound power, not to mention chipping away at the debt that propels her forward, she faces a treacherous path to a new city, which has already proven to be more dangerous than her journey to Alefast, and they've only just begun.

Tala is learning valuable lessons about herself, the world around her, and the people who she is determined to protect as she settles into her new power and position as a Bound.

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Audiobook Bundle deal from MDP:

https://www.mountaindalepress.store/products/millennial-mage-audiobook-bundle-2

Chapter: 136 - Underpinning Aura

Tala couldn’t wipe the smile from her face as she entered the Constructionist Guild front entry room. The previous afternoon of plays had been amazing, the food fantastic, and the company enjoyable. She felt more relaxed and mentally level than she had in…She shook her head, still smiling. It’s been years.

Even a frustrating breakfast with Mistress Odera hadn’t spoiled Tala’s mood, despite the woman continuing to deflect anything resembling a personal question. She wants to know all about me but doesn’t want me to learn anything of substance about her. She dismissed the mild irritant.

The breakfast food had been as good as always, and Tala actually felt pleasantly full, for the moment. I hope that lasts for a couple of hours at least.

Terry had watched the plays with seeming dispassion, but he had watched. He’d obviously enjoyed the food.

At the moment, he was asleep, content, on Tala’s shoulder.

Rane had enjoyed the afternoon as much as Tala from what she’d seen. He was meeting her at the training room later that morning.

After she’d finished breakfast, Tala had come to the Constructionist Guild to see if Jevin was available.

Now, a large part of her felt a bit bad coming to Jevin with her questions, especially just after Rane had so eloquently walked her through choosing a good use of her own time, and this wasn’t fusing, or recovering from fusing. Even so, these things were weighing on her mind, and it would only take a quick moment to drop through and move them forward.

She was scanned, and a ding resounded from the back.

At that moment, she remembered Grent. Oh… rust… I really hope he isn’t-

Jevin came out, speaking quietly with the two Mages accompanying him. He smiled her way. “Mistress Tala.” The two Mages bowed slightly to Tala and eyed Terry with a mix of curiosity and wariness but didn’t speak.

Tala smiled at them but addressed the Archon directly. “Oh, Master Jevin, just who I was looking for.” Thank the stars.

“It’s good to see you, but we are just leaving.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, these two are looking for advice on creating their Archon stars.”

Tala regarded the two more closely. “That’s wonderful!” She smiled.

“Do you have any advice for the younger generation?”

Tala suppressed a smile. Both of the Mages were her senior by quite a few years. Still, Jevin was giving her an opportunity to help others.

Older Mages keep implying that that is important. And if she was being honest, she was realizing more and more how much she’d missed by skipping her time as an apprentice.

I wouldn’t be here, if I’d gone the normal route. That, arguably, might mean she’d have a better foundation. No going back, now.

She nodded once, passing off her extended pause like she’d been considering what to say. “What do you know about Archon stars?”

The woman spoke first. “It is how we become Archons.”

The man nodded. “Some mediums are harder to forge one within, and we should choose a medium that speaks to us. If none seems to, we should use diamond.”

Tala thought, nodding. Their masters didn’t think they’d handle full information well… They were both guides. “It helped me to think of guiding the power, not forcefully, that isn’t possible in most mediums.” Well, unless you have it inside your body…which they shouldn’t do. She hesitated.

They both gave her interested looks, and Jevin closed his eyes in a silent sigh.

Oops. “What I mean is: you won’t be able to directly control the power within your medium. You need to guide it, so that it wants to take the shape of the desired spell-form.”

Looks of seeming introspection swept across the Mages’ faces, and Jevin smiled. “Thank you, Mistress Tala. That is solid advice.” He gave her a meaningful look.

Tala smiled to the Mages. “Well, I’ll let you two get to it. I do have a couple of quick, esoteric questions for Master Jevin.” She turned to the Paragon. “Could I borrow you for a minute, or should I come back?”

Jevin considered her for a moment, then turned to the other two. “Would you wait for me outside? I’ll be just a moment.”

They bowed to him, then to Tala, and departed.

“Now, ‘most mediums’?” He gave her a wan smile.

“I apologize for that. I was thinking about working within your body versus without, but I didn’t mean to…lead them down odd paths.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “You know, they’ll spend days trying to understand the ‘bit of wisdom the Archon hinted at.’ ”

Tala grimaced. “I am sorry.”

He waved that off. “I know. It’s an odd balance. I know you took an unconventional path, though I don’t know all the details. Perhaps that is a tale you could tell, but some other time.”

Tala found herself smiling. “I’d like that.”

He gave a brief, genuine smile before professionalism fell back into place. “Now, I really do have to go. Your questions?”

“Alright, quick one first. Can you make me some inscribed darts, linked to my anchor?”

Jevin considered for a moment. “To trap an opponent? Of course. That’s a clever use of the anchor.” He laughed slightly. “Well, I suppose it’s very close to the original use of it, actually.” He scratched his cheek, then nodded. “I’m sure you’re aware that this use will cause the inscriptions to run out faster.”

“I figured as much, yeah. Can you do it?”

“I’ll put it together. Come back tomorrow?”

Her eyebrows rose. “That’s soon.” Well, so much for just moving it along a bit… Do I really want to take time from my fusing for this?

He shrugged. “It’s just your bracers, in a different form.”

I can fuse as much as I’m able right before coming back, then use the walk down as a mental and magical break. After, I can Fuse a bit, here, then walk back. She nodded. “Afternoon?”

“That’s when I have time, so yeah.”

“Will do.”

“So, your longer question?” His smile didn’t have any impatience, despite his obvious time crunch.

“My archon stars can… combine.”

Jevin nodded. “Master Grediv’s treatise on liquid mediums implied such, and your ascension so soon after its dissemination made a connection fairly likely.” He smiled. “Master Grediv’s most recent pupil being with you? That made the association virtually assured.”

She shrugged. “Well, yeah.” Tala cleared her throat. “So, my understanding is that making an Archon star stretches the soul, creating a tendril of sorts which can latch onto a magical item.”

“True. That’s one way to conceive of it.”

“So, my question,” she swallowed, “should I make as many small, weak Archon stars as I can to stretch my soul, then combine them for my next bonding?”

“That…” Jevin frowned. “That is a fascinating question.” He clucked his tongue, clearly distracted with his own thoughts. “Does a weak star stretch your soul in a meaningful way?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“We can test it, if you like.”

“You can?

He chuckled. “Of course. When you come back tomorrow afternoon, we’ll run a couple of tests. Do I remember correctly, you have a star already?”

“One, yes, and I could make another fairly quickly.”

“That might be necessary, but we’ll see.”

“Will that take mental or magical energy to test?”

He gave her a searching look, but then shook his head. “To analyze the star you already have, no. If we end up having you make another, then of course, but that choice will ultimately be yours to make.”

Tala shrugged. Still probably a good use of time. Use the resources while I have them, and he seems quite happy to help those less powerful than himself. “Well, I could come earlier, if we’re going to be doing testing.”

He shook his head. “You are far from the only Mage I’m working with at the moment, Mistress. I have my day rather booked, tomorrow. I do have time in the afternoon. I was going to suggest then if you hadn’t. Let’s say three hours past noon?”

After a moment’s thought, she cocked her head. Everyone seems pretty happy to help those weaker than them. Instead of answering his question, she took the conversation for a hard left. “Why are you helping me?” She glanced over her shoulder. “Why are you helping them? It sounds like you are helping a lot of people. Surely you have more useful things you could be doing with your time.”

Jevin barked a laugh. “Hardly.” After a moment’s thought, he nodded. “There are two main types of Archon. The first is those who advance for their own gain. That’s fine; that’s wonderful, but it ultimately leads them to die or depart. Then, the others grow in power for some greater purpose. Most of us care for the fate of humanity.” He laughed again. “Most successful people, in general, have that bent.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because humanity is standing on the edge of a knife. People don’t like those who rust the rest of us.” He smiled sadly. “We need each other, so we need to help each other. True, I could be personally more powerful if I didn’t help anyone else, but I can’t be everywhere, and humanity as a whole would be worse off.” He shrugged. “That’s how I and most of my peers see it.”

Tala found herself nodding. That’s what she’d felt when talking to Grediv, Jevin, Master Himmel, even Holly to some extent. They each had their own goals and eccentricities, but they all genuinely seemed to want humanity to succeed, as a whole, and they were willing to invest in new Mages to advance that goal. “I’ll be here tomorrow, at three past noon.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Together, Tala and Jevin walked from the building.

Jevin joined the others, and the three Mages got on a hovering platform before it lifted from the ground.

Tala examined it briefly. Fascinating. There are inertial isolation scripts, like on a dimensional storage item, but they isolate that which rests on the platform, rather than a separate space.

“Oh!” Jevin’s voice caused Tala to focus on him, thinking he had some parting remark for her.

Instead, Jevin’s aura flexed back at the Guild building’s front and pulled the door closed behind her. He smiled and gave Tala a last nod before the wooden platformzipped up the spiral, leaving Tala and Terry to walk up, alone.

Tala was locked in place, her mind an incoherent mess as she felt herself shaking uncontrollably, fear beyond any she’d ever felt overwhelming her for a brief instant.

She’d felt his aura clearly as it worked behind her. He hadn’t had to reach past her, his aura had already been there.

More than that, though, his magical signature was deeply familiar. She’d felt it before, obviously, but she’d felt it more often than she’d truly realized.

The power surrounding Makinaven, that which was already under the control of another, unmistakably held Master Jevin’s signature.

Fighting herself, she focused her magesight on the air before her, digging deeper, trying to find the power signature of the city itself.

She let out an unconscious whimper.

Master Jevin’s aura underpinned all of Makinaven.

* * *

Tala fell backwards, a headache not quite manifesting as she pulled her latest stitch tight, joining her soul, body, and spirit ever closer.

Her thoughts flickered back to the Constructionist Guild and Master Jevin.

It had taken her long minutes to overcome her shaking nerves, after she realized just how extensive Master Jevin’s power was. She’d slowly mastered herself, in large part because she simply couldn’t conceive of the man’s power and reach. There’s no way he actually holds authority over the entire city.

He’d said he had god-like power within his aura. No. There is no way his aura underpins this entire city. She reassured herself with the repeated, obvious lie.

Strangely, it did help, even while she fully realized she was actively deceiving herself.

But that was in the past.

Focus on the present. She did not allow herself to focus on the fact that she was, presently, within that same aura. She did not allow her magesight to look deep enough to see it.

She groaned, stretching her arms wide and letting her legs straighten against the floor.

“I do not envy your method of fusing.” Rane’s voice was calm as it reached her from the far side of the training room.

She turned her head to glare at him. “Whereas you can just dump power constantly into your binding.”

Rane shook his head a bit ruefully. “I am actually starting to feel a…pressure, if that makes sense. The bond is getting stronger, but it isn’t doing what it’s supposed to. I’m going to need to twist it, somehow, before I can fuse.”

She grunted. “That’s something, I suppose.”

He laughed. “Oh, yes, your suffering is lessened because I suffer too.”

“That’s how we humans work, Master Rane.”

He grunted. “When we don’t choose to be better? I agree.”

Tala sighed, sitting up and pulling out her cold-water incorporator for a drink. “Way to make me feel like a rusting jerk.”

He opened his mouth but seemed to think better of responding. Instead, he simply shifted from one deep stretch to another.

Tala cleared her throat, a thought coming unbidden to her mind. “Master Rane?”

“Hmm?”

“What form of government runs this city?”

He turned to look at her, not coming out of his deep butterfly stretch. “That’s seems an odd question for you.”

She shrugged. “I just realized that I’d never really given it a thought.”

He smiled. “Probably a good change, I suppose.” He cracked his neck, bending fully back into the stretch. “There are two layers, really. There are popularly elected administrators for the day to day, and even year to year, running of Makinaven.”

“And the other layer?”

“A Guild holds carte blanche over major decisions.”

Tala felt her eye twitch. “Which?”

“Hmm? Oh.” He frowned, thinking. “I believe the Growers.”

Tala felt herself relax.

His head shifted as he continued to consider. “No, that’s Retindel… They have an almost identical system.”

She waited for a long moment as Rane shifted stretches yet again. Finally, she cleared her throat. “So…?”

“What?”

“Which Guild rules, here?”

“Well, not ‘rules.’ They-”

“Master Rane.” She cut across him.

Something in her tone seemed to catch his attention, because he sat up straight, looking her way. “Well, I’m not sure, but I think it is the Constructionists. I’d have to consult the Archive.” He grinned, attempting to inject humor. “Or I suppose we could just ask the attendant.”

Tala swallowed involuntarily. Well, that makes sense, if he owns the tree already…

“Why do you ask?”

She didn’t know how to respond. “I…I’m not sure what to say.”

“What do you mean?” He was fully facing her, now, clearly a bit concerned by how she was acting.

“I think I realized something that might be a secret…”

He nodded, quirking his lips to the side in thought. “If you can share, I’m happy to hear but don’t break a promise, or put anyone in danger, to tell me.”

Tala blinked at him. That’s…kind. After a moment’s thought, she nodded. “Did you notice anything odd about the power signature in the Magic surrounding Makinaven?”

He shook his head. “Just that it was claimed, but that’s standard for a city. If anyone could just grab onto a city’s power, all sorts of chaos could come about…” He frowned again. “Your magesight is more sensitive than mine. What did you notice?”

“I think I recognize the signature of a Mage’s aura threading through the power.” She let that hang out there. I can tell him more, depending on how he reacts.

After a considerable pause, Rane shook his head. “Mistress Tala. You think you’ve seen a Mage’s power, influencing the power around all of Makinaven?”

“No, Master Rane. I’ve recognized the signature of the aura which is the power around and throughout Makinaven.”

He leaned forward. “Really? Who?”

A familiar voice came to her ear before she could respond. “Mistress Tala. We will speak of this, tomorrow. I would appreciate your silence on the issue, until then.”

Silence rang through the room as Tala’s entire body broke out in a cold sweat.

“Mistress Tala?” Rane was standing and walking towards her. “Mistress Tala, are you ok?” From his actions, he seemed to have not heard Master Jevin’s request.

“Yeah. Yeah. I… I might be mistaken, so… can we talk about it tomorrow?”

Rane was kneeling beside her, concern clear in his expression. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I think that would be best. Ask me again, tomorrow night?”

That seemed to help him relax a little bit. “Alright. If you’re sure.”

“I am.”

He smiled and stood, holding out a hand. “Want help up?”

“Yes. Let’s spar. I need to clear my head.”

A note from JLMullins

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Cs., xIron Gamerx, william wallace, William Priess, WhisperInTheVoid, WarNachos, Tzucaza ., Travis McIntosh, Travis McHenry, Tim Ferguson, Thomas Stewart, Thomas Goyne, TheLazerCat , Taliesin , Stephen Pearson, someguy , Solar , Shakez44, Seth Richter, sedael , Sean McCrohan, Ryan Naquin, Rutger Boll, Robin Richards, Robert z, Robert P, Robert McNitt, Robert C Croke, rizen, RepossessedSoul , Redbeard , Randy Klein, Preston West, peter mattoon, Peter , Paul Pintea, PatronTurtle , PaleMire, OlivierA, nugitoBambino, noah stevens, Noah Morris, Megacheez , Max Gustavson, Matthew Powell, Matthew Davis, Matthew , Matt M, Mason Erickson, Mark Dolson, Margus234, Marcus Pehan, Lyael, Logan , Leendert Kortlever, Krikor Chichadjian, Kirvin, Keira Wulfe, Kamren Livingston, Kai , Justin Reagan, Justin , Justin , just_a_potato , Jonah of the Whale, Jeffery Nickelson, Jeff Gault, Jedediah Wolfgang, James Walsh, Jacob Ellis, Isaac Boyles, IGS, Ian Radspinner, Ian Duncan, Haran , Gustav Burkhardt, Gull, 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X Y

Mage:

Pigeon F, Sekander , Joshua John Wallace, Jackson Andrews, Jonny, Aaron Lewis, Will C, Eoin Barrett, BurnNote, Scott Holt, Jackson Ragland, Paul Becker, DT , Setaria, Lasse Pedersen, eik, ulrik aaby, Werkrat , tdb, SirGuy , Rick Brandon, Mathias Schwendimann, Gert Wallis, Alexander Belousov, Alex Scriber, al , Jan, Fabian , Anton Selling, Gleadge, Stuart Anderson, mallix , Sean S, Max Oberg, Evan Thompson, Carl Clements, Moritz MÃ¼ller, tachi-kawa, Silveredgallium, NebulaeDreamz, Michael Anaya, Jonathan Holtmann, Jeremy Leonard, Jason Case, James Hadfied, Hew, GopherAtl, Cybernetic Angel, Alexander Lease, Tandroll, Caillin McKay, Deneas , Michael Bradet-Legris, Robert, pope benedict, MeatyLock , Zachery R Hunnicutt, Louis Nel, Jamison Schneider, jacob britt, Dustin , Chad Hagner, BananaMerchant, Anonymous , Anonymous , The_Glsasman333, Eole Salmon, Gantaknows , Oliver Olmedo, Inspirefly

Mageling:

SomethingWicked , reafan, N. A., Miles Pettey, Josh Turple, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Sharrod Brathwaite, Naimah , Desertdoe , Gusten Nyberg , Robert Rosenthal, Michael kim, Matt DiMeo, Ian , Dave Burkett, Chad L., P.R. Bakker, Joost Boere, Isaac Larkin, Mike Lump, Kel Pough, Elessar Beverly, Chris K, Sid_Cypher , Kevin O'donnell, Hamish Macintosh, Matt Button, Harry, S , moniker, Daniel Moses, roborobo1 , ashandarei, Faris Bissex, Judy Halloran, Eric Mueller, David Eggli, David, Austin McGue

Inscribed:

Dax, Sean Carter, Chase128, Charles, fennek , Alastair Dent, EmissaryOfZork , nikrowd , Isaac Fratti, Ari Mononen, Daydeus, Jonathan , Anks , PeM, Mqrius, Moses Lambert

Chapter: 137 - Humanity

Tala let her mind expand, her focus broaden, and her body react on instinct. She forcibly pushed all thoughts of the tree’s god-king from her mind. Not helpful…

Flow’s hilt was at once perfectly smooth and easy to grip securely. It was cool, helping keep her hand from sweating, while not sucking the heat from her hand. In short, it was perfect for her, contouring to her palm and fingers beyond the ability of any craftsman to replicate.

As she’d used the weapon more and more, Tala had noticed that as her grip shifted, gaining better form for sword work, the hilt had seamlessly shifted, maintaining perfect shape for how she was holding it, in that moment.

The grain of the wood beneath her feet was tight and smooth, polished to an almost mirror finish, yet somehow still allowing for firm purchase.

Her stance was relaxed, her muscles loose and ready to react at a moment’s notice.

Rane lunged, driving Force towards her heart in a powerful thrust.

A flick of Flow knocked the point aside without conscious thought on Tala’s part. She slid down the length of his blade, sending out ripples of power as the magic of the two swords conflicted.

She leapt forward with a quick step, maintaining the bind of their blades, the contact letting her know where his weapon was without having to see it, directly.

Even as she closed and lashed out with a back-fist, leaving Flow in her off hand, Rane spun around the strike, bringing his sword in an almost impossibly tight twist, cutting towards her back.

The next moments were a blur of attack and counter, rolling one upon another.

Force and Flow clashed in a staccato series of magical concussions that resonated in Tala’s very bones.

It was a pleasant thrum that pulled a smile from her lips.

As the exchange continued, it became clear that Rane was more tentative than he had been in their previous fights. This allowed Tala to stand on an almost even footing with the big man.

Tala moved Flow through its three shapes with almost no effort, each blow seeming to reverberate through Force and into Rane’s hands and arms.

Force was soul-bound to Rane, now, but Flow had a greater magical weight to it. Its bond to Tala was more deeply ingrained in the weapon than Force’s was with Rane. Each merging Flow had gone through had bound it tighter with her. Those features both gave Flow’s strikes extra oomph.

She didn’t resort to any tricks, not for this first bout, instead relying on her skill, such as it was, along with her enhancements.

Rane wielded his massive blade with the dexterity of a calligrapher using their favorite brush and fine ink.

Even so, despite his skill and competence, Tala was becoming able to see more and more openings. Though, she was unable to take full advantage of any. However, she was able to alter her engagement in order to press him more closely around those openings.

As was usual for them, Rane’s base skill slowly tipped the balance of the exchange, forcing her to extend herself ever more, until at long last, she couldn’t recover quickly enough to stop his riposte.

She did have an instant to react, however, and she used it to great effect.

Force caught her ribs, lifting her free of the ground and tossing her into the nearest wall.

She groaned as she slid to the floor.

Rane grinned over at her. “You had me there for a minute.”

She sighed. “You just had a moment of doubt in your abilities.”

He cocked his head. “So, why not capitalize on that? You have a deep bag of tricks. You didn’t use any.”

She kicked back up to her feet. “Crushing your confidence wouldn’t do anything good in the long run. I need my sparring partner in top form if I am to improve.”

He gave her a long, contemplative look. Finally, he nodded. “Alright, then.” Rane frowned. “Wait…where’s Flow?”

Tala grinned, pulling Flow from the floor at Rane’s back. As Rane’s inscriptions activated, throwing him into a forward flip to avoid the sword coming at his back, Tala stepped forward, reaching for his head.

As his head whipped towards her, she pulled her hand back, so that she was moving away from him, while he caught up with her palm.

Rane’s scripts threw him forward regardless, slamming his forehead into her retreating palm.

The impact reversed the direction of his movement, even though she moved with him, to soften the blow.

Once she had contact, she was able to twist around, taking him to the ground and pressing Flow, now in the shape of a knife, against his throat.

He groaned. “Ow.”

“You ok?”

“Yeah…Thank you for the soft landing.”

She grinned down at him. “Happy to assist.” She stepped back, offering him a hand up.

He took it, standing and stretching. “Again?”

She considered. Still feeling the tingles of existential dread, she nodded. “Again.”

* * *

Tala had fully calmed and cleared her head after a few more bouts. After she thanked him for the training, Rane bid her goodnight and headed back to his inn.

Alone, she was able to dive back into her fusing with a renewed gusto.

She was going to be facing a god the next day, and she wanted as much strength as she could muster.

Yes, I need as many snowflakes as possible before I visit the forge. Who knows? I might just cool it off. She did not let her focus fracture.

When she absolutely had to take a break, her magesight aching from straining inward, she switched to practice with the iron spheres.

Since she couldn’t easily turn off her magesight, only suppress it, Tala decided that forcefully turning it outward would help. Blessedly, it did seem to.

As she worked on her mental construct for marking her target, the paintbrush she imagined shrunk, as did the amount of magic she left on the target, allowing her to progress to the next balls up through the difficulties.

She marked and released the targets dozens of times per break.

As soon as she felt able, she would move back inside herself and crochet another step towards fusing. At most, she could do two stitches between periods of respite.

It was exhausting, deeply taxing work.

Ironically, the crocheting became a mental break as much as anything. Maybe, this is why some people stitch as a hobby.

Finally, hours after midnight, she found herself in need of a break from her internal magesight, but mentally not up for painting targets with her power. She’d been struggling to form the image of a paintbrush delicate enough to pierce the mesh of this second to last ball for the past few breaks.

Why can’t it just be marked? I have a near perfect mental picture of the rusting target. She pictured the infuriating wooden ball in all its inglorious roundness.

The wooden ball within the iron-mesh ball took on a slight glow to her magesight.

Tala blinked, glancing down at her left hand where her middle finger and thumb were pressed together.

But…I didn’t reach out to mark it…

It was true, there was no ‘mark’ of her magic on the small ball, the ball was simply targeted, no mark required.

I didn’t grab it. I couldn’t have, the mesh is too fine.

She picked up the iron ball with her right hand, the mesh so fine it could have served as bug-netting.

And now, it’s just targeted.

She thought through the process. I indicate my target by pointing, grabbing it with magic, or marking it with a mental paintbrush.

Then what?

Then, I have to have an understanding of what I’m targeting. I connect that understanding to what I’ve indicated, and the target is locked on.

Why?

Why…what?

Why did she have to mark the target, or grab it, or indicate it, to target it?

If I don’t, how will the target lock?

She cocked her head to the side. No. I have an understanding of what I’m targeting. Why would I need anything else?

The click of a mentality change rushed through her mind, shifting her understanding yet again.

Blessedly, her mental ruts were not nearly as set as they had been surrounding other recent revelations, so she was only left with a mildly splitting headache.

“Ow…” She glared around at the empty training room, Terry sleeping in his corner. “Fine… I’ll sleep.”

As she moved over to where she wanted to open Kit for the night, she hesitated.

A small smile tugged at her lips. Might as well test.

She pulled out the last ball, a complete, hollow sphere of iron. She swirled the ball, feeling the wood move around inside.

A wooden sphere, the same as all the others.

“Mine.”

She felt her lock take hold, even though she couldn’t see it, even with her magesight, and no evidence of the power leaked out.

She laughed, spinning in a circle. “I did it. I did it! I DID IT!” She laughed again.

Terry lifted his head for a moment, gave a half-hearted congratulatory trill and laid back down.

Tala continued to laugh. A wide grin painted her face until a thought intruded into her mind like a shard of ice.

Her smile fell away, and her eyes widened, color draining from her face.

“Oh…oh rust me to slag. My iron salve would be useless against someone who could do this.”

* * *

Tala…did not sleep well that night. Not even during the last part of the night she actually tried to sleep through.

When Mistress Odera arrived for breakfast Tala was wide awake and waiting.

The older woman commented several times that Tala was unusually quiet, but the observations never inspired a change, and they parted ways having barely said a few dozen sentences between them.

Tala spent the remainder of her time, before her appointment with Master Jevin, fusing as much as she could.

Three hours after noon arrived, and Tala walked into the Constructionist’s Guild entry, coming face to face with Grent.

“Mistress Tala!” He smiled, holding his arms wide.

Tala just stared at him for a long moment. He was one of the farthest things from her mind, at the moment, and so she had no ready reaction to his sudden presence.

His smile faltered slightly.

She pulled herself together. She did not want another awkward interaction with this man. She took a deep breath, put on a polite smile, and bowed her head. “Master Grent, good day to you.”

His smile faded, and he gave a slight, professional bow. “Good day. To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“I have an appointment with Master Jevin.” Right… the god-creature that’s probably watching me right now.

Master Jevin’s voice filled the entry room, a comfortable volume for them both. “Yes. Welcome, Mistress Tala. Please head on back.”

Her eye twitched, but she was mostly grateful to have an easy excuse to leave Grent behind. Oh, thank the rusting slag. “I have to go. Bye!” She waved to Grent as she moved past. Terry watched Grent as she passed but settled back down after he was out of sight.

Tala quick-walked down the hallways, refusing to let herself think on what she was walking into. I’m already in the tree, and if he wished me harm, I couldn’t escape before he enacted it upon me.

Neither those thoughts, nor “not thinking about it” really helped.

Thankfully, she only needed occasional correction by Master Jevin’s disembodied voice. Directing me to the slaughter…

A short minute later, she came into his office, and her mind forcibly returned to all the reasons she’d been nervous.

He controls the whole rusting tree. Despite the nerves, however, she found it incredibly difficult to really integrate that understanding. Where I stand, he could snuff my life with a thought. That should evoke terror. Maybe, I’ve just gone numb?

Master Jevin was sitting in one of his reading chairs, waiting for her. “How about you have a seat, Mistress. We’ve a lot to talk about.”

Tala stopped. “Couldn’t you just move me to the chair?” Really? Poking the bear?

A smile almost seemed to tug at his lips. “I could. So could Master Bob, but he’d have a harder time of it.”

She grimaced. “That’s…fair.”

After a long pause, Master Jevin sighed. “So…?” He gestured to the chair opposite him.

Tala noticed that a small tea service had been set out, including a selection of scones. She begrudgingly moved forward and sat.

“Let us address the Leshkin in the room, shall we?”

Odd turn of phrase, but alright. She grunted her assent, snatching a scone to eat as she poured herself some tea.

Master Jevin gave a half smile. “You have stumbled upon some rather…difficult information.”

She grunted again.

“Do you have any idea how many people, within Makinaven, know even the small part that you’ve deduced?”

Swallowing, Tala shook her head. “Not many?”

“You are the only one.”

She frowned. “I find that hard to believe.”

He held up two fingers. “First, your magesight is incredibly powerful and detail oriented. I doubt you have a true grasp on how rare a gift that is. There are maybe a small handful of Archons, living, who could perceive more than you.” He grinned. “There are many who understand more from what they see than you do, but that’s a separate issue.” He dropped one of his fingers. “Second, now that you know, what do you want to do?”

“Get as far from here as possible.” The response came out before she could consider how it might be received.

His smile never wavered. “Precisely.” He dropped the second finger.

Oh. Yeah, that checks out. If basically anyone who figures it out leaves the city, there wouldn’t be any here, besides me.

He nodded, taking a sip from his own cup before continuing. “I see you understand.”

She made a vague noise of assent.

“So. That part addressed, let’s get to the meat of the issue.”

“You are the god of this city.”

He snorted. “Not inaccurate, but not what I’d pick as a descriptor.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t desire, seek, nor tolerate any sort of worship or veneration.”

“But the power level?”

“Near so, yeah.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means that I wouldn’t want to test myself against the Forest Spirit, or any of the others, not even here.”

That’s probably quite wise.

“But effectively, yes: My authority, here, is without dispute.”

“How? Why?”

His smile turned a bit sad. “Well, there used to be a trend, millennia back, to form your Archon star out of a medium taken from a powerful thing of magic. I chose a simple wooden sphere.”

No.

“Wood, taken from this very tree.” His sad smile became lopsided. “It worked, beautifully. Little did I realize at the time that these great trees never really relinquish their hold on any part of their being. Even bits that fall, or are cut off, are effectively still a part of the whole.”

“So, you soul-bound the tree.”

“So, I soul-bound the tree, before I was ever an Archon.”

Tala sat back, slowly eating her scone and drinking her tea.

“I was irrevocably changed. The tree was immensely powerful, beyond the ability of any human to control or rule over, but it had no will of its own. So, the power was mine. The only possible result was that I was reshaped.” The sadness came back in full force. “The tree had…knowledge isn’t the right word, but it’s close enough. The tree knew of beings that could bear up under its power.”

“Leshkin.” And the turn of phrase makes sense…

He shrugged. “Mezzannis, but close enough.”

“So… you aren’t even human?”

Master Jevin’s eyes hardened, a deep rage seeming to rise within him. “What makes a man?”

Tala frowned, taking a delaying sip of her drink. Wisdom dictates I do not answer that.

When she didn’t respond, he continued. “Is it his body? How much do you need to cut away before he is no longer ‘he’?”

She had no response.

“Is it his mind? How many memories or neurochemicals, how much dura-matter needs to be altered before the person is fundamentally changed? Before a person’s base nature is gone?”

Tala swallowed, setting her tea aside, but unable to formulate an answer.

“No, Mistress. What makes a man, what makes a human is the soul, and no accident of magic will take that from me.” The room thrummed with power.

She felt a light dizziness that passed as she asserted her own will, locking herself away from his unconscious flexing of Magic. Even so, her eyes flicked to his chest, her magesight immediately confirming what she knew would be there: his gate. Human, at least at the level of his soul.

“From that day, I have worked towards Reforging myself.” He tsked. “Refining actually made the problem worse. Refining makes your body more purely what it is.” His barely subdued rage at that was palpable.

I don’t really understand that, but now doesn’t seem the time to ask. “That must have been…difficult.”

He snorted derisively. “Difficult? Extremely. Our inscriptions are based on being placed in human flesh.” With a gesture, he indicated the most wooden-seeming portions of his face. “Even mild deviations can ruin everything.”

Tala’s eyes widened. “How, then?”

“I am bound to the tree. I did not age. I had time in abundance.”

“But your inscriptions now…”

“Are human? Yes. That was the first aspect I reforged. Magically speaking, as a medium, my flesh is considered human.” There was obvious pride in that.

“So, then, you’re close?”

“Closer than I’ve ever been.” After a short pause, he amended. “At least since my youth.”

There was a deep weariness behind those words, that Tala couldn’t begin to fathom. She found herself frowning as she leaned back, letting the silence of his remembrance build and fill the space between them.

A note from JLMullins

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Mage:

Pigeon F, Sekander , Jackson Andrews, Joshua John Wallace, Aaron Lewis, Jonny, Will C, Eoin Barrett, BurnNote, Jackson Ragland, Scott Holt, Paul Becker, DT , Setaria, Lasse Pedersen, eik, ulrik aaby, al , Alex Scriber, Alexander Belousov, Gert Wallis, Mathias Schwendimann, Rick Brandon, SirGuy , tdb, Werkrat , Jan, Anton Selling, Fabian , Gleadge, Stuart Anderson, mallix , Carl Clements, Evan Thompson, Max Oberg, Sean S, Moritz MÃ¼ller, Alexander Lease, Cybernetic Angel, GopherAtl, Hew, James Hadfied, Jason Case, Jeremy Leonard, Jonathan Holtmann, Michael Anaya, NebulaeDreamz, Silveredgallium, tachi-kawa, Tandroll, Caillin McKay, Deneas , Michael Bradet-Legris, MeatyLock , pope benedict, Robert, Temon_Oak, Anonymous , Anonymous , BananaMerchant, Chad Hagner, Dustin , jacob britt, Jamison Schneider, Louis Nel, Zachery R Hunnicutt, The_Glsasman333, Eole Salmon, Gantaknows , Digdug, Inspirefly, Oliver Olmedo

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SomethingWicked , reafan, N. A., Miles Pettey, Josh Turple, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Sharrod Brathwaite, Naimah , Desertdoe , Gusten Nyberg , Chad L., Dave Burkett, Ian , Matt DiMeo, Michael kim, Robert Rosenthal, Joost Boere, P.R. Bakker, Isaac Larkin, Chris K, Elessar Beverly, Kel Pough, Mike Lump, Sid_Cypher , Kevin O'donnell, Hamish Macintosh, Harry, Matt Button, Daniel Moses, moniker, S , ashandarei, roborobo1 , Faris Bissex, David, David Eggli, Eric Mueller, Judy Halloran, Austin McGue

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Continue the Story [Book 5 - Fusing]

A note from JLMullins

Available NOW!

The world reclaims all things. Humanity shelters within their ever-dying cities. Mages and Archons give their lives to create the only path forward.

Tala, having witnessed the marvels of the forest cities and the perils lurking in the southern woods, prepares to embark on a treacherous journey back to the plains from Makinaven. Guided by the unwavering support of Terry, Rane, and the enigmatic Mistress Odera, she is honing her skills and preparing for the trials that lie ahead.

Ancient defenders of mankind emerge, while hidden perils lurk in the shadows, threatening to unravel everything she thinks she knows about the world. Amidst newfound allies, intriguing contracts, and relentless challenges, Tala strives to embrace her chosen place among the defenders of mankind.

Tala continues her Fusing, delving deeper into the inner workings of magic and the soul.

A note from JLMullins

Link to Purchase: https://geni.us/Fusing

The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Audiobook Bundle deal from MDP:

https://www.mountaindalepress.store/products/millennial-mage-audiobook-bundle-2

Chapter: 173 - Tight Spaces

A note from JLMullins

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Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Thuss, Sakari Saastamoinen

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala walked out of the Constructionist Guildhall and into the late morning, winter air. She took a deep breath and let it out, a smile blossoming across her face.

“Well, I might as well go to the Culinary Guild.” She glanced to Terry. “Thoughts?”

He cracked an eye, then opened his mouth.

Tala grinned and tossed him some jerky. “Fair enough. You just want this done with, so you can join in the training.”

He let out a happy, quiet trill around the jerked meat.

That settled, she went to the only Culinary Guild office she was aware of, the one that she’d picked up the most recent batch of jerky from.

Her arrival caused a mild panic.

As Tala walked in, the assistant stood up from behind his desk to greet her, but his words froze in his open mouth as his teeth clicked together in surprise.

First, he seemed to take in that she was a Mage. Then, his eyes flicked to Terry, but didn’t stay long. A small, sleeping bird wasn’t that much of a threat. At that point, his gaze clearly dropped to her left hand.

While Tala had been doing a fairly good job of keeping the newly painted hand, and the glowing spell-forms, out of sight for the most part, at the moment, the painted appendage was just hanging by her side, clearly glowing with seemingly active magic.

Well, I didn’t think of that as that big of an issue.

The assistant’s eyes widened to an almost comical degree, and he opened his mouth to scream.

Tala raised both her hands in what she thought of as a placating motion, but he didn’t seem to take it that way.

He tried to scream in abject terror, if his expression gave any indication, but no noise seemed to come out.

Rather than realizing that his heightened emotions were affecting him, he likely assumed that the raising of her hands had silenced him, somehow.

Thus, he fainted, collapsing to the floor in a crumpled heap, out of sight behind his desk.

“Well, that could have gone better.” She moved her left hand behind her back, pulled her iron, Order of the Harvest token into her right, and then, she raised her voice. “Hello? Can I get some help out here, please?”

She considered going over to help the man but realized that that could easily compound misunderstandings.

Another young man came out and took in her arrival. “Mistress? Is everything alright?”

He looked around more carefully but couldn’t see behind the desk. “Derrn is supposed to be at the desk. My apologies for the wait. What can I do for you?”

She tossed the token to him. “I’d like to speak with the branch manager, if at all possible.”

He caught the iron coin, and his eyes widened. He looked back and forth between her and the coin before swallowing and nodding. “Certainly, Mistress. I will be right back.”

Tala waited for a while, growing a bit more concerned as time went by and Derrn didn’t wake up.

When the other man returned with a woman who was, presumably, the head of the local branch, Tala decided that she needed to do something about the unconscious fellow.

Before either of them could speak, Tala pointed at the desk. “I think there is someone back there, but I didn’t want to startle them.”

The other young man walked over to investigate and exclaimed in alarm, rushing around the desk and lifting his friend. “I’ll get him to the back room to lie down. If he needs it, I’ll get a healer.”

The guild-head nodded. “Thank you.” She watched the two leave, clearly concerned, but schooled herself before turning to Tala and bowing. “Mistress Tala. I apologize for the irregularity. I was told to expect you at some point.”

“I quite understand, and I hope that he is alright.”

The woman bowed her head in acknowledgement but didn’t say anything further.

“Are you aware of why I might be here?”

“Well, you could be here to kill us all, but I think that unlikely.” She frowned, glancing Tala over, head to toe, and seemingly noticing that she had her left hand behind her back, even if just slightly. Even so, the woman didn’t make an issue of it. “I believe it is more likely that you tested out your theory and wish to report the results.”

“I did. Do you wish to talk more privately?”

The woman waved that off. “Here is fine. I’m Valry, if it matters. These things seem much above my level, so I doubt it will.”

Tala immediately felt sympathy for the woman. She’s been thrust into this mess because I happened to choose this Culinary Guild location. “I’ll be brief. There is no injunction against research into the consumption of harvests. If you were to go inquire with the Archive, you would be welcomed, and dealt with fairly.”

“I’m not walking into a Mage stronghold on your word, Mistress.”

This city is a Mage stronghold, you idiot. But she didn’t say that. “Then, would you consent to my sending an Archivist here to talk with you?”

The woman looked incredibly uncomfortable, but after a moment, she stood up straighter, swallowed visibly, and nodded. “Yes. I will meet with an Archivist.”

“Do you want me here for the meeting?”

Valry laughed ruefully. “Oh, I think one Mage at a time in my facility is quite enough. Thank you for the offer, though.”

Tala scratched the side of her face. “Well, when Derrn wakes up, he might be under the impression that I used magic on him. I didn’t, but I think I gave him a good scare.”

Valry stiffened. “Oh? How so?”

“Well, with this.” She hesitated, then added, “This is not active with outwardly directed magics.” She pulled her left hand out from behind her back.

Valry’s eyes widened a bit, but she contained herself. “I see. Thank you for forewarning me. I can see why that might have startled him.”

“I do apologize for that.”

“I’ll pass that along.” She swallowed again. “Now, is there anything else, Mistress?”

“No. I’ll leave you to your day. I’ll go talk with the Archivist shortly, and I believe that she’ll come by when she’s able.”

“Thank you.”

Without another word, Tala turned and left.

Well, that could have gone better, but it definitely could have gone worse, too.

She needed to drop through the library, now, but she was closer to the blacksmith. Probably hasn’t been long enough. I’ll come by later to pick up my order.

So, off to the library she went.

She passed through the Archon compound with ease, entering the library to find Ingrit waiting for her, as was standard and expected. You can get used to anything, I suppose.

“What have you done to your hand, Mistress?” It was not an unexpected first question, all things considered.

Tala lifted up her left hand. “I found a more effective, passive training method?”

Ingrit gave a half smile. “I’ll be interested to see how well it works. Now, as I assume you intend to use it on more than your hand, may I offer a bit of advice?”

“Please.”

“I suggest that you be ready to placate others whenever you enter any of the more defensive facilities, as the automated scripts won’t like you very much. Most will have secondary triggers, which will alert a high-level Archon to scan you, and they will easily detect your gate, but automatic defensive measures won’t necessarily be able to do that.”

Tala scratched the back of her head. “Noted.” She’d have to balance that, and other inconveniences, against the benefits that she could already feel from the paint.

“So, shall we get a booth?” Ingrit smiled as she drew Tala’s attention back to herself.

Tala shrugged and followed the woman into the library proper. They were soon seated in a booth, behind a privacy screen, and Terry was munching on a large section of jerky.

Ingrit again broke the silence. “What can I do for you?”

“I want to grant you full access to the Culinary Guild’s records, temporarily.”

“Why?” Then, she hesitated, her eyes closing in an expression of almost exhausted realization. “Mundane human consumption of harvests. Of course.”

“Do you need anything from me?”

“Just a request to look through those records. If you have access, I will be granted such for the term of our discussion.”

“Then, please, review the Culinary Guild’s records.”

Ingrit’s eyes immediately began flicking back and forth as she clearly read something that Tala couldn’t see. Tala, in turn, pulled out one of her books and began to pass the time productively.

Finally, after what was at least an hour, the Archivist sat back, glowering. “Well, that is quite illuminating. We’ve certainly tied ourselves in knots to please the false king.”

Tala frowned. “What?”

Ingrit waved her off. “It’s an old saying.” She blew out a long breath. “This is a tangle. Your inquiry gave me full access to all records available to you, associated with the Culinary Guild, and there is a lot in here… I can’t take it to anyone, or do anything about it though…” Her eyebrows rose. She was clearly still going through records at an incredible rate, even as she talked, and one had caught her attention. “They tried to kill you?”

Terry lifted his head to look at Tala with sudden interest.

Tala just shrugged. “One of their members panicked and stabbed me. It didn’t even break the skin.”

Terry squawked an irritated exclamation and settled back down.

Ingrit grunted. “So the report states. Apparently, it is incredibly uncommon for a Mage to ask such pointed questions, and they’ve not killed a Mage in living memory…That will make that side of things easier.” She let out a long sigh and shook her head once. “How many things like this do we have hiding throughout humanity? How often are we tearing off our own toes out of fear of stubbing one of them?”

Clearly, with the pursuit of knowledge being so key to who she was, Ingrit hated the complete segregation and isolation of knowledge, no matter how necessary.

She turned, locking gazes with Tala with a ferocity that had the younger woman leaning back involuntarily. “Can I meet with the branch heads, here? We need to clear this up. The sooner the better.”

“That-” Tala swallowed, settling herself after the intensity of the woman’s attention. “That was the plan, actually. Valry is expecting your visit. I can give you directions, if you like.”

Ingrit’s eyes flicked to the side once. “No need. I know which guild office she leads.” She leaned back, clucking her tongue and talking almost to herself. “There isn’t anything truly groundbreaking in their pursuits, but there is a lot of ancillary information that could help so many other guilds and research units. We could probably even arrange for the sale of such information by the Culinary guild, to increase their capital.”

“I think that such a meeting will be perfect. I honestly had no idea what to do about any of this, and it sounds like you do. Please, do as you see fit.”

Ingrit arched a single perfect eyebrow at Tala. “You handed a rope enthusiast a rat’s nest that is a mile wide, and which has been being tangled and added to for centuries.”

Tala gave a guilty smile. “But hey! Think of all the rope you’ll have in the end?”

Ingrit let out a genuine laugh at that. “True enough. Now, was there anything else?”

“No, Mistress Ingrit, thank you.”

The Archivist stood, deactivating the privacy scripts. “I will keep you apprised of the progress with the Culinary Guild.” After she was clear of the booth, she bowed deeply to Tala. “Thank you, Mistress Tala, for trusting me with this information. I shudder to think of the number of small groups that exist, hoarding bits of knowledge that could benefit so many. I am sure their reasons vary, but whether they do it out of fear, greed, or ignorance, we are all worse for it. Thank you.” She bowed again.

Tala was taken aback by the gesture, as well as the outpouring of words. “I…you’re welcome, Mistress Ingrit.”

The woman smiled at Tala, turned, and left.

Tala scratched Terry’s head. “Well. I guess we’re done here.”

* * *

Tala dropped through the blacksmith and picked up her items, storing the three triangular contraptions first.

The other item looked like nothing so much as a steel, three-fingered claw, perfectly sized for her spheres.

Out of the back of the claw were two small steel bars, that clearly manipulated a simple mechanism.

“Pull the one with the slot.” The blacksmith seemed quite proud of his work.

Tala did so, and she was able to lift the claw, while it kept a tight grip on the tungsten ball.

“Now, the other.”

Tala grabbed the other, this one had a simple hole in it, and the claw opened, allowing the sphere to fall free.

She let out a happy laugh. “Oh, thank you, master Aniv.”

Master Aniv waved her off. “None of that, Mistress. I just made it to your specifications.”

He hesitated. “Can I see what you’re going to use it for?”

Tala paused. “Maybe? I don’t know of anywhere I can safely test it, now that I think about it.”

He sighed. “Very well. If you do find a place, let me know what you use it for, and how it works, will you?”

“Of course!”

Tala paid the man, and he added a simple rope to the secondary tab, so that she could pull that to allow the claw to open.

“Take care, master Aniv.”

“And you, Mistress Tala. Be sure to come back if you need anything else.”

“Oh, I will, don’t you worry.”

* * *

Tala stood within Kit, an old knife around a hundred feet from her, as she stood just inside the entrance into Kit, the door closed behind her. She had set up the knife so that the handle could be the target of her working.

On the ground before her, a gravity neutral tungsten ball sat in the claw, and in the slot in the primary tab rested one of her dimensional anchor darts, locked in place by a clever little catch.

As she concentrated, dumping power into the pull of the sphere towards the knife handle, the claw began to slide across the ground, pulled away from her by the ball.

As the dart reached ten feet from her, or more specifically from the dimensional anchor at her belt, it stopped moving away, as the dimensional anchor began to work.

Another minute passed, and the ball and claw slowly lifted into the air, seeming to float as they tried to fall towards the knife handle at the far end of the long hallway.

The slowly building whistle of wind currents began to permeate the space as the air tried to fill in the expanding space and leave the contracting space in equal measure. In these tight confines, that stirred up quite the gale.

Unfortunately, with Kit’s limited space, the best she had been able to manage was a one-hundred-foot-long hallway that was three feet wide and six feet high. The remainder of Kit’s space was taken up by all her physical possessions, though how Kit made them fit, Tala had no idea.

As the increase continued to ramp up the acceleration, the air also started to heat up considerably, shortly before the tungsten ball and front of the claws began to glow bright red from wind whipping across them.

Good enough. Tala grabbed the thin rope that she’d tied to her belt and which led to the other tab on the claw, and pulled.

The claw moved back, opening and dropping to the ground with a ringing, bouncing series of impacts. In those impacts, Tala thought she heard the subtle sound of bending metal, but she was otherwise distracted.

The instant it was freed, the sphere plummeted across the intervening space, crossing the ninety feet to the target faster than Tala could track.

The sphere must have slammed through its target and continued on to the back wall, because it struck with an impact that seemed to shatter the very air within Kit.

Tala was thrown backwards, blasted out of the door at the end of the hallway and into darkness.

* * *

-Ding-

-Unbelievable. How often must you lose consciousness?-

Tala groaned, sitting up.

-Loss of consciousness detected due to full-body exposure to a pressure wave and the following impact with the magically reinforced gate of a dimensional portal. Discrete regenerative systems activated to their fullest capacity to restore consciousness and mobility.-

“I thought you were unavailable.”

-Well, apparently you losing consciousness overrides anything else and brings me back to perform my most basic function. Please stop interrupting. I’m just getting to the good part.-

“Really?”

-Stop talking out loud to yourself, it makes you look crazy. Reinitiating mental delve per last recognized command. All other functions will be offline for the duration.-

Tala sighed, blinking to clear her vision and looking around.

A cloud of dust surrounded her, seeming to be billowing out of the wall nearby, even as it was settling down.

In addition to her slight disorientation due to losing and regaining consciousness, she felt the aftereffects of a lot of her bones being rebuilt. Several of her organs seem to have been ruptured as well, though they were back in order when she checked on them. Well, that’s a successful test, and a successful proof that I shouldn’t do such tests in enclosed environments. She really did need to make Kit bigger.

She staggered to her feet and over to the archway, which was all that was left of the doorway into Kit.

She placed her hand on the doorframe and dumped power in. Kit was near empty, likely due to internal damage.

Well, I now know what it takes to break through Kit’s door. It seemed like she’d been thrown against the door with just barely more force than was required to break through it, as she’d woken up in the middle of the alley, and the wall that had been across from Kit’s opening was undamaged.

As she considered, though, that wasn’t a good measure of how much it would take to break in. A blow from the inside, pressure from the inside, was far more destructive than the same force from the outside.

“I’m sorry, Kit. I didn’t mean to cause any damage, let alone this much.”

Kit did not respond, but it did continue to greedily drink in the power that she provided.

Tala noticed that all the dusty air had been pushed out through the arch, leaving the air within Kit clean and clear. “Good to know.”

As she recharged the storage device, a few small items clattered seemingly out of nowhere, through the archway.

Tala quickly identified the items as the remains of the sphere, knife, and claw.

The sphere was little more than twisted splinters of tungsten, still glowing with heat.

The knife was handle-less, the blade kinked and distorted, likely from bouncing around inside of Kit after it was struck.

The claw was bent and twisted, but not shattered. Oh, right. It was picking up the same speed, and then dropped to the ground. It effectively skipped across the floor within Kit, while already hot. That’s what bent it.

Tala was left feeling incredibly grateful that she hadn’t tested the idea anywhere in the city. The cost to repair the damages would have been exorbitant.

Even now, she was standing in an alley, and getting strange looks as the dust settled enough for people to see her from the streets to either side.

With nothing else that she could do, she pulled Kit free of the wall, hanging it back on her belt as a pouch, and left out the less trafficked side of the little space between buildings.

Note to self: This works and is incredibly effective. However, it is not for use in tight spaces.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 174 - Draining Her Reserves

A note from JLMullins

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<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala headed for home. She was a bit irritated that she was coated in dust, but there wasn’t really a convenient place to bathe, and she was still dumping power into Kit to the point that she felt quite hesitant about stressing the item by opening a door inside and willing a bathing room to be ready for her.

Maybe when I get home.

It was late afternoon, and the light was painting the snow a golden orange, revealing the playful trails, snow forts, and snowmen, both full and partial, that bore testament to a wonderful day of play for the neighborhood children.

Tala felt a smile tug at her own lips at fond memories of playing with her siblings, and her parents on occasion. Thank you, Alat.

She sent her gratitude to her other interface, knowing that she would receive it when she was free once more. Though Tala didn’t like that the memories had been dredged up, she found them more pleasant than painful, much to her surprise.

The last rays of the sun were already fading from the sky when she turned down the short front walk and approached Lyn’s front door. It was locked, of course, but that was solved by Tala’s iron key. With a quick turn, she unlocked the front door and walked inside.

“Is that you, Tala?” The voice floated down the short hall to the entry room.

“If it isn’t, then you’re much too free with keys to our place.” Tala smiled at the knowledge that her friend was home.

Lyn laughed. “I just grabbed some food. I don’t have enough for your appetite, but I can spare some if you’d like.”

The mention of food sent waves of hunger through Tala. She’d been a bit mangled by the blast from her tests and had used more of her stores than she’d have liked in the healing.

Though, I’m not going to side-eye the regeneration. Even if I could have gotten to another Mage, paying for a healing would have been much more than the food I consumed for the stores used to allow my scripts to do it.

Over the months of training and monitoring her store levels, she had gotten the impression that she used up about as many days’ worth of food from her reserves as it would have taken to heal a given wound. The amount was lessened by the percentage of her body that was actually being healed by the scripts, and the exact nutrients and substances used were different depending on exactly what was being repaired.

Things got more complicated from there, like when she healed something that would never actually heal naturally, but it was a good rule to guestimate what her regeneration would require.

After her overly successful test, Tala had needed to heal basically all of her body from a plethora of types of damage. In the end, it would likely have taken a couple of months for her to recover from the blast, if she even could have.

All told, she was lucky to have any reserves left at all.

Though she’d adjusted to it unconsciously, she was positively light on her feet. I’m almost halfway back to the weight I should be without my magic, and that doesn’t bode well.

“Since you’re offering, I’ll take a few bites, while I make some of my own.” She wiped her feet on the mat that Lyn had out for her, though she felt it was a bit futile. “There’s some things I wanted to talk with you about, actually.”

As she walked into the room, Lyn glanced her way and blanched. “Tala? What happened?” She stood and quick-walked over, starting to look Tala over. “Did you fall into a flour silo?” She started coughing as some of the dust came off. “No. To the bath with you. Eat after.”

“But-”

“No buts.”

Tala groused but knew her friend was right. “Fine, fine.”

Half an hour later, she left the bath room of Lyn’s house and found quite a bit more food awaiting her. “I know it’s still not enough, but I thought I’d grab at least a little something more while you were cleaning up.”

Tala thanked Lyn profusely and sat to eat.

“Why’s your hair up?”

Tala glanced up, taking in the towel wrapped around her head. “Oh. I lent my comb to someone.”

Lyn grunted, clearly not understanding, but not caring enough to ask further either.

In truth, Tala was pretty irritated by the need, but she hadn’t wanted to take the time with the hot air incorporator to dry her hair more quickly, so she was letting nature take its course.

Lyn gestured to the food, taking the first bite of her own dinner. “So, what did you want to talk about? What happened to you?”

Tala took a moment to examine the grilled, meat-and-vegetable kebabs, selecting the one that seemed to most call to her inner hunger. It was mostly meat, though a few mushrooms and a tomato were scattered throughout. “As to what happened to me: I tested out a new method of attack, and it was more effective than I expected.”

Lyn hesitated, but when it was clear Tala wasn’t going to continue, she shook her head with a sigh. “Not going to tell me more?”

“Anything more would just be boring technicalities.” Tala shrugged, tearing into her food.

“Fair enough.”

Around a mouthful, she continued, “As to what I wanted to talk to you about...” She pulled Kit from her belt and threw it at the nearby wall, wishing for a door. She’d finished filling the dimensional storage’s reserves before finishing her bath, and she was confident in using it again. “I don’t really need a room anymore.”

Tala turned to look, juices dripping down her chin, along with Lyn, and watched as a door seemed to suddenly be there in the dining area’s wall, fully integrated with the house and looking for all the world like it belonged and had always been there.

Lyn blinked, her kebab stopping just before her mouth. “There’s a new door.”

“My dimensional storage got an upgrade.”

“I can see that.” She went back to eating.

“So, I don’t need a room anymore, though I do like living here. I just need a blank section of wall to use when I’m about.”

“Huh. So it seems.”

“So, how much to rent a wall in your house?”

Lyn huffed a laugh. “Let’s call it one silver a month and be done with it.”

“Sounds more than fair. Does that mean you’re going to find another person to rent the room?”

Lyn sighed. “Maybe? Against my better judgement, I ended up taking the Archon-level position with the Guild. Pays better, and the work is more varied.” She laughed. “Not like I actually needed the money to begin with. It’s just nice to have some help with expenses, and the company is usually a plus.” Lyn narrowed her eyes at Tala. “I’m not giving any of your rent back.”

Tala held up her hands. “Not asking you to.”

“Good. See that you don’t.”

She grinned at her friend. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

They fell back into comfortable silence as Lyn took measured bites, enjoying every careful mouthful, and Tala gorged, only really stopping to go into the kitchen and make herself more to eat. Even then, she was eating jerky, tossing bits out to Terry.

The venture food was coming in handy once again, and she found herself quite satisfied with the purchase for the umpteenth time.

Lyn and Tala did occasionally chat about small things, but nothing of real consequence.

As a result, Tala let her mind mostly wander. I do want to apply the body paint tonight, so I don’t have to mess with it tomorrow. As she considered that, and the evening moved towards true night, she realized that she had a problem.

“Lyn?”

“Hmm?” Lyn had finished eating and moved to one of her reading chairs, a book casually open before her.

“You didn’t ask about my hand.” Tala held up her left hand.

“I figured you’d tell me when you were ready.” Lyn didn’t look up from her book.

Tala took a moment to shake her head before sighing. Infuriating woman. “Fine, fine. So, it’s a paint— the grey is, anyways —and I plan on covering myself with it.”

“As one does.”

She glared, but her friend still hadn’t looked up. “As I was saying, I plan on complete coverage, but I realized that I have a problem.”

“Your hair?”

“What? No. I’ll shave it off, paint my head, then regrow through the layers.”

“Sounds like a great way to get ingrown hairs, if you ask me.”

Tala frowned. “The scripts include a breaching element. I don’t get ingrown hairs anymore, not anywhere, but that’s not the point.”

“Lucky.”

Tala grunted. She certainly didn’t miss them, that was for sure. “But, as I was saying, I’ve realized that I have a problem.”

“Just one?”

She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush of irritation. “Can you please stop interrupting?”

Lyn looked up. “As you wish.” She put on her best attentive smile.

“I can’t do my back.”

Lyn just looked at her, waiting.

Tala cleared her throat. “So, would you be willing to paint my back, after I’ve done the rest of me? I need three coats, but it dries fast, and should only take around ten minutes of your time.”

Lyn continued to watch her for a long moment before shaking her head. “I don’t know what I expected but painting my friend’s hard to reach places wasn’t it. Sure, fine. I’ll paint your back with whatever nonsense you’ve cooked up this time.”

“Well, to be honest, an alchemist came up with this stuff. I’m just going to use it.”

“An alchemist.”

“That’s right.”

“Aren’t those the people who prey on people too poor to get proper healthcare?”

Tala bristled. “My family are alchemists.”

Lyn blinked, clearly taken aback. “Oh. Oh, Tala, I apologize. I didn’t know.”

Tala hadn’t realized that tears had immediately come to her eyes, until they began to fall.

Lyn was up and embracing her again without hesitation. “I truly am sorry. Work’s been…” She shook her head. “No, now’s not about me. Will you forgive me?”

“You didn’t know.”

“But I could have.”

Tala gave a rueful laugh. “I don’t talk about my family. No, you couldn’t have.”

“Why is that?”

Then, without really deciding to, Tala began to talk.

She told Lyn about her older brother— well, half-brother —and their childhood together, followed by his death; her mother’s death at her own birth; and her step-mother, who’d raised her. She told Lyn about her other siblings, about her father’s injury and self-medication, leading to addiction and debt.

She told her everything.

Then, she told her about Alat, in brief, and about the memories that were now being dragged back into the light.

Through it all, Lyn listened intently. She asked some questions, but for the most part kept her silence.

In the end, they sat in that silence for a good five minutes, only slightly marred by Tala’s continued munching, before Lyn broke it.

“Tala.” Lyn breathed in deeply. “This is a chain around your neck.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“You need to address it.”

Tala stiffened.

“Go to Marliweather. See them. Reconcile or rail against them, just don’t kill anyone. Put it behind you one way or another.”

Tala threw up her hands. “That would be great, if I can actually do it.”

“I can get you a route there and back. It can probably leave in the next week or so. It’s a common enough route, without any prominent fringe benefits, so the slots shouldn’t be contracted too far in advance. You need to take a contract or two soon anyways, after the long hold-over in Makinaven.”

She gave Lyn an irritated look. “You know very well that I’m not talking about the logistics of getting to Marliweather. Terry could have me there in less than two days if we wanted to.”

Terry lifted his head from where he’d been sleeping in one of the chairs. He gave her a flat, mildly offended look.

“Sorry, Terry. One day. He could have us there in one day, if we wanted.”

Terry breathed out a satisfied trill and curled back up.

“The point is: that’s not the point.”

Lyn mostly contained her smile of amusement. “I see. I’m dazzled by your brilliance.”

Tala closed her eyes and huffed a self-deprecating laugh. “You know what I mean.”

“I do, I do, but Tala, you need to face this—to face them.”

Tala put her head into her hands. “I know, but I don’t want to.”

“It’s easier to simply hate them for what they did than give them a chance to explain?”

“Exactly.” She wasn’t surprised at her own honesty. Not really. Tala had been dancing around this issue for years, and it all seemed to be coming to a head at last. “Fine. I know you’re right. I know that’s what’s best.”

“I’ll set up the route, but you’ll have to take it from there.”

Tala just grunted.

Lyn leaned forward and hugged her again, and Tala accepted the embrace for a long moment before pulling away.

“Now, I need to get naked, get clean, and paint myself.”

“Don’t let me keep you from a good time.”

Tala rolled her eyes and walked to Kit’s door, where it still sat in Lyn’s living room - dining room wall.

“That can’t stay there, by the way. Find a place in the hall before you sleep tonight. Alright? It messes with the feel of the place.”

She smiled back at Lyn. “Will do.”

Without further discussion, she walked inside and closed the door behind her.

Ten minutes later, she was scrubbed clean.

Twenty minutes after that, she was hairless and painted with three layers across every area she could reach, her elk leathers now reshaped into the outfit that most neatly exposed the places she still needed assistance with.

She was keeping her hair from regrowing, so she was effectively bald for the moment. As such, when she walked back out of Kit, she could only imagine how she looked.

A white halter-top, leaving the entirety of her back, shoulders, and arms exposed, was the only color contrasting the dully metallic gray of most of her skin. The top definitely exposed more than she needed uncovered, but it was the only one that left everything she needed open, exposed.

Across all of that gray, golden light twisted and glowed in powerful, clearly magical lines.

Her eyes felt like they were glowing a brighter red than usual, adding to the aesthetic.

Lyn glanced up when Tala exited Kit and froze in obvious alarm, color draining from her face.

“Lyn! It’s me.”

“Yeah… I gathered that.” She swallowed. “Tala…I don’t know that you should go out like that…”

Tala waved that off. “I’ll take some precautions, but come on. I need help.”

Lyn tentatively came to her as Tala turned around, setting the paint container and a brush on the table as she did so.

The older woman was a bit hesitant at first but calmed as she took up the task of painting Tala’s back.

It tickled a lot more when someone else was doing the painting than it had when she did it herself, but Tala had borne through much worse.

In less than half an hour, they were done, the paint was dry, and Tala was regularly clothed once again.

“You still look rusting terrifying.”

“One moment.” She released the hold on her hair growth scripts, and it grew to the desired lengths. She left it free, allowing it to fall around her face. “Eh?”

Lyn sighed. “Now you don’t look quite as daunting, at least not at first glance, but you are glowing, Tala. That might trump any skin coloration.”

Tala glanced down, and sure enough, the spell-forms were manifesting all across her body. They weren’t shining through or above the elk leathers, but her magesight could see them everywhere, visible to others or not. And the external, glowing lines were nothing compared to what was going on inside.

Holly had been right when she had likened the results to a pressure cooker.

Within the nearly impenetrable iron-shell, Tala thrummed with power. It had taken a minute or two to really noticeably build, once Lyn had finished, and only now was it getting to a level that felt extreme.

“Oh, wow.” The words carried pulses of magic with them out of her mouth that caused the very air to quiver before her magesight.

Lyn was giving her a searching look. “How is the power not leaking out through all your follicles?”

“I’m not sure?” The magic took her every utterance as a momentary chance to equalize with the power in the room around her. My very voice is shaking the world. She started to laugh, the world reverberating to that as well, making her laugh harder.

After taking the time to calm down and get herself under control, and then taking more time to convince Lyn that she wasn’t going crazy, Tala sat down to continue examining the changes.

Everywhere she looked, she could see power subtly starting to swirl and move.

It took an embarrassingly long time for her to realize that she was losing power from her eyes, if at a much slower rate than from her mouth when she opened it.

Similarly, her breath contained more power than it ever had before, even when exiting through her nose.

So, tighten my aura. She did so, closing off those gaps. It wasn’t perfect by a long shot, but it at least made her look more like an untrained Mage, rather than a fount made flesh.

Well, all humans are founts in the flesh… So, it wasn’t a perfect analogy.

She could feel her scripts working, remaking her flesh, upgrading it per their prescribed patterns. Before, it had been a subtle thing, only noticeable if she delved deeply and focused her full attention on it. Now, it was almost impossible to ignore.

And it was draining her reserves.

Tala sighed. “Well, I need more food.”

Lyn barked out a laugh, having been watching Tala closely for the last few minutes of silent introspection. She seemed to relax a bit, apparently deciding that Tala was still herself at the core. “That doesn’t surprise me in the least.”

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

Silberwolf325 , Grimizen, Alex Griffin, Ocean Breeze, FieryFern, Ryan Tran, Bain-Lindsay , HJ, zachary gafken, Monte949, Marcus Adams, Laila , Kovak, Justin, Greg Shields, Feltenix, Dominic Weibel, Darkhelm , Bunny Waffles, Aria, T.E. N., Nick Tinsley, Isaac Deroche, Yenin , David , Twilgrimm, Jonathan Timm, Disclancer, MoneyTree, Samuel McCarren, Mr. Finch, Ray Robitaille, Max Collins, Z. Cs., xIron Gamerx, william wallace, William Priess, WhisperInTheVoid, WarNachos, Tzucaza ., Travis McIntosh, Travis McHenry, Thomas Stewart, Thomas Goyne, TheLazerCat , Taliesin , Stephen Pearson, someguy , Solar , Shakez44, Seth Richter, sedael , Sean McCrohan, Ryan Naquin, Rutger Boll, Robin Richards, Robert z, Robert P, rizen, Redbeard , Randy Klein, peter mattoon, Paul Pintea, PatronTurtle , PaleMire, OlivierA, nugitoBambino, noah stevens, Noah Morris, Megacheez , Max Gustavson, Matthew Davis, Matthew , Matt M, Mark Dolson, Margus234, Marcus Pehan, Lyael, Logan , Leendert Kortlever, Krikor Chichadjian, Kirvin, Keira Wulfe, Kamren Livingston, Kai , Justin Reagan, Justin , Justin , just_a_potato , Jonah of the Whale, Jeffery Nickelson, Jedediah Wolfgang, James Walsh, Jacob Ellis, Isaac Boyles, IGS, Ian Radspinner, Haran , Gustav Burkhardt, Gull, Gremlin, George Hicken, Geoff, Frank, evilperson41 , Erling Egilsson, Eric , Enif , Enaz the great, dotAlice, Dire Wolf, David Turner, Cyrus McEnnis, Colin Ford, Christian Kenney, BossDawg, Bloodorange17 , Baldur Norddahl, Bacon Macleod, B C, Austin Woodard, arty, Archivist0 , antab , Angela Kimova, Andrew Holland, Alex , aantonides ., Matt M, Hazza Vanderbyl, Frank By Estenstad, Arnfinn Gjorvad, Rachel Prochner, Maksim, Maggi von Da, klabuster, Irisa, Derek, RageBone , Primordi, Onill007 , Matt S., Jo, dragonslaver, Horathio, Viria , Oliverthms , MePe , Hibou Ronchon, GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Cristi Palincas, Budgie, Helge, Khress , Brian, daniel edery, NaughtyPaws, Tyler, Laurids Jensen, voltic, Kenyaa , Nikolaj Rosander Madsen, Tangyorange, znarken, Sekander , Le GarlantÃ©zec, Andrew Goudie, Chris Hibbert, John Growcott, Zanthras, William Francom, Wesley Miller, Vikram Ahluwalia, tlove, Timothy Burago, Tim , ThreatLvlPurple , Steven C, Skarsol, RottenTangerine, Pedro Derze, Oakenbear , Nathan Fahrenbach, Michael Mooney, Melting Sky, Max Sweet, MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, M , Lachlan Priest, Kevin, kenneth, Kaeson, joshua carlile, Joseph , John Hadel, Joe Smith, Jeremy James, Jeff Gault, Jason Morse, Jarrod Manzer, James, Jake Pellegrini, Gamecats, Fiddle Sticks, Ell Lan, Dustin Qian, Dr.Quick, Dorian Grizzle, Doomerjunky, devarian , DeusCap, David Brims, Daniel Zellmer, Conner T, Cole Nyquist, Chris, chad ensey, Bricyn Abel, Bosparan, AverageGuy , Anh Vo, Allora Lee, Alex, Adrian Gorgey, Aclys , Aaron Sofaer, Aaron , dennis malatesta, Glenn Clemente, William Fullerton, Adam, Jayden Kirkham, sm0ze, Skygo, Schelm , Siphor , Ryudachi, Frederic Axt, BoB, Leon Ernst, Ludger , Kyle, James Beaudreau, Kristian Olesen, mark mÃ¸llegaard, Kenneth , Gyslain Desgagne, Max W, TomÃ¡Å¡ BlÃ¡bol, Will C, NNeil , Sam Oppy, hellunit , Mcnoodlies , Zach Adams, William Davis, Swanie, sings_with_toads, Sean Panajotovic, Seadrake, Reid Palmquist, Reed Montemurro, Ramapriya Rangaraju, Phlorez , Philipp Ziehe, Philip , Notcreepycreeper, Noah Jones, Nate D., Mudith Mallajosyula, Mountainking , Midnight Harbinger, Michelle Goodman, Michael She, Lanhail, Klecksi, Joy , Josh Fryza, John Noone, John D'Arcy, Jeremy Durbin, ItsjustMe , Hornblower , HeartHawk, FoolRegnant , erik lindquist, dwarftoss58, Drew Gilmour, David Schleimer, Dan , Cypha, Chris Fox, Alexander Dupree, Alex Weatbrook, Nathaniel Baxter, Andy, Nonie, Bast, sethorizer, Lerous, Drake Morgan, Mark, Kermity , Traian, Grausheira , Thaco4 , Vervacitus , Alex LeBlanc, reafan, Anna Turner, Mohammad Muzhaffar Bin Omar, Joshua allen, Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, Tom Roettger, Seth Bryant, Sandoz, Robert Mullins, Rich Webb, Patrick Blatti, Odunski, Noshei , Micah Wallis, Meierfrac, Mechrono, Lindsay W., karmaslap , Josiah Bills, Jasen Nichols, Jacob trent, Gunnar Crider, Grumlen, DeathOfOld , Dave, Daniel , Chris Mantakounis, Ceromus, Caleb, C Howard, Andrius , Andrew C Kerr, adam1 , Aaron Greene, Oliver Firoozan, Alex Wilson, Derik Botha, BurnNote, Elias Leutgeb, Ensos2, ajcaspers, Steffen, Conor kelly, Cirex123 , Alexander Hoffmeister, Jan Joost Sijbesma, PortlandPhil , DBuck , Connor Beeson, Thernn , Paul Becker, Colton Rutherford, Adam Andersson, Apotheosis As A Service, , Stuart Anderson, Vaulex, TheFool, Smokestack Matt, Sleet Rain, Ragmas, Pieter-Jan Van Steenkiste, patrick seim, Omar Wazir, minicheatbook, Kiran, Justin Marble, Jeff Barton, Jasper, Jason Johnson, Helloworld, Haakon Pedersen, Dylan , Dan Weiss, Cordelia , closeded, Chloe Winter, Cabbage God, Asael Sklar, Arhsnag, aidan larson, Aidan , ScottDR, Ely Brookes, Lewis Dyer, MenacingSand, Frogger, cm123 , Marcel Amendt, Valter AnunciaÃ§Ã£o, schnixxes, Moreau Arthur, Styx49, Enthused, Magisch, Mikael Svensson, Michael Maor, Matt H, DT , Daniel Sanchez, KDP , Sebastian Lindqvist, Mattias Klason, Gabriel Boudreau, Tyler Babcock, Wundermelon, Svarog, Shelbo, S.G., S T, Ryan Hearn, Richard Davis ll, Pawel Maskowicz, Nikolas allen, Nick McGettigan, Nicholas Johnson, Miles Pettey, Michael O'Gorman, lukas bonnesen, Kevin Green, jonch1243 ., Jerry Howard, Jacob , Itbeme12321, Grizzly Fiction, Draega, Drac , Dan Addis, Dakota , CaughtRedHeaded, Carya Galabra, Andrew Glass, Lynd Koh, Stano MareÄek, Julian Beaumont, Matt Labrum, Joshua Smith, Biomass, STORRM , James Davidson, Daba, Edmund McGough, Gabriel Jarman-Ivens, Frederik, Faelyn, Yrom, Politician, Boutross, Inzuris, CruelDude, Alphabetical, TorbjÃ¸rn Nilsen, Alexander Lease, ImBaroqe, Josh Turple, Robert , Acorderodelfin, grayfire, Jess, Some Total Kretin, user754595, Superposhposh , Robert Kline, Rip Woodham, Ratoo , Raphael , OrangeSpork, Nick Norris, LuminescentSky, LeJordon , Just Dave, Jonathan Yarian, Jetforce, JC Silver, James Derr, Hodge Wasson, GuyWhoReadsALot, gingerbeard, Dustin Gates, Daniel Sigui, crystalcat, Colin Reed, Cole Terlesky, Christopher Catania, Artizela, Aria Jonsdottir, Alex, Adam James Washington,  Eric Liu, Jalty, Albert, Benedict Stone, Thomas Van Roy, Bad Timing, Que Tea, Flogoyog , Fabian Elzo Kraemer, TNkdI6FVB1NhjNqt , LordErr, Akastor, Jonathan , Desertdoe , nokko, Magnus Andersson, Nikel Eld, lol, X Y, Anonymous , EmissaryOfZork , Isaac White, Clara, nicholas machado, Zebrababies, Toad , Talion, Ryan , Roger, Rhaid, Powernap , Nyotree, Nick Warner, Mo, Michael Olson, Logan Fain, Kelsey , JT, Joseph Saunders, Frost , Frightful6_7, Diego Avendano-Morineau, Daniel A, Colby , Christopher Harris, bob sicks, Andrew Cohen, Alison Swenson, Alex Baggaley, Malbec , Severed Hat, Ethan Munday, Sean Elliott, Lone Immortus, Lygon Bowen-West, Arne Skov Hvid, Flusspferd, Sebastian Larsen, AstroMyrkat, Jywert , Lazy Lemon, Jonathan Frerichs, Nikita Becker, Robin SjÃ¶doff, Viktor NechvÃ¡tal, Asterius, PiMs, Burke Symon, Jamie Johnstone, Yemisi Mcmullen, TwistedToaster, Toc Anastar, Thomas Payne, Satya Prateek, Proteus Jones, posthumousleon , Payen Hell, Nate Kaufman, meoth , Matthew Powell, Kyle Brackenbury, Kirk Morgan, Karma Baris, Julian Meltzer, JTP , Jeremy Dorn, Jerad Stephens, Driftward, Daniel Harris, CrispyKing , Connor Sunier, Colin Brown, Cody Poteet, Carlos Andres Rengifo Escobar, Cae, petr Bae, CringeWorthyStudios , Mr Google Doodle, Seth Cox, Christopher Fetherston, Joshua Samuel Miller, Hamilton , Magnuss, ........, Novo , Christian Nowitzki, Erkki Parkkulainen, maxime gm, Dan , Philipp Zander, Leif Nejst, Kristoffer , Mike, Inspirefly, ClapTrapCL4TP , Dan, Ryan, Azzurous, Taras Gordiyenko, Tyrone Thomas, Troy Fox, Stephanie Washburn, StarWolf, Spencer Herold, Scotus Dunshee, Retaliation ., Quendolayne, Oran Poe, Michael Goulet, Michael D Chavez, Metzy, Lenonxx6, Kent Gunn, Jody, Jason Petry, Gwendolyn Simmons-LaRose, foolishlurker, Evan Morris, Elliott Fawcett, Dustin , dewstark, David D, Conor Futro, Chris , Caleb Zimmerman, Brandon Cleveland, bradley foster, Andrew Dempsey, AgentFransis, Signspace, James Lavender, Morzan The Lazy Dragon, Reece Grimshaw, DasUberGryx, Piotr, ENIM Skills, Chris, EroNingen, Adurna

Mage:

Ian Anderson, Pigeon F, Joshua John Wallace, Scott Holt, Jackson Ragland, Jonny, Aaron Lewis, Gemyma, Eoin Barrett, Setaria, Lasse Pedersen, Werkrat , SirGuy , Rick Brandon, Mathias Schwendimann, Gert Wallis, Alexander Belousov, Alex Scriber, al , ulrik aaby, Jan, Fabian , Anton Selling, Gleadge, Max Oberg, Evan Thompson, Carl Clements, mallix , Moritz MÃ¼ller, tachi-kawa, Silveredgallium, NebulaeDreamz, Michael Anaya, Jeremy Leonard, Jason Case, James Hadfied, Hew, GopherAtl, Cybernetic Angel, Deneas , Caillin McKay, Michael Bradet-Legris, MeatyLock , Zachery R Hunnicutt, Louis Nel, Jamison Schneider, jacob britt, Dustin , Derek Walker, BananaMerchant, Vroom , Patrick Cole, Digdug, Finn Freudenberg, Mathieu Deg, Ransom Hollister, Kim Andrus, Chris Olsen, Michael Mercado, Lia, Carl Bunch, Michael Stephan, Sage, Eric Trombly, Derek Singer, Cory Ellis, Bedo Vavrena

Mageling:

Alexander Graber-Tilton, Ivo Havener, Lonewolf, SomethingWicked , Hollowlce, Ian , Pawaidan, pope benedict, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Stefan Rabenstein, Sebastian S, Robert Rosenthal, Michael kim, Matt DiMeo, Dave Burkett, P.R. Bakker, Joost Boere, Isaac Larkin, Elessar Beverly, Chris K, Sid_Cypher , Hamo4, Kevin O'donnell, S , moniker, ashandarei, Faris Bissex, Judy Halloran, Eric Mueller, David Eggli, David, Austin McGue, Eole Salmon, Jeff berman, Kirsty , moon.wizard.666, Benjamin Buco, Sven Paulson

Inscribed:

Dax, Sean Carter, N. A., Tandroll, Chase128, fennek , Alastair Dent, Eyke, nikrowd , Paul Lorenz, George Lanetz, Ross Doyle, Isaac Fratti, Ari Mononen, Daydeus, Jonathan , Anks , PeM, Mqrius, Moses Lambert, LÃ©o Viarouge

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Chapter: 175 - A Long Night

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Thuss, Sakari Saastamoinen

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala woke bright and early the next morning, at least according to her illusory landscape.

Much of the time, magic was just a background part of everyday life, but there were still moments when it really hit her how amazing the power was, such as staring out at a vista that didn’t exist, created simply because she wished to see it.

I really do love waking up to that view. Which was probably exactly why it was there. She grinned. Things were looking up. She had money; she had a place to live; and she was growing in power daily, even if just a bit.

Well, I still need to see how the iron body paint has affected things.

Lyn had gone to bed the night before while Tala had made herself another large portion of the venturing food. Once she’d eaten as much as she could stomach, even with her incredible capacity, Tala had placed Kit’s door in the hallway, per Lyn’s request, and gone to sleep.

Now, as she stretched into wakefulness, she casually checked the time, simply by desiring to know what time it was.

Midnight.

What? She would have sworn she had laid down just a couple hours before midnight. How could she feel this well rested with only two hours sleep?

The answer was obvious as she looked down at her hands.

The most prominent spell-lines glowed brightly to her mundane eyes, while being little more than flickers to her magesight. There were several oddities, as she looked closer. The lines didn’t actually exactly mirror the golden lines that laced through her flesh. Instead, as she considered and compared, she would guess that the lines of light were the same magically, but with the medium of air and the line composition of magical power, itself.

They were horribly inefficient, hence the glowing, but they were there.

She frowned. No, they aren’t actually there. As she examined more closely, she could see that the spell-manifestations existed within the dimensions of magic, surrounding her and affecting her without regard for the iron.

The light was simply a physical manifestation of their inefficiencies, so it manifested in the physical world in the closest approximation to the magical dimensions in which the spell-forms actually existed.

Tala bent over and rubbed the sides of her head. Extra dimensional thinking was never my strong suit…

All that said, the result was that she basically had a second set of highly wasteful inscriptions perfectly mirroring her first, running purely on the waste energy.

As Holly was good at her job, there wasn’t a lot for the secondary set to work with. Even so, with the iron keeping it all contained, even a small amount built up rapidly.

As she examined herself further, diving inside with her magesight, she noticed something that she never really had before: Her flesh wasn’t able to take in all that the spell-workings were trying to do.

It was as if many of these spell-forms had been designed for a body with higher capacities, and while her form was being remade to meet that demand, slowly, it couldn’t yet.

So, as the power washed over a particular part of her, that organ, or system or cell, could only take in so much of it. The rest simply dispersed.

She would bet that it had been doing that since she had first been inscribed.

Now, her iron was catching that and perfectly reflecting it back, giving her physiology a second chance to integrate the power. What was missed would disperse and be reflected back, again.

And again.

And again.

All the while, her inscriptions were continuing to add power. This built a resonance within her being, where each aspect of her spell-forms became, essentially, standing waves, steadily growing in amplitude.

Pressure cooking indeed.

She hesitated. I’m mixing metaphors. That doesn’t really make much sense…

She pulled back her minute examinations and took in the look as a whole.

Given the glowing magical lines, combined with her near-metallic looking, gray skin, she probably looked like an animated, metal statue.

You know, I’ve only heard of those in stories, but I bet they’re real. Animated metal warriors would be amazing. I should ask about them at some point. It was probably a good question for the Archive.

She continued to examine her own hands. She could see the individual lines, and while they didn’t really cast light, they were clearly alight.

Tala frowned. But I have much better sight than most people. She’d have to ask Lyn’s opinion.

Speaking of my eyesight. She felt like it had heightened yet again, if only just, likely due to the reflection of the magic of the enhancements.

She carefully stood and stretched, her body moving more easily than ever before. A part of that was her reduced weight, due to her lower than ideal reserves, but she was also at least a bit stronger than she had been even the night before.

This could get interesting, given enough time. It was also draining her reserves marginally. If her guestimations were correct, she’d need four times the food of a normal person going forward, just to maintain.

Alright then, doubling the meal budget. Six silver a day it is! She hadn’t been using even her normal budget, but that had to change. Especially if I’m going back on the road soon.

She needed time to think, so decided to go out to the main room for her stretching and exercises. She didn’t really take into account how different she might look, however.

As she walked out into the main space where Terry was sleeping, the terror bird’s head jerked up, and he immediately vanished.

A pulse of dimensional energy, and a blow across her back told her where he’d gone.

She stumbled from the blow, which had oddly felt more bludgeoning than slashing. He’s probably a bit hesitant of unknown threats, given the Leshkin blood that was just recently so prevalent in our enemies.

She tried to call out to her friend. “Terry! It’s me!”

But Terry had flickered again, nearly the size of a horse and with his talons closed around her neck, already constricting her airways.

Tala tried to gasp, or pull in a breath, but nothing came past the crushing restriction. His grip was so tight that she thought the blood to her brain might be cut off soon, despite her much more resilient physiology.

She pulled Flow from her belt, shaping it into a sword even as it whipped past the bird’s extended foot, towards her hand.

As expected, Terry flickered away, avoiding the attack, but in that instant, she sucked in a desperate breath, eyes frantically darting around the space until she found Terry, crouched low in one corner, eyes narrowed in hostile scrutiny.

Tala moved away, putting her back to a wall, and holding Flow before her in a warding stance. “Terry.” Her voice was raw, and she hacked out a cough as her trachea reformed, helped by her attempted word, which reinflated the airway as she’d forced it out.

The voice hadn’t sounded like hers, but Terry clearly realized something was not as expected, likely given that she’d used his name.

He lifted his head slightly, tilting it to the side as if puzzled.

His eyes moved to Flow and then widened in recognition.

He trilled questioningly.

Tala nodded vigorously still coughing a little as the regeneration finished its work. “Yeah. It’s me.”

He walked across the intervening space, showing more caution that she’d seen from him before. He trilled again.

“I thought you saw me last night, before we turned in.”

He waggled his head side to side, then half-closed his eyes.

“You were too tired to pay much attention?” Seriously? Her voice was fully recovered by that point, but it had taken some of her stores. Great. Need to eat even more, now.

He bobbed his head in a nod.

She gave a rueful chuckle. “Well. No real harm done, I suppose…”

He let out a bit of a mournful squawk, flickered to her shoulder in his smaller size, and headbutted her cheek.

“Yeah, yeah. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me.”

He bumped her again, then flickered back to curl up in the corner to await her departure.

Hmmm, I guess I look and feel vastly different with this on. Obviously it is much more extreme than I expected. I might need to get some sort of solution ironed out before something drastic happens. But it was still very late, or early. Standard stuff, first. Then, I’ll deal with what’s new.

As she moved through her normal morning routine, she had time to think and consider. Inevitably, the more she thought, and the more she considered, the more it became clear that she had something that she had to do.

Thus, once she’d recharged her items, stretched, and exercised— physically, mentally, magically, and spiritually —Tala had decided what she needed to do first. Well, next.

She set out for the Archon Compound, Terry on her shoulder for the trip.

It was still in the dead of night when they came out of Kit within Lyn’s house.

There was a creepy stillness to the place in the dark, dead of night.

She glanced to Terry. “Anything off to you, bud?”

He shook himself lightly.

“Fine. It’s just me, then.” That decided, Tala didn’t focus on the odd feeling as she quickly traversed the space and exited the building, carefully locking the door behind herself.

The trip through the city was similarly odd, as there was almost no one around.

She was almost all the way to the Archon compound when she realized what had her so on edge. Her mundane sight had been enhanced to the point that it almost looked bright enough to be day, but there was still no one around. Therefore, it gave the city a decidedly abandoned feel.

If it was dark and empty, that would be explainable, but since it looks bright to me, it feels a bit creepy. Satisfied that she had her reason for the odd feeling, she quick-walked the last bit to the Archon Compound.

When she strode down the last part of the entry tunnel, she felt a scan pass over her, not through her, she sighed. Well, let’s get this over with.

After an instant’s hesitation, things became…chaotic.

The air filled with power as it thickened around her, taking on the consistency of cold molasses in an attempt to restrict her movements.

Terry flickered away to the recesses of the atrium before the working fully settled around her. Good, he’ll stay safe.

Tala was inconvenienced by the thickening of the air, but not that much, as it didn’t really stress her increased strength, at least not at first.

She did not draw Flow. She wasn’t there to fight.

Instead, she raised her hands above her head in the most exposed, unthreatening posture that she could think of.

As if triggered by her continued movement, more power wove through the air around her, and it was suddenly as hard as stone.

Tala thought that she might be able to break free, if she had to, but she was sure that whatever had sensed her movement and increased the power of the restraint would just do so again, and she was having enough trouble breathing as it was.

Behind the counter ahead of her, the assistants had crouched down, and a dome of magical energy too complex for Tala to comprehend easily or quickly flickered into place, clearly projected from an intricate circle of copper scripts beneath the floor, surrounding the front desk.

I really hope I don’t have to pay for the use of all these defenses…

A moment later she felt a magical probe that bypassed her iron, clearly indicating that an Archon was directly behind it, and a voice filled the space, laced with power. “Stop!”

The air became normal once more, and the magically created shield, whatever it was made of, vanished.

A blue- maybe even slightly indigo -aura filled the space, though it seemed to bend and distort to avoid contacting the people in the room, including Terry, if what Tala saw from the corner of her vision was correct. Into the sudden silence, both auditory and magical, a woman strode from one of the side passages coming to stand in front of Tala, looking her over. “Child, dear child.” There was a mirth-filled smile obvious across her features. “Even with warning, you still managed to cause us quite a bit of shock.”

Tala had the presence of mind to look sheepish, even as she didn’t lower her hands. “That is why I’m here, actually. I wanted to see if anything could be done to mitigate misunderstandings, or if I should just scrub it off.”

“Oh, no! Don’t do that. Your progress will be astronomical in that fascinating…suit. We wouldn’t want to lose that potential. Humanity needs every edge we can get.” She glanced up at Tala’s arms, her smile gaining a bit of a grandmotherly bent. “You can lower those, child. You will not be harmed, unless you act completely out of character.”

Tala did so. “I’m Tala, though you likely know that. What is your name, if I may ask?” She felt it was best to find out sooner, rather than later.

“You are right, I do know who you are, though we’ve not had the pleasure of meeting in person. I am Jenna, wife of the city lord of Bandfast.”

Tala’s eyes widened, and she reflexively asked, before she could stop herself, “If you’re Reforged, how powerful is he?”

Jenna grinned. “Oh, he’s Refined, but he enjoys administration, where I decidedly do not.” She shrugged. “It works on every level, actually. I do love that man.” Her eyes had gotten a far-off look, but she seemed to shake herself, coming back to the moment. “But we’re not here to talk about our relationships.”

“I suppose not.” Tala swallowed, trying to get some moisture back into her dry mouth. “I…Thank you for not being upset that I tripped the alarms.”

Jenna waved that away. “Honestly, ever since Mistress Holly let me know about your plans, I’ve been expecting there to be an incident somewhere.” She glanced at Tala. “For future reference, it would have been better for you to come here, first, before painting yourself. We could have helped you, monitored your internal power, and ensured there weren’t any unexpected side effects. That said, coming here as your first stop after your experiment is certainly an improvement above what I feared. You are maturing nicely.”

Tala blushed, but it was an invisible reaction, only obvious to her because she could feel her own cheeks heat. She immediately tried to distract herself from her own embarrassment. Oh, why aren’t I overheated? This body paint has to trap some, plus I can’t really sweat through it.

The answer was obvious the instant she thought about it: Holly had improved her heat dissipation scripts, after she’d cooked her own muscles by overworking them. I’m glad those are in effect.

“Now, we need to do something about your look, and how you show up to passive scans. Follow me, please? And bring your friend. I’d hate for the city’s defenses to mis-identify him.” Jenna’s eyes had locked onto Terry, where he waited off to one side.

Tala nodded, and followed Jenna from the room, Terry flickering to her shoulder at her second step.

As they walked, Tala examined the woman surreptitiously. But found she was unable to get a read on her power.

Jenna had pulled her aura back in and seemed to be wearing it like a suit. It wasn’t held at her skin, like Tala had seen so many other Archons do. Instead, it was extended roughly three inches in every direction, filling in the gaps that might be expected between her feet, or between her arms and her sides.

The result was a mostly ovaloid bubble, with the occasional protrusion from the extension of hand or foot as they walked.

Tala cleared her throat, partially to get the woman’s attention, and partially to give her an extra moment to think. “So, if I may ask Mistress Jenna, how are we going to do something about my look?” She tried to mirror the woman’s words, so as to not overstep.

Jenna glanced back towards her. “Have you ever seen an Archon who didn’t look precisely human?”

Tala blinked in confusion at the seemingly unconnected question, then she realized what Jenna meant. “You’ve developed items to help those with less-than-clean soul-mergings function in society.”

“That’s not an answer to my question, but you did get the point. Several Archons at your raising did petition for you to receive a mitigation, but we thought your changes were not sufficient to warrant it. Besides, at some point, we need to accustomize the mundanes to the realities of magic.” She laughed at her own words. “Though, we’ve been saying that for centuries. We’re too set in our ways, truth be told. Hastel has done a fantastic job in Audel, this iteration. Twenty-seven years in, and no riots. A whole generation has been raised up with a better understanding of how the world really is, though some secrets are still required.”

Tala frowned. “Hastel?”

“That’s Master Hastel to you, child. He’s lord over Audel, a bit younger than the rest of us, a bit less set in his methods.” She smiled. “He’s testing out a new way of doing things, and it seems to be working. I suggest you drop through Audel on one of your routes. It’s a lovely picture of how we could be in another few hundred years.” She shook her head and sighed. “I wish it were easier to change norms in established cities, but the mundanes don’t like it much.” She laughed a little. “And if I’m being honest with myself, I don’t like change that much either, but I will do what is best for us all.”

Tala nodded, though she thought she likely didn’t understand everything implied by the woman’s words.

“But listen to me chattering on. One does seem to talk more as one ages. After you.” Jenna gestured at a blank section of wall that they’d stopped in front of.

“The wall?”

“Yes, child. Walk through.”

Like all the walls in the Archon compound, there was a thin barrier of power, seemingly designed to increase the integrity of the stone, and hold the walls together regardless of the stresses they might be subject to. The fields of power didn’t seem to be meant to block a person passing through, though. An illusion?

No, she should be able to see that.

Mind magic?

No, Alat would have activated in irritation if they were under the influence of mental manipulation, if for no other reason.

I suppose someone could have made the stone permeable.

In any case, the Reforged had given her an instruction, so she should obey.

Tala stepped forward and smacked her face into a hard stone wall, bouncing off.

It didn’t hurt, but it was startling. “What?” She looked over to Jenna, who was hiding a smile behind one hand.

“Oh, that was amazing.”

Tala frowned.

“It’s this way.” Jenna pointed to the door behind them both. “Thank you for the smile, though. It’s been a long night.”

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

Silberwolf325 , Grimizen, Alex Griffin, FieryFern, Ocean Breeze, Ryan Tran, Bain-Lindsay , HJ, Aria, Bunny Waffles, Darkhelm , Dominic Weibel, Feltenix, Greg Shields, Justin, Kovak, Laila , Marcus Adams, Monte949, zachary gafken, T.E. N., Nick Tinsley, Isaac Deroche, Yenin , David , Twilgrimm, Disclancer, Jonathan Timm, MoneyTree, Samuel McCarren, Mr. Finch, Ray Robitaille, Max Collins, aantonides ., Alex , Andrew Holland, Angela Kimova, antab , Archivist0 , arty, Austin Woodard, B C, Bacon Macleod, Baldur Norddahl, Bloodorange17 , BossDawg, Christian Kenney, Colin Ford, Cyrus McEnnis, David Turner, Dire Wolf, dotAlice, Enaz the great, Enif , Eric , Erling Egilsson, evilperson41 , Frank, Geoff, George Hicken, Gremlin, Gull, Gustav Burkhardt, Haran , Ian Radspinner, IGS, Isaac Boyles, Jacob Ellis, James Walsh, Jedediah Wolfgang, Jeffery Nickelson, Jonah of the Whale, just_a_potato , Justin , Justin , Justin Reagan, Kai , Kamren Livingston, Keira Wulfe, Kirvin, Krikor Chichadjian, Leendert Kortlever, Logan , Lyael, Marcus Pehan, Margus234, Mark Dolson, Matt M, Matthew , Matthew Davis, Max Gustavson, Megacheez , Noah Morris, noah stevens, nugitoBambino, OlivierA, PaleMire, PatronTurtle , Paul Pintea, peter mattoon, Randy Klein, Redbeard , rizen, Robert P, Robert z, Robin Richards, Rutger Boll, Ryan Naquin, Sean McCrohan, sedael , Seth Richter, Shakez44, Solar , someguy , Stephen Pearson, Taliesin , TheLazerCat , Thomas Goyne, Thomas Stewart, Travis McHenry, Travis McIntosh, Tzucaza ., WarNachos, WhisperInTheVoid, William Priess, william wallace, xIron Gamerx, Z. Cs., Matt M, Hazza Vanderbyl, Frank By Estenstad, Arnfinn Gjorvad, Derek, Irisa, klabuster, Maggi von Da, Maksim, Rachel Prochner, dragonslaver, Jo, Matt S., Onill007 , Primordi, RageBone , Horathio, Viria , GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Hibou Ronchon, MePe , Oliverthms , Budgie, Cristi Palincas, Helge, Khress , Brian, daniel edery, NaughtyPaws, Tyler, Laurids Jensen, Kenyaa , voltic, Nikolaj Rosander Madsen, Tangyorange, znarken, Sekander , Le GarlantÃ©zec, Andrew Goudie, Chris Hibbert, John Growcott, Aaron , Aaron Sofaer, Aclys , Adrian Gorgey, Alex, Allora Lee, Anh Vo, AverageGuy , Bosparan, Bricyn Abel, chad ensey, Chris, Cole Nyquist, Conner T, Daniel Zellmer, David Brims, DeusCap, devarian , Doomerjunky, Dorian Grizzle, Dr.Quick, Dustin Qian, Ell Lan, Fiddle Sticks, Gamecats, Jake Pellegrini, James, Jarrod Manzer, Jason Morse, Jeff Gault, Jeremy James, Joe Smith, John Hadel, Joseph , joshua carlile, Kaeson, kenneth, Kevin, Lachlan Priest, M , MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, Max Sweet, Melting Sky, Michael Mooney, Nathan Fahrenbach, Oakenbear , Pedro Derze, RottenTangerine, Skarsol, Steven C, ThreatLvlPurple , Tim , Timothy Burago, tlove, Vikram Ahluwalia, Wesley Miller, William Francom, Zanthras, dennis malatesta, Glenn Clemente, William Fullerton, Adam, Jayden Kirkham, sm0ze, Skygo, Schelm , Siphor , Frederic Axt, Ryudachi, BoB, Leon Ernst, Ludger , James Beaudreau, Kyle, Kristian Olesen, Kenneth , mark mÃ¸llegaard, Gyslain Desgagne, Max W, TomÃ¡Å¡ BlÃ¡bol, Will C, NNeil , Sam Oppy, hellunit , Mcnoodlies , Alex Weatbrook, Alexander Dupree, Chris Fox, Cypha, Dan , David Schleimer, Drew Gilmour, dwarftoss58, erik lindquist, FoolRegnant , HeartHawk, Hornblower , ItsjustMe , Jeremy Durbin, John D'Arcy, John Noone, Josh Fryza, Joy , Klecksi, Lanhail, Michael She, Michelle Goodman, Midnight Harbinger, Mountainking , Mudith Mallajosyula, Nate D., Noah Jones, Notcreepycreeper, Philip , Philipp Ziehe, Phlorez , Ramapriya Rangaraju, Reed Montemurro, Reid Palmquist, Seadrake, Sean Panajotovic, sings_with_toads, Swanie, William Davis, Zach Adams, Nathaniel Baxter, Andy, Nonie, Bast, sethorizer, Lerous, Drake Morgan, Mark, Kermity , Traian, Grausheira , Thaco4 , Vervacitus , Alex LeBlanc, reafan, Lamrsw, Anna Turner, Mohammad Muzhaffar Bin Omar, Joshua allen, Aaron Greene, adam1 , Andrew C Kerr, Andrius , C Howard, Caleb, Ceromus, Chris Mantakounis, Daniel , Dave, DeathOfOld , Grumlen, Gunnar Crider, Jacob trent, Jasen Nichols, Josiah Bills, karmaslap , Lindsay W., Mechrono, Meierfrac, Micah Wallis, Noshei , Odunski, Patrick Blatti, Rich Webb, Robert Mullins, Sandoz, Seth Bryant, Tom Roettger, Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, Oliver Firoozan, Alex Wilson, Derik Botha, BurnNote, Elias Leutgeb, Ensos2, ajcaspers, Steffen, Conor kelly, Cirex123 , Alexander Hoffmeister, Jan Joost Sijbesma, Connor Beeson, DBuck , PortlandPhil , Thernn , Paul Becker, Colton Rutherford, Adam Andersson, Apotheosis As A Service, , Stuart Anderson, Aidan , aidan larson, Arhsnag, Asael Sklar, Cabbage God, Chloe Winter, closeded, Cordelia , Dan Weiss, Dylan , Haakon Pedersen, Helloworld, Jason Johnson, Jasper, Jeff Barton, Justin Marble, Kiran, minicheatbook, Omar Wazir, patrick seim, Pieter-Jan Van Steenkiste, Ragmas, Sleet Rain, Smokestack Matt, TheFool, Vaulex, ScottDR, Ely Brookes, Lewis Dyer, MenacingSand, Frogger, cm123 , Marcel Amendt, Valter AnunciaÃ§Ã£o, schnixxes, Moreau Arthur, Styx49, Enthused, Magisch, Mikael Svensson, Daniel Sanchez, DT , Matt H, Michael Maor, KDP , Sebastian Lindqvist, Mattias Klason, Gabriel Boudreau, Tyler Babcock, Andrew Glass, Carya Galabra, CaughtRedHeaded, Dakota , Dan Addis, Drac , Draega, Grizzly Fiction, Itbeme12321, Jacob , Jerry Howard, jonch1243 ., Kevin Green, Knightfire, lukas bonnesen, Michael O'Gorman, Miles Pettey, Nicholas Johnson, Nick McGettigan, Nikolas allen, Pawel Maskowicz, Richard Davis ll, Ryan Hearn, S T, S.G., Shelbo, Svarog, Wundermelon, Lynd Koh, Stano MareÄek, Julian Beaumont, Matt Labrum, Joshua Smith, Biomass, STORRM , Daba, James Davidson, Edmund McGough, Gabriel Jarman-Ivens, KÃ¶ck Nikolaus, Frederik, Faelyn, Boutross, Politician, Yrom, Inzuris, CruelDude, Alphabetical, TorbjÃ¸rn Nilsen, Alexander Lease, ImBaroqe, Josh Turple, Robert , Acorderodelfin, grayfire, Jess, Some Total Kretin,  Eric Liu, Adam James Washington, Alex, Aria Jonsdottir, Artizela, Christopher Catania, Cole Terlesky, Colin Reed, crystalcat, Daniel Sigui, Dustin Gates, gingerbeard, GuyWhoReadsALot, Hodge Wasson, James Derr, JC Silver, Jetforce, Jonathan Yarian, Just Dave, LeJordon , LuminescentSky, Nick Norris, OrangeSpork, Raphael , Ratoo , Rip Woodham, Robert Kline, Superposhposh , user754595, Jalty, Albert, Benedict Stone, Thomas Van Roy, Bad Timing, Que Tea, Flogoyog , Fabian Elzo Kraemer, TNkdI6FVB1NhjNqt , LordErr, Akastor, Jonathan , Desertdoe , nokko, Magnus Andersson, Nikel Eld, lol, X Y, Anonymous , EmissaryOfZork , Isaac White, Clara, nicholas machado, Alex Baggaley, Alison Swenson, Andrew Cohen, bob sicks, Christopher Harris, Colby , Daniel A, Diego Avendano-Morineau, Frightful6_7, Frost , Joseph Saunders, JT, Kelsey , Logan Fain, Michael Olson, Mo, Nick Warner, Nyotree, Powernap , Rhaid, Roger, Ryan , Talion, Toad , Zebrababies, Malbec , Severed Hat, Ethan Munday, Sean Elliott, Lone Immortus, Lygon Bowen-West, Arne Skov Hvid, Flusspferd, Sebastian Larsen, Hello 1939539es, AstroMyrkat, Jywert , Jonathan Frerichs, Lazy Lemon, Nikita Becker, Robin SjÃ¶doff, Lonny, Viktor NechvÃ¡tal, Asterius, Burke Symon, PiMs, Jamie Johnstone, Cae, Carlos Andres Rengifo Escobar, Cody Poteet, Colin Brown, Connor Sunier, CrispyKing , Daniel Harris, Draecath, Driftward, Jerad Stephens, Jeremy Dorn, JTP , Julian Meltzer, Karma Baris, Kirk Morgan, Kyle Brackenbury, luke, Matthew Powell, meoth , Nate Kaufman, Payen Hell, posthumousleon , Proteus Jones, Satya Prateek, Thomas Payne, Toc Anastar, TwistedToaster, Yemisi Mcmullen, petr Bae, CringeWorthyStudios , Mr Google Doodle, Seth Cox, Christopher Fetherston, Joshua Samuel Miller, Hamilton , Magnuss, ........, Novo , Christian Nowitzki, Erkki Parkkulainen, maxime gm, Dan , Philipp Zander, Leif Nejst, Kristoffer , Markus, Inspirefly, Mike, ClapTrapCL4TP , Dan, Ryan, Azzurous, Taras Gordiyenko, AgentFransis, Alex C, Alexander Baier, Andrew Dempsey, Ben Dean, bradley foster, Brandon Cleveland, Caleb Zimmerman, Chris , Conor Futro, David D, dewstark, Drendude, Dustin , Elliott Fawcett, Evan Morris, foolishlurker, Giacomo Aprile, Gwendolyn Simmons-LaRose, Jason Petry, JJ327, Jody, Joshua Holt Sorensen, Kent Gunn, Lenonxx6, Metzy, Michael D Chavez, Michael Goulet, Oran Poe, Quendolayne, Relein, Retaliation ., Scotus Dunshee, Spencer Herold, StarWolf, Stephanie Washburn, Tristan Griffin, Troy Fox, Tyrone Thomas, Signspace, James Lavender, Morzan The Lazy Dragon, Reece Grimshaw, DasUberGryx, Walter , Piotr, ENIM Skills, Chris, Colyum, Tim Marshall, Weppsu, EroNingen, Adurna

Mage:

Ian Anderson, Pigeon F, Joshua John Wallace, Jackson Ragland, Scott Holt, Aaron Lewis, Jonny, Gemyma, Eoin Barrett, Setaria, Lasse Pedersen, al , Alex Scriber, Alexander Belousov, Gert Wallis, Mathias Schwendimann, Rick Brandon, SirGuy , Werkrat , ulrik aaby, Jan, Anton Selling, Fabian , Gleadge, Carl Clements, Evan Thompson, Max Oberg, mallix , Moritz MÃ¼ller, Cybernetic Angel, GopherAtl, Hew, James Hadfied, Jason Case, Jeremy Leonard, Michael Anaya, NebulaeDreamz, Silveredgallium, tachi-kawa, Deneas , Caillin McKay, Michael Bradet-Legris, MeatyLock , BananaMerchant, Derek Walker, Dustin , jacob britt, Jamison Schneider, Louis Nel, Zachery R Hunnicutt, Digdug, Patrick Cole, Vroom , Finn Freudenberg, Mathieu Deg, Chris Olsen, Kim Andrus, Ransom Hollister, Carl Bunch, Lia, Michael Mercado, Michael Stephan, Gurditt Mangat, Cory Ellis, Derek Singer, Eric Trombly, Sage, Josh , Chris , Bedo Vavrena

Mageling:

Alexander Graber-Tilton, Ivo Havener, Lonewolf, SomethingWicked , Hollowlce, Ian , Pawaidan, pope benedict, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Stefan Rabenstein, Sebastian S, Dave Burkett, Matt DiMeo, Michael kim, Robert Rosenthal, Joost Boere, P.R. Bakker, Isaac Larkin, Chris K, Elessar Beverly, Sid_Cypher , Hamo4, Kevin O'donnell, moniker, S , ashandarei, Faris Bissex, David, David Eggli, Judy Halloran, Austin McGue, Eole Salmon, Jeff berman, Kirsty , Benjamin Buco, moon.wizard.666, Sven Paulson

Inscribed:

Dax, Sean Carter, N. A., Tandroll, Chase128, Trevor Walker, fennek , Alastair Dent, Eyke, nikrowd , George Lanetz, Paul Lorenz, Ross Doyle, Eric Mueller, Isaac Fratti, Ari Mononen, Daydeus, Jonathan , Anks , PeM, Mqrius, Moses Lambert, LÃ©o Viarouge

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Chapter: 176 - Through-Spike

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Thuss, Sakari Saastamoinen

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala followed Jenna into the room on the other side of the hallway, rubbing her nose after the impact with the stone wall.

Honestly, Tala was a bit irritated by the incident. “Was that necessary?”

Jenna shrugged. “Necessary? No. That said, it was entertaining; it lightened the mood; it conveys an important lesson; and I’m tired. You woke me up.”

“I thought you said you had a long night.”

“I did, then I finally got to sleep, and…” She cocked an eyebrow and gestured to Tala.

“And I woke you up.”

“And you woke me up.”

“My apologies.”

Jenna waved that off. “Nonsense. It was better for it to happen in the middle of the night than in the middle of the day.”

“That is what I had hoped.” Tala finally looked around the plain room. Aside from two chairs, most of the space was filled by a huge black box. “What was the lesson?”

Jenna walked in and sat in one of the chairs, Tala following and taking the other.

“Don’t always trust those in authority, or with power, over you.”

It was Tala’s turn to cock an eyebrow. “Look at me, Mistress Jenna. What part of this came from following the dictates of authority?”

“Yes, child, you are very rebellious. Good for you.”

“That’s just insulting.”

Jenna hesitated. “It was, wasn’t it?” She tapped her own jawline a few times, then shrugged. “I apologize. I did not intend to insult, but the point is still valid.”

“Which is?”

She sighed. “You seem to treat people either with complete and utter trust, or complete and utter contempt.”

Tala opened her mouth to protest, but Jenna raised her hand to stop her.

“I don’t mean in the sense that you hate them, simply with how you treat their words, advice, and instructions.”

Tala closed her mouth and considered what the other woman had said. Is that true? Do I consider the source more important than the content? The more she thought about it, the more she thought it was true. Rust.

The older woman glanced at the still open door and gestured, closing it, though Tala didn’t see any power connect her to the door.

Alright. That’s interesting. At that point, she finally took a good look at Jenna.

While Tala knew that the other woman was older, likely by centuries, Tala would have placed her in her early thirties. Yet more evidence that I am horrible at judging the ages of Mages.

She had dark red hair, falling in big curls around her shoulders without poofing up on the top of her head overmuch. She was short, shorter than Tala even, and curvy. The woman was fit, as all Mages tended to be, and she had an almost aggressive tone to her stance and manner of movements, as if she was ready to come out ahead in any interaction, whether verbal, martial, or magical.

Jenna wasn’t visibly armed, but that meant little, except that she didn’t wish to look armed.

She wore very traditional Mage’s robes of some sort of black silk with bronze swirls and no visible clasps. From the toes Tala caught a glimpse of, the Archon wore simple, black leather slippers.

Tala’s examination of the Reforged had been quick, barely a glance, but she’d clearly noticed, though she seemed disinclined to comment on it.

Instead, Jenna simply lounged back in her chair. “So, your look isn’t actually that great of an issue. We can fix that with any number of little artifacts. The real problem that we should discuss is how you appear to passive scans.”

“Couldn’t I use something like a collar for arcanous animals?”

“What? No.” Jenna gave Tala a searching look. “You know how those work, right?” She glanced to Terry. “I’d have thought that you did.”

“Of course, I do.” Tala felt vaguely insulted. “They change the magical signature of the wearer to one that won’t trigger the defenses.”

“Ahh, so you understand, you just didn’t think it through.”

“What?”

Jenna shook her head. “You are a clever girl, and I do mean that. So, you tell me.”

Tala took a moment to think and realized the issue. “I’ve basically no magical signature to alter.”

“Precisely.” Jenna nodded in approval.

“So, what can we do?”

“The simplest would be to have a breach in your iron layer, so that scans could penetrate through and get a good look at you, but that is unideal for many reasons.”

Tala nodded.

“We could give you a beacon that would effectively give you a false magical signature, that might work.”

“But, isn’t that dangerous? Couldn’t it be taken and used for nefarious purposes?”

“Possibly? But as it wouldn’t suppress anything about you, just give off the magical signature, someone else using it would appear pregnant.” Jenna grinned. “They’d look like they were pregnant with an Archon at that. So, it would be pretty obvious that it was being misused.”

“Pregnant?”

“Two magical signatures in one body. I know it’s late, child, but you really should think a bit more before asking questions.”

Tala shrunk in on herself, feeling her cheeks heat.

“Now, now, don’t do that. An admonition to be better should not be seen as a reprimand.”

Tala sat up straighter, feeling somewhat irritated by the woman. “Oh? And should I thank you for the rebuke?”

“Don’t be childish. If I thought you an idiot, I wouldn’t say anything. Use that mind of yours. It was incredibly capable even before it was enhanced. I’ve seen your record. You are better than these lazy questions.”

Tala felt anger build within her, but she grabbed ahold of the emotion, bent it to her will, and smiled. “I didn’t know that pregnant women showed two signatures.”

Jenna cocked an eyebrow, then shrugged. “I suppose most probably don’t go investigating that type of thing very often, and it’s subtle, as they are usually close mirrors of each other.” She smiled again. “That’s why having your signature, or one like it, overtop anyone else’s would stand out so starkly.”

“That does make sense.”

“Now, we’re getting rather off track. Do you want one that looks like you, magically, or just one that will keep Guild and Archon facilities from reacting poorly?”

“Why would I need a custom one?”

“Well, there are two types of custom ones we could create, and they each have different uses, aside from the main one, which all have in common.”

Tala waited for her to continue.

Jenna pulled a teacup from the air and took a sip of the steaming liquid before placing it back into, well, nowhere. “My apologies, I am still a bit scattered. Where was I?”

“The two types of custom magic beacons?”

“Right! Yes. The first mimics how you are, now, and will always be exactly that, unchanging. It is useful for static defenses and/or locks, which have been created based on how you are now, but that is almost like creating a key that anyone can use for those. So, we don’t usually recommend that one without other, extenuating circumstances. The second is basically a constant mirror of how you should look, just much, much fainter. That allows your current signature to be used for…well, everything as it normally would be.”

“How would that be accomplished?”

“In your case, I believe that the easiest way is with a through-spike. I would also recommend it as the best solution.”

“A what?”

“A through-spike is an artifact that looks a bit like a very, very, minutely small grommet. We would tap it in place and remove the center. Your power would then have an outlet, but the through-spike would only let through the barest fraction of a percent of the power, taking from that to color your skin back to your natural shade, and render its texture back to looking like flesh, instead of dried paint. It would, of course, be a magical effect, so anything that could disrupt your magic would reveal your actual appearance, and anyone with roughly your magical weight or greater, looking at you with their magesight might be able to see through it.”

“Might? Why only might?”

Jenna paused to consider, taking another sip from her teacup as she did so. “Well, the spell-forms are highlighted by the Mage’s aura radiating from behind them. The through-spike causes your aura to radiate out from in-front of the spell-lines, acting more as a mask than a spotlight.” She frowned. “That wasn’t well explained.”

“Even so, I think I understand.” Even as Tala said that, she felt herself flinch internally, expecting Jenna to rebuke her, and tell her that she couldn’t possibly understand.

Instead, Jenna simply nodded. “Good. It’s an esoteric concept, but not really a hard one.” She huffed a short laugh. “Any other thoughts?”

“Yes, actually. Why are my eyes and mouth not sufficient?”

“Excellent question, actually. Passive scans don’t look for any instance of human power, otherwise an enemy could just hold a human made item and be done with it. The scans look for the magic given off by a creature.”

“My aura.”

“More or less, yes. But aura is more a function of soul than magic, and passive scans are notoriously bad at making judgment calls based on souls. So, we design them to look at the magical portion of a Mage’s aura.”

“Which my iron blocks, even though I have some power leakage from my eyes and mouth.”

“Exactly. Incidentally, even those points of ‘leakage,’ as you put it, are minute to what they really should be, given your build up of internal power. Your aura control is ridiculously excellent for such a new Archon.”

Tala smiled at the compliment. “Mistress Odera gave me some good pointers, and Master Jevin helped me quite a bit.”

“Ahh, I’ve heard good things about Mistress Odera. She is making quite interesting strides in the study of Archon stars. It’s a shame she isn’t suited for advancement. And Jevin? He does take an interest in the Mages in his realm of influence. I’m glad for your extended stay there, though the circumstances were hardly ideal.” She took another sip of her tea. “But we’re off topic once again. Do you have further thoughts?”

Tala considered, then nodded. “Yes. The through-spike seems… very specifically tailored to me. And as a solution, I should be able to see through them with relative ease, too. So, that doesn’t actually explain why I haven’t seen non-human looking Archons about.”

Jenna waved that away. “I said this was the best solution for you, child, not the best solution for everyone. Even the manner of this solution would be tailored to you. Others would have their hair or eye color changed, or the three dimensional texture of their skin, rather than the texture as regards to light, or they might need to have certain bodily proportions masked. Though, those would usually be on a different style of artifact. Through-spikes are generally only used for this when paired with things like living armor or Archons who have reached a level of aura hardening so as to present similar to how you do now.”

“You can do this with aura control, alone?” Tala gestured at herself. Then, she hesitated. “Wait. Living armor?

“I’ll address the first question first: No, child. Some can look like that. They do not get the same, multiplicative benefits that you do. Honestly, if you work out as I hope, we may try to steer more Academy students towards your style of body enhancements and flavor of offensive powers. Mistress Holly has hinted that your gravity manipulation could be swapped out for all sorts of abilities, depending on the student.”

Tala didn’t really know what to say to that.

“There would be requirements, of course, and drawbacks. We cannot rule out that your inscriptions were part of the cause of the… fervor with which the Leshkin pursued your caravan. We’ll have to test that theory, though, before we raise up a generation with that handicap.”

Jenna looked to Tala and seemed to notice something on the younger woman’s face.

“But I’m rambling. Your second, mostly implied question: Living armor.”

Tala leaned forwards.

“It’s nothing more than what you are wearing right now. Though, obviously, what you have is not the breadth of all possibilities. It is armor that self-repairs and protects the wearer in some manner. Some have bound creatures to serve in that capacity, though it rarely works very well, because either the creatures are very solid, physically, and therefore it is gruesome to manipulate them to be able to be worn, or they are more flexible, and therefore are less good at being armor.” She shrugged. “What you have, with imbued magical defense, is accepted as the best practice.”

“But, why would this require a through-spike?”

“If you merged it with a being, harvest, or item capable of complete magical isolation, in one form or another.”

“Ahh, that makes sense.”

“Now, as lovely as this conversation is, would a through-spike meet with your satisfaction as a solution to the current issue?”

Tala shrugged. “I honestly have no idea, but from what you’ve conveyed, it seems like exactly what I need.”

“Wonderful. Now, such things aren’t free.”

Tala glowered.

Jenna laughed. “I’m not going to up-charge you, child. I remember how tight money can be in the early years, even with as lucrative a career as you’ve chosen, not to mention the secondary role, and your other side ventures. We only ask for a reimbursement of our costs. We don’t even charge you for my time in consulting. I promise you: You couldn’t afford me, even with a loan.” She gave a mirthful wink.

Tala sighed. “How much?”

“One gold.”

She scrunched up her face but nodded. “That’s fair; I suppose.”

Jenna handed over a tablet with the transaction.

After Tala had confirmed it, Jenna changed what was displayed.

“Here are the places that Mistress Holly said you could have the through-spike implanted, without it interfering with any of your inscriptions. I’m partial to inside the nose but some find that disturbing. Below is a text overview that will explain it clearly enough that you should be able to power the device. I’ll give you a booklet with more details before you go, so you can improve efficiency at your leisure.”

Tala looked over the available options, read the description, and sighed. “I’ll take this one.” She pointed to the illustration of the back of her neck, roughly half-way between Alat’s core spell-lines and her gate. “I think this will be the least obtrusive. Why wouldn’t my regeneration push it out?”

“Your body will push out foreign substances that are embedded into your skin. That is magically enhanced. The through-spike will match your magical signature from the moment of true activation, so it won’t be rejected.”

“I hadn’t considered that side of it. It makes sense.”

“I’m glad I could explain satisfactorily. Now, are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be. Let’s do this.”

“As you wish.” Jenna reached out to pat Tala on the shoulder.

Tala felt strangely warmed by the gesture, but at the last moment, the woman’s hand moved with a quick flick, and Tala felt the smallest little sting on the back of her neck, more like a poke than a puncture. She glared for a quick instant, before letting the expression fall away and sighing again, shaking her head. “You could have just told me.”

“I couldn’t have you even subconsciously resisting, or it wouldn’t have taken hold.”

“And my noticing and trying to flinch away?”

“Yes, your perceptual and reactive speeds were greater than I was counting on, but it doesn’t seem to have negatively affected the device.”

Tala opened her mouth to ask if it had worked, then simply glanced down at her hands. They looked perfectly ordinary to her mundane eyes.

Her magesight showed her lines of power weaving through the air just outside her body-paint, subtly altering the light as it bounced off of her. Over that, she felt like she was looking at her naked power, unobstructed by inscriptions or workings, though it was much dimmer than she’d have expected.

Tala grunted. “Seems to have worked.”

“Indeed.”

Tala considered for a moment. “This wasn’t developed for disguise creation, was it? If the illusion were replaced with a defense of some kind, then that defense would be devilishly hard to detect.”

Jenna’s features morphed into a wide, genuine smile. “Well considered. The through-spike’s original purpose was the generation of additional defense while letting your magical signature through and allowing it to appear normally distributed. Sadly, through-spikes tend to interfere with one another. One day, when you no longer need an illusory one, you might want to look into the defensive variety.”

“I definitely will. Thank you.”

As they stood to go, Jenna handed Tala a little booklet. “For your reading, when you have time.”

Tala took it with a smile, then glanced at the large black box that had been sitting next to them through the entire conversation.

“What is that, by the way?”

Jenna froze, eyes widening just slightly. “You can see that?”

Tala looked between the woman and the black box. “Obviously. There’s no magic to it, but it’s a big black box. My eyes work just fine.”

“No human should be able to see that box.”

Tala hesitated, sighed, and rolled her eyes. “You’re trying to mess with me again, aren’t you?”

Jenna paused, then shrugged. “I laid it on too thick?”

“Just a little, yeah.”

“Fine.”

After a moment’s silence, Tala cleared her throat. “So, what does it do?”

“What does what do?”

Tala felt her eye twitch. “The black box.”

“The what?”

Her face heated in irritation. “The black box that we were just-” Then, she stopped herself and took a long, deep breath.

Jenna grinned. “That was much better. Thank you for the feedback.”

“You’re not going to tell me.” It wasn’t a question.

“Tell you what?”

Tala closed her mouth, bowed to the woman, and turned to leave.

“Oh, Mistress Tala?”

She paused and looked back. “Yes, Mistress Jenna?”

“Don’t paint over the through-spike, please. That would rather defeat the purpose, and I don’t actually know what having those magics trapped and reflected back into you would do.”

“Thank you for the warning, Mistress. Good day to you.”

“And to you.”

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

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Mage:

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Chapter: 177 - Memories

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Ben Morgan, ciaran mullen, Noelle, Sakari Saastamoinen, Thuss

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala exited the Archon Compound, Terry on her shoulder, looking more normal than she had in a long time.

Except that I’m barefoot in the snow. Yeah, that was telling. She felt a smile pulling at her lips.

With a thought, she dove into her elk-leathers and gave power to the path which would give her shoes.

She lifted up each foot just a bit as the tendrils grew out of her pants leg around the foot and filled in. After that, the shoes disconnected from the pants, seemingly separate pieces of clothing.

There. Now, I don’t look quite so odd.

She wasn’t wearing a coat, and it was actively snowing. She sighed.

And it’s coming up on five o’clock in the morning. She really shouldn’t be out and about if she was any sort of normal.

Good thing almost no one will be out and about to see me.

The snowfall wasn’t nearly blizzard proportions, but it was steady and far from sparse.

White flakes drifted down through the nearly completely still air. A silence of a type utterly unique to new-fallen snow blanketed the city.

Tala felt a warmth in her chest at the environment and decided to go for a walk through this seemingly private winter wonderland.

Terry occasionally shook himself free of snow and flickered to grab all the jerky that Tala tossed for him, but otherwise was content to rest on her shoulder.

The streetlights were thoughtfully spaced but dimmed in truth due to the late hour and to the human eye by the steadily falling snow. Nonetheless, the omnipresent white surfaces allowed what little light there was to reach further than otherwise, giving the whole expanse a nearly mystic glow at this early hour.

Still, Tala had no trouble whatsoever. In fact, she found that it helped offset the earlier wrongness that she’d felt during her trip to the Compound, early that night.

As she walked, she didn’t really have a destination. She just strolled and thought.

She wondered about her family, about her brothers and sisters.

When she tried, to her shock, she realized that she couldn’t bring their faces to mind.

That’s not right. I have a perfect memory now. But she hadn’t seen them in seven years, and she hadn’t had her inscriptions then.

I can perfectly recall my imperfect recollection. It was a sick joke.

She had already decided to go resolve things with them.

But what does that mean?

It would certainly involve some exchange of words.

What should I even say to them? She didn’t know.

She ran a thousand scenarios through her head but had no reason to believe that any one of them was more plausible than another.

-Ding-

-Memory recovery complete.-

Alat?

-Tala, these two are…heavy. And I found a few others besides.-

Let me sit down.

-I don’t know, what you’re already thinking about is pretty important.- There was a slight hesitation. -Oh, you’ve been up to some fun things. I like Jenna, and I like the increases I’m feeling from this new body paint.-

Nonsense, you’re getting off track. I need to know what memories were taken. She moved over to a nearby park and found a bench, clearing it of snow before settling down. I’m ready.

-Alright, lighter ones, first.-

Tala was then forced to relive some of her worst memories of her time at the Academy, as well as her departure.

I had suppressed my memory of arriving naked on purpose.

-Yes, but it qualified as one of the memories you commanded I search for.-

I really should track down Phoen. She was kind to me, and I never thanked her properly.

-That would be the civil thing to do.-

That settled, Tala closed her eyes and was treated to a few flickers of her more reckless decisions since graduation, and she felt quite a bit of embarrassment for how foolishly she’d acted. Well, if you look upon your past actions with shame, it shows that you’ve grown, right?

-That sounds like something embarrassed people tell themselves to feel better.-

You’re kind of a jerk.

-I am literally you.-

Fine. I’m kind of a jerk.

-Recognizing the issue is half the battle, or something like that. This is character growth in action.-

Tala narrowed her eyes, but had no one to direct her ire filled gaze at, at least not externally. You’re stalling.

There was some hesitation, then, finally, Alat sighed within her head. -Yeah, I am. This isn’t great.-

Well, let’s get it over with. Tala swallowed to wet her dry lips and closed her eyes.

-As you wish.-

* * *

Tala was in Bandfast, a short walk from the teleportation tower.

As her eyes scanned those she passed, she was able to pick out the occasional Mage by their bearing and fluid manner of movement, not to mention the spell-lines evident across their exposed skin. Most also wore Mage’s robes, but not all.

To her surprise, she also saw an arcane, a humanoid arcanous creature.

What had caught her attention at first was the leather collar he wore, though it was tucked low, almost entirely hidden by his shirt’s collar. As she’d looked closer, ensuring that her eyes hadn’t deceived her and that it wasn’t just an odd fashion choice, he’d turned to regard her. She hadn’t noticed his gaze until after she’d seen the metallic spell-lines on the leather collar.

When she had felt his gaze, her eyes flicked up, meeting his, and she felt frozen to the spot.

His eyes were blood.

No comparison holds the weight of truth save to say that his eyes were spheres of fresh, liquid blood, unbroken save small circular scabs in place of pupils.

Tala swallowed involuntarily. He’s looking at me. She tried to smile politely and turn away, but she found she couldn’t force herself to turn.

Around his eyes, true-black, smooth skin forced the orbs into starker contrast, making their deep shades seem almost to glow. Subtle hints of gray lines ran under that skin in patterns very like spell-lines but somehow utterly different, like seeing her own language written with a phonetic alphabet. The concepts seemed familiar, while remaining utterly opaque to her interpretation.

She tried to turn away, again, and actually felt resistance, like she was fighting herself. A tingle of her own power, emanating from her keystone, preceded the answer: Allure. He’s somehow manipulating the conceptual nature of reality, forcing my attention to remain locked on him.

As an Immaterial Mage, she could work with non-substance aspects of the world, such as gravity, dimensionality, and molecular cohesion, but warping the magnitude of concepts? That…that had disturbing implications.

As if in response to her thoughts, a different set of lines seemed to flicker into prominence around those wounding eyes, and she found herself turning away in confusion. What is wrong with me? I stare at something I’ve never seen before and suddenly insist that it must be Magic?

She shook her head at her own foolishness. Then, another prickle rippled out from her keystone, a subtle warning, and she froze. Conceptual manipulation…would the concept of believability count? She spun, her eyes ripping across the crowds, trying desperately to find the arcane once more. She had the flickering impression of an amused smile, but nothing more.

After another few moments of frenzied searching, she was left with a subtle, low-level itch from her keystone and the growing concern that she’d somehow imagined the brief encounter. I…I need to get to the Caravanner’s Guild.

* * *

Tala gasped, coming out of the memory. Oh, rust. Her whole body was shaking.

-I know, right?-

She’d known that something had messed with her mind on an intellectual level, but she’d never really faced the reality of it, nor even tried to imagine what her attacker had looked like. Now she had a visage for her nightmares.

Why was that memory so much clearer than the others? She could still see those eyes of blood, feel them upon her as if they were watching her even now. Though, she knew that wasn’t the case.

-You were inscribed within days of that event, so it had the power and spell-workings to be set in place.-

Why couldn’t I remember it, if it was stored so clearly in my mind? What did that monster do to her?

-It was surrounded by a haze of unreality.-

That makes no sense. Tala pulled out some jerky for herself and Terry, desperate for some form of normalcy, then started preparing tea for herself on the park bench. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.

-That’s not going to work, Tala. As to the unreality: That’s the quality that your mind uses to surround daydreams and nightmares. Otherwise, you’d lose your grip on reality, and start thinking that your dreams, or fantasies, actually happened.-

That did make some sense, even if she didn’t really like it. But I can recall my dreams if I really want to.

-Ahh, but part of what was done prevented you from really wanting to.-

Tala swallowed again. Alat was right. Even Alat’s reticence to show them to her might be some lingering aspect of those magical effects.

-The next one is longer. Is now a good time? I think it should be now.-

Absolutely not. I assume it’s from the caravan trip to Makinaven? Tala hesitated. There aren’t any others, are there?

-No, there aren’t any others. Our mind is free of that creature beyond those two incidents.-

Shouldn’t we remember any time we came in contact with the Culinary Guild’s magics?

-Nope.-

But…oh, right. Their magics make them uninteresting, so I never focused on them to begin with. The arcane was irrevocably interesting, so he had to suppress the memory in some other manner.

-Precisely. Wow, talking with Jenna really caused you to think things through more.-

Tala glowered again, pouring her tea and tucking away the supplies that she’d used to make it. In either case, I don’t really want to relive another memory of him right now.

-Well, tough. You need full context when you report.-

Really? She felt a bit of exasperation. Why had Alat even asked if she was just going to force the memory through regardless?

-Yes.-

Tala huffed a bit, then let out a nervous laugh. I suppose there’s no sense in arguing with myself. Let’s do this.

She swallowed her fear, along with some tea, and closed her eyes.

* * *

Tala sat atop the cargo-slot wagon, in the open plains just south of Bandfast. Most of the caravan was asleep, and it had been a long day.

She took her time, finishing her third miniature chicken-pot-pie. The hot food allowed her to relax just a bit more as she kept her gaze moving over their surroundings. What a day. I’ll need to thank the head cook for this, too.

“You know: You humans are so…fragile.”

Tala whipped around, staring at the figure standing on the other end of the wagon top.

What caught her attention at first, aside from someone suddenly appearing behind her in the wilds, was that his eyes were blood.

No comparison held the weight of truth, save to say that his eyes were spheres of fresh, liquid blood, unbroken save small circular scabs in place of pupils.

Meeting that gaze, she felt frozen to the spot.

Around his eyes, true-black, smooth skin forced the orbs into stark contrast, making their deep shades seem almost to glow. Subtle hints of grey lines ran under that skin in patterns very like spell-lines but somehow utterly different, like seeing her own language written with phonetic alphabet. The concepts seemed familiar, while remaining utterly opaque to her interpretation.

Why does he look familiar? Her magesight was screaming at her, and she finally registered what it was saying. He doesn’t have a gate.

Instead, he was drawing in power from the surrounding air and burning it within himself. The ratios were incredibly off kilter. He was using massively more than he could draw in from the relatively magic-poor air.

“I saw your beacon of power. Thank you for that. I’d have hated to miss your departure.” He smiled, his perfectly white teeth flashing in the fading light. “I love your eyes, by the way. You definitely lived up to the potential I saw in you.” He shook his head and clucked his tongue, once. “That said, I must admit, I misjudged you.” His voice had a strange resonance, a clarity like a trumpet sounding on a frozen winter’s morning.

“Do I know you?”

He laughed lightly, a sound like a steep mountain stream, splattered in flesh and burbling with blood.

How can someone even make that sound?

“We met, briefly.” He gave a half-smile. “I’d thought you would be reckless enough to profit me.” He glanced away, seeming to be trying to catch sight of something in the distance, to the north.

“You think I’m not reckless enough?” That thought broke through the odd, strange horror of the situation.

He refocused on her. “Hmm? No. You are, if anything, more reckless than I’d thought, but for some reason, you aren’t reckless on things that matter.”

“I’m…sorry?” She definitely felt the overwhelming desire to apologize properly, to abase herself, but resisted. I should be sorry for inconveniencing this creature. Why am I resisting?

He waved dismissively. “I’m just trying to decide if it would be worth breaking the bond between your body and soul.”

Tala instantly had Flow in her hand, three void-channels holding it strongly in the form of a sword. “You will not.” She was utterly certain of that.

Does the bond really matter? What was happening to her thoughts?

The light of day was fading quickly, but at that moment, sunlight stabbed through distant clouds to brightly illuminate those directly overhead, bathing the two figures, standing atop the cargo wagon, in reflected light. In that new illumiation, the silver-ine lines on the being’s skin came into greater view. He was frowning. “Oh, don’t be tiresome. Your only task here is to let me pick your brain, to answer my questions so I can make a properly informed decision.” He leaned forward just slightly, looking her up and down, slowly. “That is a fascinating Way you’re using, there. It looks like it lacerated your soul as you learned it.” He laughed again, and Tala found her grip weakening. “Some scars can be useful, I suppose.”

Why would I want to hurt such a being? She shook her head, detecting the subtle pressure on her mind. How? The scripts around her eyes were guzzling power, trying to keep something out, and they were failing. Wait, why hasn’t anyone else noticed him?

She tore her eyes away and looked around. She was horrified to see that every creature in sight was frozen in place, whether human, ox, horse, or Terry. By their slight swaying and blank expressions, it appeared that they were somehow being subdued into a nonsensical state rather than physically restrained by some means.

Tala closed her eyes, then, and felt her thoughts clear. He was getting in through my eyes. Were her palms going to be an issue? She desperately hoped not, and clenched her hands into tighter fists, Flow firmly locked in her right hand.

“What is this? You are thinking on your own volition?” Light steps sounded as the being approached.

Tala struck out blindly with Flow and heard a sharp, hissing intake of breath.

“How can you attack me?”

Tala dropped into a defensive stance, bracing herself as well as she could for attacks from an unknown direction.

“You dare? I gave you the form you need, the path to power, the path to become useful, and you take it for yourself, for your own use. I come to talk, and you choose violence?”

Her head snapped to the side as she was struck with a blow that would have felled one of the caravan’s oxen.

Tala rolled with the hit, moving the bare minimum to orient on her attacker, sweeping Flow in a covering circle to cut at whatever had hit her.

“No. You are different than before. You have done things to yourself. Yours is not a useful insanity. This cannot be allowed.” There was a finality to the statement.

Tala didn’t even register the hit, before she was airborne.

As expected, she came down faster than anything on this world had any right to, and she skipped across the plains, her body digging furrows in the soil with each skipping impact. Her ending-berry power was running dangerously low.

She almost smiled as she was reminded of her ‘fight’ with the cyclops. But Grediv wasn’t here to take advantage of the distraction she provided this time. She was on her own.

I can’t fight like this. I have to risk it. Her eyes snapped open, and she oriented herself, vaulting back to her feet, spinning in a circle until she saw the caravan in the near distance, a figure standing on the cargo wagon’s top.

He was more of a beacon than Tala had been with all her void-channels dumping power outward.

The aura underlying the power was a deep, green-blue.

Rust me to slag. How had she not noticed that earlier?

With each passing moment, however, the aura was shifting more towards green.

He’s losing power by the second.I just need to outlast him. She didn’t need her eyes open to do that. Before she could close her eyes, however, the option was taken from her.

Without any appearance of movement, the figure was before her once more, hands on either side of her head.

“It seems that you would take much too much power to kill, or more time than I have. Even so, I cannot leave you with memory of this.”

The scripts around her eyes were overwhelmed in an instant, pushed aside rather than burned away, and try as she might, she couldn’t overcome the compulsion that prevented her from closing her eyes, not even to blink.

His face filled her vision.

“Interesting use of iron. So, that’s how you were able to move so freely.” The sides of her head blazed with heat for a brief moment, before iron dust showered down on her shoulders.

The being briefly flicked each hand away then back to her head, clearing the limb of rust. Then, there was a renewed pulse of power.

Tala felt something try to invade her brain, but her very being rose up against the assault. She used every scrap of strength she could draw upon, barely managing to shelter her mind: a pebble before a hurricane.

Even so, the edges of her mind weren’t set, yet. Her magesight, coupled with her mental scripts, allowed her to watch, helpless, as her short-term memory was shredded into-

Why am I panicking? What was that daydream, again? Tala tried to shake off the lingering vestiges of an overactive imagination, but found her head locked in place, blood filling her vision. Not a figment? Brief shreds of memory came floating back. It was real?! It-

Power washed through her mind, and her eyes closed of their own volition.

There was an odd grunt, and something that was clearly a curse in a language she didn’t know. A voice she’d never heard before muttered under their breath. “How heavy are you?”

Her mind was hit, once more, and her thoughts-

There was a pulse of power, quickly fading into the distance, and Tala’s eyes snapped open.

She was laying on the ground, staring up at falling snow and clouds, which were just losing the last light of day.

Where am I?

“Mistress Tala?” Mistress Odera was calling her.

* * *

Tala came out of the memory, shaking so much that she almost spilled her tea. She needed to focus. She couldn’t get him out of her head, so she needed to focus on the minutia. That should let her push past the horror of what she’d just re-experienced. Why was my first impression of him almost identical between the memories?

-Because it was your first impression. You hadn’t changed that much in the intervening time, so you thought very nearly the same things upon first noticing him.-

That made a lot of sense. The fear was still there, a raging beast just out of her field of view. Focus, Tala. He’s…powerful, but we knew that.

-And he wanted to kill you, or take you with him, but couldn’t.-

Not helping, Alat. I know you feel this fear too. I need help. I’m… I’m close to being overwhelmed here.

-What drove him off?-

Xeel’s approach. Thinking of the massively powerful Archon calmed Tala, somewhat. It helped her focus.

-Xeel’s approach.-

There really wasn’t any choice in the matter. She now had a task to perform. We need to tell someone about this.

-Back to the Compound?-

Tala nodded, firm in her resolve. Back to the Compound.

While Tala had walked quite the distance, she had been meandering. Thus, she hadn’t displaced herself too far from where she’d started. Consequently, she was back at the long, tunnel-like entrance a scant few minutes later.

Tala strode back into the Archon Compound, and none of the defenses reacted to her entry.

Well, that’s good at least.

She was approaching the sleepy looking young man, who was the current attendant at the round, welcome desk, when she noticed Jenna standing beside her.

“Mistress Tala, back so soon? Did something go wrong?”

Tala did her best not to show any reaction to the woman’s sudden appearance, but she felt her eye twitch just a bit. That’s becoming a habit… “There is something that I’d like to report. This is likely not the best place. It’s too public.”

Something in Tala’s demeanor must have clued the Archon in to the seriousness of the situation, because any hint of levity vanished from her features. “Yes, of course. Right this way, please.”

* * *

“And then I came back here.” Tala finished somewhat lamely.

-No kidding; that was a lame ending. ‘Oh, Mistress of the city, there is a great evil that might be among us. So, I came here.’-

Shut up.

-You literally can’t make me.-

I can do another, even more esoteric query.

-You wouldn’t dare.-

Try me.

There was a short silence before Alat responded. -Fine.-

Jenna sat back in her rather comfy looking armchair, clearly considering, just as clearly unaware of the argument going on in Tala’s head. “I’ll have a lot of questions for you, and I’m sure many others will as well.”

-If I may speak, I have a suggestion.-

Tala sighed internally. Fine. What is it?

-Why don’t we just give her access to the memories?-

We can do that? Tala knew it was theoretically possible, but had no idea how such a thing would be accessed by another person, or what it would do, or anything, really.

-Of course. They’re all stored in the Archive, now. We can share any part of our mind with anyone we wish. I can gate it so they only see and hear what we saw and heard, rather than getting our inner thoughts, or I can allow our inner voice to overlay, so they can hear your thoughts at the time.-

Unmodified. As close to complete as possible, please.

“Mistress Tala? What’s going on? You seem distracted. Is it the…alternate interface you mentioned?”

“Yes. We have an idea.”

That got a raised eyebrow, but Tala pressed on.

“What if I just give you access to the memories in question?”

That seemed to catch Jenna off guard. “I wasn’t aware that you were a mind mage, or an illusionist of that caliber.”

“No, no. They are stored in the Archive. I did try to explain that earlier, but I suppose that was the least of what I conveyed.”

Jenna nodded slowly. “That’s worth a try. Sure.” She pulled out a slate, but before she could start working on it, Alat spoke into Tala’s mind once more.

-No need for that.-

“No need for that.”

-I can grant her access without a contract or slate, and…done.-

“You should have access, now.”

Jenna cocked her head, then shrugged. “Alright.” She gestured at one wall, and the stone moved aside, revealing an illusion array very similar to the one Boma had on his desk. Though, if Tala had to guess, she would say that this one was more intricately constructed.

After a moment’s manipulation, Jenna brought up the memories, and the two women watched them together.

When the second one finished, Jenna was silent for a long time.

Tala still had a lot to do before Terry’s first day sparring alongside her. Thus, she was eager to depart. “So…do you need anything else from me?”

Jenna scoffed. “I’ll need to show this to my husband and several others of note. Do I have your permission?”

-Granted-

“Yes. The Archive should allow that, now.”

“Thank you, Mistress Tala. This is a disturbing revelation, but I am glad to have it brought to light. I am sure we will be in touch.”

-She can just update a note for you in the Archive. I’ll notice the new access and get it immediately.-

“I believe that you can just put a note for me in the Archive and grant me permission to view it. I’ll see it and act accordingly.”

Jenna nodded slowly. “As you say. I’ll use that method if it isn’t time critical but-”

Tala held up her hand. “My apologies, Mistress Jenna, I don’t mean to contradict you, but that will be the fastest way to reach me, regardless of the circumstances.” Assuming you don’t go offline again.

-All the more reason to keep from giving me over-taxing commands.-

The older woman regarded her for a long moment, then nodded again. “As you wish.”

Tala stood from her own chair. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have a breakfast appointment.”

Jenna stood as well. “You seem remarkably calm, given what you’ve just unveiled.”

Tala gave a nervous, almost manic giggle. Don’t think about it. Don’t let it sink in.

-That’s really not healthy…or really possible any more.-

Hush, you. I’m coping. “Oh, I just can’t let the fear settle in. Gotta keep moving, you know?”

Jenna gave a slight bow of her head, but there was clearly concern in her expression. “Take care of yourself, Mistress Tala.”

Tala bowed in return. “Please protect us all, Mistress Jenna.” Because I certainly can’t.

Without another word, or backwards glance, Tala strode away, leaving the Archon Compound behind.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 178 - Crazy

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Thuss, Sakari Saastamoinen, Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala was breathing hard and raggedly as she trudged through the city streets. More and more people were joining her on the thoroughfares, heading off to start their days.

Her heavy breathing wasn’t because of strain from the exercise, not in the least; she was falling under the stress brought on by her memories, still swirling through her head, and the eyes that wouldn’t leave her alone, despite their absence.

She shuddered involuntarily.

A passing stranger paused, seemingly noticing the reaction. “Miss? Are you okay? Are you cold?”

Miss? Her eyes flicked to her hands. The illusion hid all evidence of spell-forms. Right! “Oh, I’m fine. Thank you for asking, though.” That really was quite kind of him.

“Are you sure? I’m almost home, and I have another coat there. It’s really no trouble.” He started to shift out of his large, thick, warm-looking coat. Maybe I am a little cold. Still, she couldn’t take the stranger’s coat.

Tala held up her hands, feeling a bit embarrassed. “No, really. I’m fine. I’m almost to where I’m going.”

He hesitated, then shrugged, pulling the coat fully back on. “As you wish. I hope you get warm soon, though. Yeah?”

She smiled. “Thank you. I’ll do my best.”

-Tala-

-That was quite a nice man; you should give him some money.-

That would be insulting. He was just being kind. Tala waved goodbye and continued on her way.

-People always like money…no. That’s not right. Not everyone is so focused on money. Why do you like it so much?-

Tala suspected that she knew what Alat was doing, and she was grateful for the distraction from her disturbing memories, though she’d never consciously admit it. Instead, she groaned. I don’t like it, per se. I find it useful, and I often have need of it. After all, it is required for basically everything I want or need.

-Right. He’d probably say the same. You should go give him some.-

Tala’s eye twitched, even though she knew that Alat was purposely trying to draw her mind away from less pleasant things through irritation. Too much would be showy, too little would be insulting. How much do you suggest I give him?

There was a protracted silence as Tala continued on her way. -Yeah. Let’s not do that.-

Glad we’re in agreement.

She still had more than an hour before she had to meet with Mistress Odera for breakfast. So, she decided to run by the teleportation tower to see if Phoen was on duty, though something told Tala it was unlikely.

-Tala-

-She’s not on shift right now.-

How could you possibly know that? Despite her doubt, she stopped, stepping to the side of the street so that she wouldn’t block traffic.

-The shifts are a matter of public record. I’m looking at them right now. She comes on shift in a little over an hour.-

Ahh, alright then. Well, what should we do?

-Get there early, get a first breakfast, and read a book?-

As ideas go, that’s good enough to go with. Tala turned and wove her way through the morning traffic, which was now in full swing, making her way to the Caravan Guildhall.

She walked through the main atrium and into the side of the building that housed the restaurant and lounge, waving a greeting to Cran from across the room as she entered, before grabbing a table in the back corner.

She mentally paused on Cran, even as she continued to settle in. He’s a Mage, not an Archon. That sat oddly with her as she’d been mainly dealing with Archons of late. I suppose that most Mages are Archons?

-Tala-

-The majority are, yes.-

How can that be true? I could guess, but I’d rather know.

-Well, I’m not going to take the time to research it at the moment, unless you command such, but I have some informed guesses.-

Let’s hear it.

-Mages age and fount-out, assuming they aren’t killed on the job. Archons, unless they are killed, live a very long time, slowly gaining in power.-

So, Mages are like journeymen, magelings are like apprentices, and Archons are like masters of a craft?

-More or less.-

But there are almost always more journeymen and apprentices than masters.

-Of course, because most masters aren’t immortal.-

Ahh, yes. That does skew things, doesn’t it.

-If it helps, by “majority” I just mean that more than half are Archons. It’s not a lot more, though the exact numbers aren’t a part of public record. I can put in a request?-

No, that’s not necessary. Thank you though. We can drop it for now. She smiled to herself. The question I want answered, now, is what to read.

-Tala-

-I have a suggestion.-

Do you have to proceed so many of your comments with my name?

-I could go back to DING.-

Tala jumped slightly at the sound within her own head. Yeah, please don’t.

-Alright. What about: HEY! Listen!-

Tala felt her eye twitch. That would get irritating, really, really quickly.

-Then, Tala will work for now?-

For now… see if you can remove that requirement?

-I’ll see what I can do.-

Incidentally, we were already talking. Why did you have to get my attention again?

-You had explicitly stated that a conversation was over. Thus, I was required to treat my next comment as unsolicited.-

Tala shook her head, but was smiling. There’s a lot of kinks to work out, here, I suppose.

-So it seems.-

She looked up as the server came her way. The young man’s arrival caused Tala’s stomach to growl.

-I know he’s attractive, but keep it together. You’re an Archon, after all.-

Tala flushed, before having the realization that she didn’t know if it would transmit through the illusion.

-You’re just trying to distract yourself.-

Tala cleared her throat, and responded to the server, ignoring Alat.

She picked out a large spread of food from the late-night menu and thanked him for taking her order.

He smiled appreciatively at her thanks and departed, promising to get the food as soon as possible.

-Tala-

-Isn’t it a bit early for fried chicken?-

I thought Terry might like some.

-I know you didn’t order it just for him.-

Well, fine. I want some. What were you saying about having a book suggestion?

Without preamble a book was floating in front of her. There was no flash, no fading into existence. It was just…there. -Take a look. It’s the booklet on your through-spike. Blessedly, the contents are freely available to you through the Archive. They were arranged thoughtfully enough for the average Archon, but I’ve reorganized it into an order that should make it better for you, so that you can get the best efficiency boost in your use of the item, as quickly as possible.-

Tala reached out feeling deeply skeptical.

Even so, she would have sworn that she could feel the book. How are you doing that?

Then, Tala shook her head.

Never mind, the feeling is as much a figment of my mind as the visual. Of course, you can fake senses other than sight.

-Correct.-

Once she stopped trying to see through the illusion, once she allowed her skepticism to lapse, the tome seemed to solidify in her hand, and she was able to handle it exactly like any other book.

This is pretty odd, Alat.

-It’s a perk. Enjoy it. But trust me, I know that it will take a lot to get used to these new features.-

Tala cocked her head to one side. A pun on your own name?

-I’m entitled.-

She grunted. Fair enough.

In no time at all, Tala was reading the book just as she would any other, and true to Alat’s word, the contents were arranged exactly as she would have hoped, filling in her greatest gaps in understanding right up front, and polishing out the finer points as she continued on.

She could practically feel her through-spike becoming more efficient, using up less of her reverberating power.

The server returned with her food, giving her a bit of an odd look before departing.

Not everyone’s a reader, I guess.

Tala helped Terry try a bite of each dish, but in the end, he was happy simply consuming a large quantity of jerky, delivered to him in the usual manner. What that meant was that between basically every bite, Tala flicked out a bit of the jerked meat. Terry caught each with dimensional manipulations too quick to notice, save the resulting ripples of power.

She continued to read as she ate as well, finishing the food with speed that bordered on scarfing, without ever having to pause her study of the book before her.

It helped that the book didn’t make her joints or muscles cramp to hold in one hand, and she found it trivially easy to turn the page with the thumb of the same hand whenever she needed.

The server cleared the dishes, and Tala thanked him, letting him know that she was expecting to be joined shortly.

He bowed and promised to return when the other party arrived. He presented Tala with a tablet to pay for her already consumed food, and she paid without complaint. After all, she’d been able to sneak in her order from off of the late-night menu. Three silver wasn’t that bad for the spread that she’d devoured.

Returning her focus to the book, Tala smiled. This is perfectly put together.

-I do try.-

Tala hitched for a moment. Right, you rearranged it… and this isn’t real. She lifted the book slightly. It felt less substantial as she considered its unreality, the truth of it showing through as she considered it.

-Nope. It’s completely a figment of your mind.-

She felt her cheeks heat again. What had the server seen? A woman staring at her own hand with rapt attention for the better part of an hour?

-That is probably how it looked, yes.-

Do I have to hold it?

-No, that’s just a crutch until you can consistently manipulate the perceptual illusion with your conscious mind. I could do it for you, but I’ve devised a way for you to gain better conscious control of your new options, given the Archive link. This is step one.-

Tala almost protested, but then she remembered how the book was exactly right for her. Alat really does know me well enough to provide that.

-Rusting right I do. Speaking of that, I have quite a few minor modifications to your daily training regime.-

Wait. There’s something wrong with my routine?

-No. There is nothing specifically wrong, but I think we can modify it to give you better results. Improve it, as it were.-

Tala was basically always open to learning, so she shrugged. Okay. Let’s do it.

-Great! Consider me your personal trainer from here on out.-

She was suddenly a little hesitant. What exactly did I sign up for…?

-Exactly as much improvement as you can take.- Then, somehow, Alat winked at her.

Tala didn’t see any eyes, nor did she, herself, wink. Even so, somehow, she knew that Alat had winked at her. Did you just project the concept of winking at me?

-I did, indeed.- Alat seemed quite proud of herself for that. -I haven’t had that much time to practice my abilities, since I came into existence. The breadth of them is really quite fascinating.-

Tala held in a groan, though it was pretty useless of her to try to hide reactions from Alat.

- Don’t be like that. You have hands and feet and, you know, senses. I have these. Don’t begrudge me my tools.-

Fine, fine.

That settled, Tala decided to go back to reading the book that didn’t exist, so she could ignore the voice inside her head.

That sounds pretty crazy, when I think about it that way.

-Tala, you are crazy in innumerable ways, but that doesn’t make you any less you.-

That… didn’t actually contain anything meaningful, did it?

-Of course not, but you feel better, right?-

Tala glowered at the nonexistent book.

-I thought so.-

She decided that the best path was to not engage. So, she went back to reading.

Tala finished the little booklet and was just considering what else she should read when Mistress Odera walked in.

Tala waved the Mage over and stood as she approached.

“Good morning, Mistress Odera.”

“Good morning, Mistress Tala. You’re looking…uninscribed. What did you do?”

Tala grinned, having expected something like this. “Well, I’ve got quite a bit to tell you, actually.”

They sat and ate, chatted and discussed. The server was mildly confused when Tala ordered more food but didn’t deign to comment.

Mistress Odera, as usual, had some anecdotes of dubious authenticity, but which still allowed Tala to think about the problems in different ways.

Their time was shorter than usual, as Mistress Odera had an appointment, but she expressed her appreciation when Tala let her know that the next destination Tala wanted to head towards would be Marliweather. The older woman promised to approve the venture, and be available to join Tala on it, when the request came through.

They bid each other goodbye and parted ways.

Tala pulled on her gloves, moving towards the exit to the Caravan Guildhall. As she did so, she noticed Lyn and waved to the Archon, who seemed rather engrossed in her conversation with a young, bald woman. Is that a mageling?

It didn’t really matter.

Well, it hadn’t really mattered, until Lyn noticed Tala’s gesture and waved her over.

I wonder what this is about.

As she got closer, Tala got a better look at the young woman. Young, she’s basically my age. New graduate? New arrival?

As Tala walked over, Lyn smiled and gestured to the woman, who still hadn’t turned around. “Tala, this is mageling Kannis.”

What? No…

The girl turned around, and Tala felt herself stiffen.

-Tala.-

-The plot thickens.-

Hush.

Kannis was a student at the Academy, while Tala was there. An Immaterial Creator specializing in information exchanges and processing. Very similar to Lyn, now that I consider it.

Though, the woman lacked any sort of inscriptions at the moment. Newly arrived indeed.

Tala and Kannis had never really interacted. Kannis had been relatively popular, in a quiet sort of way, and Tala had chosen the path of utter anti-sociability.

“Hello, Tala was it?” Kannis held out a hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Tala took her hand in a bit of a daze. “It’s mutual, I’m sure.”

Her eyes darted to Terry, then away. “Your pet bird is very handsome.”

“He’s more a friend than a pet, but thank you.” She shrugged and tried to smile.

“Oh! Thank you for letting me know.” She glanced down at her feet. “So, what do you do for the Guild? I’m just graduated, and I am so excited to get started.”

No. Tala’s mind hitched at the very possibility, threatening at the edges of her awareness. Oh, please no.

Lyn cleared her throat, seemingly deciding that it was time to interject. “Kannis, it’s Mistress Tala. She is a dimensional Mage and a Mage protector.”

Kannis’s eyes widened, and she gave a formal bow. “Oh! My apologies, Mistress.” Her eyes flicked over Tala, and she frowned just slightly. “I’m sorry for whatever happened to your scripts. I’m in a similar position, though I suppose my state is standard for my station.”

Lyn seemed to notice the apparent absence of Tala’s spell-lines at that point too. “Yeah, I’d love to hear that story. I actually expected…” she shook her head, coming back to the present, “but that’s not pertinent at the moment.”

Kannis wasn’t done, however, as her frown had only deepened. “Wait… Did Mistress say that you’re a dimensional Mage and a Mage protector?”

Tala found her voice enough to respond. “That’s right.”

“Forgive my ignorance, but shouldn’t the dimensional Mage be protected beyond all else, as basically the most critical part of any caravan?” Kannis seemed rather proud of her knowledge.

Tala opened and closed her mouth a few times, struggling to find something to say.

Lyn hid her mouth behind a hand, but not before Tala caught sight of a mirthful grin.

Tala cleared her throat, centering herself. “While, yes, the dimensional Mage is basically the keystone of any given caravan, it is efficient to have me able to fill multiple roles, so long as I am not on the front line of defense, except in dire need.”

“Has that worked out well?”

Tala immediately thought of the Leshkin.

Lyn was practically dying as she held in her laughter behind the young woman’s back.

“With one notable exception, yes. It’s worked quite well.” Tala practically glared at Lyn around Kannis.

“Oh, that’s fascinating. What was the exception?”

Tala returned her attention to the mageling. “The Leshkin, in the southern forest. They didn’t take too well to something about me, and I ended up being the target of their attacks more than once.”

“Leshkin?” Kannis hesitated for only a moment. “Oh! I remember those. We studied them in my History of Recurring Threats to Humanity class. They sounded like horribly difficult opponents.”

“They were.” History of Recurring Threats to Humanity?

-Tala-

-You were bored in the class and never really paid attention. It was mainly a discussion class, and you participated exactly, and only, as much as was required to pass. You really weren’t that good a student for most of your academic career.-

Oh…I thought I was a good student, all things considered.

-Hardly. You excelled in every class that you cared about, but those were few and far between.-

Tala grimaced, even as Kannis turned back to Lyn, who had gotten herself under control by that point. “Now, Mistress Lyn, what do you think of my proposal?”

Tala frowned. “What’s this about, Lyn?” Her earlier concerns resurfaced. Why did she call me over here?

Lyn grinned at her friend. “Well, Kannis, here, is asking if I’ll take her on as my mageling.”

Rust.

“And, I think I’m going to say: ‘Yes.’ ”

Kannis gasped and clapped her hands in glee. “Oh! Thank you, Mistress Lyn. You won’t regret this.”

Double rust. Tala knew this was more than just an addition to Lyn, else the older woman wouldn’t have involved Tala at all. She’s going to live in our house…

Alat just laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

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Chapter: 179 - Adjusting Your Senses

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Tala took a moment to collect herself. Kannis is going to be Lyn’s mageling, and she’s going to live with us.

She didn’t really know how to feel about that. How could she cope with another person, suddenly rammed into such a core part of her life? What can I do? Can I forbid it?

-Tala.-

-Only when you’re here.-

That caused Tala to recenter, if only just. Fine. Only when I’m here. That crystallization of the thought helped her pull back to the moment, and realize that the others were watching her, waiting for a response.

Tala pasted on a smile. “That’s big news. I didn’t know you were considering taking on a mageling, Lyn.”

Kannis glanced between them, a thoughtful look on her face, but didn’t comment.

Lyn shrugged. “I’ve been considering it, and this one came and asked. I’ve just finished going through her records, and I think it’s a good match. In fact, if I am going to take on a mageling, there likely won’t be one better. She spent the last two months taking an intensive class on the Archive, its history and functions.”

That tracks. I left as soon as they’d let me. Most who arrived when I did would have stayed on for one or more extra classes, to round out their employment opportunities. “That sounds incredibly useful.”

-To say the least. I should see ifꟷ Oh! Nice! The reference materials for that class are part of the public record. We should read this at some point.- There was a moment’s pause. -Yeah, I’ll restructure it for you. This is not well put together for quick learning.-

Tala cleared her throat. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of being included on this weighty decision?”

Lyn nodded. “Well, it is traditional for a Mage to provide housing for her mageling.”

Tala sighed. “So, you found your renter.”

“I did. Well, in a sense. She won’t be renting, as I’d be paying for her housing if she stayed elsewhere.”

Kannis looked back and forth between them. “I’m sorry, Mistresses, but I don’t understand. What am I missing?”

“Oh, it’s fine, Kannis. Tala used to rent a room from me, but due to certain…changes, that is no longer required. She can explain if she wishes, you’ll figure it out eventually. Suffice to say, I have an open room in my home, so instead of putting you up at some local boarding house, you’ll live with me, if that’s agreeable.”

Tala cleared her throat. “And me, when I’m in town.”

Kannis nodded slowly. “I don’t think I fully understand, but I don’t think that’s a problem.”

Lyn smiled. “Good. I’ll draw up the paperwork for a Mage-mageling relationship, and we can go over it together.”

“That sounds wonderful. Thank you, Mistress Lyn. I promise that you won’t regret taking me on.”

I might. Tala kept the frown off of her face.

-Tala.-

-Don’t be rude. This has very little to do with you.-

Fair. She took a deep breath and changed the content of her thoughts. The whole “must get my attention” thing is getting pretty annoying. Can you take a moment to see if you can disable the requirement?

-As you wish.-

Tala smiled, forcing a bit more genuineness into it this time. “Well, congratulations to you both. It’s a big thing you’re both agreeing to. We can celebrate tonight?”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea.” Lyn nodded her thanks and looked to Kannis.

“As my master commands.” Kannis grinned in genuine-seeming joy. “That does sound quite nice.”

“Well, I must be off, and the two of you have details to hammer out. See you at home tonight, around dinner.”

“Good to meet you, Mistress Tala.” The mageling bowed.

“Don’t do anything too insane,” Lyn added.

Tala felt a smile tug at her lips. “Me? Never. Terry, on the other hand... He gets to join us in sparring today.”

Terry lifted his head and let out an affirmative squawk.

Tala strode away, friend on her shoulder, Lyn left standing, wide-eyed and opened mouthed in astonishment.

That was strangely satisfying.

Alat didn’t reply. The silence stretching for almost a minute as Tala made her way through Bandfast’s streets.

I suppose that delving into her inner workings to turn off the “Tala” requirement takes more capacity than I’d have guessed.

Still silent.

Tala shifted her shoulders as she walked, feeling oddly lonely in the silence.

Great. She’s going to see these memories when she comes back, and she’ll never let me live it down.

-Oh, I’m loving it, now.-

“Gah!” Tala jumped, landing to the side of the street and scaring several of the people around her.

An older woman had frozen in shock, hand coming to her mouth in astonishment. “Good heavens, child. Are you alright?”

Tala felt her face heat in embarrassment and blurted out the first lie that came to mind. “There was a bee.”

Alat cackled with laughter as Tala sped away, not making eye contact, nor acknowledging the woman’s follow-up questions.

-There was a bee?-

She kept laughing in the back of Tala’s mind.

-It’s the middle of winter! There’s snow everywhere. What kind of excuse was that?-

The laughter rolled on.

Tala chose the path of nonconfrontation and ignored Alat. She is a lot to ignore…

-See, that was at least clever.- A snort of all things resounded through her head. -There was a bee.-

How the rust are you conveying a snort and a shake of your head?

-I grow in capacity by the minute.-

That’s just wonderful for you.

-Thank you. I rather think so, too.- After a moment, Alat giggled. -There was a bee.-

I think it was good enough, given the timeframe. Besides, It was a better response than saying that the voice in my head startled me.

Alat paused at that. -True, I suppose, but just because it wasn’t the worst thing you could have said, doesn’t mean it was a good option.-

It wasn’t worth continuing the disagreement. Tala tossed out some jerky for Terry, even while munching on some, herself. As she did so, she had a realization. Hey, you didn’t have to precede your statement by getting my attention.

-I did not.-

So, you figured it out, then?

-Absolutely. I used your authorization to remove the requirement for me to notify you before adjusting your senses.-

Tala blinked a few times, tossing out another bit of jerky for Terry. Wait. What?

-You asked me to remove the requirement.-

I don’t want you modifying what I sense without me knowing.

-Well, then you shouldn’t have asked me to make that change.-

When you talk into my head, I know you’re talking! That has nothing to do with a removal of notification.

There was a pause. -So, you want that requirement reinstated?-

Without question, yes.

-Tala-

-The requirement has been reinstated.-

You’re doing it again.

-It is required.-

Tala threw her hands up in the air. Thankfully no one was close enough to be startled or inconvenienced by the gesture. No, it isn’t! You talking to me lets me know that you’re talking to me. I don’t need a word or sound preceding your talking. That would be like: You must always give me a book, which tells me that you are going to give me a book, before you can give me that book.

Alat, somehow, hummed in her head consideringly. -So, would you like me to adjust my notification to simply be whatever I am about to tell you?-

Tala thought for a moment, looking for how it might be abused.

-I’m not trying to trick you. Your wellbeing is my well-being.-

Yeah…I know…. Fine.

-You still sound hesitant. Should I find a way of making my communications stand out more in your mind as well?-

That’s worth a try, sure.

≡Command accepted.≡

Tala continued on her way. How are you doing that? Your thoughts aren’t coming through more loudly, but they are more…emphasized?

≡I am denoting them more extremely as separate from the normal flow of your thoughts.≡

Tala grimaced. I don’t think I like that. Let’s remove the extra distinction.

-Command accepted-

Tala felt some tension ease. She hadn’t really realized it, but the sheer oddity of having such distinctly separated thoughts within her own head had been grating. But she was getting distracted. So, if that quick moment was all it took to make the adjustment, what was the other thing for? Why did you try to remove all notice that you were influencing my senses?

-That was the best solution that quickly presented itself, and I didn’t want to be offline in contemplations for a long stretch, once again.-

But I came up with this other option very quickly.

-Yes, you did. That is some evidence that our different perspectives lend themselves to differing patterns of thought, even though we obviously reside in the same brain, and are the result of the same spirit and soul.-

Is that going to be an issue?

-Not at all. It just emphasizes that we will benefit from each other for a long time to come. It also is a funny bit of evidence that if we switched places, we would become like the other, which would almost be a form of suicide on my part.-

Tala grunted in acknowledgement. That’s an interesting way of thinking about it, I suppose.

-We’re here.-

Tala came out of her reverie and looked up at the glory of the teleportation tower. You know, I never asked why they are towers, instead of just normal buildings. Tala once again marveled at the artistry that went into the motifs covering the entryway.

-Do you want to know why it’s a tower?-

Later, but sure. Thank you for asking.

She could clearly remember exiting through this archway and thinking about how it would have taken meticulous effort to carve each relief, each detailed image. I didn’t realize that there are some Archons who could do this with a wave of their hand.

Even so, it was still a stunning display of control and technique, likely an even greater demonstration of skill than simply carving it all by hand would be.

The artist has likely been practicing for hundreds of years. And she got to enjoy the fruits of that experience.

A contented smile on her face, Tala strolled into the tower.

A chipper young woman, wrapped in a stylish looking winter coat, greeted Tala just inside the door. “Hello and welcome to the Teleportation Tower. To better assist you, today, may I ask if you are departing yourself or receiving an incoming traveler?”

Tala took a moment to blink and process the flood of words that had come from the woman. That has to be rehearsed. Who rehearses such a speech? That didn’t really matter, though.

Tala noticed a bit of magic coming from near the girl’s feet, behind the counter. A heater? That’s interesting. Clearly tied into the city’s grid, too. Could that be one of the artifacts that Queue was talking about? She’d have to examine the thing to be sure, but it seemed reasonable.

-Focus, Tala, the girl asked you a question.-

Right! Tala smiled, coming back to the matter at hand. “Oh, no. Thank you, though. I’m here to see Mistress Phoen, if she’s available.”

-I already told you that she was on shift, now.-

Yes, and I asked about her availability, not her presence.

-Oh…right.-

Tala’s smile shifted to one side. Seems we both have an issue thinking through things at times.

-Yeah, we should work on that.-

Agreed.

“Oh, certainly.” The receptionist smiled in return, leaned back in her chair, and called through a doorway behind her and to her left. “Clint, can you run and see if Mistress Phoen is available? She has a visitor.”

An older voice, likely mid-thirties if he wasn’t a Mage, answered. “Sure thing!”

“It’ll just be one minute, and we’ll know for sure. Can I get you anything while you wait?”

“No, but thank you for asking.”

“Absolutely! Let me know if you change your mind.”

“Will do.”

Tala turned to look back out through the archway, taking in a deep lungful of the cool air and enjoying the slightly elevated view over the buildings, which were just beginning to be bathed in the new light of dawn.

She spent a couple of oddly relaxing minutes looking out at the city, through the artistic portal.

“It’s a beautiful view, isn’t it?” The older, feminine voice came from behind Tala’s right shoulder.

Tala turned, a genuine smile pulling at her cheeks. “Mistress Phoen. It is a pleasure to see you once again.”

The other woman was exactly as Tala remembered. -It has only been a couple of months.-

One thing stood out where it hadn’t at their first meeting. She’s a Mage, not an Archon. Is she Forbidden?

-No, she is not in the lists of Forbidden, but that’s a special title for those with essentially no chance to Bind a star, though they can achieve an attempt with relative ease.-

“I’m sorry, young woman, but you seem to have me at a disadvantage. Do I know you?”

Tala gave a slight bow. “I am Tala. You greeted me when I arrived from Academy, and you lent me clothing as well.”

“Why would I have…” Her eyes widened, and then she laughed. “Oh! Mistress Tala, that’s right. How are you?” She frowned. “Did you give up the Mage’s life?”

The lack of inscriptions.

Phoen’s eyes bobbed to Terry, though there was no surprise in them, so she’d likely noticed him before Tala turned around. “It seems you found yourself a friend.”

Tala reached up and scratched Terry. “I have, indeed. But no, no. I’m still working for the Caravanner’s Guild. I’ve not given up magic by any means.”

The older woman frowned just slightly. The expression didn’t seem to line up with any of the wrinkles on her face, making it clear that Phoen didn’t frown often. “Whatever happened to your inscriptions, dear? Did you have to teleport for some reason? Little else would eliminate them so completely and cleanly.”

Tala watched the woman’s magesight inscriptions fill with power and activate.

Phoen’s eyes widened again, and she gasped, taking a half-step back. “Mistress.” She gave a shallow bow. “You’ve come far in such a short time, Archon.”

Tala stepped forward, crossing the space that Phoen had created with her half-step and then some, before placing her hands on the woman’s shoulders. “None of that, Mistress. I came to thank you, once again, for your kindness and assistance that first day, not to have you abase yourself.”

“As you wish.” Phoen seemed to struggle for a moment within herself before nodding once. “How is it that you have advanced so quickly? Even among those who make it to Archon, isn’t half a decade considered fast?”

“That sounds about right.”

“So, if I may ask, Mistress. How?”

Tala shrugged, finding herself without a good answer. “I’m not sure what to tell you.”

“Did you just throw yourself off a cliff to get to the bottom?”

-Not an inaccurate assessment.-

Hush, you. “I did take some risks, I suppose.”

“Someone should tan your master’s hide for letting you move so fast.”

“Well, you see, I never actually had a master.”

Phoen cocked an eyebrow. “I knew you were going to attempt to be hired as a full Mage, but you didn’t get a master, even for the advice and direction?”

“Well, I talk with as many Mages and Archons as I can, asking advice.”

“Do you follow it?”

Tala grimaced slightly. “Mostly?”

Phoen snorted. “Well, it doesn’t seem to have done you any lasting harm, at least not yet.” She gave Tala an appraising look. “You’re doing well, then?”

“I am, thank you, and you?”

“Can’t complain. Mact is close to full Magehood, and he’s likely the last mageling I’ll take.”

Tala cocked her head to one side. “Why don’t you…?”

Phoen laughed. “I never could master that spell-form. Something about my mindset as a Material Creator makes me unsuited to such esoteric workings of raw power. I never was able to bridge the quadrants, either.” She shrugged. “But I’ve lived a good life, made a good income, and I’m ready to retire and spend time with my great grandchildren.”

“Do you have many?”

Phoen smiled softly. “Twenty, the twentieth born just last month.” She let out a contented breath. “The healers tell me that I’ve likely got another dozen years or so, at least. So, I’m looking forward to watching them grow, marry, and have children of their own.”

That doesn’t make sense. Ingrit said no Mage dies of old age. Tala almost objected, but Alat cut across her.

-I’ll explain after.- There was a sadness to her alternate interface’s voice, so Tala decided to trust her.

She smiled towards Phoen. “That sounds like a full-time endeavor.” Tala felt like she wanted to be sad at the prospect of Phoen retiring, especially with Alat’s vague comments, but there was an undercurrent of joy in the woman’s demeanor that made it clear that she wanted nothing more in the world than exactly that.

“Precisely.” Her well worn smile-lines deepened as a look of true, contented satisfaction came to rest on her features.

She wants such different things from me. Was that because they were different people, or was Tala a fool, facing the wisdom brought on by age and rejecting it?

-Likely a bit of both. I don’t know that we’ll ever want to take her path, but I think we may want pieces of it at some point.-

There was wisdom there. She might, one day, want a family, and at that time, she’d very much be walking a parallel path to Phoen’s.

Tala glanced around, then nodded into the comfortable silence. “Well, I don’t want to keep you from your work. Thank you for letting me drop through, and thank you, again, for all you did for me.”

Phoen bowed. “It was wonderful to see you, and it is my pleasure to have been able to assist.” When she straightened, there was a hardness to her gaze. “But you listen here, young woman. I’ll give you the advice I gave my own daughters and sons: Don’t advance too fast, Mistress. Life is worth living, don’t let it pass you by. You hear?”

Tala felt strangely touched by the woman’s fervor. “I won’t, Mistress. Thank you.”

Tala bowed to the woman; she bowed to the first Mage who she’d met in this city, the first one to greet her after she left the Academy. With a smile on her face, and a lightness brought on by happiness in her head, Tala departed.

I’m glad I did that.

-Me too.-

So, what was that about? Didn’t Ingrit say no Mage dies of old age?

-I looked it up, and Mages who can’t consciously create the Archon star eventually manifest it subconsciously within themselves, instantly bonding it and beginning the process of becoming a fount. In those cases, it’s a fairly predictable process, which can be monitored and anticipated, without being prevented.-

Hence the twelve year guess.

-Exactly. Apparently, it happens most often in the Mage’s sleep, at which point, they simply get up and leave. The Mage is then unresponsive, and can either be killed or let out of the city.-

That was depressing to say the least. One day Phoen would just get up and walk out of her family’s life without a word of goodbye.

-She knows it’s coming, as will her family, even if they won’t know exactly what it is.-

Secrecy.

-Secrecy.-

Tala sighed. I need to hit something. She reached up to scratch Terry’s head. “Ready to spar, my friend?”

He leaned into her hand and trilled with obvious excitement.

“Let’s go.”

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 180 - Master Avian

A note from JLMullins

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<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala strode off the street and through the training yard with purpose.

After nearly a week of coming back here to train, the guards were once again used to seeing her walk through their midst, and those that weren’t were quickly informed by some around them that she was expected and a regular.

Most didn’t even get up, simply waving at her or calling out some derivation of, “Good morning, Mistress.”

She waved to those who waved and acknowledged all the others who called out greetings.

It was a pleasant experience, actually, having so many people at least politely happy to see her.

The regular citizenry were a bit more reserved. Or is that just me?

That was an interesting thought. If she waved at people as she passed them on the street, would they wave back? What if she greeted them?

No, there are far, far too many people in the city to make that a reasonable thing to do. She considered. Maybe in the off times, or less populated streets?

-You waste a lot of mental energy on random thoughts like this.-

It’s interesting, alright?

-You could be so much more with a bit more focus.-

Tala cocked her eyebrow, though she didn’t have anyone to direct the look at.

-Fine, you do do quite a bit. Some random thinking is probably healthy.-

That’s right, it is. Tala strode into the building and through it, down the familiar path to the training courtyard.

The cool air of the winter morning pervaded the open structure and allowed the stone to be cold beneath her shoes, just as with the streets outside. Tala sent a tendril of power through her garments, causing her shoes to connect to her pants and break apart, pulling back into the other elk-leathers. With a smile, Tala enjoyed the stone against her bare skin, and the temperature wasn’t unpleasant to her in the least.

Much better.

She walked slowly, taking a moment to simply revel in the small pleasure of the texture and temperature of the floor with each step. All too soon, she came out of the side hall and onto the open walkway around the training courtyard to find quite a few guards already there, stretching, or moving through some half-speed sparring.

The healer wasn’t there, yet. In fact, as she looked around, she realized that while she wasn’t the first to arrive by a long shot, she was the first Mage.

Several of the guards greeted her, but no one stopped what they were doing. Tala returned the greetings and moved out onto an open portion of the sand.

She took time to move through a stretching sequence to limber up. While she couldn’t count on such being possible before real fights, it let her continue to improve flexibility and keep from straining her muscles. Wait… Do I even need to do this?

-Well, you could technically just overstretch and tear your body. Then, you could hold the position until it healed, but I wouldn’t recommend it.-

Tala nodded to herself, even as she kept stretching. That would make me more flexible, but take me backwards, strength wise. I need to bring up strength and flexibility together, in tandem, in order to have the best results.

-Precisely.-

I guess there aren’t really any shortcuts.

Alat seemed to pause, something akin to disbelief radiating from within Tala’s mind. -Well, I mean, you can workout and stretch to your limit every day— rust, multiple times per day —and see improvements each time. That’s a shortcut vastly beyond what mundanes can do.-

Tala felt a bit foolish at the moment. Right. She sometimes forgot how much of an advantage that was. We should probably find a way of tracking my improvement.

-Like…a system? With statistics and hard numbers for how you are improving over time?-

That might be nice.

-I could even come up with a leveling nomenclature, so that you could track as you progressed through the rankings.-

I think that would be nice, actually.

Tala sensed deep skepticism from Alat. -I think you’d obsess over it. Not to mention, isn’t that exactly what you were warned off of, when you looked into mana?-

Tala considered as she shifted from a handstand to a floating pushup and back, working and stretching her shoulders. She hadn’t increased her weight, as she did for her morning and evening sets, because her main focus wasn’t strengthening at the moment. You’re probably right.

-I do try.-

Tala snorted a laugh, blowing sand away with the force of her exhale.

-No, I will not figure out a way to measure how hard you exhale.-

I wasn’t going to ask.

-But you were thinking about it.-

Tala rolled her eyes, taking a moment to look around herself once again.

Terry wasn’t stretching. Well, he was stretched out in the sun, but that was different.

The guards were mostly warmed up, and seemed about ready to start the day’s training.

Aproa arrived as Tala was looking around.

Tala rolled forwards, out of the side bend and middle split she’d been in, springing to her feet and waving to the other woman. “Good morning!”

Aproa waved as she walked up to Tala. “We missed you yesterday.” She frowned. “What happened to your inscriptions? Are you alright?”

“Oh, I’m fine.” That’s going to trip up some people. I wonder if the through-spike’s illusion can be modified?

-Want me to investigate?-

What will it take?

-A small amount of power, and I’ll be less responsive.-

Do it. The back and forth with Alat happened at the speed of thought. So, the entire conversation with Alat happened before Aproa had finished shrugging and replied, “Not really what I asked, but it’s your magics. So, your friend is joining the sparring today?”

Terry flickered into being behind Tala, sized to be just shorter than her.

Tala reached back without looking, trusting her senses to find where he was, and patted the side of his beak. “That’s the idea.”

Even though Rane and Aproa had supposedly warned the guardsmen the day before that Terry would be joining this day, those already in the courtyard turned wary eyes on the terror bird, a couple stepping back involuntarily.

-I don’t think it was his presence, Tala. I think it’s that he just teleported and changed size. Sure, some have probably noticed him teleport before, but I don’t think he’s ever grown around the guards.-

Ahh, that’s fair. Tala smiled, looking around the courtyard. “Let’s do this!”

Rane arrived at that moment. “Mistress Tala! Terry! Ready to spar?”

Tala grinned and waved. “Absolutely. You’re well?”

“As ever.”

Adam was with the Archon, and he assessed Terry with a critical eye. “I think I should fight the terror bird first, to assess the danger of his joining in.” He looked to one of the guardsmen, near a side passage. “Tras, please go inform the healer that we are ready.”

The man, Tras apparently, saluted and ran down the hall.

Tala knew that the healer would be out in less than a minute, if previous days were any indication.

Adam regarded Terry. “No cutting or tearing.”

Terry tilted his head, considering, then bobbed acknowledgement.

“Do you wish me to use a training weapon?”

Terry hesitated, then bobbed once.

That surprised Tala, but she didn’t comment.

“Clear the sand, please.”

Everyone, Tala included, walked outward to the steps surrounding and leading down into the sand-filled courtyard.

One of the guardsmen tossed two training swords to Adam, and the man caught them with ease. He tested their weight, then nodded and thanked his colleague. “Ready?”

Terry bobbed his assent once again.

“Begin.”

Terry flickered out of existence. In the same instant, Adam swept his swords in two seemingly conflicting defensive patterns, and he closed his eyes.

Well, that makes too much sense.

-Agreed. Terry moves around too much for our eyes to be trusted. Closing them would allow a greater focus on our other senses, and likely make us better able to counter him.-

Noted.

-Or it would get us thrashed even more quickly, because we aren’t used to fighting blind.-

Tala hesitated at that. Yeah…that’s more likely.

Adam’s almost random seeming movements kept the swords in motion and close enough to strike at Terry, no matter where the avian appeared.

Tala couldn’t tell how Adam was sensing Terry, until she noticed that Adam wasn’t moving his feet or making any noticeable noise. In the near utter silence of the courtyard, Tala heard the smallest whisper at each of Terry’s appearances, barely louder than the air moving over and rustling the terror bird’s feathers.

Well, rust my bucket. How have I never heard that, before?

-We never held still and silent for long enough to hear it?-

That was as good an explanation as any, but Tala felt unsatisfied. I feel like I should have heard that…especially if Adam can. Don’t I have better hearing?

Alat was silent for a short moment, then she made an irritated sound. -You have been hearing it, but we dismissed it as background noise, given that we were basically always out in nature, or near other people sparring in other rooms, so it was assumed to be meaningless.-

Well, I feel foolish.

The fight going on before them was a stalemate, similar to how Terry and Rane fought, but Adam wasn’t defended or moved by magic. He simply always twitched his blade towards Terry the instant the bird appeared, forcing the avian to retreat.

Less than a minute later, Terry flickered out and away, trilling in irritation.

Adam immediately stopped and bowed. “You win this match, master avian.”

Terry cocked his head to one side, seeming almost confused.

“Your prohibition on cutting made you slower than you should have been, and I know you could have countered my defenses if you were unconcerned about harming me. Thank you.” He bowed again. “You have more restraint than I’d have dreamed possible. I think it would be excellent practice for you to fight the others here.”

A throat cleared to one side, and Tala turned to regard a man she’d never seen before.

He was clearly a mundane and also clearly in his fifties, give or take. But that wasn’t what caught her attention first.

His natural magical pathways thrummed with power, pouring through his uninscribed gate. Every drop of his power was bent towards one thing and one thing alone: enhancing his reaction speed.

“I would appreciate joining in this training.” He wore a finely made chainmail shirt of alternating riveted and solid rings overtop of a padded gambeson that hung to just above his knees. He held a helm under one arm and an oddly ovaline, curved shield on his back.

Adam turned to the newcomer and bowed low, lower than Tala had ever seen him bow before. “Captain.”

“Adam, I’ve been hearing good things about this little training group. I can see that even some of the most outlandish bits were understating things.”

Adam gave a rueful smile. “That terror bird has only joined us today.”

“Even so.” The captain turned to regard Terry. “May I? You need not hold back. I am armored, and there is a healer to hand. I request only that you do not take my head from my shoulders.”

Terry was crouched low, regarding the man with wariness.

Tala cleared her throat. “I am Tala, Captain. You are?”

The captain glanced her way, then seemingly dismissed her. Even so, he answered. “I am Aummar.” He stepped forward, eyes back on Terry, setting his helmet on his head and cinching the strap under his chin, above his gorget. That done, he situated his aventail, ensuring it wasn’t caught on anything. “Are you ready?”

He motioned and Adam tossed him one of the training swords. Aummar left his shield on his back.

Terry glanced to Tala, and she shrugged. “If you want to, go crazy.”

Aummar regarded her again, seemingly reconsidering her given her obvious relationship to Terry.

Terry shook himself, then bobbed a nod.

The man smiled. “Whenever you are ready.”

Terry flickered, and Aummar moved.

The captain’s sword drove outward, towards an empty space above and to his left.

Terry appeared there just in time for the training sword to begin to connect before Terry flickered away.

Aummar twisted, turning the strike into a sweep that jerked his weapon behind himself, where it tapped Terry once again as the bird appeared.

Tala’s increased perception allowed her to realize what he was doing, even if not how. His defensive patterns are exactly like those that Adam was using, but he’s doing them with one sword, and he’s just a reed faster.

None of the contact would have harmed Terry, there wasn’t enough force imparted for that to happen, but it was impressive nonetheless.

Then, Terry cut loose.

He appeared, barely bigger than a sparrow, below and behind Aummar.

The captain responded instantly, kicking out, but Terry was ready. He opened his mouth, growing in size even as he caught the attacking foot and clamped down to hold it firmly.

Tala heard the snap of bone, but Aummar simply grunted, pulling his leg in, while striking with his practice sword.

Terry disappeared, flickering into being behind the man again and driving his taloned foot into Aummar’s back.

Aummar’s armor held, but he was still slammed into the sand, the impact clearly driving the wind from his lungs. Even so, he rolled over, slashing at Terry once more. Terry didn’t even seem to move, just flickering as the sword passed harmlessly through the space he seemed to occupy.

The bird dropped his foot down once more, cracking into the armored chest.

The chainmail would have held against a slash.

Aummar’s words were a trap. He’s more susceptible to blunt than slashing.

-Yes, clever of him. Too bad for him, Terry is smarter than most.-

The blow caused Aummar’s hand to spasm and release his weapon.

With that, Terry flickered away, settling down in a crouch and fluffing his feathers in triumph.

Everyone stared at Aummar as he lay virtually unmoving on the sand, convulsing. His foot was at a wholly unnatural angle, and his chest seemed to be just slightly the wrong shape. The healer was already at his side, magic flowing from the Mage into the captain.

As the healing did its work, the convulsions got worse, only to be revealed as slightly gurgling laughter.

A moment later when the healer stepped back, Aummar sat up, spat out a mouthful of blood and continued to laugh.

“That was amazing!” He rolled back, then vaulted up to his feet, staggering just a bit on the landing. “You are incredible. I haven’t been bested that thoroughly in nearly a decade. You’ve quite a lot of room to improve as well, if you’re interested.” He had pointed to Terry as he spoke.

Terry cocked his head, then gave a slight bob of assent.

“Good! But first, how is your friend in a fight?” He glanced to Tala. “Shall we test?”

Tala shrugged. “Sounds good to me.” She pulled Flow to her hand, verified that the training sheath was locked in place, and sent power down the path that would extend it into the form of a sword.

Aummar tilted his head to one side, examining the clearly magical weapon. When he glanced to Adam and received a gesture of assent, the older man grunted, seeming to decide it wasn’t worth addressing.

“Are you ready, or do you require time to recover?”

Aummar rolled his shoulders and hopped slightly, checking how his armor was situated. With a nod to himself and a smile for Tala, he responded. “I’m ready.”

Tala charged, executing a controlled thrust towards the man’s chest.

Aummar barely seemed to move, but they both froze, the match over.

Flow was fully extended, sheathed tip barely missing Aummar’s shoulder. Aummar’s training sword rested against Tala’s blade, deflecting it the barest amount, while its tip was at her throat.

“You’ve reasonable technique, but you are easy to counter. Easy to predict.”

They pulled apart.

“Again.”

Tala nodded. “Don’t pull your strikes. I need to feel my mistakes.”

He cocked an eyebrow and glanced to Adam. Adam nodded and smiled. With that, Aummar shrugged. “As you wish. Healer, be ready.”

They moved as one, and Tala felt the lightest tap on Flow as they closed, before pain blossomed from her throat, the training weapon having utterly crushed the front of her neck.

Through the blinding pain, Tala let Flow shift back into a knife and drove it into Aummar’s chest. She didn’t hold back, allowing her agony to add to her strength, even as she sank into the blow, putting her full weight behind it.

Though he was clearly not expecting her counter, Aummar reacted, pulling away from her strike even as she made it. While that softened the blow and might have been enough to counter a mundane strike, it couldn’t negate Tala’s attack entirely.

The impact threw him to the ground where he absorbed most of the force of the fall with a roll. He came back to his feet, somehow having not been hampered by the shield still on his back. There was shock in his eyes, but also resolve.

Tala coughed, using the forceful exhalation to reinflate her trachea, even as it pulled back into proper alignment and shape. How hard did he hit me? My throat shouldn’t be that easy to crush.

-I’d estimate that he’d have partially decapitated anyone else.-

Dangerous.

-A bit, but not truly with the healer ready to hand.-

Tala grunted.

Aummar glanced down at himself and grimaced, sucking in a pained breath. “You broke a couple of ribs. Well struck.” His voice was a bit strained and breathless. “So, a Mage, then?”

The healer walked over and tapped the man, causing Aummar to take in a deep, satisfied lungful of air. “I didn’t see your spell-lines and mistook you, Mistress. My apologies.” He bowed.

Interesting. So, he knows his own skill, and is proud of it, but doesn’t hesitate to acknowledge mistakes or those who outrank him. Very interesting.

“Again?”

Over the next four hours, Aummar humbled them all. Even with their magics, and while he was weighed down with armor, he could fight them on nearly even footing.

One-on-one, none of the Mages could match him, unless they stayed at a distance. His reactions were just too quick, his technique too refined. He’d move the slightest amount, both countering their attacks and delivering devastating damage.

Tala was never able to take a wound to hit him again, after that first time, and Aummar, for his part, treated the Mages with a bit more wariness than he’d shown before. Though, to be fair, he hadn’t really known her to be a Mage in their first fight.

Maybe being mistaken for a mundane is a tactical advantage in some circumstances?

-Maybe, but those who would trust our outward appearance aren’t much of a threat, regardless.-

Tala cocked an eyebrow and glanced pointedly towards Aummar.

-Fair point, exceptions aside.-

Tala grinned. Worth considering, I suppose.

After a good number of one-on-one fights, they were able to do more group conflicts with Aummar’s input, and Terry joined in in a smattering of those scenarios.

In that way, the martial training began to mirror the magical that they’d do later on in the day.

Aummar set the tone, but he slowly participated in fewer fights as the morning wore on.

He had pointers for the three Mages and Terry, as well as for every guardsman who participated, and they all improved with his insight.

As they wrapped up, Aummar approached Terry and Tala. “If I may be impertinent enough to ask a couple of questions?”

Rane and Aproa were nearby, and they clearly heard and turned slightly to listen in.

Tala smiled. “Of course. Thank you for your input today.”

“It was my pleasure, Mistress. Firstly, does Terry ever carry you?”

Terry and Tala shared a look before Tala shrugged. “Sometimes, yes.”

“Then, I would suggest that you practice some mounted combat. You two could definitely use some more cohesion training as well. You are both excellent combatants, but you don’t truly fight together as you could and should.”

Again, the two of them looked at one another. Terry bobbed and trilled his assent. Tala smiled and turned back to Aummar. “That sounds great.”

“I’ll look into it on your behalf, then. There are some horse tracks and arenas nearby that could be excellent for that type of training.”

“We look forward to it.”

“Secondly, Terry, would you consider using weapons?”

Terry cocked his head to the side, then flickered to Tala’s shoulder and back.

“Yes, I assumed that you couldn’t carry much, if anything, with you in a teleport, but that isn’t necessary.”

The bird tilted his head the other way, clearly intrigued.

“I believe that if you had a few weapons that you could move between, directing them, throwing them, or using them as you see fit, you could increase your combat prowess considerably.”

Tala’s eyes widened at that, Aproa seemed almost to choke, and Rane started chuckling, adding, “That’s just terrifying.”

Aummar grinned, glanced to the other Mages. “Then it is fitting for our terror bird friend.”

Terry seemed quite hesitant, however.

“Are you willing to give it a try? It will be clunky at first, but I think you might come to appreciate the versatility.”

Tala and Terry, again, shared a look, and something in the bird’s eyes made Tala think that he was remembering the Leshkin, and how he had been all but unable to attack them.

Slowly, Terry bobbed his assent.

Aummar clapped his hand and grinned even wider. “I’ll see to it that some potentials, in practice weapon form, are ready for tomorrow, then.”

“Thank you, again.”

“It was my pleasure, Mistress.” He bowed to them all. “Mistress, Master, Mistress. Have a wonderful afternoon.”

Tala bounced back and forth on the balls of her feet, feeling energized by the mornings activities. “Rane, Mistress Aproa, do you have lunch plans?”

Rane smiled slightly. “I don’t.”

Aproa shook her head. “None here.”

“Great. I’m starving. Let’s go.”

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Chapter: 181 - Just a Minor Change

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Tala ate her fill of three silver worth of food. Her lunch companions, Rane and Aproa, who were already used to her large appetite, watched with disbelief as she simply continued to eat.

Normally, she ate about twice what Rane did, despite being less than half his size. For this meal however, she ate nearly six times what the large man did.

Terry had enjoyed trying a bit of everything but had settled back on jerky after the initial tastes.

Tala smiled contentedly to herself, contemplating how much she’d increased her stores. Not too bad, Tala.

-I’ll say. We were approaching our real weight, given our heavier muscles, bones, and other tissue. Our stores haven’t been lower, except right after you received those inscriptions from Holly. Even losing our arm didn’t take us so close to empty.-

Tala ignored the reference to the past unpleasantness and redirected the conversation. And I burn through around twenty-four hundred calories a day. So, burning through two pounds of reserves will heal me as much as I naturally would over three days, but much faster?

-If your entire body was in need of healing? Yes, near enough. Or you could regrow an arm, almost twice over.- Alat hesitated. -Or near enough to that.-

No wonder the weapon’s test, and resulting pressure wave, had taken so much from her. She’d dropped more than twenty pounds from that one instance, alone. And this meal will translate to about a pound of reserves.

-For a normal person, this would turn into about that, yeah, but we’re a bit more efficient. Call it a pound and a half with the enhancements to our digestive system.-

Right, because most people wouldn’t extract all there was within the food, and then spend a greater proportion to store it.

-Precisely.-

What does happen to the excess weight? I know I’m eating more than a pound and a half.

-You know the answer.-

I’m sure I do, but you can recall it faster.

Alat sighed within Tala’s mind. -You breathe most of it out, if you want the quick version.-

Ahh, right.

Tala returned her focus to Rane and Aproa, briefly explaining that she’d been using up too much of her reserves of late, so she had to make it up.

Aproa frowned. “Should we find other ways of practicing? I don’t like the idea of you running out of healing energy in the middle of a match.”

Tala shook her head. “Even now, I’m still at a level where I could recover from virtually anything. I just couldn’t do it more than a couple of times. I’ll have plenty of warning that I’m approaching dangerous levels, assuming you all aren’t intent on pinning me down and raining death upon me any time soon.”

Rane barked a laugh and smiled but didn’t comment.

Aproa nodded, considering. “You know your own powers, I suppose. Shall we?”

“Sure.” Tala stood. “Ready, Rane?”

“I’m ready.” He had a contented smile across his features that Tala didn’t see a reason for.

Oh well. That man’s an enigma.

-It’s because you aren’t using any honorific when addressing him.-

Tala almost tripped on her own feet as they left the restaurant. That would have been embarrassing.

-Just a bit, yeah.-

She thought back and found that Alat was right.

-Of course, I’m right.-

When did that happen? She couldn’t actually recall the last time she’d called him “Master Rane,” but it couldn’t have been that long ago.

-Oh, it’s been building.-

So…what does that mean?

-It means that you’re comfortable with him.-

Nothing more?

-I’m not going to tell you what to feel or what you feel, Tala. That way lies madness.-

Tala grimaced.

“Are you alright, Tala?” Rane placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I know that my stomach would be angry at me if I ate even half of what you did.” He grinned, trying to add levity to what would have been a rude comment to anyone else.

He didn’t use an honorific for me, either… She felt like she only noticed because Alat had pointed out her own lack.

-You’re right about that. He’s been using it less and less of late. Mirroring you, mostly, but tentatively.-

Is that alright?

-Do you care?-

She found that she didn’t, not really. She patted his hand and smiled. “I’m fine. Just thinking.”

“Anything interesting?”

Tala felt a moment of awkwardness. Oh, yes, I’m just thinking about you, Rane. You’re very interesting. She flushed at the very idea of saying such a thing. Then, she silently thanked the stars that her skin was hidden. I really hope that blushing isn’t illusorily recreated for all to see. “Not too much, no.”

Aproa snorted a laugh. “Come on, you two. I’m sure Terry wants to put some Mages in their place.”

Terry bobbed in excited agreement and let out a disturbingly deep, basso trill.

The streets were fairly crowded, and the result of his jubilation was that people stared their way in confusion and mild alarm. Funnily enough, people stepped out of their path after that, making the trip faster than it might otherwise have been.

When the group had almost arrived at the training compound, Tala realized that she hadn’t told Rane something quite important. So, she pulled him a bit off to one side, while continuing to walk, yanked him down so she could reach his ear, and whispered into it. “Hey.”

He gave her an odd look as they kept walking, the large man hunched oddly to one side. “Hey, yourself?”

“I recovered the memories.”

His eyes widened. “Well, rust.”

“Yeah. I’m going to give you access, so that you can review them on an archive slate at some point, soon.”

“That would be appreciated. Thank you.” He seemed a bit shell-shocked, responding from a slight daze.

Since she’d conveyed what she needed to, Tala allowed them to shift their walking path back over to be nearer Aproa. The woman didn’t comment on their short conversation and so neither did they.

Alat, can you do that? Grant him access?

-Done.-

Tala hesitated. Wait. How? I know you can make changes in the Archive, but how did you select Rane, specifically? Come to think of it, how did you give Jenna access, earlier?

-Well, Jenna was easy to find, given that she’s married to the city lord.-

What about Rane?

-Come on, Tala. We know his magical signature almost as well as we know our own.-

That was interesting to realize.

Oh… I should have discussed this with Odera.

-Oh, yeah. We very much should have.- After a pause, Alat projected the sound of a clearing throat. -I’ll give her access, and we can tell her, tomorrow.-

Agreed.

Rane seemed deep in thought but was nodding to himself.

“What’s up?”

He gave her a side-eyed glance, before answering. “I’ve been needing to pick up an Archive integration at some point. I’ll have to check with my inscriber to see what he recommends and what he thinks I can support.”

Tala grunted. “Well, let me know what you find. You have been increasing your magical weight at a good pace. There should be something that you can get.”

-Um…Tala?-

Yeah?

-Jenna just gave us access to a message. She would like us to find a reason to be out of Bandfast, tomorrow. There will be several teams of Mage Hunters and two people with the title of Arcane Hunter close at hand.-

Tala would have sworn that she immediately felt bloody eyes on her once again. And I was doing so well, not thinking about that…thing.

-You were. I am sorry to ruin it. How should I respond?-

Tala considered for a moment. Ending berries. We need a bunch.

-I’ll add an addendum stating that we’re going to the ending grove that’s…?-

North. We’ll go to the one to the north.

-Alright. In her note, she asked us to be discreet about our true purpose but to let people know you’re leaving the city.-

She had no idea how to do that, but she would try. What? No announcing to the city at large that I’m going out to be used as Arcane bait?

-Precisely.-

Tala snorted a laugh, and Rane gave her an odd look.

“Is everything alright?” They had just entered the compound and were making their way through the wide halls towards their reserved arena.

Inviting people to come could work… “Yeah, yeah. Hey, do either of you want to come out of the city with me, tomorrow? I’ll be going a dozen or so miles to the north to harvest some berries.”

Aproa responded first. “I can’t; I actually leave on assignment tomorrow morning. I’ll be gone for about three weeks.”

“Oh, that’s sad.” Tala was surprised that the news actually did disappoint her.

Rane cleared his throat. “Well, I need to meet with my inscriptionist tomorrow. If you need company, I’ll happily come, but if not, I’d like to get this dealt with.”

Tala shrugged. “Not necessary.” She trembled a little but contained the reaction. But I would like someone with me… “I think I’ll see if anyone at the training session, today, is interested in coming.”

With that, they had arrived, and the three of them walked out onto the familiar sand.

The regulars were there, along with a couple new Archons and five magelings, all bald and inscriptionless.

Tala cursed internally.

-Oooo. More old year-mates, newly arrived from the Academy.-

Great. Tala lagged behind a bit. Have you determined how to alter the through-spike’s illusion?

-Yes and no.-

Explain. She did not have any interest in games.

-Fine. I haven’t figured out how we can modify it, not yet, but I can show you how to manipulate the magics within it to remove the illusory aspect of its magics, until you release the manipulation and allow it to return to its base state.-

Show me.

Alat directed her through the motions with precision and ease, so that in less than five steps, as she continued to walk forwards, Tala was confident that she could enact the change at will.

It was quite a bit like making an alteration to her elk leathers, though the change wouldn’t be lasting.

Aproa spoke first. “Hunter Jean, what’s going on?”

Jean turned from a conversation that she had been having with one of the magelings. “These fine new graduates are looking for masters. They were told that for combat focused Mages, we’re a good group to investigate.”

Wow. Everyone’s acting showy, today.

The mageling that Jean had been talking to bowed over his clasped hands. “For transparency’s sake, we were given a list of groups that meet, similar to yours. We’ve already met with one group, and one of those who was with us found a master among them.”

Jean shrugged. “There you have it. Magelings looking for guides.”

Tala had stayed back, mostly behind Rane’s massive frame.

Cazor called out from the far corner. “I already told them that none of us really have the extra coin required to have a mageling, but apparently they think me a liar.”

The magelings shuffled uncomfortably.

Stan, the oxygen manipulator, shook his head. “Don’t be like that Cazor. You know very well that a mageling usually more than pays for herself in the end.”

Cazor shrugged. “I’m not taking one on.”

“No one will force you to,” Jean huffed. “I doubt anyone would want to be yours, anyways.”

Cazor ignored Jean’s barb, saw Tala and Terry, and waved. “Hey! You’re back, today. Terry is going to join us, right?”

Tala didn’t shrink in on herself, but it was a near thing. “Yeah. He’s excited to put you in your place.”

The Archons laughed, a few adding good natured jabs towards Cazor.

Cazor, for his part, levered himself off the wall he’d been leaning against and walked her way. “Hey, you look…different. Healthier?”

The attention that was already on her seemed to sharpen.

Tala would have sworn that she could feel it.

-You can’t, not literally. But you can feel the magic behind their intent, and that’s directed your way. Your magesight can pick that up, though it’s hardly that magical.-

Great…

A couple of the others added their own comments on how her color looked improved and the like.

Before any further comments could come about, Tala assuaged them. “Just a minor change. Nothing affecting my ability to participate, I assure you.”

There were some joking cheers at that.

Tala allowed her gaze to pass over the magelings, and a couple of them were giving her critical looks, seeming to be trying to figure something out about her.

Sadly, Rane had moved aside, presumably in an attempt to be courteous and not block her.

Cazor shrugged. “Alright, Mistress Tala, whatever you say. Then, would master Terry like to challenge someone, first?”

Well, rust. She really didn’t know what she’d expected. Someone was going to use her name eventually. Tala closed her eyes as she heard a gasp from the magelings, which keyed off a whispered, tumbling conversation that Tala had no issue hearing. “Tala? Did he say Mistress Tala?”

“I knew she looked familiar!”

“No, it can’t be her. She just left a few months back.”

“Didn’t she leave naked?”

“That’s hardly relevant. It’s not like she’d be unable to buy clothes.”

“Do you know any other Talas?”

“I don’t know every Mage in the world, Gegory.”

“Just ask her.”

“I’m not going to do that. You ask her.”

Tala was having flashbacks of her time at the Academy. Great. Just great…

-Hey, look at it this way. You were embarrassed by how you handled yourself when I helped you remember all that happened. This is a chance to be better.-

The other Archons seemed to have noticed the magelings' discussions, though most didn’t have any enhanced senses worth noting.

Jean was close enough to hear with ease, however, and she turned to regard Tala with a raised eyebrow.

Tala grinned sheepishly at the Mage Hunter and shrugged.

The woman shook her head and turned back to the huddled group. “Graduates. Are you here to gossip or to find masters?”

That shut them up, and they turned away from each other, looking chastened. Bless you, Jean.

Jean glanced towards Tala. “Mistress Tala. Is there anything you’d like to say to clear the air, so we can get to the business of watching our feathered friend feed Cazor some sand?”

That got a little laugh from those assembled, then all eyes turned back to Tala.

Rust you, Jean. Tala gave a little wave. “Hey. Long time no see, Gegory, Anisia. I don’t think I ever really met you others, not officially.”

“It is you!” There were several muttered exclamations.

“Yeah.” She shrugged. “Is that going to be a problem?”

They gave her odd looks. “No? Who are you mageling under? We don’t want to accidentally try to poach your master.”

Tala was at once offended by the reasonable assumption and touched by the consideration it represented. “Oh, no. I’m...” She cleared her throat. She had been about to say that she was an Archon, but that would open a can of worms that she wasn’t willing to address. “I’m not a mageling.”

That, again, caused all sorts of mutters.

Gegory stepped forward, a sad look in his eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I’m glad that you still get to be around magic though.”

What? Oh… Tala groaned internally. “No, no. I’m a full Mage.”

The mutters were louder this time.

Most of the Archons looked rather confused, but no one was willing to interrupt.

One of the braver magelings, whose name she didn’t know, spoke up. “Who was your master? I’d love to be fast-tracked too!”

The others laughed, and Tala grimaced.

Rane, who seemed to have been trying to contain his laugher, finally couldn’t any longer, and he barked out a laugh that was loud enough to border on being a shout. He then sucked in a breath, having trouble around his continued chuckles.

Tala, already on a hair-trigger, hit him on pure reflex.

Well, she tried, though the results were better than she’d have hoped.

His magic registered her hard swat as the attack it was and so moved him forwards and down, directly away from the blow.

Rane, who wasn’t really paying attention, didn’t compensate and roll with the motion as he normally would have.

Thus, he faceplanted into the sand in spectacular fashion, making a whoomph sound and sending up a little wave of finer sand that quickly settled.

Tala realized that, from the outside, it would have looked like Rane laughed at her and she hit him hard enough to slam the much larger man face-first into the ground.

There was a moment of stunned silence before the Archons, who all knew about Rane’s defenses, and were thus able to guess exactly what had happened, began laughing.

The five soon-to-be-magelings looked around in abject confusion.

Tala couldn’t help herself from grinning, as she spread her arms in a shrug as she looked to the young man who had inquired about her master. She felt like some of her tension had been stripped away. “I took a non-standard path, which is sadly not an option for any of you. I don’t have a master to recommend your way, as much as I’d like to.”

She looked around at the still chuckling Archons, even as Rane pushed himself to his feet, still apparently in a good mood, if his grin was any indication. He did spit out some sand, however.

She helped him get the rest of the way to his feet before her gaze returned to the five. “Well, we’ve spent enough time on formalities. We’re here to train. Ask questions as you have them.”

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

Eric Liu, ........, aantonides ., Aaron , Aaron Greene, Aaron Sofaer, Aclys , Acorderodelfin, Adam, Adam Andersson, Adam James Washington, adam1 , Add_Identity , Adrian Gorgey, Adrian Nightshade, Adurna , agent, AgentFransis, Aidan , aidan larson, Aidan Mc Donagh, ajcaspers, Akastor, Albert, Alec, Alex, Alex, Alex , Alex C, Alex Griffin, Alex LeBlanc, Alex Weatbrook, Alex Wilson, Alexander BÃ¶ckenholt, Alexander Baier, Alexander Dupree, Alexander Hoffmeister, Alexander Lease, Alison Swenson, Allora Lee, Almost Famous, Alphabetical, Alternative Facet, Andrew C Kerr, Andrew Cohen, Andrew Dempsey, Andrew Glass, Andrew Goudie, Andrew Holland, Andrius , Andy, Angela Kimova, angrycharlie, Anh Vo, Anna Turner, Anonymous , antab , Apotheosis As A Service, Archivist0 , Arhsnag, Aria, Aria Jonsdottir, Arnfinn Gjorvad, arty, Asael Sklar, Asterius, AstroMyrkat, Austin Woodard, AverageGuy , Azzurous, B C, Bacon Macleod, Bad Timing, Bailey Stone, Bain-Lindsay , Baldur Norddahl, bambi125, BasseBoss , Bast, Ben Dean, Biomass, Bloodorange17 , BoB, Bosparan, BossDawg, Boutross, bradley foster, Brandon Cleveland, Brian, Bricyn Abel, BRUNO ASTUR, BtBurns , Budgie, Bunny Waffles, BurnNote, C Howard, Cabbage God, Cae, Caleb, Carlos Andres Rengifo Escobar, Carya Galabra, CaughtRedHeaded, Ceromus, chad ensey, ChiefWizard , Chloe Winter, Chris, Chris, Chris , Chris Fox, Chris Hibbert, Chris Mantakounis, Christian Kenney, Christian Nowitzki, Christoffer DahlÃ©n, Christopher Catania, Christopher Fetherston, Christopher Harris, Cirex123 , ClapTrapCL4TP , Clara, closeded, cm123 , Cody Poteet, Colby , Cole Nyquist, Colin Brown, Colin Ford, Colin Reed, Connor Beeson, Connor Sunier, Conor Futro, Conor kelly, Cordelia , CringeWorthyStudios , CrispyKing , Cristi Palincas, CruelDude, crystalcat, Cypha, Cyrus McEnnis, da Finnci, Daba, Dakota , Dan, Dan , Dan , Dan Addis, Dan Weiss, Daniel , Daniel A, Daniel B, daniel edery, Daniel Harris, Daniel Joseph Moreau, Daniel Sigui, Daniel Zellmer, Darkhelm , DasUberGryx, Dave, David Brims, David Schleimer, David Turner, DeathOfOld , dennis malatesta, Derek, Derik Botha, Desertdoe , DeusCap, devarian , Diego Avendano-Morineau, Dire Wolf, Disclancer, Dominic Weibel, Doomerjunky, Dorian Grizzle, dotAlice, Dr.Quick, Draecath, Draega, dragonslaver, Drake Morgan, Drendude, Drew Gilmour, Driftward, Dustin , Dustin Qian, dwarftoss58, Dylan , Edmund McGough, Elias Leutgeb, Ell Lan, Elliott Fawcett, ElodinGale, Ely Brookes, EmissaryOfZork , Enaz the great, Enif , ENIM Skills, Ensos2, Enthused, Eric , erik lindquist, Erkki Parkkulainen, Erling Egilsson, EroNingen, Ethan , Ethan Munday, Evan Morris, evilperson41 , Fabian Elzo Kraemer, Faelyn, Feltenix, FieryFern, Findell , FishFace , Flogoyog , foolishlurker, FoolRegnant , Francesco Giorgini, Frank, Frank By Estenstad, Frank Timoney, Fraxx, Frederic Axt, Frederik, Frightful6_7, Frogger, Frost , Furnastone, GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Gabriel Boudreau, Gabriel Jarman-Ivens, Gamecats, Geoff, George Hicken, Glenn Clemente, Grausheira , grayfire, Greg Shields, Gremlin, Griffin E, Grimizen, Grizzly Fiction, Grumlen, Gull, Gunnar Crider, Gustav Burkhardt, GuyWhoReadsALot, Gwendolyn Simmons-LaRose, Gyslain Desgagne, Haran , Hazza Vanderbyl, HeartHawk, Helge, Helloworld, hellunit , Hibou Ronchon, HJ, HjÃ¶rtur Ãžorgeirsson, Hornblower , Ian , Ian Radspinner, IGS, Im Hello, ImBaroqe, Impatiance , Inzuris, Irisa, Isaac Boyles, Isaac Deroche, Itbeme12321, ItsjustMe , ItWasIDIO!!, Jack Brown, Jacob , Jacob Ellis, Jacob trent, Jake Pellegrini, Jalty, James, James Beaudreau, James Davidson, James Derr, James Lavender, James Walsh, Jamie Johnstone, Jan Joost Sijbesma, Jarrod Manzer, Jasen Nichols, Jason Johnson, Jason Morse, Jason Petry, Jasper, Jasper Walters, Jayden Kirkham, Jedediah Wolfgang, Jeff Barton, Jeff Gault, Jeffery Nickelson, Jehru, Jerad Stephens, Jeremy Dorn, Jeremy Durbin, Jeremy James, Jess, Jetforce, Jiokuy , JJ327, Jo, JoÃ£o Vieira, Jody, Joe Smith, Joey Nguyen, Johannes, John D'Arcy, John Growcott, John Hadel, John Noone, Jonah of the Whale, Jonathan , Jonathan Frerichs, Jonathan Timm, Jonathan Yarian, jonch1243 ., Joseph , Joseph Saunders, Josh Fryza, josh mitchell, Joshua allen, joshua carlile, Joshua Holt Sorensen, Joshua Lawvere, Joshua Samuel Miller, Joshua Smith, Joshua Turnbull, Joy , JT, JTP , Julian Beaumont, Julian Meltzer, Just Dave, just_a_potato , Justin, Justin , Justin , Justin Marble, Justin Reagan, Jywert , KÃ¶ck Nikolaus, Kaeson, Kai , Kamren Livingston, Karl Tageman, Karma Baris, karmaslap , Kate Yen, KDP , Keira Wulfe, Keith Papak, Kel Pough, Kelsey , kenneth, Kenneth , Kent Gunn, Kenyaa , Kermity , Kevin Green, Khress , Kiran, Kirk Morgan, Kirvin, klabuster, Klecksi, Knightfire, Kovak, kreiverin, Krikor Chichadjian, Kristian Olesen, Kristoffer , Kyle, Kyle Brackenbury, Kyle frasch, L Pedersen, Lachlan Priest, Laila , Lamrsw, Lanhail, Laurids Jensen, Lazy Lemon, Le GarlantÃ©zec, Leendert Kortlever, Leif Nejst, LeJordon , Lenonxx6, Leon Ernst, Lerous, Levi Cox, Lewis Dyer, Lindsay W., Logan , Logan Fain, lol, LordDark , LordErr, Ludger , lukas bonnesen, luke, LuminescentSky, Lyael, Lygon Bowen-West, Lynd Koh, M , MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, Maggi von Da, Magisch, Magnuss, Maksim, Malbec , Marcel Amendt, Marcus Adams, Marcus Pehan, Margus234, Mario Kaminsky, Mark, Mark Dolson, mark mÃ¸llegaard, Matt H, Matt Labrum, Matt M, Matt M, Matt S., Matthew , Matthew Davis, Matthew Powell, mattias hessleryd, Max Muhlenkamp, Max W, maxime gm, Mcnoodlies , Mechrono, Megacheez , Meierfrac, Melting Sky, Memnochian, MenacingSand, meoth , MePe , Micah Wallis, Michael, Michael D Chavez, Michael Goulet, Michael Maor, Michael Mooney, Michael O'Gorman, Michael Olson, Michael Seedorf, Michael She, Michelle Goodman, Midnight Harbinger, Mikael Svensson, Mike Lump, Miles Pettey, minicheatbook, Mohammad Muzhaffar Bin Omar, mohammed essam, MoneyTree, Monte949, Mountainking , Mr Google Doodle, Mr. Finch, Mudith Mallajosyula, Nate Kaufman, Nathan Fahrenbach, Nathaniel Baxter, NaughtyPaws, Nicholas Anile, Nicholas Johnson, Nick Tinsley, Nick Warner, Nikel Eld, Nikita Becker, Nikolaj Rosander Madsen, Nikolas allen, NNeil , Noah Jones, noah stevens, nokko, Nonie, Noshei , Notcreepycreeper, nugitoBambino, nymaxilian , Nyotree, Oakenbear , OakieTheTree, Ocean Breeze, Odunski, Oliver , Oliver Firoozan, Oliverthms , OlivierA, Omar Wazir, OnigaImasuka , Onill007 , OrangeSpork, PaleMire, Parker Hebert, Patrick Blatti, patrick seim, PatronTurtle , Paul Becker, Paul Pintea, Pawel Maskowicz, Payen Hell, Pedro Derze, peter mattoon, Philip , Philipp Zander, Philipp Ziehe, Phlorez , Pieter-Jan Van Steenkiste, Pigeonpie, PiMs, Piotr, Politician, PortlandPhil , posthumousleon , Powernap , Primordi, Proteus Jones, Que Tea, Quendolayne, Rachel Prochner, RageBone , Ragmas, Raken, Ramapriya Rangaraju, Randy Klein, Raphael , Ratoo , Ray Robitaille, Raznakz, reafan, Redbeard , Reece Grimshaw, Reed Montemurro, Reid Palmquist, Relein, Retaliation ., Rhaid, Rich Webb, Richard Davis ll, Rip Woodham, rizen, Robert , Robert Kline, Robert Mullins, Robert P, Robert z, Robin Richards, Robin SjÃ¶doff, Roger, Rory natynczuk, RottenTangerine, Rutger Boll, Ryan , Ryan Hearn, Ryan Naquin, Ryan Tran, Ryudachi, S T, S.G., Sam Oppy, Sam Vinh, Samuel McCarren, Sandoz, Saramon H, Satya Prateek, Schelm , schnixxes, ScottDR, Seadrake, Sean Carter, Sean Elliott, Sean McCrohan, Sean Panajotovic, Sebastian Larsen, Sebastian Lindqvist, sedael , Sekander , Seth Bryant, Seth Cox, Seth Richter, sethorizer, Severed Hat, Shakez44, Shelbo, Signspace, Silberwolf325 , sings_with_toads, Siphor , Sivcere, Skarsol, Sleet Rain, Smokestack Matt, smoze, SoddenFool, Solar , Some Total Kretin, someguy , Spencer Herold, Stano MareÄek, StarWolf, Steffen, Stephanie Washburn, Stephen Pearson, steve, Steven C, STORRM , Stuart Anderson, Styx49, Superposhposh , Svarog, Swanie, T.E. N., Taliesin , Talion, Tangyorange, Tate Browder, Tatletot, Teee , Temon_Oak, Thaco4 , TheFool, TheLazerCat , Thernn , Thomas Goyne, Thomas Payne, Thomas Stewart, Thomas Van Roy, ThreatLvlPurple , Tim Marshall, Timothy Burago, tlove, TNkdI6FVB1NhjNqt , Toad , Tobias Zeitvogel, Toc Anastar, Tom Roettger, TomÃ¡Å¡ BlÃ¡bol, TorbjÃ¸rn Haugstad, TorbjÃ¸rn Nilsen, Traian, Travis McHenry, Travis McIntosh, Tristan Griffin, Troy Fox, TurmRIC, TwistedToaster, Tyler, Tyrone Thomas, Tzucaza ., user754595, Valter AnunciaÃ§Ã£o, Vaulex, Vervacitus , Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, Vikram Ahluwalia, Viktor NechvÃ¡tal, Viria , voltic, Walter , WarNachos, Weppsu, Wesley Miller, WhisperInTheVoid, Will C, William Davis, William Francom, William Fullerton, William Priess, william wallace, Wundermelon, X Y, xIron Gamerx, xtrnet, Xynee, Yemisi Mcmullen, Yenin , Yrom, Z. Cs., Zach Adams, zachary gafken, Zanthras, Zebrababies, znarken

Mage:

Aaron Lewis, al , Alex Scriber, Alexander Belousov, Anton Selling, Barrie Davis, Bedo Vavrena, Caillin McKay, Carl Clements, Chris , Chris Olsen, Cory Ellis, Cybernetic Angel, Deneas , Derek Singer, Digdug, Dustin , Eoin Barrett, Eric Trombly, Fabian , Finn Freudenberg, Gemyma, Gert Wallis, Gleadge, GopherAtl, Graeme Jardine, Gurditt Mangat, Ian Anderson, Jackson Ragland, jacob britt, James Hadfied, Jamison Schneider, Jan, Jason Case, Jeremy Leonard, Jonny, Josh , Joshua John Wallace, Lasse Pedersen, Lia, Louis Nel, mallix , Mathias Schwendimann, Mathieu Deg, Matthew , Max Oberg, MeatyLock , Michael Anaya, Michael Bradet-Legris, Michael Mercado, Michael Stephan, moon.wizard.666, Moritz MÃ¼ller, NebulaeDreamz, Nicholas Kelly, Patrick Cole, Pigeon F, Ransom Hollister, Rick Brandon, Sage, Scott Holt, Setaria, Shad0wlife , Silveredgallium, SirGuy , tachi-kawa, theend , Turnip, ulrik aaby, Vroom , Werkrat , windspren, Yasin Bari, Zachery R Hunnicutt

Mageling:

Alexander Graber-Tilton, ashandarei, Austin McGue, Benjamin Buco, Carl Bunch, Chris K, DANTE, Dave Burkett, dave hutch, David, Faris Bissex, Hamo4, Hollowlce, Isaac Larkin, Ivo Havener, Jeff berman, Jeremy , Joost Boere, Judy Halloran, Kevin O'donnell, Kirsty , Lonewolf, Matt DiMeo, Michael kim, moniker, Nicholas Cunningham, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, P.R. Bakker, Pawaidan, pope benedict, Robert Rosenthal, S , Sam Mullen, Sid_Cypher , SomethingWicked , Stefan Rabenstein, Sven Paulson, ttuurrhh , Wesley

Inscribed:

Alastair Dent, Anks , Ari Mononen, Brisingaer, Chase128, Dan Snell, Dax, Daydeus, Eric Mueller, Eyke, fennek , George Lanetz, Isaac Fratti, Jonathan , julian, Kuro_Neko , LÃ©o Viarouge, Luka Lageschaar, Moses Lambert, Mqrius, N. A., nikrowd , Paul Lorenz, PeM, Ross Doyle, Tandroll, Trevor Walker, Tytus Turczynski

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Chapter: ?? - Blessings Never Cease

A note from JLMullins

I'm pulling a "hobbit" and giving you all a gift on my birthday. 😋

Enjoy! 🎉

Kit was in heaven. The influx of blessings never ceased.

The human who had dared claim her had gone above and beyond in offering recompense. She served Kit well enough to earn her continued existence a thousand times over. Though, Kit was beginning to suspect that the human had other motivations for its largess.

Kit held sway over more and wielded more power than she had ever thought possible, and the increases seemed unending.

Now, she was not just a devourer, but a creator. All within her expanded space was under her auspices; she could form it at will. The human had somehow granted her the ability to form illusions and reshape the properties of that which was under her control.

From her meager tests, the changes she made to physical matter did not endure outside of herself, but there was time, still. She could now alter her exterior, if not as much as the physical space she contained, and she could see outside herself, if just a bit.

The latter was likely to facilitate her exterior changes, which Kit took special pride in. She could hide anywhere.

Kit did not consider how closely her new abilities mirrored those of her near kin, the syphons. It was probably just a coincidence. After all, a syphon of sufficient power to have physical remnant magics able to grant this level of power would have been strong. Its power would have been far beyond the ability of her human to overcome.

It was obviously just a coincidence.

The human continued to feed Kit a seemingly unending supply of power, which was beginning to make Kit a bit lazy, if she was being honest.

She hadn’t been wantonly eating anything left within her for a while, now. Though, she did still sequester things that the human was unlikely to miss. Mostly, that included scraps of bio-matter, and excess material, stubbornly grabbing on to the items that the human would miss.

It was a comfortable life.

Too comfortable.

Deep within Kit, she was still the Devourer of All, that was still her nature.

She was sure of it.

Because of that, the greatest shock in this new iteration of existence had come when the beacon of death had begun accompanying the human into Kit’s domain. Thankfully, it was only on occasion, but ever since Kit’s last upgrade it had been increasing in frequency.

The beacon was a being of such deep power and hunger that Kit truly began to question if she had ever been worthy of the name: 'Devourer of All.'

She had, only once, attempted to take a nibble from the seemingly infinite supply of power and food that was the beacon.

It had been like trying to bite a rock.

No, that wasn’t right. Kit regularly devoured little rocks and bits of sand that came in with the human.

It had been like…Kit shuddered. It had been like trying to take a bite from the Consumer, back when she was but a little devourling, surrounded by her broodmates in the deep nothing, outside of existence.

Her progenitor had been so far above her that, had the Consumer not so named her, Devourer of All would never have dared presume the moniker.

As it was, Kit was glad to have another name, now.

Identity crisis avoided.

Still, she occasionally saw the beacon watching her, somehow, its eyes seemingly looking beyond the extra-physical space, in which Kit was the absolute master, and into her.

Her human did not know what it was doing by giving such a being a cutesy name like ‘Terry.’

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 182 - That Unleashed a Flood

A note from JLMullins

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Tala took a moment to breathe in deeply, calming her nervousness at being in the spotlight. Then, with a smile, she glanced at Terry, who was still perched on her shoulder. “Hey, we’ve been teasing about you fighting Master Cazor, but you can challenge anyone you want to.” After a moment’s hesitation, she added. “Well, except the healer or the magelings-to-be.”

Terry let out a series of descending squawks, then flickered off her shoulder, appearing in the middle of the arena with the mass of a horse and standing roughly nine feet tall.

That was much bigger than any form he usually took, but Tala had seen him taller. While eating dead woodsmen whole… She hesitated there, then closed her eyes and let out an irritated breath.

-We never sold the random junk we took from those men.-

No. No, we did not. She’d have to ask Lyn to do that.

Before she could fall further into contemplations, Terry continued with his challenge.

He stretched his vestigial wings outward, tilted his head up, and let loose a deep, undulating trill of challenge, then cocked his head to the side, regarding Cazor.

The reactions of those present were quite mixed.

The Archons who’d seen Terry before, even if not at any other size, simply gaped. The new Archons, from Tala’s perspective, all were immediately wrapped in various forms of defensive magics. Good reactions.

One seemed to have been encased in a slightly translucent coating of shadow; another was enshrouded in a heat haze; and the last of the new Archons left a working hanging in the air between herself and Terry. Tala and Alat weren’t quite able to interpret the working after it was settled in the air, but the woman herself was an Immaterial Guide. Though, Tala couldn’t tell exactly what she focused on with her brief glance at this distance.

The magelings paled, almost as one, and huddled closer together.

Jean dropped her hand to her weapon but didn’t draw it.

Cazor, the focus of Terry’s posturing, straightened before the challenge and slowly nodded his agreement.

Aproa and Rane just grinned, watching everyone else react to what they’d known was coming. Well, they’d at least known that something like it was likely, even if they probably wouldn’t have guessed at this exact event.

The same, brave mageling spoke up again. “I assume he’s non-standard too?”

That broke the tension as slightly nervous chuckles echoed through the arena.

Tala shrugged. “Just a bit, yeah. He’s a friend.” With that thought, she sought out the healer and called out to him. “Hey, for safety’s sake, would you be able to heal an arcanous creature, if he were injured?”

The healer scratched his chin in thought, then nodded slowly. “I believe so. For combat healing, I mainly stimulate the patient’s own body to regenerate, providing the energy for the healing myself. That should be universal, though I have never attempted to heal a non-human.”

“Is that good enough, Terry?”

Terry gave her an arch look, and she laughed. “Fine, fine. I just wanted to be safe.”

Terry preened, then looked back to Cazor, questioningly.

Cazor stepped forward. “Clear the center. Let’s see what this… honorable creature is capable of.”

Rane snorted another laugh. “You were going to call him a monster, weren’t you.”

Cazor didn’t reply.

The watchers moved to the sides of the arena. A few words were exchanged about the types of powers the two combatants would bring to bear, and it was decided that they didn’t need to take any special precautions. Both were very precise in what they did.

Terry walked a slow arc back and forth while Cazor moved to stand opposite him, opening the pouches at his waist and calling out clouds of iron dust to begin swirling around him.

It was fascinating. Cazor’s control of the interweaving magnetic fields was so tight and minute that he created ever-moving webs of iron powder, as fine as capillaries in human skin.

If Tala had to guess, she’d have said that some of the paths were only a single grain wide as the iron swirled and spun in intricate, meticulously manipulated patterns to the point that the Mage himself was but a hazy form in the midst of the maelstrom.

Beautiful.

The magic around the iron was a kaleidoscope of power. Cazor was utilizing the dimensions of magic to enact such powerful workings on each fraction of the physical space around him, and through it all, he barely seemed to be putting forth an effort.

-True, but from what we’ve seen, his inscriptions do much of the heavy lifting.-

That’s fair.

Tala was surprised that no further iron lifted out of the sand as the Archon’s magnetic fields brushed the surface. He was delicate and directional enough with his power that nothing he didn’t wish to affect was affected.

Jean cleared her throat. “To surrender, either verbal or due to incapacitation. Fight!”

Terry instantly flickered away, but he didn’t instantly appear near Cazor as Tala had expected.

Instead, she was able to see a series of blips of dimensional energy chained so quickly in succession they resembled a pack of firecrackers to her magesight, popping in sequence.

Each one took a different path, zig-zagging through the currents of iron.

The iron is actually blocking him? Or is he pretending it is?

Regardless of the case, he never fully manifested before moving on, so no one without active magesight would have noticed anything at all.

Now that she was listening for it, her greatly enhanced hearing could pick out the little bits of sound, distinct from the swirling rushing of the moving clouds of iron.

In less than two seconds, Terry had covered the distance and appeared behind Cazor and to the left.

While Cazor didn’t turn, he obviously sensed Terry there, because the iron on that side pulled together to create what seemed to be an almost solid armored plate.

Terry smashed his talons through it.

As he struck, the magically formed iron mass twisted, deflecting and thus ruining the attack even though it couldn’t stop it.

At that moment, the iron sheet broke apart, back into dust and seemed to flow and encase Terry’s outstretched leg.

Terry ignored it, flickering down and shrinking, very similar to how he’d dealt with Aummar that first time.

So, encasing part of his body in iron doesn’t work to stop him. She wouldn’t have thought that it would, but proof was interesting to witness.

When Terry appeared, Cazor didn’t try to block him. Instead, the Mage Hunter shot spikes of spinning, compressed iron at the terror bird, forcing Terry to flicker away once again.

The spikes shattered into the ground, briefly leaving dark grey patches in the sand, tracing the pattern of damage Cazor had attempted to inflict on Terry.

That looks pretty cool. I don’t know if those would penetrate my skin, but if they did… She could imagine the havoc iron dust could wreak inside a Mage or magical creature.

Terry seemed to be having a grand old time as he switched tactics.

He flickered around Cazor’s head, appearing for only an instant in each place to let out shrill squawks, always directed inward.

Tala flinched at the volume and pitch, even at a distance, and Cazor was clearly staggered by the quick sequence of sonic bursts.

Tala was surprised that she didn’t see any magic behind the sound. It was simply that: mundane noise, piercing enough to cause pain.

Even so, when Terry appeared directly in front of the Mage to capitalize on that distraction, Cazor sent a ring of spikes shooting outward in all directions.

He didn’t want to take the time to lock down exactly where Terry was, but he knew another attack was incoming.

One of the viciously sharp, spinning spikes struck solidly enough to cause the terror bird to grunt.

Terry hadn’t flickered away as Tala had expected. Instead, he took the hit and used the momentary opening to grab Cazor across the chest, one talon going over each shoulder, one under his right arm, and the opposing talon hooking around the left side of the Archon’s waist.

With seemingly casual ease and speed, Terry forced Cazor back and down, pinning the Archon to the sand, pressing him down with what must have been near bone-crushing force. Tala didn’t hear the snap or pop of bone, however, showing just how calibrated Terry was being with his own strength and weight.

Terry screeched into Cazor’s face, and the Archon tried to get his hands up between his head and Terry in a completely involuntary defensive reaction.

“Yield!” Cazor called out. “I yield!”

Terry immediately flickered away, settling down on the far side of the open space as iron dust rained down around Cazor.

Cazor lay on the sand groaning as the healer ran over to him and quickly dealt with the injuries.

It was then that Tala saw the blood.

It wasn’t a lot, but there were speks of blood on the sand, and Terry never broke Cazor’s skin.

“Terry. You’re bleeding.” Tala moved quickly across to her friend, running her hands over him. Sure enough, there was a small hole in one of his wings where the iron spike had hit.

Cazor staggered a bit as he and the healer came their way. Behind him, the iron was sucked off the surface of the arena floor and streamed back into his waiting pouches. “Well fought, master Terry. May I?” He held up one hand.

Terry gave him a wary glance but then nodded once.

Cazor placed a hand over the small wound, and Tala saw him create a powerful, targeted magnetic field, drawing his iron dust out of the flesh around the injury. “That would have made it difficult to heal.”

Terry narrowed his eyes and nipped at Cazor’s hand, though he didn’t break the skin.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry about that. I didn’t really think that I’d have to use my spikes.” He scratched the back of his head. “How short is your teleportation cool-down, anyways?”

Terry gave him a look that Tala knew well. So, after a short chuckle, she interjected on Terry’s behalf. “You’re asking him questions he has no way of answering. He can’t speak, remember?”

“Right, right.” Cazor turned to look her way. “Do you know?”

She shrugged. “I’ve never seen a noticeable delay between his teleports.” She’d seen him tired, but that wasn’t a feature of his teleportation.

Cazor paled and swallowed, his attention shifting back to Terry. “That’s… terrifying. And your size-changing?” He shook his head. “You have complete dimensional mastery, don’t you?”

Terry cocked his head, conveying uncertainty.

The Archon leaned in and lowered his voice, probably unnecessarily, but he wanted to ensure that the magelings couldn’t hear. Their masters might share this with them, but that wasn’t for him to do. “Most arcanous creatures have a single aspected ability, and usually some physical or physiological ones thrown in. Most creatures can survive a single trip to a fount for such, to become arcanous creatures in the first place. But if they return to pass through the fount a second time? Most die outright, but if they don’t they are able to gain much, much greater strength and flexibility in that aspect. If all you could do was teleport quickly, I’d believe you went through a dimensional fount twice, but you can do so much more. Now, if a creature has visited a fount twice, and then goes back a third time: They die.”

He paused on that, letting it hang before he gave a mischievous smile.

“But if they don’t, they gain what we call mastery over that aspect, and their capabilities often exceed Bound, or even Fused, true-magical creatures.”

Terry’s head drooped, and he crooned softly.

Cazor noticed and patted the side of the terror bird’s beak. “You must have been desperate to end up as you are, my friend.”

Terry didn’t reply.

The healer had been examining the wound while Cazor talked, but now that there was a natural gap in the flow of information, he cleared his throat to gain their attention. “This might hurt, and it will definitely itch.”

Terry regarded the man for a moment, then bobbed a nod.

The healer extended his hand and power flowed through him and into Terry.

Terry squawked and shivered in irritation but didn’t otherwise react.

True to form, the wound closed in the time it would take for a deep breath.

In the background, from near the edge of the arena, Tala heard Jean turn to the magelings-to-be. “So, any questions?”

And that unleashed a flood. It took a good fifteen minutes to get all the questions answered and return the focus to the training at hand.

The first one started off in a mildly interesting fashion. “How can magic affect iron? I thought iron was immune to magic.”

Jean nodded sagely. “Well, iron cannot be affected by magic, but it can be by anything created by magic, that is not magic itself.”

The magelings-to-be all seemed to consider that before nodding, seemingly understanding.

For the most part, the questions moved into less interesting territory from there.

Blessedly, Tala was not required to answer many of the questions, except those pertaining to Terry. Though, there were quite a few of those to answer:

They wanted to know how she’d gotten him to work with her.

“More than anything, he chose me.”

Terry trilled happily from her shoulder, head-butting her cheek to “aww’s” and smiles from the magelings.

Could they tame a terror bird of their own, when they found one?

“No, I would not recommend trying to tame or befriend terror birds, as a rule. He tried to kill me on multiple occasions, before we worked things out.”

Terry bobbed emphatically, adding weight to the statement as the young ones paled, licked dried lips, or otherwise demonstrated horror at the very idea of befriending something that had repeatedly tried to kill them.

-It’s kind of your thing, though… right? You find things that want to, or could, destroy you and get what you can from them?-

Tala ignored Alat.

Finally, they wanted to know if it was hard to keep him fed, given his larger size when he chose it.

“He actually eats less than I do.”

That puzzled the newly arrived graduates but gave Aproa and Rane no end of amusement.

Thankfully, the rest of the questions were not Terry-related, so Tala was spared.

Soon enough, they were back to the standard, daily practice and training.

Terry, not being Bound in truth or in power-density, couldn’t participate in aura manipulation or direct contests of will. Even so, the group was still able to do such exercises, including Terry, after Jean informed everyone that an Archon should be able to prevent Terry’s teleportation by extending his aura over a space and claiming it as his own.

Tala gave Terry a side-eyed glare at that revelation, to which the terror bird pretended innocence.

In practice, however, Terry’s magical weight hit like an Elder, and no single Archon could keep him from moving around as he saw fit. They couldn’t even slow him down or redirect him by a noticeable amount.

They only succeeded in keeping him from a space when Tala, Rane, and Cazor synced their intent and will power over a space in which they co-mingled their auras.

The result was that Terry was forced to appear about a foot to the left of his intended destination.

Terry, of course, squawked derisively before stepping onto the target and declaring himself victorious, yet again.

Honestly, Tala was surprised that the magelings-to-be were allowed to witness the use, and hear discussions, of aura.

It was apparently something standardly conveyed to magelings early on by Archon masters. So, no one saw an issue with it.

The idea of co-mingling multiple Archons’ auras was fascinating to Tala. She’d understood the theory before, as everything her aura had “claimed” in Makinaven had already been so ruled by Master Jevin at a much more fundamental level, but she’d not considered its applications for Archons on equal footings or at equal rank.

The more direct tests of will that followed were embarrassing for Tala, in that she was once more the spotlight as she defeated every individual Mage in direct conflicts of will-power and magical weight.

There had been a moment of panic when she realized that her aura was trapped behind her iron paint. Thankfully, she’d immediately realized that her situation was almost the exact reverse of the iron sphere training Master Jevin had given her to do. That in mind, with a bit of effort, she was able to force her power around the physical barrier, through the dimensions of magic, and use it to empower her aura as normal.

Not ideal.

-Everything’s a trade off. We’ll have to see if this one works out.-

It didn’t take long to cycle through everyone in head-to-head conflicts, given that they could pair up and oppose one another all at the same time, rather than waiting for each individual bout to finish.

She didn’t even have to use her trick to come at them from below, and she still won handily against any individual Archon.

She tried not to steal glances at her year-mates, watching from the sides, but when she did, despite her best judgment, she saw growing awe in their expressions.

Great. This is not what I was aiming for…

The group rounded out the day with scenario work, which Terry gleefully participated in.

The most common setup was to defend a singular person from Terry.

Though, from one perspective, that was an abject failure and an exercise in frustration for the Archons, in every other aspect it was fantastic practice.

They each made massive leaps in coordinating with one another and overlaying, and even combining, their defenses with each other.

The result was a move from near instant defeat to being able to protect a given target for nearly five seconds before Terry breached their coordinated efforts.

There were lots of laughs, groans, and shaking of heads. Everyone grew in appreciation of the difficulty of protecting isolated targets from determined assault, and in their dawning horror in just how vicious the terror bird could be.

Suffice it to say, the healer earned his pay, and got his share of practice, that day.

Tala was definitely coming to better understand Xeel’s feelings about the terror bird, and the reasoning behind the elimination of the fount which had given him power.

As the Archons parted ways for the evening, several of the magelings approached various Mages, likely to inquire about becoming master and mageling.

Aproa bid everyone goodbye, as she was leaving in the morning, and Tala invited Rane back to her and Lyn’s house for the celebration with Lyn’s new mageling.

When they were all about to depart, Alat reminded Tala of her duties the next day.

“Oh! Apologies, everyone, but I have to leave the city tomorrow for an errand. Does anyone wish to accompany me to do some harvesting?” After a prod from Alat, Tala amended. “The harvesting is of berries, not arcanous animal parts, but the danger is still there.”

Most bowed out immediately. Jean and a couple others inquired a bit before thanking her for the invitation but declining as well.

Cazor, however, was quite intrigued. “Sure, I’ll come.”

“Great! Meet me at the northern gate around… ten or so?”

He shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”

“Do you have a mount, or other means of traveling quickly?”

He returned a cocky grin. “I’ll bet I can move faster than you.” His eyes moved to Terry and back. “Even if you have someone to carry you.”

“I’d like to see that.”

“Then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

Zu'ul, znarken, Zebrababies, Zanthras, zachary gafken, Zach Adams, Z. Cs., Yrom, Yenin , Yemisi Mcmullen, Xynee, xtrnet, xIron Gamerx, X Y, Wundermelon, william wallace, William Priess, William Fullerton, William Francom, William Davis, Will C, WhisperInTheVoid, Wesley Miller, Weppsu, WarNachos, Walter , voltic, Viria , Violet, Viktor NechvÃ¡tal, Vikram Ahluwalia, Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, Vervacitus , Vaulex, Valter AnunciaÃ§Ã£o, user754595, Tzucaza ., Tyrone Thomas, Tyler, TwistedToaster, TurmRIC, Troy Fox, Tristan Griffin, Travis McIntosh, Travis McHenry, Traian, TorbjÃ¸rn Nilsen, TorbjÃ¸rn Haugstad, TomÃ¡Å¡ BlÃ¡bol, Tom Roettger, Toc Anastar, Tobias Zeitvogel, Toad , TNkdI6FVB1NhjNqt , tlove, Timothy Burago, Tim Marshall, ThreatLvlPurple , Thomas Van Roy, Thomas Stewart, Thomas Payne, Thomas Goyne, Thernn , TheLazerCat , TheFool, Thaco4 , Temon_Oak, Teee , Tatletot, Tate Browder, Tangyorange, Talion, Taliesin , T.E. N., Swanie, Svarog, Superposhposh , Styx49, Stuart Anderson, STORRM , Steven C, steve, Stephen Pearson, Stephanie Washburn, Steffen, StarWolf, Stano MareÄek, Spencer Herold, someguy , Some Total Kretin, Solarwind, Solar , SoddenFool, smoze, Smokestack Matt, Sleet Rain, sleepy , Skarsol, Sivcere, Siphor , sings_with_toads, Simon Casey, Silberwolf325 , Signspace, Shykarn , Shelbo, Shakez44, Shad0wlife , Severed Hat, sethorizer, Seth Richter, Seth Cox, Seth Bryant, Sekander , sedael , SecondBlahm, Sebastian Lindqvist, Sebastian Larsen, Sean Panajotovic, Sean McCrohan, Sean Elliott, Sean Carter, Seadrake, ScottDR, schnixxes, Schelm , Satya Prateek, Saramon H, Sands , Sandoz, Samuel Patterson, Samuel McCarren, Sam Vinh, Sam Oppy, S.G., S T, Ryudachi, Ryan Tran, Ryan Naquin, Ryan Hearn, Ryan , Rutger Boll, RottenTangerine, Rory natynczuk, Roger, Robin SjÃ¶doff, Robin Richards, Robert z, Robert P, Robert Mullins, Robert Kline, Robert Hinshaw, Robert , rizen, Rip Woodham, Richard Davis ll, Rich Webb, Rhaid, Retaliation ., Reodude, Relein, Reid Palmquist, Reed Montemurro, Reece Grimshaw, Redbeard , reafan, Raznakz, Ray Robitaille, Ratoo , Raphael , Randy Klein, Ramapriya Rangaraju, Raken, Ragmas, RageBone , Rachel Prochner, Quendolayne, Que Tea, Proteus Jones, Primordi, Powernap , PotatoGod, posthumousleon , PortlandPhil , Politician, Piotr, PiMs, Pigeonpie, Pieter-Jan Van Steenkiste, Phlorez , Philipp Ziehe, Philipp Zander, Philip , peter mattoon, Pedro Derze, Payen Hell, Pawel Maskowicz, Paul Pintea, Paul Becker, PatronTurtle , patrick seim, Patrick Blatti, Parker Hebert, PaleMire, OrangeSpork, Onill007 , OnigaImasuka , Omar Wazir, OlivierA, Oliverthms , Oliver Firoozan, Oliver , Odunski, Ocean Breeze, OakieTheTree, Oakenbear , Nyotree, nymaxilian , nugitoBambino, Notcreepycreeper, Noshei , Nonie, nokko, noah stevens, Noah Jones, NNeil , Nikolas allen, Nikolaj Rosander Madsen, Nikita Becker, Nikel Eld, Nick Warner, Nick Tinsley, Nicholas Johnson, Nicholas Anile, Naxyval, NaughtyPaws, Nathaniel Baxter, Nathan Fahrenbach, Nate Kaufman, Mudith Mallajosyula, Mr. Finch, Mr Google Doodle, Mountainking , Mountain Barber, Monte949, MoneyTree, mohammed essam, Mohammad Muzhaffar Bin Omar, minicheatbook, Miles Pettey, Mike Lump, Mikael Svensson, Midnight Questions, Midnight Harbinger, Michelle Goodman, Michael She, Michael Seedorf, Michael Olson, Michael O'Gorman, Michael Mooney, Michael Maor, Michael Goulet, Michael D Chavez, Michael, Micah Wallis, MePe , meoth , MenacingSand, Memnochian, Melting Sky, Meierfrac, Megacheez , Mechrono, Mcnoodlies , maxime gm, Max W, Max Muhlenkamp, Mattias Klason, mattias hessleryd, Matthew Powell, Matthew Myers , Matthew Davis, matthew bird, Matthew , Matt S., Matt M, Matt M, Matt Labrum, Matt H, Markus Wienberg, mark mÃ¸llegaard, Mark Dolson, Mark, Mario Kaminsky, Margus234, Marcus Pehan, Marcus Adams, Marcel Amendt, Malbec , Maksim, Magnuss, Magisch, Maggi von Da, MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, M1styczny, M , Lynd Koh, Lygon Bowen-West, Lyael, LuminescentSky, luke, Lukas Schaefer, lukas bonnesen, Ludger , LordErr, LordDark , lol, Logan Fain, Logan , Lindsay W., Lewis Dyer, Levi Cox, Lerous, Leon Ernst, Lenonxx6, LeJordon , Leif Nejst, Leendert Kortlever, Le GarlantÃ©zec, Lazy Lemon, Laurids Jensen, Lanhail, Lamrsw, Laila , Lachlan Priest, L Pedersen, Kyle frasch, Kyle Brackenbury, Kyle, Kristoffer , Kristian Olesen, Krishnayash, Krikor Chichadjian, kreiverin, Kovak, Knightfire, Klecksi, klabuster, Kirvin, Kirk Morgan, Kiran, Khress , Kevin Green, Kermity , Kenyaa , Kent Gunn, Kenneth , kenneth, Kelsey , Kel Pough, Keith Papak, Keira Wulfe, KDP , Kate Yen, karmaslap , Karma Baris, Karl Tageman, Kaptain BlauebÃ¤r, Kamren Livingston, Kai , Kaeson, KÃ¶ck Nikolaus, Jywert , jww, Justin Reagan, Justin Marble, Justin , Justin , Justin, just_a_potato , Just Dave, Julian Meltzer, Julian Beaumont, julian, JTP , JT, Joy , Joshua Turnbull, Joshua Smith, Joshua Samuel Miller, Joshua Lawvere, Joshua Holt Sorensen, joshua carlile, Joshua allen, josh mitchell, Josh Fryza, Joseph Sutherland, Joseph Saunders, Joseph , jonch1243 ., Jonathan Yarian, Jonathan Timm, Jonathan Frerichs, Jonathan , Jonah of the Whale, Jon Lundy, John Noone, John Hadel, John Growcott, John D'Arcy, Johannes, Joey Nguyen, Joe Smith, Jody, JoÃ£o Vieira, Jo, JJ327, Jiokuy , Jetforce, Jess, Jeremy James, Jeremy Durbin, Jeremy Dorn, Jerad Stephens, Jehru, Jeffery Nickelson, Jeff Gault, Jeff Barton, Jedediah Wolfgang, Jayden Kirkham, Jasper Walters, Jasper, Jason Petry, Jason Morse, Jason Johnson, Jasen Nichols, Jarrod Manzer, Jan Joost Sijbesma, Jamie Johnstone, James Walsh, James Lavender, James Derr, James Davidson, James Beaudreau, James, Jalty, Jake Pellegrini, Jacob trent, Jacob Ellis, Jacob , Jack Brown, ItWasIDIO!!, ItsjustMe , Itbeme12321, Isaac Deroche, Isaac Boyles, Irisa, Inzuris, Impatiance , ImBaroqe, Im Hello, IGS, Ian Radspinner, Ian , Hornblower , HjÃ¶rtur Ãžorgeirsson, HJ, Hibou Ronchon, hellunit , Helloworld, Helge, HeartHawk, Hazza Vanderbyl, Haran , Hannoske, Gyslain Desgagne, Gwendolyn Simmons-LaRose, GuyWhoReadsALot, Gustav Burkhardt, Gunnar Crider, Gull, Grumlen, Grizzly Fiction, Grimizen, Griffin E, Gremlin, Greg Shields, grayfire, Grausheira , Glenn Clemente, George Hicken, Geoff, Gamecats, Gabriel Jarman-Ivens, Gabriel Boudreau, GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Furnastone, Frost , Frogger, Frightful6_7, Frederik, Frederic Axt, Fraxx, Frank Timoney, Frank By Estenstad, Frank, Francesco Giorgini, FoolRegnant , foolishlurker, Flogoyog , FishFace , Findell , Filosipher Smicker, FieryFern, Feltenix, Faelyn, Fabian Elzo Kraemer, evilperson41 , Evan Morris, Ethan Munday, Ethan , EroNingen, Erling Egilsson, Erkki Parkkulainen, erik lindquist, Eric , Enthused, Ensos2, ENIM Skills, Enif , Enaz the great, EmissaryOfZork , Ely Brookes, ElodinGale, Elliott Fawcett, Ell Lan, Elias Leutgeb, Edmund McGough, Dylan , dwarftoss58, Dustin Qian, Dustin , Driftward, Drew Gilmour, Drendude, Drake Morgan, dragonslaver, Draega, Draecath, Dr.Quick, dotAlice, Dorian Lee, Dorian Grizzle, Doomerjunky, Dominic Weibel, Disclancer, Dire Wolf, Diego Avendano-Morineau, devarian , DeusCap, Desertdoe , Derik Botha, Derek, dennis pettersson nygren, dennis malatesta, DeathOfOld , David Turner, David Schleimer, David Brims, dave hutch, Dave, DasUberGryx, Darkhelm , Daniel Zellmer, Daniel Smith, Daniel Sigui, Daniel Joseph Moreau, Daniel Harris, daniel edery, Daniel B, Daniel A, Daniel , Dan Weiss, Dan Addis, Dan , Dan , Dan, Dakota , Daba, da Finnci, Cyrus McEnnis, Cypha, crystalcat, CruelDude, Cristi Palincas, CrispyKing , CringeWorthyStudios , Cordelia , Conor kelly, Conor Futro, Connor Sunier, Connor Beeson, Colin Reed, Colin Ford, Colin Brown, Cole Nyquist, Colby , Cody Poteet, cm123 , closeded, Clara, ClapTrapCL4TP , Cirex123 , Christopher Harris, Christopher Fetherston, Christopher Catania, Christoffer DahlÃ©n, Christian Nowitzki, Christian Kenney, Chris Mantakounis, Chris Hibbert, Chris Fox, Chris , Chris, Chris, Chloe Winter, ChiefWizard , chad ensey, Ceromus, CaughtRedHeaded, Carya Galabra, Carter Hadley, Carlos Andres Rengifo Escobar, Caleb, Cae, Cabbage God, C Howard, BurnNote, Bunny Waffles, Budgie, BtBurns , BRUNO ASTUR, Bricyn Abel, Brian, Brandon Cleveland, Braincase , bradley foster, Bradley, Boutross, BossDawg, Bosparan, BoB, Bloodorange17 , Biomass, Ben Dean, Bast, BasseBoss , bambi125, Baldur Norddahl, Bain-Lindsay , Bailey Stone, Bad Timing, Bacon Macleod, B C, Azzurous, AverageGuy , Austin Woodard, AstroMyrkat, Asterius, Aslak, Asael Sklar, arty, Arnfinn Gjorvad, Aria Jonsdottir, Aria, Arhsnag, Archivist0 , Apotheosis As A Service, antab , Anonymous , Anna Turner, Anh Vo, angrycharlie, Angela Kimova, Andy, Andrius , Andrew Holland, Andrew Goudie, Andrew Glass, Andrew Dempsey, Andrew Cohen, Andrew C Kerr, Alternative Facet, Alphabetical, Almost Famous, Allora Lee, Alison Swenson, Alexander Lease, Alexander Hoffmeister, Alexander Dupree, Alexander Baier, Alexander BÃ¶ckenholt, Alex Wilson, Alex Weatbrook, Alex Sunier, Alex LeBlanc, Alex Griffin, Alex C, Alex , Alex, Alex, Alec, Albert, Akastor, ajcaspers, Aidan Mc Donagh, aidan larson, Aidan , AgentFransis, agent, Adurna , Adrian Nightshade, Adrian Gorgey, Add_Identity , adam1 , Adam James Washington, Adam Andersson, Adam, Acorderodelfin, Aclys , Aaron Sofaer, Aaron Greene, Aaron , aantonides ., ........,  Eric Liu

Mage:

Zachery R Hunnicutt, Yasin Bari, windspren, Wesley , Werkrat , Vroom , ulrik aaby, Turnip, theend , tachi-kawa, SirGuy , Silveredgallium, Setaria, Scott Toreki, Scott Holt, santor25, Sage, Rick Brandon, Ransom Hollister, Raistlin , Pigeon F, Patrick Cole, Nicholas Kelly, NebulaeDreamz, Myles2322, Moritz MÃ¼ller, moon.wizard.666, Michael Stephan, Michael Mercado, Michael Bradet-Legris, Michael Anaya, MeatyLock , Max Oberg, Matthew , Mathieu Deg, Mathias Schwendimann, mallix , Louis Nel, Lia, Lasse Pedersen, Joshua John Wallace, Josh , Jordan Leighton, Jonny, Jeremy Leonard, Jason Case, Jared Brewster, Jan, Jamison Schneider, James Hadfied, jacob britt, Jackson Ragland, J , Ian Anderson, Gurditt Mangat, Graeme Jardine, GopherAtl, Gleadge, Gert Wallis, Gemyma, Finn Freudenberg, Fabian , Eric Trombly, Eoin Barrett, Dustin , Digdug, Derek Singer, Deneas , Cybernetic Angel, Cory Ellis, Chris Olsen, Chris , Carl Clements, Caillin McKay, Bedo Vavrena, Barrie Davis, Anton Selling, Anon , Alexander Belousov, Alex Scriber, al , Aaron Lewis

Mageling:

Will Iam, twentytoo, ttuurrhh , Sven Paulson, Stefan Rabenstein, SomethingWicked , Sid_Cypher , Sam Mullen, S , RotWeisseWaffel, Robert Rosenthal, Prateek, pope benedict, Pawaidan, P.R. Bakker, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Nicholas Cunningham, moniker, Michael kim, Matt DiMeo, Lonewolf, Kirsty , Kevin O'donnell, Judy Halloran, Joost Boere, Jeremy , Jeff berman, Ivo Havener, Isaac Larkin, Hollowlce, Hamo4, Faris Bissex, Daydeus, David, Dave Burkett, DANTE, Chris K, Carl Bunch, BjÃ¶rn, Benjamin Buco, Austin McGue, ashandarei, Alexander Graber-Tilton

Inscribed:

Tytus Turczynski, Trevor Walker, Tandroll, Sam Ford, Ross Doyle, PeM, Paul Lorenz, nikrowd , N. A., Mqrius, Moses Lambert, Luka Lageschaar, LÃ©o Viarouge, Kuro_Neko , Jonathan , Isaac Fratti, George Lanetz, fennek , Eyke, Eric Mueller, Dax, Dan Snell, Chase128, Brisingaer, Ari Mononen, Anks , Alastair Dent

This is an interesting, fairly unique story. If you're looking for something to read, you might like it: The Armorer and the Infinite Dungeon

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Chapter: 183 - Embarrassing for Everyone

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Thuss, Sakari Saastamoinen

<Find the rest below the chapter>

As Tala and Rane were leaving the training complex, Tala remembered that she’d promised to be at the Guardsmen’s training area the next day, and Aummar was even going out of his way to prepare some special things for her and Terry. Now, she wouldn’t be there.

Ahh, rust. That could have been bad.

-Agreed.-

So, with that realization, she walked over to the front desk where a young woman was reading a book.

What book is that? She was able to catch enough of a look at it that Alat could extrapolate.

-It’s either, How to Become a Mage without the Academy, or How to Seduce a Mage, Academically.-

Tala almost choked. Those are nothing alike!

-Well, take a better look, then. It’s at an extreme angle.-

Wait… is the second one actually a real book?

-Of—-

Tala cut across Alat. Never mind! I don’t want to know. She pushed that aside, hopefully permanently. “Excuse me.”

“Yes, Mistress?” The woman closed the book and set it title side down, before glancing up and then frowning slightly. Despite her confusion, she didn’t comment further, instead waiting for Tala to make her inquiry.

Tala assumed that the woman’s difficulty came from this being a for-Mages facility. While mundanes weren’t barred by any means, there wasn’t much that would be useful to them there, generally speaking.

My lack of visible inscriptions is a bit annoying. She felt like Jenna would have known that, and they could have made the item with that in mind, but she was letting herself get distracted. “Could I send a messenger from here? If not, do you know a close location that could take it?”

The clerk looked to be about to give some negative response, but then her eyes moved over Terry on Tala’s shoulder and to Rane, before returning to Tala, her entire demeanor shifting. It seemed that whether or not Tala was a Mage didn’t really matter, as she kept the company of Mages. “We can do that for you for a small fee.”

As that was reasonable, Tala composed a short message for Aummar and asked for it to be delivered to that specific Guardsman Training Ground as soon as possible.

It cost a half a silver but saved her the trip. And the possibility of me forgetting or getting distracted.

-I think I sense personal growth.-

Tala decided it was best to not engage.

Alat laughed in the back of Tala’s mind.

The message taken care of, Tala thanked the clerk and departed with Rane and Terry in tow.

They discussed the day’s training along with other small things as they trudged through the slush.

With no new snow added in the last bit, the existing stuff had been trampled and dirtied to the point of becoming a slushy black-brown mess.

This…this I don’t like. It was a part of the less pleasant side of winter, and Tala was grateful for both her shoes, which she had quickly grown on, and for her weight distribution scripts, which helped keep her from sinking into the dark filth. When she glanced behind herself, she did see a series of shallow, circular “prints” leading away behind her. I wonder if that will confuse anyone. It didn’t really matter, she supposed.

She didn’t know exactly what would happen to all the nastiness when she altered her clothing.

In the worst case, it would be carried with the material as it— The dirt —sloughed off, falling back into the rest of the snow. Right. Self-cleaning.

-Did you really forget a part of what they do?-

I suppose… Well, forget isn’t quite right, I just didn’t try to remember. I don’t really think about that aspect of their magic very often.

-That’s fair.-

Rane, for his part, was getting his boots and lower pants covered in the dark muck that resulted from the snow-slurry and countless passersby, both human and animal.

Terry stayed warm, dry, and clean on Tala’s shoulder.

They didn’t talk too much as they made their way home. Well, to my home. And Lyn’s…and now Kannis’s as well, I suppose.

-It could be Rane’s too, if you wanted.-

You don’t know that, and no. I don’t want that.

-It’s pretty obvious.-

Tala ignored that, taking special satisfaction in the wide-open, free-from-buildings park near her home.

-You know, since I can sense when you’re being influenced, and then help to mitigate it, we could ride Terry through the city, until we found other syphons.-

That…that was a surprisingly interesting idea. Not now. Too much else going on.

-Fine, fine.-

Tala let them into the house, calling out as she did so. “I’m home! I brought Rane with me.”

-Not Master Rane.-

Hush, you.

“Tala! Come on back.” Lyn’s voice floated out to greet them. “You too, Master Rane.”

Rane cleared his throat, looking down at his filthy boots and pants. “I’ve got to get a bit cleaned up first. I’ll be out in a moment.”

With that, he ducked into the washroom right off the entryway.

Tala simply stamped her feet on the mat a couple of times to let everything fall free and retracted her shoes before proceeding into the house.

She came out of the entry hall and into the main space to find Lyn and Kannis sitting in two of the chairs, seeming to have been chatting before Tala had gotten there.

“Come, sit.” Lyn looked around and frowned slightly, realizing that there were only three big chairs.

Tala sat in the only other large reading chair and relaxed.

-You should say something.-

Tala sighed, leaning forward once again. “So, how was the first day? I like the magesight inscriptions. That’s a good set. A bit taxing for new Mages, but way better than the standard.”

“Oh, it was wonderful. Thank you for asking. And…” Kannis hesitated, then blinked at her. “Wait. You can tell what type of inscriptions I have?”

Tala shrugged. She could. So long as I have a basis for comparison and interpretation. “Yeah. My own magesight assists in the interpretation of inscriptions, so I’ve started to pick up the basics.”

Kannis seemed a bit at a loss as to how to respond to that.

Thankfully, Rane chose that moment to join them, wearing new, clean pants. “Hey, all.”

Lyn smiled. “Welcome, Master Rane. As to chairs-”

Rane grinned and held up a forestalling hand, seemingly guessing what she was thinking, before pulling out a folding chair from his dimensional storage and sitting in it with practiced comfort.

Tala thought she recognized the style, and it reminded her vividly of a cyclops and being bodily skipped across the ground like a stone. I hope Grediv is still alive. I’d like to slap him one day.

-For all the help he gave you?-

She hesitated. No, I’ll hug him for that. Then slap him for the cyclops.

-I can agree to that. I’ll help you remember.-

“Kannis, this is Master Rane.” Lyn gestured to the man, somewhat unnecessarily. “Master Rane, this is my new mageling, Kannis.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Kannis.” He held out his hand, and Kannis took it with a flustered smile. She’d clearly moved past the earlier confusion with regards to Tala.

“Thank you, Master Rane, the pleasure is genuinely mine.” She glanced to Lyn. “Are you sure it’s alright?”

The older woman shrugged. “Ask him if you wish.”

Kannis cleared her throat. “Do you mind if I look at you with my magesight? My master has instructed me to keep it on as much as I can stand, and I am recovered enough to re-engage it.”

Rane waved nonchalantly. “Sure. Most stop caring about that as they advance.” His eyes flicked towards Tala. “Thankfully for some.”

Tala rolled her eyes. “Even those who care only care if they notice, and they have to have their own magesight on for that to be the case.”

Kannis regarded her with a mix of curiosity and caution plain on her face.

-You’re projecting.- Tala ignored Alat.

The mageling smiled. “So… you wouldn’t mind either?”

“Not at all. Thank you for asking.” She smiled, trying to lighten the mood and still feeling bad for not acknowledging that she’d known Kannis before. She’s clearly forgotten me, or decided not to mention it, so I’m fine.

-She is likely thinking the same.-

Tala ignored that as she saw power run through the lines around Kannis’s eyes, and the young woman looked at each of the others in turn.

“Master Rane. You are an Archon as well?” Kannis seemed a bit over-awed at the realization.

Rane frowned at the comment. “I thought I had better control of my aura than that. You shouldn’t have been able to tell at all.”

Lyn interjected. “Mistress Holly switched her over to a more advanced form of magesight for her reinscribing. She can see through the first layers of skin, as if she has greater magical weight behind her sight. That allows her to see even perfectly controlled auras, so long as they aren’t fully retracted. It’s strenuous on her, but it should be a net benefit in the long run.”

“Ahh.” He smiled, then, a weight seeming to come off of him. “In that case, yes. I am.”

Kannis turned to Tala in an almost reverent tone. “How have you surrounded yourself with such powerful people, Mistress Tala?” She hesitated, seeming to actually look at Tala for the first time, her magesight still active. “You look…odd?” She immediately blushed and looked down. “I apologize. I didn’t mean it that way. I mean, I can see magic around you, but no spell-lines, nothing but what might be an aura…I don’t think? It just looks a bit… odd.”

Tala sighed. “Well, it’s best to just get this over with, I suppose. None of you scream, please?”

-Really? You’re not going to tell them more than that?-

I want to see how they really feel, what they really think about it.

-Seems a bit circumspect, but okay.-

Lyn leaned back, assuming that she knew what was coming. The other two gave her odd looks, but slowly nodded.

Here it goes. Tala reached inside herself and deactivated the through-spike’s illusion functions.

Tala saw her hands in her peripheral vision as they quickly faded from clean, unblemished, unadorned, and flesh colored to a dull, dark gray. Overtop of the gray, intricate inscriptions were carved, seemingly with light into existence around her, forming a cage of power that somehow seemed to be just that, a cage to protect the world from what lay within.

She saw the barest hints of magic flicker away from her eyes as well. So that answers that. My eyes were normal, again.

-And now they are blood rubies.-

Tala twitched at that, the blood eyes of the arcane forcing themselves back into her mind, clawing their way free of her memories.

Stop reminding me of him!

In the distracted moment, Tala almost missed the others’ reactions to her transformation. Thankfully, it was only almost.

Lyn’s eyes widened. She’d seen Tala fully painted, but she hadn’t seen her since the power had had time to fully build, causing nearly every spell-form to fully manifest an echo around Tala.

Rane gaped, his mouth seemingly forgotten as his jaw fell slack. He didn’t react defensively, for which Tala was grateful. She knew that she probably looked quite arcane, so such a reaction would have been reasonable. Instead, he looked like someone staring upon a great masterpiece for the first time.

Great…just what we needed.

-Oh, not what you secretly wanted?-

No. No? I don’t know. Hush, you.

Kannis paled, pushing back into her chair, her jaw working, but only one word coming out, before her mouth continued to move silently. “Arcane-?!”

Tala held up her hands. “Hey, now. No. I’m no arcane.” Only Tala had noticed as the other two’s focus was locked onto her, but when Kannis spoke,that caught Lyn and Rane’s attention, and they both moved to help the mageling at once.

They both assured Kannis that Tala was not an arcane, and that seemed to calm her a bit, but she still seemed quite inwardly focused, withdrawn.

As they did so, Lyn gave Tala a stern look. “You should know better than to show something so extreme to a new graduate, Tala. You broke my mageling, and I don’t appreciate it.”

“Yes, Mistress. Your house, your rules.”

The stern look held for only a moment before it broke, and they shared a guilty grin.

Tala tried to surpress her smile. “I will try to be better in the future.”

“See that you do. Don’t let this smile fool you. I’m irritated with you for this little stunt, amusing as parts of it are.” Her tone denoted that she was dead serious, so Tala took her at her word.

Lyn turned her attention back to Kannis as Rane pulled out some smelling salts and waved them under Kannis’s nose.

The shock of the harsh smell seemed to pull her back to herself, and she shook her head as if to clear it. She then looked around in confusion for an instant before her eyes settled back onto Tala. “What is happening, Tala? What did that crazy woman do to you?”

* * *

Tala, with Lyn and Rane’s help, calmed Kannis down. As they worked, Tala had released the through-spike, allowing the illusion to return.

Tala had some questions of her own, but when she learned that Kannis had met Holly earlier in the day, a lot became more clear.

“No, no. She didn’t do this to me, not directly; she more… facilitated?”

Kannis took a long drink from a mug filled with warm tea, which had been provided by Rane. “So…this is an illusion, and that…other visage is the real you?”

Tala shrugged. “Yes and no? This is me. But it’s hidden below the magic and-”

Lyn cleared her throat meaningfully.

“-and other stuff. Both are me.”

Kannis gave her a mildly condescending look, before seeming to master herself.

Even so, Tala took the hint. “But this one is a magically crafted illusion, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“It was. Thank you for the honesty.” The mageling looked a bit off, but that was likely due to having had such an emotional shock so recently.

Well, I never really got to see my own reaction to seeing an arcane. I was already under compulsion before I noticed him… She shuddered at the thought.

There was a prolonged silence, while Kannis continued to drink her tea, that was bordering on awkward when Rane cleared his throat. “Well, look at it this way, Kannis. Now you have three Archons to help you out.”

Lyn gave Rane a wide-eyed glare.

Rane immediately misinterpreted the look and added, “Assuming your master approves of course.”

Lyn groaned, and Kannis turned slowly to regard Tala. “You’re an Archon, too?”

Rane made an “Oh” face, and shifted backwards under Lyn’s continued disbelieving glare.

Tala smiled awkwardly and scratched her own cheek. “Didn't you notice?"

"Yes, Mistress Tala, I noticed your Archon-ness under the inhuman skin and glowing arcane-looking lines." Kannis hesitated. “No, you know what? No. I couldn’t have noticed. You had no magical signature except what was reflecting… off… of… you.” She clucked her tongue. “Why are you covered in iron?” She shook her head. “No, how are you covered in iron?” Kannis looked to Lyn, who continued to glare at Rane.

Rane, for his part, shifted his chair backwards, to lessen his prominence in the conversation.

Tala glanced between her fellow Archons and cleared her throat. “This is likely a conversation for another time.”

Lyn turned back to her mageling and nodded. “I agree. This will be an excellent conversation for us to have, later.”

Rane slapped his hands down on his knees, drawing everyone’s attention back to him. “So, celebration time? Kannis, you’re a mageling now. Mistress Lyn, you have a mageling now. Tala, you have a new housemate. Good things all around!”

That shook the group loose from the aftermath of the odd moments.

“That sounds wonderful, Master Rane.” Lyn stood, offering Kannis a hand. “Let’s get our coats and boots, and we’ll be on our way.”

Coats and boots? As Tala considered, she realized that most of the people she’d seen walking through the streets had been wearing such. Those that weren’t had either been obviously Mages, or just as obviously miserable. I guess it is pretty cold.

-Just a bit below freezing, if my estimation is correct. The slush will be freezing, now that traffic is slowing. Be careful navigating the ice. I’d hate for you to hit your head.-

Tala ignored that and turned her attention to happier topics. “Where do you all want to go to eat?”

Kannis gave Tala a long look, seeming much more in control of herself. “I do have questions. I have so, SO many questions, but I’ll take my master’s guidance and not pursue them, for the moment.”

That really doesn’t help us find a place to eat… Tala was hungry, but she shrugged. “Lyn can answer what she deems appropriate for you to know, and I’m happy to convey anything that she asks me to.”

“That’s…fair.” The mageling looked conflicted, but seemed to draw herself out of it. “Alright. Let’s eat!”

There you go. Back on the right track.

Rane smiled. “I like your attitude, but we still need to know where.”

Tala grinned. “Little Caravans?”

Lyn groaned. “I can’t eat that much, and while it’s tasty, it’s hardly uniquely celebratory.”

That’s hardly fair. Those are amazing! But the night wasn’t really about her. “Alright then. Soup? Meat pies? What are you in the mood for, Kannis?”

The young woman seemed to consider. “You know what? I really want ice cream.”

Tala chuckled. “That sounds like fine dessert plans. Do you know what you want to eat for dinner before dessert?”

Kannis compressed her lips, quirking them off to one side. “Never heard of a little caravan before. Let’s try that.”

Tala lightly clapped her former year-mate on the shoulder. “I like how you think, Kannis. To little caravans!”

Lyn groaned again. “You’re going to be the death of me. I mean that literally, too. When these inscriptions go out of alignment,” she patted her middle, “I’m going to pop and kill everyone around me.”

“Oh, you’ll be fine. Your inscriptions aren’t anywhere near the distortion point.”

Rane was looking down at his clean pants, not paying attention to the current flow of the conversation, with a sour expression.

Tala regarded him for a moment before simply asking, “What’s up, Rane?”

He huffed a sigh. “I’m deciding whether to get these dirty, or change back into the pair that’s already dirty.”

“Decisions, decisions; make up your mind, though. I have a bit of quick business with Lyn, then we should get going.”

He waved her off. “I’ll go change back.”

Tala turned to Lyn, who was now regarding her with interest. “First, when will I be leaving for Marliweather?”

“Oh, in about a week.”

“Usual arrangements?”

“Yes. Charging required for two days before and after each leg.”

“Understood. Now, can you sell an assortment of…randomly acquired items for me?”

Lyn’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do, Tala?”

“Nothing, nothing. I just picked up what no longer had an owner.”

“Uh huh.”

“So, where can I put the stuff? No need for me to keep carrying it about.”

Lyn sighed. “Pile it on the table, so we can go.”

And so, Tala did just that, laying out the woodcutting axes, hatchets, pouches, and other odds and ends that she’d taken from the woodsmen who’d tried to pursue her, and who had met a timely end beneath Terry’s talons and beak.

Lyn looked at the items and then turned her gaze back to Tala. “No. This isn’t suspicious at all.”

“I can sell them myself if-”

“No, no. It’s fine.” Lyn cut across her. “I’ll see what I can do. It won’t net you much, though.”

Tala shrugged. “Better than carrying it around any longer.”

“Alright. Now, let’s go.”

They all trudged through the snow to acquire the little caravans. Tala ate five of the cheesy little caravans; Rane ate one; and Lyn and Kannis split a “smaller little caravan.”

When Kannis actually noticed the pace at which Tala was eating, she couldn’t hold back any longer, and she cut loose with some pointed questions. Tala explained how her healing inscriptions worked, and how Holly had added spell-forms to maintain her form, while compacting muscle and reserves into the predefined shapes at increasing densities.

Kannis obviously didn’t understand the intricacies, but she seemed to get the gist of how and why it worked, at least enough for them to return to more standard dinner conversations.

They chatted about small things, but mostly just spent the time together, getting used to the new person in their midst.

After dinner, they hunted down a place that sold ice cream and continued the casual celebration.

All in all, it was a pleasant way to end what had been quite a long day.

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

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bird, Michael O'Gorman, Miles Pettey, Nicholas Johnson, Nikolas allen, Pawel Maskowicz, Richard Davis ll, Ryan Hearn, S T, S.G., Saramon H, Shelbo, Svarog, Wundermelon, Stano MareÄek, BtBurns , Lynd Koh, Dorian Lee, Julian Beaumont, Matt Labrum, Joshua Smith, Biomass, STORRM , Daba, James Davidson, Edmund McGough, Gabriel Jarman-Ivens, KÃ¶ck Nikolaus, Frederik, Faelyn, Boutross, Politician, Yrom, Inzuris, Alphabetical, Alexander Lease, CruelDude, TorbjÃ¸rn Nilsen, ImBaroqe, Moritz MÃ¼ller, Robert , Acorderodelfin, grayfire, Jess, Reodude,  Eric Liu, Adam James Washington, Alex, Aria Jonsdottir, Christopher Catania, Colin Reed, crystalcat, Daniel Sigui, Ethan , GuyWhoReadsALot, James Derr, Jetforce, Joey Nguyen, Jon Lundy, Jonathan Yarian, Just Dave, Kyle frasch, LeJordon , LuminescentSky, OakieTheTree, OrangeSpork, Raken, Raphael , Ratoo , Rip Woodham, Robert Kline, Superposhposh , user754595, Violet, Some Total Kretin, Jalty, Albert, Thomas Van Roy, Bad Timing, Desertdoe , Que Tea, 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nymaxilian , julian, Kaptain BlauebÃ¤r, Midnight Questions, Shad0wlife , MAX Brown, Johannes, Raznakz, dennis pettersson nygren

Mage:

Max Oberg, Ian Anderson, Zrell , Joshua John Wallace, Pigeon F, Scott Holt, Setaria, Lasse Pedersen, al , Alex Scriber, Alexander Belousov, Gert Wallis, Mathias Schwendimann, Rick Brandon, SirGuy , Werkrat , Aaron Lewis, Jonny, Jan, Anton Selling, Fabian , Gleadge, ulrik aaby, Gemyma, Eoin Barrett, Carl Clements, mallix , Cybernetic Angel, GopherAtl, James Hadfied, Jason Case, Jeremy Leonard, Michael Anaya, NebulaeDreamz, Silveredgallium, tachi-kawa, Deneas , Caillin McKay, Michael Bradet-Legris, MeatyLock , Dustin , jacob britt, Jamison Schneider, Zachery R Hunnicutt, Digdug, Patrick Cole, Vroom , Finn Freudenberg, Mathieu Deg, Chris Olsen, Ransom Hollister, theend , Carl Bunch, Lia, Michael Mercado, Scott Toreki, Michael Stephan, moon.wizard.666, Gurditt Mangat, Cory Ellis, Derek Singer, Eric Trombly, Sage, Josh , Chris , Nicholas Kelly, Bedo Vavrena, Matthew , J , Jared Brewster, Jordan Leighton, Not Real, Raistlin , santor25, Wesley , windspren, Yasin Bari, Barrie Davis, Graeme Jardine, Turnip, BjÃ¶rn

Mageling:

DANTE, Alexander Graber-Tilton, Ivo Havener, Lonewolf, SomethingWicked , Hollowlce, pope benedict, Pawaidan, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Dave Burkett, Matt DiMeo, Michael kim, Robert Rosenthal, Stefan Rabenstein, Jeremy , Nicholas Cunningham, Sam Mullen, Joost Boere, P.R. Bakker, Isaac Larkin, Chris K, Sid_Cypher , Kevin O'donnell, Hamo4, moniker, S , ashandarei, RotWeisseWaffel, Faris Bissex, David, Judy Halloran, twentytoo, Daydeus, Austin McGue, Jeff berman, Kirsty , Benjamin Buco, Sven Paulson, Prateek, ttuurrhh , Will Iam

Inscribed:

Dax, N. A., Tandroll, Chase128, Trevor Walker, fennek , Alastair Dent, Eyke, nikrowd , Ross Doyle, Eric Mueller, Isaac Fratti, George Lanetz, Paul Lorenz, Sam Ford, ShadowCub , Ari Mononen, Luka Lageschaar, Jonathan , Anks , PeM, Mqrius, Moses Lambert, LÃ©o Viarouge, Kuro_Neko , Brisingaer, Dan Snell, Tytus Turczynski

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Chapter: 184 - Surprisingly Reasonable

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Thuss, Sakari Saastamoinen

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala, Rane, Lyn, and Kannis talked and ate late into the night.

Well… no, that’s not right.

Tala and Terry continued to eat late into the night. Rane, Lyn, and Kannis simply talked.

They mainly talked about their growing up years, or Kannis asked the Mages about their lives as such.

Both Tala and Kannis studiously avoided discussing their days at the Academy, and the others seemed to key off that.

-You’ll have to talk about it eventually.-

I know. You know I do, but not tonight.

When they reluctantly decided to call it a night and end the impromptu, little celebration, Kannis looked to be on the edge of falling asleep where she sat.

As it turned out, they’d been able to find a little all-night, dessert and coffee café. It seemed to cater mostly to Mages, but a not-small portion of their customers were clearly mundanes.

The smell of coffee had almost overpowered Tala’s willpower a few times, but while Tala had been tempted by the alluring aroma, she’d only indulged in the desserts.

The café wasn’t closing, and they were hardly the only people in the establishment, but the night was getting late, and Lyn and Kannis had work in the morning, and Rane and Tala had a lot that they hoped to do, as well. So, with a little collective prompting, they got moving.

Rane walked with them all back to their house, and the late hour, combined with their collective tiredness, left it a silent walk through the crisply cold, city night.

Thankfully, more snow had fallen earlier in the night, creating a thin layer of reasonable traction atop the treacherous, frozen slush. Thus, it was a more pleasant walk than it might otherwise have been.

Street clearers would likely be by in a couple of hours with hot, salt-water incorporators. All of the benefits, none of the lasting vegetative damage.

Tala had seen them work as a child, but she’d never really understood that it was simply Mages using devices to accomplish the task. One of the easy, useful tasks available to Mages who don’t want to hold down a regular job this time of year.

From what she’d seen on various job boards, and what Alat had looked up for them, it paid about ten silver for a night’s work. Not a lot, but still quite a good wage for non-guild-affiliated workers.

But that wasn’t really pertinent. The next day would be…something. If it takes the hook, I could be rid of that monster once and for all. She hesitated, then corrected herself. Humanity will be rid of him.

The four continued to walk, and Terry continued his seemingly perpetual nap on Tala’s shoulder as she continued her contemplations of the next day. As she did so, she realized that she really wanted to convey some information to Jenna. Therefore, she had asked Alat to update Jenna on what she’d done towards spreading awareness of her venture, and the companion she’d have for the following day.

Surprisingly enough, Jenna responded almost immediately, simply adding, “Noted.” to the Archive document they both had access to.

-At least she knows we did our part spreading awareness.-

Yeah. That was a little awkward, asking everyone if anyone wanted to join…I haven’t felt so out of place since I was back at the Academy…

-Didn’t expect Cazor to say yes.-

Yeah, that threw me off a bit, too. She clicked her tongue behind her teeth for a moment, then shrugged. We’ll find a way of telling him what’s going on tomorrow, before we leave. It would be pretty awful to drag him into what might be a high-power fight essentially blind.

-Kit should do for that. Invite him in?-

Yeah, that should work.

Before any of them really knew it, they’d arrived, and Rane bade them all goodnight at their front door. Lyn fumbled for her key for a moment before Tala snorted a laugh and easily pulled her key from Kit.

Kannis was a bit unsteady on her feet. The girl’s had a big day.

Even so, the mageling gave Tala’s key a puzzled look. “Is that…iron?” She shook her head. “What am I saying, of course it’s iron.”

Tala just grinned as she quickly unlocked the house and let the three of them in, out of the cold.

I’d not considered it, but Lyn’s hooked into the city for heat, too. Her family had used lamps and a wood stove for light and heat, while Tala was growing up. Probably cheaper, after the initial expense. If she remembered correctly, several officials had offered to do the installation, but her father had always refused.

Part of his desire to “do it on his own” or some such. Didn’t keep him from making me pay his debts…

-That’s right, Tala. Think on it. Build up what you want to say.-

Tala sent a mental glare towards Alat.

Not having to take off her coat or boots, she walked in first and went straight back to the back hallway. With a casual motion, she pulled Kit from her belt and tossed it against the wall, where it landed silently and grew into a door that fit the space perfectly, looking for all the world as if it had been there since the house was built.

Ironically, or maybe very deliberately, the door didn’t blend in in such a way as to fade from notice. Instead, it stood out in a manner that complemented the other doors, and the hallway in general, making it seem as if the space would actually be worse off were the door not there.

Of course it’s always been there. No one would be foolish enough to have this space without having put in this keystone part of the design.

-It is almost deviously perfect.-

They agreed on that. The syphon’s abilities were potent; its primary goal of non-detection still integral in their use.

Lyn and Kannis came down the hall as Tala was stepping through the new door, into her dimensional storage.

The younger woman paused, whispering to herself in half-conscious confusion. “I don’t remember that door being there…How did I miss that?”

Lyn gave her an odd look, seeming to have not heard the girl’s words, but noticing the direction of her attention and the interest and confusion directed that way. “Where did you imagine Tala was going to be sleeping?”

“I…uh…” Kannis didn’t seem to have an answer for that.

“Good night, you two. Sleep well.” Tala stuck one hand back out the door and waved.

“Night!” both replied almost in unison, as Tala closed the door, shutting out the rest of the world.

Now, I just have to do my evening training.

* * *

Tala woke after a deeply restful sleep, the red-orange light of sunrise bathing her in the beauty of another dawn. She honestly didn’t care that it was illusory; she loved it more every time she woke to her own, private vista.

Only three hours tonight? She unconsciously knew how long she’d slept; it was as easy as blinking.

-The new set of spell-forms have fully settled in. Don’t expect your required rest to get any shorter, at least not with this set of inscriptions.-

Not even with the iron compounding and increasing my power-density?

-With these scripts, the increased density won’t matter. You’re hitching more oxen to the front of a lightly loaded wagon. It’s not going to make a difference until you have a heavier load to pull.-

That made a lot of sense, and Holly had expressed that many of the ones that Tala currently had were parts of various series of physically enhancing script-regimens. You know…I wonder if this is Refining?

Alat grunted within Tala’s mind. -No? It might be a precursor to it, though.-

Ahh, like strengthening the body so that the impurities can be stripped from you without destroying us?

-That would be in the vein of my guess.-

It sounded like a good guess, if Tala was being honest.

Tala moved through her morning routine, only hitching during the perspective portion of her aspect-mirroring, as she had in the past.

It was nauseating and dizzying in the extreme, even when she restricted the mirroring to a singular external perspective, alongside her own.

Still, like everything else, she was improving. Alat helped with that too, slowly modifying and tweaking her exercises of all types to better match how Tala could and would learn and grow.

Honestly, Tala could have done that for herself all along, but it would have taken time and a lot of deep analysis and some comparative study. Now, Alat did it for her with relative ease and speed.

-You know, it’s not actually that easy, but I don’t have to maintain any of your day-to-day activities. So, I have a lot more free time.-

Well, thank you. I appreciate your efforts on our part.

-Your improvement is my improvement.-

She had soon completed her morning tasks, save for the bath.

Cleansing was going to be difficult with the iron body paint. She didn’t really need the bath, except for her hair, but she could just use her comb for that. Except that it’s at the Constructionist Guild facility.

That was a problem for later in the day, and as such she set about cooking a massive breakfast for herself.

Kit’s little kitchenette worked even better than she’d hoped it would, and soon Tala was devouring a sizable meal pulled from her venturing food.

The Culinary Guild really came through with this stuff. I really should get more. It never went bad, in theory, and so it would be better to have on hand than run out or be in need. Not today, though. Today, I have other tasks.

-Yup, large barrels. I’m thinking a few tuns?-

A few what?

-A tun, that’s a barrel that holds 252 gallons.-

Archive? She trusted that Alat would be able to interpret her abbreviated question.

-Archive. It’s surprisingly easy to look up random words.-

Useful, I suppose.

-I’ll say.- Tala got an odd sensation along with that expression, as if Alat had put a lot of weight behind the utterance. As she considered it, Tala realized that, in several meaningful ways, all Alat had was words.

She decided not to focus on that, or inquire further for the moment. Okay, so a couple of tuns… doesn’t that seem excessive? I mean…how can we possibly harvest enough to fill even a single one with berries, let alone with juice?

-More storage capacity seems better, right?-

Tala shrugged. I suppose, but it still seems like a lot more than we’ll actually need.

-That’s fair. I might have a better option as well.-

Oh? Then why had she been talking about massive barrels? Probably because she genuinely thought they were the best subset of “barrel options.”

-The Constructionists sell large, enameled, cast-iron barrels. 55 gallon, to be precise.-

That seems perfect! They’re designed for use in containing experiments and other magical liquids, I assume?

-Precisely.-

I suppose we should have guessed that something like that would exist. Not cheap though, right?

-Actually, it’s surprisingly affordable, all things considered.-

Do tell.

-They guarantee that the containers will maintain the potency of any magical ingredients kept within, while so contained.-

That’s… As Tala thought about it, and how tight the seals must be, and how much testing would have needed to go into such a certification, she realized just how much value and weight such an assurance held. That’s actually pretty amazing.

-That’s what I thought.-

So, how much?

-Half a gold per barrel.-

Tala winced, then thought about it. Huh, how is that both more, and less, expensive than I expected?

-We’re strange?-

She chuckled at that. Fair enough. After a moment’s consideration, she continued. You have access to their “for sale” list?

-I do. Well, everyone with Archive access does.-

You know what I’m thinking?

-Of course. We should get a better small container.-

The iron flask that Tala had been using was looking a bit worse for wear. She’d only dropped it a few times, but exterior dings, wear, and tear weren’t the problem in any case. The simple iron flask hadn’t been designed for such constant use with even a mild acid, and almost every fruit juice was at least a little acidic.

-Yeah, it was meant to carry a flavored cooking oil, which would help maintain the metal. It’s a blessing that you aren’t negatively affected by some iron flakes.-

Tala grimaced. I thought I’d been tasting some grit of late.

-So, an enameled iron flask will only cost 4 silver for a four cup one. It would be 3 silver for a two cup.-

Yeah, a four cup one is better, assuming it’s easy enough to hold.

-We can take a look.-

That sounds like a good plan. What else did we put on our list?

-A cider or wine press.-

Right. Any ideas where to get one of those things?

-Market district would be the quickest. We can swing through the Constructionists' first. The location we frequent is pretty close to some shops. The presses are used enough by various restaurants and craftsmen that the shops should have some on hand.-

Even in the off season?

-With the growing complexes, there really aren’t off seasons.-

Ahh, right. Tala considered for a moment. You know, I’ve always wanted to see some of the growing complexes. They don’t allow mundanes down there, unless they’re workers or for some other specific purpose, and I haven’t thought to go look since becoming a Mage.

-Yup. I’m in your head, and am well aware of your desires.-

Right. Sometimes I forget that.

Alat conveyed a bit of happiness at that. -I’m glad to hear that I seem distinct from you, at least to you.-

Shouldn’t you already know that?

-Of course, but it’s nice to hear kind things spoken aloud sometimes.-

Tala grunted. True enough.

She took the last couple of bites of the hearty fruit and nut-butter oatmeal before using her finger to scrape up the last bits.

I can’t even tell that the fruit was dehydrated before.

-That’s probably why the recipe included a bit more water than I’d have expected.-

I was thinking the same thing.

She left Kit, grabbing the doorway and pulling it off the wall as the door swung closed. It reshaped into a pouch even as she hung it from her belt.

She was almost surprised at how little Kit’s transformation interested her. It was simply a useful feature of her dimensional storage. A ridiculously useful feature.

She did not miss climbing up and down through the small opening that had been Kit’s limit before.

Tala turned her attention outward, finding that Lyn’s home was, as expected, quiet.

She could hear Kannis’s breathing, and slight shifting, even through the closed door to what had until recently been Tala’s room.

Tala hesitated at that sound.

Why have I never heard anything from Lyn’s room?

She extended her senses in that direction and hit a metaphorical wall. It wasn’t a hard wall, and Tala thought that she could breach or break it if she really wanted to, but she refrained.

Lyn’s got a privacy item? How did I not notice that, before?

-It’s hardly a good idea to proclaim “I don’t want anyone listening in, here!” So, it likely does what it does as subtly as possible.-

Yeah, I suppose.

Tala decided to respect her friend’s privacy, whatever the reason, and depart.

All told, from when she’d gone into Kit to when she came out, just over six hours had passed. Three hours for two sets of training, and a massive meal? Not too shabby.

After locking the front door behind herself, she set out through the quiet, very early morning streets.

-We should have time to drop through the Constructionists’, and even through the market district, before we meet Mistress Odera for breakfast.-

That was my thinking as well.

The trip was uneventful, and the security scripts on the Constructionists’ facility didn’t label her as a threat, so that worked out well.

Sadly, Alat hadn’t yet figured out how to modify the illusion, so there was an awkward moment where the assistant thought she was a mundane. Thankfully, the security scripts had identified her as an Archon, so it was easy enough to clear up.

They did have several of the iron barrels in stock, as well as flasks for smaller samples.

Of course, the smaller flasks were designed with convenient, easy to use handles, so that valuable samples would never be risked.

That pleased Tala to no end.

Unfortunately, the only barrels and flasks they had were deep crimson in color. They were that shade because it was the most often requested color, used to denote the storage of arcanous or magical blood.

This was a practice that was seemingly vastly more common than Tala had realized, especially among Constructionist Mages.

The assistant was happy to explain that the study of arcanous blood as an ink for spell-lines, applied in various mediums was a well-researched field of study, and there were some spell-forms that were known to be more efficient with a given arcanous creature’s blood than even with gold.

There weren’t many, but they did exist.

Sadly, when Tala inquired, she was told that that was a Guild secret.

Obviously, Alat couldn’t find out either, Tala not having special access relating to the Constructionist Guild within the Archive.

She could have custom ordered virtually any color at no extra cost, other than time, but she was in a hurry, and red was good enough for her. So, in the end, Tala was able to get a bundled deal of four blood-red enameled barrels and two large flasks for a total of two gold.

It wasn’t much savings, and she ended up buying more barrels than she had planned to, but it should be better in the end.

I’m tired of reaching for more juice and having my flask empty. Having a back-up will be worth it.

-Sure, justify it however you want. This assistant is a good salesman.-

It was a fairly simple matter to create a door out of Kit and maneuver the barrels inside.

The enamel was exquisitely done, looking like nothing so much as liquid blood, locked in place, thinly coating the containers. With each touch, Tala half expected her hands to come away wet, even though she knew better.

This is going to add new dimensions to my reputation as the Blood Archon.

-Just a bit, yeah. Though, it’s probably safer for people to assume you’re drinking some blood than ending-berries.-

Why?

-Because they’d assume it was something special, and therefore, they wouldn’t be inclined to just start drinking random blood.-

Or, they could just assume I was drinking water…

-That would be better, but such is life.-

Tala thanked the assistant and was about to leave when she remembered her comb.

Blessedly, it was a simple thing for her to get a hold of it and use it briefly before returning it to the assistant’s care and departing.

All told, she hadn’t been in the Constructionist facility long, but there were quite a few more people out and about than before.

How late did we stay up?

-Rhetorical question, right?-

Mostly, yeah. It had been late, but not that late.

The stores were already starting to open, or already doing brisk business.

Alat got Tala to the generally correct area, and a few quick questions brought her to a merchant who had a press for sale. Twenty silver secured the device for her use. Tala carried it half a block before finding an out of the way section of wall to throw Kit against so that she could place the press inside.

That’s better.

-That wasn’t heavy, even for a normal person.-

But it was awkward. After a moment’s frown, Tala inquired further. Can’t you read my thoughts? Aren’t you in my thoughts?

-I can, but if I did that all the time, what would we ever talk about? Also, my questions cause you to re-think through your thoughts and conclusions, and that’s good for both of us.-

Tala grunted. Fair enough.

They arrived at the Caravanner’s Guildhall before her mentor, and Tala was able to grab a table and feed Terry some jerky before Mistress Odera came to join them.

First things first, Tala let Mistress Odera know about the Marliweather trip coming up. The older Mage, of course, already knew, but appreciated hearing it from Tala, herself.

Then, Tala let Mistress Odera know that Tala had given her access to some memories, via the Archive.

Mistress Odera had frozen; gaze intently locked on Tala’s face. “Those memories?”

“Yes. Those.”

After a long moment, Mistress Odera nodded once. “I will review them when we are done here.”

From there, Tala described how her training had changed. She didn’t mention Alat, and Alat didn’t seem to mind.

In the end, it was a nice breakfast, and they parted ways as they usually did, with a confirmation of the next day’s meal.

That complete, Tala set out for the northern gate to meet Cazor.

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

Seth Bryant, Silberwolf325 , Grimizen, Alex Griffin, Ocean Breeze, FieryFern, Ryan Tran, Bain-Lindsay , HJ, Daniel B, T.E. N., Nick Tinsley, Isaac Deroche, Yenin , Jonathan Timm, Disclancer, MoneyTree, Samuel McCarren, Ray Robitaille, Memnochian, Z. Cs., xIron Gamerx, william wallace, William Priess, WhisperInTheVoid, WarNachos, Tzucaza ., Travis McIntosh, Travis McHenry, Thomas Stewart, Thomas Goyne, TheLazerCat , Taliesin , Stephen Pearson, someguy , Solar , Shakez44, Seth Richter, sedael , Sean McCrohan, Ryan Naquin, Rutger Boll, Robin Richards, Robert z, Robert P, rizen, Redbeard , Randy Klein, peter mattoon, Paul Pintea, PatronTurtle , PaleMire, OlivierA, nugitoBambino, noah stevens, Noah Morris, Megacheez , Max Gustavson, Matthew Davis, Matthew , Matt M, Mark Dolson, Margus234, Marcus Pehan, Lyael, Logan , Leendert Kortlever, Krikor Chichadjian, Kirvin, Keira Wulfe, Kamren Livingston, Kai , Justin Reagan, Justin , Justin , just_a_potato , Jonah of the Whale, Jeffery Nickelson, Jedediah Wolfgang, James Walsh, Jacob Ellis, Isaac Boyles, IGS, Ian Radspinner, Haran , Gustav Burkhardt, Gull, Gremlin, George Hicken, Geoff, Frank, evilperson41 , Erling Egilsson, Eric , Enif , Enaz the great, dotAlice, Dire Wolf, David Turner, Cyrus McEnnis, Colin Ford, Christian Kenney, BossDawg, Bloodorange17 , Baldur Norddahl, Bacon Macleod, B C, Austin Woodard, arty, Archivist0 , antab , Angela Kimova, Andrew Holland, Alex , aantonides ., Frank By Estenstad, Matt M, Hazza Vanderbyl, zachary gafken, Samuel Patterson, Pigeonpie, Monte949, Marcus Adams, Laila , Kovak, Justin, Greg Shields, Feltenix, Dominic Weibel, Darkhelm , Carter Hadley, Bunny Waffles, Braincase , Aria, Rachel Prochner, Maksim, Maggi von Da, klabuster, Irisa, Derek, RageBone , Primordi, Onill007 , Matt S., Jo, dragonslaver, Michael, Viria , Oliverthms , MePe , Hibou Ronchon, GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Cristi Palincas, Budgie, Helge, Arnfinn Gjorvad, TurmRIC, Brian, NaughtyPaws, daniel edery, Tyler, Laurids Jensen, voltic, Kenyaa , Nikolaj Rosander Madsen, Mr. Finch, Sekander , Tangyorange, znarken, Le GarlantÃ©zec, Andrew Goudie, Chris Hibbert, John Growcott, Zanthras, William Francom, Wesley Miller, Vikram Ahluwalia, tlove, Timothy Burago, ThreatLvlPurple , Steven C, Skarsol, RottenTangerine, Pedro Derze, Oakenbear , Nathan Fahrenbach, Michael Mooney, Melting Sky, MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, M , Lachlan Priest, kenneth, Kaeson, joshua carlile, Joseph , John Hadel, Joe Smith, Jeremy James, Jeff Gault, Jason Morse, Jarrod Manzer, James, Jake Pellegrini, Gamecats, Ell Lan, Dustin Qian, Dr.Quick, Dorian Grizzle, Doomerjunky, devarian , DeusCap, David Brims, Daniel Zellmer, Cole Nyquist, Chris, chad ensey, Bricyn Abel, Bosparan, AverageGuy , Anh Vo, Allora Lee, Alex, Adrian Gorgey, Aclys , Aaron Sofaer, Aaron , dennis malatesta, Glenn Clemente, William Fullerton, Adam, Jayden Kirkham, smoze, Khress , FishFace , Schelm , Siphor , Ryudachi, Frederic Axt, BoB, Leon Ernst, Ludger , Skygo, Kyle, James Beaudreau, Gyslain Desgagne, Max W, Kristian Olesen, mark mÃ¸llegaard, Kenneth , TomÃ¡Å¡ BlÃ¡bol, Will C, NNeil , Zach Adams, William Davis, Swanie, sings_with_toads, Sean Panajotovic, Seadrake, Reid Palmquist, Reed Montemurro, Ramapriya Rangaraju, Phlorez , Philipp Ziehe, Philip , Notcreepycreeper, Noah Jones, Mudith Mallajosyula, Mountainking , Midnight Harbinger, Michelle Goodman, Michael She, Lanhail, Klecksi, Joy , Josh Fryza, John Noone, John D'Arcy, Jeremy Durbin, ItsjustMe , Hornblower , HeartHawk, FoolRegnant , Findell , erik lindquist, dwarftoss58, Drew Gilmour, David Schleimer, Dan , Cypha, Chris Fox, Alexander Dupree, Alex Weatbrook, Sam Oppy, hellunit , Mcnoodlies , Nathaniel Baxter, Andy, Nonie, Bast, sethorizer, Lerous, Drake Morgan, Mark, Kermity , Traian, Grausheira , Thaco4 , Vervacitus , Alex LeBlanc, reafan, Lamrsw, Mohammad Muzhaffar Bin Omar, Anna Turner, Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, Tom Roettger, Sandoz, Robert Mullins, Rich Webb, Patrick Blatti, Odunski, Noshei , Micah Wallis, Meierfrac, Mechrono, Lindsay W., Levi Cox, karmaslap , Joseph Sutherland, Jasen Nichols, Jacob trent, Gunnar Crider, Grumlen, DeathOfOld , Dave, Daniel , Chris Mantakounis, Ceromus, Caleb, C Howard, Andrius , Andrew C Kerr, adam1 , Aaron Greene, Joshua allen, Nicholas Anile, Oliver Firoozan, Alex Wilson, Derik Botha, BurnNote, Elias Leutgeb, Ensos2, Conor kelly, Cirex123 , ajcaspers, Alexander Hoffmeister, Jan Joost Sijbesma, Steffen, PortlandPhil , Connor Beeson, mattias hessleryd, Apotheosis As A Service, Thernn , Paul Becker, Adam Andersson, Vaulex, TorbjÃ¸rn Haugstad, TheFool, Smokestack Matt, Sleet Rain, Ragmas, Pieter-Jan Van Steenkiste, patrick seim, Omar Wazir, minicheatbook, Kiran, Justin Marble, Jeff Barton, Jasper, Jason Johnson, Jackson Ragland, Helloworld, ElodinGale, Dylan , Dan Weiss, Cordelia , closeded, Chloe Winter, Cabbage God, Asael Sklar, Arhsnag, aidan larson, Aidan , M1styczny, Stuart Anderson, Joshua Turnbull, Lewis Dyer, ScottDR, MenacingSand, Ely Brookes, Frogger, cm123 , Marcel Amendt, Valter AnunciaÃ§Ã£o, schnixxes, Styx49, Magisch, Michael Maor, Matt H, Enthused, Mikael Svensson, KDP , Gabriel Boudreau, Sebastian Lindqvist, Tyler Babcock, Mattias Klason, dave hutch, Wundermelon, Svarog, Shelbo, Saramon H, S.G., S T, Ryan Hearn, Richard Davis ll, Pawel Maskowicz, Nikolas allen, Nicholas Johnson, Miles Pettey, Michael O'Gorman, matthew bird, lukas bonnesen, Knightfire, Kevin Green, Justin Gray, jonch1243 ., Jiokuy , Jacob , Itbeme12321, HjÃ¶rtur Ãžorgeirsson, Grizzly Fiction, Frank Timoney, Draega, Dan Addis, Dakota , CaughtRedHeaded, Carya Galabra, Andrew Glass, Stano MareÄek, BtBurns , Lynd Koh, Dorian Lee, Julian Beaumont, Matt Labrum, Joshua Smith, Biomass, STORRM , James Davidson, Daba, Edmund McGough, Gabriel Jarman-Ivens, KÃ¶ck Nikolaus, Frederik, Faelyn, Yrom, Politician, Boutross, Inzuris, Alphabetical, Alexander Lease, CruelDude, TorbjÃ¸rn Nilsen, ImBaroqe, Moritz MÃ¼ller, Robert , Acorderodelfin, grayfire, Jess, Reodude, Violet, user754595, Superposhposh , Robert Kline, Rip Woodham, RexRegis, Ratoo , Raphael , Raken, OrangeSpork, OakieTheTree, LuminescentSky, LeJordon , Kyle frasch, Just Dave, Jonathan Yarian, Jon Lundy, Joey Nguyen, Jetforce, James Derr, GuyWhoReadsALot, Ethan , Daniel Sigui, crystalcat, Colin Reed, Christopher Catania, Aria Jonsdottir, Alex, Adam James Washington,  Eric Liu, Some Total Kretin, Jalty, Albert, Thomas Van Roy, Bad Timing, Desertdoe , Que Tea, nokko, Flogoyog , Fabian Elzo Kraemer, TNkdI6FVB1NhjNqt , Akastor, Jonathan , LordErr, Anonymous , Sean Carter, Nikel Eld, lol, X Y, Clara, Zebrababies, Toad , Tatletot, Talion, Ryan , Roger, Rhaid, Powernap , Nyotree, Nick Warner, Michael Olson, matt green, Logan Fain, Krishnayash, Kelsey , JT, Joseph Saunders, ItWasIDIO!!, Frost , Frightful6_7, Felix Adler, Diego Avendano-Morineau, Daniel Smith, Daniel A, Colby , Christopher Harris, bambi125, Andrew Cohen, Alison Swenson, Francesco Giorgini, Malbec , Severed Hat, Ian , Ethan Munday, Add_Identity , Sean Elliott, Lygon Bowen-West, Flusspferd, OnigaImasuka , AstroMyrkat, Sebastian Larsen, Jywert , Lazy Lemon, Jonathan Frerichs, Nikita Becker, BasseBoss , Solarwind, Louis Nel, Viktor NechvÃ¡tal, Alexander BÃ¶ckenholt, Robin SjÃ¶doff, Mike Lump, Asterius, PiMs, Jamie Johnstone, Yemisi Mcmullen, TwistedToaster, Toc Anastar, Thomas Payne, sleepy , Satya Prateek, Sam Vinh, Ruyxi Sylpheyes, Proteus Jones, posthumousleon , Payen Hell, Naxyval, Nate Kaufman, Michael Seedorf, meoth , Matthew Powell, luke, Kyle Brackenbury, Kirk Morgan, Karma Baris, Julian Meltzer, JTP , Jeremy Dorn, Jerad Stephens, Driftward, Draecath, Daniel Harris, CrispyKing , Colin Brown, Cody Poteet, Carlos Andres Rengifo Escobar, Cae, Almost Famous, Adam Richards, Timecrafter, Fraxx, da Finnci, Zu'ul, Connor Oswald, Chris Brady, Sivcere, Lukas Schaefer, josh mitchell, CringeWorthyStudios , Mr Google Doodle, Seth Cox, Christopher Fetherston, Aslak, Tobias Zeitvogel, Joshua Samuel Miller, ........, JoÃ£o Vieira, Magnuss, Christian Nowitzki, Erkki Parkkulainen, maxime gm, Dan , Philipp Zander, Therese Brock von Rein, Leif Nejst, Temon_Oak, mohammed essam, Hajakuja , Kristoffer , Rory natynczuk, ClapTrapCL4TP , Dan, Kel Pough, Tyrone Thomas, Troy Fox, Tristan Griffin, Tate Browder, steve, Stephanie Washburn, StarWolf, Spencer Herold, SoddenFool, Shykarn , Retaliation ., Relein, Quendolayne, Oliver , Michael Goulet, Michael D Chavez, LordDark , Lenonxx6, kreiverin, Kent Gunn, Joshua Holt Sorensen, Jody, JJ327, Jasper Walters, Jason Petry, Gwendolyn Simmons-LaRose, Furnastone, foolishlurker, Evan Morris, Elliott Fawcett, Dustin , Drendude, Connor Sunier, Chris , Brandon Cleveland, bradley foster, Ben Dean, Andrew Dempsey, Alexander Baier, Alex C, Alec, AgentFransis, Adrian Nightshade, Azzurous, Signspace, Walter , James Lavender, Reece Grimshaw, DasUberGryx, Piotr, L Pedersen, ENIM Skills, Chris, Tim Marshall, Xynee, Teee , Aidan Mc Donagh, Christoffer DahlÃ©n, Im Hello, Weppsu, EroNingen, Adurna , Karl Tageman, Alternative Facet, BRUNO ASTUR, xtrnet, Xavier Lamphere, Simon Casey, SecondBlahm, Sands , Robert Hinshaw, PotatoGod, Pizzatiger , Parker Hebert, Myles2322, Mountain Barber, modislaszlo , Max Muhlenkamp, Matthew Myers , Matt Spencer, Markus Wienberg, Keith Papak, Kate Yen, jww, Joshua Paye, Joshua Lawvere, Joe Broussard, Jeremy Davis Payne, Jehru, Jack Brown, Impatiance , Hannoske, Griffin E, Filosipher Smicker, Daniel Strickland, Daniel Joseph Moreau, Conor Futro, Christopher Jack, Bradley, Anon , angrycharlie, Alex Sunier, Albert Ng, agent, advancewarssami, ChiefWizard , Bailey Stone, Graeme Jardine, nymaxilian , Mario Kaminsky, Midnight Questions, Kaptain BlauebÃ¤r, julian, Shad0wlife , MAX Brown, Johannes, Simen Dybvik, Raznakz, dennis pettersson nygren

Mage:

Max Oberg, Ian Anderson, Zrell , Joshua John Wallace, Pigeon F, Scott Holt, Setaria, Lasse Pedersen, Werkrat , SirGuy , Rick Brandon, Mathias Schwendimann, Gert Wallis, Alexander Belousov, Alex Scriber, al , Jonny, Aaron Lewis, Jan, Fabian , Anton Selling, Gleadge, ulrik aaby, Gemyma, Eoin Barrett, Carl Clements, mallix , tachi-kawa, Silveredgallium, OpCrystal , NebulaeDreamz, Michael Anaya, Jeremy Leonard, Jason Case, James Hadfied, GopherAtl, Cybernetic Angel, Deneas , Caillin McKay, Michael Bradet-Legris, MeatyLock , Zachery R Hunnicutt, Jamison Schneider, jacob britt, Dustin , Vroom , Patrick Cole, Digdug, Finn Freudenberg, Mathieu Deg, Ransom Hollister, Chris Olsen, theend , Scott Toreki, Michael Mercado, Lia, Carl Bunch, Michael Stephan, moon.wizard.666, Gurditt Mangat, Sage, Eric Trombly, Derek Singer, Cory Ellis, Josh , Chris , Nicholas Kelly, Bedo Vavrena, Matthew , Yasin Bari, windspren, Wesley , santor25, Raistlin , Not Real, Jordan Leighton, Jared Brewster, J , Barrie Davis, Charles Simon, Turnip, BjÃ¶rn

Mageling:

DANTE, Alexander Graber-Tilton, Ivo Havener, Lonewolf, SomethingWicked , Hollowlce, pope benedict, Pawaidan, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Robert Rosenthal, Michael kim, Matt DiMeo, Dave Burkett, Stefan Rabenstein, Sam Mullen, Nicholas Cunningham, Jeremy , GSH, P.R. Bakker, Joost Boere, Isaac Larkin, Chris K, Sid_Cypher , Kevin O'donnell, Hamo4, S , moniker, ashandarei, RotWeisseWaffel, Faris Bissex, twentytoo, Judy Halloran, David, Daydeus, Austin McGue, Jeff berman, Kirsty , Benjamin Buco, Sven Paulson, Will Iam, ttuurrhh , Prateek, Reepham

Inscribed:

Dax, EmissaryOfZork , N. A., Tandroll, Chase128, Trevor Walker, fennek , Alastair Dent, Eyke, nikrowd , Ross Doyle, Isaac Fratti, Eric Mueller, ShadowCub , Sam Ford, Paul Lorenz, George Lanetz, Ari Mononen, Luka Lageschaar, Jonathan , Anks , PeM, Mqrius, Moses Lambert, LÃ©o Viarouge, Kuro_Neko , Tytus Turczynski, Dan Snell, Brisingaer, Benjamin Piribauer

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Chapter: 185 - Not Surprised in the Least

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Ben Morgan, ciaran mullen, Noelle, Sakari Saastamoinen, Thuss

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala found the Mage Hunter waiting for her as she approached the northern gate of Bandfast.

She waved and called out to him. “Master Cazor! I’m so sorry, did I keep you waiting?”

He smiled and shrugged, pushing off the wall he’d been leaning against. “No, we’re both actually early. I was just earlier.” He chuckled. “I prefer to wait for people, rather than make them wait on me.”

Tala looked around. They were still a few dozen feet from the actual gate. Cazor had been leaning up against a blank wall and had moved away from it when he’d spotted her. That should work. “Follow me for a moment; there’s something that we need to discuss.”

She took Kit from her belt and threw it past him at the wall, where it transformed into a door.

Tala pushed through the door, and Cazor hesitantly followed.

“What is this? A fully morphable dimensional storage? Very nice.” He looked around the inside of her large, front room but quickly returned his focus to her. “So, what’s this about?”

The door closed, and Tala willed it to seal them off from outside. She knew from prior experiences that no sound would transfer either in or out when she did that.

“This trip is partly so I can be bait for a mind altering arcane who seems to be able to infiltrate human cities.”

Cazor froze, seeming to process what she’d just said. To his credit, he didn’t panic, nor disbelieve her. She’d been half-expecting to have to argue with him about her claims. “Well…rust.”

-Memories?-

That’s a good idea. “Do you have an Archive link or tablet?”

He gave her an odd look, then nodded. “I do.”

-Access given.-

“I’ve just given you access to some memories.”

“Memories? How-”

She shook her head and cut across him. “I’m sorry, but that’s unimportant for the moment. I want you to be informed before we leave the city.”

Cazor pulled out a slate and began manipulating it. What he was able to pull up was a sort of grayscale version of the memories, without sound. Interestingly enough, it almost seemed like the memories had too much information to easily be displayed on the empowered stone surface, making the whole thing less clear than if it had been pared down and simplified.

Huh, I didn’t really consider quality differences.

-Yeah. Hopefully the important parts will be clear enough.-

Cazor finished looking at the two memories before returning his attention to her. “So, what was that?”

She spent a couple of minutes explaining the parts that he couldn’t glean without sound or better-quality renditions of the memory.

“So, if I understand correctly: The powers that be believe that you’ve been targeted by an arcane who can manipulate your mind, and that he has already infiltrated the city at least once?’

“That’s right.”

“And you’re going out, today, to act as bait. To try to draw him out.”

“That’s my understanding.”

“And he’s a Revered?”

“Last I saw him, yes. I don’t really understand how arcanes increase their rank.”

“It’s not that hard to grasp, but now’s hardly the time.” Cazor ran a hand through his hair. “And here I thought you were bringing me in here to explain why you’re suddenly dipped in iron and hiding it.”

Tala’s eyebrows rose. “How did you notice that?”

He gave her a mildly condescending look. “Come on, Mistress Tala. I manipulate magnetic fields. I have to have a way of perceiving them, and you’re all sorts of obvious with that sight. Not sure how you masked the magic-reflecting nature of the material, but I’d bet it has to do with the visual illusion?”

“Near enough. There’s a magical one interwoven through the visual part.”

“So, you still have your inscriptions, but the illusion is hiding them.”

“That’s right.”

He grunted. “But we’re off topic, now.”

“True enough.”

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So, do you even need to go harvesting?”

“Oh, yeah. I need to get as many ending berries as I can.”

He gave her a long, incredulous look. If anything, he seemed more dubious of this, than of an arcane having entered the city. “Ending berries.”

“That’s right.”

He rubbed his face across his hands. “Mistress, those are toxic to Mages, and do all sorts of unpleasant things to mundanes who eat too many. There’s a market for them, sure, but a highly regulated one. There’s enough reasonable use for them as protection during one-off, incredibly dangerous jobs, but the number you can safely sell, and not crash the market, makes even a single Archon going to harvest them a losing prospect. Mundanes love them for the one off protection, but they’re still not worth the hassle.”

Tala paled slightly. Unpleasant side effects for mundanes? “What do you mean by side-effects? How do they harm mundanes?”

Crazor shrugged. “Has to do with the warriors of old. If the berries are used enough to make an impression in the person’s natural magic, those spell-forms begin to draw power from their gate to stay empowered. That sounds wonderful. They’re now naturally more durable. The problem is that mundanes don’t increase their throughput as a general rule, not really. So, that power is no longer going to other areas. The results are almost always a lessening of magic reinforcing other, critical for life systems. The berry users get sick easier, they die younger, that sort of thing.”

“Is there a cure?”

“Sure, they can become a Mage, but then the berries’ magics have to be overridden, and until then, they clash with any other magics the new Mage pursues.”

“You know an awful lot about this.”

“I was a mageling on assignment with Mage Hunters who had to hunt down an ending-berry seller. My master thought it would be instructive for me to research the topic thoroughly. In the end, it wasn’t really needed. She wasn’t precisely hiding her actions. Who knows how she was harvesting the things, but the woman was selling them as miracles, which would protect the user from harm. She didn’t bother to tell her clients any of the side-effects.” He growled. “A large one being that when people get a feeling of invincibility, it’s hard for them to think rationally about danger. More often than not, a mundane goes into a situation where ending-berry power protected him in the past, without proper consideration or eating another. They die; they die horribly.” He shook his head. “No. I’m not going to help you, and I’ll probably even stop you, unless you give me an incredibly good reason why I shouldn’t.”

Tala was feeling a bit uncomfortable with the whole thing. “Well. I use them myself. A large subset of my inscriptions are directly modeled on the ending-berry power.”

Cazor tilted his head up in contemplative surprise, looking at one of the upper corners of the room and scratching under his jaw while he bit his lip. “Huh. You know, that could actually work. In theory. But doing that would require a truly insane number of inscriptions to function properly.” He closed his eyes and scratched between his scrunched eyebrows. “Is that even possible? The level of detail required…” He shook his head in disbelief.

“Can I show you what I look like under the illusion without you freaking out?” She still had Kannis’s reaction vividly in her memory. If this man thought she was an arcane, even for an instant, things could go badly wrong.

He narrowed his eyes. “What am I going to see?”

“Gray skin from iron paint, and glowing lines of power carved onto reality itself.”

“What?” He laughed, maybe with a hint of uncertainty. When she didn’t join in, he stopped, lifting one eyebrow. “Huh. Alright then. This, I have to see.”

Tala took a deep breath, nodding. As she let the breath out, she forcibly suppressed the illusory portion of her through-spike.

Cazor sucked in a sharp breath, but otherwise didn’t move. “Mother of Decay. You look terrifying. I’ve fought arcanes who looked less menacing than you.” He gave a nervous chuckle. “If the memories you shared are any indication, your blood-stalker looks less terrifying than you, if I’m being honest.”

She didn’t really know how to respond to that. “Thank you?”

He snorted a laugh. “Thank you for letting me see.”

She released her manipulation of the device and the illusion returned in an instant.

“Well, someone’s using you to test some theories, that’s for sure.”

“Couldn’t I be using myself?”

He shrugged. “Maybe.” He scratched the back of his head for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll go with you. I can get us there faster than even Terry can probably travel. The increased speed will draw attention, but that’s the point, right?”

“That’s right.” She knew that Mages traveling at high speed was dangerous due to the attention it could draw, but she’d never really tried it, or experienced it, herself.

“I can probably help you harvest as well, but both the transport and the harvesting will cost me in wear and tear on my inscriptions.”

She nodded. “That’s true enough. Can I compensate you?”

He grimaced. “I was just going to go with you as a friend, but what we’re discussing now will actually be a bit expensive for me. How about I help you, then you tell me what you think that help is worth, after the fact?”

“We should at least set a minimum. I don’t want you to be ripped off.”

He laughed. “If you lend a friend a silver and never see them again, it was money well spent.”

Tala contemplated that for a moment, then nodded. “I think I understand.”

“Good. Now, let’s get to it. Do you have a map of where we’re going?”

Tala opened a cabinet door and pulled out the map. She could, in theory, just reach behind her back, and it would have been there, but there was something a bit disturbing about pulling items out of thin air. I’ll get used to it, eventually.

Cazor studied the marked locations. “So, this grove to the north?”

“Yup.”

“Alright. Let’s do this.”

* * *

Tala regarded the compressed disc of gray sand, hovering before her.

“It’s perfectly safe, especially for you.”

“And it won’t strip off my iron?”

“If it does, I’ll replace it, but no, it shouldn’t. I keep a very tight control of my magnetic fields.”

Tala sighed, looking over to where Cazor already stood on a second disc of compressed iron dust.

“I can make this one larger and share, if you’d prefer?”

She shook her head. “No… This will be fine.” She stepped up, finding her balance with ease, as the surface felt firm and textured beneath her bare foot. Even the moisture she brought with her from the snow-covered ground didn’t seem to ruin her footing.

Terry flickered around, inspecting the disc and Tala before returning to her shoulder, perched looking forward expectantly. He even did a little shuffle step and crouched lower.

Well, he’s ready to go. “Ready,” she called over to Cazor.

A few onlookers had stopped to watch them as they stood just to one side, outside Bandfast’s northern gate, overlooking the mostly dormant, winterized farmland surrounding the city.

Cazor nodded, acknowledging her readiness. The platforms tilted in unison, and just when Tala thought she would lose her balance, they began to move, slowly at first, then gradually speeding up as she got the hang of it.

It was odd, as she had absolutely no control. Much like riding atop a cargo wagon, I suppose. Just with a whole lot less wagon.

Soon enough, they were moving faster than a galloping horse, sending out puffs of snow to either side as they skimmed along a few feet above the ground.

Tala laughed, looking over towards the Mage Hunter. “This is amazing! Why don’t Mages always travel this way, or in ways similar to this?”

Cazor grinned, then shouted back. “Wait until we leave the city. You’ll see.”

They quickly passed the outer defensive towers, and Tala almost felt like she had slammed into a wall, though not physically. Her speed didn’t change, but suddenly she felt an odd drag of magic.

The power that they were moving through compressed ahead of her. It entered her aura, taking on an aspect like that put forward by her through-spike. Like my own magic. Then, it was pushed before her, into the power that had been further away.

As it did so, it seemed to create a reverberating pulse of power that was subtle at first, but grew quickly.

-It’s like a continuous whip-crack, but with magic instead of air.-

I’m creating a magic boom? That had interesting implications. No wonder this isn’t advisable under normal circumstances.

She contemplated a moment longer, observing the compression of power, pushing against her as she moved. So, we’re only going a bit faster than what we really should be? The build up seems on the slow side, considering.

Their speed began to adjust slightly, first slowing down until Tala barely saw an increase in the building concussion of power around her. Then, it increased a bit.

Looking over to Cazor, she could see why.

He had a halo of power around him as well, but it was fading, and after a minute or so, it was gone all together.

Terry, somehow, didn’t look like she did or Cazor had, though he did still seem to have a bit of a halo of magic around him.

Magical density? Not weight?

-Likely, also probably something to do with human power, in general. You’re seeing the odd echo between Cazor and yourself, right? His presence is making your power more prominent.-

Yeah. That’s…odd. The phenomenon did explain why caravans weren’t just a single Mage with a fast method of travel and a storage backpack. Though, they could still probably move faster than a caravan, except…

-If I had to guess, Kit, Terry, and your other gear is adding to your magical echo. With a caravan’s worth of storage, you’d have to be going a lot slower to avoid this effect.-

And the iron isn’t blocking it because this, by its very nature, is magical turbulence. She nodded to herself.

-That would be my guess, yeah.-

They were going too fast for easy conversation, so Tala just smiled and gave Cazor an appreciative gesture.

He waved back and smiled, clearly enjoying himself.

Tala noticed that Cazor had pulled out some glasses to protect his eyes from the wind. Her own eyes weren’t bothered overmuch, but as a test, she extended her senses and power into her elk-leathers and found the right path to manifest a magical defense in front of her face.

It worked wonderfully. Instantly cutting off the wind.

It also drew a lot of power, because she was manifesting it without the physical component of the defense. So, she was forced to connect a couple of void-channels to her outfit to speed up the flow of power.

They weren’t strictly necessary, as the soul-bound item could pull directly from her gate and reserves, but the use of the void-channels increased her flow, which was required given the increased demand from the item. Everything’s a trade-off.

After fifteen minutes, Alat grunted within Tala’s mind. -Oh, that’s unpleasant. I only have access to my own files, now…-

You lost touch with the Archive?

-No, not that. I can still pull some information, though it’s a lot less than before. I don’t even seem to be able to modify anything that I created, though I can access all of it much more easily than the rest. If I had to guess, it’s because we just don’t have the magical weight required to access the central Archive.-

Then why can we access our information?

-I think because it’s magically closer to us? As Holly implied, this is probably why this sort of Archive access doesn’t usually happen at such a low rank.-

That made some sense.

In less than half an hour’s travel from Bandfast, they reached the mouth of the twisting valley indicated on Tala’s map and slowed. That diminished Tala’s magic boom considerably, for which she was grateful. It had been beginning to give her a headache.

A few more minutes’ travel up the valley, and they came around a bend, almost running headlong into the leading edge of towering trees.

Cazor reacted quickly, pulling them both backwards, even as the nearest branches lazily swung through the space that they would have entered, had they not slowed and pulled back.

“Gah! These things should be trimmed back a bit.”

Tala laughed, noticing that Terry had flickered away and was waiting for them on the ground, well out of reach of the trees, even if one were to topple over entirely. That’s probably a smart move.

Cazor lowered them to the ground back near Terry; Tala tossed the bird a big portion of jerky; and the discs broke apart and returned to the Mage Hunter’s belt-pouches.

Before them, the grove loomed, completely filling the mountain valley, between two short cliffs, just barely twice the height of the tallest tree she could see.

Grass filled the area around them, knee deep in places, but it got noticeably shorter, the closer it came to the trees.

Through the center of the grove ran a pleasant stream that babbled and bubbled and burbled happily into the stillness of the late-morning, winter air.

Not too cold. Something about the area seemed to be warming the valley. Hot spring? There was a bit of steam rising from the water. Fascinating.

Cazor cleared his throat, bringing her attention back to the matter at hand.

“So, how do you usually harvest the berries?”

She shrugged. “Well, I used to strip down and use this.” She pulled out her long berry-picker, which she’d purchased in Alefast. “I then put the berries into an iron barrel to process as I have time, later.”

“You strip down…”

Tala glanced away and cleared her throat. Didn’t think that one through before I spoke. “Well, I didn’t want to destroy all my clothes.”

He shook his head, seeming to choose the wiser course and not comment on the topic further. “Alright, so is that necessary?”

“No? I can mirror my ending-berry like defense onto my clothing. So, it should be safe from the trees, so long as I maintain focus.”

“Soul-bound?”

“Soul-bound, yeah.”

“Nice.”

“How about you? How do you think you can harvest?”

He grinned. “Oh, I think a demonstration is better than just saying it.” He lifted his hands, and they practically radiated palpable power.

Iron dust shot from his pouches and flowed over the nearest tree, sweeping it from base to top-most leaf, leaving it utterly undisturbed.

No. That’s not right. All the berries were gone.

The iron cloud came back, seeming more substantial than a moment before. “Barrel please?”

Tala quickly pulled out one of the barrels and removed the lid.

Cazor gave her a puzzled look when he saw the barrel, but didn’t comment.

Bloody barrels…

Instead, he gestured, and his iron cloud deposited a miniature mountain of berries within the barrel, easily at least ten gallons.

Tala gaped and Cazor sank down to sit on the grass, looking strained. “That was harder than I’d expected.” He looked down at his arms, clearly analyzing the scripts there. “Rust, the tree’s magic even wears away at power, forcing a greater through-put. I’m not sure how many more trees I can pluck before this portion of my inscriptions are spent.”

“At least a few more?” Tala looked into the barrel. All I have to do is remove the seeds and press berries. He didn’t take any stems, or leaves, or anything.

“Yeah, at least a few.” He regarded her. “You know, I really should have asked, but what’s your plan with the seeds?”

She shrugged. “I toss them back among the trees.”

He didn’t look like he really understood, but shrugged nonetheless. “Alright, I suppose. So long as you aren’t planning on selling them.” With a groan, he pushed himself back to his feet. “Ready for the next?”

“Yes, please.” She reached inside Kit and pulled out her other barrel. “Place the new harvests in the first barrel. I need to process these.” She began biting the berries in half, quickly removing the seeds and tossing them in among the trees. Then, the two halves of the berry went into the new container.

Cazor stared at her for a long moment, then let loose a single barking laugh. “She puts the seeds in her mouth. Somehow, I’m not surprised in the least.”

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Chapter: 186 - I Really Want To

A note from JLMullins

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Thuss, Sakari Saastamoinen, Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala was in awe.

She was busy processing the berries like mad, carefully biting them in half, pulling out the seed, sucking the juice off, and sending the seed back among the trees. The halved berries then went into another barrel, as she moved onto the next little packet of juice and power.

That was fairly standard, though she hadn’t done it in a couple of months. She even was able to add in the tossing of jerky to Terry every so often.

No, what was awe inspiring was how Cazor could strip a tree with a bare few moments of work. She’d tried to pass it off and hide how impressive it was to her the first time he’d done it, but that fiction was getting increasingly difficult to maintain as he repeated the act with aplomb.

It did seem to visibly drain him to do it, however, and the time between each tree grew markedly.

Tala had barely processed roughly as many berries as Cazor had gotten from the first tree when he flopped to the ground for the fourth time, panting.

“I don’t…” He pulled out a water-skin and took a deep pull, swallowing with abandon. “I don’t remember these things being deemed to have any sort of intelligence.”

“You mean the movement?” She chucked another seed back among the trunks of the grove.

“Well, that’s a part of it I suppose, but that can be purely reactionary. They are adjusting to my method of harvest and are disrupting my power more effectively with each tree.” He hesitated. “Well, four is hardly a good sample-set, but even so.”

“Why don’t you take a break while I process these?”

He grunted. “I was going to do that anyways, but sure. Thank you for the suggestion.”

It honestly didn’t take her long, and in the end, she’d guess that she had just shy of fifty gallons of halved, de-seeded berries.

That’s ridiculous. His method of harvest was so incredibly efficient compared to her own. I’d have had to be out here for days to get this much.

Cazor opened one eye. “Done already?”

“Yeah, sorry. Seems like your break is over.”

“Eh, it’s fine.” He made no immediate move to get up.

-Hey, I have kind of a crazy idea. Ask Cazor if he’d be alright with us keeping some seeds to experiment with.-

Tala asked, and he sat up, giving her a long look. “Not going to sell or trade them away? You only want them for your own use and experimentation?”

Alat?

-Of course.-

She nodded. “Exactly.”

“That’s fine, then. They’re actually less dangerous than a good chunk of research materials for some specialties. You aren’t going to plant any within the city, right?”

-No planting, no.-

“That is not my plan, no.”

“I see no issue, then.” He stood, groaning and making sounds of protest.

“Something wrong, old man?” Tala quirked a smile.

Cazor cocked an eyebrow at her. “This is massively draining; I hope you know.”

“I can guess. And even if I couldn’t, you make it quite obvious.”

He huffed a laugh and shook his head. “Fine, fine. I’ll keep a lid on the complaints.”

“Oh, you’re fine. I thought it was kind of funny.”

He turned away, muttering to himself. “Funny, eh? What I’m doing is impressive as slag.”

Tala just shook her head at the oddity and tossed more jerky for Terry.

“I have an idea, and whether it works or not, it will likely wipe me out for a good while, but I think it will be more efficient, overall.” He lifted both hands and a much greater pulse of power radiated off of him.

Tala stood up a bit straighter, watching as smaller iron clouds took turns picking from individual branches, instead of whole trees. As each finished its branch, it came to deposit the collected berries into the waiting barrel.

That makes sense. Smaller manipulations take less energy. But will it give the trees a greater chance to adapt?

“That looks easier. Why would it wipe you out more?”

“More. Concentration. Required.” He said each word greatly spaced out, and Tala took the hint.

With the process slowed a bit, Tala was able to see iron contracting around each stem as another portion grabbed and twisted a given berry free.

Masterful control, that.

Not wanting to get distracted, Tala began working on her part.

-Wasn’t your part stripping?-

No. Hush, you.

Cazor was trembling from the effort as his little iron clouds finished with the fifth tree. He looked her way and smiled triumphantly. “How was that?”

“Impressive.”

“Good, because that’s all I’ve got for the moment.” Without another word, he flopped backwards, seemingly asleep before he hit the ground.

-Likely mental exhaustion. He’ll be fine in an hour or so.-

Can we help him?

-I came across a few methods that might help. Can you alter your magical signature to match his so his body doesn’t reject power coming from us?-

Um… no?

-Oh, well, then none of these will work.-

Is such a transfer possible?

-In theory, yeah, but I found no evidence of it being done.-

Tala huffed an irritated growl. Is there anything we can do?

-Well, there are a few things that humans do to mentally relax.-

Oh?

-…wow…we are naïve.-

What do you mean?

-Nothing. There’s no way we can help him with what we have with us.-

You could have just said that.

-Where’s the fun in that?-

Tala and Alat fell into silence, and Tala continued processing this new batch of berries. The only change was that, now, she had her final iron-salve out and was coating each seed in the substance before placing it in a container.

As she did this mindless work, her thoughts caught onto a thread. So, she began to pull.

Alat?

-Yeah?-

You’re basically a being of pure magic now, right? Just connected to a soul?

-A bit insulting, that. I’m a soul manifesting through a medium of pure magic. But go on, I think I see what you’re getting at.-

You seem to have a personality that mirrors many aspects that we’ve seen in other, older Archons. Master Jevin, Noelle, Jenna, and others.

-I hadn’t considered it that way, but yeah, that’s true.-

And such Archons have reached a state that they’ve been remade, sometimes entirely, with Magic.

-Correct.-

She didn’t really know how to phrase this, so she just asked. Is magic snarky? By its very nature? And does it pollute what it interacts with, with that trait? What about other aspects?

Alat laughed within Tala’s mind. She contained herself shortly thereafter and continued the conversation. -That’s a very interesting line of thinking.-

So?

-No. I don’t think Magic makes what it touches snarkier.-

I said I didn’t have a good way to word it…

-Oh, I understand what you’re trying to say, as funny as what you actually said is. I think the changes between you and I are due to different experiences, even for as short a time as they’ve been different, and ignoring the fact that I get to experience yours, secondhand. Old Archons have been around a long time, and so they seek ways to entertain themselves. I have very little to do within our head, so I do the same.-

Simple as that?

-That seems like the most reasonable explanation.-

I suppose so.

They once again fell into silence.

As Tala neared the end of processing the second batch that Cazor had gathered, the man, himself, began to stir.

She had one barrel filled to the brim, tightly compacted, and sealed already back in Kit. She only needed to run that barrel’s contents through the press, and she’d have her power-packed juice. She had a second barrel about half full of processed berries as well.

In her previous experience, the berries were very juicy, giving almost half their whole volume in juice. How does that even work, anyway? She’d been considering it as she worked almost mechanically at de-seeding the berries.

-I think you’re on the right track in your thinking. Their magic is centered around cohesion, specifically to briefly counter the power of the seeds and trees, but it bleeds over into other related effects. That in mind, it makes sense that they’d be able to retain a much greater volume of liquid, compared to a normal fruit.-

Yeah. I’m not a botanist, though. Do you think anyone’s ever studied it?

-Do I think that anyone has ever studied one of the foundational sources of power for primeval mankind?-

Fair enough, silly question.

-I’ll look into it when we get back to Bandfast.-

Thank you.

“Morning.” Tala grinned over at Cazor as he opened his eyes fully.

He hesitated. “Is it actually still morning? Did I sleep a whole day? Or are you just mocking my nap?”

“Still morning, you didn’t sleep that long. Less than an hour, actually. Did the trees adapt?”

“Less than I thought they would, actually. They seem to have a static means of building effectiveness against a given thing, but it seemed to have faded before my last effort. It also seems related to how much it interacts with a given thing, in this case my power, and doesn’t even seem to remember interacting with it before. The escalation of efficiency in disrupting my power seemed to start back at square one.”

“I think I followed most of that?”

Cazor stretched and grinned. “If I do one tree at a time, and take a bit longer breaks in between than I have been, it shouldn’t get harder with each tree, and I should be able to do twice as many as I’d been thinking I could.”

“That I definitely understand.” Tala smiled back. “Then, let’s get to work. Any guesses on the actual number?”

“We can probably do another…ten? In the next two or three hours or so.” He nodded to himself. “That should fill the four barrels you said you had on hand, right?”

Tala glanced up, checking the time. That will put us at around two in the afternoon. “Just about, yeah. That works for me.”

As she looked up, she saw flickers of power sweep across the top of the valley, avoiding the trees by a good margin but seeming to pass through virtually everything else.

“What was that?”

Cazor glanced up. “What?”

“I thought I saw a magical scan of some sort.”

He looked questioningly her way, likely trying to ask if it was the arcane, without saying so out loud.

She shook her head. “It felt animalistic, if anything.”

He grunted. “Probably a magical creature that sensed us, trying to pin down our location.”

Tala paled, thinking of her first encounter with such a creature. Sure, she’d killed the midnight fox, but that had been a weak being, and she’d actually gotten quite lucky. Though not so lucky that it was a windfall. After all, I lost the harvest…

He took another drink before glancing her way. “Do you think we should leave?”

She shook her head. “The power seemed to avoid the trees, likely due to what you noticed; they even break down any power that comes too close. We should be safe until we leave.”

“And they may have given up by then.”

“Precisely. At least that’s the hope.”

“I’m fine with that plan.” He shrugged and got to work, quickly harvesting a tree, then sitting down and pulling out a book to wait for the grove’s defenses to relax and return to normal.

Tala continued to work, adding to the buzzing maelstrom of power within her with every drop sucked from the outside of an ending-seed.

True to his guess, Cazor was able to harvest another ten trees. Their fruit filled her barrels, and then some. Thankfully, she had no trouble simply eating the extra. So, the magic-packed berries didn’t go to waste.

“Ready to head back?”

“Definitely.” After a moment’s pause, she inquired, “So, what scripts did you use up?”

“Only mostly used up, thankfully. They’re my fine control scripts. I don’t use them that often, so they are my least efficient. Though, I’ve been trying to practice with them more, so thank you for this.”

She grinned. “Any time.”

He laughed in return. “I still need some help with the inscription costs.”

“Oh, I know. I’ll think of an offer on the way back.”

“Sounds fair to me.” He formed their two iron discs, and the two of them stepped up back in place for their trip home. Apparently, the discs were a product of medium level manipulations of his magnetic fields, not requiring the fine control he’d exercised in harvesting.

She tossed a last bit of jerky for Terry, and he snapped it up before flickering to her shoulder.

As the group began moving, they quickly came to the closest sharp turn in the canyon-like valley, the one that had mostly hidden the grove.

Tala felt her stomach drop at what she saw.

Little ripples of conflicting magics clashed and fizzled through the air, barely noticeable as they bled around the bend.

It looked reminiscent of the surface of a pond during a hailstorm, only somehow more violent.

“Master Cazor, magesight.”

He didn’t hesitate, and she saw power move over his face and head, the spell-lines beginning to glow, subtly. The iron discs immediately slowed, then stopped. “What the rust?”

“Yeah. Something’s happening.”

They both looked around, and Tala was able to see similar effects in almost every direction, save directly around the grove.

The two Archons seemed to realize the same thing at the same time, though they articulated it differently.

“The trees are acting as localized magic dampeners.”

“Ending trees directly disrupt magic in an area?” She immediately saw the benefit of having ending groves near even modern cities, and why they couldn’t be allowed within the defenses. “Oh, I feel stupid.”

Cazor huffed. “You and me both. But that’s secondary. There is something, or more than one something, looking for us, out there, and I don’t see any…” His eyes glanced to her briefly, considering, then continuing as if he hadn’t stopped. “Conceptual power, so I think we’re just dealing with magical beasts, not arcanes.”

“Can we go up? From a greater height we could have a better look and see what’s going on?”

He considered. “We can, briefly. The magical beasts that can fly are usually a much greater danger to people than the ground-bound.”

She remembered the night-wing ravens and saw his point. Those were just arcanous beasts, too. “Up and back quickly, then.”

“Agreed.”

They rose, cresting out of the steep-walled valley. They both immediately felt the turbulence in the magic around them.

Terry squawked quietly and clamped down tighter with his talons, locking him more firmly in place.

Likely in reaction against his instinct to run. She swallowed to clear her mouth. I don’t blame him.

But Tala couldn’t give Terry more than that passing thought. She and Cazor were focused on other things.

Specifically, their gazes were glued to a distant clash that was taking place at the head of the canyon, which led to the ending-berry grove. Right where we slowed down sufficiently to stop making me into a beacon.

The auras of the two beasts were both yellow, but that was their only similarity.

-I want to chastise you for exaggeration, but I can’t see any other overlap… I guess they both exist? We can see them both?-

Alat was trying to distract Tala, pull her out of her shocked focus. It wasn’t working.

One of the two magical creatures was, of all things, a griffon, seemingly taken straight from children’s tales.

The fur on most of its body looked positively metallic-gold, while still somehow looking alive in a way that Tala couldn’t quite pin down. The feathers on the front portion and wings were a brown that evoked bark without seeming wooden, dirt without being dirty, and topazes without being gem-like.

Its beak and talons reminded Tala of Terry’s in an incredibly not-comforting sort of way. And even at this great distance, Tala felt like she could see intelligence in the predator’s eyes.

Its opponent was an amorphous… something, which currently had six fully formed spindly legs which didn’t seem to be truly holding its bulk off the ground. Another leg was growing outwards as she watched.

More than anything, the legs seemed to facilitate quick changes in direction. And they seemed required because, despite its size, it was fast.

The blob darted, reshaped, and almost flowed around the griffon’s mostly physical attacks, occasionally even splitting into two seemingly independent entities before recombining and continuing the conflict.

Strangely, neither obviously magical creature was using anything that seemed to be a magical ability, relying instead on their brute physicality. The attacks that came closest to being magical were gusts of wind thrown by the griffon’s wings, seemingly sent to unbalance the blob.

As Tala watched, the blob-thing ripped off and then threw a portion of its body, which struck the griffon as it strafed past, seemingly trying to rake at its opponent with talon and claw.

The mini-blob impacted one of the griffon’s wings and immediately sprouted at least fifteen little clawed legs that began to tear at the feathered appendage.

The griffon dropped to the ground, twisting the affected wing in front of its face so that it could peck free the offending new opponent. The eagle-lion seemed very little worse for wear after it had eviscerated the seemingly homogeneous, living projectile.

“Why aren’t they using magic?” Tala’s voice was barely above a whisper, even though the combatants were miles away, down the mountain, nearly back in the plains. Only her incredibly good eyesight let her see as much as she had.

“I can’t really see what’s going on. I’m just watching tight masses of power move around each other in violent seeming patterns.”

Tala briefly explained what she was seeing.

“Your vision is insane. Do you know that?”

She gave a weak smile. “Thank you? But what about my question?”

Cazor grunted. “Any magic they use will produce far-reaching echoes. Even their presence is causing the ripples we’re looking at. Those ripples can look awfully tasty to anything higher up the food chain.”

Tala’s eyes widened. “So… they’re trying to avoid discovery, too?”

“That would be my bet. Humans are much better at detecting, and worse at hiding from, magical creatures, so I don’t think anything else would notice that conflict and come looking.”

That was at least slightly comforting.

“So, they both sensed our magic booms and came looking?”

“Magic boom?” He hesitated, then nodded. “Like a sonic boom. Not really the same, but close enough.” He nodded again. “Yeah, that was my guess, too.”

Tala tsked. “No wonder there’s a prohibition against traveling too fast outside of cities. Can you imagine if we’d led them to Bandfast?”

“Yeah, that would have been bad.”

She cleared her throat. “Speaking of which… how are we going to get back without doing just that?”

“I can move us as fast as possible, below the threshold that you begin to create a,” he smiled, “magic boom.”

“Don’t laugh at me. It makes sense. It’s understandable.”

“I’m not laughing.”

“Do you have a better name for it?”

“The technical term is motive aura resonance.”

“Oh… yeah that’s better.”

He grinned. “Anyways. I’ll take us as fast as I can around those and back to Bandfast.”

“How fast is that?”

He hesitated. “How much risk are we willing to tolerate?”

“Some? I really don’t want to draw a magical creature down on Bandfast.”

“Any chance we’re getting helped with those?”

Tala grimaced unhappily. “Unlikely.” She didn’t say more. The watchers are watching for an arcane. They aren’t babysitting us to protect against magical creatures.

“Yeah, I thought not.” He clucked his tongue, his thoughts seemingly taking a new direction. “It would be really foolish to go fight those.”

Tala felt her grimace morph into a grin as she picked up on what he was getting at. “Incredibly foolish.”

“It would practically be begging for our magic to be seen for dozens of miles in every direction. Who knows what we’d bring down on ourselves?”

“Undoubtedly.”

Cazor scratched at his chin. “I’m sad to admit: I’ve never gotten to test myself against something that powerful, and the times it’s been close, there’s always someone or something to protect, which limited my effectiveness. Or, there were more powerful Hunters nearby to clinch the kill.”

She nodded sagely. “That sounds like that wouldn’t be a fair test.”

“Exactly.”

“Mages need to test themselves in order to grow.”

“That’s true. That’s true.”

She shrugged. “Not much out here worth worrying about, and there’s no one to clinch the kill but us.”

He gave her a long look, his smile slowly growing. “I really want to do it.”

“I’ll take the griffon?”

An expression of joyous glee stole over his face. “Mistress Tala?”

“Yes, Master Cazor?”

"You have the best ideas."

-And here I would have guessed that Mage Hunters were selected for their sound judgment and careful nature. That boy is just like us, only more fragile. How is he even still alive?-

Hush, you. He’s confident and experienced. We’ve trained together and fought at similar levels. If he can take one, I should be able to as well. Cazor’s not a fool. We can do this.

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

Zu'ul, Zrell , znarken, Zebrababies, Zanthras, zachary gafken, Zach Adams, Z. Cs., Yrom, Yenin , Yemisi Mcmullen, Xynee, xtrnet, xIron Gamerx, Xavier Lamphere, X Y, Wundermelon, william wallace, William Priess, William Fullerton, William Francom, William Davis, Will C, WhisperInTheVoid, Whisper, Wesley Miller, Weppsu, WarNachos, Walter , W , Vroom , voltic, Viria , Viktor NechvÃ¡tal, Vikram Ahluwalia, Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, Vervacitus , Vaulex, Valter AnunciaÃ§Ã£o, user754595, Tzucaza ., Tyrone Thomas, Tyler Babcock, Tyler, TwistedToaster, twentytoo, TurmRIC, Troy Fox, Tristan Griffin, Travis McIntosh, Travis McHenry, Traian, TorbjÃ¸rn Nilsen, TorbjÃ¸rn Haugstad, TomÃ¡Å¡ BlÃ¡bol, Tom Roettger, Toc Anastar, Tobias Zeitvogel, Toad , TNkdI6FVB1NhjNqt , tlove, Timothy Burago, Timecrafter, Tim Marshall, ThreatLvlPurple , Thomas Van Roy, Thomas Stewart, Thomas Payne, Thomas Goyne, Thernn , Therese Brock von Rein, TheLazerCat , TheFool, Thaco4 , Temon_Oak, Teee , Tatletot, Tate Browder, Tangyorange, Talion, Taliesin , T.E. N., Swanie, Svarog, Superposhposh , Styx49, Stuart Anderson, STORRM , Steven C, steve, Stephen Pearson, Stephanie Washburn, Steffen, StarWolf, Stano MareÄek, Spencer Herold, someguy , Some Total Kretin, Solarwind, Solar , SoddenFool, smoze, Smokestack Matt, Sleet Rain, sleepy , Skygo, Skarsol, Sivcere, Siphor , sings_with_toads, Simon Casey, Simen Dybvik, Silberwolf325 , Signspace, Shykarn , ShotoGun, Shelbo, Shakez44, Shad0wlife , Severed Hat, sethorizer, Seth Richter, Seth Cox, Seth Bryant, Sekander , sedael , SecondBlahm, Sebastian Lindqvist, Sebastian Larsen, Sean Panajotovic, Sean McCrohan, Sean Elliott, Sean Carter, Seadrake, ScottDR, schnixxes, Schelm , Satya Prateek, Saramon H, Sands , Sandoz, Samuel Patterson, Samuel McCarren, Sam Vinh, Sam Oppy, SaltyVigilante , S.G., S T, Ryudachi, Ryan Tran, Ryan Naquin, Ryan Hearn, Ryan , Ruyxi Sylpheyes, Rutger Boll, RottenTangerine, Rory natynczuk, Roger, Robin SjÃ¶doff, Robin Richards, Robert z, Robert P, Robert Mullins, Robert Kline, 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Sofaer, Aaron Greene, Aaron , aantonides ., ........,  Eric Liu

Mage:

Zachery R Hunnicutt, Yasin Bari, windspren, Wesley , Werkrat , ulrik aaby, Turnip, theend , tachi-kawa, SirGuy , Silveredgallium, Setaria, Scott Toreki, Scott Holt, santor25, Sage, Rick Brandon, Ransom Hollister, Raistlin , Pigeon F, Patrick Cole, Not Real, Nicholas Kelly, NebulaeDreamz, moon.wizard.666, Michael Stephan, Michael Mercado, Michael Bradet-Legris, Michael Anaya, MeatyLock , Max Oberg, Matthew , Mathieu Deg, Mathias Schwendimann, mallix , Lia, Lasse Pedersen, Joshua John Wallace, Josh , Jordan Leighton, Jonny, Jeremy Leonard, Jason Case, Jan, Jamison Schneider, James Hadfied, jacob britt, J , Ian Anderson, Gurditt Mangat, GopherAtl, Gleadge, Gert Wallis, Gemyma, Finn Freudenberg, Fabian , Error, Eric Trombly, Dustin , Digdug, Deneas , David, Cybernetic Angel, Cory Ellis, Chris Olsen, Charles Simon, Carl Clements, Carl Bunch, Caillin McKay, Barrie Davis, Anton Selling, Alexander Belousov, Alex Scriber, al , Aaron Lewis

Mageling:

Will Iam, ttuurrhh , Sven Paulson, Stefan Rabenstein, SomethingWicked , Sid_Cypher , Sam Mullen, S , RotWeisseWaffel, Robert Rosenthal, Prateek, pope benedict, Pawaidan, P.R. Bakker, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Nicholas Cunningham, moniker, Michael kim, Matt DiMeo, Lonewolf, Kirsty , Kevin O'donnell, Judy Halloran, Joost Boere, Jeremy , Jeff berman, Ivo Havener, Isaac Larkin, Hollowlce, Hamo4, GSH, Faris Bissex, Eythan Hayashi, Daydeus, David, Dave Burkett, DANTE, Chris K, Benjamin Buco, Austin McGue, ashandarei, Alexander Graber-Tilton

Inscribed:

Tytus Turczynski, Trevor Walker, Tandroll, ShadowCub , Sam Ford, Ross Doyle, PeM, Paul Lorenz, nikrowd , N. A., Mqrius, Moses Lambert, Luka Lageschaar, LÃ©o Viarouge, Kuro_Neko , Jonathan , James A. Hunter, Isaac Fratti, George Lanetz, fennek , Eyke, Eric Mueller, EmissaryOfZork , Dax, Dan Snell, Chase128, Brisingaer, Benjamin Piribauer, Ari Mononen, Anks , Alastair Dent

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Chapter: 187 - Genuinely Shocked

Tala immediately pulled out a tungsten sphere and began increasing its pull towards the middle of the griffon’s spine. I should still be able to get some good harvests from it, then. Even if it absolutely blows through the creature.

She was very careful in the implementation. She didn’t picture the griffon in any particular state of health. In fact, with Alat’s guidance, they locked onto the feel of the griffon’s magic, which should even ignore its drop in level, if they had to fight it down through the ranks. That’s a well thought out lock, if we do say so ourselves.

-And we do.-

Tala didn’t try to place any effect on the griffon at all, only targeting it for the effect from the sphere in her hand. I really should have gotten the claw fixed.

Cazor glanced her way. “Mistress Tala, that’s a lot of power.” He seemed half nervous and half impressed.

“I aim to obliterate.”

He snorted a laugh.

The power must have been even more significant than Tala realized, or since the creatures had come looking for them, they were more sensitive to workings of magic. In either case, the bird-lion immediately snapped its head around, orienting on them.

Two, slightly staggered, overlapping pulses of power swept across the three as they floated there, one seeming to originate from each of the magical creatures.

Cazor cleared his throat. “Alright, then. No strategizing, just fighting.” He looked her way. “Well, a little strategizing. Here or there?”

“There, or at least not here.” She chose quickly and decisively. Between them and the beasts they were about to fight, they were the most likely to be thrown around, and being near an ending-tree grove when that was happening sounded like a bad idea.

Cazor nodded and immediately moved them towards their opponents, even as the griffon and blob-thing seemed to decide that the humans were better opponents than each other.

Tala continued to ramp up the pull, using three massive void-channels towards that end, even as she transferred the sphere into her off hand and drew Flow. “You with me, Terry?”

Terry gave a low fluted trill from beside her ear. It sounded, to her, half-way between hesitant and down-right pessimistic.

“You know what? I’m a bit nervous about it, too.”

Cazor shouted over the rising sound of wind. “They will risk magic to fight us, in the hope of killing us.”

Tala gave him a thumbs up. What magic can we expect? Lightning, fire, earth, and air came to mind, as well as enhanced strength and healing, but she’d studied too many monsters recently for specifics to come to mind instantly. She could recall if she bent her mind to it but didn’t want to take the time.

-Funnily enough, the griffon will have bodily reinforcements similar to your own. But he will have more power behind the reinforcements and have a higher starting point, given his magically created, bestial body.-

That’s what she’d thought she read on the creature, but Alat’s confirmation was appreciated. It was less than ideal, but she could work with that. Anything else?

-Some have access to lightning, some fire, and a few can manipulate earth, but the most common simply have a degree of control over the air, to help with flight, given their massive bodies.- After a moment’s pause, she added, -To be clear, all of them have that control over the air. It’s just the most common for them to only have that.-

Right, it’s limited because creatures of magic don’t go through founts or get more abilities from them.

-Precisely.- Alat filled in a few more details on the griffon, such as any limits on movement, preferred methods of engagement and the like. Thankfully, Alat could help Tala review the information she’d read on the beast much more quickly than she’d have been able to recall it on her own, so it took only a breath or two for a full refresher.

The blob-thing? It was a slime…muk? No, that’s not quite right.

-Close: Silmuk. Its connection between the parts of its body exists mostly in the domain of magic. Many believe that it’s the magical result of dasgannach who live long enough, but most don’t think so. It’s acidic and can morph at will. It’s also not really able to be hurt by mundane means. Cuts? It doesn’t have innards to expose. Bludgeon? You just spread it out? Piercing? Like poking yourself in the side with a finger.-

So, resilient, but those don’t seem like a wide ranging powerset.

-They aren’t Archons, Tala. Magical creatures usually don’t have a massive spread of abilities, but what they do have, they back with power and instinct.-

Tala continued dumping as much power as she could to ramp up the connection between her tungsten sphere and the griffon even as they moved toward the magical creatures. She’d chosen one without an Archon star within, because she didn’t want to accidently force a clash of will between herself and the griffon. She had the strong impression that she would lose.

The griffon was streaking towards them, but somehow it seemed almost lazy in its flight, like it could go much faster, if it wanted to.

The silmuk looked like nothing so much as a massive multi-colored drop, rolling their way.

It’s probably waiting for its ally of circumstance. There are two of us, so it’s being safe.

“We should stop here!” Tala shouted. We’re far enough from the grove that it shouldn’t be a problem.

Cazor’s response was easy for her to hear, even over the wind. “If you’re sure.”

She nodded, and they slowed, lowering to the ground so that Cazor could reclaim his iron for the upcoming fight.

They stood on an open rise with good visibility all around them and solid footing underneath in the form of deep, springy turf. It was blessedly free of snow, likely because of how exposed it was. Any that fell would simply have been blown away.

Tala’s eyes widened as power filled the air above them and the ground below, clearly coming from the griffon still a considerable distance away.

Cazor saw it too.

In less than a couple of heartbeats, she saw tendrils of power stretch out like the uncounted branches of the tree, each slashing upward from the ground towards the sky, leaving behind something that was obviously magically manipulated. Hundreds of long, thin, magnetic fields? She couldn’t see the magnetic fields themselves, but it was probably a good guess.

As his magic had been lashing out, iron dust continued to pour from his pouches, already dispersing through the tendrils his power had left behind.

From her sensing the buildup of power to the lightning’s release, barely more than a second had passed, but Cazor had reacted with long honed instincts.

Because of his quick reactions, the power flowed through the iron dust, completely bypassing them, though it did make the air around them uncomfortably warm and vaporized a good portion of the dust Cazor had used.

In the aftermath, Tala’s hair rose. There almost seemed to be enough static in the air to lift her braid. That’s ridiculous. I read about the range and capability of lightning griffons, but it is rather more…awe-inspiring in person.

Alat just grunted. -Oh, so it’s a lightning variety. Good to know.-

The griffon shrieked in irritation as its attack had done nothing. They lose the power for good. I doubt it will be willing to try again, when it was so unsuccessful.

That is what the manual had indicated, though it had cautioned that individuals varied on this particular point. The griffon had used more power in that one attack than Tala could hold in her entire body.

True to that assumption, the griffon looked a marginal fraction less yellow and more orange than it had before the attack. It was so minuscule that even with incredibly refined magesight, excellent vision, and a specific desire to look for a change, she wouldn’t have seen it without Alat interposing her memory of the thing’s aura from a moment earlier.

-Yes, that was less than tenth of a percent of the power it would have to use to drop from yellow to orange.-

And now we know.

She continued to channel power into the tungsten sphere. The mental model that she used was a slightly modified version, which Alat had helped her to create. With it, her working was finally freed from its static 10% per second manipulation. This still isn’t going to be enough to be an effective attack, before it gets here.

She needed another plan for an opener to the fight.

Hesitantly, Tala extended her hand towards the griffon. It probably wouldn’t work, but she was fighting a Refined -Elder?- creature. She needed to at least try.

This seems unsporting…and it’s going to ruin my harvests if it works.

-Better to live?-

That’s a bit pessimistic. We’ll live just fine. We might not win, but we’ll live. She knew enough to be able to ensure that, assuming things didn’t go catastrophic in more than two ways. Maybe three. I think we can handle three catastrophes.

She could still feel the heat and static from the lightning attack.

Yeah, best to try.

Tala targeted the griffon, moving to increase its gravity, but the beast of magic easily shrugged off her lock. More than anything, it felt like she was a child who’d grabbed an adult’s belt, only for the adult to keep walking, breaking her grip without even noticing.

Well, that’s about what I expected.

And then, their enemies were upon them.

Terry flickered in a blur of teleports around the griffon as it covered the last couple of hundred feet towards Tala and Cazor.

The result of that was a veritable cloud of blood, which misted out of the beast from innumerable cuts. Cuts which immediately began to close.

-Ball!-

Tala easily understood exactly what Alat meant and threw the ball, aiming to have it arch over the griffon.

The sphere was still having its attraction towards the griffon ramped up, but it wasn’t quite to the point that the pull was very noticeable.

She was throwing off-hand, so 'toss' was likely a better description of what she did, but her training and magical refinement had made her strong. Her daily practice had made her accurate with all kinds of throws and tosses. Regardless, she used her already established lock on the sphere and prepared to enact a second modification to the tungsten.

-Now!-

CRUSH. She poured power through that mental construct, sufficient to match four enactments of her old “crush” ability, immediately increasing the ball’s pull towards the ground by a factor of two-hundred-fifty-six. She felt two rings burn away from the back of each of her hands.

The ballistic sphere streaked downward, even as Tala continued to dump as much power as she could into the ball’s connection to the griffon, without using any more of her rings.

Alat’s timing had been perfect, Tala’s aim was good, and the tungsten sphere hit the griffon directly between the wings, cracking its back and driving it downward to slam into the ground. The ball then passed completely through the griffon’s body and sank into the turf below.

Tala grinned from ear to ear. Got it!

She immediately charged forward either to harvest or finish off her opponent, she didn’t much care.

Terry used that moment to flicker in and rip off portions of the large beast, continuing to cut at it with his talons even as he ate long strips that he pulled free.

Both bird-like creatures were massive, now that she saw them closer up. The spine of the griffon would easily be above her head, if it were standing, and Terry had taken on a size to match his head height with that of his opponent.

The terror bird was taking no chances, ripping into the griffon with a fervor that almost made Tala blanch.

As she began to move forward, Tala caught the beginnings of the conflict between Cazor and the silmuk. It mostly seemed like Cazor was deflecting its blows and severing its limbs and main body with planes, blades, plates, and other creations of iron. The Archon did not appear strained or worried in the slightest.

Will that even work? She saw an odd, oscillating quality to Cazor’s magic, and the iron dust seemed almost to be quivering, even as it swept and countered the silmuk at his direction.

Before she could turn her attention fully to that other conflict, however, she noticed through her magesight that the power around the griffon hadn’t changed in the least.

Her gaze turned back to it, even as her feet carried her forwards. Flow can take its head and remove any lingering life. She wasn’t actually sure about that, as it largely depended on the type of healing the beast had.

However, before she’d taken three steps, the griffon pushed itself back up and screeched at the sky, pink frothing spittle spraying from its open beak.

It was rusting furious.

Terry took that moment to flicker in and scoop out a truly massive portion of its throat.

But the gaping wound on its neck, the hole in its chest, and the uncounted other wounds across its body closed quickly. The griffon had fully healed before Tala had taken her fifth running step.

-That is ridiculously fast healing, Tala.-

The creature’s eyes locked onto her, and she felt a moment of fear. Well, I’ll admit, that is faster than I understood from the texts. We may have miscalculated.

-Not fatally, but it does seem like we did.-

So, that’s one catastrophe. Still well within expectations.

Even within that fear, she didn’t stop.

She broke the lock linking her tungsten sphere to the ground at the massive increase, while continuing to pour power into its link, drawing it towards the griffon. That’s my end game.

She’d been ramping that up for more than three minutes, and the ball was starting to twitch within its hole. The layer of rock the sphere had managed to bore into beneath the thick, rich soil was holding it firm for the moment, however.

The griffon was barely twenty feet away as Tala cocked her arm back. A flick of power transformed Flow into a glaive in the same instant that Tala snapped her hand forward. The practiced motion sent the magical weapon lancing forward towards the griffon’s heart.

She kept running forward.

The griffon obviously saw the attack coming, even if only at the last moment. It jerked to the side, so that Flow missed its heart. Instead, the heat-field of the cutting edge sheared off one of the great creature’s wings. The appendage fell free with the sizzle and smell of roasted meat, leaving behind a cauterized stump.

Good luck healing that quickly! Tala knew firsthand how much of a pain it was to heal burned flesh.

The griffon shrieked again. As Tala grimaced against the piercing noise, she easily saw magic blossom outward from the creature, dumping power into the air.

The burned stump exploded.

Cauterized flesh splattered the ground beside the beast as its wing reformed, the rate of regeneration only marginally slower than that of any of its other wounds.

Fire or heat usually greatly inhibited magical healing and were classic go-to means of dealing with such abilities. Alright, I’ll call that catastrophe number two. We can still make this work.

Tala growled, sending a thought to Alat as she continued to close, already calling Flow back to her, hopefully in a way to gain another cut on the return path.

Does every fight with a magical creature require hacking through all its power? More than anything, the question was an expression of frustration.

-All those that can heal, probably. From what we read in the texts that Grediv provided, that is basically all of them.-

Great… She’d known that, but she had hoped to be able to damage it in such a way that it wouldn’t be required. Cauterizing the wounds should have been more effective.

-It’s a battle of attrition. As you know, that’s why most people avoid magical creatures entirely. Even if you win, it’s expensive.-

Tala had closed the distance while the griffon staggered, though it was quickly recovering.

Flow snapped back into her hand in the form of a sword, having burned another line down her opponent’s flank and part of its newly repaired wing. Weapon in hand, she went to work. All the while, Terry was flickering around, cutting tendons and superficial major arteries and vessels, if the fountains of red liquid painting the surrounding grasses were any indication.

How does he even know where those are?

-Instinct? Or some vision into the infrared? That would explain it pretty well, actually.-

Tala gave the creature dozens of cuts, including hacking away at the beast’s leg, and she caught its expression out of the corner of her eye.

It looked shocked.

Not hurt.

Not angry.

Genuinely, confusedly shocked.

Tala tried to imagine what would cause that look on her own face. If a toddler just drew a knife and tried to stab me. That would do it. That was a bit insulting.

The griffon recovered from its disbelief quickly. Prey did not attack a griffon. The griffon was the aggressor. The griffon knew this and would prove it in blood.

Its beak snapped forward, the quick, short motion hitting Tala harder than a blow from Force.

She would have flown far, but the strike took her in the shoulder and drove downward.

Tala felt ending-berry power burn away to protect that shoulder as well as the entire length of her back from the twisting impact.

Even as reinforced as she was, that single strike would have snapped her spine and torn her spinal cord in a dozen places.

Instead, she was thrown to the ground, facing away from the griffon, most of her defensive power consumed in an instant.

Well, rust. That hurt. Knowing how hard it would hit and taking the hit were entirely different things. Still, within expectations.

The creature pounced on her and drove its talons into her back; its beak snapped at the base of her neck.

Tala thrust Flow behind her wildly, even as she was bounced against the ground like a child’s ball. The ending berry-power that she’d gained by sucking juice from uncounted seeds was being used up all too quickly, and even with its protection, her body was already aching.

Blessedly, some of her calculated, behind-her-back stabs seemed to have struck true, as the beast staggered backwards briefly.

And Terry probably hamstrung it again, too. That does seem to tick the thing off. Even so, it was focused on her, not Terry. Not the core concern right now, Tala.

-Human. It’s because you’re human. There, now you know. No need to contemplate later.-

Right, she’d known that, but the stress of the situation had kept the knowledge from coming to her easily.

She felt a bit better for having cleared up that oddity.

There was an odd grating of stone on metal, followed by an earthen pop as the griffon stepped back over the hole that contained her sphere.

The ball blasted upward, blunt-force severing the griffon’s spine, before coming back down to smash into the already healing flesh and bone.

Hah! Justice.

-It didn’t actually harm your back.-

But it tried, Alat. It tried… a lot. Tala giggled, feeling more in the rhythm of the conflict than she had before. She rolled away from her opponent, returning to her feet.

-Now is hardly the time for puns, Tala.-

The griffon had obviously felt the damage each time and was in agony now. It raged, flailing about with its front legs, even while the lion legs in back had gone limp, toppling to the side. The ball rested exactly where she’d put it: in the griffon’s spine, right where eagle and lion portions met.

The ball had oscillated just a bit, while the spine healed, the flesh pushing the ball aside. Even so, the small sphere was putting a ridiculous amount of pressure on the spinal cord, pinching it off even after the nerves had fully healed.

Tala felt herself grinning, right up until she felt her hair stand up on end.

She jammed Flow into the ground, changing its form to a glaive, and huddled close without touching. Hopefully, it would act as a lightning rod and spare her some of whatever attack this was.

A net of lightning blasted outward from the griffon in a dome, tearing up the grass and leaving bare earth behind.

Terry was caught by the barest fraction as he flickered away, but Tala saw singed feathers on one of his vestigial wings as it twitched, seemingly uncontrollably.

The power was drawn to Flow briefly, but the weapon was thrown away and Tala, herself, was struck by the sweeping strike.

At first, the lightning stayed confined to the iron on her skin. That was both a blessing and a curse.

It was a blessing because, for that brief moment, her insides were spared. It was a curse because her iron became super-heated. She felt every drop of ending-berry power torn from her at once as the iron burned it away and crisped her skin in barely a moment.

Once the iron was gone, the lightning had its way with her insides, coursing through her, jumping between her dense bones.

The cage of protection around her brain kept her head from being fried, but that was just about all that was spared.

She collapsed to the ground, convulsing violently, her muscles not responding in the least.

-More power, let’s get this purged. Direct the magic to your consumption scripts, too. That flesh is cooked. It won’t heal, we need to repurpose it.-

Alat directed Tala internally as quickly as Tala could follow, while she desperately fed power to her various inscriptions at the direction of a voice in her head.

The griffon was dragging itself across the ground towards her. She’d only gained a few dozen feet from her hasty retreat and being thrown by the lightning blast.

Tala heard Cazor shout, and a line of iron, glowing dull red, cut into the griffon from the side.

That seemed to be enough for the beast, as it screeched again, spread its wings, and took to the sky.

Terry flickered around it for a moment longer, but the beast was retreating, cutting its losses.

That ball’s never coming out.

-True.-

I should have stuck a dimensional anchor dart into it. She didn’t actually think that would have been a good idea.

-I’m glad you didn’t-

Yeah… me too. But there goes all our potential harvest.

-And look, here is our life, still ours to live.-

Tala let out a little grunt. Should I release the lock on the sphere?

-If you did, the griffon would eject the ball from its body and heal almost instantly before returning to kill us, but you’re free to, if the pain is too much.-

Tala gritted her teeth against precisely that. I was trying to distract myself, you jerk.

-Enough distraction, focus on healing.-

Tala continued to meticulously direct her various spell-forms, sweeping through her body. It was a bit grisly. She was forcing her digestive inscriptions to eat her seared and charred flesh, so that the regenerative magic could replace it.

I’m eating myself to make room for more... me.

-And at about seventy percent efficiency, too. We really must thank Holly for such fine work. Our understanding brings it to its peak, but she created that peak for us to reach.-

Well, Lyn did say that Holly wanted us to drop through every day. Let’s do that when we get back?

-If Cazor doesn’t lose, and the silmuk doesn’t kill us, then sure. That sounds like a wise plan.-

Terry flickered over to her, looking down at her with a critical eye.

Then, he struck, his beak hitting her in the chest, hard. He squawked and fluffed his feathers, then squawked again.

The attack didn’t break anything, but it added another pain to the myriad she was already dealing with.

“Stop that, Terry.” Her voice was raw and came out barely louder than a rasp.

He let out a series of short, irritable squawks.

“Yes, you were right. I apologize.”

He seemed to pause, before trilling again.

“Yes, that’s right. I shouldn’t have ignored you and engaged the griffon.”

He lifted his singed wing.

“I am very sorry that you got hurt. I’ll take you by a healer.”

He let out a definitive trill of satisfaction and flickered to crouch on her chest, appropriately sized to not increase her pain.

Off to the side, Tala could hear what sounded like sizzling fat and a disconcerting chittering.

Cazor called out to her. “You alive?”

“Yeah.” It was barely above a whisper, so she tried again. “Yes!” It hurt to yell, but he did need to know she wasn’t in danger, or he might get himself hurt trying to come help her. “Just healing up.”

The Mage Hunter walked over to her, somehow unconcerned. “You know, I’ll give you credit: You did handle the griffon.”

Tala glared up at him. “Silmuk?”

“Have a look.”

Tala groaned but found herself able to sit up. Terry flickered to her shoulder as she did so.

Six spherical clouds of iron swirled as they glowed and radiated immense heat.

“How did you heat the iron?” She was finding it easier to talk. Her self-healing was nearly complete, after all. And it just took a couple dozen pounds from my reserves… Lovely.

“Oscillating magnetic fields can be used to heat up iron.”

That’s what I saw him doing. She felt like it was likely a lot more complicated than he implied, but she didn't press.

“The method works really well for dealing with amorphous opponents.”

One of the spheres briefly bulged outward. Tala had a moment of alarm, but as she watched, a glowing spike pulled together in line with the potential breach before driving inward with quick, decisive force.

All six spheres emanated a high-pitched whining chitter.

Tala regarded Cazor. “You’re a bit terrifying.”

“Why, thank you, Mistress.” He wore a broad grin.

“What has you so happy? Just your victory?” Tala pulled out some jerky, tossing a piece for Terry and beginning to chew on one herself.

“I’ll be able to be raised to Mage Hunter with Standing. I have a few other requirements to meet, first, but the hardest one is defeating an opponent two levels above yourself in open combat, without assistance.”

“So much for a foolish choice to attack. You needed to do something like this.”

He shrugged. “Eventually, but it was a bit foolish to do it without any obvious back-up in the wings.” His grin widened again. “Mistress Jean is going to be livid.” He laughed. “Oh, I can’t wait to tell her.”

“Are you two…?”

“Hmm? Oh, no. I was interested for a while when she wasn’t, then she was but I wasn’t anymore. Now?” He shrugged. “Might happen, but the right time hasn’t really come along.”

Tala grunted. “Back to Bandfast?”

Cazor gave her an odd look. “It’s not dead yet, Mistress Tala, and I’m not dragging it the whole way, while it roasts.”

“I knew it wasn’t dead. I didn’t really think beyond that.” She was so hungry.

“Well, it’s not going to be dead for at least an hour or so, and there is no way I’m not claiming this kill, now that I have it in the bag… Or, well, the balls.” He chuckled to himself.

Tala groaned slightly, but then nodded. “Fine, but if that’s the case, I’m making some food.”

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Chapter: 188 - Explain Everything

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Tala had to begin her “cooking” by dumping an obscene amount of power into Kit.

The dimensional storage had taken quite a bit of damage from the griffon’s lightning, and only its increased internal and external manipulation abilities had kept it from being outright destroyed.

And I didn’t even notice.

-Well, you were eating yourself at the time.-

That made Tala feel a bit better, actually.

Kit was hardly the only part of her gear that had gone through the wringer, however. The through-spike had simply continued to drink deeply of her power and hadn’t been permanently harmed in the least. I wonder if its draw negatively affected my defenses?

-Probably not? It shouldn’t have taken a lot of power to maintain the physical form, and the spell-form wouldn’t have been affected, directly.-

That was good, at least.

Her elk-leathers had only survived because they could draw power directly from her gate, and their regenerative abilities had a much easier job when compared to her own, since they were repairing non-living matter. Their armor effect had broken so quickly that Tala hadn’t even noticed it at the time of the strike and was still recovering. Tala had never taken a hit so powerful that it outright broke the magical armored defense, so she was glad that it was recovering at all. And, even though it hadn’t seemed to do much at the time, both she and Alat agreed that its presence had likely dulled the front edge of the hit, significantly.

Imagine if I hadn’t had that defense, or the ending-berry power.

-That would likely have been the start of the endgame for us. We’d have been reduced to little more than dust. Our magic would have tried to rebuild our body, but I don’t know that it would have really done anything significant with nothing physical to build off of or draw from.-

Tala grunted in agreement, choosing not to focus on that unpleasant possibility.

As soon as Kit was recovered enough for Tala to draw out her cooking supplies, she began the culinary process, continuing the infusion of power into the power-hungry item all the while.

-In case you’re curious, Kit takes more power per day than the average un-Bound Mage can pull through their gate.-

So, even if it could be made en masse in this form, most Mages couldn’t use it?

-Precisely.-

That was interesting, but not very pertinent.

-Also, Terry just ate the griffon wing.-

Tala jerked, almost spilling the pot she was working over. I forgot to grab that! She looked around, seeing Terry happily dancing between his feet as the last feathers slid down his throat.

The terror bird paused, regarding her, then swallowed and flickered to her shoulder before headbutting her cheek.

“I could have sold that, Terry.”

He trilled contentedly to himself.

“Well, I’m glad you liked it. We could have bought so much food with that money.”

Terry hesitated briefly, then trilled happily again.

“Still worth it, eh?”

He bobbed a nod, then curled up against her neck.

She let out a defeated grunt. “Well, it’s done, now. Please leave some harvest for me next time?”

He shifted slightly in a motion that might have been a nod.

Good enough, I suppose.

Cazor’s glowing balls distorted and shrieked on occasion, demonstrating that the silmuk within them was still alive, if not well. Even so, the Archon dealt with each irregularity with quick efficiency, never taking his attention from the task for too long.

Tala had noticed that only the outside layers of iron were confined to a glowing red. The light occasionally flickering through showed ranges through yellow all the way up into white.

I feel like there’s an obvious reason for that. Alat?

-Yes, you learned about the magnetic point of iron. The glowing red portion is just below that point, and it seems to be containing the iron that is hotter, past the point of being able to be directly manipulated by magnetic fields.-

That has to take quite a lot of finesse. He can’t let the heat transfer outward, or he’ll lose containment.

-And it is likely only the extreme heat further in that is truly damaging the silmuk.-

Complicated indeed.

Cooking didn’t take a lot of thought, especially when following the incredibly easy and detailed instructions from the Culinary guild.

So, what was this experiment you wanted us to perform with the ending-berry seeds?

-I think that the scripts that you had Holly put in place for the containment of scripts created in your lungs would contain the ending-seed’s destructive power and allow you to exhale it as a breath-weapon of sorts.-

Tala froze, cooking implement halfway through stirring a portion of her food. You want me to detonate an ending-seed…in my mouth…for a test…because you think it should work.

-Not out here in the wilderness, but after Holly has considered and approved of the merits of the idea? With a healer present, just in case? Yes.-

And stuffed to the brim with ending berry power.

-That too.-

The idea had merit. Could this have helped with the griffon?

-Are you asking if it would have been a good idea to test out an unproven, dangerous idea against a magical creature?-

No. I’m asking if it could have helped.

-In theory.-

Tala grunted. Next time, then. Next time, we’ll have another thing in our back pocket.

-If it works.-

If it works. Tala considered. Worst possible outcome?

-Your head pops, your scripts rebuild it, and I refill your mind with who you are.-

Tala shuddered. That’s…unsettling.

-Why? You are a soul, manifesting in a body, tempered by a certain set of experiences. Your soul wouldn’t be touched, your body would be repaired and your experiences would be restored exactly as they had been.-

Tala grimaced. I still don’t like the idea.

-That makes sense. I wouldn’t like the idea of you running my scripts all the way down before getting them reinscribed.-

I hadn’t considered that as equivalent, but I can see that it would be.

-I’ll help you keep your head, then.- Alat had a bit of a humorous bent to her tone.

Tala grinned in return. And I’ll do my utmost to keep your scripts in top form.

She’d finished preparing her massive, one-woman feast as well as consuming it by the time Cazor was wrapping up. He’d declined her offers of food.

She’d made a lot, and she hadn’t really savored it so much as she'd eaten as quickly as she could. Though, she had paid enough attention to write down her impressions of the dishes in the little book provided by the Guild.

For the most part, she’d made a meat-veggie medley, taking dehydrated vegetables and preserved meats and cooking them in water with premade spice mixes poured in.

She also had broken out some hard-tack, which she'd lathered in a cheese that was somehow made to be long-lasting without any external method of preservation.

While she’d been eating, all of the spheres had been steadily shrinking, and one by one, their collapse had accelerated until they fully crumpled in on themselves, before the iron had cooled enough to be moved over to join a different ball.

At long last, there was only one sphere left, and it was shrinking rapidly.

Less than an hour before, Tala could have stood inside it without issue, but now it was barely bigger than her torso.

Over the next minute, it looked almost like it ate itself. It was an uncomfortable reminder of how half of her scripts had worked on her so recently.

Finally, Cazor collapsed to a seated position on the turf, all his iron streaming back to his pouches. Some was still dust, but much of it was irregular chunks of slag. He’d probably have some way of breaking them up at a later time.

One of those has to be a dimensional storage to contain all that iron. Maybe more than one, honestly.

The iron itself was interfering with her magesight, however, so she couldn’t easily tell which.

Cazor walked over, seeming quite satisfied with himself. “Hey, you’re not magnetic anymore.” He hesitated. “Wow, the griffon really fried you, didn’t it?”

Tala grimaced. “Yeah, it wasn’t great.” And now I need to re-apply the iron paint. The two gallons that she had would only allow her to do one more full re-application. She needed to get more before she left on her next assignment. No delaying. I need to get more, today.

“Do you need a healer?” He looked a bit concerned, likely thinking that he would have been the delay in getting her needed healing.

“No, but Terry does.”

Terry lifted his slightly scorched wing for Cazor’s inspection.

The Archon nodded. “We can get it seen to. I apologize for making you wait.”

Terry fluffed his feathers, favoring the injured wing, then squawked once in a sound that conveyed indifference.

Cazor cracked a smile. “Ready to head back?”

“Are you up for that?”

“Yeah. That wasn’t particularly taxing, though it wasn’t that much fun. I hard-countered the silmuk, so it was an ideal situation for my advancement, but it made the whole thing a bit anticlimactic.”

“I can probably find the griffon, if you’d like.” She smiled sweetly.

He held up his hands. “No, thank you. One magical beast is enough for one day.”

“Then, let’s head back, yeah.”

They took longer getting back to Bandfast than they had on their trip out, completely avoiding creating any motive aura reverberations.

I still feel like this is faster than a caravan, but I suppose that’s because there’s fewer people and less stuff being transported.

-That’s the theory, yeah.-

As they approached the northern gate once more, the light of the setting sun cast the snow in a ruddy hue.

Looks like blood has painted the world.

-The arcane never showed.-

Any idea why?

-He probably isn’t just waiting around for you. It seems like we’ll have to try again at some point.-

Tala grunted. Great.

-Let’s handle the payment for Cazor.-

She glanced over towards the other Archon. “I really don’t know what your inscriptions cost. How’s…three gold?”

He laughed. “You really don’t want to offend, do you?” But he waved her off before she could respond. “Let’s do one ounce this time, but I’ll ask for three if we ever do this again. I got a lot from this trip that I can’t count on happening again, next time.”

Tala grinned back. “That sounds quite reasonable. Thank you for the assistance. This trip would have been worse in basically every way without you along.”

-Ask for his hand. I need a better look at his magical signature to do the transfer.-

Tala flushed. I’m not asking to hold his hand.

-Fine, spoilsport. You think of some other way.- Tala got the impression that Alat knew of several, but didn’t deign to share.

That was fine; Tala had an idea that should work just fine. “Master Cazor, can you extend your aura my way, so I can get a look at it?”

He did so. “Why? What’s up?”

-And…done.-

“Thank you. The gold should be in your account, now.”

He gave her a skeptical look, then pulled out his Archive tablet. A moment later, he was blinking down at it. “Well…I’ll be…” He glanced back to her. “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”

Could we take funds that way, too?

-Tala, I’m surprised at you! But no. I tried. It takes willful consent from the giver. We can give to anyone we want, though.-

You…you tried to steal from Cazor?

-Hmmm? No. I had this idea ages ago. I tried to steal from Jenna.-

Tala felt her eye twitch.

-Don’t worry, there’s no record of it.-

Tala was very concerned, despite the somewhat flippant reassurance. If you get me thrown in jail, you’ll be imprisoned too.

-Oh, I’m aware.-

Cazor brought them in over the city wall without issue. “Where do you want me to drop you off?”

“I need to see an Alchemist and then see my inscriptionist.” She glanced to Terry. “But I think a Healer first, if you’re willing?”

“Any preference?”

Alat brought up the memory of having seen a Healer’s shop very near the Alchemist’s. That in mind, Tala directed Cazor there, and he set her down at the front door less than five minutes later.

Some of the passersby gave her odd looks, staring in awe up at Cazor. Everyone gave her a wide berth as she stepped off the iron platform.

“Thank you for an interesting day, Mistress.” Cazor bowed from where he stood, elevated a half-dozen feet above her.

She bowed in return. “Thank you for all the assistance, Master Cazor.”

“Any time.” He waved goodbye and went on his way, speeding just high enough to clear the surrounding roofs.

Getting Terry healed was a simple thing as Healers often worked on pets, companions, and work animals. He made similar comments to the one in Makinaven with regards to Terry’s dimensionally sequestered body, but otherwise didn’t question them.

Ten silver saw Terry restored to peak health.

After that, a quick walk got Tala and Terry to the Alchemist's, where she bought three-and-a-quarter gallons of the body paint. With that, she would have five full applications in reserve, after the one she’d do that night.

That cost her one gold, sixty-two silver, and fifty copper. She didn’t have the silver on her, and the alchemist preferred dealing in hard coin. Thus, she had to use two gold and accept the change back. It was a bit of a pain but not overly so.

-You know, if you become a certified Alchemist, you could buy the recipe for just five gold. It's in the list of available recipes for purchase and sale by such people.-

Tala grimaced. Not worth the extra time…right?

-Oh, no, not at all. Becoming a certified Alchemist somehow takes more time than becoming a Mage.-

Huh. I never really knew that.

-Ooooo. Alchemist fire is available too.- There was a moment’s pause. -A hundred ounces gold?!?! What madness is this?-

They probably don’t want random Alchemists to buy it.

-That is a ludicrous sum, even so.-

Tala shrugged, then scratched the back of her head as she walked through the wintery streets. It didn’t really matter in the end; she wasn’t going to become an official Alchemist. To Holly’s!

It was a short, rather familiar trek to Holly’s through what seemed to be a growing snowstorm.

Tala stepped through the front door and paused, looking over towards the assistant sitting behind a desk.

She waved, gaining the middle-aged man’s attention. “Hello. I know Mistress Holly asked me to just drop through, but-”

An exclamation of surprise echoed through the warehouse before Holly’s voice boomed out, “NO! GET BACK HERE, GIRL!” Holly’s voice carried through the building like a war-horn.

The assistant leaned back and shrank a little in his seat. After a moment, he waved Tala towards the back of the warehouse without a word.

Tala gave him an apologetic smile as she rushed past and back to Holly’s work area.

As Tala stepped into the familiar room, Holly pointed to a stool. “Sit. Explain everything.”

And so, Tala did just that, doing her best to leave nothing out as she recounted her trip to the ending grove with Cazor and the battle afterwards.

Throughout, Holly made the occasional note, but she didn’t ask any questions, seeming content to wait until the end.

Tala even included Alat’s idea for the ending-berry seeds and Tala’s own failure with the griffon.

-Failure’s a little harsh. We did deal with it.-

True enough.

Even so, she felt it was a failure, so she cast it in that light in her retelling.

Holly sat in silence for a long, long time.

Well, it was probably just a couple of minutes, but it felt like a long time as she stared critically at Tala the entire time.

“Well, your breath delivery of magic should work, and testing it here, with a Healer present, is a wise move.” She called out to a passing apprentice and had the woman send for a Healer. “No time like the present.” She flagged down another woman and had them source some trash.

“Right now?” Tala was a bit surprised.

“Before you leave? Of course. If I let you leave, you’ll find a reason to test it yourself. I applaud your restraint in not trying something foolish with the griffon, but one does not bet on a miracle happening twice in one day.”

“Hey!” Tala frowned at the rather pointed insult.

“Hush. While they are arranging those things, we need to get you in the auto-inscriber.”

“What? Why?”

“You’ve rebuilt most of yourself again, already… for some reason."

Tala scratched the side of her head. “It wasn’t intentional.”

“Regardless, you need the next iteration of scripts and then, after our test, you need to EAT. When I say eat, you need to eat more than you did last week, but tonight. Then do that for every meal for a week.”

Tala blinked at the Inscriptionist. “What? Why?” She thought that she’d been doing a good job of eating what she needed as well as building her reserves.

“Because these scripts are going to rebuild you again, and they are going to need a good chunk of that energy and nutrition, and you will need the rest to be safe on your next venture.” She patted Tala on the cheek. “I’m not about to let you die on me. You are giving such amazing data.”

“Thank you?” Tala wasn’t sure if she should be insulted.

“You’re welcome, dear.” Holly’s words seemed genuine.

So… a compliment?

-She does give them on occasion.-

Holly pulled out a few little booklets, then hesitated. “Alat, was it?”

-Yes.-

“Yes.” Tala answered for her alternate interface.

“Good, look up the next set of manuals for these series of scripts.” She held up the three small booklets, which Tala read, but didn’t bother to process.

-Got it.- There was a moment’s pause. -Oh, interesting. Okay. Let me rearrange this for you…and…Here you go.-

A book appeared, hovering in front of Tala, and she took it, not bothering to consider its unreality.

She also did her best to not notice Holly reacting with interest to her movements.

It was a simple read, and she finished quickly. Huh, so it really is just a next step.

-It seems so. Metaphorically, we are building a house. The first set we got was the foundation, then the set we currently have, and which we’ve been soaking in power, until we forced them to rebuild us, were the supports and the roof. Now, this next set is the walls and the real meat of the structure.-

How many more small modifications are there in the sequence?

-After the one we’re about to get? Just one more.-

What then?

-I don’t know. We don’t have access to whatever that is.-

So, these improve base muscle power, bone density, and strength, natural healing, and biological system efficiency overall?

-That’s correct. There are two parts to each change. The first is the forced physical change within your body, and the second is the imposition of magic that augments the physical. The idea is to force that into your natural magical pathways as well, for increased augmentation as well as maintaining augmentation even without scripts to that end.-

Yeah, this can’t be unrelated to Refining. She knew from experience that Holly wouldn’t tell her, though. “Alright. I think I understand the difference.”

Holly leaned closer. “Fascinating. You didn’t imbibe the information any faster,—I’m monitoring your inscriptions as we speak.—The information was simply shuffled around, and only the parts you needed were presented to your conscious mind, increasing efficiency rather than raw throughput.”

“Yes?”

“Wonderful. Now, inscribing time! We’re refreshing everything while you’re here. No reason to have some of yours run down.”

Holly pulled out the auto-inscriber and helped Tala get inside it before it tightened.

“You are clear of all iron, so that griffon did you a favor of sorts.” She cackled a laugh. “Without its work, you wouldn’t have been ready for the next modification for months, so it did you all sorts of favors.”

Tala grimace. “I suppose so, yeah.”

“I assume you prefer unconsciousness?”

“That would be preferred, yes.”

“Are you sure? I really do recommend that you stay awake.”

“Why?”

Holly grimaced fractionally, then shook her head. “No reason.”

“Unconscious, please.”

Holly obliged.

* * *

-Ding-

-Consciousness disabled for reinscribing.-

-Reinscribing complete, consciousness restored.-

Tala returned to wakefullness like the snap of her fingers.

She had a lingering soreness across her body, but it seemed more mental than physical. Or, magical? In addition, she felt a building hunger. Oh, yeah. Food soon.

She waited. Alat? Are you there?

-Yes, Tala.-

Why the “ding” again?

-We’ve been over this, at least in passing. When you lose consciousness, my base nature takes over until consciousness is restored and normal brain function is reported.-

Right. That makes sense.

“How are you feeling?” Holly was sitting off to one side, the auto-inscriber already put away.

“Fine? I think.”

“Good. I left you unconscious for a bit longer this time, to let the inscriptions set a bit longer. I think it was the right call. They seem to be incorporating nicely.”

-Correct. The extra time without power flowing through them increased their acceptance by at least 10%-

“Seems to have worked.”

“Good, because the Healer just arrived, and I had them set up a side room for the test.”

Tala blinked at her, processing the flow of words as her mind continued to attempt to wake up.

Holly just smiled back. “Shall we?”

“One moment.” Tala tossed Kit against the wall and walked through almost before the door could fully manifest. She found what she needed right inside, opening one of her cast-iron barrels and eating great handfuls of halved ending-berries as quickly as she could.

After less than a minute of what was, admittedly, gorging, Alat interrupted Tala’s one-food feast.

-That’s about enough. We’re actually approaching our capacity with this power and I don’t want to see what happens if we pass that.-

Tala licked off the bits of juice that were on her hands before wiping her mouth with those hands and repeating the process.

Waste not.

That done, she exited Kit and grinned towards Holly. “Let’s do this.”

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

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Chapter: 189 - Dissolution

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Ben Morgan, ciaran mullen, Noelle, PatronTurtle , Sakari Saastamoinen, Thuss

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala and Holly walked down a side hall that Tala had never been through before, though it shared the odd mix of aesthetics from the rest of the building: warehouse meets boutique artisan’s workshop was an odd combination.

Holly led her through the third door on the left, and they entered a spacious, mostly empty room.

As Tala looked around, she noticed that every surface, including the floor, was covered in iron.

What? How?

Tala frowned, then stepped back into the hallway and looked at the wall beyond which the room lay. There was no evidence of the iron from the outside to her magesight and obviously none to her mundane vision.

As she looked closer, willing her magesight to pierce deeper and focus more minutely, she saw the tell-tale signs of illusory scripts. Specifically, the magics she saw were almost identical to those which created the false magical sense around her, via her through-spike. She stepped back inside and looked at Holly. “A safe room?”

The woman shook her head. “No, dear. This is a place to experiment without issue. I just didn’t want a beacon of reflected magic glaring at me every time I used my magesight.”

Tala grunted. That makes a surprising amount of sense.

-Besides, her safe room would be much better hidden.- Alat gave a fake gasp within Tala’s head. -Unless that’s what she wants us to think! If we ever need to kill her, we’re checking here first.-

Tala decided not to address that, and since there were two other people in the room, she had a readily available distraction.

The woman, younger and obviously a bit subservient, bowed to Holly, now that Tala wasn’t taking up the Inscriptionist’s attention. “Mistress. I piled some detritus of various kinds to the side, there.” She pointed at a surprisingly robust pile of trash and what looked like construction leftovers. “There is a sizable renovation going on a block from here, and I was able to get some of their cutoffs and unneeded bits. They were grateful that I was willing to take some for them.” She shrugged, a self-satisfied smile plain on her face.

“Great work. Thank you.” Holly gave a small, affirming smile. “You may go.”

“Mistress.” The unnamed woman bowed again and departed without ever having acknowledged Tala directly.

The other person in the room was quite obviously a Healer, and his aura was yellow, marking him as a Refined like Holly. The aura itself was kept well contained below the surface of his skin.

Oh. He’s hiding his rank.

When Tala examined him a bit more closely, she realized that she saw a bit of green in his aura.

Moving towards Paragon? He was someone of power. Not unique, by any means, but of note.

The man glanced after the retreating assistant as she closed the door with a muffled clang, before returning his gaze to Holly. “Mistress Holly, may I now know why my presence was requested?”

Holly grinned. “Mistress Tala, here, is going to perform an experiment, which involves enacting rather dangerous magics within her mouth.”

The man cocked his head to one side. “What are the natures of these magics?”

“Only one nature: dissolution.”

He grimaced. “Mistress Holly, I can repair any physical injury, but if her brain is dissolved, I cannot restore more than the physical structures of her mind. She would be a vegetable.”

Holly waved him off. “That part is being handled.”

He looked deeply skeptical. “So long as you understand my limitations.”

“I do.” Holly glanced to Tala. “Do you?”

“I do. As we discussed before, this was expected.” She then stepped over to the Healer. “I am Tala, by the way.” She gave a shallow bow.

“I am Shir, Mistress Tala. Are you sure you want to try…whatever this is? It sounds incredibly dangerous.” He narrowed his eyes towards Holly. “And Mistress Holly can occasionally be a bit more persuasive than is good for those she persuades.”

Holly rolled her eyes but didn’t comment.

Tala gave a small smile. “I am as sure as I can be, Master Shir.”

“Very well.” He didn’t seem convinced, but he also didn’t seem willing to press the issue. He had glanced at Terry but didn’t comment. He seemed a man who tried to be unerringly polite, whenever possible.

Even so, when Terry flickered to one corner to curl up for the duration of the experiments, his eyebrows rose noticeably and his mouth opened to ask a question, before he mastered himself and gave a slight shake of his head.

Holly ignored the man, and Terry, as she went to one corner and dragged out an iron pedestal with relative ease, placing it in the center of one side of the long room. “Mistress Tala, if you could face away from us when you attempt?”

Tala nodded, walking over and feeling a few pieces before picking up a stone block. “Of course.”

-Don’t you want to try with something…smaller?-

Smaller? This isn’t that heavy,;is it some sort of composite, poured stone?

-Tala, you have new scripts. You haven’t tested your strength yet.-

That was a fair point. Tala shrugged to herself. This should show the extent of the effects, even if it doesn’t get dissolved entirely.

After a moment, Alat conceded the point. -Fair enough.-

Tala placed the stone on the pedestal, stepped about three feet away, and pulled out an ending berry seed.

Hesitantly, she placed the little nugget of power and destruction into her mouth.

It tasted awful.

Gah, the iron-salve is not tasty.

-It is a bit waxy.-

Tala didn’t want to lose her nerve, so she bit down.

She immediately felt the building power within the seed, coming to a crescendo over the next few seconds.

As the seed was about to detonate, Tala reflexively spat it out at the stone.

The wet seed slapped against the block, then exploded with a pulse of power.

The stone turned to a fine powder, flowing off the pedestal.

Well, the seeds definitely have a higher energy density than the branches.

-What was that!?-

I spat out the seed.

-I’m well aware of what you did, Tala. That’s not what you were supposed to do.-

I got nervous, okay? She scrunched up her face in irritation.

“Mistress Tala. Are you alright?”

Tala didn’t turn around. Instead, she simply waved over her own shoulder. “I’m fine, Mistress Holly.” She swallowed to help clear her mouth of the odd taste. “I just thought we should have a basis for comparison.”

-Liar.-

Hush.

“Oh, I see.” Holly didn’t sound either convinced or skeptical. She simply sounded…present. Like she was taking in every detail.

Tala swept the iron free of stone dust and picked up the now magically inert seed. This would still grow a tree, wouldn’t it?

-Well, not still, It wouldn’t have before. It was dormant until it expelled the power.-

Fascinating life cycle. She stuck the seed into Kit absently, before picking up another, similarly sized stone block and setting it in the previous one’s place. It really did feel lighter than she’d have expected, but that wasn’t her focus at the moment.

Okay. I can do this.

Another seed went into her mouth, and she bit down without hesitation.

Tala drew in a deep breath and held it, barely managing to stop her own reflexive desire to spat out the seed as the power finished activating.

Power blossomed across her tongue.

She felt the things in her mouth that were not her break apart. Some remnants of her earlier feast that had stuck between or around her teeth, a bit of plaque, and what little saliva she’d managed to work up. The latter left her mouth a bit dry, but it thankfully didn’t drain the moisture from her tissue, and otherwise didn’t harm her. Hey, not a bad solution for oral care.

-I veto that at the highest possible levels.-

Spoilsport.

The power somehow tasted… spicy, actually. It was far, far superior to the taste of the iron salve. Interestingly, it had broken down everything from its waxy covering as well, save the iron dust that had been in it. That likely contributed to the dry feeling. Well, this is not something you experience every day.

-Well, most people don’t.-

A portion of the scripts lining the inside of her cheeks and even embedded in the bone of her jaw, her gums, and set within her teeth, flared to life. They did not negate the hostile magic. Instead, her power fought it, preventing it from enacting its purpose upon her.

Tala exhaled a tight stream of air and felt that air become saturated with the foreign power as it left her mouth.

She’d tried to aim at the very center of the rock, but her aim was imperfect, and her breath struck it on the left-hand side of the side facing her.

The front edge of the power splashed against the rock, powdering it on contact. What followed after, as the powder fell away, affected the rock deeper in, as well as a little further out.

The result was that after she’d completed her exhale, and all the ending seed’s power was spent, she’d created a neat hole through the block of stone.

The power had continued out the backside and had settled down on some of the other trash on the floor behind the pedestal, powdering that as well.

There was a bit of odd horror to the sight, in Tala’s eyes. There was no sizzling, as if acid had eaten away at the stone, no smoking, no heat or glowing material. There was no evidence that anything had happened at all, save that the stone was no longer whole.

This is…terrifying, actually.

-They really shouldn’t let you keep this.-

Tala would have glared at Alat, but that was rather useless. There are quite a few things that are just as dangerous.

-Yes, but as Trent said, so long ago, this leaves virtually no trace.-

And that was true. Even to her magesight, there weren’t traces of power on the stone. The power even dissolved itself so utterly upon being used that it left no telltales signs.

Tala spat out the broken seed fragments and smacked her lips just a bit. “Well, that worked reasonably well.” After a moment’s consideration, she bent and picked up the fragments, placing them into Kit. I don’t want them to somehow find soil and start growing. That would be embarrassing.

Shir strode forward and reached up to touch Tala’s head. At the last moment, he paused. “May I?”

She nodded, and he placed his hand against her forehead, his eyes falling closed.

They immediately snapped open. “What the rust?” He shook himself. “My apologies, Mistress. You seem to have sustained no damage from your experiment.”

Holly nodded and smiled. “And your inscriptions held up and acted as expected, completely without issue.”

Tala grinned. “They did seem to, yeah.”

Shir cleared his throat. “Mistress Holly, may I ask why this Fusing Bound has such a…” He glanced towards Holly, and Tala thought she saw the Inscriptionist give the barest shake of her head. “Altered and enhanced body?”

Tala shrugged, deciding not to try to parse through whatever he’d been going to say.

-Refined. He was going to ask why you had such a refined body.-

Yeah, that’s probably true. Even so, Tala decided it was best to answer, herself. “Most of my magic is directed internally, towards augmenting my physiology and towards regeneration.”

Shir bit one side of his lip in thought, then shrugged. “I suppose that makes sense. Am I still needed?”

Tala nodded. “I would like to try one more thing before you go. This time I will breathe in, after the power detonates.”

The Healer sighed but nodded and stepped back across the room without verbal protest.

Holly grinned. “That does sound quite interesting. Give it a go.”

Tala did just that.

The third seed activated, filling her mouth once again with the destructive power before Tala took in a long, slow breath.

The power didn’t precisely burn as it went down, but it certainly tingled, and that was not accounting for the wave of scripts activating on the way down into her lungs.

The purging process was similar to that within her mouth. There were small bits of material in her throat and lungs from breathing in less than perfect air, among other things. Regardless of origin, they were reduced to such a fine powder, and in such a manner, that Tala knew they’d be carried back out when she exhaled.

There was a headiness to holding the power within her lungs; it seemed to make her chest buzz with the contained, potential destruction.

Even so, she didn’t hold it in for long.

She exhaled, this time sending it out with a full-mouthed breath, rather than a pursed lipped stream.

The resulting miniature tide of destruction broke across the stone, dissolving it in almost an even wave, which passed through the stone, seemingly unslowed. As the dissolving power passed through the hard, heavy stone, the material was turned entirely into a fine dust.

There were some oddities due to the hole already in the stone, but the process was uniform for the most part.

“Fascinating.” Holly walked up beside Tala. “The scripts ensured that all of the power was carried out, without exception. Even if you were immune to the power, exhaling should have left a remnant behind without that functionality.”

“Isn’t that part of the point of the scripts?” Tala gave the woman a concerned look.

“Of course, but you'd never really used them in totality before. It is nice to have their design actually used.”

She means 'actually tested.' Tala felt her eye twitch. So…another experiment.

-Well, we have asked her to do some pretty unusual things. Better a theoretical 'Yes' than an actual 'No.'-

That’s fair…

Shir came over and sent another pulse of magic through her, empowering a detailed inspection. “You are perfectly healthy.” His tone was dry, and he turned to Holly. “You and I will speak later.”

“As you wish, Master Shir.”

He nodded once, then smiled at Tala. “Good luck to you, Mistress Tala. I’m sure we’ll see each other again at some point.”

She gave a formal bow. “Thank you for being here. I felt much better knowing we had a healer present.”

“But of course.” His smile broadened.

“It was a pleasure to meet you.”

“You as well.” With that, he waved goodbye and departed.

Tala turned to Holly. “How many times can I do this before the scripts are degraded to the point that it is dangerous?”

“You mean how many seeds?” She tilted her head. “How many cuts can you heal from?”

“I’ve no idea.”

“Precisely, dear. This doesn’t put undue stress on the inscriptions. It is exactly what they were made for, and they do it easily and efficiently.”

Tala grunted, then nodded. “Alright. Thank you. Can I do some more tests?”

“Absolutely, but I have other things to be about. This room is reserved for your use this evening. You have fun now!” Holly waved over her shoulder as she departed, closing the door behind herself.

Well, let’s get to work. I assume you have some things to test?

-Absolutely.-

Tala and Alat spent the next couple of hours testing out different mouth shapes on the exhale, different rates of exhale, and a half dozen other factors.

Their only interruption came when Jenna updated the information in their linked Archive space.

-She says that there was no sign of the arcane on your outing. Also, she applauds the lengths that you were willing to go to make evidence of your magical signature widely noticeable in at least a reasonably plausible fashion.-

Sarcasm?

-I don’t think so?-

Huh. Fair enough.

-She also said that they will be in touch with regards to any further requests.-

That’s a fancy way of saying they’ll reach out.

-It was clear enough.-

Other than that, they were uninterrupted, but it was getting late, and Tala still needed Lyn’s help to reapply her paint, so she headed home.

Of course, on the way she made a stop to grab four cheesy little caravans, two of which she finished before arriving at her own front door.

Lyn, bless her, didn’t ask why Tala needed a reapplication, simply obliging and painting all the parts of Tala that Tala couldn’t easily reach.

Tala, for her part, kept one fingertip on the through-spike to keep it from being covered over.

Lyn’s part done, Tala bade her goodnight and went into Kit. Kannis was apparently working late at the Guildhall on some task or other. She always was a bit of an overachiever…

Within Kit, Tala painted the rest of herself and then began to press the berries.

It wasn’t a long process, though it should have been a physically taxing one. Thankfully, Tala had both more strength and more endurance than most.

It was late in the night when she finally finished processing her four barrels of ending berries down to two barrels of juice. They really are far more juice heavy than they should be, if they were mundane berries.

She ate a good portion of the leftover “meat” of the berries while she was pressing the others, taking what she could from them both nutritionally and with regard to their magical power.

The rest she ate while moving through her nightly routine and training. Alat insisted that they add at least a couple of exhalation exercises, to cement the mouth shapes that they’d found to have the most useful patterns of distribution.

One more thing.

Finally, sometime after midnight, she flopped into her bed for much needed sleep.

* * *

The next few days passed uneventfully, leading to Tala’s departure for Marliweather. She trained, both alone and with the guards and Mages. It did take her a few days to return to her previous levels of competence against the guards, as she acclimated to her new physicality. From there, she continued to slowly improve, still losing more often than not, but less often each day.

Terry, as it turned out, did not like holding weapons. He was willing to try to overcome the hang-up, but everyone involved agreed it should be done on his own for the time being.

Because of this, along with the marked change in Tala’s own fighting abilities, they decided to hold off on adding in weaponry for Terry, or mounted fighting for both of them. Instead, they spent what time they had with her to help her get fully acclimated. Unfortunately, that meant that it would have to wait until they'd returned from Marliweather.

Tala ate a truly ridiculous amount of food, spending a gold per day, instead of the three silver she’d been managing up to that point. And she and Alat worked across the board to refine and improve her progress.

Alat, specifically, took over primary monitoring and enacting of the Fusing process, which Tala had maintained in the back of her mind.

Tala’s alternate interface spent basically every free moment continuing the Fusing process, which was actually how they both realized that Alat could manipulate magical power, directly.

Alat could only manipulate the power that passed through Tala’s gate if Tala explicitly allowed it, but it did work.

This made Alat giddy with excitement, but she put aside the discovery to devote herself to Fusing for the time being. When Tala tried to work with Alat to move their Fusing ahead even faster, it didn’t seem to work very well, so Tala left it to her alternate interface.

With the new method, they estimated that they’d reach the threshold to Fused within a month or two, instead of the three or four they’d been expecting.

Who knows what that threshold will actually look like?

-We’ll tackle that when we get there.-

That was true enough.

The last two days, Tala charged her cargo-slots in the mornings, and finally, the day of departure arrived.

Tala awoke as usual, one thought crystal clear in her mind.

Well, rust. I’m going to see my family.

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

Eric Liu, ........, aantonides ., Aaron , Aaron Greene, Aaron Sofaer, Aclys , Acorderodelfin, Adam, Adam Andersson, Adam James Washington, Adam Richards, adam1 , Add_Identity , Adrian Gorgey, Adrian Nightshade, Adurna , advancewarssami, agent, AgentFransis, Aidan , aidan kutcher, aidan larson, Aidan Mc Donagh, ajcaspers, Akastor, Albert, Albert Ng, Alec, Alex, Alex, Alex , Alex C, Alex Griffin, Alex LeBlanc, Alex Sunier, Alex Weatbrook, Alex Wilson, Alexander BÃ¶ckenholt, Alexander Baier, Alexander Dupree, Alexander Hoffmeister, Alexander Lease, Alison Swenson, Allora Lee, Almost Famous, Alonzo garcia, Alphabetical, Andrew C Kerr, Andrew Cohen, Andrew Dempsey, Andrew Glass, Andrew Goudie, Andrew Holland, Andrius , Andy, Angela Kimova, angrycharlie, Anh Vo, Anna Turner, Anon , Anonymous , antab , Apotheosis As A Service, Archivist0 , Arhsnag, Aria, Aria Jonsdottir, Arnfinn Gjorvad, arty, Asael Sklar, Aslak, Asomite7999, Asterius, AstroMyrkat, Austin Woodard, AverageGuy , Azzurous, B C, B.Vijayan , Bacon Macleod, Bad Timing, Bailey Stone, Bain-Lindsay , Baldur Norddahl, bambi125, BasseBoss , Bast, Batty Corvina, Beau Bryant, Bedo Vavrena, Ben Dean, Biomass, BjÃ¶rn, Bloodorange17 , BoB, Bob , bob sicks, Bosparan, BossDawg, Boutross, Bradley, bradley foster, Braincase , Brandon Cleveland, Brian, Bricyn Abel, BRUNO ASTUR, BtBurns , Budgie, Bunny Waffles, C Howard, Cabbage God, Cae, Caleb, Carl Bunch, Carlos Andres Rengifo Escobar, Carter Hadley, Carya Galabra, CaughtRedHeaded, Ceromus, chad ensey, ChiefWizard , Chloe Winter, Chris, Chris, Chris , Chris , Chris Brady, Chris Fox, Chris Hibbert, Chris Mantakounis, Christian Kenney, Christian Nowitzki, Christoffer DahlÃ©n, Christopher Catania, Christopher Fetherston, Christopher Harris, Christopher Jack, Cirex123 , ClapTrapCL4TP , Clara, closeded, cm123 , Cody Poteet, Colby , Cole Nyquist, Colin Brown, Colin Ford, Colin Reed, Connor Beeson, Connor Oswald, Connor Sunier, Conor Futro, Conor kelly, Cordelia , CringeWorthyStudios , CrispyKing , Cristi Palincas, CruelDude, crystalcat, Cypha, Cyrus McEnnis, da Finnci, Daba, Dakota , Dan, Dan , Dan , Dan Addis, Dan Weiss, Daniel , Daniel A, Daniel B, daniel edery, Daniel Harris, Daniel Joseph Moreau, Daniel Sigui, Daniel Smith, Daniel Strickland, Daniel Zellmer, Danny Noppen, Darcy Lessard-Patola, Darkhelm , DasUberGryx, Dave, dave hutch, David Brims, David Schleimer, David Turner, DeathOfOld , dennis malatesta, dennis pettersson nygren, Derek, Derek Singer, Derik Botha, Desertdoe , DeusCap, devarian , Diego Avendano-Morineau, Dire Wolf, Disclancer, Dixon Gao, Dominic Weibel, Doomerjunky, Dorian Grizzle, Dorian Lee, dotAlice, Dr.Quick, Draecath, Draega, dragonslaver, Drake Morgan, Drendude, Drew Gilmour, Driftward, Dustin , Dustin Qian, Dvn , dwarftoss58, Dylan , Edmund McGough, Elias Leutgeb, Ell Lan, Elliott Fawcett, ElodinGale, Ely Brookes, Enaz the great, Enif , ENIM Skills, Ensos2, Enthused, Eoin Barrett, Eric , erik lindquist, Erios909, 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Isaac Deroche, Itbeme12321, ItsjustMe , ItWasIDIO!!, Jack Brown, Jackson Ragland, Jacob , Jacob Ellis, Jacob trent, Jake Pellegrini, Jalty, James, James Beaudreau, James Davidson, James Derr, James Lavender, James Walsh, Jamie Johnstone, Jan Joost Sijbesma, Jared Brewster, Jarrod Manzer, Jasen Nichols, Jason Johnson, Jason Morse, Jason Petry, Jasper, Jasper Walters, Jayden Kirkham, Jedediah Wolfgang, Jeff Barton, Jeff Gault, Jeffery Nickelson, Jehru, Jerad Stephens, Jeremy Davis Payne, Jeremy Dorn, Jeremy Durbin, Jeremy James, Jess, Jetforce, Jim Smith, Jiokuy , JJ327, Jo, JoÃ£o Vieira, Jody, Joe Broussard, Joe Smith, Joey Nguyen, Johannes, John D'Arcy, John Growcott, John Hadel, John Noone, john smith, Jon Lundy, Jonah of the Whale, Jonathan , Jonathan Frerichs, Jonathan Timm, Jonathan Yarian, jonch1243 ., Joseph , Joseph Saunders, Joseph Sutherland, Josh Fryza, josh mitchell, Joshua allen, joshua carlile, Joshua Holt Sorensen, Joshua Lawvere, Joshua Paye, Joshua Samuel Miller, Joshua Smith, Joshua Turnbull, Joy , JT, JTP , julian, Julian Beaumont, Julian Meltzer, Just Dave, just_a_potato , Justin, Justin , Justin , Justin Gray, Justin Marble, Justin Moore, Justin Reagan, jww, Jywert , KÃ¶ck Nikolaus, Kaeson, Kai , Kamren Livingston, Kaptain BlauebÃ¤r, Karl Tageman, Karma Baris, karmaslap , Kate Yen, KDP , Keira Wulfe, Keith Papak, Kel Pough, Kelsey , kenneth, Kenneth , Kent Gunn, Kenyaa , Kermity , Kevin , Kevin Green, Khress , Kiran, Kirk Morgan, Kirvin, klabuster, Klecksi, Knightfire, Kovak, Krazo, kreiverin, Krikor Chichadjian, Krishnayash, Kristia, Kristian Olesen, Kristoffer , Kyle, Kyle Brackenbury, Kyle Eastman, Kyle frasch, L Pedersen, Lachlan Priest, Laila , Lamrsw, Lanhail, Laurids Jensen, Lazy Lemon, Le GarlantÃ©zec, Leendert Kortlever, Leif Nejst, LeJordon , Lenonxx6, Leon Ernst, Lerous, Levi Cox, Lewis Dyer, Lia, Liam K, Lindsay W., Logan , Logan Fain, lol, LordDark , LordErr, Louis Nel, Ludger , lukas bonnesen, Lukas Schaefer, luke, LuminescentSky, 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RageBone , Ragmas, Raken, Ramapriya Rangaraju, Randy Klein, Raphael , Ratoo , Ray Robitaille, Raznakz, rbot, reafan, Redbeard , Reece Grimshaw, Reed Montemurro, Reepham, Reid Palmquist, Relein, Reodude, Retaliation ., RexRegis, Rhaid, Rich Webb, Richard Davis ll, Rip Woodham, rizen, Robert , Robert Adams, Robert Hinshaw, Robert Kline, Robert Mullins, Robert P, Robert z, Robin Richards, Robin SjÃ¶doff, Roger, Rory natynczuk, RottenTangerine, RotWeisseWaffel, Rutger Boll, Ruyxi Sylpheyes, Ryan , Ryan Coyne, Ryan Hearn, Ryan Naquin, Ryan Tran, Ryudachi, S T, S.G., SaltyVigilante , Sam Oppy, Sam Vinh, Samuel McCarren, Samuel Patterson, Sandoz, Sands , Saramon H, Satya Prateek, Schelm , schnixxes, ScottDR, Seadrake, Sean Carter, Sean Elliott, Sean McCrohan, Sean Panajotovic, Sebastian Larsen, Sebastian Lindqvist, SecondBlahm, sedael , Sekander , Seth Bryant, Seth Cox, Seth Richter, sethorizer, Severed Hat, Shad0wlife , Shakez44, Shane Kelly, Shelbo, ShotoGun, Shykarn , Signspace, Silberwolf325 , Simen Dybvik, Simon Casey, sings_with_toads, Siphor , Sivcere, Skarsol, Skygo, sleepy , Sleet Rain, Smokestack Matt, smoze, SoddenFool, Solar , Solarwind, Some Total Kretin, someguy , Spencer Herold, Stano MareÄek, StarWolf, Steffen, Stephanie Washburn, Stephen Pearson, steve, Steven C, STORRM , Stuart Anderson, Styx49, Superposhposh , Svarog, Swanie, T.E. N., tachi-kawa, Taliesin , Talion, Tangyorange, Tate Browder, Tatletot, Teee , Temon_Oak, Thaco4 , TheFool, TheLazerCat , Therese Brock von Rein, Thernn , Thomas Goyne, Thomas Payne, Thomas Stewart, Thomas Van Roy, ThreatLvlPurple , Tim , Tim Marshall, Timecrafter, Timothy Burago, tlove, TNkdI6FVB1NhjNqt , Toad , Tobias Zeitvogel, Toc Anastar, Tom Clough-Macready, Tom Roettger, TomÃ¡Å¡ BlÃ¡bol, TorbjÃ¸rn Haugstad, TorbjÃ¸rn Nilsen, Traian, Travis McHenry, Travis McIntosh, Tristan Griffin, Troy Fox, TurmRIC, twentytoo, TwistedToaster, Tyler, Tyler Babcock, Tyrone Thomas, Tzucaza ., user754595, Valter AnunciaÃ§Ã£o, Vaulex, Vervacitus , Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, Vikram Ahluwalia, Viktor NechvÃ¡tal, Viria , voltic, Vroom , W , Walter , WarNachos, Weppsu, Wesley Miller, Whisper, WhisperInTheVoid, Will C, William Davis, William Francom, William Fullerton, William Priess, william wallace, Wundermelon, X Y, Xavier Lamphere, xIron Gamerx, xtrnet, Xynee, Yemisi Mcmullen, Yenin , Yrom, Z. Cs., Zach Adams, zachary gafken, Zanthras, Zebrababies, znarken, Zrell , Zu'ul,

Mage:

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Chapter: 190 - Alat, Ignored

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

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<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala was not interested in thinking about her upcoming visit with her family. She knew it wasn’t healthy to avoid the topic, and she was leaving that day to go to the city where they lived, but she still just couldn’t seem to force herself to give it more than passing reflection.

-We really should consider it.-

So, Tala went through her routine, just as she did every morning and evening, not considering the upcoming encounter.

Physical exercise and stretching, with and without her own gravity enhanced.

Martial form work with her various weapons and tools.

Soul exercises, which included everything from working on increasing the distance that she could pull her bound items to her, through improving her subtle control—needed for having her blood-stars orbit her—to aspect mirroring.

Reading the morning selection of materials from her various books, compiled and reorganized by Alat. One of the fascinating things about Alat’s manifestation of the books was that Tala had complete control to freely prop them around herself while she did other things, making them easy to read no matter the environment.

Breathing exercises to facilitate her use of ending-seed destruction, as well as to improve her physical capacities.

Enacting her magic through the series of iron spheres that Jevin had given her, honing her ability to work around iron.

Breaking her bones in a few strategic places that hadn’t been broken before to allow them to rebuild under the influence of the modified scripts.

Finally, she drank her daily portion of ending-berry juice and ate a large hunk of jerky. As that all processed, she meditated and focused her magesight inward, working to shift the magic around to the appropriate scripts within herself, overlaying the power atop her own magics that had the same function.

-We still need to talk about your family.-

Tala growled. No, we need to go eat breakfast with Odera.

-I am in your head, Tala. Not only is it blazingly obvious when you’re making excuses, but it couldn’t possibly be easier to converse while we walk.- After a moment, Alat added one final point. -And, we would be vastly too early if we left now.-

Tala ignored Alat and checked the time simply by wishing to know what time it was.

Alat was right, she still had two hours before it was time to meet with Odera.

“I should cook something.” She really didn’t want to, but just as Holly had indicated, Tala had been hungry. She’d been hungrier than she’d ever been for basically a week, and she was getting sick of eating.

There was a special type of frustration that came from having her stomach full, while still feeling desperately hungry.

With a sigh, Tala approached the task of cooking up some food in the same way that she’d perform any other required task. Though, she did take the time to choose something that appealed to her tastes at the moment.

-You know, for all your many flaws, you have a ridiculously high level of dedication, follow-through, and personal responsibility. You don’t always see how what you’re doing affects others, but with regard to your own duties? You are great at keeping your end of things progressing and on track.-

Thank you? Tala felt herself relax a bit. That’s really kind of you to say.

-So, what do you think your parents did right, to instill such things into you?-

Tala jerked, sloshing the sausage and eggs she was frying in her cauldron. Thankfully, the shape of the cookware made spilling more difficult than that.

She didn’t respond to Alat, instead pulling out a large loaf of heavy, multi-grain bread and a large jar of butter.

She allowed herself to contemplate how much she was going to miss having fresh eggs, bread, and butter on the caravan trip.

-You are well aware both that the cooks will have excellent food for you and that you are continuing to ignore me.-

You’re right. I am ignoring you.

She missed coffee, though she didn’t need it to wake up. She missed the flavor. The way her body had responded to the warmth and caffeine.

It was glorious.

It was gone.

Focus, Tala. Eat. She ate mechanically. Everything was good, but she didn’t pull as much joy from the taste as she would have a week earlier.

I hope this doesn’t last forever. I need to slow down my eating soon, or I’ll lose the last bits of enjoyment I can pull from it, and it will become only a chore.

-Do you want an answer to that?-

Tala grimaced. Yes, of course, though it wasn’t a question.

-So, no more ignoring me?-

Either answer or don’t. Tala took an irritated bite of buttered bread.

-The scripts, inside your iron paint and with the regular work we’ve put in, are almost finished with the modifications that they’ll do to you, physically. In addition, your stores are nearing their max capacity.-

I was feeling a bit heavier today. She hesitated. I've been growing steadily heavier for nearly a week, now that I think about it.

-As I was saying, you could drop down to normal consumption today, and you’d be fine… Well, normal for you, anyway.-

Yeah, but then I’d be going into a trip with lower reserves than I could or should have.

-That’s true, but only if you stop right now.-

So…? How long do I need to keep this up to top off?

-Another week, if you don’t sustain any major, unexpected injuries.-

So, just in time to arrive in Marliweather.

-Yes. Speaking of which…-

Tala groaned, doing her best to ignore Alat once again as she ate.

After Alat finally accepted that Tala was fully and truly ignoring her on the topic of her family, she changed the subject, thus bringing Tala’s attention back. -There has to be some sort of drink that we could find that would have all the nutrients we need.- Then, of all things, Alat somehow shuddered. -I don’t mean that lard-based monstrosity that Jevin tried to make us consider.-

Tala shuddered as well at the memory. One sip was all it took. Never again.

-He might have had the right idea, though.-

Bite your tongue.

-Do you mean bite your tongue?-

That sounds needlessly…odd.

Alat sighed. -Fine. But we could look into something like that. The drink, I mean.-

Tala grunted. I’m not really sure what the market for it would be, aside from us. We certainly don’t have the money to pay to develop something like that just for our own use.

-True enough. We could at least ask the Culinary guild at some point.-

Yeah, that couldn’t hurt. Wait… Don’t you have full access to their Archival records?

-Yes, but that only contains the overarching information. From what I can tell, local prices and availability aren’t recorded in the Archive.-

Ah, fair enough.

Tala packed everything back away–unnecessarily, given that Kit would have done it–and did a twisting stretch, relishing in how far her joints moved and with how much ease.

“Terry. Ready to go?”

Terry lifted his head from the corner where he slept. He let out a grunting squawk and lowered it back down once again. Then, he flickered to Tala’s shoulder, maintaining his body positioning.

“All right. Let’s go.”

Tala came out into Lyn’s house, leaving the bright, spring-sunlit home behind and stepping into the dark of winter morning.

She heard Kannis moving slowly about within Tala’s old room, and Tala quickly grabbed Kit from the wall and fled.

She and the mageling had crossed paths quite a few times, but they’d still never acknowledged their previous relationship at the Academy. Or lack thereof.

Tala was becoming increasingly certain that Kannis remembered her, too, and had just chosen not to say anything either. She’d probably taken a cue from Tala’s own actions.

Lyn had been extra busy over the last week, so Tala had barely seen the woman. Even so, they’d said their good-byes the night before.

Tala managed to get all the way out of the house and close the door, locking it behind her, before Kannis came out of her room, if the sound was any indication.

Tala let out a long relieved breath. Good, I escaped!

-Yes, you have successfully escaped from someone who happens to have known you for longer than a couple of months and bears you no ill will. How did you manage it? How would you have coped with failure?-

You know, sometimes I don’t like you.

-I am you.-

Oh, I am well aware of that.

Tala took her ease, walking through Bandfast’s snowy streets. She’d be gone for about three weeks, if all went well, and she was enjoying the last look for the time being.

She stepped through Holly’s workshop door, stood there for a moment, waved to the assistant, and then immediately departed. Tala had made it a habit to drop through each morning, to give her inscriber one last set of information to add to her records until Tala’s return.

Her feet led her to the work yard, where Mistress Odera was already awaiting her atop their cargo-wagon, and if the spread before her was any indication, food was ready and waiting.

Tala climbed up, greeting her overseer. “Mistress Odera, good morning!”

“Good morning, Mistress Tala. Good morning, Alat.”

-Good morning.- As usual, Alat could only speak into Tala’s head, so Tala conveyed the sentiment. “She says good morning.”

Alat always conveyed a mix of emotions at the greeting. Mistress Odera greeted her as a separate person, which seemed to fascinate Alat. -I am not a separate person, but still I enjoy the greeting.-

And yet, Mistress Odera never gave Alat the moniker of “Mistress.”

-I know I don’t have a keystone, nor a gate of my own…but I am you, and you are me. So, shouldn’t I be thought of as a Mage as well?-

Tala shook her head, leaving her alternate interface to her musings as she finished the very short climb and stood up on the roof.

Mistress Odera gestured to the trays laid out before her. There were so many that Tala knew that the woman had to have transported them in her own, small, dimensional storage.

Around each tray, Tala could see a bit of Mistress Odera’s magic, keeping the dishes warm and the air perfectly conditioned to maintain the exact perfect texture for each given dish.

“Chicken-fried steak with sausage gravy.” The older woman was pointing to the far-right covered tray, then moved her finger over to indicate each in turn. “Then, we have a selection of seed, nut, and dried-fruit breads with ample butter. A selection of fruits, fresh from the growing chambers. A dozen pastries of various kinds, and finally, a thick slab of honey-roasted ham.”

Tala bowed before sitting. “Thank you, Mistress. This is a fantastic spread. Thank you for transporting it down here for us. Well, for me.”

Mistress Odera simply smiled in return. The older Mage had taken Holly’s recommendation to heart and had significantly increased the amount of food that she facilitated during their breakfasts.

As Tala devoured and Mistress Odera nibbled, they chatted about the previous day’s and that morning’s training and reading.

People were moving around below them, in the work yard, adding last minute items to the two wagons that would soon depart.

The oxen shifted in their harnesses, causing the leather and wood to creak.

Passengers were loading up as well, and soon enough, the whole caravan would be ready to depart.

The time for their meeting with the heads of the caravan guards and the drivers was drawing near, and Tala moved around to charge the cargo-slots for the morning. While she worked, she glanced at Mistress Odera and asked a very impertinent question. “How is the iron Archon star coming?”

Mistress Odera hesitated before smiling slightly. “I have not succeeded, but I did not imagine that this would be an easy task. I did discover something fascinating, however.”

Tala didn’t interrupt.

“I cannot enact magics on the iron. No one can. But, I can get power to move through the iron.”

Tala hesitated, before moving her hand to the last charging point. “Magic can’t pass through iron either.”

“No, child, not through the iron. Through the iron.”

She grunted, charging the last cargo-slot before she turned and sat. “You aren’t making any sense.”

“If you walk through a crowd, are you actually going through any of the people that make up the crowd?”

“No.” She instantly understood. “So, you are moving magic around the iron, within the iron object.”

Mistress Odera cackled slightly before tapping her own nose. “Precisely. I was almost a void Mage, but the teachers at the Academy advised against it.” She sighed wistfully. “ ‘We are but empty space, thinking itself full.’ ”

Tala swallowed, paling slightly beneath her iron and under her illusion. That sort of fundamental understanding could have terrifying results.

-I wish we could see it at work.-

I know, right? “So, what happened?”

Mistress Odera shrugged. “It was deemed too reckless a foundation, and I was encouraged towards building another. I like mine well enough, now. ‘That which flows can never be broken.’ ”

How have we never asked about her foundational understanding? Why do her understandings sound so much…better than ours?

-Never came up? We also were much more focused on the foundation itself than on a cool wording for it. We could fix that?-

No… it’s not important.

“But that is beside the point, Mistress Tala. I can move power through, or rather around, the iron. The medium isn’t air, there isn’t air for the power to move through, not throughout most of the iron. Thus, I haven’t determined how to adjust the working, but I will soon enough.”

Tala was considering the implications, when Alat voiced them aloud, well within Tala’s head. -That really puts the iron sphere trials into perspective.-

Yeah, and renders them as little more than pale imitations. Can you imagine the delicacy required? She’s not even Bound!

Rane called up to them, interrupting Tala’s thoughts, and they knew that their time that morning had passed.

Mistress Odera had put the dishes away in her dimensional storage as Tala had cleared them of food, so there was nothing left atop the wagon but the two women.

They climbed down, greeted Rane, and went to have a final conference with the heads of this caravan venture.

Thus began what was an entirely ordinary, boring trek across the winter plains.

Few things of note stood out during the outbound leg of the venture.

First, Rane and Tala discussed their progress in Fusing, in-depth.

It was the first night, and Tala and Rane sat across a table from each other, out under the clear, starry sky.

Most everyone else was huddled inside, either asleep or finding some means of entertainment. The guards were, of course, on guard, but only a few were out and about.

Rane was grumpily drinking from a steaming tankard. “I can feel it. Almost like a counter in my head, though not so concrete. The closer I get to truly being Fused, the more power it takes to move ahead. I feel like I’m trying to push a boulder up an increasingly steep road, and ahead, it looks more like a vertical cliff-face.”

Tala grunted her condolences. “Master Jevin did warn that there would be some price to pay for your easier early advancement.”

Rane grimaced, taking another long pull. “Still, it’s frustrating. I feel like I’m so close, but I can also feel that, unless my power density is higher, I’ll never be able to force it that last little bit.”

“So, magical weight training?”

He snorted a laugh. “That sounds like I’m using my power to move around heavy objects.”

She grinned in return. “True enough. I mean, you are doing what you can to up your magical weight.”

“Yeah. I spend hours every day, filled to the brim and drawing in more, forcibly keeping the power away from my scripts and forcing it to stay within me. I’m not good at guiding my power. It’s definitely cross-quadrant work, and I hate it.” He growled. “It’s like knowing a bear will eat my left hand if it moves even slightly, and a swarm of wasps will enshroud my right with stingers if it ever stops moving. The feeling is awful.”

“Any good progress?”

“Progress? Yes. Good progress?” He scowled. “ ‘These things take time, Rane.’ Master Grediv thinks this path is working. I should be able to Fuse within a year if I’m consistent in my training. Two on the outside.”

Tala gave a soft whistle. “I’m sorry, Rane. That sounds… unpleasant.”

“Let me guess. You’re done? If I switch on my magesight, will I be seeing yellow?”

“Hardly.” She let out her own long breath, pulling her mug of hot buttered rum towards herself. It was delicious, but it was also her fifth such drink. The richness of the beverage was starting to get to her, so she only took a single, slow sip. “There’s something wrong, honestly. The process is slowing for me, too, and it wasn’t precisely quick and easy to begin with.”

Rane cocked his head to one side, listening.

“Don’t get me wrong, Alat is still making it go way faster than it would be moving if I was just Fusing as a subconscious process, but things are slowing down noticeably.”

“Has anyone given you any advice or thoughts about why that might be?”

Tala hunched in on herself, taking a longer pull from the alcoholic drink. Not that it will do anything to me… “Apparently, my soul is in turmoil about something, and my spirit is deeply unsettled. That’s making the act of fusing them to my body…difficult.”

-Hence, why I want to talk through your upcoming encounter.-

Rane nodded sagely, foam on his upper lip. “Your family.”

Tala groaned. “You too?”

He frowned. “Could it be anything else?”

“Arcane.”

Rane paused at that, then shrugged. “Why not both?”

Tala snorted a derisive laugh. “Oh, yes. I’m visiting my estranged family, and there’s some arcane messing with my head, but wait, there’s more!” She rubbed at her temples in irritation. “There aren’t high level Archons free to ‘babysit’ me over what amounts to a low chance of an encounter.”

Jenna had been clear on that: Tala should not expect any back-up near at hand if the arcane showed up. Tala hoped that it was a lie, meant to help lure the creature out in case it had some way of reading her mind from afar, but she didn’t have any evidence to back up that hope. It wouldn’t work if there were any…

Rane patted her wrist. “That’s rough, buddy.”

Tala snorted another laugh, but this one left her smiling. “Buddy?”

He shrugged. “I’m not really good at this sort of thing. I’m offering comfort?”

Tala grinned. “Fair enough. Comfort received. Thank you.”

He lifted his mug and tilted it her way before taking a drink. “Any time, Tala. Anytime.”

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 191 - Uneventful

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala sat across from Mistress Odera as they watched the land roll by from atop the cargo-wagon.

Tala had retrieved some of the knives and hatchets from Lyn before the woman could sell them. Now, they lay in two concentric rings on the wagon-top, Terry flickering around them, occasionally brushing the handles before squawking in irritation and flickering away. He’d been at it for days, even before they had left Bandfast, so Tala paid him little mind.

He’ll just have to get over himself at some point.

-Centuries of ingrained behavior is hard to reshape, Tala. You could bond him, and he’d likely be able to make the change in an instant, but as he is now? Terry is ancient for his kind and alive because he is set and well-practiced in his ways. Give him time to adjust.-

Yeah, not bonding him ‘til I’m Refined.

-As we were advised. I agree.-

Tala returned her attention to Mistress Odera, still a bit uncertain as to the woman’s suggestion.

Aside from Tala and Rane’s discussion on their progress towards Fusing, the only other event of note was this one.

“You want me to try to dissolve one of your barriers.”

“Yes, Mistress Tala. I do.”

“That seems…incredibly dangerous.”

“We will approach it intelligently, but it is criminal that you haven’t tried this against workings of pure magic, directly. Especially after what Master Cazor told you in regard to the power working against his magics.”

“As you say, and as you have said nearly every time this has come up.” She took a long, deep breath, then shook her head in resignation. “So, how do we mitigate the risks?”

That began a lengthy discussion. Alat chimed in, voiced by Tala, and between the three of them, they came up with a solution.

Tala sat at the side of the wagon, legs dangling over the edge, facing the snow-covered rolling plains.

Mistress Odera then created a protective barrier out in front of Tala that was shaped to deflect the power up and away, if the dissolution power ended up doing nothing to the defense.

Mistress Odera then ensured that the working moved with them as the wagon continued on its way. “Ready, Mistress Tala.”

Tala pulled out an ending-seed and popped it into her mouth, grimacing at the taste of the iron-salve coating, but managed to ignore the unpleasantness.

She bit down and waited for the power to blossom between her teeth.

Moving carefully, she shaped her lips for short-dispersion and exhaled.

The dissolution power washed over the protective field, and Mistress Odera grunted.

“Oh, that…that is really uncomfortable.” The woman grimaced.

Tala watched the zone of compressed layers of air and water shimmer and almost spark magically as the dissolving power used itself up against the defense.

A moment after all the ending-seed’s power was gone, Mistress Odera dropped the field.

She immediately brought it back up. “Please strike the defense with your weapon. Don’t spare any strength.”

Tala shifted back onto the wagon for better footing, then stood, drawing Flow and pushing power through the weapon to transform it into a sword. With a sure, practiced motion, Tala stepped forward, executing an overhead chop with all her strength and body-weight behind the blow.

Power rippled around the soul-bound weapon as all of Tala’s magical weight slammed down as well, refined and directed into lethal cutting force.

Flow stopped dead on the defense that Mistress Odera had cast, though the woman had a look of intense concentration.

“Girl, you hit harder than a Leshkin juggernaut.”

Tala beamed at the praise, pulling back Flow and sheathing it, the weapon now back in the form of a knife.

“So? What do you think, Mistress Odera? How did the two compare?”

The older woman shook her head in obvious fascination. “You hit harder with Flow than with the breath weapon, but not by much. Even so, I’d rather take an attack from that sword over an ending-breath any day of the week.”

“What do you mean?”

“There was an odd grating feeling, a screeching dissonance, while I was resisting the dissolution. It felt like I was standing on sand that was being dug out from under me. It was incredibly disconcerting. In the end, it took less power to resist than your sword, but that hardly matters. I think a larger dose of the dissolution would have broken my protective magics with ease, while I could easily hold up against more than ten of those sword-strikes in quick succession without much issue.”

“I don’t understand.”

Mistress Odera made a vain grasping motion. “It was like the spell itself was slipping through my grasp, like I could barely hold onto it.” She nodded, suddenly seeming to have something click together. “It was as if my own spell-working wanted to come apart and was using all the power I gave it to fight towards that end.”

“So, the more powerful the magics…”

“In theory, the more powerful the magics you affected, the less they could resist.” The older woman had a gleam in her eye. “And I have a mastery of my magic that is belied by my relative weakness, Mistress. Any other Mage would have no chance at maintaining a hold over their working, and only old, well-practiced Archons would do any better.” She let loose a soft cackle. “Let’s test some more.”

And so, they did.

A tight stream of the dissolution was able to punch through several layers of Mistress Odera’s defense before the power was used up, but Mistress Odera was able to hold together the spell-structure against the destructive influence. So, they moved on to using multiple seeds at the same time.

True to Mistress Odera’s guess, even the beginning of the second seed’s power destabilized her working, causing the entire defensive spell-form to collapse, no matter how small a portion Tala concentrated the power on.

“It really does disrupt the spell-form’s ability to hold together.” Mistress Odera was contemplating. “In order to counter it…” She thought for a moment longer and then gestured, eyes alight with a mischievous glint.

A sphere appeared in front of Tala, hovering out away from the wagon just as all the targets that Mistress Odera created had.

Tala examined the spherical shield with her magesight and saw that the seemingly smooth creation was made up of interlocking, overlapping bubble-like creations.

She glanced over and saw a look of smug satisfaction on the older woman’s face.

“Is that harder?”

“Marginally. It’s something I’ve played with in the past, but under normal circumstances it doesn’t actually give any benefit save a bit of added flexibility. Most applications of my magic need greater staying power more than the ability to adjust.”

I can think of a dozen sets of circumstances where the greater flexibility would have been useful.

-Ahh, but this is really what sets Archon level magic apart from that of Mages. Mages almost have to focus on power in order to be effective. Archons usually have power to spare, and so they can be more flexible and creative in their enactments.-

Like Atrexia with her rock-spikes. It was a powerful working, but not very flexible in its use.

-Precisely. She is going to be a terror when she advances.-

Tala felt a bit of sadness, looking at Mistress Odera. If she advances.

Mistress Odera caught the look and scowled. “None of that, girl. I know an Archon could have it both ways. Now, focus.”

Tala nodded and turned back to the sphere of interlocking power.

She cracked two seeds between her teeth, waited the required time for the power to erupt outward, and exhaled in a tight stream.

Just after over half her available ending-seed power was blown, the closest bubble to her fell apart, seeming almost to flow in every direction at once, rather than actually breaking.

There was a shimmering in the air and one of the neighboring shields distorted slightly, adjusting itself to snap sideways into the place vacated by the dissolved working.

The others seemed to jiggle and waver just a bit, altering their positioning ever so slightly. At that point, a new bubble formed within the complex magical structure, leaving it as protective as it had been to begin with.

The entire process had taken less than a second, and only the smallest amount of ending-seed power had gotten through, into the interior of the sphere.

The new target for Tala’s exhale wavered under the continued stream of power, but it held until the attack was spent.

Tala shook her head in wonder. “Rust me inside out.” She turned her gaze back to Mistress Odera.

The woman simply smiled with self-satisfaction. “I think that held up rather well; don’t you?”

From that point onward, Tala and Mistress Odera did some practice with the ending-power every day. The older woman insisted that Tala begin carrying an ending-seed tucked in her cheek, because it was painfully obvious when Tala popped a seed into her mouth.

“You must have your weapons ready.”

Tala reluctantly agreed, but only because the power couldn’t really harm her, so long as she didn’t swallow it.

-Our stomach is defended, but not as much as our mouth, throat, and lungs. We’d likely have to regrow a good amount of our insides if we swallowed one.-

That was, categorically, to be avoided. So, Tala used up the seed before sleeping.

It was the wise thing to do.

Other than that, the trip was utterly uneventful.

Arcanous beasts were fought off, the guards harvesting what they could; lots of good food was eaten, grudgingly; and Tala didn’t have to fight a single real conflict.

Luxury.

As the end of the trip neared, they crested a particularly high rise and looked down upon Marliweather, the city of Tala’s birth.

It covered so much more land than Bandfast, given that its mining operations were still…well, operational.

Tala recalled the types of mining humanity had tried through the ages.

Strip mining was effective, but left the land raw and unusable, like an open sore that took vastly too long to heal.

Open-pit mining was similarly scarring and had the added detriment of often creating lakes of despoiled water.

There were several others, but that was hardly the point. These days, humanity used underground mining, with Material Guide Mages ensuring the minimal manual labor brought forth the maximum results.

Within the ring of massive gantries and equipment to transport workers and materials down into and up from the mining tunnels, the familiar farmland lay just as dormant as it had been around Bandfast.

The city also looked very much like the one that they’d just left a few days back. The layout of the streets was nearly identical, as were large portions of the skyline.

Alat even superimposed Tala’s memories of Bandfast onto the vision of Marliweather before them. She had to search a bit, looking for the right perspective until she found a match.

-Huh, I guess the Builders don’t go in for innovation?-

If it isn’t broken…

-That’s fair. There does seem to be some evidence of iteration, though, so they aren’t completely stagnant. They’ve probably just perfected the design to a ridiculous degree by this point. And, they did rotate things a few degrees.-

The iteration makes sense, as does the slight rotation. We’ve traveled west, so north is going to have a slightly different directionality.

-I’m orienting off north.-

True north or magnetic north?

-How, under the stars, would I check true north? Not that we have a compass to check for magnetic north.-

Tala grinned. Follow the orientation of the city?

Alat grunted. -That might be so, I suppose.-

Tala considered for a moment. You know, while it was just a turn of phrase, I think we could actually use the stars to find true north.

Alat groaned. -Now I feel foolish. Of course we could, but we’d have to have the night sky and a lot of time. Using the city to short-hand it makes sense.-

Tala turned her focus back to the city.

Slight differences as evidence, the cities were clearly siblings, having come from the same makers. Though, once again, Marliweather’s stage modified the view. The ring of mining work vaguely obscured the overall view of the city’s skyline with rising steam and smoke.

There wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to be noticeable in the cool winter-evening air.

Rane pulled himself up onto the cargo wagon and came to stand beside Tala.

“It’s lovely.”

“It looks like Bandfast.” Tala used her tongue to play with the ending-seed tucked inside her cheek.

-That’s going to become a bad habit.-

Hush. It’s fine.

Rane gave her a sideways glance before shrugging. “Bandfast is a lovely city too.”

Tala found herself grinning. “Fair enough.”

“So… I haven’t brought it up and neither have you. Now, we’re here.”

Tala sighed, her smile slipping.

“You grew up in that city, didn’t you.” It wasn’t really a question.

“Seems so.”

“Your family still there?”

Tala had a moment of panic. I have no idea. Did they leave? Did they die?

-Calm, woman. A Mage is notified if any of their family dies.-

They could have moved.

-Really? You think they could afford to relocate?-

Fair enough… The entire exchange, panic included, had taken less than a breath. Tala exhaled fully and shrugged. “I think so.”

Rane grunted. “Are you going to see them?”

“I probably should.”

He gave her a knowing half-grin. “But are you going to see them?”

Tala found herself smiling again and almost punched him, but she held herself back. “Yeah. I suppose so.”

“Do you want company?”

She rocked back on her heels slightly. Do I?

The wagons started their trip down the slope and towards the defensive perimeter of the city.

Terry squawked up at her, and she looked down at the neat pile of weapons the bird had made beside her. “Hey, you moved them!”

Terry practically rolled his eyes as he let out an indignant trill.

“Of course, I knew you could move them. I also knew that you didn’t want to. Good for you.”

He hunkered down and glowered up at her before flickering to her shoulder, maintaining his glare.

That’s actually pretty impressive, all things considered.

She shook her head and bent to place the knives and hatchets back into Kit. Then, she tossed Terry some jerky, and after he flickered to catch it, he curled up and closed his eyes.

Rane didn’t press his query, simply swaying with the smooth motion of the cargo wagon.

“I don’t know.” Tala’s voice was quiet as she returned to her position beside the large man, staring out at the ever growing city before them.

“Well, if you do, I’m happy to accompany you.”

“To meet my family.”

“No implications intended.” And by his tone and demeanor, he meant it. She hadn’t even caught him off guard with the question.

“Wow, Mistress Aproa is really helping you get over your awkwardness.”

Rane’s cheek twitched and colored just slightly, but he shook his head. “She has a lot of interesting advice. I don’t think I agree with all of it, but it is all worth considering.”

“Well, in either case, thank you for the offer.”

He nodded. “I’m going to do another sweep of the perimeter before we enter the defenses proper.” Without a backward glance, he turned and climbed down from the wagon.

Tala took some time to examine the far-flung defenses and to feel the power in the air around the city before them.

What she was able to discern was amazing, really. Bandfast was only about 50 years older than Marliweather, but there was already a marked difference in the concentration and zeme of power around the city and throughout the defenses.

Where the region around Bandfast was like a hill, when compared to the mountainous edifice of Alfast-Waning, Marliweather still felt like a level plain, magically speaking.

The defenses here were but weak lines of power, weaving a loose net over the city.

The towers in rings around the mining and farming districts were still beacons of magic, ready to strike down anything that required such, but the defenses as a whole were almost laughably weak.

Because they don’t need heavy defenses yet. The concentration of power hasn’t begun to draw in the kinds of threats that need universal, heavy-handed responses.

-Plus, I’d imagine that the city’s Archons are ready to respond to anything extreme.-

Yeah, the “defenses” are more like a glorified detection grid at the moment.

-Bandfast’s aren’t much better.-

That’s true enough. It was mainly Archons who responded to and destroyed the syphon. The city’s defenses didn’t do much.

The caravan rolled past one of the massive towering gantries, filled with moving parts and magical mechanisms that Tala had never delved into the details of.

Steam and smoke rose around the outside of the metal edifice, made more visible by the crisply cold, winter air.

The structure stood like a benevolent god over this one entrance to the mining complex below, helping the small humans to access the riches of Zeme.

We really do stand on the shoulders of our ancestors. How much in my life is built upon all that came before?

-Everything.-

Tala nodded in mute agreement, simply continuing to marvel at the monument of innovation, which helped keep them stocked with precious metals.

The caravan passed several more of the mining entrances, but none quite so closely as the first, before they came to the farmland. As they entered the portion of road which cut though skeletal orchards and beside deep drifts of snow-covered, empty fields, Tala felt herself smile.

It is like a sleeping mother, ready to awaken and care for her children. Her sleep is needed, so she can better provide for us all.

After another few moments of quiet contemplation, Alat spoke into her mind. -That is a lovely way to view the land.-

I think it’s true, at least in part.

-It’s a lovely way to view family as well.-

Tala sighed. I have nothing against the idea of family.

-Just against your own.-

Tala felt something snap within her, and she sat down, hard, turning her rage inward. OF COURSE, I’m angry at them, Alat. They sent me away. They saddled me with their debt. They saw me as a means to an end, so they used me.

-You agreed.-

Tala froze, then shook her head. Of course I did. What twelve year old wouldn’t? 'Oh, do you want to help your family?' How could I say 'No'? What sort of awful person would say 'No'?

-The Mages did try to ensure that you knew what you were agreeing to.-

Tala snorted. I’m not mad at them, but it wasn’t much of a choice, either way. “No, Master, I want my family to starve, but thank you for offering a solution.”

-They wouldn’t have starved.-

Tala growled internally.

-You are amazing at justifying your anger, and some of your anger is justified. But you did agree.-

If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have become a Mage.

-Because most of the debt is from your schooling. Why would they have accepted you, if you wouldn’t agree to pay the expense?-

I would have happily done it, without taking on my family's debts.

-Really?-

Of course!

-Did you ask? Did you really want to leave your siblings in a debt-ridden house? Or your parents?-

Tala didn’t have a response.

-No, you felt trapped and made the only choice that you felt you could. It hardly matters if it really was the only one available to you or not.-

Rust you. She knew that Alat was prodding her towards healthier thinking, using half-truths and overstatements to move her in the ways that she needed to go. What does it say about me that my alternate interface is using tactics like Mistress Odera…?

The thought slipped through, not really directed at Alat, but Alat responded nonetheless. -Am I wrong?-

Tala hunched in on herself, ignoring the ingrained training to sit up straight.

-Am I wrong?-

No. The word was soft, quiet even in her own head.

Alat was silent for a long moment.

Tala wiped the tears from her cheeks, grateful that Mistress Odera wasn’t on the wagon-top with her.

Tala buried her face into her knees and cried quietly for a time, letting the subtle sway of the wagon rock her, comfort her.

Finally, she addressed Alat once more. I hate them for putting me in that position. How could they ask a child to choose?

-I know.- There was a softness to the alternate interface’s voice, a maternal quality.

But if I hate them, then what was the choice even for? What did it accomplish? Why take on the debt for people I hate?

-Do you really hate them?-

It was a long moment before Tala shook her head slightly. I don’t know.

Alat didn’t press the point, instead turning their focus elsewhere. -So?-

Tala wiped her face once more, pulling some rags from Kit to do a better job and to blow her nose into. So, what?

-What do you want?-

What do I want? I don’t know what I want, Alat. She looked up at the city’s outermost wall, and the gate that was a scant hundred yards away.

-Well, you better decide soon. Because we’re here.-

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

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N., Nick Tinsley, Yenin , Bain-Lindsay , Jonathan Timm, Disclancer, Samuel McCarren, Ray Robitaille, aantonides ., Alex , Andrew Holland, Angela Kimova, antab , Archivist0 , arty, Austin Woodard, B C, Bacon Macleod, Baldur Norddahl, Bloodorange17 , BossDawg, Christian Kenney, Colin Ford, Cyrus McEnnis, David Turner, Dire Wolf, dotAlice, Enaz the great, Enif , Eric , Erling Egilsson, evilperson41 , Frank, Geoff, George Hicken, Gremlin, Gull, Gustav Burkhardt, Haran , Ian Radspinner, IGS, Isaac Boyles, Jacob Ellis, James Walsh, Jedediah Wolfgang, Jonah of the Whale, just_a_potato , Justin , Justin Reagan, Kai , Kamren Livingston, Keira Wulfe, Kirvin, Krikor Chichadjian, Leendert Kortlever, Logan , Lyael, Marcus Pehan, Margus234, Mark Dolson, Matt M, Matthew , Matthew Davis, Max Gustavson, Megacheez , Noah Morris, noah stevens, nugitoBambino, OlivierA, PaleMire, peter mattoon, Randy Klein, Redbeard , rizen, Robert P, Robert z, Robin Richards, Ryan Naquin, Sean McCrohan, sedael , Seth Richter, Shakez44, Solar , someguy , Stephen Pearson, Taliesin , TheLazerCat , Thomas Goyne, Thomas Stewart, Travis McHenry, Travis McIntosh, Tzucaza ., WarNachos, WhisperInTheVoid, William Priess, william wallace, Z. Cs., ThÃ©o, David D, HJ, Matt M, Hazza Vanderbyl, Daniel B, Brian, Derek, Irisa, klabuster, Maggi von Da, Maksim, Rachel Prochner, dragonslaver, Jo, Matt S., Onill007 , Primordi, RageBone , Michael, Viria , GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Hibou Ronchon, MePe , Oliverthms , Budgie, Cristi Palincas, Helge, NaughtyPaws, Eoin Barrett, daniel edery, Tyler, Arnfinn Gjorvad, Laurids Jensen, Kenyaa , voltic, Nikolaj Rosander Madsen, Sekander , Andrew Goudie, Aaron Sofaer, Aclys , Adrian Gorgey, Alex, Allora Lee, Anh Vo, AverageGuy , Bosparan, Bricyn Abel, chad ensey, Chris, Cole Nyquist, David Brims, DeusCap, devarian , Doomerjunky, Dorian Grizzle, Dr.Quick, Dustin Qian, Ell Lan, Gamecats, Jake Pellegrini, James, Jarrod Manzer, Jason Morse, Jeff Gault, Jeremy James, Joe Smith, John Hadel, Joseph , Kaeson, kenneth, Lachlan Priest, MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, Melting Sky, Michael Mooney, Nathan Fahrenbach, Oakenbear , Pedro Derze, RottenTangerine, Skarsol, Steven C, ThreatLvlPurple , Tim , tlove, Vikram Ahluwalia, Zanthras, Le GarlantÃ©zec, Chris Hibbert, John Growcott, dennis malatesta, Tangyorange, znarken, Aria, Braincase , Bunny Waffles, Carter Hadley, Darkhelm , Dominic Weibel, Feltenix, Greg Shields, Justin, Kovak, Laila , Marcus Adams, Monte949, Pigeonpie, SaltyVigilante , Samuel Patterson, zachary gafken, Glenn Clemente, William Fullerton, Adam, Jayden Kirkham, smoze, TurmRIC, James Beaudreau, Kyle, Schelm , Siphor , Frederic Axt, Ryudachi, BoB, Leon Ernst, Ludger , Skygo, Gyslain Desgagne, Max W, TomÃ¡Å¡ BlÃ¡bol, Mr. Finch, Kenneth , mark mÃ¸llegaard, Alex Weatbrook, Alexander Dupree, Chris Fox, Cypha, Dan , David Schleimer, Drew Gilmour, dwarftoss58, erik lindquist, Findell , FoolRegnant , HeartHawk, Hornblower , ItsjustMe , Jeremy Durbin, John D'Arcy, John Noone, Josh Fryza, Joy , Klecksi, Lanhail, Michael She, Michelle Goodman, Midnight Harbinger, Mountainking , Mudith Mallajosyula, Nate D., Noah Jones, Notcreepycreeper, Philipp Ziehe, Phlorez , Ramapriya Rangaraju, Reed Montemurro, Reid Palmquist, Seadrake, Sean Panajotovic, sings_with_toads, Swanie, William Davis, Zach Adams, Will C, NNeil , Sam Oppy, hellunit , Mcnoodlies , Nathaniel Baxter, Andy, Nonie, Khress , FishFace , Bast, sethorizer, Lerous, Thaco4 , Drake Morgan, Mark, Kermity , Traian, Grausheira , Alex LeBlanc, reafan, Zrell , Mohammad Muzhaffar Bin Omar, adam1 , Andrew C Kerr, Andrius , C Howard, Caleb, Chris Mantakounis, Daniel , Dave, DeathOfOld , gokief , Grumlen, Gunnar Crider, Jacob trent, Jasen Nichols, Joseph Sutherland, karmaslap , Lindsay W., Mechrono, Meierfrac, Noshei , Odunski, Rich Webb, Robert Mullins, Sandoz, Tom Roettger, Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, Anna Turner, Joshua allen, Oliver Firoozan, Alex Wilson, Derik Botha, Elias Leutgeb, Connor Beeson, Cirex123 , Jan Joost Sijbesma, ajcaspers, Steffen, Apotheosis As A Service, Thernn , mattias hessleryd, Paul Becker, Aidan , aidan larson, Arhsnag, Asael Sklar, Chloe Winter, closeded, Cordelia , Dan Weiss, Dylan , ElodinGale, Jason Johnson, Jasper, Justin Marble, Kiran, minicheatbook, Omar Wazir, patrick seim, Pieter-Jan Van Steenkiste, Ragmas, Smokestack Matt, TheFool, Vaulex, Adam Andersson, M1styczny, Stuart Anderson, ScottDR, Ely Brookes, Lewis Dyer, MenacingSand, Frogger, Marcel Amendt, Michael Maor, Styx49, Magisch, Enthused, Mikael Svensson, Gabriel Boudreau, KDP , Tyler Babcock, Sebastian Lindqvist, Andrew Glass, Carya Galabra, CaughtRedHeaded, Dakota , Dan Addis, Draega, Frank Timoney, Grizzly Fiction, Itbeme12321, Jacob , Jim Smith, Jiokuy , jonch1243 ., Knightfire, lukas bonnesen, matthew bird, Miles Pettey, Nicholas Johnson, Nikolas allen, Pawel Maskowicz, Richard Davis ll, S T, Saramon H, Shelbo, Svarog, Wundermelon, Stano MareÄek, BtBurns , Lynd Koh, Julian Beaumont, Matt Labrum, Daba, James Davidson, Joshua Smith, Biomass, STORRM , Edmund McGough, Gabriel Jarman-Ivens, Frederik, Faelyn, Alexander Lease, Alphabetical, Politician, Yrom, Inzuris, ImBaroqe, Darcy Lessard-Patola, Hollowlce, TorbjÃ¸rn Nilsen, Robert , Tom Clough-Macready, Acorderodelfin, grayfire, Jess,  Eric Liu, Adam James Washington, Alex, Aria Jonsdottir, Christopher Catania, Colin Reed, crystalcat, Daniel Sigui, Ethan , GuyWhoReadsALot, James Derr, Joey Nguyen, Jon Lundy, Jonathan Yarian, Just Dave, Kyle frasch, LeJordon , Nick Norris, OakieTheTree, OpCrystal , OrangeSpork, Paerofar , Raphael , Ratoo , RexRegis, Robert Kline, Superposhposh , tachi-kawa, user754595, Olof DahlstrÃ¶m, Some Total Kretin, Albert, Jalty, Desertdoe , nokko, Bad Timing, Que Tea, Flogoyog , Anonymous , TNkdI6FVB1NhjNqt , Akastor, Jonathan , LordErr, Sean Carter, Clara, lol, X Y, Alison Swenson, Andrew Cohen, bob sicks, Christopher Harris, Diego Avendano-Morineau, Felix Adler, Frost , Joseph Saunders, JT, Logan Fain, matt green, Michael Olson, Nick Warner, Noah , Nyotree, Powernap , Rhaid, Roger, Ryan , Talion, Toad , Malbec , Ian , Severed Hat, Ethan Munday, Sean Elliott, Add_Identity , Flusspferd, Jywert , Jonathan Frerichs, Lazy Lemon, Nikita Becker, OnigaImasuka , Louis Nel, Robin SjÃ¶doff, fennek , PiMs, Adam Richards, Almost Famous, Cae, Carlos Andres Rengifo Escobar, Cody Poteet, CrispyKing , Daniel Harris, Draecath, Driftward, Jeremy Dorn, JTP , Julian Meltzer, Karma Baris, Kirk Morgan, Kyle Brackenbury, luke, Matthew Powell, meoth , Nate Kaufman, Paul tranquilli, Payen Hell, posthumousleon , Proteus Jones, Satya Prateek, Thomas Payne, TwistedToaster, Vroom , da Finnci, Connor Oswald, Chris Brady, Lukas Schaefer, CringeWorthyStudios , Seth Cox, Christopher Fetherston, ........, Joshua Samuel Miller, Aslak, JoÃ£o Vieira, Magnuss, Batty Corvina, Christian Nowitzki, Erkki Parkkulainen, maxime gm, Dan , Philipp Zander, Hajakuja , mohammed essam, Temon_Oak, Leif Nejst, Dan, RotWeisseWaffel, Rory natynczuk, Kel Pough, Samantha Lane, Adrian Nightshade, AgentFransis, aidan kutcher, Alec, Alex C, Ambird King, Andrew Dempsey, Ben Dean, Bennett Pelton, bradley foster, Brandon Cleveland, Carl Bunch, Chris , Connor Sunier, Dillon Mills, Drendude, Dustin , Elliott Fawcett, Evan Morris, Furnastone, Griffin Skutsch, Gwendolyn Simmons-LaRose, Jason Petry, Jasper Walters, JJ327, Jody, Joshua Holt Sorensen, Kent Gunn, Lenonxx6, Lia, LordDark , Michael D Chavez, Michael Goulet, Oliver , Quendolayne, Relein, Retaliation ., Shykarn , SoddenFool, Spencer Herold, Stephanie Washburn, Tate Browder, Tristan Griffin, Troy Fox, Tyrone Thomas, Morzan The Lazy Dragon, James Lavender, Signspace, DasUberGryx, Piotr, Walter , ENIM Skills, Chris, Im Hello, Xynee, Aidan Mc Donagh, Teee , ashandarei, Weppsu, Christoffer DahlÃ©n, Derek Singer, Adurna , Chris , BRUNO ASTUR, Archie, AdmiralW , BjÃ¶rn, advancewarssami, Alex Sunier, Alonzo garcia, angrycharlie, B.Vijayan , Beau Bryant, Christopher Jack, Conor Futro, Daniel Joseph Moreau, Daniel Strickland, Dixon Gao, Grady Blanks, Hannoske, Impatiance , Jared Brewster, Jehru, Jeremy Davis Payne, Joe Broussard, Joshua Lawvere, Joshua Paye, jww, Kate Yen, KingDaviddagr8, Markus Wienberg, Matthew Myers , Miri, Mountain Barber, Myles2322, Parker Hebert, PotatoGod, rbot, Robert Adams, Robert Hinshaw, Ryan Coyne, Ryan Hogan, Sands , SecondBlahm, Simon Casey, W , Xavier Lamphere, xtrnet, ChiefWizard , Graeme Jardine, Mario Kaminsky, nymaxilian , Midnight Questions, Danny Noppen, Raznakz, Will Iam, Azcheron , Mondays, abd Srour, BaguaBrady

Mage:

Max Oberg, Ian Anderson, Joshua John Wallace, Pigeon F, Scott Holt, Setaria, Lasse Pedersen, al , Alex Scriber, Alexander Belousov, DT , Gert Wallis, Mathias Schwendimann, SirGuy , Jan, Anton Selling, Fabian , Gleadge, ulrik aaby, Aaron Lewis, Irakli Jishkariani, Jeremy , Jonny, mallix , Gemyma, Cybernetic Angel, GopherAtl, James Hadfied, Jason Case, Jeremy Leonard, Michael Anaya, NebulaeDreamz, Silveredgallium, Deneas , Caillin McKay, Michael Bradet-Legris, MeatyLock , Dustin , jacob britt, Jamison Schneider, Digdug, Patrick Cole, Sid_Cypher , Finn Freudenberg, Mathieu Deg, Chris Olsen, Ransom Hollister, theend , Michael Mercado, Scott Toreki, Daydeus, Michael Stephan, Gurditt Mangat, Cory Ellis, Eric Trombly, Sage, Nicholas Kelly, Jonathan Gough, Austin Rasmussen, Ford Yeager, J , Jordan Leighton, Not Real, Raistlin , santor25, Wesley , Yasin Bari, Zach Wilson, Barrie Davis, David, Error

Mageling:

DANTE, Alexander Graber-Tilton, Ivo Havener, BurnNote, Lonewolf, SomethingWicked , pope benedict, Pawaidan, Dave Burkett, Matt DiMeo, Michael kim, Robert Rosenthal, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Joost Boere, Isaac Larkin, Chris K, Stefan Rabenstein, GSH, Nicholas Cunningham, Sam Mullen, Kevin O'donnell, Hamo4, moniker, S , Alternative Facet, Faris Bissex, David, Judy Halloran, Austin McGue, Jeff berman, Kirsty , Benjamin Buco, Sven Paulson, derek giandolfi, Eythan Hayashi, Pyrite, ttuurrhh

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Chapter: 192 - You’ll Never Guess

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala stood back up atop the cargo wagon and composed herself as they passed through the gates of Marliweather.

-I do have some good news.-

Oh? Tala was interested in anything that could distract her, even though she knew that she really needed to focus.

-I think I have it worked out, so we can mimic the appearance of spell-lines on the illusion.-

Mimic?

-Yeah, I can show you how to fracture the illusion in such a way as to make it look like you have lines tattooed across your skin.-

Would they look metallic?

Alat hesitated, then sighed within Tala’s head. -Well, no.-

So, I would look like someone making a poor imitation of a Mage.

-It’s not perfect; I’ll grant you that.-

But it is a step in the right direction.

-Exactly.-

So, no actual solution yet.

-No, sorry.-

These things take time. Thank you for continuing to investigate.

Tala felt a wave of panic try to creep over her as she returned her attention to the issue at hand. Instead of succumbing to the feeling, she shook her head and smiled. We can do this. We’ll be fine.

She went through the motions of finalizing a caravan journey. She met with the pay-clerk, gave her report, and accepted her pay. She chose to take it in hard coin this time as the experience with the Alchemist was still fresh in her mind.

Some just want tangible currency. She received twelve gold for her role as the Dimensional Mage of the Caravan, and five for her role as Mage Protector. That’s fair; I really didn’t do much in that role except take watch most nights.

What came as a true surprise was the additional three gold that she received for facilitating the use of the Wainwrights' wagon. Since this pay had been withheld on her trip to Makinaven and back to pay for the increased structure of the wagon, she’d forgotten that it was owed to her, generally.

What a nice surprise.

She bade goodnight to Rane and Mistress Odera, getting the name and location of the inn they’d be staying at. When they inquired about her, she shrugged and stated that she’d just find a wall somewhere when she needed to sleep.

Mistress Odera didn’t press but did insist on meeting Tala for breakfast at the older woman’s inn the next morning. Tala heartily agreed. Free food is free food.

It was still early afternoon, as the caravan had made good time. When she noted that, Tala took a moment to walk over to the head driver and thank her for taking such an expeditious route.

That done, Tala wandered a bit aimlessly.

What struck her first was the smell of the city.

It was subtle, and she couldn’t have described it properly in a thousand years, but there was an underlying scent in the air that just made her think of home.

It sparked all sorts of memories, coupled with the occasional familiar sight as she walked through the city.

She got a late lunch, -well, second lunch- only to realize as she sat down to eat that her family had come to this restaurant a few times before their finances had turned.

Tala walked through a park, remembering the times she and some school friends had wanted a different place to play than their neighborhood park and coerced their minders to bring them there.

The entire experience was surreal.

A surprising number of people noticed and asked to pet Terry. Apparently, arcanous pets weren’t as common in Marliweather as they were in Bandfast, which made some sense, given the stage of the city.

In any case, Terry eventually got sick of it, and Tala let him go sleep inside of Kit, while she continued to wander.

Shortly after Terry had retreated into the dimensional storage, the worst happened. Well, not THE worst… Someone recognized her.

“Tala?”

Tala froze on the side of the street, her mind whipping back in time, trying to connect the voice to a specific person.

“Tala, is that you?”

She turned, eyes searching out the young man speaking to her from just inside one of the nearby shops.

He was tall, though not as tall as Rane. He smiled brightly as he stepped out of a doorway and towards where she stood to one side of the street. “I apologize if I’m wrong, but you are a dead ringer for this girl I went to school with.”

-Answer him, Tala.-

“No, no, you aren’t wrong. I am Tala.” She shifted nervously.

His grin widened. “I knew it! You probably don’t remember me, but I’m-”

She cut across him, not wanting him to think she didn’t recognize him. “Viggo, yeah. I remember you.” Why do I care?

He hesitated, then. “Oh. Good.” He shrugged. “So. How are you? I haven’t seen you in years.” He frowned then. “Didn’t you get accepted to the Academy?”

What does he want with me? Why are we talking?

-Don’t be rude, Tala.-

Fine. “Umm. Yeah, yeah. I was. I graduated a few months back.”

“Hey! Congratulations.” He nodded appreciatively, the sentiment seeming quite genuine. “So, are you back?” He frowned slightly. “There’s some sort of apprenticeship for new graduates, right? Are you still in the midst of that?”

Tala shook her head, laughing a bit awkwardly. “Oh, no. I’m a full Mage these days.”

“Wow. That’s impressive, Tala.” Again, he hesitated. “Or Mistress Tala, right?”

She waved him away, feeling self-conscious at someone who’d known her as a child giving her the honorific. “Tala is fine.”

He paused for a moment. “Well, if you aren’t in a hurry, do you want to step inside? I can put on some tea.”

Tala looked at the store that he’d stepped out of. It was a simple clothing store. That’s right, he was going to be a tailor. “Sure, I think that might be nice.”

Anything to put off seeing my family…

-Not a great reason, Tala.-

As he led her inside, Tala took a moment to really examine the storefront. It was clean, well-kept, and nicely detailed. It even stood out from those on either side as being especially well-kept. It put forward the idea of a well-off shop that sold quality goods, and as she stepped inside, the impression was borne out.

“This is a lovely little place you have here, Viggo. Your folks were tailors, right? You apprenticed under them?”

“I did indeed.” He gave a little laugh. “Worst six years of my life, but worth it.”

A voice drifted from the back. “Dear, do we have a customer?”

“No, love! An old friend. You’ll never guess who.”

The sound of bustling came from behind a room divider as something was set aside, and a woman moved their way. “Is Javor back in for another tunic? We’ve told him that nice clothes aren’t the only thing you need to catch the eye of-” She stopped talking as she stepped around the sturdy screen. “Oh.”

Tala thought she recognized the woman, but it was hard to connect the young woman before her with any of the girls she’d known before.

“Is that…Tala?”

Viggo straightened a bit and put on a slightly self-important voice. “Mistress Tala.”

“Mistress?” She gasped. “That’s right! You went off to the Academy.” The woman looked a bit flustered, then gave a slight curtsy. “Welcome, Mistress.”

“None of that.” Tala waved her hands in a warding gesture, feeling increasingly awkward. “Ula, right?”

“That’s right.” Ula seemed to recover from her own awkwardness and smiled warmly, the slight lines on her young face showing it to be a common expression for her. “You remember me, then?”

“How could I forget? You used to give me parts of your lunch when I was hungry.”

There was an awkward pause there.

Tala cleared her throat. “Sorry. That’s obviously not the only thing I remember, but it’s what came to mind first.”

Ula shrugged a bit self-consciously. “It’s alright. How are you?”

Tala heard the rustle of cloth, and the murmur of a baby’s burble.

“Oh, excuse me, Aliza is due for a meal.”

Viggo interjected. “I invited her in for some tea. Shall I put the kettle on for all of us?”

Tala responded before Ula could. “I actually can make some, if you’re willing. I’d just need some cups.” She laughed awkwardly. “I’m not used to serving tea for others.”

He gave her a speculative look, then shrugged. “Certainly. Come on through to the back.”

Tala followed the pair, through the tailor’s shop and into a small, personal sitting room. A small kitchen was attached to the space further back.

The room held several comfy looking chairs with a low table centrally located between them.

“It isn’t much, but it’s home. The bedrooms are upstairs.”

Tala smiled, watching as Ula bent over a bassinet in the corner of the room. Viggo was in the kitchen grabbing cups.

-Don’t use incorporated water. They aren’t Mages; so, it could actually hurt them-

That’s right. Tala had almost forgotten. It took power to maintain the incorporated water as water inside yourself, if just a bit. For a Mage, it wasn’t really relevant and might actually help increase their through-put over time, which was one reason that Tala used so much of it. But for a mundane? It would pull power from other things, maybe causing them to become sick, or at least more susceptible to illness.

Like overuse of ending-berries.

With her hosts distracted, she quickly pulled out her own teapot, tea, hot air incorporator, and the little stand that she’d worked up to facilitate making tea. “Viggo, could you bring some water, too? I didn’t think about that.”

He gave a small laugh. “Of course.”

They seem to smile and laugh a lot.

-They seem happy.-

Ula took a seat in one of the larger chairs around the low table, eyeing Tala’s items, but not commenting.

Viggo came over with a pitcher that he’d filled from their sink and three small mugs. He walked with a slight limp.

Tala accepted the water and poured it into her tea pot. “Are you alright, Viggo? It looks like you’re limping.”

Ula gave the man a pointed look. “I think he broke his toe.”

He waved her off. “It’s nothing, woman. I’m fine.” He said it with affection, but it was clear that they’d had the conversation before. “If it still hurts in a week, I’ll see a healer.”

Ula glanced towards Tala. “You aren’t a healer by chance, are you?”

“No, I’m sorry. If you don’t mind my asking, what happened?” Tala focused on the tools before her. Since she didn’t want to sit with her hand against the incorporator, she extended her aura and used that to power the item.

It was hugely inefficient, but it would work.

Viggo leaned forward. “Fascinating! So, that’s a magic item? The air it produces is quite warm.” He gave her a playful smile. “We’ll have a lower heating bill this month after this.”

Tala smiled in return. “I suppose so, yeah.”

Ula shifted aside her tunic and helped little Aliza latch. The baby seemed quite content, now that she was drinking.

Viggo cleared his throat. “It’s a bit embarrassing, actually. A guard was in, being fitted for a new uniform. He’d left his helmet on the floor, and I’d almost tripped over it a dozen times. So…” He cleared his throat. “I sort of kicked it out of the way.”

Ula chuckled. “You should have heard him yell. That’s when I knew he’d broken it. Scared the poor guard half to death.”

Viggo scrunched his face. “We’ll see.”

“Stubborn man.” But she was smiling as she said it.

Tala cleared her throat and changed the subject. “How old is Aliza?”

Ula shifted in her seat, seemingly working to get comfortable. “Four months, tomorrow.” It was a distracted answer, one that seemed to have been given numerous times.

“She’s your first?”

Viggo answered that. “She is. We were married less than a year before we found out she was on the way.” He leaned over and kissed the babe’s head. “First of many, we hope.”

“That’s nice.” Tala tried to put genuine feeling into the sentiment, but it still felt awkward.

A soft bell sounded from the shop, and Viggo shot her an apologetic look.

“Go, go. The tea will take a bit.”

He stood, nodding gratefully. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

He walked past Tala, and she heard him greet a customer and begin what seemed to be a regular interaction. What did the customer need, how could Viggo assist, what colors were they thinking, and the like.

Ula was mostly focused on the little one that she had to breast. So, Tala was left alone to her thoughts.

What am I doing, here?

-Being polite.-

With people that I haven’t seen in more than half a decade, and likely will never see again.

-Does that matter?-

I could have said “Hi,” exchanged pleasantries and been on my way.

-Then, why didn’t you?-

He seemed genuinely happy to see me…

-You do remember him fondly. Both of them, really.-

They were…friends? It felt odd that she was unsure. At the time, back in her childhood, the answer would have been obvious, but she hadn’t thought about them basically at all since she’d left.

-That is accurate, I think. Childhood friendships are an odd thing, really. If they last, they can be the deepest relationships a person has, but if they don’t, they often feel like nothing was really lost, except your childhood which was lost anyways.-

That’s depressing. Have you been reading random books again?

-I thought it prudent to do some research on the subject of childhood relationships before we came here.-

Tala grunted.

Ula looked up. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m ignoring you, aren’t I?”

Tala colored, though she knew that wouldn’t show through her paint and illusions. “Oh, no! I apologize for disturbing you. I just needed to clear my throat a bit.”

“Nonsense. I was being rude.” Ula smiled congenially. “So, what brings you to this area? Are you working in the city?”

“I’m based out of Bandfast, actually. I’m just in town with a caravan. I’ll be heading back in a few days.”

“Wow, caravan work?” She shook her head. “That’s a dangerous occupation, I hear.”

“It can be; I’ll grant you that.” Tala felt her face fall as she remembered the guards that she’d seen injured and killed. “It really can be.”

“But you like it?” Ula seemed to be attempting to shift the tone of the conversation.

“I do, and it pays well. It also lets me see various cities, too, which is nice.”

“It must be great to be able to see your family, too. Are they still in the Alchemy business?”

Tala did her best not to wince, but it obviously still showed.

“Oh. I’m so sorry, Mistress Tala.” Ula looked genuinely distraught. “Now that I think on it, I heard that there was some…oddity between you and your family before you left. I never really knew if it was true, or what it was about.” She gave a self-deprecating chuckle. “I try not to look into such things. They prove to be little more than gossip more often than not.”

Tala grimaced, then. “Well, this is a bit more than that.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” The poor woman looked around awkwardly, as if searching for something to move the conversation to.

“It’s alright. I actually chose Marliweather as the destination this time because I need to…talk with them.” Why am I telling her this?

“Well, that seems like quite the thing to have to do.” Ula seemed to be getting her feet back under her, conversationally speaking. “Do you think it will be a ‘water under the bridge’ situation, or do you expect a bit of a scuffle?” She giggled just a bit. “Not that they’d have much that they could do to a Mage.”

Tala hadn’t considered that. She’d continued to view them as her parents, her siblings, her family. But, she was returning a full Mage. A full Archon, not that that would mean much to them, aside from being something they wouldn’t believe. The dynamics between them would be utterly different. She answered with half a mind as she considered what that would really mean. “I think there will be at least some…discussions of the issue.”

“Well, I hope you work it out. There’s nothing like having family in your corner. I tell you, mine and Viggo’s folks, and our older siblings, help out so much, especially since little Aliza was born. We get to go on dates and leave the little dear in the care of family, and that’s the least of it.” She shook her head in wonder. “I tell you, I couldn’t imagine trying to have children without family around.”

Tala saw an opportunity to change the subject. “So, how many do you want?”

“Well, we each come from smaller families. Each of us is only one of nine, would you believe it?”

Tala shrugged and smiled.

“Well, I tell you the truth, I think we want at least that many. Viggo makes good money, and we’re saving like crazy, so we can move to a bigger place after the third one comes along.”

Viggo came back into the room. “What lies are you telling our guest about me?”

That started a bit of banter between the married couple, and Tala turned her attention to the tea, finishing the preparation process and tucking the incorporator away.

She poured the tea into the provided mugs and passed them out.

They accepted gratefully, and Viggo lifted his. “To old friends.”

Ula and Tala echoed the sentiment and they all drank.

“Oh! This is delicious, Tala.” Viggo was inspecting his cup, as if it could tell him why.

“Thank you, I quite like it.” Tala returned a contented smile.

“Chamomile, right?” Ula likewise seemed overawed.

“That’s right. I picked some up when I was in Makinaven recently.”

Viggo paled, looking back to his cup. “Oh, Mistress Tala. This is too much.”

Tala frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Makinaven tea is widely considered the best humanity has to offer.”

Tala sighed heavily. “I know, right? I didn’t realize it while I was there, or I would have bought crates of the stuff to sell when I got back…” Oh… That’s what he’s saying.

Viggo glanced to his wife, then back to Tala. “Well, thank you. This is a rare treat.” He laughed a little nervously. “What I make in a day might not cover this one pot.”

Ula, who seemed to not have realized how expensive the tea was before, paled just as Viggo had. “Oh.” The single, soft word carried a lot of meaning.

Tala, with one careless action, had demonstrated just how much wealthier that she was than them. Well, rust.

-Yeah, I didn’t consider that either…-

“I apologize. I didn’t mean anything by it. I just-”

Viggo waved her off. “No, no. Please, it’s fine.” He chuckled. “It’s more than fine; thank you. It was a kind thing for you to offer and to provide. I’ve seen it in the market on occasion, and I was always curious if it was worth the cost.” He lifted the mug to her with a slightly guilty smile. “I’d say it is without question.”

She almost said it was nothing, just something that she had picked up while traveling with her job, but thankfully, she realized that that would make things worse, not better.

There was a break in the conversation as Ula switched little Aliza from one breast to the other, and when conversation started up again, they talked about small things.

They reminisced about school days, and Tala asked after some of their old friends. Mostly, she did this because it felt like the right thing to do, rather than because she was genuinely curious. She’d left this portion of her life behind.

As it stood, seemingly basically everyone was married and either had kids or had them on the way.

Some of the pairings surprised her, but most seemed obvious with hindsight.

All told, she spent a little over an hour with the young family. She departed with warm farewells, the two expressing a desire to see her again soon. She thanked them for the invitation but didn’t promise either way.

She couldn’t say whether the whole experience was positive or negative in the moment, but she felt like it was good for her in the long run.

Now, I just need to face my own family. Strangely, she felt like she was better equipped for that meeting than she had been.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 193 - Family Claims

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

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<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala took a moment as she walked away from Viggo and Ula’s home to open Kit and speak to Terry.

“Hey, in there! Do you want to come out?”

She thought she saw some people give her odd looks, as she was hardly alone on the street, but that didn’t really bother her.

A long, disinterested squawk was her only reply.

“Fair enough. I want you to be able to get out if you want to, so there shouldn’t be any issues, but in either case, I’ll try to check every hour or so.”

-I can help remind you.-

Thank you.

-Oh, hey! While you were chatting, I think I figured out how to selectively suppress the illusion from the through-spike.-

Oh?

As Tala walked through the streets of Marliweather, letting her feet carry her wherever they wanted, Alat stepped her through the process she’d worked out.

Tala decided to test the process on her hands, as they were an easy thing for her to observe, and suppressed the illusion around them specifically.

Sure enough, her metallic-gray skin, surrounded by a blazing nimbus of power, started to fade into view. Tala immediately released her hold on the power, so as to not be noticed.

Alright. Not sure how we’ll use it, but it’s another step.

The whole process of learning from Alat had only taken a few minutes, but when Tala looked up, she found that she’d traveled quite a ways.

In fact, as she looked down the street before her, she saw an all too familiar sign, though it had likely been repainted or replaced since she’d last seen it.

Karweil Alchemical Solutions

Rust. Tala immediately turned and walked into the park that she’d stopped beside. It was, in fact, the park that she’d played in often as a child.

There was a mixture of open space and cultivated walking paths, and she chose the latter, hiding from the sign among the trees.

Less than a minute later, she found herself at another familiar spot.

Here, a bench rested between two closely planted trees, not hidden from the path by any means, but tucked back and out of easy view until she was right beside it.

The trees were evergreen, so the screen existed even in winter.

This was on my path home from school. I used to sit here when I didn’t want to go home yet.

Alat didn’t respond.

Tala brushed off the light dusting of snow, then slowly sat, feeling a whirlwind of emotions wash over her at the familiar surroundings.

She’d cried on this bench uncounted times, afraid to go home to her father’s quiet rage, afraid to abandon her family to the same.

Every day throughout that time, she’d stopped here, contemplating running away.

Every day, she’d chosen to do the “right thing” and go home.

Her last day in this city, she’d stopped here again.

By that point, it had been months since her father had been magically cured of the physiological portions of his addiction, and he was still in process with a counselor for the psychological parts.

Things had been looking better, despite her lingering resentment for the years of pain he’d put the family through with his addiction.

But that day, the Mages had come, pulling her out of class.

She was special. She could learn magic. She could have a better life and lift the burden of debt from her family.

She didn’t remember all the thoughts and emotions that had run rampant through her mind, but she did remember agreeing.

Then, she’d come here.

Tala had sat on this exact bench as night had fallen, trying to figure out a way to tell her family that she was leaving, all while staring at her parents' signatures on the contract that would take her away.

They’d already known that she was leaving.

What was worse, the dates next to the signatures were more than a week old.

They hadn’t told her this was coming.

They hadn’t talked to her.

True, she’d avoided them whenever possible, but not entirely.

-Is it possible that it was as hard for them as for you?-

I’ll never know, will I? They didn’t even try.

That day, so long ago, Tala had chosen differently than every time before.

She hadn’t gone home.

Instead, she’d simply walked back past the school and to the teleportation tower. She had showed them her acceptance letter and the signed contract, and she’d been transported away.

Of course, they had taken the contract first. It would have been obliterated by the teleportation otherwise.

They took my school bag, too, now that I think about it. They said I should have a clean start. She smiled ruefully. Easier than explaining to a twelve-year-old that anything she tried to take would be obliterated.

She remembered them asking after her family. She’d lied, saying that she’d already said her goodbyes.

The fully endorsed contract had been enough after that.

Enough to leave my family behind, forever. At least she’d thought it would be forever, but now she was back.

She took a deep breath, checked on Terry, and let her mind continue to wander. As she considered it, this was about the time of day she’d usually come through here.

There should be a flood of school kids coming by, soon.

Sure enough, as Tala sat there for the next hour eating jerky and drinking ending-berry juice, kids started to come by in twos and threes, and sometimes in much larger groups than that.

Some jumped at the sight of her. Most ignored her, but some politely greeted her as they passed, not as a Mage, but just as an adult in their neighborhood. Though, now that I think about it, some aren’t too much younger than me.

Schooling was available up through the teenage years, even if most chose a profession, and finished their education by learning a trade or craft.

She tried not to stare, but she did get a reasonably good look at all who passed her. She didn’t recognize any of those who passed, not that she’d expected that she would.

Well, this is one of the routes to my family’s shop. It’s not unreasonable to expect one of my siblings to have come this way.

-Did you want that?-

She didn’t know.

She checked on Terry again, and found him quite content. She did her best to will some jerky near the sleeping terror bird, but she had no idea if it did anything. I’ll have to ask him later.

The park had mostly cleared within Tala’s range of hearing, and the sun had fully set, when a single set of boots crunched down the path in her direction.

Magical lamps along the path were providing plenty of light, despite the early winter darkness, so Tala didn’t feel like she was lurking, at least not too much.

The approaching steps had nothing to set them apart from the myriad others that had come before, but the sound drew her attention for some reason, nonetheless.

They were nearly to her when Tala heard others coming up behind the first set. Still, those following were at least a couple of minutes out.

A shrouded form rounded the path and came into view, and Tala recognized him, instantly, though he’d grown up a lot in nearly a decade.

He took a few more steps before his gaze drifted over to her, and he froze in his tracks, one foot having just set down on the slushy path.

He wore a hat and a heavy coat above his boots, and his gloved hands were tucked into his pockets against the cold.

Overall, the clothes of his that she could see were clean and nicely kept, but obviously hand-me-downs by their level of wear and the fact that they didn’t fit quite right. His eyes were red around the outside as if he’d been crying, though there were no tears on his cheeks at the moment. There was some dried snot on his sleeves where he’d seemingly wiped his nose recently.

His center blazed to her magesight, showing an unusually high through-put for an uninscribed gate. That wasn’t unheard of. Humanity varied across all its inborn traits, but it was still notable.

His eyes widened almost comically, and he whispered, “What? Are…are you real?”

Tala found herself smiling slightly, despite the massive wave of nervousness and the sudden, slight watering of her own eyes. “Hey, Nalac. It’s been a while.”

His hesitation broke, and he ran the last few steps to her, throwing himself into her arms as his tears started up again.

Tala caught him easily, despite her surprise. He was almost as tall as she was, but his weight was nothing to her heavy, strengthened body. He curled in on himself in her arms, pressing his face into her chest as he wept, his whole body shaking with each sob.

“Hey, hey. What’s going on? Are you okay?” She gently rubbed his back, remembering the little boy who would wake her up whenever he had nightmares.

The steps that had been following behind were getting closer, and Tala started hearing snatches of softly spoken words.

“-came this way, right?”

“-always-”

“-better than us-…-rust me if he actually has a Mage sister.”

No… this can’t be for real. Are they following him?

Tala leaned close and whispered loud enough that she thought Nalac could hear her. “Hey. Hey, Nalac. I’m sorry to press, but are you being followed?”

His head jerked up. “What? No!” He hesitated. “I mean… They haven’t followed me home before, at least not that I’ve known.” There was the tinge of fear in his eyes. “A bunch of kids were dropped from pre-magic, today. Apparently, they don’t have the proper mindset or whatever. If those following are who I think, their younger siblings were among those dropped. I wasn’t. They were…” He glanced at her, cleared his throat and seemed to amend what he’d been going to say. “They were upset.”

“They were rusting livid, eh?” She cocked a half-smile at him.

Nalac’s eyes widened, but then he nodded. “Are you really here? Am I dreaming again?”

Tala felt something break within her, and she squeezed him close once again. “Yeah, I’m here, my little titan.”

He let out one weak chuckle that had the tinge of tears. “No one’s called me that since you left.” He pulled back, his face scrunched; the mix of emotions playing across his features were easy to read, even for Tala. He didn’t know how to feel. He felt like he should be mad at her, but he was happy to have her here, and he was scared of the boys who were following him.

There was a lot more, too, but those were the things that seemed obvious to her. Tala frowned in anger. No one messes with my titan.

The boys were getting close. How old are they? “Have they picked on you before?”

Nalac shrugged, then nodded.

“So, just an escalation, then.”

-I know you know this, but please don’t kill random teenagers, alright?-

I’m a bit insulted that you felt the need to remind me, but sure, I’ll be reasonable.

“I don’t know why they dropped students today, except that it’s the end of the week.” His voice was small, almost pleading.

It’s the end of the week? She checked and, just like the time, she was able to subconsciously know what day it was. Huh. I’ve really fallen out of caring what day it is.

-That’s because you don’t rest. Every day is the same for you. It’s not healthy.-

Yeah, you’ve said.

Tala turned her attention back to her brother, quickly wiping some of the tears off of his cheeks with her thumbs. “Pull yourself together, and sit beside me. They’re almost here.”

Nalac obeyed, shifting to sit beside her on the bench. He seemed like he wanted to ask her something, likely what was going to happen, but he kept silent and waited.

As she considered it, Tala realized that the boys wouldn’t have caught up to Nalac before he reached his home, had he not stopped to talk with her. Unless they started running for some reason, which seems unlikely.

So, this might have happened before and Nalac just hadn’t realized. Is that because the boys are hesitant? Or just bad planners?

A group of six older boys rounded the path and came into view.

By now, Tala realized just how horrible a judge of ages she was, but if she had to guess, she’d say that they were all in their late teens, likely ranging from fifteen to seventeen or eighteen. Huh, almost my age, then.

The group shuffled to a stop as they saw Tala and Nalac sitting on the bench.

She heard them exchange a few whispers, then one of the boys, neither the largest nor the smallest, stepped forward and spoke a bit hesitantly, “We have business with Nalac.”

Tala stood, finding herself shorter than most of the boys before her. Should have stayed sitting down… “So do I. You’ll have to find someone else to bully.”

That sent a murmur through the group. The one who’d spoken before shook his head. “No bullying. He insulted our families, and he needs to be reminded of the wisdom in respect.”

Tala cocked an eyebrow and looked back to her brother who was doing his best not to hunker down on the bench.

“Nalac? Is that true?”

He made an almost whining sound in his throat before answering. “I simply pointed out that none of their families had ever produced Mages, while mine had.” His eyes flicked to her quickly, then away once more.

The representative of the group laughed. “See? He admits it. His sister up and vanished, so the family claims she’s a Mage. They try to say that they're better than us. You wouldn’t get in the way of a lesson in wisdom and respect, would you?” His tone conveyed utter confidence in the fact that she’d agree with him. To his mind, it was a forgone conclusion. Those who disrespected the families of others needed to be taught a lesson.

Tala sighed. “There seems to be a misunderstanding, here.”

The boy’s smile faltered but didn’t start to fade until she continued.

“It is not a shame to lack a Mage in your family. It just is. His pointing out the fact can hardly be called an insult.”

“Respectfully, I disagree. He’s an uppity bit of slag and needs to be taught his place.” The joviality in the teen’s tone was utterly gone, now.

She sighed again. Can I? She made her idea clear within her mind.

-I don’t see a downside.-

“Unfortunately, I can’t allow that.” Tala forcibly suppressed her illusion on her hand as she raised it up before her, causing her skin to darken. Her mesh of power blazed forth, obviously glowing without throwing any light. The interweaving, interlocking manifested spell-forms carved from light into reality itself were, without a doubt, magical. “You see, I’m his Mage sister.”

The group of boys stumbled backwards disjointedly, several bowing or clasping hands on reflex.

Tala saw Nalac’s eyes widen once more, out of the corner of her vision.

-Oh, yeah. That’s a downside.-

The spokes-boy stumbled over his own tongue a few times before getting out. “Our apologies, Mistress! No offense intended.” Then, the whole group turned tail and departed, barely keeping from running in their haste to be elsewhere.

Tala allowed her illusion to snap back into place over her hand as she turned to Nalac. “So, now that’s sorted.”

Nalac was staring at her, open mouthed.

“What? You’ve never seen a Mage before?” Play it cool, Tala. Maybe, he doesn’t know any better?

-Um… He’s clearly not an idiot, Tala.-

He closed his mouth, visibly swallowing before he responded. “Your hand didn’t look like any part of any Mage I’ve ever seen before.”

She snorted a laugh. “And you’ve seen many parts of many Mages, have you?”

He looked down and rocked side to side on his feet. “You know what I mean.”

She scratched an eyebrow. “Yeah, well, I am a bit unusual, I’ll grant you that.”

It was his turn to chuckle, though it came out with a tinge of nervousness. “Yeah, that was pretty scary…I bet some of them even peed themselves.” He was clearly still uncertain of her, though the reasoning behind it had changed.

She shook her head. “No. That’s a hard smell to miss. They kept their composure at least in that regard.”

Nalac looked at her with obvious skepticism but didn’t argue. “So…what now? Are you here to eat us? Or will you leave again, and I won’t see you until I graduate from the Academy? Is this some sort of sick reward for making it this far in pre-magic?”

Tala winced. “No… I didn’t actually know you were in that class. You’re twelve, right?”

“Eleven,” he corrected. “Won’t be twelve and old enough for the Academy for another three months.”

Oh… Right. “That’s right. I remember celebrating your birthday mid-winter.”

“Really? I barely do. I was four when you left.” His irritation seemed to be rising once more, helping to cover over his trepidation. The accusation was clear, and her brother’s temperament towards her was cooling along with the night air. “I’m freezing and want to get out of the cold. Do mom and dad know you’re here?”

She shook her head, feeling a bit ashamed of the fact.

“Are you going to see them?”

Tala hesitated, then nodded. “I just didn’t really know how to go about it.”

Nalac grunted, looking her up and down. “You promise you aren’t some crazy beast, come to devour us all?”

“Would you believe me if I said ‘No’?”

“Of course. Everyone knows that the Arcane King and his ilk can’t lie.”

Tala blinked at that. Well, that’s just not accurate. Still, she was hardly going to help the situation by convincing her brother otherwise. “I am Tala, your sister. I’m not here to hurt or devour anyone.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, seeming to consider. Finally, he let out a long winded sigh. “Come on, then. Let’s go.” He held out his hand towards her, inviting her to take it.

She did, feeling silly and awkward even as she did so.

“Let’s go home. It seems like it’s going to be an interesting night.”

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 194 - I’ll Be Fine

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Pride mystic artificer, Maxine, Damon Roberts

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala looked up as they came out from among the trees in the park, noticing what should have been obvious from outside the city. Oh, yeah. There are no mountains to the north of here. It really changes the whole feel of the place. Not to mention the city as a whole is on more level ground.

-Really, Tala? That’s what you’re focusing on?-

Tala lowered her gaze, taking in the long, residential street.

There were only a few shops that broke up the park-side street: a restaurant, what appeared to be an odds-and-ends type store, and her family’s alchemy shop.

As they drew closer, Nalac still holding her hand, Tala saw that the family store had expanded since she’d been there, seeming to have taken over the homes to the left and right of it.

In this neighborhood, the homes were built close together with no yard in front, but Tala knew there to be a yard in back.

She considered for a moment, before realizing that she couldn’t remember who used to live next to her family’s shop. Huh. Memory’s an odd thing.

-Focus, Tala.-

She stopped in the street, examining the changes, and marveling at how large the store was. “It’s huge.” She spoke almost to herself.

Nalac responded with pride evident in his voice. “Yeah, the family serves the alchemy needs of the whole subdistrict. We’ve bought out the other competitors, and we often have people coming from further than that because we do it better, cheaper, or both.” He grinned widely. “We even have a Healer based out of the left side, there.”

Tala snapped her focus to her brother. “What?” Then, she looked up at the sign, seeing that, indeed, there was a smaller sign hanging below, advertising the services of a healer.

Nalac simply continued his exhortations. “Yeah, anything we can’t cure, or anything that might be serious, the healer takes care of. He’s an older Mage, I guess he’s mostly retired, but he still seems to enjoy the work.”

Ahh, not an Archon, then. She hesitated at that. Well, what is “older” to an eleven-year-old? He might be an Archon, just taking a few years to enjoy the quiet life.

“We have solid contracts with the grow-complex, and Latna is negotiating for the contract to provide emergency aid in the event of a crisis or emergency. It’s practically all she ever talks about. Apparently, it comes with a high requirement for the storage of supplies, but it pays well, just to have a bit larger warehouse that we rotate our ingredients through.” He shook his head, clearly baffled by the ways of adults.

That’s actually pretty clever. Trying to centralize all emergency supplies for the city could go horribly wrong. She almost snorted a laugh. Not to mention the expense of the warehouse, and the manpower to rotate ingredients and other items to prevent spoilage.

Then, what Nalac said settled in. “So…Latna is working in the shop?”

“Mmhmm. We all do, but she and Caln apprenticed with dad. They pulled extra shifts, in addition to studying and jumping through all the hoops, so they’re actually fully registered Alchemists, too, in way less time than it usually takes.” He was beaming again. “We have three full Alchemists working together. The only shop like it in the city.”

With a Healer, too? I can believe it’s the only one like it. Well, honestly, she couldn’t believe it was real, not really. He’s working with a Mage?

-People change, Tala. He was trying to do just that before you left, and we’ve been gone a long time.-

They’d been standing across the street from the shop for nearly a minute by that point. So, Nalac tugged on her hand. “Come on. I’m cold, remember?”

The two walked forward, and Tala felt herself in utter turmoil. She was angry; she felt guilty; she felt hurt. Each step, a different emotion reigned supreme.

Her brother pushed the door open, letting out a wave of warmth and magical light. Has absolutely everything changed?

As the door swung open, a cheery voice greeted them. “Hello, welcome to Karweil Alchemical Solutions. How can I- Oh, Nalac, it’s you.” The late-teenager slouched just a little out of her precisely straight posture of a moment before, her politic smile shifting to one of familial affection. “You’re a bit late. Who did…you…”

Latna locked eyes with Tala, and the girl went mute.

Latna was obviously Tala’s sister, a close mirror in every regard, physically speaking, but her features were a bit sharper than Tala’s, lending her both a tad more beauty and a look of ready judgment. Additionally, her eyes were a deep, startling violet.

Tala cleared her throat. “Hello, Latna.”

Latna didn’t respond, instead just staring at Tala, shocked uncertainty playing across her features.

Nalac called towards the back of the store. “I’m home, and I have a guest with me.”

That broke Tala’s attention, causing her to look around.

The shop was immaculately clean and well decorated. There were a few items on shelves, which were clearly the most requested items, but even they looked more like display pieces than tightly packed inventory.

From her own time working in the shop, Tala knew that most Alchemy concoctions were best when used right after they were created.

The front area wasn’t massive, but it felt roomy with a twelve-foot ceiling and the walls near that ceiling being composed completely of windows all the way around.

A door to the left stood ajar, the Healer’s crest embossed across the upper panel.

Through that door, an older voice floated. “Did I hear Nalac?”

“You did, Master Leighis.”

“That’s wonderful! How did today go? You said they were going to be dropping some kids from pre-magic, today. You weren’t one of them, I hope? Did you bring home one of the other students?” Footsteps sounded as the man talked, and then the door swung open.

As Tala had halfway expected, the man was in his early thirties, at least by the look of him. That meant he could be thirty, or three thousand, for all Tala knew.

“Oh! Pardon me, miss.” Leighis gave a nod of acknowledgement to Tala.

Tala’s magesight immediately detected his nature as a Material Guide, a common quadrant for Healers. His aura was that of a Bound with no movement on the road toward Fused that she could detect. So probably younger than fifty, but not by much if he’s followed the standard paths. “Good Master.” She gave a shallow nod of her head.

A frown flickered across his face, and Tala saw power flow through the man’s magesight scripts. Leighis’s eyes widened as he saw her with that sense, then he frowned, clearly not understanding what he was seeing.

He’ll see that I am Bound and Fusing, but nothing else, at least not really. His magesight scripts didn’t seem to have the delicacy to be able to determine the qualities of her magic just by examining her aura, let alone the facsimile generated by her through-spike. “I am Tala.” She didn’t whisper, but she did pitch her voice so it wouldn’t carry out of the room.

Leighis bowed a bit deeper than he had the first time. “Mistress Tala. To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?” The man was clearly hesitant about something, and his eyes flicked to Latna. “Are you alright, Latna? Is young Nalac in some sort of trouble?”

Nalac turned and waved the Mage down. “No, no, Master Leighis. This is my eldest sister.”

The Archon’s eyes widened again in surprise and understanding. “Oh.” He didn’t seem to be able to bring anything else forward to say.

Latna was still staring at Tala in shocked silence.

A voice floated from the back. “Nalac! What have I told you about bringing home guests without warning?” It was unmistakably that of Tala’s mother.

Nalac rolled his eyes and called back. “Nothing! I’ve never done it before. You’re thinking of Miro.”

“Hey!” Miro’s response resounded from a similar place to their mother’s. “I haven’t done that in a long time.”

“You brought home six friends yesterday!” Nalac shot back. “But that’s not important. Come see who it is!”

That started a clatter of sound from the back, moving their way with chaotic inevitability.

Tala was feeling overwhelmed. The voices were so familiar, but so different than she felt they should be. The faces she’d seen already were filling in the gaps in her memory as she saw each one, and she felt her cycle of emotions become a tumbling turmoil.

Then, Tala’s father spoke, calling from what Tala presumed was a workshop off to the right. “Nalac, we’ve been waiting for you for supper. You really shouldn’t worry us like that.”

At the sound of her father’s voice, Tala felt the turmoil blow away, and all her emotions crystalize down into one: raw, primal anger. In that instant, her soul, spirit, and physical desires were in perfect alignment.

Even so, she did not give in to her rageful desire to kick down the partially open door and beat the man to death. Just because she wanted to do something, didn’t mean that she would want to have done it, or that she’d be glad that she’d done it, once it was over.

Alat gasped. -Oh. Oh!- Still, the alternate interface held back from commenting further.

Tala ignored Alat, her attention moving inexorably towards her father.

This was the man who had discarded her, doing his part to sign her life away without even bothering to talk with her.

That doorway swung open as Tala turned to face it, and her father stepped out, freezing in his tracks as he saw her.

His eyes widened in obvious recognition as well as complete and utter surprise.

At the same time, Tala heard a passel of people pour into the room, joining Latna behind the counter.

There were exclamations along with questioning words as the eldest in the group seemingly recognized Tala, while the youngest obviously had no idea.

She didn’t turn away, afraid that if she took her eyes from her father, the rage would deflate, and she’d break down crying.

Not here. Not now.

His words came out as a whisper. “Tala. You’re…you’re alive.” He shook his head. “Of course, you are. They swore that you were, but still…” His eyes were watering, and his hands were trembling.

“It’s Mistress Tala. You ensured that.” Her tone was biting, and her words sounded petty, even to her own ears. Still, she didn’t look away.

Thus, she saw the flickers of anger across his features, followed closely by deep, soul-level defeat. His head dipped ever so slightly in resignation, not rising again. “Yes, Mistress Tala. Your words are true.”

There was a cacophony of sounds, fragmentary comments, and shushes from behind the counter.

Tala stood straighter, anger bubbling up inside. She clenched her teeth, feeling an ending-seed between them about to shatter, and froze on the spot.

What am I doing? She used her tongue to push the seed back into her cheek. Why didn’t I get rid of that before coming here?

She almost staggered at the backlash of emotions. She turned. “I’m sorry, Nalac. I’ll…I can’t do this right now. I’ll be back, tomorrow.” Get out, get away. I don’t have to come back if I don’t want to.

She turned and took two steps before her father moved.

“Mistress Tala, wait.”

She stopped, and he rushed past behind her. She could hear in his tone and the urgency of his steps that, somehow, he could tell that she didn’t know if she’d actually be back.

She didn’t turn as he dug behind the counter, pulling out something that clinked in his hands.

No.

He walked over, stopping a step or two behind her. “It is nothing to the debt you bear because of us…because of me, but it is what we could save, while you were gone.”

Unwillingly, Tala turned around, her eyes immediately locking onto the pouch resting on her father’s extended palm.

“We haven’t been starving by any means.” He chuckled self-deprecatingly. “But we have done our best to be wise with our money, and we’ve worked together to put this aside.” His words had a planned, even rehearsed quality to them.

Her eyes lifted, and she saw those behind the counter, her family, nodding affirmatively.

“Please, if you must go now, please take this with you.”

Tala hesitantly took the pouch and opened it, looking inside.

Her enhanced perception, and Alat, helped her quickly count the meager coins within.

Twelve gold, four silver, and a smattering of copper.

In truth, that was a monstrous sum to a mundane family. Rust, three gold could have satisfied my increased appetite for a year up until recently, while eating exclusively at restaurants.

Even if her visit with Viggo and Ula hadn’t made it clear, this certainly would have. The fact that she’d made this much gold for solely her role as a Dimensional Mage, on her last trip, highlighted just how far she’d moved up the economic ladder.

-Tala.-

I can’t. Not now. No. She ripped Kit off her belt and threw it at the wall beside the entrance.

Kit stuck, becoming a door instantly, even as Tala pushed it open and slammed it behind her, shutting out the gasps of astonishment from those she’d left behind.

Tala stood just inside her private dimensional space, panting, tears running down her cheeks.

Well, rust.

Terry lifted his head from his spot in the corner and trilled inquisitively.

“It’s fine, Terry. There’s nothing that you can do.”

He flickered to her shoulder and head-butted her cheek, hard.

“No, I’m not lying Terry. I’ll be fine.”

He trilled and head-butted her again, then flickered back to his corner. She easily understood his meaning: ‘Fine, but if you need me, I’m here.’

“Did you get any jerky?”

He opened one eye, then his mouth.

She snorted and grabbed some jerky out of the air, tossing it to him.

He happily snapped it up.

She then grabbed up some rags and wiped her face, blowing her nose to clear it.

-Tala. You’re not focusing on the issue at hand.-

Tala ignored that. What were you gasping about, earlier?

Alat sighed, but then got excited. -When you figured out what you wanted: our soul, spirit, and body came into harmony like never before.-

Yeah, I thought I felt something like that. What of it?

-Fusing.-

Tala’s eyes widened.

-Fusing became trivially easy. We’re almost done.- Alat was ecstatic.

Why only almost?

-…because you are in turmoil again.-

Tala growled. Lovely.

She’d only been in Kit for about thirty seconds, but she was already beginning to realize just how much like a teenager storming off to their room she’d just acted.

And I have to exit back into the family shop… She clearly hadn’t thought her actions through.

-So, for the sake of Fusing, are you willing to go back out?-

And say what, Alat?

-I don’t know, and even if I did, you’d never do it just because I said to.-

Translation: She knew exactly what Tala should say but also knew that Tala would fight her on it, at least without some preliminary prodding.

-Hey, you are coming to understand me better.-

We’re the same person, Alat. All I have to do is think about what I would do, were our positions reversed. She hesitated, then amended. I still think you’re a jerk some of the time.

-Yeah, well. We’re no peach.-

So? What should I say?

Less than a minute after she’d slammed the door, Tala stepped back out, seeming far more composed outwardly, while still feeling in turmoil, internally.

A din of conversation cut off instantly as she opened the door, and all eyes turned to her.

She pulled Kit closed behind her and lifted the pouch from the wall, replacing it on her belt.

Tala closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly into the awkward silence.

“I apologize for that reaction. It was childish.” She still hadn’t opened her eyes. She didn’t want to see her family, while she said what she needed to say. “Father, Mother, I am livid beyond words at what you two did, and that you did not even talk with me about it. The rest of you…I apologize for vanishing without even saying goodbye. I apologize for ignoring all attempts to contact me. I do love you, and I miss you terribly.”

Her eyes opened, and she found and locked onto her mother and father, who were standing together to one side.

“I don’t know that I will ever forgive you. That may be a flaw within me, but it hardly matters. There is no trust between us. There is no obligation. Only time will tell if there will ever be a relationship again. Right now? There is none.”

She hefted the pouch of coins, finally allowing her eyes to take in all of her siblings. There was only one missing that she remembered, Caln, and there were two that she didn’t recognize at all, their age seeming to indicate that they’d been born after she left. The youngest looked barely older than three, as she was held by one of her older siblings. Illie, I think? Nalac’s twin. If not, it was Alva. The girls looked very similar after so long an absence.

Leighis seemed to have excused himself from the room in the short time that she was gone. Wise and kind of him.

Tala found Latna, central among the siblings. “Here.”

She tossed the coin-pouch to the young woman.

“If you’re willing, I’ve an idea on how you can use that to earn quite a bit and help all our siblings have a better life. If you aren’t willing…” Tala shrugged. “I can’t make you.” She still didn’t see Caln, or she’d offer him the same, directly. “Please extend the offer to Caln as well.”

Latna finally seemed to have gotten over her shocked silence. “What does that even mean? Are you going to be talking to us, now? We’ve all tried to contact you, and you’ve never responded.”

Tala nodded. “In that, I failed.” She felt that failure as she looked at the veritable strangers before her. “I will read any letter sent my way and respond when I can. I am often away from cities, so it might take a while occasionally, but I will respond.” She closed her eyes, scratching at her temple and trying to hold back tears of frustration, of nervousness, of anger. “I need to go, now. I…” She swallowed. “I’m not in a good place.”

She glared at their parents, briefly, then calmed her rage once more. Neither tried to speak or interject.

“I’ll be back, tomorrow, in the late morning, and I’m happy to talk to any of you, if anyone is interested.” She gestured towards the siblings, specifically excluding her parents.

Nalac nodded. “Thank you, Tala.”

Tala felt a small smile tug at the side of her lips, even as tears broke free, despite her best efforts. “See you tomorrow, titan.”

He grinned back at her, unashamedly. “Oh, I have so many questions.”

“Well, write them down. We’ll talk, tomorrow.”

With that, she turned and strode from the shop, leaving her family behind once again.

This time, however, it was only for a single night.

A note from JLMullins

BONUS CHAPTER: This is where the second Bonus Chapter comes in for allPatrons.

(That's right, even the $1 tier!) 🎉

Chapter: 194 Bonus - Nalac and Leighis

These are secondary POVs that add to the worldbuilding but are not required for the story.

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Chapter: 195 - A Tea House

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Ben Morgan, ciaran mullen, Damon Roberts, Joshua Sydney, Maxine, Noelle, PatronTurtle, Pride mystic artificer, Sakari Saastamoinen

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala left her family’s shop behind with quick steps, mixed feelings coming back to plague her.

She felt tremendous guilt for having cut off contact with her siblings. There was at least one that I didn’t even know I had.

She also obviously felt righteous anger at her parents for their arrogant dismissal of her potential thoughts, so long ago. They hadn’t even bothered to hear them.

-What would you have done, if they came to you?-

Tala had given it a lot of thought. I can’t know for certain, but I think I would have said “Yes.”

-And that would have made it alright?-

It would have made it better.

Alat didn’t have a response to that.

Tala’s thoughts returned to her siblings. She hadn’t lied to them. She would be back the next day, after her breakfast with Mistress Odera.

For some reason, that thought keyed off her mind on food in a direction she hadn’t contemplated before, and she smacked herself in the face. I’m an idiot.

-No, you’re not. That’s disgusting. No one should ever have that idea.-

But it would work.

-Yeah, at least for the calories. Nutritionally, we’d need to supplement it. It’s still gross, though.-

Oil, specifically vegetable oils, were basically the most calorie dense consumable substance humanity knew of. Well, that and lard.

-You aren’t seriously considering buying a gallon of oil and straight up drinking it…are you?- Alat obviously knew the answer, but she just as obviously didn’t like it and was hoping for a different one.

Tala grimaced, even as she kept walking. It’s worth a test. If it works, that could virtually be the same as a fabled health potion for me.

Alat groused. -You aren’t wrong, but it’s still disgusting…-

It’s not like you’re going to taste it.

-Are you kidding me? I’ll have the memory of the taste forever. Who cares if I don’t actually taste it, directly.-

Could we numb my tongue somehow? So that I could just chug it?

-Not easily? It would take freeform manipulation of your senses, which could go horribly wrong. Not worth it, if you ask me. As to the oil, for balance, at least at the macro-nutrient level, you’re going to need a LOT of meat and whole grain bread.-

That’s fair enough. But we’ll test just the oil, at least at first.

In the end, Alat agreed that it was worth a try, as it might just save their life at some point, if it worked.

Thus, as they headed towards the work-yard, they kept an eye out for… There.

A little all-night grocer was open in one of the more affluent neighborhoods that they were passing through.

Tala was able to buy a gallon of olive oil, two massive loaves of bread, and two roasted chickens for two silver and thirty-two copper.

Tala was utterly floored by how cheap it was, even though she suspected that she was paying a bit more than was standard, to cover the cost of the convenience of the all-night grocer.

She bade the attendant good-night and continued on her way towards the work-yard.

Ready?

-No…-

Here goes! Tala pulled the cork and took a long swig from the bottle of oil before she could stop herself.

She gagged and retched, but power spiraled through her anti-vomit inscriptions, and her stomach settled.

Oh, yeah, I don’t think about those very often.

Alat sent immense displeasure.

A weirdly slick, greasy feeling coated the inside of her mouth and throat. Oddly, Tala suddenly had the sensation that she could feel with her teeth, and they were disgusted at what was coating them.

On a whim, Tala cracked the seed in her mouth, and felt the power of dissolution blossom between her teeth, breaking the oil down into its constituent parts. She breathed in to at least clear her upper throat, then exhaled the mass of dissolved oil and power out, into a snow-bank, a good portion of which puffed into vapor.

Hah, I knew that would work.

-I thought we agreed not to use those for oral hygiene.-

Did you want that to linger?

-…fine.-

So? I can feel it being processed by the flows of power, but I think you have a finer view of the result.

Alat was hesitant for a long time. -It will work in a pinch.-

Tala didn’t gloat, in fact she felt a bit of disgust. I sort of wish it hadn’t, but I am glad to know, in a pinch.

Alat was silent for a while.

Tala was almost to the work yard that held her cargo-wagon when Alat broke her silence.

-Tala?-

Yes?

-If that foul liquid were combined, somehow, with scripts to speed absorption into the body, distribution of the calories where they were needed, and a targeted regeneration…-

Tala stopped dead in the quiet city streets. Alat, that’s a regeneration potion.

-I know, right?- Alat was ecstatic. -It still probably wouldn’t work. Who’s going to drink two cups of olive oil? And, even if they did that might not even be sufficient to heal a given injury.-

But it is an interesting idea. How would the spell-forms be incorporated into the liquid?

-The ending seeds.-

We aren’t putting ending-seeds in a healing potion.

-No, no. The seeds have stored magic that is triggered by things like digestion. The mechanism has to be reproducible.-

It was an interesting thought. Probably not unique but interesting. We should talk to Mistress Odera about it over breakfast.

* * *

Tala sat cross legged on her floor within Kit.

Her eyes were closed, her morning routine all but done.

Around her orbited her Archon stars, three encased in tungsten.

She now had eight of the small spell-forms, each as small and weak as she could make them, each in a single drop of blood.

She practiced mirroring various senses to the stars as they orbited.

It was disorienting, having her vision spin around herself, but she was getting greater control of it. So, instead of sweeping around in a circle, she could focus it on one place, the perspective simply moving as if she were doing a box-step.

She had a use for the sweeping perspective, but not as she was now.

Her greatest discovery had come only a day or two before.

She took a slow breath and gilded herself.

She added a second perspective mirroring, allowing it to sweep around her without interference, then she ignored it. It’s like my nose. I can easily see it, but I just don’t.

Alat helped enhance the desired effect, while the alternate interface soaked in the inputs.

Alat was much better at ignoring the negative sides of the sweeping perspective.

-Alright. I’m ready.-

Tala took another deep breath, and selected a bloodstar opposite the one already mirroring her senses for Alat.

Then, with an application of will and a flexing of her soul, Tala mirrored her perspective onto that star as well.

She was immediately overwhelmed, unable to ignore so much information.

Her concentration broke, as did the mirroring.

Tala cursed, flopping back.

-One perspective is already amazing.-

But there are gaps in what we can see.

-True enough. It seemed easier that time.-

It definitely was. I think that being so close to fully Fused helped immensely.

-I agree.-

There was a bit of frustration there. They were so close.

-This will likely be possible once we cross that hurdle.-

That’s probably true.

-Well, it is about time to leave to have breakfast with Mistress Odera. Then, we can see the family. That seemed to help with our inner turmoil.-

True enough.

Tala sat up, looking to Terry in the corner. “You want to come with me?”

He lifted his head, glancing towards the door. With a slight shudder and shake of his whole body, he trilled a decidedly negating series of notes.

“Suit yourself. I’ll check on you every once in a while, to see if you want out.”

He squawked once and laid his head down.

She chuckled, tossing him a huge hunk of jerky, which disappeared halfway to him.

All right. Let’s see what Mistress Odera thinks of our idea.

* * *

Tala sat patiently eating, while Mistress Odera regarded her with increasing skepticism.

“That’s a fairly ludicrous idea.”

Tala shrugged. “But it might work.”

“No. At best you’d give a slight boost to healing, and that is even if the patient could keep the concoction down.”

She opened her mouth to respond, but Mistress Odera held up one hand.

“Yes, you could add further forms to suppress nausea, but to what end?” The older woman took a sip of her tea, then shook her head with a sigh. “It is a clever idea, I’ll grant you that, but there is a fatal flaw.”

“Oh?” Tala frowned. What did we miss?

“Either you use a regenerative inscription, and the olive oil won’t contain nearly enough to do what is needed, thus leaving the user weakened, at best. Or, you use a healing inscription, in which case the ingestion and the olive oil are both unnecessary.”

Tala nodded absently. “And the second isn’t a good option, because people are unique, and a generic healing spell-form could easily do more harm than good.”

“Precisely.”

“But, wouldn’t a withering or weakening be better than bleeding out?”

“In the short-term, yes. That’s why guardsmen, or soldiers, often carry emergency items for such a purpose, but there is only a small segment of potential wounds that they are useful for. Too free of use can cause more death than the original injuries, and even proper use can lead to long-term side effects to the patient’s health. So, if there are better options available, they should always be used first.”

Tala grunted. “Fair, I suppose.”

The topic shifted, and Tala reluctantly brought up her family.

Mistress Odera was proud of her for facing them and applauded her plan to go talk with any who wished after breakfast.

Tala didn’t correct her to ensure that the woman knew that her parents weren’t included in that invitation. I was clear enough.

She was sure of that. No need to clarify at all.

They briefly touched on Tala’s training before Tala finished practically licking her plate clean and bade her overseer a good day.

* * *

As Tala drew closer to her childhood street, she felt a growing anxiety. There had been a late-night snowfall, and the cool dusting felt good on her bare feet, but such couldn’t keep her attention with the upcoming meeting on her mind.

What if no one wants to talk to me?

-Nalac will.-

You don’t think he’ll be convinced not to?

-That doesn’t make much sense…right?-

But what if?

Alat paused for a long moment as Tala kept walking. -If no one is there, then we can leave and put them behind us forever.-

Tala breathed deeply, thinking on that worst case. That helps, thank you.

-Now, if they show up just to scream at you? I’m not sure what we’ll do.-

Tala felt her eye twitch. Are you rusting kidding me?

-What? If we’re looking for the worst-case scenario, it isn’t “no one showing up.”-

She did not like that thought, but as she came around the corner, Tala saw that there was no one waiting outside the shop. Well, that’s that, then.

-You didn’t actually tell them to wait for you in any particular place. You just said you’d be back. It’s cold. They’re probably inside.-

As she closed the distance, the door opened and a small head poked out, looking the other way. The small, bundled head then turned, seeing Tala approaching. There were some people on the streets, but Tala knew she stood out, even if only because of her lack of winter-wear.

“SHE’S HERE!” The little voice called out.

I don’t know who that is.

-Yeah, we didn’t ask.-

Before Tala covered the last hundred yards, people piled out of the door, and she pulled up short, shock making her steps hesitant. She did a quick count. Fourteen. Even the little three-year-old had come along.

When Tala had left, she’d had twelve siblings. Now I have fourteen.

-At least. You’re assuming that they all came.-

Even so, Tala felt her eyes start tearing up. Oh, come on. This is ridiculous.

She gilded herself and walked forward, pulling a smile across her features. “Good morning.”

A smattering of greetings tumbled over each other, causing the small crowd to laugh nervously.

Tala stopped a few paces away from the huddled, winter-gear shrouded group. It was interesting seeing all of their breaths puffing out in steamy fog in different cadences and with different volumes.

There was a moment of silence, as everyone waited for someone else to speak.

Tala cleared her throat. “So, is there anywhere we could go to talk? I don’t know the area very well anymore.” She awkwardly scratched the front of her own shoulder.

Latna immediately nodded. “Yeah, there’s a tea house a couple of blocks from here. They should be willing to give us the use of a private sitting room, so long as we get a few drinks.” The woman hefted the small pouch from the night before. “We can afford at least that.”

Tala nodded. “Lead the way.”

The trek started out with more awkward silence, but that was broken after barely a dozen paces by the second smallest sibling piping up with a question. “Aren’t you cold?”

Tala looked down at the little boy who had sped up to walk beside her. “I’m not, no.”

He gave her a skeptical look. “I have to wear my coat and boots, or I’ll be cold. Mother says so.”

“That’s true enough; it’s quite the chilly day.”

He looked down at her feet. “You aren’t even wearing shoes.”

Tala looked down at her feet too as she walked down the street. She grinned as she saw the minimal, round impression in the snow around each one of her steps. “Yeah, well, my feet don’t get cold very easily.” After a moment’s hesitation, she asked. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know your name.”

“Olen!” He announced proudly. “I’m almost six.”

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Olen.”

“It is, isn’t it.” He grinned back.

Tala found herself chuckling.

Olen opened his mouth, likely to ask something else, when someone in the group walking right behind them spoke up. “Speaking of your feet… Why aren’t they sinking into the snow? What’s with the circles?”

Tala glanced back, finding the speaker. If she had to guess, it was Alva, the youngest of the third set of twins. “Well, Alva, I have inscriptions that distribute my weight across a wider surface area, on whatever I step on, so I have surer footing, and don’t break anything I step on by accident.”

Another voice chimed in. “What? Are you really heavy or something?”

That earned the older boy glares from all his sisters, save Tala. Tala just laughed. “I actually am, Miro, yeah.” Older than Nalac, younger than Caln, he’s grown up so much. He was right around Olen’s age when I left. “It’s a part of my Magic, actually. My body is enhanced and strengthened, and one result of that is that I’m quite a bit heavier than normal.”

Miro looked around triumphantly, completely uncowed by his sisters’ displeasure.

Latna glanced back, ensuring they were following as they continued to walk, taking her role as the leader seriously, and ensuring that they all made it to the tea-house.

I wonder how often she’s had to fill that role for them, since I left. The thought caused her feelings of sadness and guilt to spike.

Tala saw Caln near the back, though he didn’t say anything, or even give a motion of greeting. She would have to talk to the older two alone at some point. She’d actually been close to both of them…once.

“What’s it like being a Mage?” It was the other of the younger girls. Well, aside from the toddler.

“Well, Nea, it’s wonderful in almost every way. I didn’t really enjoy the Academy, but I did get to learn magic there. My work is dangerous at times, but it’s rewarding, and I got to pick what I wanted to do.” She grinned. “I still do get to choose, really.”

The little girl frowned. “Then, why are you mad that you’re a Mage?”

The older siblings made motions of shushing, but Tala shook her head. “It’s a fine question.” She slowed down just a bit and the young girl sped up, so that Tala was walking beside Nea. Tala spoke so that everyone could hear her clearly. “I’m not mad that I’m a Mage. I am angry that our parents sold me off without talking to me.”

Nea frowned. “But you like being a Mage.”

Tala sighed. “Would you like being married off to someone, without being asked?”

The girl straightened. “Of course not!”

“But what if you liked the man, and he was good to you, and you had a good life as a result?”

Nea hesitated. “Then…I don’t know?”

“Exactly.” Tala let out a long breath. “I am angry at what our parents did, not how it turned out.”

That caused the group to fall into contemplative silence.

“We’re here!” Latna broke them out of their reverie.

The group pushed through the door and into the warm interior of the tea-shop.

The attendants seemed a bit overwhelmed by the sudden influx. The shop was by no means empty, but it was also nowhere near full.

Tala spoke before anyone else could. “I’d like a private room that can fit all of us, please.” She’d discussed this possibility with Mistress Odera and with Alat, earlier. “Open a tab for us, and get any of us whatever they want.” She pulled a gold coin from Kit and set it on the counter. “I’ll expect an accounting of the charges, as well as the change, when we leave.”

The woman’s eyes widened as she took the coin from the counter. “We don’t usually deal with gold…Mistress?”

Tala nodded. “Feel free to test if it's authentic. I imagine the manager on duty or owner will be grateful that you did.” Tala cleared her throat, smiling a little self-consciously. “But could we be directed to the room first?”

“Certainly, Mistress.” The woman bowed, indicating two servers who were standing nearby. “Please take this party to the Falcon’s Nest.” She looked towards Tala. “It is at the top of the building, and our finest room.”

“That will do nicely. Thank you.” She turned back to her brothers and sisters and froze.

All of the siblings were staring at her.

“What?”

Caln sighed from his place at the back of the group. “That’s a lot of money.”

“I’m aware. I’ll be getting most of it back. I just didn’t want them fighting us over the room.”

The young man shook his head. “Whatever you say, Mistress.”

Tala swept her gaze over the others and saw more uncertainty than had been there before.

Great… I did it again, didn’t I?

-So, it would seem. I think more subtlety would have been better. Less showy.-

I wasn’t trying to show off!

-Yeah, but they don’t know that.-

Tala did her best to keep from grinding her teeth.

One of the attendants cleared his throat. “This way, please?”

He led them up three flights of stairs and to a room that was little more than a roof held up by four posts. The entirety of the four walls between ceiling and floor were made of glass, giving a stunning view of the surrounding city and the countryside beyond.

The siblings gasped, ooo-ing and ah-ing.

The attendant directed them to sections of the floor that opened to allow them to store their coats and boots before they sat at the low tables, situated on thick rugs, surrounded by cushions.

It wasn’t a style of seating that Tala was used to, but she’d seen it on occasion.

The other attendant passed menus to each of their group, and together, the two worked to answer questions and gather the orders.

Thus, in less than five minutes, the siblings were left alone in comfort, their food and drink on the way.

Most were looking out the windows, enjoying a new perspective on their home. Olen had been the first to spot their shop, and they’d laughed about how it looked from this vantage point.

Unfortunately, the views only held their collective attention for so long, and soon enough, awkward silence fell yet again.

“So…” Tala swallowed. “Do you all have more questions, or may I ask some of my own?”

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

,  Eric Liu, ........, à¸™à¸´à¸˜à¸´à¸à¸²à¸™à¸•à¹Œ , A1ias , aantonides ., Aaron Greene, Aaron Sofaer, abd Srour, Aclys , Acorderodelfin, Adam, Adam Andersson, Adam James Washington, Adam Richards, adam1 , Add_Identity , AdmiralW , Adrian Gorgey, Adrian Nightshade, Adurna , advancewarssami, agent, AgentFransis, Aidan , aidan kutcher, aidan larson, Aidan Mc Donagh, Aifer, ajcaspers, Akastor, Albert, Alec, Alex, Alex, Alex , Alex , Alex C, Alex Foster, Alex Griffin, alex kosters, Alex LeBlanc, Alex Quintero, Alex Sunier, Alex Weatbrook, Alex Wilson, Alexander , Alexander Dupree, Alexander Lease, Alison Swenson, Allora Lee, Almost Famous, Alonzo garcia, Alphabetical, Ambird King, andre elizebeth, Andrew C Kerr, Andrew Cohen, Andrew Dempsey, Andrew Glass, Andrew Goudie, Andrew Holland, Andrew Jones, Andrew Kroll, Andrius , Andy, Angela Kimova, angrycharlie, Anh Vo, Anna Turner, Anonymous , antab , Apotheosis As A Service, Archie, Archivist0 , Arhsnag, Aria, Aria Jonsdottir, Arnfinn Gjorvad, arty, Asael Sklar, ashandarei, Aslak, asyn, Attherisk, Austin Woodard, AverageGuy , Avista Askenazu, Azcheron , B C, B.Vijayan , Bacon Macleod, Bad Timing, Bagknigehard, BaguaBrady , Bain-Lindsay , Baldur Norddahl, Bast, Batty Corvina, BeaR, Beau Bryant, Ben Dean, Bennett Pelton, Bernardino Campa IV, Biomass, BjÃ¶rn, Bloodorange17 , BoB, bob sicks, Bosparan, BossDawg, Boutross, bradley foster, Braincase , Brandon Cleveland, Brian, Bricyn Abel, BRUNO ASTUR, BtBurns , Budgie, Bunny Waffles, C Howard, Cae, Caleb, Carl Bunch, Carlos Andres Rengifo Escobar, Carter Hadley, Carya Galabra, CaughtRedHeaded, chad ensey, ChiefWizard , Chloe Winter, Chris, Chris, Chris , Chris , Chris Brady, Chris Fox, Chris Hibbert, chris jenart, Chris Mantakounis, Christian Kenney, Christian Nowitzki, Christoffer DahlÃ©n, Christopher Catania, Christopher Fetherston, Christopher Harris, Christopher Jack, Cirex123 , Clara, Clayton Carson, closeded, Cody Poteet, Cold Ramen, Cole Nyquist, Colin Ford, Colin Reed, Connor Beeson, Connor Oswald, Connor Sunier, Conor Futro, Cordelia , CringeWorthyStudios , CrispyKing , Cristi Palincas, crystalcat, Cypha, Cyrus McEnnis, da Finnci, Daba, Dakota , Dan, Dan , Dan , Dan , Dan Addis, Dan Weiss, Daniel , Daniel A, Daniel B, daniel edery, Daniel Harris, Daniel Joseph Moreau, Daniel Sigui, Daniel Strickland, Danny Noppen, Darcy , Darcy Lessard-Patola, Darkhelm , DasUberGryx, Dave, David, David Brims, David D, David Joseph Pascua, David Schleimer, David Turner, DeathOfOld , dennis malatesta, Derek, Derek Singer, Derik Botha, Desertdoe , DeusCap, devarian , Didntdoathing, Diego Avendano-Morineau, Dire Wolf, Disclancer, Dixon Gao, DLR , Dog City, Dominic Weibel, Dominik, Doomerjunky, Dorian Grizzle, dotAlice, Dr.Quick, Draecath, Draega, dragonslaver, Drake Morgan, Drendude, Drew Gilmour, Driftward, Dustin , Dustin Qian, dwarftoss58, Dylan , Edmund McGough, Elias Leutgeb, Ell Lan, Elliott Fawcett, ElodinGale, Ely Brookes, Emmanuel Ogbizi-Ugbe, Enaz the great, Endoria, Enif , Enigma , ENIM Skills, Enrico Choy, Enthused, Eoin Barrett, Eric , Eric Helaney, Eric Svahn, erik lindquist, Erkki Parkkulainen, Erling Egilsson, EroNingen, Ethan , Ethan Munday, Evan Morris, Evan Zhou, evilperson41 , Fabian Elzo Kraemer, Faelyn, Felix Adler, Feltenix, fennek , FieryFern, Findell , FishFace , Flogoyog , Flusspferd, FoolRegnant , Frank, Frank Timoney, Fraxx, Frederic Axt, Frederik, Frogger, Frost , Furnastone, GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Gabriel Boudreau, Gabriel Jarman-Ivens, Gamecats, Garrett Nelson, Geoff, George Hicken, Glenn Clemente, gokief , GoodOldChap , Grady Blanks, Graeme Jardine, Grausheira , grayfire, Greg Shields, Gremlin, Griffin E, Griffin Skutsch, Grimizen, Grizzly Fiction, Grumlen, Gull, Gunnar Crider, Gustav Burkhardt, GuyWhoReadsALot, Gwendolyn Simmons-LaRose, Gyslain Desgagne, Hajakuja , Hannoske, Haran , Hawk, Hazza Vanderbyl, HeartHawk, Helge, hellunit , Hibou Ronchon, HJ, Hollowlce, Hornblower , Ian , Ian Radspinner, Ian Sommer, IGS, Ilundihl, Im Hello, ImBaroqe, Impatiance , Inspirefly, Inzuris, Irisa, Isaac Boyles, Isaac Deroche, Isaac Mathew, Itbeme12321, ItsjustMe , J , Jacob , Jacob Ellis, Jacob trent, Jake Pellegrini, jalnyfen, Jalty, James, James Beaudreau, James Cornish, James Davidson, James Derr, James Lavender, James Mullen, James Walsh, james young, Jan Joost Sijbesma, Jared Brewster, Jarek Twardowski, Jarrod Manzer, Jasen Nichols, Jason Johnson, Jason Morse, Jason P, Jason Petry, Jasper, Jasper Walters, Jayden Kirkham, JC, Jedediah Wolfgang, Jeff Gault, Jehru, Jennifer , Jered McCullough, Jeremy Davis Payne, Jeremy Dorn, Jeremy Durbin, Jeremy Hall, Jeremy James, Jess, Jetforce, Jim Smith, Jimbarino, Jiokuy , JJ327, Jo, JoÃ£o Vieira, Jody, Joe Broussard, Joe Smith, Joey Nguyen, John D'Arcy, John Growcott, John Hadel, John Noone, John O'Connor, Jon Lundy, Jonah Doyle, Jonah of the Whale, Jonah Ree, Jonathan , Jonathan Determann, Jonathan Frerichs, Jonathan Timm, Jonathan Yarian, jonch1243 ., Jordan Leighton, Jose Jimenez, Joseph , Joseph Saunders, Joseph Sutherland, Josh Fryza, Joshua allen, Joshua Holt Sorensen, Joshua Lawvere, Joshua Paye, Joshua Samuel Miller, Joshua Smith, Joy , JT, JTP , julian, Julian Beaumont, Julian Meltzer, Just Dave, just_a_potato , Justin, Justin , Justin Gray, Justin Marble, Justin Moore, Justin Reagan, jww, Jywert , Kaeson, Kageryu, Kai , Kamren Livingston, Karl Tageman, Karma Baris, karmaslap , Kate Yen, KDP , Keenan Adams, Keira Wulfe, Kel Pough, kenneth, Kenneth , Kent Gunn, Kenyaa , Kermity , Kevin Green, Khress , KingDaviddagr8, Kiran, Kirk Morgan, Kirvin, klabuster, Klecksi, Knightfire, Kovak, Krikor Chichadjian, kyle, Kyle, Kyle Brackenbury, Kyle frasch, Kylieth , Lachlan Priest, Laila , Lanhail, Laurids Jensen, Lazy Lemon, Le GarlantÃ©zec, Leendert Kortlever, Leif Nejst, LeJordon , Lenonxx6, Leon Ernst, Leon Heinicke, Lerous, Levi Cox, Lewis Dyer, Lia, Lida, Lindsay W., Logan , Logan Fain, Logan Williams, lol, LordDark , LordErr, Louis Nel, Lu , Ludger , lukas bonnesen, Lukas Schaefer, luke, Lyael, Lygon Bowen-West, Lynd Koh, M , M1styczny, MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, Maggi von Da, Magisch, Magnuss, Maksim, Malbec , Marcel Amendt, Marcus Adams, Marcus Pehan, Margus234, Mario Kaminsky, Mark, Mark Dolson, mark mÃ¸llegaard, Markus Wienberg, matt green, Matt Labrum, Matt M, Matt M, Matt S., Matthew , matthew bird, Matthew Davis, Matthew Hiller, Matthew Myers , Matthew Powell, mattias hessleryd, Mattias Klason, Max Gustavson, Max W, maxime gm, Mcnoodlies , mdapkins , Mechrono, Megacheez , Meierfrac, Melting Sky, Memnochian, MenacingSand, meoth , MePe , Michael, Michael D Chavez, Michael Goulet, Michael Maor, Michael Marisa, Michael Mercado, Michael Mooney, Michael O'Gorman, Michael Olson, Michael Seedorf, Michael She, Michelle Goodman, Midnight Harbinger, Midnight Questions, Mikael Svensson, Miles Pettey, minicheatbook, Miri, Mnem , Mo, Mohammad Muzhaffar Bin Omar, mohammed essam, Mondays, MoneyTree, Monte949, Moritz Hauff, Morzan The Lazy Dragon, Mountain Barber, Mountainking , Mr Google Doodle, Mr. Finch, Mudith Mallajosyula, Myles2322, Nadav Ben Yehuda, Nate D., Nate Kaufman, Nathan Fahrenbach, Nathan Hoy, Nathaniel Baxter, NaughtyPaws, Nb123456, NeutralQuartz, Nicholas Johnson, nicholas machado, Nick Norris, Nick Tinsley, Nick Warner, Nikita Becker, Nikolaj Rosander Madsen, Nikolas allen, NNeil , Noah , Noah Jones, Noah Morris, noah stevens, nokko, Nonie, Noshei , Notcreepycreeper, nugitoBambino, nymaxilian , Nyotree, Oakenbear , OakieTheTree, Ocean Breeze, Odunski, Oliver , Oliver Firoozan, oliver junell, Oliver Poole, Oliverthms , OlivierA, Olof DahlstrÃ¶m, Omar Wazir, OnigaImasuka , Onill007 , onionlittle, OpCrystal , OrangeSpork, Orr404, Ozark, Paerofar , PaleMire, Parker Hebert, PARXIVAL, Patrick Blatti, patrick seim, Paul Becker, Paul tranquilli, Pawel Maskowicz, Payen Hell, Pedro Derze, Peter Edlund, peter mattoon, Philip Moraski, Philipp Zander, Philipp Ziehe, Phlorez , Pieter-Jan Van Steenkiste, Pigeonpie, PiMs, Piotr, Pizzatiger , Politician, posthumousleon , PotatoGod, Powernap , Primordi, Proteus Jones, Putrick, Que Tea, Quendolayne, Rachel Prochner, RageBone , Ragmas, Ramapriya Rangaraju, Randy Klein, Ransom Hollister, Raphael , Ratoo , Ray Robitaille, Raznakz, rbot, reafan, Redbeard , Reed Montemurro, Reid Palmquist, Relein, Retaliation ., RexRegis, Rhaid, Rich Webb, Richard Davis ll, rintaun , rizen, Robert , Robert Adams, Robert Hinshaw, Robert Kline, Robert Mullins, Robert P, Robert z, Robin Richards, Robin SjÃ¶doff, Roger, Rory natynczuk, Roshan Rao, RottenTangerine, RotWeisseWaffel, Rutger Boll, Ryan , Ryan Coyne, Ryan Hogan, Ryan Naquin, Ryan Tran, Ryudachi, S T, S.G., Saerthas, SaltyVigilante , Sam Oppy, Samantha Lane, Samantha Sandlin, Samuel McCarren, Samuel Patterson, Sandoz, Sands , Saramon H, Satya Prateek, Schelm , ScottDR, Seadrake, Sean Carter, Sean Elliott, Sean Mantell, Sean McCrohan, Sean Panajotovic, Sean Reap, Sebastian Lindqvist, SecondBlahm, sedael , Sekander , Seth Bryant, Seth Cox, Seth Richter, sethorizer, Severed Hat, Shakez44, Shelbo, Shil Modi, Shreyansh Gupta, Shykarn , Signspace, Silberwolf325 , Simon Casey, Simon Dingemans, sings_with_toads, Siphor , Skarsol, skici, Skygo, Smokestack Matt, smoze, SoddenFool, Solar , Some Total Kretin, someguy , Spencer Herold, Stano MareÄek, Steffen, Stephanie Washburn, Stephen L, Stephen Pearson, Steven C, STORRM , Stuart Anderson, Styx49, Superposhposh , Svarog, Swanie, Sylvain Arguillere, t S, T.E. N., tachi-kawa, Taliesin , Talion, Tangyorange, Taras Gordiyenko, Tate Browder, Teee , Temon_Oak, ThÃ©o, Thaco4 , theend , TheFool, TheLazerCat , Thernn , Thomas, Thomas Christie, Thomas Goyne, Thomas Payne, Thomas Stewart, ThreatLvlPurple , Thuss, Tim , Timothy Burago, tlove, TNkdI6FVB1NhjNqt , Toad , Tom, Tom Clough-Macready, Tom Roettger, TomÃ¡Å¡ BlÃ¡bol, TorbjÃ¸rn Nilsen, Traian, Travis McHenry, Travis McIntosh, Tristan Griffin, Troy Fox, TurmRIC, TwistedToaster, Tyler, Tyler Babcock, Tyrone Thomas, Tzucaza ., user754595, Vaulex, Vervacitus , Victoria, Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, Vikram Ahluwalia, Vincent Sloan, Viria , voltic, Vroom , W , Walter , WarNachos, Weppsu, werotan, Wesley , Wesley Ervin, Whisper, WhisperInTheVoid, Will C, Will Iam, William Davis, William Fullerton, William Priess, william wallace, Wundermelon, X Y, Xavier Lamphere, xIron Gamerx, xtrnet, Xynee, Yemisi Mcmullen, Yenin , Yrom, Z. Cs., Zach Adams, Zach Wilson, zachary gafken, Zanthras, znarken, Zrell

Mage:

Aaron Lewis, al , Al Bi, Alex Scriber, Alexander Belousov, Andreas Holmqvist, Anton Selling, Austin Rasmussen, Barrie Davis, Brett Muras, Caillin McKay, Carl Clements, Chris Olsen, Cody Caliguiri, Cory Ellis, Cybernetic Angel, David, Daydeus, Deneas , Digdug, DT , Dustin , Eciefae4, Eole Salmon, Eric Staind, Eric Trombly, Error, Fabian , Fabian BÃ¤cker, Finn Freudenberg, Ford Yeager, Gemyma, Gert Wallis, Gleadge, GopherAtl, Gurditt Mangat, Ian Anderson, Irakli Jishkariani, Ischariot, jacob britt, James , James Hadfied, James Knight, Jamison Schneider, Jan, Jason Case, JauPim, Javier David Aros NuÃ±ez, Jeremy , Jeremy Leonard, John Doe, Jolly Javelin, Jonathan Gough, Jonny, Jorge Khouzam Filho, Josh , Joshua John Wallace, Karl Lomp, Karma Anor, Lasse Pedersen, Lee Wilson, Leon Silva, Leonhard MÃ¼nzer, Linkneo5 , Lorcogoth, Lupusregina , mallix , Marius K, Mathias Schwendimann, Mathieu Deg, Max Oberg, Max Weidmer, MeatyLock , Michael Anaya, Michael Bradet-Legris, Michael F., Michael Stephan, NebulaeDreamz, Nicholas Kelly, Not Real, Patrick Cole, Paul Jones, Pedro Lopes, Pigeon F, prateek choudhary, Raistlin , Red, Sage, santor25, Scott Holt, Scott Toreki, Setaria, Sharrod Brathwaite, Sid_Cypher , Silveredgallium, SirGuy , SnowingSilently, SZ, Taylor , ToffiTee, Two Cats, ulrik aaby, Varko, Yasin Bari, Zellcos

Mageling:

acrasa , Akiven, Alexander Graber-Tilton, Alternative Facet, AndromedaStar, Austin McGue, Bamboocha, Benedikt K, Benjamin Buco, BurnNote, Cassano , Charles, Chris Goss, Chris K, d.s, DÃ¡niel MarkÃ³, Dancebot, Daniel , DANTE, Dave Burkett, David H, Delilah, derek giandolfi, DinnerTime, emphes , Eyke, Eythan Hayashi, Faris Bissex, Frozen, geraint juinor, GSH, HÃ¥vard , Hallan Savage, Hamo4, Harris, Henrik Runestig, industriousrevolution , Isaac Larkin, Ivan schroder, Ivo Havener, Jeff berman, Jens Wasielewski, Jensebaum , Joost Boere, Joseph White, Judy Halloran, KB , Kevin O'donnell, Kirsty , Kristen Campbell, Lonewolf, Lorenzo Ragni, lucca C., Luka Lageschaar, Matei Bulgariu, Matt DiMeo, Michael , Michael kim, moniker, Moreldarin, Muspellsheimr, Nefraak , Nicholas Cunningham, Nick, nick v, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, oeser_chr, OmegaHebrew, Pawaidan, pope benedict, Pyrite, Reminder, Richard Heying, Robert Rosenthal, Rousseauj-charles , S , Sam Mullen, Sean Hinton, Seth Wilson, Skape, Skelethin , SomethingWicked , Stefan Rabenstein, Sven Paulson, Thjagi, Trevor Burns, ttuurrhh , Victory Udoh, WanderingArchitect, Zehn

Inscribed:

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Chapter: 196 - Exceptions Aside

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Sakari Saastamoinen, Pride mystic artificer, PatronTurtle, Noelle, Maxine, Joshua Sydney, Damon Roberts, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala did her best to not fidget as she looked around at her crowd of siblings.

She couldn’t even properly enjoy the spectacular view of the city and surrounding plains that stretched out in every direction. Though, she could see hints of mountains to the east, running northward; the shadows of forests to the far south; and what was likely the sparkle of light off of the ocean to the north-west. They really built the city on a nice rise, and this restaurant is in a great spot.

The views weren’t unobstructed, of course. Other multi-storied structures cut off parts of the vista, but not so much as to obscure those massive features.

Latna cleared her throat. “I have a question.”

Tala brought her attention back to her sister. “Yes?”

“Why did you leave us? Why did you ignore us when we sent you letters?”

Tala felt like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water into her face. Still, she took a moment to collect herself, and with Alat’s help formulated an answer. “I was…very angry with mother and father. I felt used, untrusted, and unloved.” She closed her eyes, feeling the emotions of the last years washing over her. She continued without opening her eyes, not wanting to be distracted by her family before her. “Anything that reminded me of them, of what they’d done, hurt.” She opened her eyes. “That included you.”

Latna frowned but didn’t interrupt.

“It was immature, but I was a child. It was petty, but I was aggrieved.”

Olen leaned back and Tala heard him whisper to Akli, “What does aggrieved mean?”

It was Mita, Akli’s twin, who answered in a similarly quiet whisper. “It means hurt, or wronged. Shhh.”

That caught Tala off guard, even though the words had been so quiet most wouldn’t have heard them.

Use smaller words. This is your family, not teachers sitting in judgment over you.

She hesitated, then let out a long breath. “The long and short of it is this: I had my reasons, but my choice to ignore you all was wrong. I should not have cut myself off from all of you. Will you forgive me?”

Silence rang through the room. In that stillness, they heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

No one wanted to speak in front of the servers, so they waited.

Great timing, Tala…

It took a few moments for the two attendants to reach the room, and they passed out the food and drinks, receiving polite “Thank you”s and other forms of gratitude before they departed once again.

In the returned silence, they all waited until the footsteps had faded, sipping, nibbling, or shifting nervously.

Finally, of all people, Caln spoke up. “You want us to forgive you? To forgive you for the years of broken relationship? We were on your side from day one! We had nothing but sympathy for you and a desire to help.

“Mom and Dad told us everything. They cast themselves as the villains in that tale and rightly so.

“We have been striving for years to help save up to repay the debt laid upon you. We tried to invest the money wisely, expanding the shop and getting a Healer to work with us, among other things. The plan was to have a good chunk ready for you, when you graduated, and have a good foundation so that we could then blast through the debt with our increased capacities.”

He scoffed, shaking his head.

“And what do we get for all our work? All our scrimping? All our sacrifices? You seemingly graduate and vanish. When you finally do show up, the money is tossed back at us like it’s nothing.”

He pointed to Latna.

“She cried much of the night because of you, Tala.” He grimaced. “Mistress Tala.”

He shook his head again, his features becoming a mask of anger once more.

“We have suffered as a family, trying to be ready to lift the burden from you, and it. Means. Nothing. You don’t need us at all. You don’t want us at all. You throw gold around like it’s candy. Why are you even here?”

The silence returned like a struck bell.

Nobody said anything, all eyes remaining fixed on Tala.

Well, all eyes but that of the littlest. Tala hadn’t caught her name.

The small one was staring at Caln for a long moment before standing up and toddling over to where he was sitting on a cushion on the floor. She grabbed his face, shocking the young man out of his glare at Tala. “Wha-?”

“Ookie?”

“What?”

“Ookie!!”

Caln pulled back at the shout, blinking at the loud proclamation. “Cookie?” He glanced down at the plate of cookies he’d gotten along with his drink.

The entire demeanor of the girl changed as she stood up straighter, wiggling her little head in obvious pride. “Ess! Ease!”

The little one then turned to look at Tala.

“Ookie you?”

Tala blinked back. “Do I want a cookie?”

Again, that little one shimmied in obvious happiness. “Ess!”

“I…uh…sure?”

The girl turned back to Caln, then pointed to Tala. “Ookie!!”

That was too much, and everyone burst out laughing.

The laughter wasn’t so much because the girl’s actions were humorous, as how effectively they’d shattered the tension of the moment.

Caln hesitantly stood and walked over to give Tala a cookie. He then looked down. “Are you happy, Sella?”

Sella was glaring at Tala. “Ank, ooo!”

Tala cocked her head, squinting and trying to understand. “Oh! Thank you, Caln.”

Again, little Sella flipped her expression on a copper, beaming once more.

Caln retook his seat, and things quieted down. Everyone was clearly still waiting on Tala’s answer, but much of the horrifying tension was gone.

Tala cleared her throat and then took a small bite of the cookie. It was actually rusting delicious. There was something in them that made them crunch while being warm and moist. No… two things. It wasn’t nuts, or anything silly like that either. I need to buy a few dozen of these…

She was stalling.

She took a sip from her cup and forced herself to not evaluate the tea. Even though it wasn’t nearly as good as what she had in Kit. Tala… Come on.

“I did not intend any of that as a slight.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. Oh, Alat, please help me here? I’m too close to this. I don’t know what to say.

And so, Alat helped her.

“I apologize for the hurt I caused. I chose to go to Bandfast after graduating because there is a larger Caravanner’s Guild Hub there. Also, more personally, I wasn’t ready to face mother and father, or anything that reminded me of them, not yet. As to giving the money back.” She shook her head ruefully. “I would love to keep it. It would help in so many ways, but it will help you all more. I think I can even give some suggestions as to what it could be used for.” She gave a wry chuckle. “But I’m getting ahead of myself. I think it best if I just tell you what I’ve been doing, since I graduated. But, before that: Can you forgive me for my callousness? For not considering you all in my actions? I want to explain everything to you, but I don’t want it to be an excuse.”

Caln sighed. “I am willing to hear you out. I can understand making a mistake, and I forgive you.”

Latna nodded, as did the oldest twins, Mita and Akli.

Illie frowned before she too, sighed. “I want to hear what you have to say. I’ll forgive you, but it will take more than that to repair the harm that you’ve done.”

Nalac turned to his twin sister, shaking his head. “Stop pretending you’re a queen.”

Latna cleared her throat. “I think I speak for all of us when I say: We forgive you, but it will take time and effort to rebuild our relationships with you.”

Tala felt a tension ease inside herself, and she smiled. That addressed, she told them the story.

The tale was obviously abridged, and she left out mention of dead woodsmen, founts, Archon stars of any kind, or arcanes… or, well, any of the myriad other things that shouldn’t be told to mundanes or very small children.

As an example, she skimmed over some of the scarier details for the sake of the little ones but did her best to tell it as completely and truthfully as she could…those exceptions aside.

The servers dropped through several times, refilling drinks and bringing more savory foods as the time for lunch came and went. Tala was restrained in her eating, mainly so she could continue her story.

She did pause every once in a while, to allow clarifying questions, but there weren’t too many. Alat was helping her organize the story and structure it in an understandable way.

It was mid-afternoon when she finished up the tale, concluding on her arrival in Marliweather. “And so, I’m here for another day before I have to head back to Bandfast. If you want me back, I can probably get another contract over to here and be back in around two weeks.”

After a short pause, Olen spoke up. “Yeah, we want you back.”

Sella looked at her older brother, held up a new treat over her head, given after a full and healthy lunch, and proudly proclaimed. “Ookie!”

The girl had not focused on Tala’s story, not that Tala had expected her to. Instead, she’d spent the time moving between various siblings and playing with their hands and feet. She’d even sat in Tala’s lap for a bit before moving on.

The other siblings smiled at Sella’s pronouncement before agreeing with Olen, each in their own way ranging from Nalac’s hearty seconding of the sentiment to Caln’s reserved, hesitant nod.

After that, there were a few generic questions about what it was like to be a Mage, which Tala answered as best as she could, but it was starting to get late, and apparently, they’d promised to be back home before dinner to help with the final preparations.

Tala cleared her throat. “Could either Latna or Caln stay behind? I’d like to talk with one or both of you about my suggestion.”

The two shared a look, then Latna shrugged. “I can, sure.”

Nalac cleared his throat. “Can I stay, too? I need to ask you something…”

Tala gave him a searching look, then nodded. “Alright. I’ll need to settle the bill, and talk to Latna, but after that, we can chat.”

Mita cleared her throat. The girl was third oldest of Tala’s siblings, just about a year younger than Caln, only slightly older than her twin. “Will we see you again, this trip?”

“I’ll come back by tomorrow. I’ll spend the day in the park, so if any of you want to drop by, I’ll spend that time with you.”

There were some awkward goodbyes and Caln shepherded them through the process of getting their winter gear back on before trundling down the stairs.

Sella continued her loud cries as they left. “Eye, Ala!”

It didn’t matter how many times Tala said bye in return, the little one continued her calls.

In truth, Tala didn’t mind, though she did feel bad for Akli, who was holding the small girl.

She has quite the lungs.

As the last head disappeared down the stairs, Latna and Nalac moved closer, so that they were sitting at two points of a triangle, completed by Tala.

Latna cocked an eyebrow. “So? What’s this idea?”

“Iron paint. The local Constructionist Guild likely doesn’t have a supplier yet as it’s a relatively new thing. The one in Bandfast buys it by the gallon, though.”

“Iron paint? How would you even make that?”

“The formula is available to any licensed Alchemist through the Archive.”

Latna winced. “Oh Archive access isn’t cheap.” She cocked her head. “Though, we can go to the library, and get a hard copy. How much is the formula?”

“Five gold.”

Latna gaped. “Are you out of your mind? How could we possibly…afford…” She closed her mouth and hesitated. “You want us to spend some of the gold on that.”

“I think so. It’s not that complicated, if I understand the process correctly, and it sells for half a gold per gallon.” She laughed. “I’d buy a few gallons from you, too.”

The younger woman seemed to be doing calculations in her head. “I would need an introduction to the Constructionist Guild. Is there a proof of efficacy?”

Tala returned a crooked smile. “I can have something ready to show.”

-That’s kind of funny, actually. I want to see that.-

Tala hesitated. Oh?

-Yeah. How quickly are they going to smite you when you drop your illusion.-

I’ll give them warning.

-Suit yourself.-

It’ll be fine. I’ll give proper context, then do a slow reveal. It’s not like I’ll walk in, drop my illusion and say, “Buy this stuff. It’s great!”

-Fine, fine.-

Latna was nodding. “That could work. That could work. Why half a gold per gallon?”

Tala shrugged. “That’s what I was charged.”

“So, likely depending on local availability of materials and the like.” She took in a deep breath. “Still, five gold for a formula…”

“It will be a risk, but one that I think will pay off.”

“Can we go tomorrow?”

“To the Constructionists?”

“Yes.”

Tala thought a moment before nodding. “Sure. Just before dinner, so I don’t break my word to the others.”

Latna nodded, pushing to her feet. “All right, then. I’ll see you tomorrow. Are you coming soon, Nalac?” She turned and pulled on her own coat and boots.

“I think so. Let them know where I am. I’ll either be home for dinner, or figure something else out.”

Latna hesitated, then looked to Tala. “Alright, then.”

She finished dressing for the weather outside and moved to the stairs.

She had descended three steps before she paused. “Tala?”

Tala turned to regard her. “Yes, Latna?”

“Thank you for coming back. I wish you had come back sooner, but thank you for coming back.”

Tala just nodded and smiled.

Her sister turned and walked out of view, down the stairs.

“So.” Tala regarded Nalac. “What did you want to ask?”

He was fidgeting with his hands. “Well…You see…” He swallowed, then grabbed his mug, draining the last of the tea from it.

Tala didn’t interrupt or prod.

“You see, I wanted to be a Mage…to find you.” He said the last in a quiet voice.

Tala felt something twinge in her chest. “Oh, Nalac. I’m here. I’m so sorry. I-”

He was shaking his head. “I know. I know that.” He swallowed again. “Mistress Rin—she’s my pre-magic teacher—said that someone’s motivation for becoming a Mage matters. Mine’s gone!” He hung his head. “Can I even become a Mage anymore?”

Tala blinked in surprise at that. “Do you want to?”

“Yes!...no? I don’t know.” He shook his head.

“Well, that sounds like the heart of it. If you want to be a Mage, you can be. If you don’t? You don’t have to.”

“But this is what I’ve been planning, Illie and me.”

“And now you don’t know what to do.”

“And now I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, how about you talk me through it.”

And so he did.

Tala was able to get the servers to bring them some more food and drink, and then, she just listened.

An hour later, the boy was no closer to a decision, but he seemed lighter, less burdened. “Thank you, Tala.”

She smiled. “I’m happy to listen. Come on. Let’s get you home.”

She settled the bill, receiving seventy-five silver back in change.

Together, she and Nalac walked back towards the family shop in comfortable silence.

As they walked, Tala had a thought. She opened Kit, as she had several times throughout the day to give Terry an out, if he wanted. Just as before, he didn’t come.

“Hey, Terry. You want to come out?”

He squawked back at her in the negative.

She hadn’t asked at other times, but she knew that he’d been able to sense the opening, and could have come out if he’d wanted to. “I want you to meet someone.”

Nalac was giving her an odd look. “Tala?”

“One moment.”

Terry’s half-grumbling trill came from the open pouch, then he flickered to her shoulder, giving her a squint-eyed glare.

Nalac gasped.

Terry, obviously hearing the sound, leaned out, sideways, to look across Tala and at her brother.

“What is that?”

Tala smiled. “This is Terry. He’s a he, not a ‘that,’ and he’s a terror bird.”

Terry flickered to stand on Nalac’s shoulder.

The boy felt the pressure and turned slowly to look at his new passenger.

Terry stared back into the boy’s eyes from only a few inches away.

“Terry. This is my brother. Be nice, please. He’s just a boy.”

Terry broke eye contact with Nalac, and glanced at Tala. He squawked once, then hunkered down on her brother’s shoulder.

Nalac was still frozen, almost unmoving as he watched the bird. “Tala?”

“Yes.”

“What do I do?”

“Here, feed him this.” Tala pulled out some jerky, but it vanished from her hand before she could pass it to her brother. “Stop that, Terry. I’m trying to let him give it to you.”

The next piece vanished as well.

“If you do that again, I won’t get out any more.”

Terry opened one eye, rolled it, closed it, then let out a long-suffering, basso trill.

Nalac jumped. “How did he do that? That was so deep?” He chuckled a bit. “It actually kinda tickled.”

Terry’s eye opened again, and he trilled another low note.

Nalac giggled. “Stop that. You’re making my whole chest vibrate.”

Tala slipped her brother some jerky, and when Terry opened his beak again, Nalac stuck the treat in, before Terry could make any more sound.

The bird narrowed his gaze at the boy, then slowly pulled the jerky into his mouth.

“You’re a funny little thing. Terry was it?”

Terry glanced at Tala, swallowed the jerky, then jabbered a long series of ascending and descending squawks and trills.

Nalac laughed again, reaching up to stroke the bird. “You’re trying to talk?”

Terry stopped, then huffed.

Tala cleared her throat. “He was talking. Just because we didn’t understand him, doesn’t mean he’s not speaking.”

Nalac gave a slow nod, clearly thinking the whole situation was a bit…odd. “All right, then. I’m sorry for interrupting, Terry.”

Terry huffed, then went right back to jabbering away as the siblings turned and finished their trek to the shop.

When they reached the doors, Tala bade her brother goodnight, tossed a bit of jerky for Terry and smiled as his weight flickered into being on her shoulder.

Nalac waved as he pushed open the door. “Goodnight, Tala. Goodnight, Terry. Good to meet you!”

Latna’s voice came from inside. “Terry? Who’s Terry?”

Tala grinned as she turned and headed towards the Constructionist Guild.

If I’m going to introduce Latna, I should at least meet them myself, first.

A note from JLMullins

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Shields, grayfire, Grausheira , Graeme Jardine, Grady Blanks, GoodOldChap , gokief , Glenn Clemente, George Hicken, Geoff, Garrett Nelson, Gamecats, Gabriel Jarman-Ivens, Gabriel Boudreau, GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Furnastone, Frost , Frogger, Frederik, Frederic Axt, Fraxx, Frank, Frank, FoolRegnant , Flusspferd, Flogoyog , FishFace , Findell , FieryFern, fennek , Feltenix, Felix Adler, Felipe Andrade, Faelyn, Fabian Elzo Kraemer, evilperson41 , Evan Zhou, Evan Morris, Ethan Munday, Ethan , EroNingen, Erling Egilsson, Erkki Parkkulainen, erik lindquist, Eric Svahn, Eric Helaney, Eric , Eoin Barrett, Enthused, Enrico Choy, ENIM Skills, Enigma , Enif , Endoria, Enaz the great, Emmanuel Ogbizi-Ugbe, Ely Brookes, ElodinGale, Elliott Fawcett, Ell Lan, Elias Leutgeb, Edmund McGough, Dylan , dwarftoss58, Dustin Qian, Dustin , DT , Driftward, Drew Gilmour, Drendude, Drake Morgan, dragonslaver, Draega, Draecath, Dr.Quick, dotAlice, Dorian Grizzle, Doomerjunky, Dominik, Dominic Weibel, Dog City, DLR , Dixon Gao, Disclancer, Dire Wolf, Diego Avendano-Morineau, Didntdoathing, devarian , DeusCap, Desertdoe , Derik Botha, Derek Singer, Derek, dennis malatesta, deedree, DeathOfOld , David Turner, David Schleimer, David Joseph Pascua, David D, David Brims, David, Dave, DasUberGryx, Darkhelm , Darcy Lessard-Patola, Darcy , Danny Noppen, Daniel Strickland, Daniel Sigui, Daniel Joseph Moreau, Daniel Harris, daniel edery, Daniel B, Daniel A, Daniel , Dan Weiss, Dan Addis, Dan , Dan , Dan , Dan, Dakota , Daba, da Finnci, Cyrus McEnnis, Cypha, crystalcat, Cristi Palincas, CrispyKing , CringeWorthyStudios , Cordelia , Conor Futro, Connor Sunier, Connor Oswald, Connor Beeson, Colin Reed, Colin Ford, Cole Nyquist, Cold Ramen, Cody Poteet, closeded, Clayton Carson, Clara, Cirex123 , ciopo, Christopher Jack, Christopher Harris, Christopher Fetherston, Christopher Catania, Christoffer DahlÃ©n, Christian Nowitzki, Christian Kenney, Chris Mantakounis, chris jenart, Chris Hibbert, Chris Fox, Chris Brady, Chris , Chris , Chris, Chris, Chloe Winter, ChiefWizard , chad ensey, CaughtRedHeaded, Carya Galabra, Carter Hadley, Carlos Andres Rengifo Escobar, Carl Bunch, Caleb, Cae, C Howard, Bunny Waffles, Budgie, BtBurns , BRUNO ASTUR, Bricyn Abel, Brian, Brandon Cleveland, Braincase , bradley foster, Boutross, BossDawg, Bosparan, Bolimest, bob sicks, BoB, Bloodorange17 , BjÃ¶rn, Biomass, Bernardino Campa IV, Bennett Pelton, Ben Dean, Beau Bryant, BeaR, Batty Corvina, Bast, Baldur Norddahl, Bain-Lindsay , BaguaBrady , Bagknigehard, Bad Timing, Bacon Macleod, B.Vijayan , B C, Azcheron , Avista Askenazu, AverageGuy , Austin Woodard, Attherisk, asyn, Aslak, ashandarei, Asael Sklar, arty, Arnfinn Gjorvad, Aria Jonsdottir, Aria, Arhsnag, Archivist0 , Archie, Apotheosis As A Service, antab , Anonymous , Anna Turner, Anh Vo, angrycharlie, Angela Kimova, Andy, Andrius , Andrew Kroll, Andrew Jones, Andrew Holland, Andrew Goudie, Andrew Glass, Andrew Dempsey, Andrew Cohen, Andrew C Kerr, Andreas Holmqvist, andre elizebeth, Ambird King, Alphabetical, Alonzo garcia, Almost Famous, Allora Lee, Alison Swenson, Alexander Lease, Alexander Dupree, Alexander , Alex Wilson, Alex Weatbrook, Alex Sunier, Alex Quintero, Alex LeBlanc, alex kosters, Alex Griffin, Alex Foster, Alex C, Alex , Alex , Alex, Alex, Alec, Albert, Akastor, ajcaspers, Aifer, Aidan Mc Donagh, aidan larson, aidan kutcher, Aidan , AgentFransis, agent, advancewarssami, Adurna , Adrian Nightshade, Adrian Gorgey, AdmiralW , Add_Identity , adam1 , Adam Richards, Adam James Washington, Adam Andersson, Adam, Acorderodelfin, Aclys , abd Srour, Aaron Sofaer, Aaron Greene, aantonides ., A1ias , à¸™à¸´à¸˜à¸´à¸à¸²à¸™à¸•à¹Œ , ........,  Eric Liu,

Mage:

Zellcos, Yasin Bari, Varko, ulrik aaby, Two Cats, ToffiTee, Taylor , Tao Wong, SZ, SnowingSilently, SirGuy , Silveredgallium, Sid_Cypher , Sharrod Brathwaite, Setaria, Scott Toreki, Scott Holt, santor25, Sage, Red, Raistlin , prateek choudhary, Pigeon F, Pedro Lopes, Paul Jones, Patrick Cole, Not Real, Nicholas Kelly, Nefraak , NebulaeDreamz, Michael Stephan, Michael F., Michael Bradet-Legris, Michael Anaya, MeatyLock , Max Weidmer, Max Oberg, Matteo Pimentel, Mathieu Deg, Mathias Schwendimann, Marius K, mallix , Lupusregina , Lorcogoth, Linkneo5 , Leonhard MÃ¼nzer, Leon Silva, Lee Wilson, Lasse Pedersen, Karma Anor, Karl Lomp, Justin George, Joshua John Wallace, Josh , Jorge Khouzam Filho, Jonny, Jonathan Gough, Jolly Javelin, John Doe, Jeremy Leonard, Jeremy , Javier David Aros NuÃ±ez, JauPim, Jason Case, Jan Finger, Jan, Jamison Schneider, James Knight, James Hadfied, James , jacob britt, Jacob, Ischariot, Irakli Jishkariani, Ilya Katz, Ian Anderson, Gurditt Mangat, GopherAtl, Gleadge, Gert Wallis, Gemyma, Ford Yeager, Finn Freudenberg, Fabian BÃ¤cker, Fabian , Error, Eric Trombly, Eric Staind, Eole Salmon, Eciefae4, Dustin , Digdug, Deneas , Daydeus, David, Cybernetic Angel, Cory Ellis, Cody Caliguiri, Chris Olsen, Carl Clements, Caillin McKay, Brett Muras, Barrie Davis, Austin Rasmussen, Anton Selling, Alexander Belousov, Alex Scriber, Al Bi, al , Aaron Lewis

Mageling:

Zehn, Xaim , WanderingArchitect, Victory Udoh, ttuurrhh , Trevor Burns, Thjagi, Sven Paulson, Stefan Rabenstein, SomethingWicked , Skelethin , Skape, Seth Wilson, Sean Hinton, Sam Mullen, S , Rousseauj-charles , Robert Rosenthal, Richard Heying, Reminder, Pyrite, pope benedict, Pawaidan, OmegaHebrew, oeser_chr, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, nick v, Nick, Nicholas Cunningham, Muspellsheimr, Moreldarin, moniker, Michael kim, Michael , Matt DiMeo, Matei Bulgariu, Marcus148 , Luka Lageschaar, lucca C., Lorenzo Ragni, Lonewolf, Kuro_Neko , Kristen Campbell, Kirsty , Kevin O'donnell, KB , Judy Halloran, Joseph White, Joost Boere, Jesse, Jensebaum , Jens Wasielewski, Jeff berman, Ivo Havener, Ivan schroder, Isaac Larkin, industriousrevolution , Henrik Runestig, Harris, Hamo4, Hallan Savage, HÃ¥vard , GSH, geraint juinor, Frozen, Faris Bissex, Eythan Hayashi, Eyke, emphes , DinnerTime, derek giandolfi, Delilah, David H, Dave Burkett, DANTE, Daniel , Dancebot, DÃ¡niel MarkÃ³, d.s, Chris K, Chris Goss, Charles, Cassano , BurnNote, Benjamin Buco, Benedikt K, Bamboocha, Austin McGue, AndromedaStar, Alternative Facet, Alexander Graber-Tilton, Akiven, acrasa

Inscribed:

Waffleman, Wacjob , Tytus Turczynski, Trevor Walker, Taweriot , Tandroll, ShadowCub , Sam Ford, Ross Doyle, Reece Zieschang, qq , PeM, Paul Lorenz, nikrowd , N. A., Mqrius, Moses Lambert, Leivd Email, LÃ©o Viarouge, Jonathan , Jan Salava, James A. Hunter, Isaac Fratti, Harley Waldstein, George Lanetz, Federico Petrin, Eric Mueller, EmissaryOfZork , Dylan Eilerman, Dylan, Dycrisis , Diana Kelly, Dennis Bollyn, Dax, Daniel Houle, Chris , Chase128, Bizzy Sea, Benjamin Piribauer, Ari Mononen, Anks , Alastair Dent

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Chapter: 197 - The Marliweather Constructionist Guild

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Damon Roberts, Maxine, Pride mystic artificer

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala was filled with mixed feelings, and to her great astonishment, they weren’t a mix of guilt and anger.

She was cautiously hopeful, while being nervous about how the next day would go.

She had faced her anger and put it in its proper context. She had pulled it off of the nebulous concept of “her family,” and it now rested where it belonged: on her parents. More to the point, it was no longer a hot, burning, uncontrollable rage. Instead, it had flipped to a cold void of tightly regulated fury.

The emotion no longer hurt her to probe.

The feelings no longer mastered her when she considered them.

She was in control of how she felt, and cold wrath was just fine with her. It might fade gradually, or it might not. Only time would tell.

A part of her hated that she was so angry with her parents, however justified. She wanted to love them, and be with them, but that would require both them and her to be different people.

And, unfortunately, if they hadn’t done what they had, she wouldn’t be who she was.

Not that that makes it better.

Still, that line of thought brought with it a dawning revelation. If I could go back and change things, I wouldn’t.

Without her slurry of emotions, she’d likely have pursued a more standard path of Magic.

Without her debts, given partially by her parents, she wouldn’t have worked to circumvent the mageling process. She might not even have pursued a job with the Caravanners.

If she hadn’t done that, she’d not have met Lyn, in all likelihood. She wouldn’t have met Rane or Mistress Odera. She wouldn’t have traveled to the other cities so soon. She wouldn’t have met Terry, or been able to get Kit or Flow.

Everything in my life that is good has come as a result, either directly or indirectly, of the wrong they did to me.

Did that make it right?

Rust no.

Did that make it better?

Yeah, no. Slag that.

But did it reframe the experience?

I’m not a helpless victim, here. I have chosen my own path, and I am better for the trials I walked through. If I changed what made me, me, I wouldn’t be me anymore. And she found that she did like who she was.

It sounded incredibly cheesy when she put it that way, and she felt a smile tug at her lips.

Terry cooed and nuzzled closer to her neck.

She’d offered to let him back in Kit, but he’d looked around at the empty streets and decided to stay out.

“Nalac seemed to like you.”

Terry trilled, and if she had to put words to the sound, it would have been, “Well, obviously.”

Tala laughed, her thoughts sliding smoothly to her siblings.

Her feelings for her brothers and sisters were a mixed bag, but that was to be expected. They were practically strangers to her, and she to them.

There was real potential for building relationships with them, provided they could clear the rubble of her mistakes and lay a good foundation.

That was an exciting prospect if she was being honest.

She was content with who, what, and where she was.

All in all, she felt at peace with how things stood.

-That’s right you do!-

Alat had mostly kept from commenting through the day, only sending her thoughts to Tala to help her shape what she was sharing, and how she was speaking. It had been fantastic to have a second mind working in the background, helping her to be clear and concise, as well as avoid too many foot-in-mouth moments. Now, however, the alternate interface seemed overjoyed.

-Tala, we’re there. We’re right there!-

Tala frowned for a moment, as she was walking across the park. We’re…? Oh! Really?

-Yes! I need your help on this last part.-

Tala pulled Kit off her belt and looked around. There were no convenient surfaces, nearby.

A couple of lone walls stood in the park for children to use in certain games, but they weren’t nearby. What was close, however, was a tree.

Huh. That should work.

She tossed Kit against the tree and laughed with joy as a door perfectly molded to the large oak. A doorway formed where she’d tossed the pouch.

It was textured just like the bark it had covered over, seeming inset into the tree, somehow not raising the surface noticeably. If she hadn’t seen it grow there, she’d have missed it entirely.

That’s amazing.

-Tala, focus.-

Right! She still grinned. This opened so many possibilities. I wonder if I can make it free-standing? Now was not the time for that sort of experimentation, however.

She stepped through the narrower-than-standard entrance, finding the inside of Kit unchanged.

Strangely enough, from the inside, the door looked like it had since the storage device had subsumed the syphon fascia. Illusion magic?

It wasn’t, at least not according to her magesight. Instead, the door’s appearance seemed to be the result of the incredibly dexterous use of dimensional power. We really should study how Kit manipulates power at some point.

-Yes, but that point is not now.-

Tala tossed some jerky for Terry, and the terror bird flickered off her shoulder and away to his comfortable corner, already swallowing the bit of jerked meat.

She smiled, stretching slightly, before sitting on the floor, cross-legged. She began to go through the familiar motions of making tea, not focusing on where each tool came from as she needed it. Each thing, from pot to tea to incorporator, was simply in her hand as she went to use them.

It was a surprisingly meditative process, if she was being honest, and that really helped center her, releasing the last of her giddy tension from the day.

Once she had a warm cup of chamomile in her hand, she took in a deep breath, relishing the scent. A small sip confirmed her biases. Wow, this is so, so much better than the stuff at that tea house.

It was really too bad that she couldn’t go back to Makinaven any time soon.

After another sip, Tala turned her magesight inward, diving within herself.

Soon, it was as if she floated before a field of power.

Her spiritual self and her physical body were now pressed firmly together, stitched into unity by threads of magic.

At the center of it all sat her gate, like a planet surrounded by its rings. It was gushing power, using the entire structure as a conduit.

This is me?

-This is a visual, metaphorical representation of you, amalgamated from across planes of existence that defy the ability to be represented physically.-

So…yes?

-…yes, Tala. This is you.-

Tala grinned. Nope.

-Why are you being difficult?-

This is us.

Somehow, Tala could feel Alat freeze within her mind.

Alat? There was nothing but silence for the space of a few breaths of time.

Finally, the alternate interface responded. -I don’t think that is true.- Her mental voice sounded small.

Well, I disagree. This might not be all of you, but that soul right there? Somehow, Tala was able to “point” towards the gate. That gate is ours.

Alat didn’t seem to have a response for that.

Tala decided to move on. So, what do we need to do?

Their perspective shifted as Alat brought Tala’s focus to the outer edge. The great circular…rugs? That’s a horrible metaphor.

The great circular rugs were entirely stitched together, but there was still something missing.

A finishing stitch around the perimeter.

-Precisely. You are fully fused, but the fusion is not set.-

Well, let’s get to work.

And so they did.

The two worked together, using Tala’s Archon star to weave the thread of power and magic back and forth in a crosshatch.

As they continued, it became a sort of game.

Tala would almost toss the Archon star, trailing power, down through the edge of her being, and Alat would catch it, before tossing it back up, through another place just further around the edge.

The motions quickly became rote.

Tala’s extensive practice with her soul, as well as fine-magical control, allowed her to have the endurance and precision to simply fly around the circumference.

Alat matched her stitch for stitch.

In what felt like no time at all, they came to the end.

Somehow, it also felt like Tala had never done anything else in all her life. She’d only ever existed here, within herself, striving to be one with her fractured being.

It was an unsettling feeling that also brought with it incredible relief as from reaching the end of a long, arduous journey.

Together, she and Alat pulled the last stitch tight, knotting it in a spell-form that both felt entirely alien, and like the only thing that could possibly go there.

It was like finding the last puzzle piece, which had been hidden. She’d never seen it before, but it was blindingly obvious what was needed.

Power rippled through the entirety of the spiritual construct and it began to pull in on itself, spiraling inward faster than Tala could track.

And just like that, she was done.

Tala opened her eyes and let her focus move outward once more.

She could see her own aura, mimicked by the magic of the through-spike, shining orange before her magesight.

We did it. We’re FUSED!!!

* * *

Tala didn’t honestly remember climbing into her bed and falling into a deep sleep, though as soon as she woke up, Alat provided her with the memory.

The illusory vista outside her bedroom window greeted her with a stunning sunrise as she sprang to her feet.

I’m FUSED!!!!

She gasped. Master Jevin said I could talk to anyone of sufficient rank to learn how to Refine, once I was Fused.

That was another reason to go to the Constructionist’s Guild.

Her mind flicked out as she wanted to know the time, and the answer came. It was well past midnight.

I’ll go in the morning, before breakfast with Mistress Odera.

Giddy with elation at her accomplishment, Tala moved through her morning routine. Then, because she’d missed it, she went through her nightly routine as well.

There was a lot of overlap, and as such, she actually felt quite sore by the end, and the fatigue extended to her mind, magic, and soul as well.

Thankfully, the physical side of it began to pass quickly, as her reserves diminished a marginal amount. The rest would take a bit longer to recover, but she expected to be right as rain by midmorning.

Hah. Right as Rane. She chuckled to herself.

Alat groaned within her head.

Fine, fine. Time to eat!

She cooked herself a large breakfast and ate it with gusto, the flavors seeming new after her Fusing.

I don’t feel much different, aside from happy. Alat? Are we different?

-Your spells are functioning both more powerfully and more efficiently for their power output, but I can’t say by exactly how much. The power coming through your gate is more attuned to you and on a deeper level, but not fundamentally so. Thus, I think that, because of that, it is powering your spell-forms and natural magics more effectively.-

Good to know.

-There is some…disquiet throughout your being, however.-

Tala looked within herself, and she thought she could see what Alat meant. It’s like I’m settling, adjusting to this new state.

-Just like you had to after you became Bound.-

That’s what I was thinking.

She finished up her first breakfast and checked the time again.

Still much too early to bother the Constructionists. I need to speak to someone of high standing, and I need them in a good mood.

That decided, she would head to the work-yard first, to charge the cargo-slots. They’d be leaving the next day, after all.

“Terry, want to come?”

He lifted his head, then tilted it quizzically.

“I don’t think there will be many people about.”

Without responding, he flickered to her shoulder, and she stepped out of Kit, and back into the park.

With a practiced motion, Tala pulled the pouch from the tree and hung it on her belt, looking up at the starry sky overhead. There wasn’t even the barest hint of light to the east, but she hadn’t expected to see any, given the hour.

Without any further delay, she set out toward the work yard.

It was an easy trek with her pressure distribution scripts giving her sure footing on ice and snow alike.

As she considered it, they’d probably make things worse if it was a truly flat sheet of ice, but because the ice was in small patches, part of her weight always fell on a place with good traction available.

Thus, it was only about half an hour before she’d reached the wagons, charged the slots, and was looking for the nearest Constructionist Guildhall.

-I’d actually recommend the one on the far side of the city. It is listed as the main hall for that guild in this city, so you are more likely to find who you need. Also, it’s a bit of a walk, so we’ll arrive at a better time.-

Tala nodded at that.

Mistress Odera wouldn’t expect her until a bit later in the morning, so the extra distance wouldn’t be a problem. It would be nice if I could fly, like Cazor can. Though, I’d obviously have to use a different method.

-There are several ways that we might be able to do just that, though they would all come with their own particular quirks and…dangers.-

Maybe later, then. Today’s too important to risk on untested methods.

Alat made a happy little sound, for some reason, then began directing Tala through the streets of Marliweather.

In what felt like no time at all, they arrived at the Guildhall.

There still wasn’t light in the eastern sky, but it was winter, and they were actually inside what most people would call “business hours.”

Let’s see what we find.

Tala approached the Constructionist Guild and found that this hall was more like Makinaven than Bandfast.

A sturdy door stood closed, but not locked, sealing off the entrance to the building from the elements.

Tala smiled at the memories of dropping through to talk with Master Jevin and get his advice. I hope that the higher ups are as kind, here.

She pushed open the door, feeling the familiar magics of a magical scan before a deep GONG announced her arrival.

Huh, I think I like the bell better? She wasn’t sure, actually. The deep resonating sound was somehow pleasant and comforting.

Terry squawked in soft irritation, but otherwise didn’t move.

An attendant rushed out to greet her, bowing. “Welcome, Archon. How can we be of assistance, today?” His eyes flicked to Terry but didn’t linger.

Good to know not everyone in the city is over-enamored by arcanous creatures. Tala checked, and the attendant had a nametag on. “Well, Master Apalo, I am looking to meet with a member of your Guild for two matters. One could be handled by any one in management, but the other requires someone who is Refined, or farther.”

Apalo bowed again. “Certainly, Mistress…”

“Oh! My apologies. I am Tala.”

“Certainly, Mistress Tala. Master Hafest arrived a short time ago. If you’ll allow me a moment, I can go and see if he has availability?”

“That would be wonderful. Thank you.”

“Can I offer you anything, while you wait?”

“No, thank you. I’m quite all right.”

“As you say, Mistress. If you change your mind, the waiting room is just through that door.”

Tala nodded her thanks, and the attendant departed down one of the side hallways.

Less than two minutes later, Apalo returned with an older Mage, gestured towards Tala, and ducked back into the attendant’s waiting room.

The Mage, clearly Hafest, walked over to Tala, smiling warmly in greeting. “Well met, Mistress Tala.” His magesight flickered on and off so quickly that she almost missed it. He had wings of grey in his otherwise blonde hair and a short-trimmed beard decorated his strong-jawed face. His simple Mage’s robes were of a quilted material, clearly meant for added warmth.

“Well met, Master Hafest.” She bowed just slightly. By what her magesight was telling her, Hafest was a Paragon with power oriented towards fire, force, and magical power, directly. Immaterial and Material Guide? She wasn’t used to Paragons being open for such a detailed scan. Most that she’d seen held their aura almost as a shield against such inspection.

“Come this way. It sounds like we’ve some things to discuss.” He led her down the hall to a small sitting room, activating copper privacy scripts as they sat in the rather plain space.

“Thank you for taking your time to meet with me.”

“Of course! That’s why I’m here. Now, if you wouldn’t mind a guess as to at least one of the reasons?” There was a twinkle in his eyes.

She smiled, gesturing for him to go on.

“You’re newly Fused, am I right?”

“That’s correct.”

“So, someone already told you to seek aid as soon as you hit that step.”

“Indeed, yes.”

“Good, good.” He leaned back, nodding to himself. “So, my guess. You are here to ask about the Refining process.”

“That is correct.”

“Wonderful!” He chuckled happily to himself. “I have good news and bad.”

Tala frowned. “Oh?”

“Good news first. There is a well-known, widely available process for Refining that anyone can do, but it is…uncomfortable. I can assess you for which set of tools you’ll need to do it right, should you choose to walk that path.”

“That is good news. I’m no stranger to discomfort for purposes of long-term gain.”

He laughed, grinning broadly. “Fair enough. Fair enough. You know your own mind.” His mirth faded, and he leaned forward once again. “So, the bad news: You’ll have to wait. If you begin Refining in earnest before your being has settled into being Fused, you’ll cripple yourself for future growth. You would permanently throw your system out of whack, and you’d never be able to reach Paragon.”

Tala’s eyes widened. “Oh. Well, thank you for the warning. How long do I wait?”

“Common wisdom is at least twice as long as it took you to Fuse, but that’s just a shorthand. Some believe that it makes folk feel like they have control over their waiting time. But, honestly, that’s a load of swill.”

So… a few months by that reckoning? “What do you mean? What’s the right way to estimate?”

“Well, some people Fuse in an instant, when they come to an understanding of themselves that is soul deep, and clearly they can’t just immediately move on to being Refined.” He shook his head with a smile. “I once sat in on a raising where the newly Bound Archon Fused on the spot.” His smile widened. “Now, that was a well-adjusted kid.”

Oh. “Kid?”

He grunted. “Well, they were probably close to fifty, but these things are relative.”

Yeah, so it would seem.

“Some take a hundred years to face their inner struggles and find equilibrium, and they certainly don’t have to wait two hundred more.”

“So, how long?”

“Honestly? It’s different for each person. We can test for that, too. Well, we can at least test to see how unsettled your being is. I’ve not seen it settle faster than a year, though.”

Tala grimaced but nodded. “I suppose that makes sense. Everything in its proper time.”

“That’s a good way to view it.” Hafest scratched his chin. “If you don’t mind me saying it, you seem like you’re on the young side for your advancement. I don’t know your story, and I don’t need to, but if you’ll pardon some advice?”

She nodded again.

“Stay at this level until you’ve been settled for at least a year. There can occasionally be complications even when the test shows a Mage to be fully settled.”

That’s good to know. “I’ll consider it.”

“Now, you can take steps down the path towards Refined, even while you’re waiting. It’s a common enough practice, honestly. You just can’t initiate the process.”

“Will it shift my aura?”

He frowned. “You make a wager or something?”

She shook her head, and he grunted.

“Well, it can, though I’ve never seen the prep work move a Mage past half-way through, at least from looking at their aura, but you shouldn’t aim for that. If you start Refining without proper procedures, the survival rate's only about ten percent, even if all the prep-work is well laid and verified.”

Tala’s eyes widened. “Well, that seems like something to avoid, then.”

“Indeed.” He smiled a bit consolingly. “I’m sorry to not have better news.”

“You’ve told me what’s needed, and I’m grateful. What is the prep work like?”

Hafest grinned once more. “Glad you asked! Mostly, it’s incorporating body strengthening and enhancing scripts around your other spell-work.”

What. It was not a question. As she quickly considered the topic, she realized that it wasn’t that much of a surprise.

“It’s expensive, and it requires an inscriber of incredible skill to do the fine work. Without such an inscriber, it’s hard not to disrupt what you’re already doing with your power. The best around is over in Bandfast.”

That’s right, she is.

“But she doesn’t usually take on new clients, unless there’s something real special about them.”

“Mistress Holly?”

He paused. “Yes, actually.” He narrowed his gaze. “What did you say your name was, again?”

“Tala.”

He scratched his beard. “Mistress Tala…Mistress Tala…Blood Archon?”

“That’s me.”

“Well, rust me to ruin.” He held out his hand. “Good to meet you! I didn’t realize you were that Tala.”

Tala shook his hand, feeling awkward. “What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s not every day that someone uses an entirely new type of medium. That sticks in your mind.”

“Oh, well. I suppose that makes sense. Thank you.”

“So, does that answer that line of questions?”

She frowned, shaking her head. “What if I already have body enhancing scripts? Shouldn’t I already be moving through the beginning stages towards Refined?”

“Oh! That’s a great question. No, though it will start to happen soon.”

“What?”

“A Bound’s power just isn’t sufficient to make the type of weighty changes required. But now, you’ve a Fused’s power running through you.”

“But the scripts are the same. Shouldn’t it just be a bit more efficient?”

He gave her an incredulous look. “That’s like saying a blade cuts the same no matter how much pressure is behind it.”

“Ahh, I see.”

“Yeah, I thought you would.”

“So, the power will begin to cut deeper into my natural pathways and physical being, making the changes more a fundamental part of me, rather than a mere change in form?”

“That is quite well put. Yes.”

“Huh. Well, this is going to be interesting.” She looked down at her hands, and if she were a betting woman, she would say that there was the smallest bit of shift in her aura towards yellow. Less than a percent of a percent, but it seemed like there was a shift. Or I’m just imagining things because I want there to be a change.

“Once you have the scripts, if you’re an Immaterial Guide, you can seek out other sources of natural magic that align with body enhancement, absorb them, and align the power with your scripts.”

“What about other quadrants?”

He grunted. “No easier road through the early stages than as an Immaterial Guide. I thought I remembered you were one, but if I remembered incorrectly, there are some techniques you could use, but they aren’t as effective.”

“Oh, no. I’m an Immaterial Guide; I was just curious.”

“Oh, fair enough. You have another tool, then. I’m glad to hear it. Now, what was the other matter you wanted to discuss?”

Tala nodded, reorienting herself to the next discussion. She briefly described the function of the iron paint, its efficacy, and how the Bandfast Constructionists were already using it.

At that point, Hafest’s eyes unfocused, as if he were looking at something distant. “Those rusting cheaters.” He shook his head and laughed. “That’s why their efficiency has been rising?” Hafest grinned from ear to ear. “So, assuming I believe you, and I’m inclined to, what about it? We don’t have any, not at the moment.”

“Oh, no. I’m not hoping to buy any from you. I’m hoping to make an introduction between you and an Alchemist who could supply it for you.”

Hafest leaned back, biting his lip in thought as he scratched his chin. “Interesting. Alright. I’ll meet with the Alchemist. Can’t promise I’ll buy from them, or buy this from anyone, but I’m interested.”

“Would you like a demonstration of its potential, at least in a niche use?”

He gave her a skeptical look. “Wouldn’t that be something that the Alchemist would provide?”

“Maybe, but I happen to have an easy demonstration, and I’d prefer that the Alchemist not witness it.”

“Well, now you have me curious. What do you have in mind?”

“First, this is why I have a through-spike.”

Hafest nodded slowly. “Interesting. Go on.”

“I am not casting anything, I will simply be suppressing the visual illusion that is currently active over my person.”

He leaned forward, looking like a child awaiting their birthday present. “Don’t keep me in suspense.”

Tala looked within herself, using her ability to manipulate magic to reach into the through-spike and disable the illusion.

“Well, rust my biscuits.” His eyes widened in obvious surprise. “Are those spell-echoes?”

Tala nodded.

He reached out, then hesitated. “May I?”

She smiled. “Of course.” She held out her hand to him, and he took it.

“These aren’t actually in the air.” He turned her hand this way and that, muttering to himself, but Tala heard him perfectly. “The light is a side-effect of it reverberating through the fabric of reality.” He shook his head, looking up and addressing her. “How are you not dead from magic poisoning? If I did this, I’d be ripped apart in an instant.”

“The specific scripts that I use.”

He grunted. “You’d be a perfect candidate for Mistress Holly.” He shook his head again. “What am I saying? It’s obvious that you already are inscribed by her. Correct?”

“That’s right.”

He let go of her hand, sitting back.

Tala let the illusion return.

“And that’s the paint your Alchemist will be selling?”

“Well, no. This paint is on me, and will be quite useless when it comes off, but she will be using the same formula.”

Hafest gave her an incredulous look, but it didn’t last. He snorted a laugh. “Fine, fine. That was well said.” He nodded. “I’ll accept that demonstration, if you’ll sign a statement that it’s the same formula.”

“To the best of my knowledge.”

“To the best of your knowledge.”

“I’m fine with that.”

“Great. Then all I have to do is negotiate with the wee Alchemist on costs and quantities.” He rubbed his hands together. “When will you bring her by?”

“This afternoon?”

He nodded to himself. “I can make that work. I’ll need to spend a chunk of the morning figuring out how much we can use, and in what timeframes, but yeah. I can meet with you. Late afternoon?”

“We can be flexible.”

“Alright then. I look forward to it.”

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

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N., Nick Tinsley, Isaac Deroche, Yenin , Bain-Lindsay , Jonathan Timm, Disclancer, MoneyTree, Samuel McCarren, Ray Robitaille, Memnochian, Shil Modi, aantonides ., Alex , Andrew Holland, Angela Kimova, antab , Archivist0 , arty, Austin Woodard, B C, Bacon Macleod, Baldur Norddahl, Bloodorange17 , BossDawg, Christian Kenney, Colin Ford, Cyrus McEnnis, David Turner, Dire Wolf, dotAlice, Enaz the great, Enif , Eric , Erling Egilsson, evilperson41 , Frank, Geoff, George Hicken, Gremlin, Gull, Gustav Burkhardt, Haran , Ian Radspinner, IGS, Isaac Boyles, Jacob Ellis, James Walsh, Jedediah Wolfgang, Jeffery Nickelson, Jonah of the Whale, just_a_potato , Justin , Justin Reagan, Kai , Kamren Livingston, Keira Wulfe, Kirvin, Krikor Chichadjian, Leendert Kortlever, Logan , Lyael, Marcus Pehan, Margus234, Mark Dolson, Matt M, Matthew , Matthew Davis, Max Gustavson, Megacheez , Noah Morris, noah stevens, nugitoBambino, OlivierA, PaleMire, peter mattoon, Randy Klein, Redbeard , rizen, Robert P, Robert z, Robin Richards, Rutger Boll, Ryan Naquin, Sean McCrohan, sedael , Seth Richter, Shakez44, Solar , someguy , Stephen Pearson, Taliesin , TheLazerCat , Thomas Goyne, Thomas Stewart, Travis McHenry, Travis McIntosh, Tzucaza ., WarNachos, WhisperInTheVoid, William Priess, xIron Gamerx, Z. 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Matthew Myers , Michael Marisa, Miri, Mountain Barber, Myles2322, Parker Hebert, Pizzatiger , PotatoGod, rbot, Robert Adams, Robert Hinshaw, Ryan Coyne, Ryan Hogan, Sands , SecondBlahm, Simon Casey, t S, W , Xavier Lamphere, xtrnet,  , julian, ChiefWizard , Graeme Jardine, Mario Kaminsky, nymaxilian , Midnight Questions, Danny Noppen, Oliver Poole, Raznakz, J , Jordan Leighton, Wesley , Zach Wilson, Will Iam, Julien Castillejos, Olaf Dybbert, SpartanEcho , Michal HorÃ¡Äek, Andreas Holmqvist, deedree, Eric Svahn, Leon Heinicke, oliver junell, Darcy , Simon Dingemans, Azcheron , chris jenart, skici, Thomas Christie, Jonathan Determann, James Mullen, Jonah Ree, Kylieth , John O'Connor, Andrew Jones, Dog City, Bagknigehard, Endoria, Nb123456, Orr404, Mondays, Jimbarino, Emmanuel Ogbizi-Ugbe, A, à¸™à¸´à¸˜à¸´à¸à¸²à¸™à¸•à¹Œ , abd Srour, Alex , alex kosters, Alex Quintero, Alexander , Andrew Kroll, Attherisk, BaguaBrady , BeaR, Cold Ramen, DagNabItAll, Dan , Didntdoathing, Enigma , Eric Helaney, Evan Zhou, Garrett Nelson, Hawk, Ian Sommer, isaac bartlett, Isaac Mathew, James Cornish, james young, Jarek Twardowski, Jason P, JCQuiinn, Jonah Doyle, Jose Jimenez, Kageryu, Keenan Adams, kyle, Less Than Three, Logan Bennion, Logan McAllister, Logan Williams, Mark, Matthew Hiller, Mnem , Molly Hopkins, Nadav Ben Yehuda, Nathan Hoy, Nick Borovka, onionlittle, PARXIVAL, Philip Moraski, RandomPerson, Roshan Rao, Samantha Sandlin, Sean Mantell, Sean Reap, Stephen L, twigthe1st , Victoria, werotan, Wesley Ervin, Shreyansh Gupta

Mage:

Max Oberg, Ian Anderson, Joshua John Wallace, Pigeon F, Scott Holt, Colton Rutherford, Setaria, Lasse Pedersen, al , Alex Scriber, Alexander Belousov, Gert Wallis, Mathias Schwendimann, SirGuy , Jan, Anton Selling, Fabian , Gleadge, ulrik aaby, Carl Clements, Eric Staind, Aaron Lewis, Irakli Jishkariani, James Knight, Jeremy , Jonny, SnowingSilently, Taylor , mallix , Gemyma, Cybernetic Angel, GopherAtl, James Hadfied, Jason Case, Jeremy Leonard, Michael Anaya, NebulaeDreamz, Silveredgallium, Deneas , Caillin McKay, Michael Bradet-Legris, MeatyLock , Dustin , jacob britt, Jamison Schneider, Ilya Katz, Digdug, Patrick Cole, Sid_Cypher , Finn Freudenberg, Mathieu Deg, Jorge Khouzam Filho, Chris Olsen, Matteo Pimentel, Sharrod Brathwaite, Scott Toreki, Daydeus, Michael Stephan, Gurditt Mangat, Cory Ellis, Eric Trombly, Lee Wilson, Sage, Josh , Nicholas Kelly, Eole Salmon, Jonathan Gough, Austin Rasmussen, Ford Yeager, Not Real, Raistlin , santor25, Yasin Bari, Barrie Davis, Zellcos, David, Error, Marcus148 , Nefraak , Stormblessed , JauPim, Tao Wong, Al Bi, Linkneo5 , Jan Finger, Fabian BÃ¤cker, Ischariot, Karl Lomp, ToffiTee, Brett Muras, Leonhard MÃ¼nzer, prateek choudhary, Pedro Lopes, Jolly Javelin, Lupusregina , Michael F., Lorcogoth, CJ Bates, Cody Caliguiri, Eciefae4, Jacob, James , Javier David Aros NuÃ±ez, Justin George, Karma Anor, Leon Silva, Max Weidmer, Paul Jones, Red, SZ, Two Cats, Varko

Mageling:

DANTE, Alexander Graber-Tilton, Ivo Havener, BurnNote, Lonewolf, SomethingWicked , Skape, pope benedict, Luka Lageschaar, Reminder, ben , Charles, Pawaidan, emphes , Dave Burkett, Matt DiMeo, Michael kim, Robert Rosenthal, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Joost Boere, Isaac Larkin, Lorenzo Ragni, Chris K, Stefan Rabenstein, AndromedaStar, Frozen, GSH, industriousrevolution , Nicholas Cunningham, Sam Mullen, Kevin O'donnell, Hamo4, moniker, S , Alternative Facet, Eyke, Faris Bissex, Judy Halloran, WanderingArchitect, Austin McGue, Muspellsheimr, Jeff berman, Akiven, Kirsty , Xaim , Benjamin Buco, Ivan schroder, Sven Paulson, lucca C., oeser_chr, derek giandolfi, Eythan Hayashi, Pyrite, ttuurrhh , Kuro_Neko , Bamboocha, d.s, Jensebaum , Rousseauj-charles , Thjagi, Benedikt K, HÃ¥vard , DÃ¡niel MarkÃ³, Sean Hinton, David H, geraint juinor, Henrik Runestig, acrasa , Victory Udoh, Hallan Savage, Cassano , Chris Goss, Dancebot, Daniel , Delilah, DinnerTime, Harris, Jens Wasielewski, Jesse, Joseph White, KB , Kristen Campbell, Matei Bulgariu, Michael , Moreldarin, Nick, nick v, OmegaHebrew, Richard Heying, Seth Wilson, Skelethin , Trevor Burns, Zehn

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Chapter: 198 - A Fun Idea

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Damon Roberts, Maxine, Pride mystic artificer

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala wasn’t late to her breakfast with Mistress Odera, despite her trip to the Constructionist Guild.

I’m being very efficient this morning.

-That we are.-

Mistress Odera was very congratulatory for Tala’s Fusing, as well as for how well the previous day had gone with Tala’s siblings.

The older woman was definitely far more pleased about the latter development than the former, and strangely enough, Tala found herself agreeing. She was always going to Fuse, eventually, but the potential she had to reestablish her relationships with her siblings was truly exciting.

I think I’ve got a fun idea for today, too.

-Oh, I like that. Yes. Let me see what I can do about the specifics.-

Thank you, Alat.

Tala’s second breakfast passed in regular fashion, though Mistress Odera did order a bit more food, even more than usual, in celebration of Tala’s Fusing and the beginnings of reconciliation.

Rane wasn’t around as, apparently, he’d taken a short protection job outside of the city for the day.

Good for him. Tala felt glad for her friend. He was branching out.

-Yup. He really should become his own person before trying to pursue you again.-

Tala felt her eyebrow twitch but didn’t otherwise react or respond.

All told, she arrived back at the park just about three hours before noon, Terry comfortably resting on her shoulder.

She was hardly there for five minutes before her siblings joined her, trudging through the snow.

“Good morning!” She greeted them warmly.

A chorus of “Good morning”s and other greetings came back to her.

Terry trilled a happy little greeting as well.

“Everyone, this is Terry.”

Most stared uncertainly at the bird, even as Nalac grinned. “Good morning, Terry!”

Terry flickered to his shoulder and head-butted him.

Nalac grimaced, then laughed. “Ow, I already said good morning.”

Terry bumped him again, but seemingly much lighter this time, and Nalac scratched his head.

The other siblings crowded around saying hi to Terry.

Caln gave Tala a skeptical look. “Is this your pet? Nalac told us about the bird, but not much.”

Tala shook her head. “He’s a friend. He’s at least as smart as you all are, from what I’ve seen.”

Caln gave a half smile. “You calling us bird-brained?”

She grinned back. “Are you saying that’s an insult?”

Caln opened his mouth to respond, then caught motion out of the corner of his eye.

Terry was staring directly at the young man, eyes narrowed in focus.

Caln cleared his throat. “No. No, not at all.”

Terry let out a happy little trill, then went back to flickering among Tala’s siblings.

Tala cleared her throat, drawing attention back to herself.

Terry helpfully flickered back to her shoulder to assist in the wrangling.

“So, I had an idea for what we could do, around answering any other questions that you may have.”

There was hesitantly intrigued silence in response.

“I’m going to reduce the gravity of any of you who want it, so you can jump and bounce around in the park.”

Confused silence was her only reply.

Oh, right. That’s not really clear, is it. “You all don’t really know what I mean, do you?”

Most shook their heads, but the older ones seemed contemplative.

“Okay. We’ll do a demonstration.” She hesitated. You know, even with caution, this could still be dangerous. “Latna, Caln, are you two willing to help me?”

They looked at each other, then shrugged. “Sure.”

“Can one of you go see if Master Leighis is available, at least for a few minutes until you all get the hang of it. As for the other, I’ll enact the working on them, so this group can see and understand what I mean.”

The two shared a look again, then Latna nodded and headed back to the shop. “Sure. I’ll be right back.”

Caln came forward through his siblings, a look of resignation across his features. “What do you need me to do?”

Tala looked him over. He was wearing a heavy coat, boots, gloves, and a hat. The coat would make him cold to take off, same with the boots. The hat would come off too easily.

That made one of the gloves the best solution.

“So, once I say so, start bouncing in place, so that we can find a good level of reduced gravity. If something goes wrong, take off your right glove, and that will end the effect. All right?”

He frowned, but slowly nodded. “If you say so.”

Tala focused on targeting her brother, specifically emphasizing the fact that he was wearing a glove on his right hand, weaving that into her conception of him, so that the removal of such would break the spell-effect.

It was funny. In a way, this was the opposite of what she usually tried to do, while targeting someone or something. She usually tried to focus on the immutable characteristics, so her lock and working would persist as long as possible. Now, she was purposely choosing something that would be easy to alter.

-Different purposes require different tactics.-

True enough.

Once the lock was in place, she began to ramp down his gravity. Decrease.

“Now.” She let him know it was time.

Caln began to bounce a bit on his feet. “I feel kind of silly doing this. What am I-” His eyes widened as he began to come off the ground a bit more than he’d expected.

Tala let up there, waiting. “How is that?”

Caln took a couple of experimental jumps, going slightly higher than normal and coming down a bit slower. He let out a startled laugh. “This is amazing!”

“Should I aim for a bit lighter? I don’t want you or the others to get too high, as that might be a little scary. This is supposed to be fun, not panic inducing.”

He crouched down and jumped, attempting a flip. He didn’t account for the changes, however, and ended up doing one and a half rotations before landing on the snow with a soft whump.

His eyes went wide again for a moment, but before Tala could ask if he was okay, he started laughing once more. “This is perfect for now.”

The other siblings began clamoring for Tala to do them next.

She grinned, holding up her hands. “One moment! One moment. Caln, can you take off your right glove?”

He was still laying on the ground, grinning. “Sure.”

As he pulled off his glove, Tala felt her working break apart, and Caln immediately sunk deeper into the snow.

“Oof. That’s interesting.”

“Good, it works.”

Caln pulled his glove back on, frowning when nothing changed. “Hey, why’s it not back?”

“You removed the glove, so the working broke. There’s nothing left to come back when you pull the glove back on.”

“Huh…interesting.”

Tala did a quick check and found that everyone was wearing gloves. Good. “All right! Everyone pick a partner to stick with, at least at first. You saw what Caln did. Your right glove will be the key to end the effect if you get scared.”

Latna was already on her way back with Master Leighis in tow. He was bundled up against the cold just like everyone else.

Tala had grown her shoes to cover her feet before coming to the park in consideration of how odd she already looked without winter wear. Though, to be fair, her elk-leathers had thickened against the chill, and so, they were likely easily as warm as her siblings’ coats.

“Master Leighis! Thank you for joining us.”

“Mistress Tala. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Well, I’m going to reduce their gravity and let them frolic in the park. I thought having a Healer on hand, until they got the hang of it, would be wise.”

He nodded. “Not sure I understand exactly what you mean, but having a Healer about’s never a bad idea.”

She grinned at him. “Thank you for coming out.” Turning back to her siblings, she continued speaking, “All right! Let’s do this.”

She quickly went through them, ensuring that the wearing of their right glove was integral to her lock on each in turn. She then decreased their gravity to about seventy percent.

Each, in turn, let out startled gasps, followed by giggles of excitement, before they began cavorting around the wide open space.

“Stick with your partners!” Tala reminded them, and they reluctantly came back towards their pairs. The last two she did were Latna and Sella.

The little three-year old had been having quite a bit of trouble walking in the snow, but once the spell was enacted on her, she was able to scamper across the top of it with ease, giggling and chasing after her siblings.

Latna laughed in startled joy as she took off, bounding after the toddler.

Terry was crouched low on Tala’s shoulder, watching all the kids bounding about.

“Are you going to be okay, Terry? Or do you want to go back in Kit?”

He gave her a long look, then trilled mournfully.

“You want to go play?” She had a horrifying reminder of Terry “playing” with the pigs.

He looked their way before bobbing a nod.

She swallowed. “Can you be gentle? I really don’t want them hurt, and they are mundane humans. You already were a bit rough with Nalac when you head-butted him.”

Terry looked after the frolicking children, then nodded.

“All right. I’ll trust you. Remember to stay close enough to keep your collar happy.”

He jabbered back to her.

Of course, he hadn’t forgotten. “Everyone!”

Her siblings came to a stop, turning to look her way.

“Terry wants to play with you all. He has to stay within a couple of hundred feet of me, so if you’re okay playing with him, come back this way.” They’d spread out around the massive park quite far in their pairs.

Some came back, others didn’t. That’s fine.

“Do you want to be lighter?”

Terry gave her an indignant look.

“Fine, fine. I don’t know what I was thinking. You’re perfect as you are.” You know, I wonder if I could get a fundamental enough lock on him that him changing size wouldn’t matter. She’d have to consider it. Not to attack Terry, of course, at least not out of the sparring ring, but it would be a marked step forward for her abilities if she could manage it.

Clearly unaware of the direction of her thoughts, Terry trilled happily once, then flickered away.

He landed on Olen’s shoulder, surprising the young boy. The terror bird then pushed off and immediately flickered off to the side. The powerful push sent Olen to faceplant into the snow.

Tala’s eyes widened. Terry! But before she chastised her friend, Olen pushed himself up, laughing uproariously.

The small boy made a quick snowball and threw it at the bird, but Terry flickered out of the way. When he reappeared, he was dancing from foot to foot, crouched low as if ready for a fight. Thankfully, there was a playful glint in his eyes.

Not the maliciously playful glint he had for the pigs, either.

What followed was a group throwdown of snowballs against the bird.

Terry flickered among those who were participating, tripping them up or unbalancing them and causing them to fall into the snow, while they threw uncounted snowballs after him.

Tala felt herself relax. Good. Good safe fun.

Leighis came to stand beside Tala. “You know, they have no idea how expensive it is to do such workings on them. The gravity working, I mean.”

She glanced his way. “It’s less than you might think. I’ve a really good inscriptionist, and the reduction is an effect of some of my always-active scripts.”

He raised his eyebrows at that, then nodded. “Even so. Nothing is free.”

She felt herself smile, the oft repeated line from her classes coming back with ease. “True enough. ‘Nothing is free, least of all magic.’ ”

They fell into a companionable silence for a couple of moments.

After about a minute, she glanced his way. “Do you want to try?”

He looked genuinely shocked. “I…are you sure?”

She shrugged. “Yeah. You’re out here for us, might as well make it fun for you too.”

He shook his head, smiling. “I will admit; I’m curious.”

“Say no more!” She grinned, targeting him for the working, making sure to include his right glove in the lock.

A moment later, Leighis was bouncing back and forth from foot to foot, testing out the alteration. “What a fascinating sensation.”

Interesting. Does he have combat experience? “Isn’t it? Go, have some fun. It really seems like they’re going to be fine, so don’t feel obligated to stay, but you can stay as long as you wish.”

“Thank you, Mistress Tala. I’ll do just that.” He gave her a boyish grin.

He took a leaping step forward, and Terry was there in an instant, tripping the older Archon and sending him tumbling across the snow.

Tala immediately covered her face. “Oh, Terry.”

But Leighis rolled with the fall and popped back up, a snowball already in hand. He threw with a surprising amount of accuracy at Terry before he even landed back on his feet.

The terror bird flickered away without issue, but still, it was impressive reflexes.

Tala laughed, enjoying watching them play. Yeah, definitely some experience in dangerous situations, or maybe he plays a lot of sports… She shrugged internally. It didn’t really matter.

The day passed in a whirlwind.

Master Leighis only stayed out for a couple of hours before he had to get back to work.

The siblings wore themselves out for another hour after that before they all went to a nearby restaurant to eat. Tala insisted on paying, and then deeply confused them all by how much she ordered for herself. The confusion shifted to awe, then horror as they watched her not only eat it all, but order more.

That spawned some questions, but overall, the questions were nothing groundbreaking.

For Tala’s part, around eating, she tried to ask pointed questions about each of her siblings. It wasn’t easy, because there were so many, but she did start to fill in her knowledge gaps with regard to them.

All told, the lunch cost forty silver, but the vast, vast majority of it was from what Tala ordered and ate. Mistress Holly insists that I continue to eat until I’m topped off.

-Not to mention that the Fused power running through your scripts is already consuming more of your reserves to facilitate the deeper setting of your enhancements.-

That was true enough. No rest for the hungry, I suppose.

After their long lunch, the kids had to head home.

The younger ones had schoolwork that they needed to finish. Caln had to go help in the shop, and Tala and Latna needed to go to the Archive to get the recipe, then to the Constructionist guild for their meeting with Hafest.

Thus, they all walked back to the Alchemy shop in a pack and bade Tala goodbye right outside.

They were about to part ways, when Tala stopped, frowning. “Olen?”

The young boy froze, almost through the Alchemist’s door. “Yes, Tala?”

“Take off your right glove.”

“But…But I…uh… It’s cold. I’ll do that inside.”

She narrowed her gaze at him. “You haven’t taken it off since the park.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” His nervousness, coupled with his age caused the words to come out a bit less clearly than his usual speech. He started edging towards the door.

Tala sighed. “I’m not going to punish you, Olen, you aren’t in trouble. I just don’t want you to get hurt by keeping that spell-working active on you.”

The others were all regarding the boy with a mixture of amusement and stern “older-sibling-displeasure.”

“Fine.” He groused, as he pulled off his glove.

“Thank you.” Tala grinned. “If you all liked this, we can do it again when I come back through. I’ll let you know if I can’t get a contracted trip back right away. Otherwise, expect me in just over two weeks. I wish I could be more specific.”

Olen slumped his shoulders. “Sounds good. Thank you, again, Tala!” He then ran inside.

Tala glanced down as Sella latched onto her leg, staring up with a big grin. “EYE!!!!”

Tala grinned back. “Goodbye, little Sella.”

“Eye, eye, Ala.” The little one didn’t let go.

Tala cleared her throat. “Time for you to go inside.”

“Eye! ALA!!!!”

Tala blinked at the sheer volume of the farewell. “Take care?” She bent down, pulling Sella off of her leg and giving the little one a hug.

Sella squeezed her back with surprising force. She then whispered. “Eye, Ala.”

Tala laughed again. “Goodbye.” She then handed Sella to Akli, who had waited to take the child. “See you soon.”

After that, Tala and Latna turned and walked towards the Archon compound, directed by the map that Alat had been able to pull up.

It didn’t take long to certify that Latna was, in fact, a licensed Alchemist, and with that done, she purchased the formula.

Latna seemed to visibly pale as she handed over the golden coins. Likely, she hadn’t ever spent that much at once in her entire life.

Maybe some large ingredient orders? Or if she handled the funds for the purchase of the shops around theirs, or the modifications to them.

Tala leaned over to her sister and whispered. “You’re carrying the money around with you?”

Latna colored slightly. “I didn’t want to forget it, and I figured we’d be safe enough with you around.”

Tala grunted. “Fair enough.”

The front office gave Latna the formula in a small notebook, the actual recipe and procedures only taking up the first couple of pages.

They thanked the attendant and began walking.

“I’ll need to read this before we get there, so I know what I’m talking about. And, if I don’t recognize any ingredients, we’ll have to stop by the market, so I can get an idea of base costs.”

Tala nodded. “Want to stop for tea while you read?”

Latna shook her head, not taking her eyes from the page. “No, so long as we walk slowly, I’ll be fine.”

So, the walk passed in silence.

When Latna finished, she closed the little book and tucked it into an inner pocket of her coat. “Nothing too extreme, though there are a few processes that are somewhat time consuming.” She nodded to herself. “We’ll see what they have to say.”

* * *

“Mistress Tala! Welcome back.” Hafest was walking through the entry hall when they arrived.

“Master Hafest? I hope we didn’t keep you waiting. What are you doing in the entry hall?”

He laughed that off. “I was raiding the waiting room for a few pastries. Who is this? Your Alchemist friend?” He looked Latna over briefly. “Or not a friend. Family? The resemblance is uncanny. She must be your daughter.” Hafest held out his hand towards Latna.

Latna froze on the spot, then burst out laughing, while Tala grimaced, feeling herself slouching ever so slightly.

Even so, Latna took the Archon’s hand and shook it, getting herself under control.

“Did I say something funny?”

“Oh, Master Hafest, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Tala’s sister.”

“Sister? But you’re no Mage…” He looked to Tala again. “How young…” Then, he shook his head. “Nope, not my concern. Come on. I hear we have things to discuss.”

Latna grinned back at Tala as Hafest led them to a much nicer sitting room than Tala and Hafest had used.

Probably just because there are three of us.

The negotiations weren’t long. The Guild could use ten gallons a month to start for the first six months, as soon as the Alchemists could get them, and they were willing to sign a contract to that effect. If the product didn’t work out, then they wouldn’t be reupping the contract. If it did? They’d likely need more, but they’d cross that bridge when they came to it.

Tala left while Latna and Hafest haggled on the specific price, going to get a pastry for herself.

By the time she got back, the two both looked happy, and they were confirming their deal.

“A pleasure doing business with you both.”

They bowed to the large Archon and departed.

It was still early as they walked back towards the family shop.

As they neared, Tala cleared her throat. “Well, it still isn’t quite dinner. We could…go grab something?”

Latna shook her head. “Thank you for the invitation, but I am needed at home. Dinner is a bit of a madhouse, so we need all hands on deck.”

“Oh…okay then.”

They lapsed back into silence.

A few minutes later, they were at the shop, and Latna turned to her sister. “Thank you.” She patted her coat, where the formula rested. “This will be much more profitable than most of what we can produce. It won’t replace our regular business, but it is an amazing opportunity. Thank you, truly.”

Tala smiled. “I’m glad it’ll work out for you all.”

Latna turned, then paused. “See you in two weeks?”

“A little more probably, but yeah.”

“Bye, Tala.”

“Bye, Latna.”

Without another word, but with a brief smile, Latna entered the family shop and pulled the door closed behind her.

Tala returned to the work-yard in contemplative silence, grabbing a massive dinner to bring with her on the way.

She filled the evening with training and study of the manuals to which she had access.

The following morning she departed the city of her birth, heading home.

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

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Mage:

Max Oberg, Ian Anderson, Joshua John Wallace, Pigeon F, Scott Holt, Colton Rutherford, Setaria, Lasse Pedersen, al , Alex Scriber, Alexander Belousov, Gert Wallis, Mathias Schwendimann, SirGuy , Jan, Anton Selling, Fabian , Gleadge, ulrik aaby, Carl Clements, Eric Staind, Aaron Lewis, Irakli Jishkariani, James Knight, Jeremy , Jonny, SnowingSilently, Taylor , mallix , Gemyma, Cybernetic Angel, GopherAtl, James Hadfied, Jason Case, Jeremy Leonard, Michael Anaya, NebulaeDreamz, Silveredgallium, Deneas , Caillin McKay, Michael Bradet-Legris, MeatyLock , Dustin , jacob britt, Jamison Schneider, Ilya Katz, Digdug, Patrick Cole, Sid_Cypher , Finn Freudenberg, Mathieu Deg, Jorge Khouzam Filho, Chris Olsen, Matteo Pimentel, Sharrod Brathwaite, Daydeus, Gurditt Mangat, Cory Ellis, Eric Trombly, Lee Wilson, Sage, Josh , Nicholas Kelly, Eole Salmon, Jonathan Gough, Austin Rasmussen, Ford Yeager, Not Real, Raistlin , santor25, Yasin Bari, Barrie Davis, Zellcos, David, Error, Marcus148 , Nefraak , Stormblessed , JauPim, Tao Wong, Al Bi, Linkneo5 , Jan Finger, Fabian BÃ¤cker, Ischariot, Karl Lomp, ToffiTee, Brett Muras, Leonhard MÃ¼nzer, prateek choudhary, Pedro Lopes, Jolly Javelin, Lupusregina , Michael F., Lorcogoth, CJ Bates, Cody Caliguiri, Eciefae4, Jacob, James , Javier David Aros NuÃ±ez, Justin George, Karma Anor, Leon Silva, Max Weidmer, Michael , Paul Jones, Red, SZ, Two Cats, Varko

Mageling:

DANTE, Alexander Graber-Tilton, Ivo Havener, BurnNote, Lonewolf, SomethingWicked , Skape, pope benedict, Luka Lageschaar, Reminder, ben , Charles, Pawaidan, emphes , Dave Burkett, Matt DiMeo, Michael kim, Robert Rosenthal, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Joost Boere, Isaac Larkin, Lorenzo Ragni, Chris K, Stefan Rabenstein, AndromedaStar, Frozen, GSH, industriousrevolution , Nicholas Cunningham, Sam Mullen, Kevin O'donnell, Hamo4, moniker, S , Alternative Facet, Eyke, Faris Bissex, Judy Halloran, WanderingArchitect, Austin McGue, Muspellsheimr, Jeff berman, Akiven, Kirsty , Benjamin Buco, Ivan schroder, Sven Paulson, lucca C., oeser_chr, derek giandolfi, Eythan Hayashi, Pyrite, ttuurrhh , Kuro_Neko , Bamboocha, d.s, Jensebaum , Rousseauj-charles , Thjagi, Benedikt K, HÃ¥vard , DÃ¡niel MarkÃ³, Sean Hinton, David H, geraint juinor, Henrik Runestig, acrasa , Victory Udoh, Hallan Savage, Cassano , Chris Goss, Dancebot, Daniel , Delilah, DinnerTime, Harris, Jens Wasielewski, Jesse, Joseph White, KB , Kristen Campbell, Liam Hortenstine, Matei Bulgariu, Moreldarin, Nick, nick v, OmegaHebrew, Richard Heying, Seth Wilson, Skelethin , Trevor Burns, Zehn

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Chapter: 199 - A Wonderfully Peaceful Time

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Damon Roberts, Maxine, Pride mystic artificer

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala felt that her time in Marliweather was an unmitigated success.

True, things might have gone better if she’d been able to write her own destiny, but in the realm of reality, she couldn’t imagine a better turn out. After all, I came out of it with two more siblings than I went in with.

-That’s a funny way of looking at it.-

But it is true.

-Oh, decidedly, and it seems like relationships are possible with all of them, at least in time.-

Lunch on the first day found the three Mage Protectors sitting atop the cargo-wagon for the meal, keeping their eyes moving over the surrounding wilds.

“I can’t believe you’re fully Fused.” Rane was shaking his head in resignation, even while a genuine smile pulled at his lips. “I just can’t. I can see your aura, but it seems impossible. Congratulations.”

“Rane?”

“Yeah, Tala?”

“That’s about the thousandth time you’ve said that.”

He colored, cleared his throat, and took another bite of his lunch.

Mistress Odera drank some water to clear her mouth, then regarded Tala. “It is an impressive thing, Mistress Tala. His saying so isn’t a bad thing.”

“Oh, I know. I’m still somewhat shocked, myself.”

“Indeed.”

Rane waved a hunk of bread. “It is unusual, but not unique. Still impressive, though.”

Tala laughed. “I feel like I hear that about a lot of what I do.” After a pause, she added. “The first part, I mean.”

Rane grinned back her way but didn’t comment further.

“You do seem to have found a fortuitous path. Time will tell if others follow you on it, and whether the outcome is a net positive for humanity.”

Tala didn’t really like to think of that, so she turned to Rane. “How are you progressing?”

He grimaced at that. “Same issue as before. I lack the mana-density to brute-force the connection, though I am making progress.” He straightened slightly. “The job I took yesterday was to protect a group while they examined some cave paintings.”

Mistress Odera paused at that. “The Cave of the Triune?”

“Precisely.”

Tala frowned. “Why does that sound familiar?”

Rane shrugged. “Well, Master Grediv mentioned it a lot. Three founts, each less than a dozen yards apart, all with pure, non-elemental magic flowing from them.”

She gave him a level look. “I didn’t know what founts were until recently.”

“Oh, right.”

Mistress Odera cut in. “The Triune, Mistress Tala. Three Immaterial Guides who focused on the manipulation of magic, directly. Triplets, bent towards the betterment of humanity. They sacrificed themselves in an attempt to give humanity another path to power.”

Tala found herself nodding. “Right, but it failed. Their theoretical pathway of ascending was a failure.”

Rane interjected around another mouthful. “Which is a shame, because our path of ascension is amazing.”

Mistress Odera and Tala both turned to regard Rane with confusion.

After swallowing, he clarified. “Meaning the steps that humanity can take through the ranks. Look at us. We are so much more than what we could ever have been without magic, without our gates, and this path. It’s tried and true. Why try to build a second one?”

Mistress Odera’s tone was hard. “Because it still fails many of us.”

Rane colored, hunching down. “Right. I…apologies, Mistress.”

She waved him off. “No matter. You were saying, Master Rane?”

“Hmm?”

“You went to the cave.”

“Oh! So, I meditated between the founts, removing all barriers to power flowing in and out of me. It was,” he grimaced, “like having a pumice-stone scraped through my entire body, but after half a day, my magic capacity and density have both increased by nearly ten percent.”

Tala sat up. “That’s remarkable! Can I…?” She trailed off as she saw Mistress Odera shaking her head.

“You already have a higher density than that cave, so it wouldn’t lead to an improvement for you. It is a miserable process as well, from what I hear. It also only works for Bound, if it works at all. Mages can’t survive such an onslaught, even those with incredibly high density, because the quality of the power, the purity, overwhelms them. Fused are too potent, as a rule, to gain anything from the cave, and Bound don’t need it. Though, it does help some.” She nodded towards Rane.

“Huh, so in a way they succeeded?”

“I suppose, in a way.” Mistress Odera sounded skeptical. “But one can hardly call it a success when instead of forging a new road, they now marginally help a small fraction as they progress down the old one.”

Tala grunted. “Fair enough.” The conversation shifted, then, to other things as their meal drew to a close.

Most of the journey back to Bandfast was uneventful, aside from the usual training and occasional arcanous beast.

She spent her meals and evenings talking with Rane and Mistress Odera and sparring with Terry and Rane.

On the second day of travel, Terry made real progress on changing his own fighting methods. He began to toss a knife back and forth with himself, flickering between each side of the wagon as they rumbled across the wintery plain, throwing it with increasing speed.

Seems like he’s gotten over his aversion. He didn’t add the knife tossing into their sparring, when she faced off against him that night. Not that he needed to, as he could still handily defeat her, seemingly at will.

The next morning, he added a second knife, and by the time they arrived in Bandfast, he was creating a storm of crisscrossing weaponry, all flying through a single space.

That’s not at all terrifying. He still hadn’t used the new weaponry in combat, but Tala knew that he would, soon enough.

Tala made sure to congratulate Terry on his new accomplishment.

He was suitably pleased both with her praise and the extra helpings of meat and jerky she gave along with it.

-Yes, keep the terrifying murder bird appeased, please.-

I’m doing my best.

The second thing of consequence came from Alat.

When they were right about halfway between the two cities, Alat began to cackle madly, which was quite a disturbing thing to have happen in Tala’s head.

What is going on?

-I have full access to pull information from the Archive. The Fused power behind your soul-bound items has increased the reach of the Archive connection. Unfortunately, I still can’t write to anywhere but our own private space.-

So, that means we can’t send messages?

-That’s correct. Even if I try to change access to any information, it won’t allow it, and I can’t write to the notation we share with Jenna, or anyone else. So communication is out, but I can still keep your mind-map up to date in real time, now!-

That was actually pretty great news. Any idea on the range?

-Well, if my perception of the link is correct, we could probably have this level of access out to nearly a thousand miles from the closest human city, though the last hundred or so might be iffy.-

Tala was utterly shocked at that. I dearly hope I’ll never be anywhere near that far from a city. At least not anytime soon.

-True, but it’s good to know your limits. I could probably also pierce out of an enclosed pocket dimension, or through quite a bit of iron, but either of those would limit the total range.-

Like Kit? I thought you did that already.

-No, no. Kit is an open pocket dimension, merely an expanded space really. You know this. I’m talking about one that is fully cut-off from the physical world.- Alat hesitated. -Well, this physical world at least.-

That was good to know. She hesitated. Wait, if the pocket dimension is fully cut off from this physical world, then where would you be measuring from for the distance back to a human city?

-That… is an excellent point. I might actually have an easier time reaching the Archive from a fully disconnected space, then.- She made a contemplative sound.

Well, in any case, I’m glad you won’t be fully cut off from the Archive any time soon.

-Ever. I’m never going to be cut off ever again, now.- There was a firmness that bordered on fear, there, but Tala didn’t think it was a good time to address it.

I decidedly hope that that is true.

All told, it was a fruitful, but uneventful, return trip.

After Tala received her pay, she immediately went to the Caravanner’s Guild, found Lyn—and Kannis—, and asked for help for signing up for as many trips back and forth to Marliweather as possible, as quickly as possible.

She’d contemplated just taking a longer time in Marliweather, but she felt like the short stints with her family, spaced out, would be better for easing back into each others’ lives. Additionally, she wanted to get a large chunk of ventures out of the way, towards fulfilling her contract with the Caravanner’s Guild.

Thankfully, the trip to Marliweather didn’t have anything truly special about it, so it wasn’t in high demand. It wasn’t either especially dangerous, nor uniquely safe. The city wasn’t in its Waning phase yet, so there weren't extra benefits on the far end.

While Marliweather was well situated, nearly in the center of the human territory for the moment, that didn’t seem to matter much for the more lucrative routes, at least through the winter.

Thus, Tala was able to secure six additional trips back and forth to Bandfast before spring would truly set in. Beyond that, the Caravanner’s Guild wasn’t willing to let her reserve slots.

Still, twelve of my trips. That will bring me to a total of eighteen of my required ventures.

She’d discussed it with Rane and Mistress Odera on the trip back. Rane said he’d join her through the winter, to get a good foundation under himself monetarily and to take another few visits to the Cave of the Triune. It seemed that a Mage could overdo it by visiting too often, so the trips were near-ideal for him as well. That said, he wanted to do a larger loop of the human cities in the spring, whatever she decided.

As Tala considered it, she thought she just might join him, but she didn’t know yet. At least for the non-forest cities. No more leshkin for me for a while.

Mistress Odera had no issue with the plan. Apparently, some of her family was finalizing a move from Surehaven to Marliweather in the next weeks, so she’d get to spend some time with them. Thus, for her, there were no downsides.

Once all of that had been arranged, it was well and truly the end of the day, so Lyn, Kannis, and Tala had gone out to dinner to chat and catch up.

They were midway through the meal, when Kannis spoke up.

Now, to be fair, Lyn and Kannis had finished their food, but Tala was still eating hers, and she’d used that fact to focus the conversation on them for most of the time. Unfortunately, it seemed like that had finally come to an end.

“Mistress Tala?”

“Hmm? Yeah, Kannis?”

The girl’s face flickered towards a grimace, and she looked down.

Tala hadn’t meant it as a slight, but the girl didn’t qualify for the “Mistress” title, yet. Ah, socializing. How I love it…

Kannis seemed to get over her momentary irritation. “I don’t understand what I see when I look at you with my magesight.”

Tala had noticed the girl pulsing power through those scripts off and on both at the Caravanner’s Guild and at the restaurant. Feeling the awkwardness of the situation, Tala tried to respond as one of her teachers or mentors might have. “I’m glad that you’re keeping your eyes open, so to speak. Now, what don’t you understand?”

“Well, there isn’t any variation to the sense of magic around you. It’s almost a uniform color, and that color is a yellow-ish orange.”

Lyn’s eyes widened, and she turned towards Tala. “What’s this now?”

Tala couldn’t help but smile. “Seems like you should take your own advice and use magesight more often?”

Lyn glared. “I’m working on other portions of my advancement at the moment.” Then, she sighed. “But you are probably right.” She looked towards Kannis. “I did err in this. I should have been participating alongside you in your exercises and growth.” Power flowed through Lyn’s own magesight scripts and the woman’s eye twitched. “Fused and Refining… You did have an interesting trip.”

Kannis cleared her throat. “While I am curious about that, if I am even allowed to know the details, I am more curious how you have such a perfectly smooth manifestation.”

“It is a projection, meant to keep me from triggering alarms, due to my other practices. Remember what’s under the visual illusion?” Tala motioned to herself.

Kannis shuddered slightly. “Hard to forget that, so yes.”

“So, that would make me appear as an absence of magic, or someone who was really clumsily trying to keep from being detected.”

The mageling was nodding along. “Which would trigger all sorts of alarms and defenses.”

“Precisely.”

Kannis bit her lip, considering. “I think I can understand that. It’s like hanging a sheet over a hole in the wall. Obviously, it’s not going to be very textured.”

“Reasonable analogy, yeah.” Tala smiled, then continued to eat.

Kannis turned to Lyn. “What can I know about advancement?”

Lyn sighed. “Not much, I’m afraid. You just aren’t ready for it.”

Kannis grimaced slightly again, then nodded. “I understand. There are reasons for delays and hidden knowledge. I will be patient until you decide that I am ready.”

Huh, that’s quite mature of her.

-Maybe, we could learn a thing or two.-

Tala sighed. We’re already probably going to be waiting for a while before we progress on.

-Speaking of that, we should talk with Holly.-

Yeah, but tomorrow.

-Tomorrow sounds great.-

All in all, it was a nice evening, and when it ended, Tala found that, somehow, it was nice to affix Kit to Lyn’s wall once more.

She knew that, intellectually, it shouldn’t matter where the door exited out, but for some reason she preferred it, there, in Lyn’s hallway.

Something about the place, and the people nearby, made her feel like this was home.

* * *

The next day, Tala and Rane joined Aproa at the Guardsmen’s guild for martial practice.

More notably, Terry joined them all.

It was decided that, as the most resilient of those present, Tala should fight Terry, first.

Thus it was that Tala and Terry faced off across the sand of the training space.

A selection of training weapons were randomly scattered around the sand.

“Begin!” Adam’s clear, strong voice echoed through the yard, and Tala charged.

The weapons seemed to move on their own accord as they immediately began shooting towards her.

Terry’s teleportations were so quick that Tala barely even saw flickers of movement as he arrived at each weapon, grabbed it, threw it, and moved on.

She blocked all she could, which wasn’t many, but that’s when the chaos began.

Each one that no longer seemed to have a chance of striking her would suddenly change direction, gaining a new burst of speed as Terry flickered to them and threw them again.

Even though they were training weapons, they hit hard. As soon as they struck and bounced away, they would be caught and flung back.

After less than twenty seconds, Adam called a stop.

The last weapons flew, bouncing off of, or being deflected by, Tala.

Terry flickered to the far side of the space once more, polishing his talons against his beak.

Silence fell over those watching, only broken when one of the soldiers exclaimed, simply, “Rust. I’m not fighting him.”

That caused a ripple of laughter through the group and got everyone moving once more.

After that single bout, it was promptly decided that Terry didn’t need more practice, at least not any that they could give, and that it would be too dangerous for him to do so anyway against anyone but Tala, even with practice weapons.

Not that it was great being his target even with blunted weapons…

As for mounted practice, they were able to do some training with Tala riding on Terry’s back, while others assaulted them.

In comparison to the near fluid, deadly beauty Terry had demonstrated earlier, it was…ugly.

Terry hated not teleporting away and defaulted to that with regularity.

Even when they set it up as an obstacle course for Terry to carry Tala through to an end goal, it proved counter to Terry’s nature.

I knew he was fighting his baser instincts when we were fleeing the leshkin. I just didn’t know how much.

But that was good, if Tala was being honest. There were a lot of pointers and tips that they could both learn from, and countless ways for them to improve in their coordination. So, it was agreed that this part would be incorporated into their regular training.

Tala was able to give her schedule to Adam, and he happily agreed to incorporate it into his ongoing class. He was actually grateful to have some hard dates that she would, and would not, be in Bandfast.

She had lunch with Rane and Aproa, focused mainly on catching up with the latter, since she’d be leaving with Rane again in a couple of days.

Aproa had been taking ruin investigation contracts. More specifically, she’d been providing protection to minor expeditions to some of the closest ruins. Unfortunately, it was pretty boring on her side of things. She had to stay above ground to keep watch, but at least it paid well.

Once lunch was over, they all went to their regular group training with the other Archons.

When Aproa conveyed Tala and Terry’s mounted combat training, the whole group latched onto the idea.

It would have been a disaster, but Cazor was the voice of reason. After all, horses, even trained ones, do not like being in enclosed spaces with lots of loud or visually dazzling magic.

With that idea nixed before it could even be tried, the group simply agreed to have some work with Tala and Terry functioning in concert, whenever it was reasonable.

When they broke for the afternoon, Tala and Terry headed to Holly’s workshop for the inevitable confrontation.

As soon as she stepped through the door, Holly called from the back. “You did it, girl!” She laughed maniacally, hurrying out from her workshop. “Very, very nicely done. I knew you had it in you.”

Tala was taken aback, as was the receptionist, if the look on his face was any indication.

“Come in, come in. No need to dawdle.”

Tala followed Holly back into her shop.

“Now, we need to test you, see how well stabilized you are, and how far along you’ve gotten since you had the preparatory scripts beforehand.”

“Yeah, about that-”

Holly waved her off. “You can thank me later.”

Tala sighed. “You weren’t allowed to tell me what you were doing?”

“Of course not, dear.” She gave her a long look. “Most people would want such scripts too early if it was widely known. Inscriptionists would be pestered, constantly, to do something that wouldn’t be good or effective for most Mages.” Holly waved Tala off again. “But that’s an oversimplification.”

Tala grunted. “I guess.”

“So, let’s do some tests.”

Tala looked down at her own hands, seeing the yellowing aura. It had ticked away from true orange and towards yellow at a steady rate since she’d Fused, and if it continued at this pace, she’d hit the half-way point in a couple more months.

She conveyed this to Holly.

“Yes, that’s wonderful, dear, I can see that. My scripts on this building can see that. Any idiot with magesight and a basic understanding of when you Fused could see that. That is not what I’m going to test.”

Tala frowned. “Then what are you going to test?”

“I am going to determine what tools we’ll need in order to initiate the Refining process. Everyone’s a little different in the extent to which they need to be Refined.” She pulled out what looked like a wooden tongue depressor but radiating magic. “Open up.”

What followed reminded Tala very much of a mundane medical exam, but conducted with tools that were clearly magical in their aura, even if not in their appearance. I wonder how much of this is just for show, or some sort of elaborate joke.

Tala couldn’t quite determine what they did, exactly. Yes, look at this clearly magical item! Ooooo. No one can tell what it does. Tala had to keep herself from laughing. That would actually be kind of funny. Making a bunch of things that looked really magical to magesight, but did nothing. I should find a way to do that to one of the bricks in the city streets, and see how long it takes for someone to panic.

She hesitated at that. Hmmm… Maybe magic does make people a bit mischievous…

Alat didn’t comment, but Tala thought she could hear muffled chuckling.

Throughout the exam, Holly’s face slowly lost its joy and a frown began to build. That, more than anything, pulled Tala out of her contemplations.

Finally, Tala couldn’t take it anymore. “What’s wrong?”

Holly let out a long breath. “Well, there is good and bad news, I’m afraid.”

“Isn’t there always?” Tala tried to lighten the mood.

“Don’t interrupt.”

Okay, not a light matter then. “Sorry.”

“The prep work is coming along nicely, and we should be able to move you to the final set of script modifications in a couple of months, if not sooner.”

“That’s the good news.”

Holly gave her a long, level look.

“Sorry. I’ll be quiet.”

“As I was saying, you’re coming along nicely in that regard. Unfortunately, your scripts for intaking consumable materials didn’t have quite as much effectiveness as I’d hoped, given your magical density. Do you know what Refining actually does?”

Tala was not surprised by the seeming change of topic. She was getting used to Holly by this point.

-Bite your tongue. No one can ever get used to…that.-

She waited for a moment, considering pointing out that Holly had told her to be quiet, then decided not to be difficult. “To remove impurities?”

“Very good. Yes. The goal is to refine the person, physically, all the way down to their blueprints, that which governs the structure and function of their bodies.”

“So, we should have a jump on that, right?”

“In most ways, we do. The human body has to be built up, strength and resilience wise, before the impurities can be purged. We’re doing that. Unfortunately, the bulk of the work in Refining is the painful removal of those impurities, by the Mage themselves, using magical tools.”

“That sounds…quite unpleasant.”

“Oh, incredibly so, yes. Unfortunately, because we’ve been forcing the use of all that you consume, this seems to have increased the impurities in your body, at least on the macroscale.”

“So, I will have more, agonizingly painful work to do.”

“Precisely.”

Tala frowned. “Wait, why did we do that, if this was a possibility?”

“Because the scripts should have purified all the material, making it useful within you. And they mostly succeeded, but the result is that you have more…gunk in your body than the average person does.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, if you were a mundane? Without immediate treatment? An early grave, likely very early. But because your systems are enhanced, it shouldn’t cause any issue before we can get you purged. You will naturally purge the impurities with time, but I doubt you want to spend a decade or five doing that.”

“Lovely…and no. No, I do not.”

Holly seemed to hesitate for a long moment. Finally, she sighed. “I do apologize. This was a miscalculation on my part. It seems like even with as magically dense as you were, the quality of power coming through your gate wasn’t sufficient to do what we were trying to. I couldn’t find any mention of a Bound with enough magical density to even use the scripts before you, and the requirements only stated a magic density level, which you exceeded.” Holly sighed. “I’ll have to update the information on these scripts so that no one else makes my mistake.”

Tala knew the scripts that Holly was referring to. “They should have been fine. I understand them, I’m enacting them as we speak.”

“I agree, but the data doesn’t lie. You’re going to have a rough Refining, once you’re settled.”

Tala grimaced. “Fair, I suppose. On that note: How am I on that front?”

“I do think that a year or two to fully settle will be advisable. Though, if you want risks, you can attempt in closer to six months.”

Tala opened her mouth to reply, then paused to consider. Why do I need to rush? Advancing is important, but such a delay would get me through my contract with the Caravanners, and I could then assess where I’m at, and move forward into the next stage of…whatever I want to be doing. It might be nice to have a change of pace, and maybe truly get to know my siblings again. “Yeah, I think that’s wise.”

Holly gave her a long look, then shook her head and muttered to herself. “I guess everyone grows up eventually.”

Tala decided not to comment.

-Yeah, because we’re mature, now.-

Hush you.

Holly apparently had a lot of work still to do, so she shooed Tala away, but not before securing a promise from Tala to drop in whenever she could to be scanned by Holly’s workshop scripts.

And so, that’s how Tala spent the winter.

She went back and forth to Marliweather as often as she could. While she was there, she spent her time with her siblings. While she was in Bandfast, she spent her time training and with her friends.

The only break from the pleasant monotony was when Nalac and Illie departed for the Academy just before the two months' mark after Tala had reentered their lives.

It was a simple affair, with the whole family gathering to watch them step onto the teleportation pad one after another.

By happenstance, coincidence, or a funny twist of fate, they ended up using the same teleportation room that Tala had departed from. The two events couldn’t have been more different.

Where Tala had been alone, hiding tears, and just wanting to get away, Nalac and Illie were surrounded by family and a few friends who were wishing them farewell.

Their mother tried to push things on the twins, and Tala and the teleportation Mages had to continually return them to the woman, insisting that it wasn’t possible to take items to the Academy.

As confrontational as it was, it felt…nice to have a somewhat normal interaction with her mother. Almost like I’m her eldest once again.

She didn’t interact with her father at all, though he was there. She simply didn’t trust herself to be civil.

Funnily enough, since they held off to allow Tala to be there, they left the day before her own birthday. She didn’t stick around after the twin’s departure, choosing to celebrate turning twenty on the road back towards Bandfast.

To be fair, Tala didn’t tell either of them, but Mistress Odera still seemed to know. She didn’t make mention of it, but the cooks inexplicably prepared a cake for dessert that night, and gave her an extra helping, even beyond what they normally would have.

After that, things went back to how they’d been for the remainder of the season.

Holly reinscribed Tala twice during that time, updating the scripts as appropriate. They were blessedly able to confirm that Tala’s impurities weren’t getting more numerous, and were even marginally decreasing, but nothing short of the Refining process was going to remove the contaminants with any sort of efficiency.

Tala made four minimum payments on her debts, as well as an additional seventy gold towards paying it off. She was able to expand Kit four times, for a total of one-hundred-and-twenty gold, bringing the dimensional storage’s capacity up to a total of more than six-thousand cubic feet.

Even after all of that, including her meals while in each city, she still had a nice, tidy sum in case of emergency totaling more than forty gold.

All told, it was a wonderfully peaceful time.

A note from JLMullins

Important Note:

This chapter marks the end of yet-to-be-named Book 6 and the end of the first "main" arc of Millennial Mage.

The following two chapters [200 & 201] are both the epilogue to this book and the prologue to the next. In them, and the following chapters, we will begin to explore much that has been hinted at or said about the world, but which has yet to be shown.

The chapters contain content which may be considered grimdark. I don't consider them such, but everyone has their own definitions.

I'm really enjoying writing these chapters, and I think they maintain the spirit and flavor of the story while exploring the "new."

Thank you for coming on this journey with me and Tala, et al., and I hope we continue to entertain for many, many chapters to come.

Archon:

william wallace, Thuss, Seth Bryant, Silberwolf325 , Grimizen, Alex Griffin, FieryFern, Ocean Breeze, Ryan Tran, T.E. 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Mage:

Max Oberg, Ian Anderson, Joshua John Wallace, Pigeon F, Scott Holt, Colton Rutherford, Setaria, Lasse Pedersen, al , Alex Scriber, Alexander Belousov, Gert Wallis, Mathias Schwendimann, SirGuy , Jan, Anton Selling, Fabian , Gleadge, ulrik aaby, Carl Clements, Eric Staind, Aaron Lewis, Irakli Jishkariani, James Knight, Jeremy , Jonny, SnowingSilently, Taylor , mallix , Gemyma, Cybernetic Angel, GopherAtl, James Hadfied, Jason Case, Jeremy Leonard, Michael Anaya, NebulaeDreamz, Deneas , Caillin McKay, Michael Bradet-Legris, MeatyLock , Dustin , jacob britt, Jamison Schneider, Ilya Katz, Digdug, Patrick Cole, Sid_Cypher , Finn Freudenberg, Mathieu Deg, Jorge Khouzam Filho, Chris Olsen, Matteo Pimentel, Sharrod Brathwaite, Daydeus, Gurditt Mangat, Cory Ellis, Eric Trombly, Lee Wilson, Sage, Josh , Nicholas Kelly, Eole Salmon, Jonathan Gough, Austin Rasmussen, Ford Yeager, Not Real, Raistlin , santor25, Yasin Bari, Barrie Davis, Zellcos, David, Error, Marcus148 , Nefraak , Stormblessed , JauPim, Tao Wong, Al Bi, Linkneo5 , Jan Finger, Fabian BÃ¤cker, Ischariot, Karl Lomp, ToffiTee, Brett Muras, Leonhard MÃ¼nzer, prateek choudhary, Pedro Lopes, Lupusregina , Michael F., Lorcogoth, CJ Bates, Cody Caliguiri, Eciefae4, Jacob, James , Javier David Aros NuÃ±ez, Justin George, Karma Anor, Leon Silva, Max Weidmer, Michael , Paul Jones, Red, SZ, Two Cats, Varko

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Chapter: 200 - The Reason

A note from JLMullins

Important Note:

Chapter 199 marked the end of yet-to-be-named Book 6 and the end of the first "main" arc of Millennial Mage.

These next two chapters [200 & 201] are both the epilogue to this book and the prologue to the next. In them, and the following chapters, we will begin to explore much that has been hinted at or said about the world, but which has yet to be shown.

The chapters contain content which may be considered grimdark. I don't consider them such, but everyone has their own definitions.

I'm really enjoying writing these chapters, and I think they maintain the spirit and flavor of the story while exploring the "new."

Thank you for coming on this journey with me and Tala, et al., and I hope we continue to entertain for many, many chapters to come.

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Pride mystic artificer, Maxine, Damon Roberts

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala swayed gently, keeping her balance perfectly in control atop the cargo-wagon as it trundled northward across the plains, bound for Arconaven.

It had been a fruitful winter, especially in regards to her siblings. Tala had made great strides in rebuilding the foundations for relationships with each of her brothers and sisters. She was even corresponding with several of the older ones on occasion. Though, given that most of her time was spent between cities, they weren’t quick back-and-forths so much as touch-points between in-person visits.

Even though Nalac and Illie had departed for the Academy two months earlier, Tala was able to exchange notes with them as well, though the twins’ early classes were demanding enough that they had little free time for such things.

Also, if the correspondences they had sent were any indication, their new friends were taking up much of what little time they had outside of training.

I hope their experience is radically different than mine. They should start solidifying their fundamental understanding in the next few months, and get their first inscriptions shortly thereafter.

It was an exciting time for them, and Tala felt a warmth within her at being able to be going through it alongside them, even if from afar.

Now, spring had arrived, and with it had come more rain than usual. Copious amounts of rain that, more than anything, had reminded Tala of swimming through a lake, every time she’d stepped outside.

That near constant deluge, coupled with the melting snow, had led to soggy, treacherous ground and lots of mud.

Much of the lowlands among the rolling hills now resembled marshland more than fertile plains, but that should pass soon enough.

The cloud cover had finally broken around noon and with the near constant, stiff wind, the sky was finally completely clear. Though, they were fast approaching the nightly stop and dinner.

We should reach Arconaven tomorrow. And if it stays clear, the ground should be clean and dry by the end of the day. She hesitated, considering the near two weeks of constant downpour. Drier at least.

-Another new city to explore, finally.- Alat didn’t much care about the mud, and before they departed, she had been grousing more and more about only seeing Bandfast, Marliweather, and the land in between. In truth, Tala had begun to get sick of the repetitive scenery too.

Mistress Odera sat in her customary place near the back of the wagon, eyes closed and magical senses surveying their surroundings. She still hadn’t managed to make an Archon star within her iron monstrosity, but she kept insisting that she was close.

Tala didn’t have to turn around to check on the woman.

Instead, one of the small drops of blood that spun around Tala’s head granted her a secondary perspective via aspect mirroring.

She no longer needed to close her eyes to keep from being overwhelmed by two sets of inputs. Nor did the movement of that perspective, as it orbited or as she shifted its focus, make her sick.

Two other drops rotated along with the first, likewise filled with aspect-mirrors of her perception, though Alat was coopting the senses from those other two.

Tala could still perceive through them if she so desired, but she did not desire such. Much of her focused training through the winter had been specifically aimed towards shutting out those perspectives, to allow Alat to be her omni-directional eyes and ears.

And Alat excelled at that. Especially in sparring, Alat warned Tala of anything she might otherwise miss, and their synergy had grown to the point that Tala didn’t have to look for herself to block most attacks that Alat identified.

There was the added blessing that Tala’s specific magesight scripts modified Tala’s perspective, directly, rather than providing a new sense that overlapped her sight. Thus, when Tala mirrored her sight onto the three orbiting bloodstars, they benefited from her magesight as well.

The whole process was surprisingly effective now that she and Alat had gotten the hang of it.

Her tungsten bar levitated as if nailed in place, just behind her neck, suspended by the two bloodstars inside of it. The sphere floated just in front of her sternum, similarly affixed.

Both showed nicks, dings, and even a couple of deep cuts from where they’d directly parried attacks in sparring and during the occasional arcanous encounter.

Even though the last four months had been incredibly peaceful, all things considered, they hadn’t been free of violence.

Her elk leathers fit better than ever, given that Tala and Alat had continued to investigate how to minutely adjust the garments, precisely as they wished. They’d recently discovered how to change the colors, and after having a bit of fun with some more garish shades, they had settled for a set of earthtones.

Flow and Kit hung in counterbalance to each other, and she’d added a row of small vessels—smaller than the width of her belt—across the back of her belt to house her bloodstars when not in use.

The maximum she’d been able to wield effectively in a combat situation was still only eight, alongside those in her tungsten tools. While that wasn’t an increase in number from earlier in the winter, her utility of and dexterity with them was improving by leaps and bounds. She could do more with all of them at once than she’d been able to manage with a single one at the start.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll add in a ninth. It was about time.

Terry lounged off to one side, sprawled out on his back, legs extended to allow his stomach to absorb as much sun as possible.

She occasionally flicked a bit of jerky out for him, and while it vanished mid-flight, proving that he’d caught it, he never seemed to move. In return, he would occasionally flicker to one of the weapons laying on the wagon-top and hurtle it at her without warning. That still took him enough time that she was able to notice his absence, however momentary.

As the weapon came her way, it was Tala’s task to deflect it with bloodstar or tungsten tool without turning her head, or stopping whatever she was doing at the time.

It had turned out to be ridiculously excellent practice, if she were being honest. And it was quite a bit of fun, now that she had improved enough that she wasn’t being hit with fast-flying ballistic weapons every couple of minutes.

She still hadn’t implemented the leshkin shields which sat within Kit, nor even attached the mounting plates she’d had made for them. She always found reasons for delay, as they would require a few weeks of dedicated practice to incorporate into her other abilities, whenever she added them. Things were progressing at a good pace, and she really didn’t feel like taking a step back towards incompetence.

Maybe by midsummer.

Alat snorted within Tala’s mind. -More likely, we’ll do it as soon as we come through a battle where they would have been useful.-

That’s…fair. She knew that she should get on with it, but not in the middle of a venture, and certainly not on the way to a new city. I’ll have some free time in Arconaven. I’ll do the prep work and initial testing there.

Tala felt a slight warning as a hatchet sailed from near the rear-right corner of the wagon at the back of her head. The tungsten bar simply spun, lifting slightly as it took on the appearance of a silvery, semi-translucent disc.

The incoming weapon was deflected back and down, where it struck into the wagon top with a thunk.

It had definitely made things more interesting, when Terry had begun aiming such that the most effective blocking techniques would send the weapons into nearby things or people that Tala didn’t want to harm.

Mistress Odera grunted at the sound but didn’t otherwise react. The head driver, a middle-aged woman named Bilsta, no longer jumped or even twitched at the noise, but Tala did detect a slight tensing of her shoulders.

The tungsten rod stopped without seemingly needing to slow, and drifted back down to its previous resting place.

Tala obligingly tossed a hunk of jerky for Terry before she returned her focus to the present.

It really was a beautiful day.

She took in a deep breath, relishing the wonderfully amazing smells of oncoming spring, even if they were overlaid by those of mud and ox-dung.

Take the bad with the good.

-Then, sift out the bad and throw it away.-

Tala grinned. True enough. She hesitated. Was it my perception or yours that picked up that attack?

-Mine. You responded quite well.- Alat did seem quite pleased by the sound of her voice.

Tala’s grin widened, even as she allowed her perspective to track the Mage Protector who had joined her this leg of her trip. Marnin.

He was passing by the right hand side of their wagon as he made a circuit of the caravan.

Marnin was an enthusiastic Mage, a Material Creator, specializing in air. His attacks and defense were simply that, compressed, or gusts of, air. He’d been surprisingly effective in driving away arcanous threats and not causing any retaliation.

Honestly, after seeing the man work, Tala had been shocked that his skill set wasn’t more widely seen, especially within the ranks of Mage Protectors. The guards even seemed not to mind the lessening of harvests too much. They were, after all, not required to engage with nearly as many threats as standard.

Though, to be fair, I haven’t been exposed to that many, not yet.

This was her first trip after her block of back-and-forth ventures to Marliweather, and it was the first one without Rane since her very first trek to Alefast, Waning.

Rane, unfortunately, still had not broken into Fused, though he continued to insist that he was getting close. He had taken a different route from them, beginning his loop of the cities by heading south to Makinaven. From there, he was going to go west towards Retindel, then through Truhold, Namfast, and Manaven before coming out of the forest cities and meeting up with her and Mistress Odera in Clevenhold.

Tala and Mistress Odera had decided to take the wiser path, at least for Tala, and go north to Arconaven. From there, she’d go to Audel on the coast, then southwest to Surehaven before heading to Clevenhold to meet up with Rane. Their route had two fewer stops, so the two women would have longer hold-overs between trips, but that served Tala’s purposes just fine.

She was ready to see more human cities, to experience their variety, and begin truly considering her place in the world.

After they met up with Rane, they would backtrack through Surehaven to Audel. Then, all together, they’d go to the new Alefast and then visit the two sites of the cities under construction, working one of the caravans going to each from Alefast.

Thankfully, the forest to the north didn’t contain any leshkin, so it wouldn’t be a barrier to Tala’s plans.

Still, this is a half-year total trip with fourteen legs for Mistress Odera and me, seventeen for Rane. They’d even be stopping back through Marliweather as their last city before returning to Bandfast.

The only city that Rane wouldn’t visit on his grand tour would be Alefast, the Waning one. As he’d grown up there, that wasn’t much of a negative, at least that’s what he’d said.

Mistress Odera cocked her head to one side, and the motion brought Tala back to the present, once again.

“What is it?” Tala didn’t turn around, trusting the woman to hear her voice.

“Something…odd. Do you feel that? On the wind? I think it’s been there, building, for a while, but I only just felt it.” Mistress Odera’s magical senses often manifested in the woman as a feeling, so Tala immediately focused on her own magesight.

The wagons were entering a small stand of trees, likely coming up on their stopping place for the night. An ambush now would be rather unideal.

Alat? Anything?

-Maybe.- The alternate interface drew Tala’s attention to what could have been threads of power in the air-currents.

“I think so? It seems like a relaxing effect. Something to lull us off our guard?”

“It could be. Could be.” The older Mage seemed troubled, as was quite reasonable, if Tala was being honest.

“There’s a bit of serenity, too. A desire for…isolation?”

“That is what I am feeling.”

Tala flicked through her memory quickly, finding a few arcanous creatures that fit. One jumped to the forefront, however. “Bog hag? Maybe more than one?”

Mistress Odera grunted in acknowledgement but didn’t reply. Tala bit her lip, considering.

“I really hope it’s not bog hags. I didn’t think they left the swamps, northeast of Arconaven. Do you think this weather is enough to have drawn them this far south?” Around their other studies, Tala and Alat had taken a lot of time to thoroughly delve through the bestiaries provided by Grediv that were open to them, along with supplemental works that Alat pulled from the Archive.

They’d researched these beasts, specifically, as they were pernicious, arcanous near-sapients, almost like cyclops, who used magic to strip flesh from their victims, before using the material to patch and cover over their own grotesque forms. They preferred human flesh, but would take what they could get their slick, spiny hands on. To add to the difficulty of dealing with them, the creatures would often, somehow, bend other arcanous creatures to their will.

No one seemed to know where they came from, and after several extensive campaigns had failed to eradicate them, humanity had moved into a mitigation posture towards the creatures.

Avoid, kill on sight, and keep the passengers close.

Tala nodded. “Worth using the standard tactics either way.”

“I think so, yes.” Mistress Odera seemed more withdrawn than usual, though that might have just been Tala’s imagining.

The head driver leaned back, while keeping her eyes forward. “Circling the wagons, Mistresses. It’s time to stop for the night.”

Tala nodded. “Thank you, Bilsta.”

Their two-wagon caravan pulled in a wide circle before stopping in a stand of trees, a clearing already among the tall trunks ready for them to shelter from the wind. This was one of a dozen preprepared places that Bilsta could have chosen, so there wasn’t really a specific danger of ambush at this location.

“I’ll go talk to the guards and connect with the cargo-slot servants.” The passengers had largely kept themselves confined within the dimensional storage spaces set aside for them this trip. So, she had time.

Tala hopped down, her feet sinking slightly into the springy turf, even as the guards were knocking on the cargo-slots to signal that the wagons had stopped for the day.

“On me, when you have a moment.” The guards turned her way, their current task complete.

The doors swung open almost as one, and Tala heard cries of glee from inside.

There was a wave of noise, as dozens of children exclaimed excitedly before practically boiling out through the open doors, the harried cargo-slot servants and other adults close behind.

Tala froze on the spot. Rust. They’ve been staying inside at all the other stops… The rain had stopped.

“Stop!” Tala called, but the noise from all the passengers exiting almost as a unit and scattering in all directions overrode her.

Mistress Odera’s eyes snapped open in alarm, and she turned, calling to a guard that was passing behind their stopped wagon.

What followed was near five minutes of panicked wrangling, resulting in the whole group grumpily crowding back around the cargo-wagon, looking up at Tala, Mistress Odera, and Marnin, who’d joined them after the group was gathered.

Tala cleared her throat. “We’ve felt some odd magics in the air, so I want everyone to stay close.”

There was some groaning at that, but not much, thankfully. Everyone knew that caravan trips were dangerous, and that the Mage Protectors were to be respected.

“We know you want to stretch your legs, especially you little ones.”

There was some laughter at that.

“But we need you to be safe. Please, keep to groups no smaller than three, and there should be at least one adult in any group. That means two children and one adult at the least.”

Murmurs of assent came back to her. They were reasonable restrictions.

Mistress Odera’s head jerked, then, her eyes widening. “Mistress Tala.”

-Tala, the magic is gone.-

Tala looked around unnecessarily, her perspective already sweeping their surroundings. What changed?

She felt a fear begin to rise in her throat. Were they about to be attacked? Were they surrounded?

Marnin, though only a Mage, was battle tested and had clearly noticed their reactions. His magesight wasn’t always active, nor was it likely sensitive enough to see the magics that had been there, but that hardly mattered.

The passengers obviously noticed the Mages reactions as well. One called up, even as the group as a whole pressed in closer to the wagon. “Is everything alright?”

Tala looked back down to them. “Please do a quick headcount. We might need to retreat into the wagons, quickly, and I don’t want anyone being left behind.”

Tala watched as the servants for each cargo-slot moved through the passengers, counting their charges.

Several parents called to their children, and that started a cascade of calls back and forth as the smaller passengers moved through the crowds towards their guardians.

There really is a large number of passengers this trip.

Thankfully, the noise started to calm down as parents and children found one another amidst the shuffle.

Then, the reason for the fading magic came, along with a wail from a man near the middle of the crowd. “Jon? Jon!! Where is Jon? Where is my son?!”

Another voice also lifted in response, a woman’s this time. “And my Tam. I don’t see him! Weren’t they together?”

A few moments of frantic information collecting revealed that the two children, neither older than ten, had sprinted out of the cargo-slots to play with their peers as soon as the wagons had stopped. The two hadn’t returned to the wagons with the others when they were called back, though no one had specifically seen them either move off or stay behind.

Tala closed her eye taking a fortifying breath. Think, Tala, think.

-Well, we know why the magics have stopped.- This meant it was almost definitely a bog hag.

Hopefully not more.

-They caught their prey.-

Tala shook her head. There’s no way we’re letting this stand.

There would be other creatures in-thrall to the arcanous humanoids. Even when they found the children, it was going to be a tough task to free them.

Her eyes snapped open, the beginnings of a plan coming together within her mind.

“Terry, I need you.” She raised her voice, then. “Alright, quiet!”

When the din of fearful conversation calmed down, Tala continued.

“Here’s what we’re going to do.”

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 201 - Found You

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Ben Morgan, ciaran mullen, Damon Roberts, Joshua Sydney, Maxine, Noelle, PatronTurtle, Pride mystic artificer, Sakari Saastamoinen

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala immediately helped to mobilize all units of the caravan guards, regardless of duty rotation. Together with the sergeants, they quickly organized a search-grid, sending the guards out in four groups of five, armed to the hilt. Each group also had flares to bring attention if the children were found or if backup was needed.

Ten more guards stayed back to guard the caravan with Mistress Odera, while all the passengers were made aware that they were to, under no circumstances, leave the space between the two wagons.

Blessedly, no one complained, and many were already huddled around the parents of the two missing boys: Jon and Tam.

The guards would be responsible for sweeping the grove directly around the wagons, and Tala with Terry and Marnin would check the countryside.

Marnin would take the larger swath, focusing east, west, and south, just in case. He was given this section partially because he could move faster in general with his given set of abilities and because with his lower magical weight, he could move faster without creating motive aura resonance.

The other reason he was sent in the more unlikely directions was simply that he was less well equipped for dealing with the creatures that would likely be involved.

Tala would be on Terry, and they were to sweep northward, in the most likely direction the children and bog hag went. Oh, stars provide it’s only one. One should only be able to have a few creatures under its thrall.

Tala looked to her friend, even as she popped two ending-seeds into her mouth. “Let’s go, Terry.”

The terror bird flickered into place under her, growing in size until she was comfortably situated behind his neck. He crouched low and took off at a dead sprint, weaving through the trees.

Tala immediately saw a build up of a motive aura echo. “A bit slower, Terry.” She grimaced in frustration. “Sorry.”

He slowed down, and the resonance faded.

She almost asked him to go on ahead to look for the children on his own, but that would be incredibly dangerous, even for Terry.

The terror bird had no defense against the subtle nudges employed by a bog hag, and the creatures were all known to be able to weaken, or even fully suppress, the magical ability of many arcanous creatures.

That was theorized to be a cornerstone of their ability to enthrall those same beasts.

Terry was monumentally powerful, but they just didn’t know to what extent he would be vulnerable.

It would not be safe for him to get close to them. They might just be able to remove much of his advantage. In the worst case, they might be able to enslave him, somehow. Now that would be a disaster.

Tala tried not to grind her teeth as she kept her focus tuned outward on the surrounding trees. Ending-berries in my mouth. Biting them unwittingly would be bad.

She moved the two bloodstars containing mirrors of perception for Alat around trees to either side to increase their field of view, just in case. The guards should be through here shortly, but she’d feel the fool if she passed the boys by and didn’t notice.

And what a blessing it would be to find the two hiding nearby.

Alat chimed in. -Their gates should be obvious, even through obscurement. But I agree, the wide field of view is still wise.-

They had no luck as they passed quickly through the trees. In fact, they found the first confirmation of the opposite just as they reached the edge of the grove.

A burn wolf howled before bounding up, lunging off of a tree to come at Tala from the side.

It was no bigger than a large dog but was much leaner in appearance. Its eyes glowed an ember red, and the tips of its fur were each a soft, luminescent yellow. Each hair was black despite the tip, and had an almost charcoal quality to their appearance. Even so, they still moved as fur would on a dog. The last thing that jumped out to Tala, upon quick inspection, was the trails of smoke rising from the lolling, fang-filled maw.

Tala drew Flow with her off-hand, holding it in a reverse grip.

She caught the leaping wolf with her right hand, while funneling power into Flow, shaping it into a glaive, which skewered the closest of the wolves closing in on them from the other side.

Large pack.

Her tungsten rod rotated and shot backward, catching another wolf mid-lunge like a bit in a horse’s mouth.

“Terry, quick death.”

Terry became a flickering storm.

Tala dropped to the ground, her mount gone.

She crushed the neck of the wolf that she had caught before tossing it aside, away from the trees.

Burn wolves had the habit of bursting into violent conflagrations, even after death, and she didn’t want the caravan to find itself in the middle of a mini-forest fire.

She had time to twist, transform Flow into a sword, and cut down two more lunging forms before the conflict was over.

The tungsten rod hadn’t slowed in its streaking path backwards, where it slammed the wolf it carried into a tree without slowing significantly. First, it unhinged the beast’s jaw, then continued. It crushed flesh and bone, moving in an almost perfectly straight line until it impacted the tree, no part of the wolf remaining in its way.

The rod then jammed downward, embedding into the wolf corpse before flicking it away from the tree line.

With a blurring spin, the metal implement shed the gore it had picked up. Now clean, it stopped just as quickly, rigidly vertical once more. From there, it returned to its resting position at a more leisurely pace, resembling the speed of a thrown rock rather than a crossbow bolt.

In those brief seconds, Terry had slain more than two dozen of the beasts, knocking their bodies away from the tree-line.

“This is too many. Bog hags don’t usually control whole packs.” Tala felt building concern for the boys, and the caravan as a whole.

-A coven? Bog hags have been known to function in family units, on occasion. When they do that, they can control larger groups of other creatures.-

Tala did not like anything that might imply, but it made sense. One bog hag would never venture this far from the northern swamps. A group, though? They just might be bold enough to try it.

Overhead, a circling shape drew her attention, though she didn’t turn her head to look.

What do you think the chances are that that blade-wing falcon is just out for an evening flight?

-Low.-

Another servant of the hags?

-Even if not, it’s worth bringing down.-

Agreed. Tala locked onto the creature, without ever setting her eyes upon it.

As she jumped back onto Terry’s back, and he took off once more, she activated her magics.

Crush.

The falcon overhead shrieked in surprise, already plummeting towards the earth.

Crush.

Even as the bird began flaring its own magic and straining its muscles, the second amplification hit home.

There was no recovering after that.

The large creature hit the ground with a meteoric impact, but Tala didn’t divert her attention as she scanned the land around them, Terry moving northward as fast as he could without creating a resonance with his passenger.

We should look east, closer to the mountains. The thought came subtly, and she almost voiced it to Terry before she noticed that Terry was already moving in that direction.

-Tala.-

Yeah. I noticed. She shook her head. We have to keep going due north, as fast as we can. “Keep northward, Terry.”

Terry trilled and changed his course back.

She considered for a moment, then shook her head. They wouldn’t have gone due north, we should scan to the west.

Again, she opened her mouth to speak, but Terry was already turning towards the west.

“Straight north, Terry. They’re trying to drive us off their trail.”

-There.- Alat brought Tala’s attention to the magic in the air. It was a ridiculously light touch. It couldn’t force anything at this level of power, but it was an effective nudge.

I probably would never have noticed it if Terry hadn’t started reacting, first.

-Yeah, even looking for it, I missed it at first.-

When they crested the next rise to the north, Tala almost screamed in surprise.

A thunderbull surged upward from where it had been waiting just over the top of the hill, crouched low.

Time seemed to slow as Tala’s eyes widened.

Power was already building, nearly to a crescendo around the bull’s body.

“Terry, away!” With her instant of warning, she expanded her aura to extend well beyond her body.

Terry flickered away just as a thigh-thick bar of lightning rammed down from the sky.

Tala was flung towards the ground, but mainly because her mount was gone once again.

Thankfully, this attack was nowhere near as powerful as the griffon’s attack had been, several months back, and she’d learned from that.

As the lightning entered her aura, she threw her magical weight against it. The lightning itself was being directly manipulated by magic, and that was the only reason she could sway it at all.

Natural lightning of this magnitude would have raked the entire hilltop with a scattershot of power, this was being harnessed and wrangled to hit her alone.

She broke the force which contained the lightning.

The energy shot outwards like the world’s brightest, most luminescent confetti, and Tala was knocked a step backward by the concussion of thunder that followed.

I’m coming to hate lightning.

Several strikes had still jumped to her, traveling down her iron paint, but they hadn’t even burnt away the portion that it had traveled through. Though, the material was hot to the point of burning her flesh beneath. At least, it would have been, if she hadn’t been full of ending-berry power, both from the juice and from her own scripts, which mirrored them so closely.

As it was, the greatest inconvenience was that her eyes were temporarily blinded, and she felt a little dazed from the flash and overpowering thunder that had come through both her mundane senses and those that she’d aspect-mirrored.

Next time drop the aspect mirroring and close your eyes.

-Hey, you did pretty good. Don’t beat yourself up over details.- After a moment’s hesitation, Alat added. -But, yeah. Those would be good things to change.-

Terry slew the bull before Tala recovered, even as quickly as she did, and he was back under her, growing to lift her into riding position before the bull hit the ground.

Its last effect on the world was a thunderous impact.

-Bad pun, Tala. No.-

My head hurts. Leave me my puns.

Terry was already speeding along the ridge, heading north-east as the most efficient path northward when she regained her faculties.

They had already covered more ground than the children could have hoped to cover in this time, were they on foot. So, they had to be close. Or they were taken by a blade-wing falcon and are already long gone.

Tala shook her head to clear the horrid thought.

No, not happening. She hesitated. Something was wrong.

There had to be something she was missing.

Think Tala, think… Think!

The ridgeline. Why were they going along the ridgeline? She’d asked Terry to go due north.

-There it is.- Alat brought Tala’s focus to another working of magic, and she shouted to Terry.

“Into the valley, now!” She also nudged him to turn left.

But they were greeted with an empty valley, save for some tall bushes.

Do we search all the bushes?

-Tala. The magic is still there. Something is terribly wrong. I think we’re missing something critical.-

Tala stopped, took a deep breath and cleared her mind. They are working magic. Her eyes snapped open, and she swept the surroundings with her dual perspective, instructing Alat to do the same.

They were looking for subtle inconsistencies in the zeme of the world around them. The currents of magic should be uniform and predictable but… THERE!

Back near the grove there was something wrong. It was in a valley just to the east of where she’d come out, as evident by the still smoking bodies of the burnt wolves.

The zeme was too calm, like the eye of a hurricane.

As soon as Tala locked her focus on it, a horrific screech arose from the depths of that valley, and it was as if a sheet was torn away.

“Terry, as fast as you can. Get me over there!"

Terry crouched low and practically rocketed back the way they had come, much, much faster than they’d come this way.

Tala practically blazed with power as her speed instantly created a motive aura resonance, which continued to build, shouting her power to the world.

She didn’t care.

Climbing up the hill towards the grove was a small army of monsters.

Don’t exaggerate, Tala. There’s only about a hundred of the beasts.

What had, a moment before, seemed an empty hillside was now speckled with dozens of burn wolves, terror birds of differing elements, hearth snatchers, rock spiders the size of a horse, and other minor arcanous creatures.

It had been a clever tactic.

Steal children to force a search. That way, the defenders would be spread out. Ideally, the strongest could be nudged to be even further before the true attack came.

They plan on taking everyone.

Then, as Tala and Terry came closer at incredible speed, she saw them. At the base of the hill, still nearly a quarter of a mile away, six stooped figures surrounded a wide flat hillock, on which two bodies were laid out.

"NO!” Tala pulled out a flare, and fired it off, signaling that she’d found the boys and that the danger was to more than herself and them.

She didn’t let herself focus on her goal, instead she focused on that which was in her way. She tried to lock onto the hags, but their features, and locations kept shifting subtly.

-Illusion. Not mental this time.-

So, there might be more, or fewer?

-Exactly, and they might not be exactly where they seem.-

Are we sure they’re down there at all?

-Yes, the source is in the same area as the illusion look: there, there, and here.- Alat drew Tala’s focus to various aspects of the illusion and the surrounding magics, along with the general pattern of the zeme of their surroundings as a whole.

All right. It’s a fight, then.

The hags screeched at her, and the sound, even as distant as they were, hit her like a physical blow, the magic around her ears fighting to keep it from getting to her.

Terry flinched, letting out a sound of his own that was disturbingly close to a whimper before he seemed to buckle down and increase his speed all the more.

Tala was a flaming beacon of resonant power as they crossed the last hundred yards.

The creatures that had been advancing on the trees turned at the sound of their masters’ calls, facing the new threat and charging, their own challenges added to the hags’ cries.

Terry leapt high in the last moments, then flickered away, engaging the closest enthralled creatures as Tala dropped on to the nearest hag…only to pass right through the illusion.

Enough! Tala threw her aura wide, filling it with as much of her magical weight as she could.

It felt like her body was slammed by a dozen sledgehammers, but she endured, wrenching control over the zone around her from her enemies.

The illusion shattered, and Tala was left facing ten bog hags, all with their hands raised in her direction.

Power slammed through her eyes, overwhelming the defenses there instantly and driving into her mind.

-I’ve got this.- Alat took the brunt of the attack, which felt like a cold-chisel being driven into Tala’s orbital cavities. The alternate interface let out a pained, whining grunt, but her goal had been accomplished.

Tala’s mind was mostly uninhibited.

With fury in her eyes, Tala instantly saw which of the hags had the most power flowing through them.

Crush.

The central creature dropped to the ground, squealing in surprise. Like a gutted pig.

That lessened the strain on Alat, and together, they quickly targeted more, going for incapacitation on a wide scale before killing them.

Though, as Tala enacted Crush over and over again sweeping through her enemies, she sprinted towards their dropping forms.

Flow will end them before they can recover. In that vein, she threw the knife forward, sending power into it to reshape it into a sword even as it tumbled towards her enemies.

It beheaded the lead hag and was already being pulled back to her hand as the last of the hags collapsed under the influence of Tala’s Crush.

The thralls were going mad, and Tala had to slow her headlong rush to deal with frothing wolves, screeching terror birds, chittering spiders, and other creatures that had gotten around Terry to charge her.

In her other perspective, Tala could see Terry flickering through the mass of gathered foes, eviscerating them even as they sought to overwhelm him with the sheer volume of their power.

Unfortunately, it seemed to be working.

Tala didn’t know if the savage intelligence of the hags was specifically directing the beasts or if they were just well coordinated in some other manner, but the arcanous creatures were filling the valley with hostile power to the point that Terry had very few places that he could go without immediately sustaining injuries.

Still, he wove and slashed, finding holes in the defense and filling the low ground with torrents of blood.

But he wasn’t perfect.

Even at this distance, Tala could see burned feathers and cuts on her friend’s flesh.

He had taken more damage in the last minute than she’d seen him take in total through the entirety of their time together.

She needed to help him, and the best way to do that was to end the threat of the hags. If the beasts were still fighting with their masters gone, Tala and Terry would have a bloody conflict to face together, but she needed the chief devils gone, first.

That in mind, she continued to hurtle Flow at the hags and call it back, killing at least one hag with each toss. As she did that, she had to fight the enthralled with her fists, feet, and bloodstars. She was even able to crack the ending-seeds and exhale dissolution power into two different foes as she fought forward. Maybe a second weapon wouldn’t be a bad idea after all…

Even as her advance was slowed by the tide of lesser creatures, she and Flow reaped a harvest of death among the hags. Those enemies fought futilely to return to their feet and died in the attempt.

Less than two minutes after Terry had flickered away, Tala slew the last hag, and it was as if a wave of something passed through the assembled arcanous creatures.

They froze in place en masse for one horrifying instant, then with shrieks, and chitters, and yowls, and bellows, the animals scattered in every direction, save towards the trees. There were already noises of charging men and women coming from that direction.

Exhausted, Tala turned back towards the rocky rise on which she’d seen the two boys, even as Terry flickered to her shoulder. The terror bird was favoring one leg, smoke rising from still smoldering feathers around several burned patches of flesh.

“We’ll get you seen to as soon as we can.” But her mind was on the low hillock as she raced over.

She already knew what she’d find, but she refused to let it sink in.

As soon as she could clearly see what lay atop the rise, she slowed, color draining from her face, and her chest tightening.

The two boys lay stretched out, their shirts stripped from them, their throats slit.

She’d known as soon as she’d seen them. They’d had no gates.

Now, their bodies lay before her, dead for too short a time to even have cooled off.

Even so, there was no blood around them, indicating they’d been killed elsewhere and brought here.

They were killed as soon as they were taken, weren’t they… It wasn’t a question, but Alat answered anyways.

-So it would seem.-

* * *

She was joined by a host of guards and Marnin shortly thereafter, and she updated them on what had happened.

The boys' bodies were already in Kit, and the pouch had never felt heavier.

It was a long trek back to the caravan.

The sobs and wails of the boys’ parents, when Tala had presented them with the bodies along with her regrets, would haunt her nightmares for years.

The clearing was somber that night as everyone was faced with the stark reality of the dangers that they were all too aware of, even if just in concept.

Mistress Odera tended to Terry’s injuries, and sat in consoling silence with Tala for the entire time.

Tala was grateful for the woman’s presence, even more so that she didn’t press. Instead of talking, Tala wrote up her reports, and passed them to Mistress Odera before volunteering to take the first shift on watch.

She couldn’t imagine sleeping, with her mind still filled with images of those dead boys.

The older Mage asked if she wanted to talk, but Tala had asked to wait until morning. “I need time to process this.”

The woman had smiled sadly, then nodded, granting the request of first watch.

They discussed the need to move the caravan, due to Tala’s aura resonance, but they both agreed that it was such a short burst that it shouldn’t be an issue, not this close to Arconaven.

That city was less than a dozen miles away, after all.

They’d almost made it…

Tala sat up, late into the night, watching over the caravan.

Just as midnight was approaching, and with it the end of Tala’s shift, a form appeared beside her, seemingly from out of thin air.

Tala had no time to react as Revered power seized her without effort, locking her in place physically and magically. The air was practically drowning in the deep blue of her foe’s aura.

Fear gripped her down to her soul. Alat was gone, frozen just as Tala’s mind and magic were. Her bloodstars couldn’t move, her very soul was under someone else’s power.

A too-white grin spread across the arcane’s face, satisfaction as plain in his features as the blood-red of his eyes.

Within the stillness of both body and mind, Tala heard a horrifyingly familiar voice, the tone somehow bringing to mind images of blood, “Found you.”

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

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N., tachi-kawa, Taliesin , Talion, Tangyorange, Taras Gordiyenko, Tate Browder, Teee , Temon_Oak, ThÃ©o, Thaco4 , Thanks to Alex Jones for my new gender, gremlin wraith, theend , TheFool, TheLazerCat , Thernn , Thomas, Thomas Christie, Thomas Goyne, Thomas Payne, Thomas Stewart, Thortinshire, ThreatLvlPurple , Thuss, Tim , Tim Spronck, Timothy Burago, tlove, TNkdI6FVB1NhjNqt , Toad , Tom, Tom Clough-Macready, Tom Pulk, Tom Roettger, TomÃ¡Å¡ BlÃ¡bol, TorbjÃ¸rn Nilsen, Traian, Travis McHenry, Travis McIntosh, Tristan Griffin, Troy Fox, TurmRIC, twigthe1st , TwistedToaster, Tyler, Tyler Babcock, Tyrone Thomas, Tzucaza ., user754595, Vaulex, Veit Arzberger, Vervacitus , Vexdt, Victoria, Victory Udoh, Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, Vikram Ahluwalia, Vincent Sloan, Viria , voltic, Vroom , W , Walter , WarNachos, Weppsu, werotan, Wesley , Wesley Ervin, Whisper, WhisperInTheVoid, Will C, Will Iam, William Davis, William Fullerton, William Priess, william wallace, Wundermelon, X Y, Xaim , Xavier Lamphere, xIron Gamerx, xtrnet, Xynee, Yemisi Mcmullen, Yenin , Yrom, Z. Cs., Zach Adams, Zach Wilson, zachary gafken, Zanthras, znarken, Zrell

Mage:

Aaron Lewis, al , Al Bi, Alex Scriber, Alexander Belousov, Anton Selling, Austin Rasmussen, Barrie Davis, Brett Muras, Caillin McKay, Carl Clements, Chris Olsen, CJ Bates, Cody Caliguiri, Colton Rutherford, Cory Ellis, Cybernetic Angel, David, Daydeus, Deneas , Digdug, Dustin , Eciefae4, Eole Salmon, Eric Staind, Eric Trombly, Eric Wharton, Error, Fabian , Fabian BÃ¤cker, Finn Freudenberg, Ford Yeager, Gemyma, Gert Wallis, Gleadge, GopherAtl, Gurditt Mangat, Ian Anderson, Ilya Katz, Irakli Jishkariani, Ischariot, Jacob, jacob britt, James , James Hadfied, James Knight, Jamison Schneider, Jan, Jan Finger, Jason Case, JauPim, Javier David Aros NuÃ±ez, Jeremy , Jeremy Leonard, Jonathan Gough, Jonny, Jorge Khouzam Filho, Josh , Josh Turple, Joshua John Wallace, Justin George, Karl Lomp, Karma Anor, Lasse Pedersen, Lee Wilson, Leon Silva, Leonhard MÃ¼nzer, Linkneo5 , Lorcogoth, Lupusregina , mallix , Marcus148 , Mathias Schwendimann, Mathieu Deg, Matteo Pimentel, Max Oberg, Max Weidmer, MeatyLock , Michael , Michael Anaya, Michael Bradet-Legris, Michael F., NebulaeDreamz, Nefraak , Nicco merritt, Nicholas Kelly, Not Real, Patrick Cole, Paul Jones, Pedro Lopes, Pigeon F, prateek choudhary, Raistlin , Red, Sage, santor25, Scott Holt, Setaria, Sharrod Brathwaite, Sid_Cypher , SirGuy , SnowingSilently, Stormblessed , SZ, Tao Wong, Taylor , ToffiTee, Two Cats, ulrik aaby, Varko, Yasin Bari, Zellcos

Mageling:

acrasa , Akiven, Alexander Graber-Tilton, Alternative Facet, AndromedaStar, Aren , Austin McGue, Bamboocha, ben , Benedikt K, Benjamin Buco, BurnNote, Cassano , Charles, chimerarara, Chris K, d.s, DÃ¡niel MarkÃ³, Dancebot, Daniel , DANTE, Dave Burkett, David H, Delilah, derek giandolfi, DinnerTime, emphes , Eyke, Eythan Hayashi, Faris Bissex, Frozen, geraint juinor, GSH, HÃ¥vard , Hallan Savage, Hamo4, Harris, Henrik Runestig, industriousrevolution , Isaac Larkin, Ivan schroder, Ivo Havener, Jeff berman, Jens Wasielewski, Jensebaum , Jesse, Joost Boere, Joseph White, Judy Halloran, KB , Kevin O'donnell, Kirsty , Kristen Campbell, Kuro_Neko , Liam Hortenstine, Lonewolf, Lorenzo Ragni, lucca C., Luka Lageschaar, Matei Bulgariu, Matt DiMeo, Michael kim, moniker, Moreldarin, Muspellsheimr, Nick, nick v, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, oeser_chr, OmegaHebrew, Pawaidan, pope benedict, Pyrite, Reminder, Richard Heying, Robert Rosenthal, Rousseauj-charles , S , Sam Mullen, Sean Hinton, Seth Wilson, Skape, Skelethin , SomethingWicked , Stefan Rabenstein, Sven Paulson, Thjagi, Tombur , Trevor Burns, ttuurrhh , WanderingArchitect, Zehn

Inscribed:

Alastair Dent, Anks , Ari Mononen, Benjamin Piribauer, Bizzy Sea, Chase128, Chris , Christopher Cha, Daniel Houle, Dax, Dennis Bollyn, Diana Kelly, Dycrisis , Dylan, Dylan Eilerman, EmissaryOfZork , Eric Mueller, Federico Petrin, George Lanetz, Harley Waldstein, Isaac Fratti, James A. Hunter, Jan Salava, Jared Brewster, Jonathan , LÃ©o Viarouge, Leivd Email, Moses Lambert, Mqrius, N. A., nikrowd , Paul Lorenz, PeM, qq , Reece Zieschang, Ross Doyle, Sam Ford, ShadowCub , Tandroll, Taweriot , Thunderfist, Trevor Walker, Tytus Turczynski, Wacjob , Waffleman

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Chapter: 202 - Blood

A note from JLMullins

Important Note:

This is the introduction and set-up for the next major arc.

Please hold initial speculations loosely and read all the way through to the end of this chapter.

Tali woke up early, before the false sun had brightened to announce the coming of a new day.

With a thought and a flick of her magic, her nightwear retracted into a band around her neck, beneath her saorsa-collar.

With a simple aspect-mirror, she pulled the magical effects of her clothing that allowed it to be self-cleaning onto herself. She did a few little hops, and circular movements of her appendages, before bending forwards and shaking out her hair.

She pulled her comb from her side table and ran it through her hair, only needing one stroke per section of hair to detangle it and get the last vestiges of unwanted things from among the strands. She then braided it starting near her left temple, going across the back of her head, and ending at the base of her neck on the right side, so that the braid would hang over her right shoulder.

This was a familiar routine, so there wasn’t very much dust or grime to rid herself of. Still, she felt cleaned and refreshed after the short ablutions.

Tali flicked out her magic once more into the band around her neck, not the collar, and it grew into her standard outfit: a set of blood-red leathers, molded to her form, but by no means tight or restrictive. They were more modest than those that some other Eskau wore.

You’re not one, yet, Tali. Don’t get ahead of yourself.

For some reason, she paused, as if awaiting a response, but one never came.

Of course not, fool. You’re not speaking. She shook her head. It was one of the unfortunate artifacts of her accident that still lingered, even so many months later.

Her cleansing and dressing done, she took a moment to look over her surroundings.

She was in a plain room, just as she liked it.

Quick motions left her bed neatly made, and ready for her to return that night.

The bed was firm with a simple blanket atop the straw mattress.

The House’s holding didn’t ever get truly cold, so more wasn’t really needed. Not that I would need more blankets, even if it did.

She pulled her dimensional pouch, her bloodstar rack, and protian weapon from her bedside table and put them on her belt. The weapon and pouch hung to counterbalance each other and her bloodstars went across her low back.

Getting ahead of yourself again, Tali. It’s not a protian weapon, and Master’s choice ensured it never would be.

Even so, she hung the morphic weapon from her belt.

It could change shape as all protian weapons could, but true representatives of those glorious creations could take the form of any melee weapon, as well as near infinite variations there-in, hers could only assume the shape of three.

Protian weapons were also all vestiges, each containing and powered by a human soul to ensure that the Eskau that wielded them were never without magic to bring about the will of their Masters.

But, instead of crafting me into such a weapon, and finding a warrior to wield me, Master broke tradition, and chose me as both weapon and wielder.

He had lifted her from one sacred duty to another, one beyond even the dreams of her kind.

And then she’d been injured.

Courage, Tali.

A simple blow to the head had scrambled her mind, fractured her memories, and set her training back significantly, when the Master’s trial was so close. The healing hadn’t even been complicated, but the warrens of the mind were labyrinthine, and the healers, and even Master himself, had not been able to restore her fully.

She shook herself, leaving her windowless room behind.

She had no need to lock the door.

Even if she kept anything in the room itself, no one would violate another’s space within the House’s hold. Even her Master’s greatest opponents within the House wouldn’t break that taboo.

Even if I am a human. Even if my very existence violates tradition and my every footfall in this place pushes up against propriety.

She turned her thoughts back to her training as she took the short walk through the water gardens to get to her training platform.

There, among the life and beauty of the garden and surrounded by water, was a stone circle that was twenty feet across.

Tali had to cross a bridge to reach the stone, one of several that connected around the circumference.

Several trees grew up from the water between the bridges to offer some shade to the space, regardless of how the false sun was used to bathe the hold with light.

She was just grateful that her magics allowed her to see well-enough to navigate in the dark of simulated night.

In the cool of the early morning, as the sky began to brighten, Tali moved through her stretches, then strengthening exercises, and then onto her morphic weapon techniques.

She both hated and loved going through the forms.

She loved them, because she should have been forbidden from learning them. They were a treasured set of sacred techniques designed specifically for use with morphic weapons. The Way of Flowing Blood was restricted to the Pillars of the House, their Eskau, and those who were to be tested for one of those positions.

Even being able to see them would have been an honor, and she had been granted the honor of learning them, herself.

She hated the forms for two reasons. First, she did not have a true protian weapon, thus the techniques had needed to be modified for her to use them with her own morphic weapon. What she had learned was a broken, cobbled-together imitation of the true beauty laying forever outside her reach.

Second, ever since her accident, the movements had felt unfamiliar, like she was trying to control someone else’s body. Only now, nearly six months after the blow to her head, was she finally back to a state of feeling in control as she moved through the liquid stances, blocks, and strikes.

The Way of Flowing Blood was a thing of near-sovereign mastery, requiring movements that no unenhanced being could possibly hope to use effectively, just as it utilized the morphic weapon in a way that no mundane weapon could ever stand in for. Though, in her case the weapon was more limited than ideal.

Still, she did have one advantage that no other Eskau had ever held.

As her body settled into the rhythm of the techniques, her bloodstars rose from her belt, moving in complement with her physical form.

I may not have a protian weapon, but I am not lesser.

Aside from the single drop which she used to give herself the equivalent of eyes in the back of her head, the remainder of her thirteen bloodstars were embedded in groups of three within three round discs of an unknown material, as well as a single within a sphere and two within a rod of tungsten.

Master had provided the housings when he’d come that fateful day. He’d provided so much then and even more since.

She let her mind wander as she used the combat techniques as a form of meditation.

She had been ready to become a fount, bound within her soul-bound weapon in more ways than one. She would have become the power source within a protian weapon, a thing of legend, which would have defended the Master and added to the glory of the House for millennia. She could not have conceived of a greater honor.

Her imagination had been lacking.

He had not only offered to raise her to Bound, and then to Fused, but he had asked if she wished to be trained up to be his Eskau, his enforcer, the hand that brought about his will both within and outside of the house.

She had wept with joy.

No human had ever even been given the chance to become such.

It had been more than that, though. A Pillar of the House was only raised to that position, if their chosen Eskau was proven worthy. The potential Pillar's greatest test was whom they put forward, both in the quality of the protian weapon, and the skill of the Eskau who wielded it. He had chosen her for both.

She would not let him down.

She had dedicated her every waking moment to rising to equal his faith in her.

But then, the accident.

She winced internally, but held perfect form, not pausing in her fluid movements. Her discs, the rod, and ball, all moved around her in perfect harmony with her body, protecting the largest holes in her defenses, which would otherwise be exposed by each technique.

As she reached the end of the final form, her body singing with the pleasure of the kinesthetics of the movements, she heard light clapping.

In horror, she felt the color drain from her face.

She could see him, now, obvious in her perspective through her bloodstar, floating near the base of her skull.

She spun, dropping into a kneeling bow. “Master. My apologies for keeping you waiting.”

“Your apology is acceptable.” His voice was wonderful, a joy to her ears. It reminded her, somehow, of the sound that the blood of their enemies would make as it flowed across a dry riverbed.

“You are kind, Master.”

“And you are wise to recognize that. Lift your head.”

Tali did so.

“It is time for breakfast, and there is something we must discuss.”

Her heart hammered within her chest, one thought dominating her mind. How will he let me serve him, today?

The Master clapped his hands twice, and servants came forward, bearing heaping trays of food.

Tali could easily see the power radiating from each dish, even if not each servant.

Only one of the servants was human, and he was gateless, beneath notice. Still, he bore her pitcher of ending-berry juice, so she allowed him to approach and set it beside her.

The other servants were a mix of Low races, called such for how difficult it was for them to draw in and maintain magical power. Even such as they were, they were still above the gateless human.

She once would have taken time to identify each one, reveling in their uniqueness, but she was a long way from her upbringing. After all, she had been born with a gate, a gift from the sovereigns themselves. That had been her ticket away from her humble beginnings.

It was her gate and the Master’s benevolence that had brought her here.

She hid a contemptuous smile, keeping her face appropriately neutral.

These creatures were beneath her, in truth.

Where they would struggle to draw in power, she created it.

Where they would lose their magical density almost as soon as they left a region with high amounts of power, Tali could contain and increase her magical weight even in zones of absolutely no magic.

Simply put, she was better than them.

And the Master was higher still. As her eyes flicked to him, checking to ensure she didn’t displease him with a gesture or glance, she marveled at the wells of power he so casually carried with him.

He was easily capable of hiding any from prying eyes, but she could still see three vestiges, displayed for any with the eyes to see.

A glove, on his left hand; an undershirt, beneath his tunic; and the light boots on his feet all radiated power.

Tali’s one regret about her elevation to potential Eskau was with the knowledge now, when her service was complete, she would never be able to become a source of power, within a vestige. My service will one day come to an end.

She hated the very idea, even while she gloried in the opportunity she had to serve, now.

When the food was laid out around her, the servants departed without a sound.

Tali took a moment to take in the spread. The meats came from creatures of magic known for their physicality. The fruits and grains from plants that held magics complementary to her own.

Everything laid out before her would make her better, more than she could be without the added might.

Such were the continued blessings bestowed upon her by her Master.

Without a word from her Master, Tali began to eat.

He nodded approvingly; he had no patience for dallying. Besides, the food would lose power by the minute, if she delayed.

“Good, good. You are still recovering well. I am gratified to see that you have finally settled into the Way of Flowing Blood.”

Truthfully, it had finally felt natural for nearly a week now, but it was of little consequence. So, she felt no need to correct him.

Even so, it was a reminder of how far she’d fallen before her recovery. She did her best not to wince and nodded her thanks.

“I am grateful for this, as a date for the next clash of candidates has been set.”

Tali froze at that, swallowing and then taking a quick drink of ending-juice to clear her mouth. “Master?”

“Tomorrow.” His true black skin bunching up as he sneered. “They thought to unbalance us with last minute notice, but you will perform as I need you to.”

“Yes, Master.” She went back to eating, all while keeping her attention fixed on him so as to not miss a word.

“The other potential pillars will be arriving today with their Eskau candidates. I think it best if you are not within the hold when they arrive. They should not try anything…unworthy of themselves, but I’d rather not risk it. You will return this evening for the feast, and tomorrow, you will fight the five others. As you know, the dominant Eskau will earn their master a place as a Pillar of our House.”

She knew that all too well. The candidates were allowed to use any method to gain mastery. Diplomacy, both beforehand and in the ring, were encouraged as a true Eskau needed such skills to be effective.

In the past, such clashes had been solved by games of strategy, clashes of wit, or other games of skill, though that was rare, because it was a rare warrior who would trust their fate to anything but the blade.

In truth, the losers didn’t have to die. In fact, those who were beaten, or who surrendered, were often added to the followers of the victor. In that case, the master of the candidate was usually offered a position under the new House pillar. But that was not always the case, and the losers were always at the mercy of the victor, no matter how such a victor came to be so named.

Tali had no delusions of surrender and peaceful service being an option for her, or her Master.

Not only was it her Master’s wish that she claim utter victory at any cost, but her existence would not be tolerated if she failed. It would barely be tolerated even if she succeeded, but she could secure her Master a lauded position as a Pillar at the very least, regardless of how her own status was perceived.

Tomorrow would be final victory or painful death.

Finally. I can finally live up to my purpose.

“Now,” his voice pulled her back to the present moment, “how is your head, today?”

Tali did shrink in on herself at that question, even if just a bit. “I am well. I’ve not had any pain, nor has the monitoring script activated.” It was a great shame to her that Master had been forced to add scripts to monitor her consciousness after the accident. Even worse, they had been fundamentally integrated with her mental enhancements. They could never be removed.

She would carry those marks of her failure, forever.

Power did flow through the script, but it was in a dormant state. Master had explained that any lapse of consciousness, save falling asleep, would trigger it, and given her shaky health, that would likely mean that her service was at an end.

She would do anything to prevent that script from activating.

“Good. Any odd memories, or lapses in your understanding?”

“No, Master. Does that mean you can remove your working?” There, nestled within her mind was a powerful spell-form, enacted by her Master rather than being an additional inscription set within her own flesh.

It contained a massive amount of knowledge that she should have, but which was made suspect by the accident. Whenever she encountered a situation where her knowledge was lacking, that working would provide the information she needed to not embarrass her Master or the House.

She hated it.

Like so many things of late, it was a constant reminder of her failure, and she strove, daily, to fill in the gaps, which should never have been there.

Master shook his head. “No. It will remain. I built it to come apart when you have no more gaps to fill. Then, and only then, will I consider you fully recovered.”

“Yes, Master.” She quietly resolved to increase her studies, to end the need as soon as possible.

“Finish up. We must reinscribe you, and then you will spend the day in the city.”

She nodded and began to eat once more instead of replying verbally.

In order to honor Master’s time, Tali stopped breathing and simply ate as fast as she could stuff the food down. Her inscriptions would handle it from there, and they were about to be refreshed, so that wasn’t an issue.

In less than five minutes, she polished off the last of the feast. She returned her breathing to normal at that point. While she didn’t require breath, it did use her inscriptions to go without, so she kept up the habit when reasonable.

Without need of instruction, Tali stood, commanding her clothing to retract back into the band around her neck, below the saorsa-collar.

Her pouch, bloodstar storage, and morphic weapon fell to the stone.

She lifted her arms and held them straight out before she spread her feet so that they were shoulder width apart.

With a flex of will and power, she deactivated the inherent protection within her garments. The magically created defense was such that it would protect her, regardless of how much, or how little, of her body the clothing covered.

The final requirement for her to fulfill was to manage her magic. First, she pulled all of her power out of her scripts and stoppered her gate. Then, she had to take all the magic that she had just consumed and hold it in suspension.

Master used to do the reinscribing before she ate, but that changed as she recovered, and now it was a test and training in one.

“Be Reinscribed.” With a casual motion, her Master flicked his hand forward and gold wire streamed seemingly out of nowhere, though Tali knew it came from Master’s dimensional storage.

Silver and copper joined the gold, but in far smaller quantities.

As the wires approached her, they branched out, each branch getting smaller and smaller, until each was the size needed. In some cases, that was so thin that she couldn’t see the filament even with her enhanced vision.

Then, the pain came.

All across her body, the metal breached her skin. It was only by Master’s magic that it could do so. Even without active power running through her, her body was enhanced to the point that it took a lot to cause her harm.

But now, she was being pierced in uncountable places all at once; no part of her spared.

It was only through monumental discipline and self-control that she kept all parts of herself from moving, any muscle from tensing.

Master was simply following the inscriptions that were already in place, so there was no chance of error, assuming she didn’t move.

So, she didn’t.

If she’d been asked, she’d have assured the asker that her Master’s magic didn’t need her to stay perfectly still, but he’d asked her to try the first time he’d inscribed her, and so she’d made it her mission to be as perfect in following the request as possible.

In less than a minute, it was done.

Her skin was covered with a sheen of sweat and blood, but as she released her power, her body healed nearly instantly. Blessedly, none of the damage was too extensive, so it only took a couple of days’ worth of energy and nutrition from her reserves. I’ll make that back up with lunch.

A quick aspect-mirror and a few hops caused the blood and sweat to fall free, leaving her clean once more.

“Come.” Master turned and walked away, not glancing back to ensure she obeyed. She couldn’t help a small smile from blossoming across her face at his confidence in her obedience.

As she scooped up her items and returned them to her belt, she briefly noticed the blood-splattered, dirty remains of her feast. I hope they clean this up before I get back.

Without another thought, she followed after, her clothing regrowing as she walked.

She knew their destination. To go out into the city, she would need a key-ring. It was a familiar requirement and process, but she still stayed a step behind her Master, flanking him on his left.

He didn’t correct her, so she knew that she’d chosen correctly, and her smile grew.

Of course, they went to the armory.

As the heavily inscribed doors opened, power flooded outward in a wave.

The two of them stepped inside quickly, closing the door behind them to keep the power as contained as reasonable.

With the odd woosh-click of a sealing airlock, Tali and her Master were sealed within.

She glanced around. While she couldn’t come here whenever she wished, she’d come often enough that it no longer made her knees weak to behold the wealth of the House.

Nearly every item within this sacred vault was a vestige, powered by an honored soul who would serve the House of Blood for eternity.

Tali winced internally, losing some of her smile with the thought that she would never be among them. Her service would, one day, end. Master made his choice, and I will honor it. There is no turning back now.

They walked past a rack of non-morphic weapons, though they were anything but mundane. Each held immense power, and each was a deterrent to their foes, to be wielded by trusted guards in the case of an armed conflict.

Pieces and suits of armor filled one wall on carefully organized racks, most were single items powered by a single soul, but one suit stood separate, each piece was powered individually. Regalia of War.

A House was measured based on how many elite warriors it could bring to battle at need. The House of Blood could field twenty, though only one came from this branch, from this hold.

And Master will become the second, tomorrow. She would make it so.

In a side room, items of a non-violent nature were housed, including the key-rings for the hold.

“Taigh, we need one copper key-ring.”

The column in the corner of this side room flared to life. Within it was a fount of tremendous power, nurtured for millennia, slowly having its flowrate expanded until it could be the heart and literal soul of this hold.

The column contained the inscribed, pseudo-intelligent interface, which governed the magics of the hold.

“Greetings, Be-thric, potential Pillar. Authority recognized. Whom do you wish to bind the key-ring to? It would be useless for you, unless you then gave up your gold.”

“The ring is for this one.” Master pointed to Tali.

“Understood.”

A side case opened, and a copper ring floated out.

Tali extended her hand as she knew was needed, and the ring slipped onto it, tightening to match her finger’s size. The result was that the ring was wider than it had begun, but now it would not come off without the removal of the digit.

Magic flared and inscriptions appeared, impressed into the inside of the copper, against her skin.

“Request complete.”

Master turned to Tali. “Begone. Do as you please until third bell after noon, then return to attend me for the feast.”

She bowed low. “As my Master commands.”

They exited the armory together, then went their separate ways.

Tali strode with purpose through the hold.

Low race servants scampered out of her way, Mid races bowed at her passage, and Tali, herself bowed to and stepped aside for the High race members of the House.

Each has a place, and in our place, we thrive.

One way or another, after tomorrow, she would bow to no one save the Pillars ever again.

She came to the massive front gate of the hold and held up her key-ring.

The magic defending and sealing the entrance recognized the authority of the device, and opened for her, allowing her to exit through a small, person-sized door set into one side of the gate.

She quickly dove into the magic of her clothing, and guided it to form the crest of the House of Blood on her upper, left chest. She surrounded it with a copper braid to denote her status as a candidate. With that done, and a deep breath, Tali stepped out of the hold, and into the District of Doors.

The street wasn’t crowded, but it was far from empty. A large part of that was how tightly compacted the population was in this, wealthiest of districts within the city of Platoiri.

Here, the Houses had their holds, and the wealth of each House was displayed by how large they were able to afford to have their door.

The door for the House of Blood’s hold was the largest within three blocks, the other doors around them leading to the holds of minor houses, merchants, or even master craftsmen that either were allied with the House of Blood, or who were hoping to be.

The power was palpable in the air, even though each hold would have been made as efficient as possible. The net result of so much magic being used in close proximity made this the most magic-dense part of the city. Hence its prestige.

Tali grinned to herself at the circular nature of the thing. More doors meant more power, which made the district more desirable, so more people wanted to have their holds there.

We are a funny lot.

She turned and walked towards the market district and food. No need to wait until lunch.

As she walked, she moved the power within her, gathered through her breakfast. She guided it to overlay the matching scripts within her, reinforcing and augmenting their enhancement of her physicality.

The ending-berry power was especially intoxicating as it rendered her nearly invincible, though it was notoriously less than reliable in defending the integrity of a brain.

Ancient humans had used ending-berry power to foment several rebellions, and so she’d been reluctant to use the power due to the association, but Master had insisted that it was too useful a tool to ignore. She had, of course, acquiesced.

The people moving around her were of uncounted races. There were beast folk of all kinds and hue folk of all shades, as well as others that didn’t fit as nicely into broad categories. The races she could see ranged from Low to High, though they all appeared similar to her magic-sight in the dense power of the District of Doors.

She even saw a few humans, though they stuck to the sides of the road, staying out of everyone else’s way. None had gates.

She was the only gated human she’d ever seen in person, outside the shaping ground.

Gated humans were the most honored of servants to the houses, but that honor brought with it very tightly regulated responsibility. She was unique.

Unfortunately, that meant that a lot of others noticed her, and stared at her, wherever she went.

Her obvious house crest kept most trouble away, but most creatures didn’t have the perception to see her as anything other than simply human.

It was a short walk to the near-edge of the market district. The proximity of all the amenities was another benefit to the District of Doors.

In the center of the market district stood the city’s core.

More than a thousand founts, bound together and cultivated to empower the city and all the services that it provided.

Beautiful.

Tali couldn’t help but stare in awe at the monument to magical advancement.

Unfortunately, today it was marred by a group of gateless humans, wearing rags, scrubbing the street clean.

It was meaningless, demeaning labor, reserved for those who had tried to upset the status-quo. That close to the city’s founts, magic could clean the streets without any loss to anyone.

Tali looked away in shame. How could any of her people, however distantly related, not see the place of honor that humans held in society?

Nothing in modern life would function without the gift of service gated-humans offered.

Fools.

It seemed like some others shared her views, even if not her reaction to them.

There were some hecklers, and a few people got rough with the humans, but since they never fought back the aggressors usually moved on quickly. There were laws, after all. One couldn’t go around beating the defenseless.

And the law considers anyone of a lower race to be defenseless before those of the upper.

Still, all violence wasn’t prohibited. That would just be unreasonable. Over the top abuse was curbed, and since the humans weren’t fighting back, anything more than a few bruises or broken bones would have been dealt with harshly.

Order must be maintained.

Shaking her head, Tali approached a rather busy food stall, working her way through the crowd to place her order, passing over a few coins before accepting a massive platter of meat.

Those around her gawked at what she was carrying away, but no one stopped her. At least not until a large, teal skinned man stepped in her way. Unfortunate color, that.

Still, he hadn’t picked his birth, and the hue folk came in all shades.

Regardless, it seemed like she was going to have the opportunity to demonstrate the power of her house once again. It was quite common for something like this to happen whenever she went into the city. Her rank in the House of Blood, along with her obvious humanity, made her look like an easy target to bring shame to her House. It was occasionally inconvenient but hardly new or difficult to deal with.

I do wish they’d waited until after I ate to challenge me.

“Getting food for the other rabble, girl?” His voice was smooth, like ocean waves on a shallow beach.

What? She glanced down. She was indeed carrying enough food for a large group, but it was all for her. She also noticed that her burden was blocking the sigil on her chest. That changed the situation. “No, I-”

“Are you correcting me, filth?” He went to push her, but she fluidly stepped to the side, letting her foot linger just long enough to trip him as he passed her.

He fell with a cry of alarm, groaning after he hit the ground.

She looked down to see if he was all right, inspecting him closely. After all, she didn’t want to be in violation of the law, and if she’d accidentally caused him to die from a simple fall to the paving stones? That would be quite the embarrassment on her Master’s House.

She shook her head. “No, I was just trying-”

Her focus was fully on the downed man, she was comfortable with her surroundings, thinking he was a lone actor. As such, she didn’t react when his friend stepped from the crowd behind her, even as he brought a heavy wooden chair down towards her head.

However, Tali was not a fool, nor was she some waif of the street.

She was an Eskau candidate.

She contemplated drawing her weapon and cutting the attacker in half, but this was a misunderstanding, and she might get blood all over her food.

She was hungry.

So, I shouldn’t kill them.

She could have stepped aside, but that might actually let the attacker hit his friend with the chair. As humorous as that would be, it might actually end up with the one on the ground being killed. If that happened, there would be guards involved. Worse, they might need to contact her Master, and there was no chance she was going to let him be disturbed with his peers arriving at the hold.

No, this was an opportunity to show her strength, the strength of her house, and her own wisdom in handling such a situation.

I could just let it hit me. That would do basically nothing to me, and it would send the message loud and clear.

She almost did just that, but then sighed internally. That was foolish, and if he had some sort of magic to empower his strike, it might backfire. Taking the risk was careless, and careless people died.

Fine. I’ll block. Doing that should give them pause, then I can correct the misunderstanding and get on with my day.

That decided, she almost lazily brought her left arm up to block.

She could stop heavily inscribed maces with that block. The chair stood no chance.

But, the chair wasn’t metal.

It wasn’t even inscribed.

It shattered on her arm, allowing the back supports, still being driven downward, to slam into the back of her head with almost no loss of power.

The teal man behind her was obviously heavily magically enhanced for strength as well as other things, but even that wouldn’t have been enough to defeat the protective net of magic, originating from her clothing, defending her head.

Unfortunately, as the wood turned to pulp against her defenses, power flared within the hue folk’s arm, and the energy of the strike shifted.

Tali’s eyes widened in recognition of the spell-form even as it activated, while she watched through her bloodstar’s mirrored perception.

The old-growth hardwood held together more than well enough to impart a great deal of energy, which the man’s power carried past her defense to strike her a thumping blow.

Anywhere else, she might have been bruised. A strike to her head, however?

Ru-

* * *

Tali hadn’t even slumped in the instant after she’d been struck. Her vision had barely flickered black.

That was close. I thought that had gotten through, somehow.

A pulse of power exploded from the base of Tali’s skull.

-DING-

A sound, almost like a bell, hummed through her thoughts, and she found the note calming, or it would have been if she hadn’t had a strong guess what it meant.

Then, her own voice came to her, as if she were thinking, though she didn’t ever truly consider that the voice might be her own thoughts.

-Consciousness lost for 0.004 seconds due to blunt force…WHAT THE RUST!?!?!-

Tali twitched from the internal scream.

-Major deviations in consciousness detected. Active conflict detected. Battlefield patch initiated.-

What? No. No!

* * *

Tala shook herself clearing her head after whatever had struck her.

Wha-?

-No time. In a hostile situation. Get somewhere safe, then we’ll talk.-

Tala took an eternity packed into a single heartbeat to perceive the world around her, assess her situation and decide a course of action.

In the end, she spoke one word. “Rust.”

A note from JLMullins

Thank you for making it to the end of this set-up chapter.

This part of the story is likely best described as a "unplanned infiltration" arc.

I hope that you enjoy! 😊

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Chapter: 202R - Rane

A note from JLMullins

This is just a fun little aside in the vein of the "Kit" chapters (shorter than the Bonus POV Patron chapters).

It is meant to add some worldbuilding that would be difficult to include otherwise.

Rane struggled as he pulled himself up to the wide, flat peak, gasping.

The gray light of dawn was just barely beginning to color the eastern horizon.

He didn’t allow himself to flop to the ground, however. He had found his goal at last.

Six…mountains…

He’d climbed six mountains, and found each peak of the previous ones empty.

Now, however, he looked down on a naked man, sprawled in the snow.

His skin was whiter than the fluffy powder in which he lay, and his aura was hard to see to Rane’s magesight, though what he could see was decidedly violet.

Finally, a sovereign.

Rane had been questing for months, ever since word had reached him of Tala’s disappearance.

He’d known she was still alive. Even though others had slowly lost hope, he never did.

Now, finally, he was here alone.

“Boy. Why do you keep chasing me?”

Rane froze. “Chasing you, sir?”

“I’ve had to move five times as you got close, and I’m tired of it. What does a body have to do to prove that I want to be alone?” The man was staring straight up at the empty sky above. His voice had a heaviness to it, like a load of snow falling from an entire tree at once. It was something beyond sound. There was simply the quality of silent cold, waiting at the core of it.

“I’ve come to ask for your aid.”

“That much is obvious.”

Rane hesitated. “I need help.”

“I don’t care.”

“I’ll leave you alone?”

The man was silent. “What do you request? What do you offer?”

“I will leave, never come back, and never tell anyone where I found you.”

“THAT you found me.”

“That I found you.”

“Go on.”

“I request a boon.”

The man snorted. “Just for buggering off? Not likely.”

“Three questions and a minor boon.” That wasn’t ideal, because a minor boon was non-binding, but it should still be something of worth.

“A single question, and a very minor boon.”

Rane hesitated again. What does very minor mean? He wasn’t foolish enough to ask. That would qualify as a question. He’ll tell me if my ask is too much. “Agreed.”

The man sighed and sat up.

His hair was as white as his skin, and his eyes were pitch black, no difference discernible between the various parts that Rane was used to seeing.

After a long moment, he grunted. “Go on. I may have eternity, but I don’t want to spend it with you.”

Rane cleared his throat. He’d been ready for something like this. “Where, exactly, is the human Mage, named Tala, whom I am seeking: mind, body and soul?”

“Been thinking on that question a while, have you?” He grunted. “Well asked, I suppose, especially since it has three answers, any of which would have satisfied a lesser question.” The sovereign eyed Rane.

Rane didn’t react. Three separate answers isn’t good… She should be all together.

“Tala the consciousness, the mind, only exists within her records within the human Archive, which I cannot access.” There was some irritation in that.

Rane closed his eyes. No. Then…she’s gone.

“Tala the soul is half in the next world and half with her body.”

Not dead? Rane frowned in confusion. He was also very glad that he hadn’t asked a simpler question.

“Tala’s body, that you are seeking…” The older man cleared his throat meaningfully, and Rane blushed.

That was not why Rane was still searching. He knew what it was like to be on his own, and he wouldn’t leave a friend to that fate if he could help it. He wouldn't lose anyone if he could help it. Not again.

Not that he would be correcting a sovereign on the issue.

“...is in the city of Platoiri, some eight hundred and twelve miles south of Namfast. She is currently sleeping in her bedroom, within the local hold of the House of Blood.”

Rane didn’t understand that at all. How can her mind not be with her body…sleeping. He almost struck himself in the forehead. Our minds are not our own when sleeping. That must be why.

He shook his head at another way his question could have backfired without proper planning.

Resolved, he nodded to himself. “My boon-”

“Very minor boon.” The sovereign corrected.

“My minor boon, right. I would like you to bring her back to a human city, any not within the southern forest.”

The man snorted. “No. Even if such an act, by itself, was within the bounds of a minor boon, the repercussions from such a removal would certainly force that request to fall outside what I am willing to give.”

“But I’ll leave faster.”

“Don’t push me, child.”

Suddenly, it was as if the entire world vanished.

Rane seemingly floated within a vast nothingness, the only thing with him were the sovereign’s eyes, somehow blacker than the void.

In that instant, Rane knew that this creature had a singular goal. He wished to wait, in peace, until the heat-death of the universe.

Rane had no idea how he knew this, but it was as clear as the magic flowing through his Bound body.

The Mage couldn’t even fathom the scale of that desire, let alone the actuality of it.

Then, he was back on the mountaintop, clutching his cloak around himself against a soul-deep chill, despite the warming artifacts he’d brought for the climbs.

“Now. You seem to be struggling to breach into Fused. I can tip you over with ease. That would not conflict with my desires, or strain me in the slightest.”

Rane shook his head. “I want her back.”

The sovereign cocked an eyebrow. “I won’t bring her back.”

“Give her an avenue to safety.”

“No, no body is ever truly safe.”

“Ensure she’ll get free, eventually.”

“You really aren’t understanding how this works.”

“Can you give her a chance? Even a small one?”

The white head cocked to one side, seemingly considering. “Hmmm…That might actually be interesting. I do so love how probability tickles when it’s shifting.” He held up a finger, glaring at Rane. “Not like an earthquake, mind you. Just little shifts. They’re pleasant.”

Probability… tickles? Rane swallowed, but couldn’t find it in himself to speak.

“Are you sure you don’t want a nudge into Fused?”

Rane nodded.

“Fine.” The man flopped backwards, back into the snow.

Rane waited for something to happen.

After a long moment, the sovereign sighed. “You can go now.”

Rane found his voice, then. “But… you didn’t do anything.”

The man nodded sagely. “If that’s what you believe, then it seems like you wasted a trip, and your minor boon, boy. She’s going to get a chance, soon enough.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“No follow-up questions.”

And with that, Rane found himself standing at the base of the mountain.

Chapter: 203 - A Bit Concerned

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Damon Roberts, Emersen, Maxine, Pride mystic artificer

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala stood in the market square of an arcane city, surrounded by arcanes. Each and every one that she could see had an orange aura.

What did you expect in an arcane city?

-Focus, Tala. You’re not quite yourself right now, we need to get somewhere quiet so that I can complete what’s needed.-

Tala didn’t understand, but she trusted Alat. She didn’t know why she trusted Alat, or even who Alat was…or even who she was, but-

Alat made a noise inside Tala’s head. -All will be explained. Focus!-

The very air itself was saturated with power to the point that it would have been orange if it were claimed. Fused air…or Mature air, I guess? That was almost funny.

She held a massive platter of various roasted meats. On the ground before her, a teal-skinned man was groaning, having just been tripped when he tried to push her.

Behind her, another teal man was staring at her with confusion, non-comprehension clear on his features.

Good, I have a bloodstar with an aspect mirror for perception already in place. She didn’t really understand what was going on in general, but she did know exactly what was going on in that moment.

The attacker behind her frowned, shaking his head. “Girl, the back of your head is ridiculously sturdy. That didn’t even faze you.” He hesitated at his own words, realization replacing confusion as his eyes went wide.

Apparently, everyone around her, who’d witnessed the assault, came to a similar conclusion at nearly the same time. Many bowing preemptively or turning and slinking away.

-Set down the food, and do a full turn so everyone can see the insignia on your chest.-

Tala did so, placing her platter on a table just to one side. She understood why Alat had suggested the action almost instantly. After all, she had the memories of the other person, too. She knew how she should act here. She just needed to focus on that second set of instincts.

Yes, focus on the instincts that seem to be based on my actual remembered experiences, not the instincts that felt more natural but that are seemingly based on nothing.

-Focus.-

If anything, I don’t know why I would want to act differently, even though I do…

-Focus!-

As each onlooker saw the emblem, they blanched, pulling back.

Murmurs of “House of Blood” and “candidate” moved through the impromptu audience.

Even those who had bowed seemed taken aback. The House of Blood was a powerful force in the city, and they’d just been witness to one of the highest ranked members of the House being assaulted.

There were also some murmurs of confusion. Tala caught snippets of chatter, people postulating that she was a beast folk of some kind, with her overt features repressed, or a hue folk with a coloring close to that of a human.

Well, I guess humans are hue man too.

-This is not the time for puns, Tala.-

There is always time for puns!

-…I’m not holding you together very well… hurry up, please.-

Once she had turned fully, she picked up her food and turned once more to face the hue folk behind her. The teal man was visibly flinching back, but he hadn’t fled.

Wise. Fleeing after assaulting a member of a powerful House would have been a fool’s gamble. The city peacekeepers had incredibly precise tracking magics, and they’d have found him in short order.

“My apologies, Higher one. I did not know whom you served. I… I only saw my kinsmen knocked to the ground and reacted for the sake of filial honor.”

The one on the ground didn’t stand, instead lowering his gaze and muttering a jumbled apology.

Alat and Tala worked together, pulling the right words into place as Tala responded. “Your actions had honor, though it was misdirected. I am not harmed, nor could I have been by your attack.”

The man seemed to relax just slightly when he heard that.

“What do you do for a living? What were those magics that you used against me?”

He stiffened again. “Passives, Higher one. I’m a smith by trade. I repair enhanced gear, and so my magic is bent towards allowing my blows to bypass magical defenses. That lets me work on the material underneath. Otherwise, I’d have to strip all that away, first. Much more expensive to do it without my abilities, Higher one.”

She nodded. She had memory of such tradesmen. Well, not my memory of them. I still have no idea what THE RUST is going on. She, of course, meant the general sense. She had no idea how she’d gotten to arcane lands, or what the arcane had done to her or—

-Focus! We’re almost in the clear.-

Tala made a show of taking a deep breath and letting it out, slowly. Just act like the memories in my head acted. Don’t think about how odd that sounds. And so she did, pulling from the memories, and trusting Alat’s guidance.

“As I said, no harm was done to me, and it was an honest mistake. But be sure of whom you strike in the future. Am I understood?”

His relief, as well as that of many of the on-lookers, was almost palpable. “Yes, Higher one. Thank you for your mercy.”

She nodded once. “Leave me.” She glanced down at the teal man who still hadn’t returned to his feet, likely fearing how she would react to any movements, especially now that he was behind her. She hadn’t needed to look with her eyes, but she wanted to be clear about who she was talking about. “Take this one with you.”

The attacker helped his prone kinsman to his feet and the two retreated into the crowd, and Tala turned, looking for an out-of-the-way table to sit at.

She did her best not to look at the horror that dominated the center of this square, as she moved toward the outside.

Even so, she couldn’t help but take in the sheer diversity of people that she passed.

There were beast folk of uncounted kinds of animal from mice to bulls, from hawks to spiders. All seemed to be based around a human-like frame, though some were only half the height, and a few towered nearly half-again as tall as the average human.

The size disparity, oddly, didn’t seem directly in line with the animal the beast folk were based off. There were bullmen half Tala’s stature, some her height, and she saw another who could have been mistaken for an oversized statue, had he chosen to stand still.

To add to the variation, some seemed more animal than person, and a few looked basically human, with just one or two animalistic features.

Tala had no idea what the source of the variation was, nor did the mind she now inhabited. Tali, it seemed, had never thought to question it.

Tala shuddered at the thought of her enslaved personality and turned her attention back to her surroundings and the people in it.

The hue folk were similarly varied. Their defining characteristic was the color of their skin and hair, usually seemingly taken straight from the rainbow, though some were on the gray-scale instead. Like the beast folk, they varied in stature greatly. Some had differing color of hair to their skin, but most were monochrome.

Tala wasn’t sure if those with different hues dyed their hair or if it was naturally different. Again, Tali had no memory of an answer, either.

Stop thinking about her, Tala.

The magic density of those around her was almost entirely Mature, or Fused on the human scale, but something about that label didn’t feel right. Mature it is.

A few held higher ranks, and Tala noticed similar characteristics among them. All the hawk-men with higher density had similar plumage, the hue folk with similar densities had similar shading, and things like that.

Genetic? Probably. It was what demarked a higher race. The mind she inhabited had thousands of little things to look for, to help pick out higher races, but even Tali hadn’t really used the information. Her magesight could do that almost instantly.

Focus. She finally worked her way to the side of the plaza and found a table tucked into a nook between two stores. It almost appeared like the nook could have been an alley once, but one of the shops had claimed the space, sealing up all but a small section near the entrance.

As such, the table and chairs were surrounded closely on three sides by stone walls, giving a very private, comfortable place to sit.

And there, Tala sat, her hands trembling, unable to eat for the moment.

Alat. What is going on? Where am I? She shook her head. No, she knew where she was. She had memory of getting there after leaving the hold of the House of Blood. She had memory of everything, but it was like she’d been watching a play. Now, she was suddenly the lead actress, and the play wasn’t a play anymore. It was all too real.

And I can’t remember who I was in the audience. She had no memories aside from those of Tali, though she knew that something about them wasn’t right.

-Breathe, Tala. Breathe and eat. Given the situation, I…- Alat made a sound like a clearing throat. -I’ve basically just forcibly imposed your true personality overtop of your mind, without correcting anything that lies beneath. You’re missing most of your memories. Rust, basically all of them, which is why you feel so lost and confused. I’m going to need about an hour to get the majority of this done.-

The majority of…what? I know you’re Alat, but I don’t really know what that means either.

-Oh…rust and slag. I don’t know either, but I have processes to follow, and I’m doing my best here, Tala.-

So…what are you going to do? Why am I not losing my mind about having a voice in my head. Everything I can think of makes me feel like I should be losing my mind. Tala gave a nervous chuckle. Losing my mind about the possibility that I’ve lost my mind…what is going on…

-Okay. Breathe, Tala.-

How is that my name?!? I know it is, but I have no memory of anyone but you calling me that!

-Someone has wiped our mind, and implanted false memories. I have access to our original memories, I’m going to put them back in our head. You’ll be you again, then.-

Tala stiffened. But…won’t I revert to…her during that time? Will I cease to be?

-No, I’ll hold you in place until then. We are both basically the impressions of who we were, imposed upon this body until we can restore ourselves.-

Tala hesitated. Won’t that make it take longer? It seems like that would make it harder for you.

-Of course, but what alternative is there?-

…What will she think happened if you let me fade and you work in the background? Tala was hating being Tala at the moment. It made no sense. She didn’t understand why she was her. It felt like it would be best to fade away until things made sense again.

-Probably nothing? You’ve acted basically as she could have acted, though likely a bit more mercifully than she would have, if the memories we have are good indication, and they are. The other personality shouldn’t find anything amiss unless she’s prone to deep thoughts.- Alat gave a half-hearted, internal laugh, then hesitated. -I wish I knew why I thought that was funny…-

Tala decided to ignore that. How quickly could you get me back in command if we let her come back?

-Tala… I don’t think…-

How long, Alat?

-Half an hour? That’s just the basics, though. It’s going to be days before I can correct everything.-

Do it.

-Are you sure?-

Please. Yes. I can’t… I can’t take this, and you can’t deal with my crisis of identity while fixing me, while fixing us. She felt like it was the coward’s way out, but she felt like she was barely holding herself together.

-All right.-

* * *

Tali blinked, looking down at the meat in her hands.

She looked around at her surroundings, then shook her head, taking another bite.

How odd. Everything was as she expected. She was at a quiet table, enjoying her amazing meal.

The meat was delicious, well prepared, and excellently seasoned.

I need to get more of this.

Her mind returned to the two men who had laughably failed in their assault on her. Part of her wanted to find them, and their families, and teach them to look at who they were addressing before they attacked, but that really wouldn’t serve any purpose, and it was likely out of line.

What’s more, they were perfectly within their rights to have attacked her with the force that they did. She was a member of a Lowest race, well, the only Lowest race. The fact that she had a gate made her an exception, but that didn’t actually change the law. She had caused bodily harm to one of them, so they were in their rights to try to kill her. The fact that they’d been laughably terrible at it wasn’t her fault.

In fact, she suspected that these very laws were part of why Master had selected her as his Eskau. Lower races couldn’t be charged for the murder of Higher. It would be like charging a baby mouse for killing a tiger. If it succeeded? The rodent should be praised!

She grinned. I just happen to be the world’s strongest mouse.

Even so, it irked her that the hue folk had assumed she was one of the gate-less.

And a rabid mouse has to be caught and killed. She would not be a rabid mouse. She would be what her Master needed her to be.

She would be an extra layer of insulation for her House. Her every action an extra slap to their enemies, because it was a mouse that was hurting them.

She shook her head, returning her focus to the meat before her. “This is so good.” She wasn’t speaking to anyone in particular. She just felt like she had to say it aloud.

It reminded her of feast days back in her village, before the passing arbiters had noticed her gate. It had been weaker than usual, but that wasn’t a problem in the least. It existed, so she could be of use.

It also reminded her of celebrations at the Academy.

Tali twitched at that, something misaligning within her own mind. …What? Celebrations at the Academy?

She suddenly had a flood of memories about attending the Academy with other students, learning how to use her magic for the benefit of humanity.

Tali paled. What?

-Well, rust. That didn’t take long.-

* * *

Tala blinked, looking down at the meat in her hands.

Alat?

-Yes, Tala?-

That didn’t work.

-You noticed that, did you?-

Tala took a deep breath, gilding herself. Do what you have to.

-I’ll try to be fast.-

Over the next two hours, Tala ate, got more food, and tried to not look at the monument to horror dominating the nearby square. Through that time, she absently made two more bloodstars for Alat, starting the three loose stars orbiting around her head as before.

That was a joy in and of itself, because she remembered making them before, as well as her training to master the orbiting motion.

Finally, Alat seemed to sigh in satisfied exhaustion. -Done, at least with the skeleton of our memory. We shouldn’t become…other us again unless we want you to.-

Why would we want that? Tala mirrored her perception onto all three bloodstars, passing off two to Alat.

-Thank you for the perception. As to your question, I’ll let you consider that for a moment.-

It didn’t take even a moment’s thought to click into place. Rust. That’s right. Tala swallowed then. So, if memory serves…The saorsa collar?

-Yeah. We have two dasgannach’s wrapped around our neck, one for iron, one for gold. They’re barely contained and ready to be injected into us if we leave the city without authorization, or if our master chooses, or if we breach any of a few other statutes...-

Tala grimaced. I’d hoped I was remembering wrong…

-Nope. It’s even designed so you can inspect it, and see exactly what’s inside and what would trigger it. They’re courteous to their prisoners like that.-

Tala had known about the inspectability of the collar, but still appreciated Alat’s reiteration and assurance. She then did what was expected, sending her magesight into the collar.

Just as expected, two dasgannachs lay within. One was gold, and one was iron. They were held in suspension and attached to an incredibly complicated series of spell-workings, all containing power with a blue aura.

Any tampering, even just cutting or ripping it free, would cause these to be injected into me faster than I can react.

-Yup.-

Decapitation triggers them too.

-He seems to have thought very highly of your regenerative abilities.-

You aren’t joking. She shook her head slowly.

They both pored through the magics, considering.

These aren’t standard creatures either.

-Not at all.- They both had access to Tali’s memory of them being used on others.

The dasgannachs in these collars had their inhibitions removed somehow, as well as having their ability to gain mastery over material incredibly amplified.

A particularly vivid memory of a man dying by one of these collars let Tala and Alat time a full body’s worth of iron being absorbed. It took less than a minute. The victim had screamed the entire time.

Time to think about something else.

Is my personality stable enough to address the mass grave in the room?

-I think so. You are you without my enforcement of such, so… yes?-

That’ll have to do.

And so, Tala lifted her eyes and looked at the city’s central column.

It was worked crystal, seemingly of a solid piece, though it could have been fused into such magically with relative ease. The uncountable facets were surrounded by an irregular net of gold.

The gold was fairly obviously a spell-form, even without the power that shone forth from it. The working was powered by the column itself. As to what it did, aside from shunting most of the power into a distribution network for the city, it seemed to filter the magic coming from within.

And a lot of power was coming from within.

If Tala had to guess, there was close to twenty thousand founts packed into the column, which appeared to be about twenty yards in diameter and over two hundred feet high.

By the magic that she could see, it extended equally far into the ground as well.

At least they aren’t too crowded in there. They had more than fifty square feet each, if her estimations were correct. They likely needed it, if the individualized nets of power that surrounded each fount were any indication. It seemed like they had to customize something for each individual fount.

Tala let loose a little manic giggle.

Twenty thousand people, broken and bound in eternal slavery to this city.

-Look at the power, Tala. What do you see?- Alat sounded a bit concerned.

So, Tala looked. It was everywhere, and everywhere it was dense.

-True, true. But look at the power itself, not just its density. There’s a reason that “Fused” doesn’t seem right to you.-

Tala looked closer. There’s…there’s something wrong with it. Like a concoction made with inferior ingredients, then reduced to try to up the potency.

-That’s what I’m seeing.-

Holly had talked about how Tala, herself, didn’t have the quality of power to run some of her scripts as effectively as a Bound.

Their filter doesn’t work right. They aren’t getting Fused quality power. Was something broken?

-Or their working doesn’t refine or distill the power. The magic we’re sensing isn’t aspected, but it’s not…-

Clean. It came from unsettled souls, through a rough connection. And that was no wonder. These founts were the souls of former slaves, not Mages gaining power to protect themselves and those they loved.

Tala felt tears rising up in her eyes, as her mind tried to turn towards her friends and family, but she pushed those thoughts away. She couldn’t think about all she wanted to get back to right now. That would cripple her, maybe for days.

-You can’t have a Fused fount. Rust, you can’t even have a Bound one. These are all from simple Mages.-

So, the power is weaker. Thinner? No, that wasn’t right. Lesser.

-I think so. Metaphorically: They may have a lot more gold than we do, but ours is pure.- Alat hesitated. -Well, we’re only Fused. It’s purer.-

Tala snorted a laugh at that. True enough. No wonder the few higher Archons humanity has can hold back those who wish to recapture us, She hesitated, thinking of her own situation, at least they can stop it on a wide scale. A drop of Xeel’s power is probably worth more than this city sees in a decade.

-That’s probably hyperbole, but who knows? You might be underestimating the man.-

In any case, our power is purer than theirs, stronger, better.

There was something to that. It would give her an edge. It wouldn’t obviously be an overpowering one, Be-thric had been able to beat her easily enough, but it might matter. Good observation. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

-Thank you, and you’re welcome.-

Tala was still staring at the pillar, the power-center of this city. She was staring at the twenty thousand souls of her kin. Master Boma would have a fit. After a moment, she shook her head. I don’t like it much either.

-We can’t really do anything about it. Not now.-

But we don’t have to act now, do we.

-No. No, we don’t. We can bide our time, get what we can, then rob and pillage our way to freedom.-

Tala felt herself grinning broadly. That, my good Alat, sounds like the beginnings of a plan.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 204 - Shift in Focus

A note from JLMullins

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<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala had a plan.

Well, that wasn’t precisely true.

Alat had the beginnings of a plan, and Tala liked what she was hearing.

-We have this lovely packet of information within our head, provided by the arcane Be-thric. I think I shall process it, and extract all that I can.-

That sounds reasonable. I’ll see what I can see of the city, then. Tala hesitated. You know, I don’t think I can fake being Tali convincingly.

-Yeah. That might be a problem. I think I can compartmentalize our mind, so that she can’t remember us, or our memories. Then, I can bring her out, and we can let her do what we need her to.-

That’s a bit dark. Isn’t that basically enslaving a sub-personality?

-Tali isn’t a person, Tala. She is a mental construct based on fabricated memories.-

Isn’t that what any given person is? Our personalities were forged by our experiences. She was forged by what she thinks she experienced.

-Tala, let’s not do this. She is you, if you went through what she thought she did. In the same vein, I am you, if you existed in a purely mental space, with access to all that I have access to. And YOU are you, with the experiences that you have gone through. We aren’t three distinct entities. We are the same person, with different experiences.-

I know… Tala shook her head. She was being a bit ridiculous. It still feels bad, lying to myself.

-Do you want me to expose how you are lying to yourself in other areas?-

Nope! Tala was wise enough to not go down that road. Some self-deception could be healthy. After all, I’m not allowing myself to contemplate how vanishingly unlikely it is that we actually get out of this alive…

-Exactly.- Alat did the mental equivalent of shifting with awkward nervousness.

Tala sighed. All right. I think that I can work with that frame of mind.

Alat projected grateful affirmation. -Good. Now, be careful. If we have to put her in command, she will act as she should. Meaning, if there is no good reason for her to be where you are, she will become confused.-

So, keep up pretenses, even when I’m me.

-To the best of your ability, yes. That will make the mask of Tali fit better, and work better, when we have to use it.-

Understood. So, there had to be a good reason to be wherever she went. That was probably safer anyways. So, I get to delve into Tali’s memory to see what she would want to do for her afternoon out?

-I’ve bifurcated the memories so that they don’t get jumbled. Here, twist your power like this, and think in this way.-

Tala followed Alat’s instructions, and suddenly, she knew what Tali would do. It was obvious. That didn’t make it easy or natural, but she knew. Huh, I’m even sitting differently than she would.

Tala sat up a bit straighter, adjusting herself in little ways, until she matched how Tali would have been sitting. It…was actually more comfortable, and she felt more in control of herself. Rust me to slag.

-I think you’ll find a lot of the nuance similarly instructive. It seems that Be-thric was genuinely interested in making Tali, well you, into the best weapon he could. We’ll probably learn why through the ceremonies preceding the competition.-

Tala nodded, noticing that she nodded both slower, and less…decisively than Tali would have. Oh, this is going to be exhausting.

She took a moment to analyze the difference. What did each way of nodding signify? What social signals did it send? The quick, decisive nod conveys confidence, a decision made, resolve. The slow nod denotes thoughtfulness and consideration. Obviously, it wasn’t as simple as that. Tala often nodded more decisively, and Tali seemed to have nodded consideringly when events dictated such, but in general, the enthralled version of her was more decisive.

Tala shook her head, refused to contemplate how Tali would have responded, and stood, reaching to clear the table of her tray.

Tali wouldn’t have cleared it. There are servants for that,paid to monitor the plaza. Tala hesitated, then shook her head and picked up the tray. Yeah, but I’m not a jerk. She quickly wiped the table, leaving it cleaner than when she’d found it.

I can learn from her, without emulating her. I am me, and I decide how I act.

-Do try to act like she would outwardly, though. It’ll help us blend in better.-

I’m not going to leave a mess behind. That’s just rude.

Alat projected confusion. -There does seem to be some… odd conflicts between your memories and base self and her memories and self.-

Of course there are, we’re different people.

-No, I mean your base self is restructuring itself in opposition to what Be-thric tried to make Tali into. You’d never have cared about the mess on the table before. You would probably have taken the tray, but you’d not have wiped down the surface before doing so.-

Tala dumped the tray out into a waste bin before putting it onto a stack of others. Really?

-I can’t find a memory of you acting that altruistically before. Fascinating.-

So, being exposed to so much…high-and-mighty-ness made me kinder?

-No, I don’t think that I would go that far, but there are definite repercussions, it seems.-

Huh. Tala altered her walk, falling into Tali’s gait and posture. Again, it was both more comfortable and easier. She could feel that this stride pattern allowed her joints to move just a bit more naturally, and would let her muscles be used more efficiently. I’m going to need to spend a couple of hours going through all my exercises and martial forms if I hope to get used to this. Even more so because my muscle structure and tone have shifted slightly. It’s making everything weird…

-I am actually trying to focus, here.-

Tala looked within her own mind and found the mass of foreign power, waiting there. How is it still active? I have memory of it being put in place months ago, and he’s never added power to it. It doesn’t pull from me. How is it still intact?

-I think it isn’t active, unless some bit of information is required. It contains enough power to impart each bit of information exactly once. It actually is a pretty ingenious bit of spell-work. Before you ask, I’ve analyzed it in detail. We have its complete structure in our memory now, so we can pass it on. I’m going to be prompting magics for everything I can think of to try to suss out everything it can tell us. Now, shoo, go explore, or whatever. Tali liked the overlook.-

Tala sighed, skirting around the outside of the market square to stay as far away from the central pillar as was reasonable. I’ll do my best.

She was still in awe at the city around her, though she hadn’t really been able to take the time to really let it soak in.

The buildings were a wide mix of architectures, seeming to come from different sensibilities. Most of the doors were larger than she was used to, to give easier access to the larger species that shared the city, though some had regular sized entrances, and a few even had doors sized for the smaller folk.

When she looked closer as she walked past, those seemed to be clothing, or other establishments, geared towards those on the smaller size. Their doorways were a part of the way they advertised who their target clientele were.

Tala tried not to stare as she passed a table with three beast folk and a hue man.

The man’s skin was a burnt orange in color. His eyes and hair were a nearly sapphire blue.

The beast folk were a mixed bag. One seemed to be related to some type of lizard, with incredibly small, green scales in place of skin. She was still clearly female, with her most human features taking on a decidedly unnerving cast. The hair on her head seemed much thicker, but otherwise resembled human hair.

The woman beside her looked like some sort of cat person. At least that’s what her ears seemed to indicate. Where the lizard woman was clearly non-human, the cat woman only had cat ears and slitted eyes.

The final was another man, with curled horns which swept in tight coils over his ears. His hair was light and fluffy and white. The man’s legs were also animalistic under the table, with seemingly reversed knees and everything.

Tala saw this last feature by covertly dipping her bloodstar down to inspect their legs as she passed.

They didn’t seem to notice her scrutiny. Despite all of them being from Higher races, their mana density varied just a bit around the halfway mark between yellow and green.

The group of four didn’t seem that unique in the plaza, though, if anything they were an oddity for being so close in power as a group.

Most sets of hue and beast folk had quite a spread of power, though all were above orange. In each miniature social setting, it was obvious that the person of greatest power, whether male or female, hue or beast, was dominant, the others giving obvious physical cues to that effect.

With an internal question, Tala confirmed that that lined up with what Tali would have expected, power was everything in arcane society.

While scanning the crowds as she walked, her eyes kept being drawn to the prime feature of the area, and she found that distasteful.

Wanting to keep her focus from the… more unpleasant things around herself, she let her feet carry her based on where Tali would have gone and focused inward. It was a weird sensation, honestly.

It almost felt like she was following someone who wasn’t there.

But that wasn’t important at the moment. She began delving into what Be-thric had taught Tali, and there was a lot.

The most critical things were about her magic, as it seemed that the arcane had been displeased at the combat effectiveness Tali had demonstrated, early on.

Thankfully, Tala and Tali’s fundamental understanding had remained the same. That likely went deeper to the core of how their spell-workings functioned than it would have been productive to alter.

As Tala sorted through what Tali had learned, a single exchange with the arcane— onyx, hue man —stood out in her mind.

Tali had been practicing her gravity manipulation, and Be-thric had asked her to describe what she was doing to amplify gravity.

“I lock onto my target, lock on to the thing I wish to augment gravity towards, and then amplify that connection.”

His words in response had shaken Tali, and as Tala recalled them, she felt her own eyes go wide. “Why do it in that order?”

Alat’s attention was jerked back from the spell-working within their mind. -No… That’s… that’s too simple…right?-

Tala wordlessly bent and picked up a stone as she continued walking.

She targeted the rock with ease. Increase.

There was nothing for it to have its pull increased toward…but power still began to build.

Tala felt her heart begin to race, her breath quicken in excitement.

-Is…is that working?-

I don’t know. In the worst case, I’m just wasting a little power.

-What’s your mental model for that?-

Tala considered. What was she thinking, what was she dumping power into?

It felt like…A lasso. I have a lasso of power that’s building up power and momentum, waiting to be looped over something.

That wasn’t quite what she was imagining, but it was the closest thing she could easily put words to.

She let the power continue to build, and noticed that it took an act of will to keep the stone’s amplified gravity from simply latching onto her hand, or some other random object.

So, I can’t just build up power in a dozen different things and pull them out at need. I have to prep it right beforehand.

Still, this was a game-changing shift in her use of her power. Assuming it works.

She couldn’t let herself become too excited. This was too big a development to take for granted until she’d tested it all the way through.

Tali had trained to use this, but Tala hadn’t. What that meant in practice was that Tala knew exactly what to do, how to act the most efficiently, and what pitfalls to avoid, but it wasn’t natural for her to do so.

Using her power in this way just wasn’t instinctual for Tala as it had become for Tali.

Six months of dedicated training does a lot.

-And now, we get to benefit from having her as an internal trainer, in a sense. Someone with your exact skill and magic set, ahead of you in ability, who can pull you along.- Alat sent through a cautious joy. -Not only that, but she can show us exactly what it feels like to do each thing properly.-

It was perfect. Though, in truth, thinking too deeply about Tali still made Tala feel sick.

This does not make our situation worth it, but it does seem to be a worthy start at recompense.

Tala was slowly walking up a long boulevard which seemed to be sloping towards a nearby overlook. She wove around other pedestrians, staying out of the way of vehicles and mounted folk. She didn’t pay them any special attention, as she was fully bent towards the continued Increase.

The crowds slowly thinned along with the buildings to each side, as she neared the top, and finally, at the overlook, there were only a few people, all seemingly having come for the view.

Tala couldn’t focus on the view yet. Her mind and will were utterly dominated by the need to keep the proverbial lasso spinning, building power.

She’d been doing that for close to half an hour, meaning that the amplification was orders of magnitude more powerful than anything she’d ever done before.

It was at that moment that one of the ravens hopping around the overlook landed near her, flaring its wings and shrieking.

Tala jerked in surprise, her focus moving to the bird in startlement.

The active magic seemed to seize on her shift in focus, and the other end of the working snapped into place, locked on the bird.

Oh—

Before the thought had even started to form, the pebble was torn from her grip. Her insane strength was nothing before the forces involved.

An ear-splitting crack tore through the air and the temperature jumped a few degrees in a wave. Only her magical defenses prevented her from having an eardrum burst.

A second, more resonant yet quieter crack followed in the same instant. At the same time, Tala’s vision was cut off by a cloud of gore.

The stone had impacted the avian with such ballistic force that the bird had been rendered into a violently expanding cloud of indiscernible spray.

Beyond the bird, the pebble had turned itself into powder against the roadway, though it had cracked the large, magically hardened paving stone in the process.

Tala’s clothing had already shed the bird mist, but the film still covered Tala’s face and the expanding cloud of bird had wrapped around her in a rolling wave.

Tala’s whole body shuddered at the nauseating grossness of the whole thing.

Holly, wherever you are, bless you for your anti-vomit scripts.

With her bloodstar, Tala saw that a lot of the people nearby were staring her way with looks of confusion. None were close enough to have been pained by the loud sounds.

None seemed to be higher races, and none seemed to have magesight or the equivalent. So, there was no reason to think that she would be in danger from them.

Even so, Tala had to admit that she must be a strange sight.

The ground around her was painted red in an irregular circle, centered on where the bird had been. The generally gory mist was still settling outward.

No one else had been close enough to be sprayed, and it seemed like most people didn’t really understand that a bird had just met its end.

One bird based beast man was already vomiting into a waste bin, however. Though, she wasn’t sure if he’d had good enough eyes to see, or if some avian camaraderie had caused a sympathetic reaction.

-That is a ridiculous theory.-

I’m not exactly thinking clearly. Tala aspect mirrored her elk-leather’s self-cleaning onto herself, and shook her head, sending a cascade outward to join the other red on the ground.

Oh…rust; that was gross.

Then, Tala spun on her heel and strode purposefully towards the far corner of the overlook, not making eye contact with anyone else.

-So much for not drawing attention.-

Tala ignored Alat. I need a bath…

Thoughts of a bath died in her mind, however, as she looked out over the city.

She’d seen this exact view before, through Tali’s memories, but there was something special about seeing it herself.

It was utterly unlike a human city, at least those she’d seen.

Buildings, and loosely organized districts, spread out haphazardly in all directions.

The layout seemed to have simply come about randomly over the course of the city’s life, no central group or plan responsible for maintaining efficiency.

This city has been here for thousands of years. The very idea boggled her mind. She knew it was possible, intellectually, but it was such a foreign concept that it was hard to grasp.

In some parts of the metropolis, massive towers reached towards the sky, though those were rare.

Tali had been curious, so she’d looked into their construction. It took massive amounts of magic to reinforce the structures that stretched hundreds of feet into the air. It was a display of wealth more than anything. Though, ironically, it was both less expensive, and less efficient, than simply establishing a hold.

But to have a hold, you have to have a fount of your own. The towers can rely on ambient power once they’re built. Though, there was apparently a very expensive permitting process before that could happen.

She moved her focus from the details and just focused on the overall feel of the place.

It was tucked against the mountain range which rose up to the west. With her enhanced vision, she could vaguely make out what could be the shadows of trees to the north. To the east, rolling plains stretched into the distance.

While the forest to the north might be the same forest in which Makinaven lay, she didn’t know.

Tala had to hold back sudden tears as the true magnitude of her circumstances settled down atop her.

We’re a long way from home, Alat.

-But we’ll make it back.-

Do you really believe that? Do I?

-We have to.-

Tala didn’t answer. Instead, she simply took time to quietly let tears roll down her face, as she gazed out over the city, below.

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Chapter: 205 - Gag Me Now

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

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<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala had only been looking out at the cityscape for a few minutes, or so it seemed, when Alat grabbed her attention.

-I’ve still got a lot of work to do, but we need to get back.- Alat had indicated that only the most basic of Tala’s memories were back in place, and that seemed odd, but Tala literally didn’t know what she was missing. That left her with an odd combination of anxiety and ambivalence.

Tala took in a deep breath and groaned. There’s no way we could get out of here, is there.

-Not right now, no.-

Go, kill everyone in the hold? Tala wasn’t serious, but she felt tension building within her at the thought of going back.

-First of all, you know very well that most of the people in there are effectively enslaved, just as you were.-

Are. Tala emphasized. We still are enslaved. What else would you call this? She indicated the collar.

-You’re right. This is slavery, but not helpless slavery.- Alat grunted a chuckle. -I mean, imprisoned is hardly accurate, but either Be-thric or a higher city official could trigger the collar with ease.-

Hostage asset, operating under extreme duress?

-Oh, I like that.- Alat hesitated. -Well, no, I don’t like being in this situation, but it is a pretty well worded description of what we are. I like that phrasing.- After another moment, she re-broached the earlier topic. -We need to head back. Being late would be bad.-

Tala sighed, pushing herself away from the stone half-wall that edged the overlook. Sure.

She didn’t look towards the red circle. She’d been able to ignore the scent up until that point, but as she walked back past, the coppery scent of blood filled her nostrils. Lovely.

While it would have been a bit more than a half-hour walk back to the hold, she decided to jog. Ideally, she’d be able to sneak in a bath before the feast.

As she jogged back, she drew brief glances from those she passed, but they always turned their attention elsewhere when they saw the sigil on her chest.

There is a lot of benefit to even my current station.

-Yeah, imagine how much we’ll be able to do within our cage if we win.-

When we win, tomorrow. We’ll be seen as the manifest will of a Pillar of the House of Blood. No one will cross us lightly. She hesitated. Well, those who cross us will be stronger. That was actually a bit exciting, if Tala was being honest.

-But if Be-thric ever discovers we’re compromised, he’ll kill us.-

Hold that thought. One of the beast folk ahead of her had narrowed his eyes and placed a hand on his sword’s hilt. He had a glorious black mane, offsetting his reddish-brown fur. He was clearly a fighter, though he was lean. So, he’ll be quick, rather than powerful.

A mostly healed cut bridged across his left eye, though the eye itself seemed to have escaped damage.

The man’s tan tunic bore the sigil that Tali’s memories said was from the House of the Rising Sun. It was one of the purely beast folk noble houses in the city.

The emblem was simple, a horizontal line, with a half circle above it, straight rays coming from the pictograph of the sun.

The House of Blood and that of the Rising Sun had some conflicting interests in the city. Nothing like open warfare, that was quashed quickly when houses were so foolish, but they did clash on occasion.

I don’t have time for this. Still, Tali’s memories offered up what would likely be the lion man’s opening salvo. Great. Insults.

“Blood bag!”

And there it is. Still, to play her part, Tala had to reply. So, she called back, even as she continued to approach. “Move aside, Kitty. I’ve places to be.”

He drew his sword, magic flicking both around the blade, and across the man’s fur.

-Those actually look like fairly reasonable defenses.-

Yeah, but I don’t have time to fight. She considered, then shrugged internally. I suppose I don’t have to pay for my inscriptions, and I outweigh him.

The leonine man was no stronger than the zeme that swirled around them, but his display of power meant he was, at most, of a Mid race.

Tala was less than a dozen feet from him when she gave a feral grin.

She targeted him, being sure to consider him as something near her, likely to do her harm. Then, she pushed her working around his defenses.

“Down, kitty.” Crush.

The creature’s eyes widened as he dropped like a rock. He clearly fought against the downward force. The result, humorously enough, was that he fell into a sort of bow.

He immediately began withdrawing his combat magics, and seemed to be trying to move power through his body to stand back up.

It didn’t work, at least not quick enough, and Tala was past him.

She sighed, even as she continued on her way. And we’re done.

The memories from Tali really wanted Tala to either kill the man or at least to give a parting verbal shot, but Tala restrained the urge.

The beast-man would be released once she was a block or so away. So, there would be nothing to clean up, or deal with later. Instead, she put the encounter out of her mind.

She thought through what Tali knew on the subject of Eskau and Pillars. Yeah. If he ever finds out, we’re dead. The House has well established procedures for passing on the protian weapon to a new Eskau in the event that a Pillar becomes displeased with theirs.

The thought passed through Tala’s mind once again, and she almost tripped. Oh. Oh!

Alat let out a pleased sound within her head. -Yes. I like what you’re thinking.-

He doesn’t have a protian weapon. I’m his only option. The procedures for the loss of an Eskau’s weapon include the stripping of the Pillar of all current and former titles. In some cases, it results in outright banishment.

-So. When we win, tomorrow, his fate will become tied to ours.-

Tala nodded. Even Tali hadn’t known all the details, but she had known that a prospective Pillar could withdraw from contention without loss of honor up until the contest began.

But when we win. Our death would mean a crippling of his position within the House. He would be worse off than if he never put himself forward for consideration.

-So, don’t get detected until we win.-

Then, we’ll be safe, from him at least.

Alat made an uncomfortable noise inside Tala’s head. -Well, why wouldn’t he just seize us, and redo the memory wipe?-

Tala grimaced at that. The timing was such that her look of clear displeasure caused a blue, female hue-man to shrink to the side of the road.

Tala almost apologized to the clearly terrified woman but realized that Tali would never have done that. So, if Tala did, it would stand out too much.

I hate this. She thought back through Tali’s memories then, looking for an answer. Oh. Interesting.

-What?...oh!-

Tali’s earliest memories were of course, fabricated, and thus unreliable, but Tala had easily found what was likely the first real memory from her time as Tali. Such an extensive overhaul required weeks of slow recovery. We were able to train and improve magically, and in other ways, but we would not have been a functional Eskau during that time.

-Yes, I see now. During that time, we were “recovering” our memories with his help. In fact, he was building them within our mind. It took him incredible effort, and it took him literal months to get Tali’s personality fully established within our blank mind. So, he can’t just erase us again. That would be the same as killing us.-

Essentially. Eskau are expected to perform their duties daily for their Pillar, and any other ranking member of the house. My convalescence would end him as quickly as my death.

And from their memories of the arcane, he would realize the repercussions instantly. Be-thric was nothing if not cunning. Well, arrogant, narcissistic, pronoid…no…that’s not true. He’s pronoid about the universe and paranoid about everything in it.

Her recovery was an unmitigated disaster for him.

That begged the question. Why did he risk it?

The first part of that answer clearly lay within the fact that he’d succeeded, utterly. If not for Alat’s integration into her consciousness recovery scripts, Tala would be forever gone.

By his questions, and how he’d had Tali test out various parts of her abilities, Tala didn’t think that he could simply look at her inscriptions and understand them. Nor had he gotten the details from Tala, herself, before wiping her mind.

He likely blanked our mind, instantly, then took us away as little more than a comatose shell.

Deep revulsion built within her at the very idea. So, he didn’t know about you. Even so, why take the risk?

-We’re clearly missing some important line in this inscription.-

Tala shook her head as she ran. Not to mention: Why did he come back for me? Why didn’t he just grab another to become his protian weapon?

-I don’t know, but we’ll need to listen closely over the next few days. That will likely be enlightening.-

The arcanes do like to be rather… monologue heavy in their ceremonies.

They both shuddered at the memory of the extensive ceremonies they’d accompanied Be-thric to. Tali had gloried in the honor of attending. Tala and Alat had no such delusions.

One such ceremony came to the forefront, where Be-thric had been required to establish himself as a potential pillar.

Tali had been forced to kneel, bowing face down outside the hall. Even her enhanced hearing had only heard the drone of voices, some of them shouting while remaining indistinct.

-To be fair, I think the Head of the hold was livid with Be-thric for putting a human forward as an Eskau candidate. That was likely not entirely standard.- Alat didn’t put much hope in the utterance, however. There were too many examples to pull from.

Well, we’ll have to see now, won’t we.

-Or… we could let Tali handle it.-

Tala felt like something was crawling up her back. What would happen to us?

-Oh, nothing. We’d both be tucked into the side of her mind. We could watch what was happening, and take back over at a moment’s notice.-

Would I have to keep from thinking? Could she hear us like I hear you?

-Great question. She should be able to, just like she should be able to remember all your memories, but I’ve segmented our mind. She’ll only have access to her part, while we have access to both.-

So, what? We can commentate on what she’s doing?

-I suppose you could think of it that way, yes.-

Tala grunted. She was almost back to the hold. We can try it, I suppose…

She slowed to a stop next to the massive doors.

Following Tali’s instincts, Tala raised her right hand, letting the magics scan the key-ring.

With a whisper of power, her authorization was recognized, and the person-sized door opened before her.

She stepped inside to the sound of music playing in the distance.

The yellow garden?

-Seems like, yes.-

Good, we should be able to get to our room to bathe in Kit.

-No, Tala. Tali bathes in the house baths nearest her room. Don’t break her routine.-

Right. She was still getting used to hearing the other set of habits and making the decision appropriate to the situation.

This is weird…

-Move quickly.We have half an hour before we must meet up with Be-thric.-

As if the thought of him summoned the arcane, Be-thric came around a corner up ahead. He paused upon seeing her, before a broad grin broke across his features. “Tali! My fantastic candidate.” He let out a grating laugh. “You are wonderful!”

Tala knew that she needed to bow, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

-Tala. Come on. You can’t fail this quickly.-

But she couldn’t. She simply could not force herself to bow to her captor, to the man who had tried to steal everything from her.

-Tala!-

Tala growled internally. Tali. Now!

* * *

Tali dropped to her knees as Master approached. “Master. What have I done to make you so pleased?”

Her Master caught her shoulders, even as she tried to bow, and lifted her back to her feet. “An armorers' guild reached out to us, begging forgiveness for one of their smiths.” Master was beaming. “Apparently, he is their most gifted rising star, and you spared him.” The man laughed gleefully. “The head of his guild was so grateful that we’ve been able to shift a good portion of the contracts for the maintenance of our House’s equipment over to them. You’ve saved our House a small fortune over the next few years.”

Tali bowed her head, feeling conflicted. She had wanted to end the altercation peaceably, but once they’d actually hit her? She’d wanted them dead. But that isn’t what her Master would have wanted.

“I’m so glad that you’ve finally learned the lesson: Often, an enemy is more useful alive than dead.”

“I strive to please, my Master.” She bowed her head.

He waved that off. “Enough, you are not a simple servant any longer. When we secure my ascension as a Pillar of this House, we will be considered one. Let us start breaking that habit, now.”

Tali was, once again, conflicted. I need to bow to him. He is my superior.

+Oh, gag me now.+

-Hush, this is important, Tala.-

Tali shook her head once. “I…I don’t agree. We will never be equal, but I will honor your command.”

“Good, good.” He was still grinning ear to ear, his perfectly white teeth in stark contrast to his onyx skin. “If it were just that, I’d be pleased with you, but the statement at the overlook!” He giggled with barely contained glee once more. “I cannot believe that you were able to spot a spy trailing you. I had not realized your magic-sight had progressed that far. And leaving a circle of blood behind? Truly inspired.”

Tali hung her head, then. “I’ve deceived you, Master, even if unknowingly.”

+What is she doing, Alat.+

Alat sighed, though only Tala could hear it. -Being herself…-

“The raven was an accident. I didn’t know it was a spy.”

Her Master paused at that, considering. After a moment, he waved it off. “Honesty was the right choice. It doesn’t matter, however. The perception in the city is that you foiled a watcher of the House of the Rising Sun.”

Tali nodded. “That explains both the falconine’s reaction when the bird died, and the anger of the leonine who tried to slow my return.”

Her Master’s eyebrows went up. “Oh? Do tell.”

She conveyed the reaction of the bird-folk to the death of the raven, and her brief encounter with the lion man.

“You continue to please me, Tali. I am continually justified in my choice to raise you up as my candidate.” He grinned. “Even your mistakes, or accidents, bring gain to our House.”

“You honor me, Master.”

+Can’t we try to kill him? Just a little?+

-We’d fail.-

+But the look on his face when we attacked him!+

-As we died?-

+Fine…+

“Now, go get cleaned up. The feast will begin in an hour. You don’t need to seek me out beforehand, as we had planned. Just meet me at the eastern entrance to the great hall, then.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Oh, and Tali?”

“Yes, Master?”

“I’m going to push for a competition without restrictions.” His smile pulled up on one side. “I want to see them quake before you.”

Tali felt a wave of joy run through her from her toes to the top of her head. Oh, by the Master, is he really going to allow it? “The iron paint?” It was the one training method that he was hesitant about. She was only allowed to use it when she trained in seclusion for at least a week at a time. With the upcoming clash, she’d expected to either be dead, or have daily duties as an Eskau. In either case, she’d assumed she’d never be allowed to use it again.

“The iron paint.”

Before she could respond to his confirmation, he held up a hand.

“But not for the feast. You can apply it afterwards, and by tomorrow’s conflict, your magic will be echoing in reality itself.”

This was huge. Master almost never allowed her to use her iron paint. He said that it looked too much like she was trying to pretend to be a hue-man, and that deception would be seen as weakness. But now, after she was introduced as his candidate before the others, the paint couldn’t be seen as an attempted disguise.

It would be seen for the thing it truly was.

The mantle of death.

+Oh, rust. She’s serious. She actually sees herself as death incarnate.+

-Shush. I’m trying to watch.-

* * *

Tali walked up to her Master just under an hour later.

The hue-man was dressed in incredibly simple clothing. His tunic and pants were both simple linen, though dyed a deep, blood red, and a similarly red rope was all he had around his waist.

She had taken the opposite tack, per his request.

Her overtunic hung down to just above her ankles. It was slitted up the center and down the sides to allow for easy movement, while maintaining the illusion of formalwear.

She wore close fitting slacks and shirt under the overtunic. A wide belt complemented the outfit, carrying only her weapon and her dimensional storage.

The overtunic was a bone white; the belt was black; and the shirt and slacks were a blood red.

All were fashioned from her morphic clothing.

It was ironic that her clothing was more flexible in its form than her weapon. The clothes had been incredibly easy to delve deeply into, and could take almost any form her mind could conjure. The weapon could only be a knife, sword, or glaive, though in all three forms it cut better than any mundane weapon, and while shaped as either of the larger two, it burned that which it cut.

But this night was about her Master, not her weapons.

Tali didn’t detect any vestiges on him, so he at least wished to have the appearance of being unarmed.

“My candidate. Welcome.”

She gave a slight nod, trying to honor his request, while still honoring him. “My Master.”

They were the only people waiting outside the eastern entrance to the great hall.

Two servants stood beside the double-doors, ready to pull them open when commanded to do so.

“Are you ready?”

“Of course, Master.”

He gave a half smile. “You are a fascinating creature, you know that?” He patted her on the top of her head. “I am glad that I didn’t kill you.”

She frowned. “Master?”

He sighed. “That was a foolish mistake. Alter.”

+What?+

-He just shifted Tali’s memory. It looks like she now believes that he said, “I am glad that I didn’t let you die.”-

+How? How can he do that so easily?+

-She trusts him utterly. She has no desire to resist his suggestions.-

+This is… kind of gross.+

-Indeed. But informative.-

+How so?+

-I’ve now felt his power directly, and seen how it works. It is exactly as you guessed, based on Tali’s memories of her “recovery.” There is no way he could wipe our mind and rebuild a useful personality in less than a few weeks.-

+That’s fantastic! But how can you be sure?+

-The feel of the power. How it was utilized. This isn’t a question of strength but dexterity and complexity. A mind is a lace tablecloth, and I just saw how he handled redoing a couple of stitches. Trust me.-

Tali smiled. “It is my deepest desire to prove your faith, justified.”

+Yeah… there is no way I could play her, convincingly…+

-You aren’t lying.-

Her Master turned to the servants. “We’re ready.” He glanced to Tali. “Remember?”

She nodded, taking her place one step behind and to his left. Together they walked forward even as the doors were pulled open.

A booming voice announced them as they stepped into the brilliant light of the feasting hall, “Announcing prospective Pillar Be-thric and his Eskau candidate, Tali.”

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

Eric Liu, ........, ~Apple~, A, A1ias , aantonides ., Aaron Greene, Aaron Sofaer, abd Srour, Aclys , Adam, Adam , Adam Andersson, Adam Richards, adam1 , Add_Identity , AdmiralW , Adrian Gorgey, Adrian Nightshade, Adurna , advancewarssami, AfternoonMatt, agent, AgentFransis, Aidan , aidan kutcher, Aidan Mc Donagh, ajcaspers, Akastor, Alec, Alex, Alex, Alex , Alex Foster, Alex Griffin, alex kosters, Alex LeBlanc, Alex Quintero, Alex Sunier, Alex Weatbrook, Alex Wilson, Alexander , Alexander Dupree, Alexander Lease, Alison Swenson, Allora Lee, Almost Famous, Ambird King, Anas Jumale, andre elizebeth, Andrew C Kerr, Andrew Cohen, Andrew Dempsey, Andrew Glass, Andrew Goudie, Andrew Holland, Andrew Jones, Andrew Kroll, Andrius , Andy, Angela Kimova, angrycharlie, Anonymous , Anonymous , antab , AnthraxRipple, Apotheosis As A Service, Archivist0 , Arhsnag, Aria, Aria Jonsdottir, Arnfinn Gjorvad, Artizela, arty, Asael Sklar, ashandarei, Aslak, Atorn Gaming, Attherisk, Austin Woodard, 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Cs., Zach Adams, Zach Wilson, zachary gafken, Zanthras, znarken, Zrell

Mage:

Aaron Lewis, al , Al Bi, Alexander Belousov, Anton Selling, Appl, Barrie Davis, Brett Muras, Carl Clements, Chris Olsen, Cody Caliguiri, Cole Ruhlig, Cybernetic Angel, David, Deneas , Digdug, Dustin , dylan penlington, Eciefae4, ensou , Eric Trombly, Eric Wharton, Error, Fabian , Finn Freudenberg, Ford Yeager, Gemyma, Gert Wallis, Gleadge, GopherAtl, Gurditt Mangat, Harold Teunisse, Harry, Ian Anderson, Irakli Jishkariani, jacob britt, James Hadfied, James Knight, Jamison Schneider, Jan, Jan Finger, Jason Case, JauPim, Jeremy , Jeremy Leonard, Jonathan Gough, Jonny, Josh , Joshua John Wallace, Justin George, Ken Wong, Lasse Pedersen, Leon Silva, Leonhard MÃ¼nzer, Linkneo5 , Lorcogoth, Lupusregina , mallix , Marcus148 , Mathias Schwendimann, Mathieu Deg, Matteo Pimentel, Max Oberg, Max Weidmer, MeatyLock , Michael , Michael Anaya, Michael Bradet-Legris, Michael F., NebulaeDreamz, Nefraak , Nicholas Kelly, Not Real, Patrick Cole, Paul Jones, Pigeon F, Raistlin , Sage, santor25, Scott Holt, Setaria, Sid_Cypher , SirGuy , SnowingSilently, SZ, Tao Wong, Taylor , ToffiTee, Two Cats, ulrik aaby, Yasin Bari

Mageling:

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Chapter: 206 - The Feast Hall

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Sakari Saastamoinen, Pride mystic artificer, PatronTurtle, Noelle, Maxine, Joshua Sydney, Emersen, Damon Roberts, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tali stopped when her Master did, maintaining precise positioning a step behind and to his left.

The feast hall was as stunning as always, finding a balance between beautiful intricacy and simplicity. The construction was mainly deep black stone with red running through it. There was no roof, after all, there would be no weather in the hold that wasn’t wanted, and the false sky overhead was visible even with the bright lights of the feast hall around them.

Tali always felt like she could reach up and touch those stars, even though she knew they weren’t real. The sensation was amplified by magics around the top of the feasting hall’s walls. It was an air manipulation script, creating a lensing effect, bringing them closer to those who looked up.

+Intricacy and simplicity? Those are literally in direct contradiction.+

-But she isn’t wrong. This is beautiful. Someone knows how to design the feel of a space.-

The House tables were spread around the room. Each was rectangular, designed so that the ‘head’ of the small table was oriented towards the main table. The short side at the ‘foot’ of each, was left empty, so everyone could see those on the slightly raised platform.

Each of these lesser tables was a microcosm of a portion of the local House, each arranged around a higher member of the House of Blood.

Those higher members all held auras in the yellow or green range, with only a single nearing blue. Those with stronger auras usually had one or two sycophants in the yellow range. The table headed by the colorfully feathered beast-woman with an almost-blue aura had two solidly green auraed members of the House.

There were more of the small tables than usual, set up for those who had come from other cities to witness the raising of a new Pillar. The bird-woman was the most notable example, having come from a city across the mountains to the west.

Her city didn’t have a Pillar, so she was the highest-ranking member of the House of Blood in residence there. She had, apparently failed in her bid to become a Pillar a thousand years earlier, but after her failure, she had renewed her devotion to the House and made herself so invaluable that she was eventually granted authority over a whole branch. She was a Pillar in all but name.

And direct power. Pillars outrank her, even if they don’t generally have a need to interfere.

It made sense that she’d be interested in the outcome of this selection. Master hinted that she would find a way to test me this evening.

Tali would be ready, no matter what form that test took.

She finished her quick inspection of the small tables, verifying there were no threats or unexpected surprises. For all previous events held within this hall, her Master had had a table dedicated to him, for his associates, liegemen, and partners to sit with him. There had never been many, but that was their loss. Tonight proved that.

Those who doubted him would be proven as the fools they were.

Servants moved among the seated guests, and only a single figure currently sat at the high table.

The Pillar in residence within this hold: Revered Sanguis.

His aura was just barely stronger than her Master’s, with the barest hints of indigo tinting it. His skin was the yellow of a lemon, and his sclera and iris were the green of tree leaves. Though his aura was visible, the specifics of his magic were not.

Tali had seen him crush an enemy with a word and reshape a valley with a gesture. His workings had almost no magic within them, because he didn’t need much power to accomplish his goals. He was of a High race, and his family, and those like his, were currently arguing for the addition of a loftier designation. Only time would tell if they’d be successful. They certainly had the power to win though, they simply lacked the numbers.

Though, they’ve apparently been striving towards that same goal for more than a millennium. Either way, it wouldn’t happen quickly.

Revered Sanguis nodded to Tali’s Master and gestured for them to sit to his right. There were currently seven unfilled seats. Four on the right side of Revered Sanguis and three on the other.

They were spaced out, with enough room for a person to stand beside each chair without crowding the seat’s occupant if needed.

In her past contemplations of Revered Sanguis, Tali had noticed an interesting dichotomy in the yellow hue-man. First, as her Master was from this hold, he was proud and honored that her Master was a potential Pillar. At the same time, he seemed to loathe Tali’s position as candidate.

It makes no sense. He should either trust my Master, or not. A Pillar was the true strength of any House. Either her Master was worthy, or he wasn’t. He had chosen her, so his worthiness rested on her.

+…does she really not understand that Sanguis dislikes humans?+

-If I’m understanding correctly, she thinks that if he truly disliked humans that much, then he should despise Be-thric for the choice and not be happy at all.-

+So…she’s even less politically minded than I am.+

-So it would seem. I’d not have guessed that was possible.-

+A bit harsh, but fine…+

Her Master turned, striding around the room's perimeter towards the raised table, head held high, back straight with pride.

Tali followed, trying to exude the confidence she felt in her position, in her Master.

As they walked her Master whispered one last time, “Remember, everything until the selection is a test. Treat it with the solemnity it deserves.”

She knew this already. Even so, she didn’t react, just as he had trained her. He should be able to give me instructions quietly without needing to worry about my reactions giving that fact away.

Her Master easily slid into the seat just beside Revered Sanguis. Tali took up her position in the space between the two, standing three steps back from the table.

The Pillar glanced towards Tali before speaking, his voice an oddly easy to understand rumbling, growl. “That overtunic is quite…distracting. Could you please go change into something less noticeable? White is much too garish.”

Tali stepped forward and bowed. “If my Master allows.” She watched the men out of the corners of her vision.

Revered Sanguis had an air of condescension in his bearing. He’s trying to get rid of me for a time.

Her Master gave the smallest smile and nodded.

Tali straightened and sent her magic into her garments just so. The white overtunic bled to black in an instant.

“Is this acceptable, Revered Pillar?” She bowed again. Don’t make direct eye contact, don’t use his name.

Revered Sanguis had turned fully to the side and was staring at her, mild shock evident across his features. He mastered himself quickly, nodded, then turned to regard her Master. “You’ve kept her abilities well hidden. I knew she could alter some of her garments, but the extent is beyond what I would have guessed.”

Tali straightened and stepped back into her place, falling into a relaxed stance, hands behind her back, feet shoulder-width apart.

After a brief moment’s silence, the double doors at the far end of the hall opened, the north entrance, and six pairs walked through.

A booming voice announced them as each set stepped into the brilliant light of the feasting hall, “Announcing prospective Pillar Derag and his Eskau candidate, Girro.” The first pair were a slim red skinned hue-man followed by a massively burley specimen who could have been the first’s brother, if their general features were any indication.

“Announcing prospective Pillar Jodup and her Eskau candidate, Alop.” The next two were a rabbit beast-woman followed by a fox man.

+Staying segregated so far. Beast folk with beast folk and hue-folk with their kind.+

“Announcing prospective Pillar Volena and her Eskau candidate, Rel.” A diminutive, violet hue-folk woman, who was barely more than half Tali’s height, was followed by a bear beast-man who could have eaten the woman he followed whole, multiple times over.

-And there’s the diversity I’ve come to expect from such an egalitarian society.-

+Sarcasm? Really?+

-You have your hobbies, I have mine.-

“Announcing prospective Pillar Tornas and his Eskau candidate, Blu-dine.” This pair was a bull-man and a blue-skinned woman.

“Announcing prospective Pillar Bobbau and his Eskau candidate, Ogi.” Two bear-men walked in. The leader, Bobbau, was a smaller sub-species, where Ogi was closer to Tali in size, though built heavier and having greater height.

+Three bear-folk? That seems odd.+

-Eh, even random samplings are almost never statistically even distributions.-

“Announcing prospective Pillar Gallof and his Eskau candidate, Thorn.” A grey, towering hue-man walked in prominence before a diminutive form that caught Tali’s interest immediately. The Eskau candidate was nearly as wide as he was tall, with a massive, luxurious beard. The hair on his head, and making up his beard, looked like nothing so much as silver wire, thick, stiff, and reflective. It was intricately braided, both across his face and atop his head with small onyx gems woven throughout. His skin looked incredibly reminiscent of unpolished emerald, a stunningly deep, vibrant green.

Tali’s eyes widened. That’s a dwarf. I didn’t know any were even in this region, let alone members of the House.

+Dwarf? As in…the fairytale creatures? They’re real?+

-Seems so. Hue and beast folk are the most common arcanes in this city, but they are far from the only ones. You know this, even aside from Tali’s memories. The Leshkin used to be arcanes after all.-

+I haven’t exactly had a chance to dig through Tali’s memories, and I guess I haven’t really considered how many kinds of arcane there might be.+

-Fine, fine. Now hush.-

All the prospective Pillars had auras in the green range and the candidate Eskau were shrouded in orange. Even so, the candidates were obviously Higher races, they were likely not fully trained, yet, to achieve and maintain a higher density.

Tali fought to keep a smirk from her face. Master and I are both above our peers in this.

She had expected no less.

The prospective Pillars were all dressed simply, just as her Master was, and the candidates were all armed, though none wore anything close to full armor, or carried any weapon larger than a longsword.

The only thing that they all had in common was a blood-red gauntlet each wore on their left fist.

Those were their protian weapons.

I wonder, if I win…when I win, will I be able to take those from my fallen enemies?

There was seemingly precedent for that, but whenever she’d asked, her Master had refused to give her an answer. Though, he’d never gone so far as to forbid her from asking again. She desperately wanted at least one of the weapons, but something told her that they weren’t going to be available to her, unfortunately.

+There is a human soul in every one of those. This is horrific, Alat.+

-We’ll do what we can, when we can.-

They were beautiful.

+I’m going to be sick.+

-You don’t have to watch.-

+Yeah, but then I’ll come back, and I’ll have no idea what’s going on. It’d be awful.+

-The choice is still up to you.-

As the prospective Pillars and candidate Eskau crossed the hall, Revered Sanguis greeted them each in turn, indicating which seat was prepared for them. Indeed, the chairs seemed to have been custom sized for each prospective Pillar, so that all heads were at an equal height once everyone was seated at the raised table.

The whole process was heavily steeped in tradition.

There were only two reasons for the selection of a new Pillar of the House of Blood. Other houses apparently handled their leadership differently, but Tali wasn’t concerned with other houses at that moment.

The first, and the rarer, reason was when a Pillar died, or was removed from his or her position. The second reason was when the current Pillars believed that the House had grown sufficiently to need another in the position.

This was a case of the second reason. A hold was to be established within a city on the southern shores of the continent. The House of Blood had a strong presence there, and deep ties with several other houses in the city, so it was time to officially create a base of operations for the House.

Not every hold had a Pillar, and some had two pillars if circumstances demanded it. Platoiri was a critical enough part of the House’s operations that they wished to maintain the presence of a Pillar, and have a newly raised Pillar under Revered Sanguis for a time to bolster their position within the city.

For that reason, among others beyond Tali’s knowledge, Revered Sanguis was chosen to host the contest. Thus, from what she understood, even when she secured the position for her Master he wouldn’t be leaving to the new hold. No, that honor would go to an older Pillar in a nearby city.

Her Master would remain with Revered Sanguis, to be trained and slowly established in his position. Only then would the House Counsel consider relocating one of the Pillars.

In Tali’s understanding, that would take at least a hundred years.

That span of time seemed ludicrously long to her, but her Master had repeatedly explained that as his Eskau, she would be very nearly immortal. Her expected natural lifespan should be in the range of ten thousand years, assuming she didn’t die or advance further.

She still couldn’t believe how much he had given her.

+Of course, he’d take credit for that. Fusing was hard, rust you. I did that.+

-ahem-

+…fine, we did that.+

Gallof was seated to her Master’s right, so the dwarf, Thorn, was to Tali’s right.

The dwarf regarded her for a moment, before bowing slightly in her direction, left hand to his chest.

Tali bowed in return, left hand on her weapon.

It was the only acknowledgement any of the other Eskau candidates, or any of the potential Pillars, gave her.

On her other side, flanking Revered Sanguis on his left, was Alop, and seated on that side of the Pillar was Jodup.

And thus, the feast began.

Servants brought food for the potential Pillars, though only their Eskau candidates approached the head table directly. They intercepted the servants and carried the platters the remainder of the distance.

Such a task would be beneath whichever of them succeeded the following day, and so this last, servile action was meant as a symbolic transition for the seven of them.

Tomorrow, they would no longer be their master’s chief servant. They would either be dead or a lesser equal with their master.

Well, the others might be in service to the Eskau of the victor. For Tali, however, it was win or die.

+You know, I could take over, and try to cut a deal with the others.+

-No, you really couldn’t here, look at this.-

+…Oh…So, even if I could make an agreement, it wouldn’t matter unless Be-thric certified it, which he wouldn’t.+

-Which he wouldn’t-

+These rules seem contrived to force a slaughter.+

-Yes. They are. Eskau are meant, first and foremost, to be tools of violence. Even during selections involving games or contests of skill, the winner is still almost always decided by strength of arms. Why surrender to an opponent with more skill in this task or that, when you might beat him in a straight fight.-

Being one of the candidates flanking Revered Sanguis, Tali was expected to serve him both at his request and on her own initiative.

Revered Sanguis, for his part, only gave commands to her, though Alop still occasionally assisted from the other side.

The Pillar’s request may have been seen as an honor by many, but Tali knew what they were: a promise. Even if she won,— When I win, —she would still be under the Pillar’s authority, and he would not be easy on her.

+Ironically, that’s exactly what we want.+

-Indeed, him wishing to make Tali’s life difficult will mean that he’s paying too close of attention for Be-thric to secret us away and attempt to rework our mind.-

+On the negative side, if he learns we’re recovered?+

-He’ll kill us without hesitation. It’s a shame that he seems to know exactly what Be-thric did to get us here.-

Tali decided to act like the attention and commands were an honor, as most would see it that way. If I handle it properly, this will add to my Master’s esteem.

The candidates did not eat.

Tali had been warned. They were expected to fast through the night and next day, until the contest. It would ensure that they didn’t eat any magically enhancing meat to give them an ‘unfair’ advantage.

That was reasonable, even Tali fully incorporated what she ate in less than an hour, giving a marginal lasting improvement to her magics, rather than having a secondary well of power available for only a moment.

I could have held the power, but it probably would have faded by the event, and in that case, it would have just gone to waste.

But she was getting distracted.

For the most part, the feast was a chance for the potential Pillars to jockey for position, but that had little to do with Tali.

Through the eating, she served her Master.

After the food had been consumed, Revered Sanguis stood. “My family.” He spread his hands, indicating all of them. “Let us address the human in the room.”

There were scattered chuckles as most eyes flicked to Tali.

“The path to become a Pillar of our House is a sacred one. A potential Pillar has one attempt to forge their protian weapon. Once their target is chosen, they must report who it is, so that we can enforce the singular attempt. It must be carried out without House resources, though if proper material presents itself within our holdings, the use of such is allowed.” Revered Sanguis gestured to those on either side of himself. “Thus, these potential Pillars went forth and claimed their material, most from the barbaric lands to the north. Once the material is forged into a proper protian weapon, an Eskau candidate is chosen. This candidate is raised from early childhood towards the role, and it is upon their shoulders that the power of the Pillar will rest.”

Nods filled the hall, along with some murmuring.

“However, tradition was…bent by one of our potential Pillars.” Revered Sanguis gestured to Tali’s Master. “Honored Be-thric chose his material, and then…”

Tali felt her attention fade for a moment.

The Pillar continued, Tali not listening, though Tala and Alat were. “He failed. He allowed his material to advance past the point of utility. He was disqualified, utterly and completely.”

Tali shook her head slightly, her mind coming back to focus on what was being said. Focus, Tali. Now is not the time to get distracted.

“But Honored Be-thric chose another path. He chose to forge material that others would have assumed beyond use into both weapon and wielder. He had the courage to take the risk.”

Her Master was sitting up a bit straighter now.

“Tomorrow will prove if his gamble was wise. Tomorrow will prove his worth to our House.”

Silence fell over those in attendance.

+Oh, wow. He’s good.+

-Indeed. He has distanced himself from Be-thric, while also supporting him, in a way. Either result will see Sanguis’s position strengthened.-

“Now, enjoy yourselves, my family. Talk amongst yourselves and take some time to get to know your potential Pillars.”

With that, the House of Blood members stood and moved through the hall. They quickly formed ever-shifting groups, chatting amicably, sipping wine, and nibbling on desserts which were proffered by servants weaving their way amongst the groups.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 207 - The End of the Night

A note from JLMullins

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<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tali didn’t have any specific duties during this part of the feast. This was a time for potential Pillars to talk with those whom they might hold sway over. It was a time to be seen, and a time to bury old grudges, so that whomever rose to the position, they would not feel a need to…remove any members below them.

It was not a time for Eskau, candidates or otherwise. Throughout the conversations, the candidates either stood silently behind and to the left of their masters or moved at their master’s bidding so that the other ranking members of the House of Blood could examine their physique and magics.

Tali had to fight to keep a smirk off her face when one lesser member tried to pinch her bicep to test for muscle density, and he had to use body strengthening magics to make more than the slightest impression.

True, she was flexing at the time, but it showed that the purple man was properly ranked within the House structure.

Too weak to ever amount to much. “Are you satisfied with my candidacy, Elder?”

He had nodded quickly, not meeting her gaze before he moved off.

Her Master had given her a smile for the display. That particular member of the House had been trying to undermine her Master for nearly a year, even before her Master had returned with her and announced his intentions.

There were several other attempts to test her suitability, but they all failed utterly.

The only one of true note came from a simple Mature member of the House, her orange aura announcing her low status.

Tali had several hue folk around her at the time, two were feeling her forearms, when she felt a slight prick.

Tali’s gaze immediately snapped to the green skinned woman who was on her left. A small pin had been pushed through Tali’s skin, which was actually fairly impressive, as far as feats go.

The poison on the needle was more so. Nonetheless, it proved utterly ineffective against her enhanced biology.

The woman had a triumphant look in her eyes until Tali smiled maliciously.

With quick motions, Tali trapped the hand holding the needle and forcibly pushed it further into her own arm.

Her voice was clear, even as the others who were around her stepped back in alarm at her quick movements. “You wouldn’t want to deliver too small of a dose, would you?”

Once the needle was mostly driven in, Tali pulled it back out, still trapped within the woman’s hand.

With a quick twist, Tali broke her attacker’s wrist. A laughably weak kick to the inside of the green woman’s right leg dropped her to her knees before Tali.

Her Master turned from his conversation with a raised eyebrow.

Everything’s a test. “Revered Pillar, I do not have the authority to issue judgment on this member of the House.”

+Wait. What’s she doing? The threat is neutralized. It wasn’t even a real threat to begin with.+

-You know what she’s going to do, Tala. Do you want to stop her?-

+…I…I don’t know.+

The Pillar turned from the group he had been talking with and took in the scene.

After a long moment, he nodded. “I give you the authority.”

+I can’t stop her…well, I can… but If we show weakness, here, it would be decidedly out of character for Tali. Even if it wasn’t, either Sanguis or Be-thric would kill me for showing weakness unbefitting of an Eskau.+

-Do you even want to stop her? These people are our enemies. We can stop her, if you want. Do you want control?-

+… No.+

As Revered Sanguis turned away from her, Tali looked to her Master. He simply nodded as well, though he didn’t turn away. Instead, he watched to see how she would proceed.

The woman was still kneeling before Tali, quietly whimpering as she clutched her distorted hand.

Tali’s voice was clear through the hall, even though most conversations didn’t stop entirely. “Will you reveal who put you up to this attack?”

It’s obviously the bird-woman, but such an accusation would be pointless. Even if this woman were her closest friend, that isn’t evidence of collaboration. Tali almost didn’t wait for the woman’s answer. Honestly, she probably shouldn’t have asked. If this had been well planned, the woman would now implicate some other enemy of her associates, and Tali would have just given them that opportunity.

Blessedly, the attacker just looked up with a glare. “I’d rather die.”

Tali gave a moment’s consideration. Crushing the woman would be both symbolic and demonstrative of her abilities, but by that same token, it would give away some of what she could do.

There were similar issues with using her morphic weapon. A simple solution would be best.

“Wish granted.”

Tali simply grabbed the woman’s chin and gave a quick, one-handed jerk sideways, snapping her neck.

The green woman collapsed to the side, her elegant dress falling in a rather artistic cascade around her unmoving form.

Two servants came forward stoically to remove the body, but Tali waved them away. “Leave her. The remains of the feast should not be removed until the celebration is complete.”

The servants withdrew, her Master nodded appreciatively, and the evening continued.

+…that was brutal.+

-Effective though. It should also be a deterrent to anyone else trying something similar.-

+Oh, there’s no doubt of that. I just…I don’t know if I could have done it like that. I don’t know if I could kill someone so casually, for such a little thing, and then leave their body out for all to see.+

-...You know, tomorrow you’re going to have to kill at least a few of the candidates.-

+Yes, but my life will be on the line, then.+

Once or twice during the feast, while glancing through the crowd, Tali saw odd motion from near some of the other candidates. The movements could have indicated attempts on the lives of her opponents, but she didn’t pay too much attention, regardless. If assassins succeeded, she’d have fewer competitors, but if they succeeded, those candidates would never have been real competition for her in any event. So, in the end, it was just meaningless posturing.

It was nearly midnight when Revered Sanguis called an end to the feast and made the pivotal announcement. “I have heard all the potential Pillar’s petitions,” he paused to grin at the alliteration, before he continued, his smile still in evidence, “And I am pleased to announce that I can honor them all.”

The Pillar paused, then glanced towards Tali and grimaced. “One thing, first: As one of the candidates is a collared, I must state that there will be absolutely no tampering, or interacting, with that collar under any circumstances. I will immediately kill anyone who even attempts it.”

A wave of mutters passed through the hall, and Tali fought the desire to hang her head in shame.

+Yes, be ashamed for being a slave. That makes sense.+

-I wish that was why she felt shame.-

+…yeah… She simply hates that the statement brought attention to Be-thric’s violation of custom.+

The Pillar continued his announcement, his voice gaining a celebratory tone once more, “That dealt with, for the first time I can remember, every single potential Pillar has asked for the same terms. Tomorrow, we will have a competition without restrictions, save those required. It will be until death or surrender, and the only magic you may bring with you is your own and that of your protian.”

Tali shook off her momentary shame and felt herself grin broadly. There would be no riddles, no games, no feats of strength. It would be a simple melee, and Tali would prove her Master right.

* * *

The door to Tali’s room closed with a click. Two servants had just left, after helping Tali apply her iron paint.

+Enough. My turn again.+

Tala swayed just slightly as she came back into command of her own body.

It was slightly disorienting, moving from the position of observer and commentator to that of personality in command.

-Hey, I kind of like that.-

Tala grimaced. I really don’t. It implies that we’ll be doing this often enough to need a term to help us differentiate…

She twisted, stretching and reveling in the feeling of being back within her own body.

She could already feel the power building up within her, compounding within her magics.

The feast had ended less than an hour earlier, though obviously without her getting any food. A bit unfair, that.

-Well, what can you do?-

I could have stolen food, or I could go do so now.

-Are you going to?-

Absolutely not. That would be foolish.

Alat chuckled within Tala’s head.

Tala looked down at her blackened hands, and had a moment of revulsion.

They looked like they could be Be-thric’s hands, the hands of her captor.

No, focus on the details, not the generalities. Hers were feminine, not delicate, but certainly not like Be-thric’s. They lacked his odd, gray spell-lines.

Tali had never learned what those were. Most arcanes didn’t have visible spell-lines, though a few did. Be-thric was not unique. She still didn’t know what his did. The material of the lines, and the arcane’s flesh, were such different mediums that she had no basis with which to compare to human spell-forms of gold, silver, or copper.

Even as she watched, the echoes of her own lined magics began to fade into existence, carving themselves into reality.

With a resigned sigh, Tala lay on her bed, contemplating the day that was to come.

As evidenced by the rapid formation of the echoes, her power density and through-put were both leagues beyond what they had been six months ago. From Tali’s memories, she’d spent less than half the time in captivity wearing the iron paint.

The increases had come, instead, from the literal wagon-loads of arcanous and magical harvests she’d been eating. Meats from powerful beasts, fruits, and vegetables grown in high magic areas and saturated with certain spell-forms. Honestly, it sounded like what Tala understood with regards to creating artifacts.

But these people use it to create food for their upper echelon to consume.

Be-thric had thrown every resource her way in his bid for power. He’d even taken her into a pocket dimension, filled to the brim with founts, save room for a few people to meditate.

Every inch, even under the compressed founts, had been carved with spell-forms designed to compact and distill power.

The aura of the space had been violet, and Be-thric had implied that they’d lowered the density of power so that the two of them could bear it.

It had been agonizing, but it had forced her body to acclimate to higher quantities of power, even if that power was…lesser, when compared to what came through her gate.

She’d been a container expanded to hold more. The particular fluid or gas used for the expansion was irrelevant, as her gate always refilled the new capacity with half-step Refined power.

-That’s not a thing.-

Are you sure? It seems like a good description.

-…I’m sure there’s an actual ranking and classification for it.-

Do you know it?

-…no…-

Then half-step Refined it is! Tala grinned triumphantly.

The more she considered it, the more it was obvious that Be-thric was betting everything on Tali. And it made sense too, now at least. He’d officially marked her as his target, but she’d slipped away from him, advancing faster than he could possibly have expected.

He cheated, too.

-Yeah, he clearly began the process the first time he saw you, rather than selecting you officially, before interfering.-

That’s probably what messed him over. I’d have been on a different path when he came back, and likely wouldn’t have advanced as quickly as I did.

-Could be. We can never really know what would have happened, though.-

Even with the uncertainty, it was good to understand what had occurred, and she even got some modicum of pleasure imagining how Be-thric’s plans had crumbled so horribly.

She glanced at her hands once more, regarding the paint. I actually have no idea if this is new paint or just some of the last of what I had with me, but I think it must be new? It seems like a lot of effort to reverse engineer this…

She brought her hand closer, trying to examine the now-dry material. It looked almost identical, if not identical. She had purchased around ten gallons from…someone in Marliweather in the months preceding her capture.

Tala’s smile faded, her thoughts turning inward as she took a deep breath and sighed. I know you know what I’m going to say.

-I do.-

I’m going to say it anyway.

-Yeah, I know that too.-

…It’s kind of irritating talking to someone who can know what I’m going to say before I say it.

-That’s why I pretend most of the time. What a polite fiction we maintain, eh?-

Tala glowered at the ceiling. Anyways. I know you haven’t restored some key parts of my memories.

-I wasn’t trying to hide that fact from you.-

Then why not give them back?

-Because worrying about certain things would distract you.-

So, I have people that I should be worried about? But you think I can’t afford the distractions?

-Yes, and companions.-

Wait… some of them aren’t people?

Alat was silent for a long moment. -I assume you are against me modifying your memory of this exchange?-

Not funny, Alat.

-Yeah…- Alat did sound remorseful. -That was a bit in bad taste.-

Even so, bad jokes will not distract me.

-Tomorrow will be difficult enough without you worrying about things you can’t affect. Let me return them to you, tomorrow night.-

But if I ask for the memories back now?

-Then, I will give them back, but I feel like that is not wise.-

Tala considered that for a moment before asking another question. So, you really think I shouldn’t remember?

-Repression is kind of our thing.-

Well, I’d say “look at how that’s worked out.” But I don’t actually know, now do I? I just feel like it hasn’t worked out well, with no memories supporting it. Do you know how infuriating that is? How terrifying? You are keeping me from being fully me, Alat. You’re acting more like Be-thric than you are acting like me.

-That’s not fair.- The alternate interface sounded genuinely hurt by the comparison.

Isn’t it, though? You’re manipulating my mind to get me to act in the way you want me to. It’s not to the same extent, obviously, but it is more like him than it is like me.

-…I…I did not think of it like that.- Alat’s voice was incredibly small within Tala’s head.

Yeah… I assumed you didn’t. You’ve never had any ill will towards me, nor malicious intent.

-I’m sorry…Here.-

Suddenly, Tala jerked, memories within her head unlocking.

She gasped. “Oh.”

Tears filled her eyes, and she felt a sob shudder through her. She couldn’t afford to be loud. There shouldn’t be anyone nearby, but there was always the chance.

My siblings. She felt tears start to pour from her eyes, down past her temples and onto the pillow behind her head. Nalac and Illie are at the Academy, they were asking for my input on their fundamental understandings. I never got a chance to reply. She had missives from some of her other siblings, but she hadn’t been talking with anyone as much as those two and Nalac more than Illie.

Mistress Odera. Will I come back to find her gone? Her Archon star finally complete and her mortal form shed in favor of a fount?

Lyn is probably just fine, though I’m sure she’s worried sick.

Rane was doing a loop of the cities on his own. I know I don’t have the right count of days, but that should be finishing up soon, if he continued after I went missing… He has to know I’m gone, right? Mistress Odera would have told him.

She sat up and blew her nose, her mind fixating on one friend in particular. Terry? He was near me when Be-thric…took me. Is he…did Terry die?

Alat had no response. Neither they, nor Tali, had memories of Tala’s capture. Alat had been keeping their mental map up to date in the Archive, but when they were taken, that was cut off. Alat, herself, was cut off.

The last thing they could recall was Be-thric saying ‘Found you.’

What’s happening with all of them?

-I don’t know, and we can’t know. But, Tali has seen a terror bird occasionally in the city. I don’t know if it’s Terry, after all Terror birds aren’t that uncommon either as pets or pests.-

Tala easily called up the memories from Tali’s experiences, seeing increases in the number of terror birds around the city every so often.

The coloring didn’t look quite right to be Terry, but that might have been her fear talking. After all, Tali had never really gotten a good look, she had only noticed it because on those days there seemed to be more terror birds about than usual.

Tala shuddered, wiping at her eyes.

-So?-

I…I think it’s better to remember. It’s better to know what I need to get back for.

-Huh. It seems I…misunderstood what your reaction would be.- Something in Alat’s tone caught Tala’s attention.

Alat? What’s wrong?

-I…I did not realize that I’d drifted so far from you already.-

We are a bit distinct. And not just because you were hiding bits of myself. She didn’t intend the words as an attack, so Alat didn’t take it that way.

-We are.-

Even with my own memories, you are a passenger. Watching through my eyes is not the same as taking the action. That difference shapes us differently.

Alat seemed to perk up a bit. -It is amazing how our experiences shape us, isn’t it.-

Indeed it is. Tala blew her nose one last time, feeling complete for the first time in… well, six months or so.

She needed rest. Her mind needed sleep to reorganize and process through all that had happened. It was time for the end of the night. I think I need to sleep.

-That is probably wise, yes. Good night, Tala.-

Good night, Alat.

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

william wallace, Thuss, Midnight Harbinger, Seth Bryant, Silberwolf325 , Grimizen, Alex Griffin, FieryFern, Ocean Breeze, Nick Tinsley, Isaac Deroche, Yenin , Jonathan Timm, Ray Robitaille, Memnochian, Disclancer, aantonides ., Alex , Andrew Holland, Angela Kimova, antab , Archivist0 , arty, Austin Woodard, B C, Bacon Macleod, Baldur Norddahl, BossDawg, Christian Kenney, Colin Ford, Cyrus McEnnis, David Turner, Dire Wolf, dotAlice, Enaz the great, Enif , Eric , Erling Egilsson, evilperson41 , Frank, Geoff, George Hicken, Gremlin, Gull, Gustav Burkhardt, Haran , Ian Radspinner, IGS, Jacob Ellis, James Walsh, Jedediah Wolfgang, Jeffery Nickelson, Jonah of the Whale, just_a_potato , Justin , Justin Reagan, Kai , Kamren Livingston, Keira Wulfe, Kirvin, Krikor Chichadjian, Leendert Kortlever, Logan , Lyael, Marcus Pehan, Margus234, Mark Dolson, Matt M, Matthew , Matthew Davis, Max Gustavson, Megacheez , Noah Morris, noah stevens, nugitoBambino, OlivierA, PaleMire, peter mattoon, Randy Klein, Redbeard , rizen, Robert P, Robert z, Robin Richards, Rutger Boll, Ryan Naquin, Ryan Tran, Sean McCrohan, sedael , Seth Richter, Shakez44, Solar , someguy , Stephen Pearson, Taliesin , TheLazerCat , Thomas Goyne, Thomas Stewart, Travis McHenry, Travis McIntosh, Tzucaza ., WarNachos, WhisperInTheVoid, William Priess, xIron Gamerx, Z. Cs., MoneyTree, Samuel McCarren, Matt M, Hazza Vanderbyl, Bain-Lindsay , Brian, NaughtyPaws, daniel edery, Tyler, Derek, Irisa, klabuster, Maggi von Da, Maksim, Rachel Prochner, Jo, Matt S., Onill007 , Primordi, RageBone , Michael, Viria , GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Hibou Ronchon, MePe , Oliverthms , Cristi Palincas, Arnfinn Gjorvad, Varzifar, Laurids Jensen, Kenyaa , Nikolaj Rosander Madsen, Shil Modi, Aaron Sofaer, Aclys , Adrian Gorgey, Alex, Allora Lee, AverageGuy , Bosparan, Bricyn Abel, chad ensey, Chris, Cole Nyquist, David Brims, DeusCap, devarian , Doomerjunky, Dorian Grizzle, Dr.Quick, Ell Lan, Gamecats, Jake Pellegrini, James, Jarrod Manzer, Jason Morse, Jeff Gault, Jeremy James, Joe Smith, John Hadel, Joseph , Kaeson, kenneth, Lachlan Priest, M , MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, Melting Sky, Michael Mooney, Nathan Fahrenbach, Nhnnh, Oakenbear , Pedro Derze, RottenTangerine, Skarsol, Steven C, ThreatLvlPurple , Timothy Burago, tlove, Vikram Ahluwalia, Zanthras, ciopo, dennis malatesta, Andrew Goudie, Sekander , Chris Hibbert, John Growcott, Le GarlantÃ©zec, ThÃ©o, David D, HJ, Tangyorange, znarken, Glenn Clemente, William Fullerton, Adam, Jayden Kirkham, smoze, Daniel B, James Beaudreau, Kyle, Eoin Barrett, Schelm , Siphor , Frederic Axt, Gyslain Desgagne, Ryudachi, BoB, Max W, Ludger , TomÃ¡Å¡ BlÃ¡bol, Kenneth , mark mÃ¸llegaard, Alex Weatbrook, Alexander Dupree, Chris Fox, Cypha, Dan , David Schleimer, Drew Gilmour, dwarftoss58, erik lindquist, FoolRegnant , HeartHawk, Hornblower , ItsjustMe , Jeremy Durbin, John D'Arcy, John Noone, Josh Fryza, Klecksi, Lanhail, Michael She, Michelle Goodman, Mountainking , Mudith Mallajosyula, Nate D., Noah Jones, Notcreepycreeper, Philipp Ziehe, Phlorez , Ramapriya Rangaraju, Reed Montemurro, Reid Palmquist, Seadrake, Sean Panajotovic, sings_with_toads, Thanks to Alex Jones for my new gender, gremlin wraith, William Davis, Zach Adams, Will C, Sam Oppy, hellunit , NNeil , Mcnoodlies , AnthraxRipple, Aria, Braincase , Bunny Waffles, Calvin, Dan, Darkhelm , David Joseph Pascua, Dominic Weibel, Feltenix, Greg Shields, Jered McCullough, Justin, Kovak, Laila , Marcus Adams, mdapkins , Monte949, Pigeonpie, rintaun , SaltyVigilante , Samuel Patterson, zachary gafken, Nathaniel Baxter, Andy, Nonie, TurmRIC, Ink's Muse, sethorizer, Lerous, Vervacitus , Thaco4 , Drake Morgan, Mark, Kermity , Traian, Grausheira , Alex LeBlanc, Mr. Finch, reafan, Zrell , Mohammad Muzhaffar Bin Omar, Aaron Greene, adam1 , Alex Foster, Andrew C Kerr, Andrius , C Howard, Ceeney, Chris Mantakounis, Clayton Carson, Dave, DeathOfOld , gokief , Grumlen, Gunnar Crider, Jacob trent, Jasen Nichols, Joseph Sutherland, karmaslap , Levi Cox, Lindsay W., Mechrono, Meierfrac, Noshei , Patrick Blatti, Rich Webb, Robert Mullins, Sandoz, Tom Roettger, Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, Joshua allen, Oliver Firoozan, Khress , Alex Wilson, FishFace , Elias Leutgeb, Connor Beeson, Cirex123 , Jan Joost Sijbesma, ajcaspers, Apotheosis As A Service, Steffen, Thernn , Paul Becker, mattias hessleryd, Aidan , Arhsnag, Asael Sklar, Chloe Winter, closeded, Cordelia , Dylan , ElodinGale, Jason Johnson, Kiran, minicheatbook, Omar Wazir, patrick seim, Pieter-Jan Van Steenkiste, Smokestack Matt, TheFool, Vaulex, Ilundihl, schnixxes, Stuart Anderson, Adam Andersson, ScottDR, Ely Brookes, MenacingSand, Lewis Dyer, Michael Maor, Marcel Amendt, Styx49, Magisch, Enthused, Gabriel, Tyler Babcock, KDP , Mikael Svensson, Andrew Glass, Carya Galabra, CaughtRedHeaded, Dakota , Dan Addis, Draega, Grizzly Fiction, Itbeme12321, Jacob , Jiokuy , jonch1243 ., Justin Gray, Kevin Green, matthew bird, Miles Pettey, Nicholas Johnson, Nikolas allen, Pawel Maskowicz, Ryan Hearn, S T, Shelbo, Svarog, Taylor , Wundermelon, Stano MareÄek, Sebastian Lindqvist, BtBurns , Daba, James Davidson, Matt Labrum, Edmund McGough, Joshua Smith, Biomass, Gabriel Jarman-Ivens, STORRM , Adam , Alexander Lease, Hollowlce, Frederik, Faelyn, Darcy Lessard-Patola, ImBaroqe, Politician, Yrom, Inzuris, Felipe Andrade, TorbjÃ¸rn Nilsen, Robert , grayfire, Jess, Olof DahlstrÃ¶m,  Eric Liu, Alex, Aria Jonsdottir, Christopher Catania, Colin Reed, crystalcat, Daniel Sigui, Ethan , GuyWhoReadsALot, James Derr, Jetforce, Jonathan Yarian, Just Dave, Kyle frasch, LeJordon , Nick Norris, OakieTheTree, OpCrystal , OrangeSpork, Paerofar , Raphael , Ratoo , RexRegis, Robert Kline, Superposhposh , tachi-kawa, user754595, Whisper, Some Total Kretin, Jalty, Desertdoe , nokko, JC, Anonymous , Silveredgallium, Flogoyog , Fabian Elzo Kraemer, Akastor, Sean Carter, LordErr, lol, Alison Swenson, Andrew Cohen, Artizela, Bernardino Campa IV, bob sicks, Bolimest, Christopher Harris, Daniel A, Diego Avendano-Morineau, Frost , Joseph Saunders, Noah , Nyotree, Powernap , Rhaid, Roger, Talion, Thortinshire, Toad , Tom Pulk, X Y, Ian , Ethan Munday, Severed Hat, Lygon Bowen-West, Add_Identity , Flusspferd, Louis Nel, NeutralQuartz, Jywert , Julia O, Jonathan Frerichs, Lazy Lemon, Nikita Becker, KingWoh, Saerthas, Fraxx, Robin SjÃ¶doff, PiMs, Adam Richards, Almost Famous, Cae, Carlos Andres Rengifo Escobar, Cody Poteet, CrispyKing , Daniel Harris, DLR , Driftward, ItWasIDIO!!, Jeremy Dorn, JTP , Julian Meltzer, Karma Baris, Kirk Morgan, Kyle Brackenbury, luke, Matthew Powell, Nate Kaufman, Payen Hell, posthumousleon , Proteus Jones, Satya Prateek, SteindÃ³r Tryggvason, Vroom , Yemisi Mcmullen, ........, Atorn Gaming, Seijax , Magnus Andersson, da Finnci, Connor Oswald, Chris Brady, Mr Google Doodle, CringeWorthyStudios , Seth Cox, Joshua Samuel Miller, Dan, JoÃ£o Vieira, Aslak, Christian Nowitzki, RotWeisseWaffel, Erkki Parkkulainen, maxime gm, Philipp Zander, Cullen Humphries, mohammed essam, Peter Edlund, Leif Nejst, Rory natynczuk, Sylvain Arguillere, Kel Pough, Lu , T.Tandstad, A1ias , walliz22 , Adrian Nightshade, AgentFransis, aidan kutcher, Alec, Ambird King, Andrew Dempsey, Avista Askenazu, Ben Dean, Brandon Cleveland, Carl Bunch, Chris , Connor Sunier, Drendude, Dustin , Elliott Fawcett, Evan Morris, Furnastone, Griffin Skutsch, Gwendolyn Simmons-LaRose, Jason Petry, Jasper Walters, JJ327, Jody, Joshua Holt Sorensen, Kent Gunn, Lia, LordDark , Melnik5, Michael D Chavez, Michael Goulet, Oliver , Ransom Hollister, Relein, Retaliation ., SoddenFool, Spencer Herold, Stephanie Washburn, Tate Browder, Tristan Griffin, Troy Fox, Tyrone Thomas, Vincent Sloan, Marinus , Lambda 0479, James Lavender, DasUberGryx, Piotr, Signspace, Walter , Im Hello, ENIM Skills, Michael Stephan, ashandarei, Xynee, Aidan Mc Donagh, Teee , Derek Singer, Michael Mercado, Weppsu, Christoffer DahlÃ©n, AdmiralW , Adurna , BjÃ¶rn, BRUNO ASTUR, Karl Tageman, Enrico Choy, Hassanein Fadhel, Chris , Kristia, Max Prigge, julian, Lars, advancewarssami, agent, Alex Sunier, andre elizebeth, angrycharlie, Anonymous , Beau Bryant, Christopher Jack, Conor Futro, Cory Ellis, Daniel Joseph Moreau, Daniel Strickland, dewstark, Dixon Gao, Grady Blanks, Hannoske, Jehru, Jeremy Davis Payne, Joshua Lawvere, Joshua Paye, jww, Kate Yen, KingDaviddagr8, Matthew Myers , Miri, Mountain Barber, Myles2322, Parker Hebert, Pizzatiger , Robert Adams, Robert Hinshaw, Ryan Coyne, Ryan Hogan, Sands , SecondBlahm, Simon Casey, W , Xavier Lamphere, xtrnet, ChiefWizard , Xaim , Graeme Jardine, Oliver Poole, Mario Kaminsky, nymaxilian , Midnight Questions, Danny Noppen, J , Jordan Leighton, Zach Wilson, geraint juinor, Ole Merschel, user42 , OMG STOP CAPS, Shyx, roflkong3, Leyren Leyren, Max Hofinger, Olaf Dybbert, SpartanEcho , Tatiana Saturno, Jolly Javelin, skici, Eric Svahn, Simon Dingemans, Jonah Ree, Kylieth , John O'Connor, Brian, Jackie DeschÃªnes, Andrew Jones, Orr404, Mondays, ~Apple~, A, abd Srour, AfternoonMatt, alex kosters, Alex Quintero, Alexander , Andrew Kroll, Attherisk, BaguaBrady , BeaR, Caricifus, Chris Goss, Cold Ramen, conkerer , DagNabItAll, Didntdoathing, Dylan Sutton, Enigma , Eric Helaney, Evan Zhou, Henri emmet, Ian Sommer, Indigo David Behling, isaac bartlett, Isaac Mathew, James Cornish, james young, Jason P, JCQuiinn, Jeremy Evans, John, Jonah Doyle, Jose Jimenez, Kageryu, Keenan Adams, Landon Sweeney, Less Than Three, Logan McAllister, Mad Max, Magnus Bigelow, Merrillz, Mnem , Molly Hopkins, n, Nadav Ben Yehuda, PARXIVAL, RandomPerson, Samantha Sandlin, Sean Mantell, Sean Reap, Stephen L, Victoria, Wesley Ervin, Seth Wilson, Fingin, David Adams, Mark , Bengt Ribinski, nekton, Waffleman, Anas Jumale, George Dashner, James Fotouhi, Jerry, Matthew Gritters, Nick Riley, Nikolay Panov, Patrick polsey, Steven Johnson

Mage:

Max Oberg, Ian Anderson, Joshua John Wallace, Jackson Ragland, Scott Holt, Pigeon F, Lasse Pedersen, al , Alexander Belousov, Gert Wallis, Mathias Schwendimann, Setaria, SirGuy , Jan, Anton Selling, Fabian , Gleadge, ulrik aaby, Carl Clements, mallix , Cybernetic Angel, GopherAtl, James Hadfied, Jason Case, Jeremy Leonard, Michael Anaya, NebulaeDreamz, Aaron Lewis, Harold Teunisse, Irakli Jishkariani, James Knight, Jeremy , Jonny, SnowingSilently, Taylor , Gemyma, Deneas , Michael Bradet-Legris, MeatyLock , Eric Wharton, Dustin , jacob britt, Jamison Schneider, Digdug, Patrick Cole, Sid_Cypher , Finn Freudenberg, Mathieu Deg, Chris Olsen, Matteo Pimentel, dylan penlington, Harry, Gurditt Mangat, Eric Trombly, Sage, Josh , Nicholas Kelly, Jonathan Gough, Muspellsheimr, Ford Yeager, Not Real, Raistlin , santor25, Yasin Bari, Barrie Davis, David, Error, Marcus148 , Nefraak , JauPim, Jan Finger, Brett Muras, ToffiTee, Tao Wong, Leonhard MÃ¼nzer, Al Bi, Linkneo5 , Lupusregina , Michael F., Lorcogoth, Appl, Cody Caliguiri, Cole Ruhlig, Eciefae4, ensou , Justin George, Leon Silva, Max Weidmer, Michael , Paul Jones, SZ, Two Cats, Ken Wong, Spencer Burke, Star Sword

Mageling:

DANTE, Alexander Graber-Tilton, Ivo Havener, BurnNote, Lonewolf, SomethingWicked , Skape, Zagig, pope benedict, Reminder, Luka Lageschaar, Charles, ben , Dave Burkett, Matt DiMeo, Michael kim, Robert Rosenthal, Joost Boere, Isaac Larkin, Pawaidan, emphes , Chris K, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Hamo4, moniker, S , Stefan Rabenstein, AndromedaStar, chimerarara, Frozen, GSH, industriousrevolution , Russell Black, Sam Mullen, Alternative Facet, Faris Bissex, Judy Halloran, WanderingArchitect, Austin McGue, Jeff berman, Kirsty , Benjamin Buco, Sven Paulson, derek giandolfi, Eythan Hayashi, Pyrite, ttuurrhh , Kuro_Neko , Tombur , DÃ¡niel MarkÃ³, HÃ¥vard , Shaun Skelton, David H, Henrik Runestig, acrasa , Hallan Savage, Aren , Cassano , Daniel , Delilah, Harris, Joseph White, KB , Moreldarin, Nick, nick v, nicolo maso, OmegaHebrew, Richard Heying, Skelethin , Kyle Smith, Aristeidis Tsialos, Jonathon Hagedorn, Michael Ireland

Inscribed:

Dax, fennek , Tandroll, Chase128, Trevor Walker, Eyke, Alastair Dent, Ross Doyle, nikrowd , Eric Mueller, Isaac Fratti, Dylan, Ari Mononen, Jonathan , Dennis Bollyn, George Lanetz, Paul Lorenz, Sam Ford, ShadowCub , Anks , PeM, Mqrius, Moses Lambert, LÃ©o Viarouge, jaylu, Benjamin Piribauer, James A. Hunter, Beanboy21 , Bizzy Sea, Chris , Christopher Cha, Diana Kelly, Dylan Eilerman, Reece Zieschang, Wacjob

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Mother of Exiles (Gritty Adventure/Mystery Isekai Fantasy)

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Chapter: 208 - Begin

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Pride mystic artificer, Maxine, Emersen, Damon Roberts

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala slept well and woke early, the night and day passing in a blur. Though she felt some tension from the upcoming battle, she did her best to focus on what she could do, rather than what she couldn’t control.

She spent most of the day in meditation, sifting through Tali’s memories and experiences for things that she could learn. Though, she didn’t just sit quietly while she meditated.

Tala used the opportunity to familiarize herself with the Way of Flowing Death.

-Blood, Tala. It’s the Way of Flowing Blood.-

Oh, yeah. That makes more sense.

-…you already knew that. Why get it wrong on purpose?-

Way of Flowing Death sounds better.

-But Death doesn’t flow. Blood does.-

…fine. Way of Flowing Blood.

Thus, Tala spent the day refining her understanding of the fighting style, allowing Tali’s instincts and memories to guide her.

When it was time for the competition, what would most likely be a bloody battle to the death, Tala made her way to the battleground.

On the far side of the hold, a circle of short cliffs surrounded a lowland nearly two hundred yards across.

Down below the cliffs, the ground was level and covered in thick, well-established clover.

Good footing, springy. No obvious means for terrain advantage.

All the members of the House, in residence in Platoiri or visiting for this event, surrounded the arena on comfortable seating, each seat seemingly individualized to the member.

Servants swarmed around the cliff top, seeing to the needs of their masters.

Sanguis’s Eskau was greeting each guest, candidate, or potential Pillar as they arrived, and Tala gave the man a courteous nod. I can be respectful.

Pallaun, Sanguis’s Eskau, had returned around midnight. He had been delayed in his return, which is why he had missed the feast. If rumors that Tali had heard over the previous few days were correct, Pallaun had been sent to crush a minor house, which had almost succeeded in kidnapping one of Sanguis’s daughters, a girl who had just reached marriageable age.

The minor house had intended to force a marriage between her and their heir, thus gaining official entry into the House of Blood.

It had been a foolish attempt, though sound in principle.

One week earlier, mere hours after the failed kidnapping, Pallaun had entered their hold, breaking down the magical reinforced door and storming in, alone.

A minor house would not have an elite, but they would be far from helpless. Many minor houses had the ability to field an elite, but chose to spread those armaments out among their best warriors, rather than concentrating them.

It wouldn’t have mattered.

It seemed that Tali had cultivated some of the servants as sources of news, because one had approached Tala that morning to inform her that an empty minor hold had been added to the vault along with more than two dozen vestiges, though they’d used different terms for the armor and weaponry.

Pallaun had returned with spoils of conflict and no prisoners.

He’d used a vestige to lock down the door before spending nearly a week hunting down everyone who’d been in the hold: house members, servants, and even guests unlucky enough to be visiting at the time.

The hue-folk man stood just taller than Tala, his protian weapon worn as a knife on his belt. Aside from the belt, simple breeches, and sandals on his feet, he wore nothing else.

His head was clean-shaven, and his obsidian eyes matched his skin so closely that he looked like nothing so much as a three-dimensional shadow. His skin was so dark that it was hard to see the contours of his leanly muscled frame.

Tala could feel power radiating off of him, even though she couldn’t see any spell-lines or aura.

No one knew what rank he held, but his protian weapon was thousands of years old. House lore held that his family had wielded the weapon for generations, though no record could easily be found of it changing hands.

A smile broke the obsidian man’s face. “Tali, you will not fail today. This I know.”

As they had lived in the same hold for at least six months, Tali and Pallaun had sparred quite often.

Tali had never beaten the man.

Pallaun usually fought with as many handicaps as he could think of.

After one particularly infuriating day, Tali had collapsed to the ground, weeping in frustration, and he had promised to never fight her blindfolded again.

It didn’t improve Tali’s chances, but it had been less humiliating.

Pallaun was a terror.

And likely the greatest threat to our ever escaping…

-Yeah… though, it is possible that he wouldn’t interfere, if he were to learn the truth.-

Or he would kill us on the spot.

-That is a possibility, yes.-

Thorn seemed to have been a bit behind Tala, and he grumbled a complaint while regarding the larger man. “What is this favoritism, Eskau Pallaun?”

Tala half turned to regard the dwarf, even as Pallaun responded.

The dark man’s grin widened. “Is it favoritism to speak of the sunrise? Besides, have you even seen her today? She looks positively marvelous. Almost like me.”

Thorn glanced towards Tala, and then did a double-take.

Had he really not noticed?

-From the back, the difference is pretty hard to see. Now that you’re turned to be able to see him, though?-

Pallaun continued. “Though, in her case, she’s offset her perfection with…” he waved dismissively in her direction, "...gaudy manifestations of power.”

Thorn just stared. “How… what? You can’t possibly think that magical armor of any kind, let alone that blatant, will be permitted.”

Tala shrugged and smiled. “This magic is all mine. Even so, Revered Sanguis will be final arbiter of what is allowed.”

The full Eskau beamed, his too-white teeth flashing in the afternoon light, fake though it was. “You see? She is magnificent, more than a match for those set against her.”

Thorn glared, while seeming a bit more hesitant. “Some of us are unknown to you, great Pallaun.”

Pallaun’s smile quirked. “I would not be so sure of that, acerbic Thron.”

Did…did he just get Thorn’s name wrong? Was that on purpose?

-I have no idea.-

Tala was at a loss. It was kind of funny, but she didn’t understand what was going on, and she certainly wasn’t going to do anything that might be perceived as laughing at Pallaun.

The dwarf stiffened, his green skin becoming slightly translucent.

Is that like a human paling? Or reddening?

-Or both?-

Not helpful.

Thorn didn’t say another word as he hurried past, but Pallaun called after him. “Fight well, candidate to be my companion. Choose your path wisely. Today will be filled with weighty decisions.”

Thorn hesitated at that, glancing back. Then, he gave a slow nod, his gaze flicking to Tala for a brief moment.

Pallaun regarded Tala once more. “Go. You are delaying, young human. Do not shame me, or I will take a leg, and force you to hop about for your first year of official duty.”

Something deep within Tala, likely from Tali, screamed that it was neither idle threat nor joke.

Tala swallowed convulsively and bowed, lower this time. She pulled the proper wording for her response from Tali. “I will endeavor to bring honor to the House.”

Pallaun grunted, before turning to greet the next guest, a minor member of the House.

Tala did her best to not flee from the man, even as she hurried on her way.

She walked down the meandering path, which wove among the elevated seats, each positioned to get a good view of most of the arena below.

There would also be magical viewing devices that would allow closer viewing of the active engagements.

Not all arcane magical items were vestiges, and in many ways they seemed to be ahead of humanity in that field.

We should try to get our hands on schematics, if at all possible.

-Let’s call that our…third? Yes, our third priority.-

After escaping alive and taking as much as we can with us?

-Precisely.-

I knew I liked you. She considered for a moment longer. You know, as many vestiges as we’ve seen, I feel like there should be more.

-You know that not every Mage or fount can be made into a vestige. And not every vestige can be used for any given item. Indeed, only a few can have their capacity grown at all, which limits the number for high powered items even further.-

I know all that. Even so, they’ve been doing this for thousands of years. I’d have thought there’d be more. She couldn’t explain it beyond that.

-Maybe they degrade, or break?-

Could be, yeah. I suppose we’ll see.

Be-thric would not be speaking to her before the battle. Instead, he’d sent simple information her way, earlier that day.

Rel, Alop, and Girro were all diametrically opposed to her, either because of their masters, or their own prejudices. They may even surrender to her, in the hopes of being let into her service to undermine or kill her later.

Blu-dine, Ogi, and Thorn seemed to have no ill will specifically directed at her or Be-thric, and their masters shared that ambivalence. They weren’t friends or allies in any sense, but they wouldn’t be targeting her specifically.

Be-thric had also warned that the information might be incomplete or inaccurate. Apparently, the even split made him feel like things were not as they seemed.

Following what she knew from Tali, Tala finally came out from among the structured seating, and walked to the edge of the cliff.

Without hesitating, she stepped over the edge and dropped.

She fell for just more than a second, crouching upon impact to help absorb the landing.

The motion wasn’t necessary for Tala, not in the least, but it would have been required without her enhancements, and she didn’t want to give anything away.

Two others, the human-sized bearman, Ogi, and the Foxman, Alop, were already down in the pit, well-spaced from each other.

When she landed, they regarded her, then shifted, spacing themselves out once more, so that they were not too near one another or Tala.

Even as they moved, they were staring at her, shock evident on their animalistic features.

Tala grinned back at them but didn’t comment. She knew how she looked.

She was a black canvas, a perfect backdrop behind the spell-forms carved into reality itself by her magics.

She thrummed with power. Her aura would be hidden as well, increasing the eeriness to anyone who looked at her with magesight or the equivalent.

If the whispers Tala was picking up from the crowd looking down at them were any indication, many of the House members had just that.

That’s right, look upon the soon to be victor.

-Ah, yes. Pride is always the best way to ensure victory.-

Hey, in this case, pride came after the fall.

Alat groaned.

Get it? Because I just dropped off that short cliff?

-Of course I get it, Tala. I saw the pun form in your mind, then I had to hear you project it at me, and now I have the memory forever ingrained within us.-

Tala chuckled to herself and shook her head.

The other candidates gave her odd looks and continued to keep their distance.

That’s right. The human girl is crazy. Let someone else deal with her.

Over the next few minutes, the other candidates arrived, one by one.

As each dropped into the pit, the others shifted to stay as far away from each other as possible.

Tala decided to not be stubborn unnecessarily, moving when appropriate. I mean, we’re about to kill each other, so there’s no call to be rude.

-You’re all sorts of fun today.-

You know it.

As things shook out, Tala had Blu-dine and Ogi flanking her. The blue skinned woman and lanky bearman regarded her warily but maintained even spacing.

Without fanfare or obvious magics, Sanguis was suddenly floating above the center of the arena. “Greetings, House of Blood.”

There was a great sound of shuffling and rustling of cloth as everyone turned to regard the Pillar.

“We know why we are here. Potential Pillars, take your places behind your candidates, up on the cliff.”

Tala saw all the potential Pillars take their places.

“No outside interference will be acceptable, from the potential Pillars or other watchers.” Sanguis spun in a slow circle, sweeping his hard-eyed gaze over the crowd.

That done, he looked down at those in the pit.

“The cliff walls are impervious to anything you are capable of but keep your magics contained. I’d hate for one of the bystanders to be killed.”

He could just keep magics from passing in or out of the pit, right? Why the threats and warnings?

“I will now inspect each of you for external magics.”

Tala had left Kit back in her room for this exact reason. Instead, she had a simple leather pouch with a dozen small river rocks.

Sanguis floated down in front of Thorn. The shorter candidate was just off to the left of being most directly in front of Tala. If Tala was at the ‘6’ position of a clock, Thorn would have been at the ‘10’ location, or near enough.

Sanguis took only a moment, inspecting the dwarf with his magics, before nodding and moving on.

When he stopped in front of Tala, she felt magic forced around her iron paint with seeming ease, and her entire being was scanned by power nearly three whole tiers more dense and powerful than her own half-step Refined magic.

-That’s not a real ranking.-

Until you give me a better option, I’m using it.

Sanguis nodded once, then moved on.

Once he’d inspected each candidate, he returned to his position, hovering in the center of the arena.

“I have found no breach of the rules.”

Tala swept her competition with her magesight one last time and noticed something interesting. Each and every one of them seemed to be building up power within their protian weapons' spell-forms.

They’re getting ready to transform as soon as possible.

Derag, standing just behind the opponent who was almost directly opposite Tala, raised his voice. “I have an objection.”

What now?

Girro, Derag’s candidate, just smirked, his eyes fixed on Tala.

Sanguis shook his head slightly before turning to address Derag. “What is your objection?”

The slender, red-skinned man gestured towards Tala. “The human is clearly coated in magics. Her clothing is magical, and her weapon is magical and not a protian weapon. Moreover, she doesn’t even look human. She’s coated in something.”

“Those are observations, not objections.” Sanguis’s tone was clipped and precise. His voice came out even more harshly than his characteristic growl.

Derag blinked back at the Pillar. “How is any of that allowed?”

“Those are her own magics, as was prescribed by the rules set forth. She is soul bound to the weapon and her garments, the coating on her skin is not magical, nor a weapon, so is not forbidden, and the magic you see around her is also from herself.”

Derag paled slightly, his skin tone moving slightly towards pink.

Girro, down in the pit, glared even more fiercely at Tala.

Well, that bit of intel was correct, at least.

Sanguis pivoted in the air once more. “Unless there are any other objections?”

There was silence from the crowd.

“Good. Oh. One final thing, candidates. No power will be allowed to filter in during the battle. You have only what is in there with you.”

All the candidate’s eyes widened, except Tala’s; she grinned.

“Begin.”

Four things happened at once.

First, six protian weapons transformed, almost in unison, though they took radically different forms, and Flow whipped sideways into Tala’s right hand, transforming into a sword.

Second, two of the candidates dropped to one knee, speaking clearly for all to hear: “I surrender to…” Blu-dine surrendered to Alop and Girro. Alop surrendered to Girro.

So, those three have no cause to fight, and the hierarchy is established, regardless of if any of them are slain…Great.

Third, all the other candidates, even those who were moving to kneel and surrender, threw their auras outward, trying to scoop up and draw in as much power as possible. As a result, the area was suddenly utterly bereft of power, each candidate sucking up as much as they could in an instant.

Fourth, and finally, Tala attempted a lock on every other candidate. Five failed. One stuck.

CRUSH. Tala threw five cycles of crush at the target, slamming Blu-dine down into the clover with more than a thousand times regular gravity, even as she finished surrendering.

The blue woman didn’t have breath left to scream as she popped like a dropped melon.

One. She immediately began dumping power into a target-less gravity augmentation for three of the stones in her pouch. She connected as many, large void-channels as she could to each increase, letting her gaze sweep the already chaotic arena.

Her bloodstars moved into position, two drops orbited her head to provide Alat with a 360° perspective, another drop moved to hover near the back of her skull, while the bar lifted to float behind her neck, the ball coming to its place in front of her sternum.

Tala watched Thorn bring a flanged, pole-mace down towards Girro, even as the dwarf lunged for the red man.

But she didn’t have attention to spare. She spun to the side, barely moving out of the way of a spear thrust from Ogi. It was an insanely long spear, at nearly four times the man’s height, but it was still a spear.

-The discs.-

Right! Tala wasn’t used to those being in her arsenal.

Tala put her back towards her downed opponent, trusting in her mirrored perspective to warn her if anyone came at her from behind.

She pulled the three discs of unknown material—unknown even to Tali—from their holster at the back of her belt to spin around her in staggered orbits.

Even as Tala was still moving through her dodge and the discs were rising into their places, Ogi’s spear morphed into a bladed chain, jerking sideways to try to wrap around her.

Tala dropped below the sweeping strike, even while her rod and ball moved to deflect and trap the chain.

Right, that was my guard position, not Tali’s.

She flung one of the discs forward, not as an attack, but as a distraction.

While the tungsten was engaging the bear-man’s protian weapon, Tala threw Flow forward, flicking her wrist at the last moment to send the blade whirling across the short distance.

Ogi easily struck aside the disc as he gestured upward, and vines shot up with precise timing, catching Flow’s handle and keeping it from hitting him.

Oh… So, there is some terrain advantage after all.

-MOVE!-

Tala jumped upward from her ducking crouch, just as a scythe on the end of a long chain whipped through the space she’d just been in.

She jerked two discs into alignment as an attack lanced across the arena. She mirrored her weight into the six bloodstars in those two discs. The effort of maintaining so many aspect mirrors was impossible to maintain, but she was able to hold it for an instant as the attack landed.

She was lucky that she had, too. The first disc was slammed back against the second, and together they were driven nearly all the way to her.

Tala dropped the aspect mirrors for those stars, her whole focus back on Ogi. Do I have another opponent incoming?

-They aren’t focused on you, they just took a shot at your back.-

Ogi’s weapon changed again, and he jerked it backwards. The blade at the end of the chain sliced against her back as it passed.

Power blossomed from the weapon, clashing with her magical defenses.

It didn’t get through, but it did knock her back downward, just as another pulse of magic from the bear-man caused vines to shoot up and snag her ankles.

Well, that’s irritating.

Tala expanded her aura and broke Ogi’s hold on the vines. That didn’t cause them to release, but it did weaken them enough that she pulled out of them with ease.

She pulled Flow back to her hand and continued to dump power into the targetless gravity augmentation on three of the stones in her pouch.

Her other bloodstar-imbedded tools returned to their positions around her as she took a moment to assess her opponent, now that she’d clashed with him a couple of times.

This is going to be a bit of a slog.

-Did you expect to win, instantly?-

No, but it would have been nice.

Tala narrowed her eyes and charged.

A note from JLMullins

BONUS CHAPTER: This is where the third Bonus Chapter comes in for allPatrons.

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Chapter: 208 Bonus - Thron

These are secondary POVs that add to the worldbuilding but are not required for the story.

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william wallace, Thuss, Midnight Harbinger, Seth Bryant, Silberwolf325 , Grimizen, Alex Griffin, Ocean Breeze, FieryFern, Nick Tinsley, Isaac Deroche, Yenin , Jonathan Timm, Ray Robitaille, Memnochian, Disclancer, Z. Cs., xIron Gamerx, William Priess, WhisperInTheVoid, WarNachos, Tzucaza ., Travis McIntosh, Travis McHenry, Thomas Stewart, Thomas Goyne, TheLazerCat , Taliesin , Stephen Pearson, someguy , Solar , Shakez44, Seth Richter, sedael , Sean McCrohan, Ryan Tran, Ryan Naquin, Rutger Boll, Robin Richards, Robert z, Robert P, rizen, Redbeard , Randy Klein, peter mattoon, PaleMire, OlivierA, nugitoBambino, noah stevens, Noah Morris, Megacheez , Max Gustavson, Matthew Davis, Matthew , Matt M, Mark Dolson, Margus234, Marcus Pehan, Lyael, Logan , Leendert Kortlever, Krikor Chichadjian, Kirvin, Keira Wulfe, Kamren Livingston, Kai , Justin Reagan, Justin , just_a_potato , Jonah of the Whale, Jeffery Nickelson, Jedediah Wolfgang, James Walsh, Jacob Ellis, Isaac Boyles, IGS, Ian Radspinner, Haran , Gustav Burkhardt, Gull, Gremlin, George Hicken, Geoff, Frank, evilperson41 , Erling Egilsson, Eric , Enif , Enaz the great, dotAlice, Dire Wolf, David Turner, Cyrus McEnnis, Colin Ford, Christian Kenney, BossDawg, Baldur Norddahl, Bacon Macleod, B C, Austin Woodard, arty, Archivist0 , antab , Angela Kimova, Andrew Holland, Alex , aantonides ., MoneyTree, Samuel McCarren, Matt M, Hazza Vanderbyl, Bain-Lindsay , Brian, NaughtyPaws, daniel edery, Tyler, Rachel Prochner, Maksim, Maggi von Da, klabuster, Irisa, Derek, RageBone , Primordi, Onill007 , Matt S., Jo, Michael, Viria , Oliverthms , MePe , Hibou Ronchon, GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Cristi Palincas, Arnfinn Gjorvad, Varzifar, Laurids Jensen, Kenyaa , Nikolaj Rosander Madsen, Shil Modi, Zanthras, Vikram Ahluwalia, tlove, Timothy Burago, Tim , ThreatLvlPurple , Steven C, Skarsol, RottenTangerine, Pedro Derze, Oakenbear , Nhnnh, Nathan Fahrenbach, Michael Mooney, Melting Sky, MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, M , Lachlan Priest, kenneth, Kaeson, Joseph , John Hadel, Joe Smith, Jeremy James, Jeff Gault, Jason Morse, Jarrod Manzer, James, Jake Pellegrini, Gamecats, Ell Lan, Dr.Quick, Dorian Grizzle, Doomerjunky, devarian , DeusCap, David Brims, Cole 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Gabriel Jarman-Ivens, Biomass, STORRM , Alexander Lease, Adam , Hollowlce, Frederik, Faelyn, Darcy Lessard-Patola, ImBaroqe, Yrom, Politician, Inzuris, Felipe Andrade, TorbjÃ¸rn Nilsen, Robert , grayfire, Jess, Olof DahlstrÃ¶m, Whisper, user754595, tachi-kawa, Superposhposh , Robert Kline, RexRegis, Ratoo , Raphael , Paerofar , OrangeSpork, OpCrystal , OakieTheTree, Nick Norris, LeJordon , Kyle frasch, Just Dave, Jonathan Yarian, Jetforce, James Derr, GuyWhoReadsALot, Ethan , Daniel Sigui, crystalcat, Colin Reed, Christopher Catania, Aria Jonsdottir, Alex,  Eric Liu, Some Total Kretin, Jalty, Desertdoe , nokko, JC, Silveredgallium, Anonymous , Flogoyog , Fabian Elzo Kraemer, Akastor, Sean Carter, LordErr, lol, Tom Pulk, Toad , Thortinshire, Talion, Roger, Rhaid, Powernap , Nyotree, Noah , Joseph Saunders, Frost , Diego Avendano-Morineau, Daniel A, Christopher Harris, Bolimest, bob sicks, Bernardino Campa IV, Artizela, Andrew Cohen, Alison Swenson, X Y, Ian , Ethan Munday, Severed Hat, 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Mage:

Max Oberg, Ian Anderson, Joshua John Wallace, Scott Holt, Jackson Ragland, Pigeon F, Lasse Pedersen, SirGuy , Setaria, Mathias Schwendimann, Gert Wallis, Alexander Belousov, al , Jan, Fabian , Anton Selling, Gleadge, ulrik aaby, Carl Clements, mallix , NebulaeDreamz, Michael Anaya, Jeremy Leonard, Jason Case, James Hadfied, GopherAtl, Cybernetic Angel, Taylor , SnowingSilently, Jonny, Jeremy , James Knight, Irakli Jishkariani, Harold Teunisse, Aaron Lewis, Gemyma, Deneas , Michael Bradet-Legris, MeatyLock , Eric Wharton, Jamison Schneider, jacob britt, Dustin , Patrick Cole, Digdug, Sid_Cypher , Finn Freudenberg, Mathieu Deg, Matteo Pimentel, Chris Olsen, Anonymous , dylan penlington, Harry, Gurditt Mangat, Sage, Eric Trombly, Josh , Nicholas Kelly, Jonathan Gough, Muspellsheimr, Yasin Bari, santor25, Raistlin , Not Real, Ford Yeager, Barrie Davis, Error, David, Marcus148 , Nefraak , JauPim, Jan Finger, ToffiTee, Brett Muras, Tao Wong, Leonhard MÃ¼nzer, Al Bi, Linkneo5 , Michael F., Lupusregina , Lorcogoth, Two Cats, SZ, Paul Jones, Michael , Max Weidmer, Leon Silva, Justin George, ensou , Eciefae4, Cody Caliguiri, Appl, Ken Wong, Star Sword, Spencer Burke

Mageling:

DANTE, Alexander Graber-Tilton, Ivo Havener, BurnNote, Lonewolf, SomethingWicked , Skape, Zagig, pope benedict, Reminder, Luka Lageschaar, Charles, ben , Robert Rosenthal, Michael kim, Matt DiMeo, Dave Burkett, Joost Boere, Isaac Larkin, Pawaidan, emphes , Chris K, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Hamo4, S , moniker, Stefan Rabenstein, Sam Mullen, Russell Black, industriousrevolution , GSH, Frozen, chimerarara, AndromedaStar, Alternative Facet, Faris Bissex, WanderingArchitect, Judy Halloran, Austin McGue, Jeff berman, Kirsty , Benjamin Buco, Sven Paulson, ttuurrhh , Pyrite, Eythan Hayashi, derek giandolfi, Kuro_Neko , Tombur , DÃ¡niel MarkÃ³, HÃ¥vard , Shaun Skelton, David H, Henrik Runestig, acrasa , Hallan Savage, Skelethin , Richard Heying, OmegaHebrew, nicolo maso, nick v, Nick, Moreldarin, KB , Joseph White, Harris, Delilah, Daniel , Cassano , Aren , Kyle Smith, Aristeidis Tsialos, Michael Ireland, Kagge91, Jonathon Hagedorn

Inscribed:

Dax, fennek , Tandroll, Chase128, Trevor Walker, Eyke, Alastair Dent, Ross Doyle, nikrowd , Isaac Fratti, Eric Mueller, Dylan, Ari Mononen, Jonathan , ShadowCub , Sam Ford, Paul Lorenz, George Lanetz, Dennis Bollyn, Anks , PeM, Mqrius, Moses Lambert, LÃ©o Viarouge, jaylu, James A. Hunter, Benjamin Piribauer, Wacjob , Reece Zieschang, Dylan Eilerman, Diana Kelly, Christopher Cha, Chris , Bizzy Sea, Beanboy21

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Chapter: 209 - Clash

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Ben Morgan, ciaran mullen, Damon Roberts, Emersen, Joshua Sydney, Maxine, Noelle, PatronTurtle, Pride mystic artificer, Sakari Saastamoinen

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala cursed internally as she fought with the bear-man, Ogi.

They were almost perfectly evenly matched in prowess, and he didn’t even need to expend power to call upon the plant life around them anymore. Though, that was mostly because Tala had her aura extended and hardened against his magics. He might have been able to do a working through her authority, but it would have taken a great deal more power, and he seemed content to wait.

Instead, the candidate was using his power internally, in looping spell-forms that were incredibly efficient, amplifying himself to match her speed and power.

Not only that, but the benefit of the protian weapon was showing itself.

His every strike seemed to snake around her blocks, cutting at her defensive magics, and forcing her to pull more and more power through her gate.

If she’d been an arcane, she’d already have lost.

It felt like she was juggling greased electric eels, who were very unhappy by the mishandling.

-That is genuinely one of the oddest metaphors I’ve ever heard.-

I’m not exactly devoting brainpower to clever figures of speech.

Ogi was, without question, better at utilizing his magic efficiently than she was, by leagues. She was a child beside a master with decades spent honing his craft, in that regard.

-What do you expect? He’s treated magic as an incredibly rare resource his entire life. You’ve had virtually unlimited power for as long as you’ve been using magic.-

Alat was absolutely correct, and it grated on Tala.

She was using the Way of Flowing Blood, but it still felt alien to her, even as her body moved through it with ease. She wasn’t used to fighting this way, and that made her reactions just a hair slower than she otherwise could have been, her movements the smallest bit less fluid and precise.

There was still no doubt that the Way of Flowing Blood was superior to how she could have fought without that fighting style. Ogi would have overwhelmed her in the first few exchanges if she was fighting as she had been, before being captured.

That twisted at her, too.

There was only one way that she could win this fight.

-Well, you could turn things over to Tali.-

There were two ways Tala could win this fight, but she wanted to do it herself, leaving her with only one real option.

-This seems needlessly complicated. Why not let a version of us who’s a bit better, for now, do this?-

Because then it wouldn’t be me.

-I don’t mind too much.-

Tala didn’t hesitate at that, though it did surprise her; hesitating would have gotten her killed. However, she did grimace internally. Sorry, that was a bit insensitive.

Alat scoffed. -I don’t honestly care. The choice is up to you. I’m just here to help.-

Ogi brought a great sword down at her, and she parried with her tungsten rod, which was looking very worse for wear. We’ll need to get that fixed, maybe replaced?

The attacking weapon didn’t stop. Instead, a flicker of power ran through the greatsword as it was blocked, and a pivot point appeared in the long blade, just past where she’d blocked it. In fact, the block actually caused the attacking blade to speed up, whipping down at her.

Tala barely had time to shift, grunting as she took the hit as a glancing blow.

Enough of this. She had a plan, and it should work.

Tala forced extra power into the scripts enhancing the muscles in her legs and vaulted forward on quick, powerful steps. The inscriptions augmenting the surface area of her footing gave her good traction despite the thick clover beneath her feet.

She hadn’t closed the distance between them before, because she knew how it would end.

Tala flicked the discs towards the bear-man’s face and hands as distractions and slowing tactics.

As she took the two steps needed, Tala saw Ogi’s eyes widen just slightly. Even so, he didn’t hesitate.

His protian weapon contracted into a coil around his fist. That coil sprung outward, even as he punched forward, driving it towards her chest to push her back.

Instead of blocking or retreating, Tala just used her tungsten sphere to deflect herself slightly to the side, even as she whipped Flow forward.

Ogi saw what she was doing, too late.

He dumped his remaining power into two workings.

The first fought through her hardened aura, controlling the battlefield. He was able to wrest just enough of a foothold to cause vines to shoot upward, moving faster than striking snakes to immediately wrap around her and hold her back.

The second added durability to his own neck, making it tougher than an old-growth, hardwood tree.

Neither worked.

Tala’s strength and momentum tore through the grasping vines, even though they were magically strengthened in the attempt to hamper her. She had her feet planted and was able to exert the strength of her entire body against their restriction, overcoming it with ease.

Ogi’s protian weapon struck her high on the right side of her chest. The magics within the weapon flashed in conflict with the defenses of her elk-leathers. The focused power of the protian weapon penetrated through the localized part of the elk-leathers’ protective magics.

Magically sharpened and strengthened metal broke through her skin as it lanced through her.

It couldn’t go through her bone, so it was pushed downward as it slid between her ribs, just missing her heart.

The point burst out through her back, sending a spurt of blood to paint the clover behind her.

Tala didn’t falter, despite the incredible pain. One puncture? I've endured millions.

Flow hit the bear-man’s neck cleanly and passed through in a blink, leaving cauterized flesh above and below.

Tala’s momentum carried her past Ogi.

Her enemy’s weapon was ripped from his hand as it was still sticking through her chest.

Tala staggered slightly but maintained her footing, despite the fact that she couldn’t seem to draw a proper breath.

Behind her, her opponent’s head fell free of his body, thudding to the ground. The bear-like torso following shortly after.

Tala grimaced as she reached up with her left hand and pulled the protian weapon from her chest.

With a wet cough, she spat out a good amount of blood. Then, a deep breath reinflated her previously punctured lung.

That rusting hurt.

-That is why I offered another option. You could have used the discs to help deflect his attack, if nothing else.-

Right…I’m still not used to having those.

Alat huffed a laugh within Tala’s mind. -We’re a bit out of our depth, here.-

I think we’re doing pretty well, all things considered.

After a chaotic miniature whirlwind of power, the protian weapon reshaped itself into a gauntlet around Tala’s left hand, sizing itself perfectly to her hand.

It was an odd feeling, having a glove form around her hand. The fount within the weapon was not attuned to her, so its magic was unavailable in its raw form.

Tala tried not to dwell on the literal human soul, trapped and now wrapped around her hand. First, survive.

As for the weapon itself? She had no idea how to use it. Tali hadn’t known. It was something that Be-thric had never deigned to teach her.

That’s two. She turned around, scanning the other combatants: those locked in battle, and those already dead.

Obviously, Blu-dine and Ogi were dead. Tala had killed them herself.

To her surprise, Tala saw that Rel was dead as well. His body was laid out, large chunks missing and the other parts smoldering. His protian weapon was laying beside him, where his hand would have been, were it not missing along with his shoulder and a good portion of his torso.

The dwarf, Thorn, was still fighting Girro, but Alop had joined that clash since the last time Tala had looked their way.

As expected from Alop’s surrender to Girro, the fox-man was viciously assaulting the dwarf, while not threatening the red-skinned man in the least.

Girro had sparks dancing along his skin, which made obvious a likely source of Rel’s burns and smoldering.

So, who eroded the missing parts of the bear-man. Was it Alop?

It had been less than five minutes since the brawl had begun. Though, Tala had no idea exactly how long it had been.

Three enemies, and I have three rocks. She’d been charging those three rocks since the beginning of the fight, but even so, the power built up within them wasn’t sufficient. Well, someone else is paying for my inscriptions.

She channeled power through some of the rings of inscriptions scattered across her body, meant to allow her to use crush as well as other more powerful, burst-like effects. In this case, she used them to amplify the gravitational forces building up on the stones. She burned four sets of those inscriptions per stone, while still amplifying the magics with her regular scripts.

With quick motions, she pulled out the three stones in question.

One to each of their heads. The spell-workings instantly had their targets locked, and the rocks shot off, accelerating quickly until the very air cracked, just before they reached their targets.

The stone targeting Thorn simply vanished as it came within an inch of his head.

A thin stream of fire lanced out from Girro, causing the stone targeting him to explode, breaking Tala’s magical hold on it and dispersing the projectile into the air around him. The small fragments vaporized against a thin barrier of extreme heat, protecting the candidate.

Alop simply ducked.

There was no way he should have been able to react that fast, but the fox-man did it anyways.

Is all his magic focused on self-enhancement?

That third stone tried to drop too, tracking its target, but it was past the fox-man before it could correct sufficiently. It slammed into the cliff wall just beyond the beast-man, turning itself into powder.

Well…that was a waste. Even so, she immediately began building power within another stone. Just one this time, as she had the feeling that she’d need most of her focus very soon.

Girro growled. “Alop, take the human.” He followed up the words with a thin lance of fire, which shot across the battlefield towards Tala like an arrow.

Tala extended her aura towards the oncoming attack. There was an instantaneous clash for mastery over the fire as it breached her aura.

She threw her full weight behind that breaking action. The miniature beam of fire was being tightly contained with active magic, so a breaking of that hold would cause the heat to disperse before it could reach her.

To her shock, Tala lost the clash.

It wasn’t because she was outweighed magically speaking, not at all.

Instead, Girro somehow bucked her greater magical weight for just long enough to close the distance with his attack.

Her discs snapped into place between her and the attack, but once again, they were driven back by the force behind the strike.

When the foremost part of the spell-working was less than two feet from her, it exploded into a blast of flame and power that threw Tala back against the cliff-face, some twenty feet behind her.

She was a bit dazed by the hit.

The explosion had been dampened by her discs and still it had been among the heaviest blows she’d taken. Well, maybe in the top ten?

-Focus, Tala. Enemy incoming.-

She slid down the cliff, slightly dazed, but Tala was already shaking her head to clear it when her feet hit the ground once more.

-I lost you for an instant, there. Hey, that would have woken us up, too! You really do get hit in the head a lot…-

Not helpful, Alat!

An arrow streaked out of the haze left behind by the explosion, skewering Tala through the upper chest, near her left shoulder.

-Hey, now you’re perfectly balanced, as all things should be.-

What?

-You’ve received one penetration through each side.-

Rust you.

A chain trailed behind the barbed arrow, and Tala could clearly see that it was a manifestation of one of her opponent’s protian weapons.

With a jerk, the chain pulled taut, and Tala had to brace herself.

Thankfully, she was both heavier and stronger than her opponent.

With a growl, Tala mirrored her full magical weight into Flow, behind its attacking magics, and slammed her sword down on the chain.

That link shattered.

Unfortunately, that didn’t mean her enemy’s protian weapon was destroyed. Instead, it simply ended at the last unbroken link and was quickly retracted back into the dissipating smoke.

The arrow and chain on Tala’s side of the break dissolved into powder as Tala healed.

The wound had just pulled closed when Alop came into view, close to the ground, practically running on all fours.

The fox-man growled as he tried to tackle Tala.

She punched him in the face with her off hand, the protian gauntlet adding weight to the strike.

Alop’s weapon flickered into the form of a shield in front of the man’s face fast enough to catch the blow, though it still caused the beast-man to flip through the air, under her arm.

He landed feet first on the cliff behind Tala before launching off of it, lips pulled back in a snarl.

Alop was fast.

Not only that, but he was better than Ogi had been.

The fox’s use of the Way of Flowing Blood chilled Tala to the core.

He was a predator, acting on instinct, and those instincts were lethal.

-Tala.-

Not now!

Tala fended off attack after attack, constantly on the defensive.

Alop drove her around the circumference of the arena in a fighting retreat.

-Tala! Switch to Tali.-

Tala growled, barely ducking her head to the side as Alop rocketed past her once more.

He should be easy to predict and counter, with how much he’s in the air. How is he doing that?

On his next leap, Tala caught a glimpse of the fox’s protian weapon forming a winglike shape that seemed to somehow exert downward pressure on the beast-man, altering his trajectory mid-flight.

She was able to jerk her head to the side once more, avoiding the killing blow, but he’d taken a part of her ear with him. Worse still, that was far from the first of her blood that he’d shed.

She was utterly outmatched.

-Switch.-

Fine!

* * *

Tali ducked and rolled to avoid Alop’s returning attack, even as she used her discs to deflect and ward.

As she rolled, she quickly transitioned her weapon between sword and knife and back repeatedly, flicking her weapon upward in three licking attacks.

Each one struck home, drawing blood and gasps of surprise from her opponent.

Finally. It’s time to show my true skill. She briefly shook her head to clear the last vestiges of whatever that had been. It had felt like she was fighting through a fog before, and now the world was clearly laid out before her.

Alop staggered even as he landed, shallow, cauterized wounds in his shoulder, stomach, and left leg.

The fox growled, his protian weapon shifting to a javelin on a rope, which he threw at her while holding the other end of that rope.

She smacked the attack from the air with one of her discs. The motion held all the contempt that she felt for this pitiful creature.

He’d thought to match her? Pathetic.

Even so, a small part of her was jumping for joy, at least internally. She reveled in the feeling of the gauntlet on her left fist. She still couldn’t believe that she finally had a protian weapon. It was hers by right of conquest.

She had no idea how to use it, but that could come later.

Now that Alop was hurt, he couldn’t continue his harrying tactics. That left him with one option, and he took it, closing into melee range.

He thought he understood her abilities from their earlier clashes.

He was very, very much mistaken.

+Oh…wow.+

After the first exchange of blows, Alop retreated, wide-eyed and missing his right hand.

-She is way better than we realized.-

+You aren’t lying.+

The fox tried to continue that retreat, but Tali pursued, a predator’s grin pulling at her features.

The next exchange left the fox without his left leg, below the knee.

Alop’s eyes held clear confusion. He had lost, and he didn’t understand how it had happened.

You challenged me; that’s how.

Even as he fell, Tali cleaved the beast-man’s head in half.

That’s four dead, three by my hand. She was a little disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to kill all of her opponents as one had already died to others, but that had been unreasonable to hope for, given her plan. She had needed to give the impression of being significantly less skilled in order to draw in opponents to one-on-one conflict.

If she’d shown her true abilities from the beginning, the others would have swarmed her, and that might have ended badly.

+Wow. That actually hurts. Is that really how she’s reconciling my fighting abilities in the first part of the conflict?+

-She has to have a coherent internal narrative and given the gulf between your skill levels that’s really all that makes sense.-

+I…I don’t know how to take that, actually.+

-You have a lot to learn, and a skilled teacher to help you get there?-

+So it would seem...+

Tali turned to the last two combatants: The dwarf and the hue folk male.

Let’s end this. There hadn’t been enough time for the Join amplification to ramp up on its own. She only had one choice.

As she continued building power in one of her remaining rocks, she burned through all of her remaining, powerful-burst-style inscriptions to amplify the working faster than it would otherwise have grown. She needed the weapon ready as soon as possible.

That done, she charged forwards, both other candidates seeing her coming even as they clashed.

Thorn didn’t really react to her approach. His magics seemed closer range than the red-man’s fire.

Girro did turn halfway to face her.

Tali grinned, pulling out the stone.

Revered Sanguis had purposely left a hole in the rules, a test to see if any candidate was clever enough to notice.

+Oh…I completely missed that.+

-…I did too…what the rust?-

+That’s maniacal.+

Tali grinned. This is exactly what Eskau Pallaun would do.

She supplied her working, the built up power, with a target and the rock shot off, almost immediately cracking the air.

Girro threw up a barrier of fire, with Tali being too close for him to trust in his fire lance’s ability to disrupt the attack, but the rock wasn’t aimed towards him.

Thorn wasn’t looking at her at all, his defenses didn’t require him to. Instead, he pulled back, transforming his protian weapon into something reminiscent of a giant cleaver.

The rock struck home, a precision strike that wouldn’t harm any bystander, and potential Pillar Derag’s head turned to mist, spraying the area around him with blood, bone fragments, and brain matter.

Tali remembered Revered Sanguis’s words, her grin spreading:

‘No outside interference will be acceptable, from the potential Pillars or other watchers.’

So, there was nothing blocking magic entering or leaving the pit, and he explicitly stated that those outside would not be allowed to interfere.

‘The cliff walls are impervious to anything you are capable of but keep your magics contained. I’d hate for one of the bystanders to be killed.’

Potential Pillars aren’t bystanders. They are participating through their candidates, and even if they could be considered bystanders, there was no forbiddance against targeting them, just an expression that he’d dislike it.

Girro’s head jerked up even as his potential Pillar’s lifeless body slumped to the ground, his mouth falling open. “Brother!”

Thorn struck, bisecting the candidate in a single blow, hip to shoulder.

As the dwarf spun with the attack, he glanced up, his own eyes widening.

Pillars were powerful, but they weren’t intended to be front-line fighters. They had Eskau for that role.

They could clash with armies, but were not oriented towards direct conflict, certainly not while still only a potential Pillar. If given more than an instant, the attack could probably have been foiled, but Tali hadn’t given him that.

Nor did she give that time to her next target.

Tali pulled out another rock, making the motion obvious, and pointed towards potential Pillar Gallop, the one whom Thorn was fighting for.

The gray-skinned man stepped backwards, his eyes widening in horror. Magics began to build around him, but they would take more time to form than Tali’s attack had seemed to need.

Thorn immediately dropped to one knee. “I surrender.”

And that was it.

The battle was over, and Tali was victorious.

+I can’t…How did that actually work? She just bluffed him into surrendering?+

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

Eric Liu, ........, ~Apple~, A, A1ias , aantonides ., Aaron Greene, Aaron Sofaer, abd Srour, Aclys , Ada Wiberg, Adam, Adam , Adam Andersson, Adam Richards, adam1 , Add_Identity , AdmiralW , Adrian Gorgey, Adrian Nightshade, Adurna , advancewarssami, AfternoonMatt, agent, AgentFransis, Aidan , aidan kutcher, Aidan Mc Donagh, ajcaspers, Akastor, Alec, Alex, Alex, Alex , Alex Foster, Alex Griffin, alex kosters, Alex LeBlanc, Alex Quintero, Alex Sunier, Alex Weatbrook, Alex Wilson, Alexander , Alexander Dupree, Alexander Lease, Alison Swenson, Allora Lee, Almost Famous, Altsuperkey , Ambird King, Anas Jumale, andre elizebeth, Andrew , Andrew C Kerr, Andrew Cohen, Andrew Dempsey, Andrew Glass, Andrew Goudie, Andrew Holland, Andrew Jones, Andrew Kroll, Andrius , Andy, Angela Kimova, angrycharlie, Anonymous , antab , AnthraxRipple, Apotheosis As A Service, Archie, Archivist0 , Arhsnag, Aria, Aria Jonsdottir, Arnfinn Gjorvad, Artizela, arty, Asael Sklar, ashandarei, Asher, Aslak, AstroMyrkat, Atorn Gaming, Attherisk, Austin Woodard, AverageGuy , Avista Askenazu, B C, Bacon Macleod, BaguaBrady , Bain-Lindsay , Baldur Norddahl, Batty Corvina, BeaR, Beau Bryant, Ben Dean, Bengt Ribinski, Bernardino Campa IV, Biomass, BjÃ¶rn, BoB, bob sicks, Bolimest, Bosparan, BossDawg, Braincase , Brandon Cleveland, Brian, Brian, Bricyn Abel, BRUNO ASTUR, BtBurns , Bunny Waffles, C Howard, Cae, Calvin, Caricifus, Carl Bunch, Carlos Andres Rengifo Escobar, Carya Galabra, CaughtRedHeaded, Ceeney, chad ensey, ChiefWizard , Chloe Winter, Chris, Chris , Chris , Chris Brady, Chris Fox, Chris Goss, Chris Hibbert, Chris Mantakounis, Christian Kenney, Christian Nowitzki, Christoffer DahlÃ©n, Christopher Catania, Christopher Harris, Christopher Jack, ciopo, Cirex123 , Clayton Carson, Clayton odom, closeded, Cody Poteet, Cold Ramen, Cole Nyquist, Cole Ruhlig, Colin Ford, Colin Reed, conkerer , Connor Beeson, Connor Oswald, Connor Sunier, Conor Futro, Cordelia , Cory Ellis, CringeWorthyStudios , CrispyKing , Cristi Palincas, crystalcat, Cullen Humphries, Cyanin, Cypha, Cyrus McEnnis, da Finnci, Daba, DagNabItAll, Dakota , Dan, Dan, Dan , Dan , Dan Addis, Daniel A, Daniel B, daniel edery, Daniel Harris, Daniel Joseph Moreau, Daniel Sigui, Daniel Strickland, Danny Noppen, Darcy Lessard-Patola, Darkhelm , DasUberGryx, Dave, David Adams, David Brims, David D, David Joseph Pascua, David Schleimer, David Turner, DeathOfOld , dennis malatesta, Derek, Derek Singer, Desertdoe , DeusCap, devarian , dewstark, Didntdoathing, Diego Avendano-Morineau, Dire Wolf, Disclancer, Dixon Gao, DLR , Dominic Weibel, Doomerjunky, Dorian Grizzle, dotAlice, Dr.Quick, Draega, Drake Morgan, Drendude, Drew Gilmour, Driftward, Dustin , dwarftoss58, Dylan , Dylan Sutton, Edmund McGough, Elias Leutgeb, Ell Lan, Elliott Fawcett, ElodinGale, Ely Brookes, Enaz the great, Enif , Enigma , ENIM Skills, Enrico Choy, Enthused, Eoin Barrett, Eric , Eric Helaney, Eric Svahn, erik lindquist, Erkki Parkkulainen, Erling Egilsson, Ethan , Ethan Munday, Evan Morris, Evan Zhou, evilperson41 , Fabian Elzo Kraemer, Faelyn, Felipe Andrade, Feltenix, FieryFern, Fingin, FishFace , Flogoyog , Flusspferd, FoolRegnant , Frank, Fraxx, Frederic Axt, Frederik, Frost , Froyo Baggins, Furnastone, GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Gabriel, Gabriel Jarman-Ivens, Gamecats, Geoff, George Dashner, George Hicken, geraint juinor, Glenn Clemente, gokief , Grady Blanks, Graeme Jardine, Grausheira , grayfire, Greg Shields, Gremlin, Griffin Skutsch, Grimizen, Grizzly Fiction, Grumlen, Gull, Gunnar Crider, Gustav Burkhardt, GuyWhoReadsALot, Gwendolyn Simmons-LaRose, Gyslain Desgagne, Hannoske, Haran , Hassanein Fadhel, Hazza Vanderbyl, HeartHawk, hellunit , Henri emmet, Hibou Ronchon, HJ, Hollowlce, Hornblower , Ian , Ian Radspinner, Ian Sommer, IGS, Ilundihl, Im Hello, ImBaroqe, Indigo David Behling, Ink's Muse, Inzuris, Irisa, isaac bartlett, Isaac Boyles, Isaac Deroche, Isaac Mathew, Itbeme12321, ItsjustMe , ItWasIDIO!!, J , Jackie DeschÃªnes, Jacob , Jacob Ellis, Jacob trent, Jake Pellegrini, Jalty, James, James Beaudreau, James Cornish, James Davidson, James Derr, James Fotouhi, James Lavender, James Walsh, james young, Jamie Johnstone, Jan Joost Sijbesma, Jarrod Manzer, Jasen Nichols, Jason Johnson, Jason Morse, Jason P, Jason Petry, Jasper Walters, Jayden Kirkham, JC, JCQuiinn, Jedediah Wolfgang, Jeff Gault, Jeffery Nickelson, Jehru, Jered McCullough, Jeremy Davis Payne, Jeremy Dorn, Jeremy Durbin, Jeremy Evans, Jeremy James, Jerry, Jess, Jetforce, Jiokuy , JJ327, Jo, JoÃ£o Vieira, Jody, Joe Smith, John, John D'Arcy, John Growcott, John Hadel, John Noone, John O'Connor, Jolly Javelin, Jonah Doyle, Jonah of the Whale, Jonah Ree, Jonathan Frerichs, Jonathan Timm, Jonathan Yarian, jonch1243 ., Jordan Leighton, Jose Jimenez, Joseph , Joseph Saunders, Joseph Sutherland, Josh Fryza, Joshua allen, Joshua Holt Sorensen, Joshua Lawvere, Joshua Paye, Joshua Samuel Miller, Joshua Smith, JTP , Julia O, julian, Julian Meltzer, Just Dave, just_a_potato , Justin, Justin , Justin Gray, Justin Reagan, jww, Jywert , Kaeson, Kageryu, Kai , Kamren Livingston, Karl Tageman, Karma Baris, karmaslap , Kate Yen, KDP , Keenan Adams, Keira Wulfe, Kel Pough, kenneth, Kenneth , Kent Gunn, Kenton Watson, Kenyaa , Kermity , Kevin Green, Kevin Todd, Khress , KingDaviddagr8, KingWoh, Kiran, Kirk Morgan, Kirvin, klabuster, Klecksi, Kovak, Krikor Chichadjian, Kristia, Kyle, Kyle Brackenbury, Kyle frasch, Kylieth , Lachlan Priest, Laila , Lambda 0479, Landon Sweeney, Lanhail, Lars, Laurids Jensen, Lazy Lemon, Le GarlantÃ©zec, Leendert Kortlever, Leif Nejst, LeJordon , Lerous, Less Than Three, Levi Cox, Lewis Dyer, Leyren Leyren, Lia, Lindsay W., Logan , Logan McAllister, lol, LordDark , LordErr, Louis Nel, Lu , Ludger , luke, Lyael, Lygon Bowen-West, M , MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, MacLeod , Mad Max, Maggi von Da, Magisch, Magnus Andersson, Magnus Bigelow, Maksim, Marcel Amendt, Marcus Adams, Marcus Pehan, Margus234, Marinus , Mario Kaminsky, Mark, Mark , Mark Dolson, mark mÃ¸llegaard, Matt Labrum, Matt M, Matt M, Matt S., Matthew , matthew bird, Matthew Davis, Matthew Gritters, Matthew Myers , Matthew Powell, mattias hessleryd, MAX Brown, Max Gustavson, Max Hofinger, Max Prigge, Max W, maxime gm, Mcnoodlies , mdapkins , Mechrono, Megacheez , Meierfrac, Melnik5, Melting Sky, Memnochian, MenacingSand, MePe , Merrillz, Michael, Michael D Chavez, Michael Goulet, Michael Maor, Michael Mercado, Michael Mooney, Michael She, Michael Stephan, Michelle Goodman, Midnight Harbinger, Midnight Questions, Mikael Svensson, Miles Pettey, minicheatbook, Miri, Mnem , Mohammad Muzhaffar Bin Omar, mohammed essam, Molly Hopkins, Mondays, MoneyTree, Monte949, Mountain Barber, Mountainking , Mr Google Doodle, Mr. Finch, Mudith Mallajosyula, Myles2322, n, Nadav Ben Yehuda, Nate D., Nate Kaufman, Nathan Fahrenbach, Nathaniel Baxter, NaughtyPaws, nekton, NeutralQuartz, Nhnnh, Nicholas Johnson, Nick Norris, Nick Riley, Nick Tinsley, Nikita Becker, Nikolaj Rosander Madsen, Nikolas allen, Nikolay Panov, NNeil , Noah , Noah Jones, Noah Morris, noah stevens, nokko, Nonie, Nopret, Noshei , Notcreepycreeper, nugitoBambino, nymaxilian , Nyotree, Oakenbear , OakieTheTree, Ocean Breeze, Olaf Dybbert, Ole Merschel, Oliver , Oliver Firoozan, Oliver Poole, Oliverthms , OlivierA, Olof DahlstrÃ¶m, Omar Wazir, OMG STOP CAPS, Onill007 , OpCrystal , OrangeSpork, Orr404, Paerofar , PaleMire, Parker Hebert, PARXIVAL, Patrick Blatti, Patrick polsey, patrick seim, Paul Becker, Pawel Maskowicz, Payen Hell, Pedro Derze, Peter Edlund, peter mattoon, Philipp Zander, Philipp Ziehe, Phlorez , Pieter-Jan Van Steenkiste, Pigeonpie, PiMs, Piotr, Pizzatiger , Politician, posthumousleon , Powernap , Primordi, Proteus Jones, Que Tea, Rachel Prochner, RageBone , Raivshard, Ramapriya Rangaraju, RandomPerson, Randy Klein, Ransom Hollister, Raphael , Ratoo , Ray Robitaille, reafan, Redbeard , Reed Montemurro, Reid Palmquist, Relein, Retaliation ., RexRegis, Rhaid, Rich Webb, rintaun , Rip Woodham, rizen, Robert , Robert Adams, Robert Hinshaw, Robert Kline, Robert Mullins, Robert P, Robert z, Robin Richards, Robin SjÃ¶doff, roflkong3, Roger, Rory natynczuk, RottenTangerine, RotWeisseWaffel, Rutger Boll, Ryan Coyne, Ryan Hearn, Ryan Hogan, Ryan Naquin, Ryan Tran, Ryudachi, S T, Saerthas, SaltyVigilante , Sam Oppy, Samantha Sandlin, Samuel Kirkpatrick, Samuel McCarren, Samuel Patterson, Sandoz, Sands , Satya Prateek, Schelm , schnixxes, ScottDR, Seadrake, Sean Carter, Sean Mantell, Sean McCrohan, Sean Panajotovic, Sean Reap, Sebastian Lindqvist, SecondBlahm, sedael , Seijax , Sekander , Seth Bryant, Seth Cox, Seth Richter, Seth Wilson, sethorizer, Severed Hat, shai, Shakez44, Shelbo, Shil Modi, Shyx, Signspace, Silberwolf325 , Silveredgallium, Simon Casey, Simon Dingemans, sings_with_toads, Siphor , Skarsol, skici, Skygo, Smokestack Matt, smoze, SoddenFool, Solar , Some Total Kretin, someguy , SpartanEcho , Spencer Herold, Stan 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william wallace, Wundermelon, X Y, Xaim , Xavier Lamphere, xIron Gamerx, xtrnet, Xynee, Yemisi Mcmullen, Yenin , Yrom, Z. Cs., Zach Adams, Zach Wilson, zachary gafken, Zanthras, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, znarken, Zrell

Mage:

Aaron Lewis, al , Al Bi, Alexander Belousov, Anonymous , Anton Selling, Appl, Barrie Davis, Brett Muras, Carl Clements, Chris Olsen, Cody Caliguiri, Cybernetic Angel, David, Deneas , Digdug, Dustin , dylan penlington, Eciefae4, ensou , Eric Trombly, Eric Wharton, Error, Fabian , Finn Freudenberg, Ford Yeager, Gemyma, Gert Wallis, Gleadge, GopherAtl, Gurditt Mangat, Harold Teunisse, Harry, Ian Anderson, Irakli Jishkariani, Jackson Ragland, jacob britt, James Hadfied, James Knight, Jamison Schneider, Jan, Jan Finger, Jason Case, JauPim, Jeremy , Jeremy Leonard, Jonathan Gough, Jonny, Josh , Joshua John Wallace, Justin George, Ken Wong, Lasse Pedersen, Leon Silva, Leonhard MÃ¼nzer, Linkneo5 , Lorcogoth, Lupusregina , mallix , Marcus148 , Mathias Schwendimann, Mathieu Deg, Matteo Pimentel, Max Oberg, Max Weidmer, MeatyLock , Michael , Michael Anaya, Michael Bradet-Legris, Michael F., Muspellsheimr, NebulaeDreamz, Nefraak , Nicholas Kelly, Not Real, Patrick Cole, Paul Jones, Pigeon F, Raistlin , Sage, santor25, Scott Holt, Setaria, Sid_Cypher , SirGuy , SnowingSilently, Spencer Burke, Star Sword, SZ, Tao Wong, Taylor , ToffiTee, Two Cats, ulrik aaby, Yasin Bari

Mageling:

acrasa , Alexander Graber-Tilton, Alternative Facet, AndromedaStar, Aren , Aristeidis Tsialos, Austin McGue, ben , Benjamin Buco, BurnNote, Cassano , Charles, chimerarara, Chris K, DÃ¡niel MarkÃ³, Daniel , DANTE, Dave Burkett, David H, Delilah, derek giandolfi, emphes , Eythan Hayashi, Faris Bissex, Frozen, GSH, HÃ¥vard , Hallan Savage, Hamo4, Harris, Henrik Runestig, industriousrevolution , Isaac Larkin, Ivo Havener, Jeff berman, Jonathon Hagedorn, Joost Boere, Joseph White, Judy Halloran, Kagge91, KB , Kirsty , Kuro_Neko , Kyle Smith, Lonewolf, Luka Lageschaar, Matt DiMeo, Michael Ireland, Michael kim, moniker, Moreldarin, Nick, nick v, nicolo maso, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, OmegaHebrew, Pawaidan, pope benedict, Pyrite, Reminder, Richard Heying, Robert Rosenthal, Russell Black, S , Sam Mullen, Shaun Skelton, Skape, Skelethin , SomethingWicked , Stefan Rabenstein, Sven Paulson, Tombur , ttuurrhh , WanderingArchitect, Zagig

Inscribed:

Aaron Lewis, al , Al Bi, Alexander Belousov, Anonymous , Anton Selling, Appl, Barrie Davis, Brett Muras, Carl Clements, Chris Olsen, Cody Caliguiri, Cybernetic Angel, David, Deneas , Digdug, Dustin , dylan penlington, Eciefae4, ensou , Eric Trombly, Eric Wharton, Error, Fabian , Finn Freudenberg, Ford Yeager, Gemyma, Gert Wallis, Gleadge, GopherAtl, Gurditt Mangat, Harold Teunisse, Harry, Ian Anderson, Irakli Jishkariani, Jackson Ragland, jacob britt, James Hadfied, James Knight, Jamison Schneider, Jan, Jan Finger, Jason Case, JauPim, Jeremy , Jeremy Leonard, Jonathan Gough, Jonny, Josh , Joshua John Wallace, Justin George, Ken Wong, Lasse Pedersen, Leon Silva, Leonhard MÃ¼nzer, Linkneo5 , Lorcogoth, Lupusregina , mallix , Marcus148 , Mathias Schwendimann, Mathieu Deg, Matteo Pimentel, Max Oberg, Max Weidmer, MeatyLock , Michael , Michael Anaya, Michael Bradet-Legris, Michael F., Muspellsheimr, NebulaeDreamz, Nefraak , Nicholas Kelly, Not Real, Patrick Cole, Paul Jones, Pigeon F, Raistlin , Sage, santor25, Scott Holt, Setaria, Sid_Cypher , SirGuy , SnowingSilently, Spencer Burke, Star Sword, SZ, Tao Wong, Taylor , ToffiTee, Two Cats, ulrik aaby, Yasin Bari

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Chapter: 210 - Objections

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Sakari Saastamoinen, Pride mystic artificer, PatronTurtle, Noelle, Maxine, Joshua Sydney, Emersen, Damon Roberts, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tali grinned as Revered Sanguis returned to his position, floating in the air above the pit.

I won. I WON! She did her best to contain her glee. It would be unbefitting of her new station to make a scene.

-So?-

+…you were right. She did better than I could have.+

-We’ll get you there, but it’s not worth dying over pride. She’s had six months of dedicated training towards lethal combat, on top of the training embedded within her fake memories. We just haven’t, not yet.-

+But we will.+

-We will.-

The Pillar’s voice filled the air, “And with a final surrender, candidate Tali has demonstrated that Be-thric is the ideal choice for Pillar of the House of Blood.”

The Pillar waved one hand, and the hold flexed.

A moment later, the arena was gone, the pit that had been their arena was lifted to be level with the ground surrounding it.

Thorn still knelt, head bowed, and all the bodies remained where they had fallen, simply lifted up with the rest of the ground.

Huh… I wonder if that means there isn’t actually anything below the ground here?

+A little ways below us, under a thick layer of earth, is the edge of reality, in here. It’s not a hard concept.+

-Be kind to the girl, she hasn’t had much theoretical magical education.-

+She can’t hear me.+

-It is very possible to be mean to someone who can’t hear you.-

+…fair.+

Tali looked around and saw that the potential Pillars hadn’t been idle during the conflict.

Two servants knelt near Be-thric, each holding… paintbrushes?

What?

One was to his right, and the other was directly behind him.

Fake Assassins? Why did they stop? She continued her investigation of the surroundings.

+Wait…they were playing some sort of game, while their candidates died in the pit?+

-Yes, Tala, they are morally horrid. That’s been established. The potential Pillars are too valuable to let them all be killed.-

All but three of the other potential Pillars were eliminated: Jodup, Gallof, and Volena.

If Tali had to guess: Bobbau seemed to have been poisoned by a servant, his lips, tongue and teeth were stained black, and the little bear-man was glaring at one of the nearby servants; and Tornas’s throat had been slit, which in this case meant that there was a line of red paint across it and the front of his tunic was covered in drippings. The bull-man seemed more irritated than anything, if Tali was being honest. As for the final prospective Pillar, Derag, he had been killed by Tali herself.

Well, that makes Gallof’s reaction seem more reasonable. He wasn’t expecting any truly lethal threat.

Tali found herself frowning. What even was the point of the candidates fighting? Why let any candidates die? Why let the servants die? She doubted that she was the only one to have been attacked, either at the feast or after.

It seemed so pointless.

+Is she… is she coming around all on her own?+

-Hush, I want to focus on her introspection, not your guesses on it.-

Tali shook her head. No, the point is obvious. They need the most capable Pillars. The lives of a few candidates and servants are nothing, if it truly helps ensure the best Pillars rise to support the House.

The melee had been useful. After all, it had decided from among the three remaining prospective Pillars.

+So, so close.+

-It’s not easy to see the fault in how you were raised. To her, this is normal; this makes sense.-

Revered Sanguis was shaking his head, even while he smiled. “We had quite the… devious set of competitors this time around, didn’t we?” His grin broadened. “But that was expected, given a fight without restrictions. I do commend the four of you for remembering that this contest was between the potential Pillars. The candidates were simply your proxies in one arena.”

The three eliminated but surviving prospective Pillars bowed towards the Pillar, muttering their acknowledgements of his praise.

Her Master simply grinned proudly.

“Surviving candidates. Please bring all protian weapons to me.” Revered Sanguis had yet to move, but he was now standing on the ground, as if that’s what he’d been doing all along.

That is where he was floating before the pit was leveled out. It was likely intentional, though Tali didn’t know why.

Together, Tali and Thorn gathered the weapons and set them before the Pillar.

Tali felt conflicted about giving up the one that she’d claimed from Ogi, but she did as she was instructed.

Thorn seemed resigned to the act as he left his gauntlet with the others. Once he had complied, he returned to where he had been, kneeling down in the clover.

All the protian weapons had reverted to the form of a gauntlet, which made for easier transportation.

“To Me.” In an instant, the air seemed to warp, and armor clad Revered Sanguis from head to toe.

+That was a word-triggered working.+

-He could have just called on the hold to move it to him, but instead, he bent reality to arm himself in an instant. I think he could do that from anywhere in the world, Tala.-

+So, Pillars are never undefended?+

-They are never far from being defended.-

+Yeah. That is an important distinction.+

Revered Sanguis stood in all his glory.

Tali could detect fifteen founts in his armor, and another in the massive maul that now rested on the ground beside him.

“Prospective Pillar Be-thric, candidate for Eskau Tali, step over there.” Revered Sanguis gestured to another circle, which lit up in the clover.

Her Master walked across the blood-speckled ground, uncaring of the bodies of the other candidates that he passed.

Tali moved to meet him and stand within the indicated circle, both seeming slightly hesitant. This was not normally a part of the ceremony, at least not as Tali had had it conveyed.

Thorn was still kneeling where he had been, and there he would stay until instructed to move.

The ancient Pillar swept his gaze around those assembled.

“Some of you may be dissatisfied with these results.” He continued moving his gaze over those surrounding him. “The rules for this test were among the most favorable I could have selected to test Pillar Be-thric’s idea. This is true. However, it did not favor her over the other candidates.” He spread his arms wide, his armor moving soundlessly with him. “Any who would dispute this, let them do so, now. I will face any who question my judgement and no retribution will be taken upon their associates after the clash, or upon them should they survive.”

Jodup stepped forward, bowing at her waist. Her tall rabbit ears brushed the ground as she bent low. “While I do disagree with your choice, I would be a fool to test myself against you so armed. I will not make an issue of it.”

“Really? My death would open another position for a Pillar, though you could obviously not fill it. If memory serves, your sister is almost ready to make a play at becoming a Pillar, is she not?”

“She is. I was chosen as more likely to succeed. She will participate at the next trial, whenever that may be.” The beast-folk female seemed hesitant, though her anger was still obvious, even to Tali’s eyes. “Even so, I am no fool. I will not contest a Pillar in all his glory.”

Revered Sanguis shook his head. “Begone.” Reality itself warped once more, and his arms and armaments vanished. “What about now?”

The rabbit woman’s eyes flared with undisguised rage as the veneer of civility fell away. “As you wish, Revered Pillar, I will contest this trial.”

Power was pulled into the beast-folk female like the incoming tide.

Tali felt her own power respond, though it could obviously not be taken from her. She saw several of the observers lose the power that had been within them, their control and grip on the magic insufficient to keep it contained against the rabbit-woman’s pull.

Then, with a flicker, a hundred rabbit-folk filled the open space, all exact clones of Jodup. They had the same meticulously-cared-for, brown fur; the same almost down-soft-looking, white fur on their faces, hands, and peaking out around their chests; the same cold fury in their hazel eyes.

Tali’s eyes widened as she recognized a final feature that they shared.

They were all Honored in their power density. How?

+What the rust? Did she just create power? She doesn’t have a fount on her, right?+

-While she could be hiding one or more vestiges, I think she drew in this power from the surroundings and from the spectators. She can’t hold it all herself, so she shunts it off into other versions of herself. Incredible.-

They spoke as one, “Be Bound.”

The command resonated with power as magic suffused the air once more, now entirely bent towards restraining Revered Sanguis.

+Why not go for a kill?+

-I don’t know what magic she’s using, but it’s something in the conceptual range. I’d guess that she doesn’t trust that a lethal strike would work. She’s got to have another method for…oh, there it is.-

All the Jodups drew long knives. Those closest to Revered Sanguis rushed straight forward, while many of those behind bounded into the air, to come down at him from above.

Tali almost gasped, fighting the urge to move to the Pillar’s aid.

Revered Sanguis hadn’t moved.

Is he actually bound? That much power… how could anyone resist it? She was suddenly very grateful that the prospective Pillars had not been allowed to participate in the conflict down in the arena. I’d have been…useless.

No, she wouldn’t have been useless, but she’d have been much less effective.

Revered Sanguis shook his head, the magics around that part of him cracking as they failed to hold him in place. “Break.”

Every knife held by a version of Jodup shattered, the shards seeming to have lethal intent.

The bodies fell in a wave. Those already airborne still came crashing down towards Revered Sanguis.

The Pillar’s eyes widened fractionally before he spoke again. “Drop.”

The bodies lost all inward momentum and fell straight to the ground.

“Fascinating.” He took a step forward, the power within him seeming almost to flex. With a whine that Tali felt in her very soul, the rabbit-folk’s magic that was attempting to hold him in place shattered. He looked over to where the last remaining rabbit-woman stood, eyes wide. “These aren’t illusions? They aren’t constructs of magic? They are physical bodies?”

Jodup swallowed, nodding slowly in response to each question. Her own knife was still in its sheath.

“And you even replicated their clothing and a magical weapon, if a weak one. How long would these copies have lived?” The Pillar seemed utterly unconcerned with the hundreds of bodies surrounding him.

“With this working, they would have lived for as long as I did, Revered Pillar.” She lowered her gaze, finally falling to one knee. “I retract my complaint.”

“Wise of you, Honored Jodup. You still have a bright future and much worth to the House. I am glad that I do not need to kill you.”

Honored Jodup looked up gratefully. “Thank you, Revered Pillar. I am glad for that as well.”

The Pillar had already returned his attention to the bodies. “So, these really won’t just fade away?”

“No. They exist.”

“Truly fascinating. Begone.” Reality warped once again, and the bodies vanished, leaving only the blood that they had lost behind.

The Pillar smiled once more. “Be-thric, come forward. Step into this circle.” A new glowing ring appeared, surrounding the protian weapons. Those weapons had remained undisturbed during the short clash.

Her Master did so, stepping in without hesitation.

“Bind.”

Tali felt power flex throughout the entirety of the hold.

+What the rust?+

-He’s doing an incredibly complex working.-

+I can see that. So, what was with the short statement?+

-Look here. See? There was no magic tied to the words. It was for show, either for those with little magical perception, or as an attempt at making it look as if he can do incredibly complicated magics with a single word.-

+Huh. So… theatrics?+

-There do seem to be a lot of that, yes.-

Incredibly intricate threads of power danced and wove around her Master and the powerful weapons.

The protian weapons distorted before snapping to Be-thric’s body. Two became pauldrons, tightly fitted over his shoulders while allowing complete freedom of movement.

One became a breastplate, one a back-plate, and the remaining two became greaves, tying into his torso armor as they wrapped around his thighs.

“Your armor is incomplete, Pillar Be-thric. However, it is sufficient for what is required.” He snapped his fingers, and Tali watched as the magic within the protian weapons altered, the powerful magics that had reshaped the weapons into armor seeming to come to a head before completing in this final act.

No longer were the former gauntlets morphic weapons, capable of taking any shape. Instead, they became focused on rebuilding their wearer. They also seemed to toughen, even while having their own ability to reshape altered into the simple ability to return to form, if damaged.

Tali felt herself grinning with mad glee. Her Master would be nearly unkillable, now.

+...Rust+

-Indeed.-

Her Master’s armor was obviously incomplete, especially when compared to that of Revered Sanguis.

“As tradition dictates, your first task, and that of your Eskau candidate, is to capture the protian weapons of other great Houses. We will then forge them into the remaining pieces of your armor.”

Tali then looked more closely at Revered Sanguis’s own armor. The forearm guards each seemed imbued with magics of light and fire. The House of the Rising Sun.

His helmet seemed to warp the air around it, and indeed around the Pillar’s entire body, for protection as well as purification. Tali suspected that Revered Sanguis would have no issues fighting at the bottom of the ocean or in a void. He could breathe anywhere. There was more to the helmet that Tali couldn’t interpret at a glance, but it seemed like the wearer should also be able to distort the air around themselves, amplifying their own voice, enabling far-sight, suppressing background noise and so, so much more.

-That is the helm of a general. Most features seem geared towards command and perceiving the terrain. Only a few are geared directly towards personal protection.-

Each piece, beyond those that had clearly once been protian weapons of the House of Blood, carried with it some capacity of incredibly useful magics.

“We will select your targets together, that we may be wise in whom we strike and what equipment you acquire.” His voice shifted, taking on the tone of one quoting from a sacred text, “Weep, oh foes of the House of Blood, for a new Pillar has arisen. The House is made strong, may it never fall.”

A response came back from all the members of the House who had been watching. “May the House never fall!”

Tali knew her part as well. She was to remain silent, awaiting the next portion of the ceremony.

Revered Sanguis continued with his versicle, “Blood will flow, and with it we will build our House.”

“From their blood, the House of Blood rises.” The watchers supplied, clearly familiar with the words.

“Now.” Revered Sanguis clapped his hands, regarding the onlookers, who were silent once again. “Are there any further objections?”

Pallaun stepped forward.

Revered Sanguis turned towards his Eskau. “Eskau Pallaun, do you have something that you wish to say?”

Eskau Pallaun bowed. “I do.”

“Then, by all means, speak.”

“The candidate Tali is an excellent choice to be an Eskau. She is well trained, powerful, clever, cunning, and lethal.”

Tali felt herself straightening, standing taller as he spoke.

+Yes, it was obvious that he liked her as the victor even before the battle.+

-Hush.-

“However, she has no protian weapon. She cannot be elevated. She is what she is, and she is not an Eskau of the House of Blood.”

Murmurs ran through those watching, even as Tali flinched back at the words.

Revered Sanguis gave a slow nod of his head towards his Eskau. “Quite correct, Eskau Pallaun. I was just coming to that point.”

The Pillar turned back to Tali and her Master.

“Under normal circumstances-” He hesitated, then shook his head and chuckled ruefully. “Under all but the most extreme circumstance, this is when I would bond you to your own protian weapon, raising you to be a full Eskau. But I cannot do that, as you do not have such a weapon to begin with. Those which were used to form the Pillar’s armor could not be spared from their use, either. Even if they had been, it is unwise to bind two founts together.”

Tali hung her head, uncertain how to feel. She was victorious but still lesser. Will I ever be a true Eskau? Will I ever be enough?

+Oh…wow. That…that hits close to home.+

“Pillar Be-thric. What do you propose? Shall you be a Pillar without a proper Eskau?” An almost predatory smile pulled at his lips. “Which is to say, no Pillar at all?”

Tali’s head snapped up, as her focus locked on her Master. Would he have an idea, a solution for this as well?

Be-thric stepped forward, giving a shallow bow. “Thank you, Revered Sanguis, for placing this upon me to address. Were this a standard elevation, as you have said, we would now bind the protian weapon to the Eskau.” He gestured towards Tali. “She is already bound to a fount, her own in fact.”

There were some chuckles from the audience.

“Thus, she has no protian weapon because she is the weapon.”

Revered Sanguis gave a slight smile. “That is the logic which got you this far. Proceed with your suggestion.”

“Next, we would devote significant resources to expanding the capacity of the protian weapon’s power source. I propose we do just that.”

+What?+

-What?-

What?

Revered Sanguis was already nodding. “Expanding her flowrate would allow for a greater depth of power. Continue.”

“We would stuff the new Eskau with magical food. While I have bent my own wealth towards this end already, I ask for the resources that would normally be given, so that I may expand and improve that which I provide. It is standard practice to create an enclave specifically to raise sustenance for an Eskau for the length of their career.”

The other Pillar nodded again. “This is in line with tradition. Go on.”

“Finally, I ask leave to advance my Eskau as only one such as she can advance.”

The murmurs of conversation which had been growing among the audience cut off instantly, everyone’s focus turning towards the newly raised Pillar.

+He…wants to Refine us?+

-That’s what it sounds like.-

What does he mean? One such as me?

Her Master was nodding and smiling. “I wish permission to infiltrate a wild human city and discover the means by which they Refine their Mages.”

Mutterings and explosive whispers rippled through the watchers in waves.

+Well… I didn’t expect that.+

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

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Chapter: 211 - If You Command

A note from JLMullins

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<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tali swayed slightly, reeling as she processed her Master’s request to go to the wild human cities, just to find a way for her to advance.

He really will do anything to help me improve.

+He wants his weapon to be as useful as possible.+

-Those are not mutually exclusive, Tala.-

+I know, but I don’t like the way she says it… He’s not a good person.+

-Tss, of course not. But he is bending what resources he can to improve us.-

+To improve Tali.+

-Yeah. That is an important distinction.-

Tali was floored by her Master’s generosity. She knew that he needed her, but he didn’t have to go this far.

It’s also not a done deal, Tali. Don’t get set on it. But it was the thought that counted. Even if it does happen, it will be after we complete his armor, so it could be weeks at the shortest or years at the longest.

Wild humans had odd ways of advancing, and Tali knew that, since she had a gate, she was more like them than she was like most of those she interacted with on a day-to-day basis.

She didn’t like that very much, except that it was only that feature, which had allowed her to stand out to her Master. It was her gate that had made her able to serve him and bring honor to him and the House.

Revered Sanguis seemed to be thinking quite deeply on the idea, his eyes flicking back and forth in thought.

Finally, he nodded. “That is an interesting proposal. I am willing to bring it to the counsel of Pillars with you. I’ll even support it as I am able. More than that? I cannot promise.”

Her Master bowed graciously. “Of course. Thank you, Revered Pillar.”

The older Pillar turned to his Eskau. “Do these suggestions satisfy you, Eskau Pallaun?”

The obsidian-skinned man gave a thoughtful nod. “I am willing to see how she grows with the proposed solutions. Yes. Thank you, my Pillar.”

“The objections of a wise, trusted servant are worth more than a thousand founts.” He turned back to Tali. “Then, with the suggestions of your Master, I grant you the preliminary title of Eskau, pending the decision of the House Pillars as a whole.”

He looked to her Master.

“You have my approval to access the resources you’ve described. I expect a list of what you will need and what strains you will put on our reserves over the coming months to be delivered to the Steward of the hold by the end of the week.”

He clapped his hands, and servants bustled out. Some came forward to deal with the bodies of the other candidates, others began passing out food.

“Now, we have one more order of business before we feast in celebration of the success of Pillar Be-thric.” Revered Sanguis placed a hand on her Master’s shoulder. “You must decide the fate of your surviving competitors.”

The other, surviving prospective Pillars knelt, and her Master motioned for Tali to accompany him.

He walked to each in turn and asked a single question, “What do you wish of me?” Tali flanked him, standing just behind and to his left, hand on her weapon.

Most gave the same answer, “My life is all that I ask, Pillar.”

That was one of the possible answers prescribed by tradition. It was the safest. It would be incredibly dishonorable for her Master to ask for their deaths after such a request, but it could be done.

Tali would execute them gladly, if such a command were given.

It was not.

Finally, they came to Thorn and Gallof, who were kneeling near one another but still separated by a dozen feet or so.

“What do you wish of me?” Her Master’s tone had something…else to it, an expectancy.

Thorn glanced to Gallof, and they spoke as one. “We wish to serve, Pillar.”

That was a riskier request. If her Master commanded their deaths after they’d asked to serve, there was no loss of honor. After all, dying for one’s House was a great service indeed.

Her Master smiled. “We would be honored to have you join our service. Rise.”

Gallof and Thorn stood as one.

“Thorn, you will attend my Eskau. We will discuss the details later, but I have many ideas.” Her Master’s smile grew with anticipation.

The dwarf bowed at the waist. “I will endeavor to please, Pillar Be-thric.” He then turned to Tali and bowed again. “Eskau Tali, I look forward to assisting you.”

+What are we going to do about him?+

-I’ve no idea. If Tali understood correctly, he will likely be our constant companion for the foreseeable future.-

+Yay…I’m going to have to find a way of being me around him, or this won’t work at all.+

“Gallof, you will attend me. We have many things to arrange for my Eskau, as well as much research to do in regards to the other Houses in the city. We are going to have an incredibly busy next few months.”

The tall, gray-skinned man bowed just as deeply as Thorn had, if more formally. “It will be my honor to serve you, Pillar Be-thric.”

That exchange concluded the formal parts of the ceremony, and the feast began.

* * *

The feast was a mirror of the one held the night before, but now, Thorn and Tali were the only ones of their peers to remain, and they partook in the food as well, though both did so sparingly.

Tali would have gorged herself, as her reserves had been diminished by the injuries she’d taken and healed during the battle, but her Master had advised her to wait. She would need to eat a LOT soon enough to take advantage of the magical foods they would be gaining for her, and that already likely meant that they’d have to find some way of draining her reserves so that she could eat more.

She and Thorn only exchanged a few words before the festivities came to a close.

When the guests headed towards their rooms, Thorn followed her.

“Can I help you, Thorn?”

He straightened. “I was commanded to attend you, Eskau.”

“You aren’t sleeping in my room.”

He bowed. “As the Eskau wishes.”

+Alright. That’s enough. I’ll be taking over, here.+

* * *

Tala smiled, shifting to a more casual stance. “Please, we don’t need titles here. We’re going to be working closely with one another.”

Thorn hesitated, seeming at a loss. “If you command.”

“I don’t command. That would defeat the entire purpose, Thorn.”

The side of the dwarf’s mouth quirked up, but he suppressed the smile fully a moment later. “Then, it is proper for me to address you with honor, Eskau Tali.”

Tala felt her eye begin to twitch. “Thorn, it seems like we are going to be spending a lot of time together.”

-Hehe. You called?-

Not a great time. Tala mentally glared at her alternate interface. That was clearly not a pun.

“So, when no one else is around? Formality isn’t required.”

“Not required, but still…”

“Not wanted, Thorn. Please?” She scratched the side of her face. How would Tali handle this?

-Easy, she wouldn’t-

Not helpful.

-Fine. Here. This is within the range of what she’d say.-

“This is new to me, Thorn. Pillar Be-thric only found me in the last few years. I’m used to doing menial jobs. I’m used to being the lowest that could be, ignored, scorned, forgotten. I don’t want the spotlight. Please. When we are alone, no titles. I can be Eskau Tali most of the time, but I can’t do it all the time, and it seems like you’re going to be with me, all the time, or very nearly.” There, that will help ensure I don’t have to leave Tali in command for the foreseeable future, because he’ll be around.

The dwarf blinked at her a few times, then nodded slowly. “As…as you wish, Tali.”

Tala almost corrected him. It’s Tala. But that would have been colossally foolish. “Thank you, Thorn.”

Thorn hesitated, opening his mouth to say something, but he seemed to decide otherwise, smiling instead.

“Now, you still can’t sleep in my room. There’s only one bed.”

The dwarf shrugged. “I can sleep outside the door. It would make sense for you to get new rooms tomorrow, and we can finalize arrangements, then.”

Tala still seemed hesitant, but finally nodded. “As you wish. I have to say, though, that sounds really uncomfortable.”

Thorn just laughed. “My folk sleep on stone as a matter of course. It will be more comfortable than I need already.”

Tala gave him a quizzical look. “It’s stone, too. How will it be more comfortable?”

He patted his chest with his off hand. “I have magic. The air here is filled with power, so it is nothing to expend a bit to aid in my sleep.”

“What do you mean?” Tala cocked her head, even as they continued to walk through the hold while they spoke.

Thorn gave her an odd look. “It is a simple thing. Were you not…” He shook his head. “My apologies, Tali. When I look at you, I don’t see the human that you clearly are. Humans do not have innate giftings with magic. I think I remember hearing that your folk often call what we do ‘conceptual magic?’ ”

Does Tali know that term?

-Vaguely, yeah.-

“I believe I’ve heard that term, yes. Everyone in the House just refers to it as magic, or power.”

Thorn nodded. “Good, good. Well, let me prove my use to you. I cannot teach you what you cannot learn, but I can show you the principles, and you should be able to adapt it to your own style of magic in time.”

They reached Tali’s room and stopped outside the door.

Thorn sat, putting his back to the wall beside that entrance. “Watch closely.”

There was a pull of power into the dwarf, followed by a push of magic outward, now aspected with the dwarf’s signature, under his control.

The expelled power began to swirl around him, moving in lazy patterns.

-Those are spell-forms. Incredibly crude spell-forms-

The regular intake and exhalation of power shifted to match the dwarf’s breathing as he sank deeper into the exercise, power building up in the spell-forms he wove around himself.

The power wasn’t being expended. Instead, it was almost like it was being put into a perpetual cycle.

Like an archon star, but with a different form.

Thorn spoke then, slowly. “With this, I will fall asleep quickly, and the rest I receive from my sleep will be greater than without. This helps heal the body and helps recover from illness among other things. There are even variations that you can use upon others, for parents or healers to enact on their children or patients.”

While complex in totality, the form was nothing more than a simple twisting, interlocking pattern, repeated uncounted times. Tala analyzed it for a long moment before straightening and smiling. “Thank you, Thorn. I will see if I can match that.”

“Good night, Eskau Tali.”

“Good night, Thorn.”

Tala stepped through the door to her room and closed it behind herself.

-That is fascinating. There wasn’t any complexity to it at all. It is simply suffusing the body and surrounding area with self-perpetuating power, already keyed to be usable by that person.-

So, it’s like faking being a higher rank? A higher magic capacity?

-At its base level, yes, but it will only augment slow-flow, natural magics. It cannot be used in those imposed upon the body until they ‘set.’ And I doubt it would work well for any sort of combat application.-

My passive magics have been set, right?

-For the most part, yes.-

Then, let’s try this. Tala sighed. I still wish we could go into Kit.

-As we discussed last night, Tali has never gone into our dimensional storage. Thus, doing so, now, would be hard for her to reconcile when she remembered it. I could hide the memory, but that would create an obvious blank space that would stand out if Be-thric ever decided to delve Tali’s mind again.-

And if there aren’t inconsistencies, he shouldn’t be able to tell we’re in here.

-Precisely. I doubt he will check, but in case we make a mistake, it is better to be prepared.-

Fine… She patted her pouch, whispering to her item. “I’ll get back to the proper use of you and your abilities, soon. Thank you for sticking with me.”

Kit did not respond.

“Okay, let’s try this.”

* * *

Tala did not succeed that night.

She did succeed in using her aura to weave power around herself, but it didn’t really seem to do anything for her.

Thankfully, her already augmented physiology needed vastly less sleep than she otherwise would have.

Thus, it was still incredibly early when she pulled her door open, intending to head towards her training area.

Thorn was asleep beside the door, but his eyes snapped open as soon as it clicked shut behind her.

“Oh! You’re awake.” He looked up at the false sky. “Still quite early. Does that mean it worked? I wouldn’t have expected you to master it so quickly, but stranger things have happened.”

Tala shook her head. “No, but I already need less sleep because of my magics.”

He stood and stretched. “Then, you seem to have already learned how to use the technique in your own style, before I ever brought it up.”

She shook her head again. “No, no. Your technique augments all your natural magics, at least as they pertain to you. Mine is just using my magics.”

Thorn cocked his head. “Really? That’s fascinating. The concept behind the working, at least as I cast it, is: Recovery, Perfected.”

“Fascinating.” And it really was. Does that mean they have something like a fundamental understanding behind every working? No, that didn’t seem right.

-That’s not a fundamental concept so much as an injunction for something to be different than it otherwise would be. It is the imposition of a concept upon reality, hence conceptual magic.-

Tala took a deep breath and shrugged. “Well, I’m going to go do some exercises and training. Care to join me?”

“What? Before breakfast?” He groused a bit. “I’ll come with you, as is my mandate, but I don’t know if I’ll join you in the work.”

“Suit yourself.”

They walked through the hold; the few servants they passed bowed lower than ever before as Tala passed them.

Thorn walked behind her and to her left, just as Tali had walked behind Be-thric.

I suppose Thorn and I have a similar relationship now, to what Be-thric and Tali had, don’t we?

She looked back at the dwarf, a thought coming together as she expressed it, “You know, if you’re to be useful in combat, you need to retrain yourself to not rely on a protian weapon.”

Thorn grimaced at that, then nodded. “You speak truly, Tali. I will consider the advice.”

They crossed one of the gracefully arching bridges to the large, circular platform that Tali was accustomed to using. Tala did her best not to stare. It was all so new to her, but it wouldn’t be to Tali.

She felt like she’d seen dozens of paintings of a beautiful vista, and then, she had gone to see it herself.

Except I’m not allowed to revel in the majesty of seeing it in person.

-We all make sacrifices.-

Once there, Tala went through her stretches and exercises, working herself up towards the forms of the Way of Flowing Blood.

Thorn sat in ‘meditation.’

Did…did he fall back asleep?

-He’s right next to the edge. We should push him in.-

Why?

-…you wouldn’t get it.-

You are confusing sometimes.

Tala moved through the forms of the Way of Flowing Blood, trying to rely on Tali’s experience, while integrating the movements more deeply into herself.

“What are you doing?” Thorn had cracked one eye open.

Oh, so not asleep?

Tala paused, holding a particularly difficult pose. “What do you mean?”

“You’re moving like a stiff puppet wielded by a master puppeteer. What are you doing?”

“I…” Tala sighed and straightened. What do I say? What lie will he buy? “I’m trying to go through the motions without thinking about them. I’m trying to let them seep into my subconscious instead of thinking about how to move.” She knew her tone was defensive. She couldn’t help herself. I’m trying…

He cocked his head. “That is a basic step in becoming proficient with any fighting art. So, shouldn’t you have done that already? Why are you acting like this is new to you?”

-Well, that didn’t work. Lie again. Maybe he’ll believe you this time.-

Hush.

He continued before she could think of anything else to say. “In fact, I’d say you are over thinking it, by how you’re moving.” He stood. “I was curious about your performance yesterday. It almost seemed like you were incredibly nervous at first, but then, eventually, got into the flow of things. Is that it? Yesterday, you were able to fall into a different mental state part way through?”

Tala grimaced, then took a deep breath and nodded. “I can enter into another frame of mind, in which fighting is much easier than normal. I’m trying to replicate that without the mental shift. I become too narrowly focused in that state, too unaware of what’s going on outside of my opponents. I think it will get me killed if I’m not careful.”

He grunted. “Well, why didn’t you say that to begin with? That’s pretty common, all things considered. Come on. These forms are designed to be performed against a partner.” He gave her a half grin. “I won’t use my magics if you don’t cut off my head.”

Tala found herself smiling in return. “As you say, Thorn. Thank you.”

For the next couple of hours, they sparred. Through the process, Tala picked up and integrated the movements much more easily, since she could actually work against an opponent.

Thorn was a master of these arts. If Tala remembered correctly, the dwarf had more than a decade of experience, and it showed.

By the time that the fake sun rose, Tala felt like she was approaching Tali’s level of proficiency.

Unfortunately, in combat where fractions of a second meant the difference between life and death, she still might need to rely on Tali in a pinch, but Tala was satisfied that the number of situations in which that would be the case had been drastically reduced.

As the two of them bowed to each other, Tala smiled. “Thank you, M- Thorn.” She had almost called him ‘master Thorn’ on reflex. That would have been a bit awkward.

“I am glad that I could assist.”

She hesitated at that. After a moment’s consideration, she decided to just ask him, “Why did you and your master ask to serve?”

The green-skinned dwarf shrugged, his silvery hair shimmering in the new-day’s light. “My master was never a great or high-ranking member of the House of Blood. He was clever enough to forge a protian weapon, and he had enough wealth to buy me as his candidate, but if we’d lost, as we did, there was nothing really to fall back on. Entering into the service of the new Pillar and his Eskau is a solid means of securing our future.”

“Buy you? Were you not already a part of the House of Blood?”

“No, I was not.” He didn’t elaborate further, and Tala didn’t push.

It seems like we’ll have a lot more to learn about him, in time.

-Indeed it does.-

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 212 - Buy Yourself Something Nice

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Pride mystic artificer, Maxine, Emersen, Damon Roberts

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala was about to continue her conversation with Thorn, when a bevy of servants came into view bearing trays piled high with various foods.

I have to ‘be Tali’ when others are around, or it’s going to seem odd. She straightened just slightly, changing her way of standing, and oddly enough, Tala felt more aloof. Huh. There’s a point to standing like a know-it-all?

-You’ll have to tell me, I can’t stand.-

Don’t make me feel bad for you. I’m never giving you command of our body. I’d never get it back.

Alat scoffed. -Perish the thought! I am perfectly happy as I am, alone in the dark, watching your experiences second hand.-

I’m in there with you.

-Shouting at me and then listening at the door for a response isn’t the same as being in the room, Tala.-

What about when Tali is in command?

-…That’s fair, actually. But now, I’m alone in here. There’s only one intelligence in this mind.-

Sometimes, Alat… She just shook her head, motioning to where the servants should set up the food.

There were two distinct groupings of breakfast, one much larger than the other.

Thorn’s food was a reasonable, if oversized, portion for a single person’s breakfast. There were three massive sausages, a miniature mound of bacon, a generous bowl of fruit, some pan-fried potatoes, and a few slices of hearty, buttered bread.

It was all placed on a table that they set up for him to one side.

All of it was mundane, no more magical than the floor they walked on or the air they breathed.

Both of those things, arguably, were saturated with magic, but they weren’t, themselves, inherently magical.

As the dwarf thanked the servants and sat in the chair they’d brought as well, Tala noticed the large tankard next to his plate at the table.

“Isn’t it a little early to be drinking?”

“It is indeed, if you mean alcohol. Though, many of my kin wouldn’t say ‘No’ to a breakfast ale.”

Tala frowned; she could definitely smell something sharp and tangy coming from the tankard. “If not alcohol, what is it?”

“Acid.”

She blinked a few times as the dwarf tipped the sizzling beverage back, taking a deep swig.

Tala watched power wrap around the liquid, even as it passed between the dwarf’s lips, and something was drained away, seeming to spread out over the small man’s body and sink into his natural magics.

“What—” Tala caught herself. She’d been about to say, ‘What under the stars?’ but Tali wouldn’t use that expression. “What aspect of blood are you high on?” There. That’s what she would ask.

The dwarf looked her way as he swallowed. “I’m processing the concept of corrosion and acerbity, drawing it out of the acid and adding its conceptual weight to myself. I’ll be able to do so continually until it passes all the way through my system.”

Tala was at a loss for words. What?

He grinned ruefully. “There’s a reason my magic’s so effective, Tali. I fell into the leaching tank as a boy. The only reason I survived is that I was of a High race and understood how acids worked well enough to grasp the concept. By the time they fished me out, the stuff I was swimming in was as harmless as water. Though, of course, it regained its base nature shortly after I was pulled out. Nature has its nature, after all.”

She still didn’t have a good response, so she just waited for him to continue.

His mirth faded a bit. “Unfortunately, it so unbalanced my natural magics that I’m pretty useless for anything else. I can’t even implement a ‘Recovery Perfected’ over anyone else, because the basic nature of my power would erode them.”

Tala grinned, then. “Your ‘basic’ nature, eh?” She chuckled.

“Huh?” Then, it seemed to click, and he snorted a laugh. “That’s not what I meant at all.”

“But it was still funny.”

“I suppose.”

The servants had left by then, leaving behind Tala’s normal spread of food.

Tala sighed, walking over to the trays arrayed for her on the ground.

“Don’t you want a table? Or a chair?”

She shrugged. “A table big enough for all of this would be a pain to carry.”

“Oh, so you do care about servants, at least a bit.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She cocked an eyebrow at him.

“You didn’t thank them; you didn’t acknowledge them at all, except to tell them where to put our food.”

Tala hesitated. That’s what Tali does, what she would have done. But she hadn’t even had to check. She’d just behaved that way. Am I becoming her? What’s wrong with me?

-Calm down, Tala, you were distracted by his tankard of acid.-

Oh…right.

-But you are right, Tali would have behaved that way, so you can’t just brush it off.-

She sighed internally, then said what Tali would have, or near enough, “Why does it matter? They have other tasks, and me slowing them down to chat, even to thank them, just makes their day longer in the end.”

Thorn snorted. “Sounds like the excuses of a stuck-up brat.” He then froze in place, eyes going wide. “I…I mean…”

Tala narrowed her eyes, knowing that Tali wouldn’t have liked the comment at all. This is a chance to set the stage for our relationship going forward, and my seeming different reactions to things.

She redirected, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “As no one was around to hear your disrespect, I will allow it. My- My-” I can’t say ‘my Master’…can I? That might become problematic. “You were assigned to me, and I should take what you say seriously, but speak that impertinently to me when anyone else can hear, and it will not go well for you.”

Thorn swallowed unconsciously and nodded. “As you say, Eskau Tali.”

“Is anyone around?”

“No…Tali.”

“Better.” She gave a forced smile.

Unfortunately, that exchange shattered the more casual atmosphere that they’d been building between them. It was to be expected, if Tala was going to maintain the fiction of being Tali, but it still grated.

Relationships are difficult enough without being fundamentally dishonest through the process…

Tala dug into her food, though she didn’t scarf it. Instead, she followed Tali’s normal pattern, when Be-thric wasn’t there, and meditated as she ate, overlaying the power from the food on top of her own magics as she consumed it. There were some minor incompatibilities, extra magics that weren’t similar to her own, and those she discarded, using only what she could.

This is sort of like what Thorn is doing, but on a different level.

-Yeah, that acid wasn’t magic, but he still pulled power from it.-

Conceptual magic is cheating.

-I bet they’d say having a functionally infinite well of power within yourself is cheating.-

Valid…

Finally, when she was nearly done and Thorn had long-since finished, she looked his way. “You never said why it matters?”

He blinked, jerking slightly. “Huh?”

Was he asleep? “I said, you never answered my question. Why does it matter how I treat the servants? I’m not saying I disagree in principle, I just want your answer.”

-Too wordy, Tala. You aren’t you.-

Hush.

“Well.” He scratched the back of his head. “Servants make the hold function, right?”

“They do.”

“And they can make your life better, or they can make it worse, depending on how well they do their job, and what little things they do around it.”

“True, I suppose.”

“So, why not treat them well, so they make your life better?”

“Ahh, so it’s a selfish motivation?”

He grimaced. “Well, no. That’s not why I do it, but it’s a solid answer to your ‘why’ question and a good reason why you should.”

She gave him a long look, cocking one eyebrow. “Because I’m selfish.”

He harrumphed. “Because you asked for a reason as to why you should treat people with courtesy. I gave you a reason. It wasn’t a commentary on your character.” He crossed his arms and grimaced again.

“Fine.” Tala ate the last bits of her breakfast in silence.

“Well, isn’t this a dour gathering.” Be-thric’s voice rolled over the water, seeming to make the surface of the surrounding pools vibrate.

The new Pillar walked across one of the bridges, followed closely by Gallof.

Now, they just need an alabaster hue-folk to follow Gallof, and they’d have a nice, full gradient.

Alat snorted a laugh within Tala’s head but didn’t comment.

Tala and Thorn turned to face the incoming men.

Tala almost tried to force herself to bow, then remembered what Be-thric had said to Tali. Seizing on the overlap between what Tali should do and what Tala would do, she spoke. “Are you sure you do not wish me to bow any longer, Pillar?”

Be-thric smiled, his every movement condescending.

-No, Tala, that’s just your perception.-

Fine…

Be-thric smiled magnanimously “I am glad that you remembered my preference. Yes, it would be inappropriate for a hand to bow to the body it is attached to. Our fates are tied now, dear Eskau. Any you bow to will be seen as my bowing to them, and it would be rather narcissistic to bow to myself, or an image of myself, like the heathen tyrants of old.”

Thorn bowed. “Pillar Be-thric. It is an honor to see you this morning.”

“Thorn, how has my Eskau been for you?”

Tala didn’t stiffen, but it was a near thing.

The dwarf glanced her way, then shrugged. “There are always oddities when two people are getting to know each other. I think we shall get along just fine.”

“Do you think there are things you can teach her?”

“There are always things that any person can learn from any other, so yes.”

Be-thric smiled again. “Wisely said. What comes to mind, specifically?”

Thorn glanced Tala’s way again. “Her magic is powerful, but inefficient. She spends power like a tyrant spends lives.”

Be-thric nodded. “That is one thing I’d hoped you two could work on.”

That seemed to bolster the dwarf, and he straightened just a bit. “Her demeanor is excellent in formal settings, but…” His eyes flicked her way again, seeming a bit uncomfortable, but continued. “…but she lacks some social graces with those beneath her in status.”

The Pillar frowned. “And?”

Thorn shrugged, his awkwardness back. “As you just pointed out, Pillar, almost everyone is now beneath her. Do you really wish her to treat the entire House of Blood, save Pillars and Eskau, dismissively, in ways that will reflect on you?” He gave Tala an apologetic look.

Tala could have kissed him, though she knew Tali would be irritated, so she frowned.

Be-thric cocked his head back, considering. Finally, he glanced to the man behind him. “Gallof, what do you say on this issue?”

Gallof bowed. “I think my former candidate is wise in his assessment. Those below us keep a house running smoothly, and their regard or enmity can drastically change how well a hold is run, even while nothing in their actions obviously changes. The best outcomes cannot be achieved by discipline or the application of power alone.”

The onyx man was nodding along. “Wise words, both of you.” He focused on Tala. “Tali, my Eskau, I have failed you in this. I am used to functioning as a… less favored, while still powerful, member of this House, and I fear I have colored your mannerisms. Listen to Thorn in this regard.”

Tala was stunned, at a complete loss for words. Thankfully, Tali would have been as well.

What is he playing at?

-Kindness when you have, or get, what you want is not a sign of goodness, Tala. As Thorn and Gallof just pointed out, it is a simple expediency.-

Be-thric clapped his hands together. “Now. We’ve much to arrange. I need to refresh your inscriptions.” He hesitated, clearly considering.

Tala stiffened. Tali just strips naked.

-Are…are you going to be okay?-

Be-thric waved his hand, seeming to come to a decision. “Thorn, Gallof, leave us for a moment, my Eskau should not be displayed before others.”

She knew Be-thric had no interest in her, physically. To his mind, he was re-feathering a used arrow, and that was all. That helped, honestly, but she wasn’t looking forward to this.

The two bowed and walked away. As soon as they were hidden by the garden around the training circle, Be-thric turned to Tala.

“Shall we?” Then, he frowned. “Wait. I don’t wish to ruin your covering…” He tapped his chin. “I should have thought of that. Ah!” He brightened. “Open your mouth. We’ll go through there. It will require more healing, but we need to burn through your reserves anyways, right?”

Tala’s eyes widened. Is he saying…?

-Yes, Tala.-

Was this better than stripping down in front of him? Maybe, yeah. It still was…unpleasant to contemplate.

She opened her mouth wide, closing her eyes. Help me, Alat.

-I’m here.-

“Be Reinscribed.” It was the same phrase, but somehow it felt different as the power radiated out from the Pillar.

Metal streamed through her mouth and down her throat as she held her breath. She felt the miniscule threads split off, pushing their way through her reinforced flesh and bone, even as she did her best to remain still and hold back her defensive powers.

There are not words to describe how it felt.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was likely only a few seconds, the process came to an end.

Thankfully, most of what she’d used up, inscriptions wise, were the burst-style inscriptions. Everything had been worn down minutely, but that was hardly anything, in the grand scheme of things.

The flow of metal into her open mouth slowed, then stopped all together, and she slumped back, coughing up some blood that had entered her throat before her inscriptions healed the damage. She spat it over the side of the platform.

It colored the water in a slowly diffusing area until it was so spread out as to be unnoticeable to unenhanced eyes.

“That looked unpleasant.” Be-thric’s head was tilted to one side, seeming more intrigued than apologetic.

“It was, a bit.” Yeah, that’s what Tali would have said.

He grunted. “Well, I do not wish to take my time to reinscribe you at your need. I’ve commissioned a device to be integrated into your sanctum, which will allow you to be reinscribed at your discretion. It is based on my own magics, so it should grow with you, as your natural magics continue to integrate those inscribed upon you. It should allow you to do either method, unclothed or through your mouth. Though, I’ll need to ask them to add the second. We’ll make sure you have a solid supply of ingots of the metals you need.”

Tala was stunned, giving an entirely genuine half-bow. “You are most generous.”

He waved her off. “Not at all. It is a valuation of my own time.”

He really has utter confidence in my subversion. He trusts Tali explicitly.

-Why shouldn’t he? I know of no other Mage who has a copy of their entire mind, though I don’t suppose we necessarily would know of them. Without that, and me, you’d have been lost, and his, forever.-

That was both sobering and encouraging. He has no cause to doubt, even if I act incredibly strangely.

-But if you act really off, he might try to tweak your mind a bit, and that would be less than ideal.-

True enough.

Be-thric called the other two back, then turned to Tala. “There is much that I need to do today, and Thorn and Gallof will assist me. I am proud of your performance yesterday. Go into the city and buy yourself something nice.” He paused then shrugged. “Use your discretion. Nothing as big as a small hold, but definitely more than a bit of jewelry.” He patted her on the head as he smiled.

Wow. That was condescending. But she gilded herself and put on a grateful smile. “Thank you, Pillar Be-thric. I’ll consider that option. When do you need me back?”

“Come back around noon. We should have some things to show you, by then. At that point, we’ll need to coordinate and dive into our work, but you’ve earned yourself a few hours.”

Without another word, he walked away, meeting Thorn and Gallof on the bridge and directing them away.

Well… That was both kind and incredibly insulting.

-He is treating you like a pet or a mistress.-

But thankfully without any of the physical-ness of either.

-Not a fan of petting?-

Tala grimaced. Don’t even joke. The head patting is bad enough.

She turned and headed towards the entrance to the hold. She still had her copper key-ring, so she could enter and exit at will. Kit and Flow were at her belt, so she didn’t need to pick up anything from her room.

I wonder if he’ll upgrade this? She looked down at the copper around her finger.

-Only time will tell.-

Any idea what we should buy?

-None at all.-

Tala wandered the city. She was unmolested by attackers, either random or specifically targeting her. A large factor of this lack was likely that she was wearing the official garb of her office, the symbol of the House of Blood inlaid in silver and surrounded by a silver braid.

It wasn’t actually silver, her elk-leathers couldn’t create metal, but it gave the same appearance, and that is all that Tala needed.

She made the emblem large enough to cover her entire chest, rather than just being on her left breast, and she duplicated it on her back.

Tali has some pride in her accomplishments.

-Sure she does, Tala.-

In any case, this would prevent other misunderstandings.

Well, the emblem and the fact that Tala was utterly wreathed in power, her magics echoing in the very fabric of reality around her.

That probably doesn’t hurt.

-You also don’t look human at all. That probably factors in.-

Fine. There’re plenty of reasons why no one has been foolish enough to attack me.

She’d wandered for a bit, wracking her brain on what to get.

I am not getting a pet. That’s just silly. But nothing else came to mind. She didn’t need weaponry or armor.

She could request an upgrade to her elk-leathers as the gift. Would that work?

-It’s a good fallback, if we can’t think of anything else.-

She was passing by a smaller park, when she noticed an old turtle-man sitting on one of the benches, a staff leaning beside him, as he fed a large number of birds.

The turtle’s shell was iridescent, seeming to shimmer between green, blue, orange and red. There was a silvery white undertone to both the beast-man’s shell and skin.

How are there not crowds of folk gathered around just to gawk at him?

-I don’t know; he is quite beautiful.-

For most, the turtle simply tossed out handfuls of seeds, but one particular oddity caught her eye.

The old turtle smiled and pulled out a bit of dried meat, tossing it to the side, where a small terror bird caught it with ease.

She stopped, staring at the small bird, a grin slowly spreading across her face.

TERRY!?!

-Tala—-

But Tala ignored her, ignored her own mind.

The terror bird regarded her warily as she drew near.

The turtle man looked her way as she drew close.

“What do you wish of me, Enforcer of the House of Blood?”

Tala felt a ripple of power wash over her.

Why would I want to bother an old turtle? She didn’t slow; she’d never really had interest in the beast-man to begin with.

-Huh, he just made us bored by the very idea of him…But look at him. He’s beautiful! That’s probably why there isn’t anyone around him, just staring.-

Tala shook her head, kneeling down next to the small terror bird. The creature shrunk back from her as she drew near.

-Tala, the color…It’s wrong.-

She slumped. “I know. You aren’t Terry.” She spoke softly.

-You could tell by its level of magic, or lack there of.- It was a mundane terror bird.

Now that Tala thought about it, shouldn’t Terry have glowed like a beacon to Tali’s sight, if she really had seen him?

She felt a little part of her shrink back from the thought, refusing to acknowledge it.

The turtle-man was clutching his staff. “So, you are not here for me? I see.” His head bobbed in understanding. “You seem to have lost that which is not found.”

Tala frowned, pulled back for her sad thoughts. He has to be here, somewhere. “What? That doesn’t even make sense. Of course, if something isn’t found, it is lost.”

“Unless what is sought finds you?” The turtle gestured to the avians hopping around them in the little park. “These creatures are not statues or items to be sought in some fixed location. You look for a bird whom you know?”

“Yes?” This is really weird… She almost brushed the old turtle off, but something held her back.

“Does he have a name?”

“He does.”

“Then, call him.”

Tala glanced around. There weren’t many people on the streets. She was still close to the district of doors, but she’d wandered down a smaller side-street while musing.

The turtle leaned on his staff, smiling, his shell shifting through waves of purple and lilac. “Well?”

I feel like a fool.

-What could it hurt?-

What if someone hears?

-It won’t mean anything to anyone, even Be-thric. Terry was hunting when he took us, if our last memory is correct.-

Tala cleared her throat. “Terry?” He probably just didn’t hear me. He’s somewhere else.

The turtle nodded. “Louder, if you wish the call to have meaning.”

But…

-Try, Tala.-

“Terry!”

“Louder still.”

But what if he doesn’t come?

-What if he does?-

Tala felt tears building in her eyes as she threw back her head and shouted. “TERRY!”

Her voice, amplified by her enhanced lungs rang out through the park, startling the birds away, even the tiny terror bird that wasn’t Terry.

As the echoes quickly died off, Tala looked around, momentarily hopeful.

The turtle-man looked around as well, then sighed. “Ah, well. Your friend is not here, and mine are now gone. There are many parks in the city for you to search.” He gave her a soft smile.

Tala felt her eye twitch, even as tears began to leak down across her cheeks. The shiny turtle turned and sauntered off. And here I thought he might have some sort of wise insight. She wiped at her face. I thought maybe he knew that Terry was nearby.

-Tala…-

Not now. I don’t want to hear it.

She flopped down on the bench, placing her face in her hands.

“Where are you, Terry? Are you even alive?”

Time passed and the turtle’s footsteps faded beyond even the ability of Tala’s enhanced hearing to pick up.

People passed on the nearby street, but no one else came into the park. She didn’t have her bloodstars out. It was probably foolish, but at the moment, she was glad to not have to keep them in mind, keep them in place. She just sat, feeling the heaviness of her predicament.

She was alone.

Utterly.

Completely.

Alone.

Everyone she knew probably thought she was dead.

She was deep within the territory of people who hated her kind or were at least those who were opposed to their free existence.

She had nothing.

-We’ll get back. We have to at least try.-

I know. This is just…too much. She shook her head against her hands. It’s too much, Alat.

So, Tala sat, unmoving, and let time pass her by.

Finally, after what felt like ages, when the heat of the sun was beating down from almost directly overhead, she sighed. We need to head back to the hold.

-But we didn’t get anything.-

We’ll just ask for something to be upgraded. There was no enthusiasm behind the thought.

Tala lifted her head from her hands and froze.

There, squatting on the ground in front of her was a small terror bird, one with achingly familiar coloring.

It had magic through its being. Not mundane.

Tala whispered in disbelieving hope. “Terry?”

She thought she detected a marginally different pattern of magic around his neck, as if something was hidden beneath his feathers, but it could easily have just been the bird’s natural magics.

The small avian trilled softly, seeming to be examining her.

No, it’s a trick of the light. There are more arcanous birds than just Terry. That’s not his collar. It’s just another little—

The bird flickered, appearing on her shoulder and headbutting her cheek.

Terry trilled happily, snuggling up against her neck.

Tala simply basked in the familiar comfort of his presence. “It’s me, Terry. Thank you for following me, and for waiting.”

He simply trilled contentedly and snuggled in closer.

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Trying to find more to read but it seems like of all the good stories, none shall remain?

Well, you're in luck! That might just be what you're looking for!! (I'll see myself out.) 😅

And (N)one Shall Remain

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/61213/and-none-shall-remain

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Chapter: 213 - Naturally Lesser

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Ben Morgan, ciaran mullen, Damon Roberts, Emersen, Joshua Sydney, Maxine, Noelle, PatronTurtle, Pride mystic artificer, Sakari Saastamoinen

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala only sat with Terry for a short while before she stood.

“We have to get back.”

Terry squawked questioningly at her.

“I’ll tell you on the way.”

-And I’ll make a modified version of finding our ‘new friend’ for Tali…-

Thank you, Alat. I appreciate that.

As they walked, Tala explained the situation to Terry in a quiet whisper. She included what would likely be needed from him to allow them to stay together.

Be-thric had suppressed Terry before, even if he hadn’t really taken note of him, that Tala had seen.

The arcane hadn’t fought Terry, so at most, he’d know that a magical terror bird had been near Tala’s caravan, once.

Overall, Terry couldn’t act too familiar with Tala, at least not at first.

-Tali does have some meats that she carries around with her in Kit, though she doesn’t think of Kit that way.-

Right, just her dimensional storage. Tala patted Kit. “I appreciate you, Kit.”

Kit did not respond.

She reached in and pulled out a strip of cured meat.

Terry examined it dubiously for a moment, then snapped it up.

“There we go, then. I got him to come to me, and come with me, by giving him some of this meat.”

Terry looked to her hand, then back to her face, then back to her hand, then back to her face.

Tala found herself grinning and pulled out another piece of meat.

“Here you go.”

Tala hesitated.

“Wait… How are you still just an arcanous creature?” As she considered it, the other birds had definitely not been magical, though they also looked orange to her magesight.

-No authority or sway over the magic within them. It’s not actually their power.-

Tala thought about the question with regard to Tali’s memories, and came across the same lessons that Alat was likely pulling from.

Right, so Terry actually has control over his power, but beasts have a different track for advancement than naturally sapient species, even though many become sapient through the process.

-Exactly-

Terry is still below the level of magical creature because…?

-Yeah, Tali didn’t know how they advanced either.-

Didn’t Holly say something about magic density?

-She did, but she also might not be fully versed in arcanous creatures. If that was the case, however, couldn’t he just absorb the surrounding power, then?-

Might not want to advance? “Do you want to advance, Terry?”

The terror bird looked at her with a critical eye, then trilled happily.

“Could you advance, now?”

Her regarded her a moment longer before shaking himself.

“So, you didn’t stay back for my sake.” There’s nothing in the books Grediv gave me on the subject. She sighed. Probably worth asking Thron or Gallof.

-Or Be-thric?-

Tala grimaced. Probably, yeah.

“Not sure we can, but I’ll look into it.”

He hunkered down, seeming content.

“Though, that would delay our bonding. You ok with that?” She hesitated. Have I ever actually talked to him about the two of us bonding?

He stared her way, critically, then waggled his body in an uncertain gesture.

“Well, we'll figure it out.”

All in all, Tala returned to the House of Blood’s Platoiri hold with a bounce in her step and a smile on her face.

The human sized door swung open for her after she presented her copper key-ring to be scanned, and she stepped inside, only to find Be-thric, Gallof, and Thorn walking her way down the main thoroughfare of the hold.

The door swung closed behind her with a click.

“Eskau Tali! Perfect timing. We were just…” Gallof hesitated, seeing the terror bird on her shoulder. “Eskau Tali? Why do you have that vermin on your shoulder?”

Tala cocked her head. Vermin? She had seen quite a few terror birds around the city, that was true, but weren’t they a bit big to be vermin?

Be-thric shook his head. “Gallof, look closer. Is your magic-sight inactive?” He gestured. “Can you not see that there is something special about this creature?”

The three stopped a short way from Tala.

She nodded and spoke a bit hesitantly. “Yes. I… I found him as I was taking a moment to sit in a park. I saw his power and got him to come to me with some food.” She shrugged. “I think he likes me.”

On cue, Terry head-butted her cheek and squawked.

Tala smiled and pulled out another strip of meat.

Thorn snorted a soft laugh. “He likes your food, you mean.”

She shrugged. “That’s how any such relationship starts.”

Terry happily took the meat from her hands, and she scratched the back of his head.

The four of them moved away from the entrance, into a lovely little park with a bubbling fountain at its center.

Be-thric was considering even as he walked. “So, this was your choice for a gift? A pet?” He pondered for a moment before nodding and giving a small smile. “Taking care of something a bit lesser than yourself is good for the mind. If this is your choice, I do not object.”

Well, that certainly cements his thinking of me.

-Yup: pet, not mistress.-

Tala nodded her thanks. “Thank you, Pillar.”

“Do you have any idea where his magics lie?”

Tala almost answered offhandedly, saying ‘dimensional magic,’ but she caught herself. That was a human term. She flicked her thoughts to Tali’s memories before replying, “Space magic of some kind.”

The Pillar nodded again. “That is in line with what I thought I was seeing. Well, I can’t say it’s what I would have selected for you, but the best gifts are those desired by the receiver, I suppose.”

Gallof bowed towards the Pillar. “They are indeed.”

Tala cleared her throat. “I was wondering…”

Be-thric paused. “Yes?”

“How do such creatures advance?”

The Pillar laughed. “We definitely don’t want him doing that before he’s well and truly emotionally attached to you.”

“As the Pillar says, of course, but for my curiosity? I can’t remember it being mentioned, before.”

He regarded her for a long moment, then nodded. “Very well. Gallof, Thorn, do either of you know?” It was clear that Be-thric did. He was simply checking with the others.

They both shook their heads.

“Good, then consider this a lesson for you all. Beings that are naturally lesser do not advance as we do, nor as Tali here does. We”—he gestured to the three men—“advance by drawing in power and retaining it. Another way of putting this, is that we increase our harmony with magic, itself. This is of course an oversimplification.”

Gallof and Thorn nodded.

“Tali, you advance by way of increasing your level of harmony with your own soul, your gate. This is, again, a gross oversimplification.”

Tala shrugged, then nodded.

“Our little friend here, and most of the animals in this world, advance by increasing their harmony with something else.”

Tala frowned. “Something…else?”

“Yes. The god of a mountain range, for lack of a better term, will have come into balance with those mountains, thus, even if she is killed and harvested for parts, the mountain range, itself, will see to it that she comes back. There will be differences. In some cases, I believe a similar creature can come to fill the same role, but depending on the level and type of harmony, the creature in question may simply be recreated identically, allowing the same spirit to reside within the new body. This is effectively re-birth, though they retain most if not all of their power.”

Tala remembered Trent explaining something like that to her what seemed like a lifetime ago.

“So, this little guy would need to harmonize with… something?”

“Something external to himself. By the amount of power within him, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened, yet. He must be a wanderer to have avoided such ties.” Be-thric nodded sagely. “If you keep him around long enough, he might even bond with you, as a means of advancement.”

Tala’s eyes widened. “Is that like I’ve bound my weapon?”

“Yes and no. He would be bound to you, magically and physically, at least in a sense. The bonds you have with your weapon and garments are at a soul level, though they also include a magical element.”

“Huh, so he could bond me, and I could bond him?”

“If he stays around, and you two get along? Yes. It might even render him effectively immortal, so long as you survive.”

That was fascinating, and had so many implications.

Thorn and Gallof asked some follow-up questions, but Tala didn’t pay much attention. Instead, she fed Terry another bit of meat. “Hear that, little buddy. We could be together a long time, if we both want that.”

He took the meat and gave another happy trill.

Be-thric cleared his throat. “Now, we just finished our lunch, and we have several things to show you. Do you need to eat?”

You could have told me to eat before I returned. But Tali would never say that. “No, I’m more than fine, Pillar.”

Be-thric gave a happy little smile, clearly pleased with the title.

Oh, gag me now. Can’t I just stick a—

-Stop!-

Be-thric paused for a moment, frowning and glancing around. “I thought…I thought I felt something hostile for a moment.” He glanced in the direction of the closed gates. “I don’t believe there was any chance an invisible assassin slipped in after you, but that was distinctly…violent.”

-He can sense action-oriented, ill intent in those around him, Tala. You know this. You cannot actively consider harming him, in his presence.-

Right…

It was like Rane’s kinetic defenses, but on a mental level. The arcane could somehow detect incoming violence, based on the mindset of those around him. It was no wonder that he’d survived to rise in power, despite not being all that popular.

Finally, Be-thric waved it off. “No matter. With Eskau Pallaun in residence and my own Eskau by my side, there is no cause for concern, regardless.”

Is…is he serious?

-I think so? It matches with Tali’s memories, but experiencing this live?- Alat conveyed the feeling of shaking her head. -His ability to flip from paranoia to utter confidence is startling.-

Might be a result of his ability? He can actually tell if those around him are going to harm him. That probably lends a verifiable feeling of invincibility.

-Fair point. It is kind of like how you went a bit off the deep end when you realized that you were ‘knife proof’-

Yeah…that was rusting crazy. Some of that was because of—She found herself nodding—his direct influence. I see the parallels.

-We’re wiser now.-

The four of them started off again, walking through the hold while Terry still rode on Tala’s shoulder.

Thorn fell into step behind and to Tala’s left.

Gallof and Be-thric began discussing some minor details of a trivial matter.

The dwarf cleared his throat. “Eskau Tali, have you decided on a name? For your bird, I mean.”

“I like: Terry.”

“Terry…the terror bird.”

Be-thric glanced back her way. “Oh? Why did you settle on such a name?” His tone didn’t indicate approval or disapproval, simply his curiosity.

Tala had prepared for this in advance. Tali had an implanted memory, and she leaned on that. “I had a cat, growing up. Well, it was a mouser in my village, but I always called him Claud. Calling this terror bird, Terry, reminds me of Claud.”

Thorn seemed a bit taken aback. “You named a cat…Claud?”

“Yup. I was…six? Yeah, right around six at the time.”

“Pillars save us from the naming sense of children.”

Tala scratched Terry’s head again. “I think Terry’s a fine name, and he seems to like it.”

Be-thric turned back to his conversation with Gallof without comment.

Thorn just sighed. “I suppose it’s no stranger than any other pet’s name.”

Tala felt a bit mischievous, so she added. “I considered naming him ‘Thorn,’ but thought it would have just gotten confusing.”

The dwarf gave her a considering glance. “Then, we’d have to change my name to something else. I suppose I could go by Thron.”

Tala hesitated. Isn’t that what Pallaun called him?

-Yeah.-

Is he really that afraid of the Eskau, that he wants to change his own name?

Gallof glanced back using a pause in his conversation with Be-thric to interject. “Don’t be silly, Thorn, you have an excellent name. We’re not changing it.”

Thorn glowered at the back of the hue-folk’s head after Gallof had turned back around.

Tala frowned. Is there something I’m missing, here?

-Probably. We can ask him later if it ends up mattering.-

She and Thorn only exchanged a few more idle words before they reached their destination: The Armory.

Be-thric opened the door for them, and the four people, and one bird, entered quickly, closing the armored and magicked door behind them.

The large space was somewhat fuller than Tala last remembered seeing it through Tali’s eyes.

For one thing, there were now two stands for armor, in which each piece was its own vestige, beside the myriad weapons and full sets of unified armor.

Sanguis and Be-thric each had their sets stored here. Though, Tala suspected that they could summon it from anywhere.

-So, not on the ‘to steal’ list.-

Probably not, no.

To one side, a clearly magical door stood, obviously the object of the three men’s attention.

Be-thric gestured towards it. “Normally, we would commission a sanctum for my new Eskau. After all, the small room you’ve been living in, up until now, simply will not do any longer. Even so, with this new trophy generously donated to us by Eskau Pallaun, that would be an unnecessary delay. Come.”

He pushed open the door, and they all walked through.

There were some similarities, of course, between this smaller hold and that belonging to the House of Blood. Both had fake skies, with fake suns overhead. Both seemed to have weather, as the clouds in the distance indicated. And, both were massive, when compared to Kit or most other dimensional pockets that Tala had interacted with.

Though, I bet Master Jevin’s is bigger.

Even so, Tala was instantly struck by the obvious differences.

The House of Blood hold was full of beautiful, sweeping architecture, each feature seeming to flow, one into another.

There were gardens and pools, places for meditation and for training.

This hold?

It was covered with blood-stains and the remains of the former occupants.

“Obviously, it will need to be thoroughly cleaned.” Be-thric’s enthusiasm was undiminished.

The smell of decay had already begun to fill the air.

“With the contest and the feast, which meant that so many more esteemed members of our House were within the hold, our servants have not had a chance to properly process this acquisition, yet. It will become a higher priority if necessary, but I suspect it won’t.”

Tala cocked her head. “Oh?”

He smiled knowingly. “You’ll see.”

They walked a short way, weaving their way to an armored door which had been ripped from its hinges.

This hold’s treasury, or armory?

The room was mostly empty, save for what occupied the center.

At the center of the raided strong-room, stood a heavily inscribed plinth. Atop that, sat a sphere containing a fount.

“Greetings intruders. I have not defenses with which to obliterate you. Please remove me from my place of rest, so that this hold can collapse and end us all.”

Tala blinked. The voice coming from the pulsing orb was oddly monotone.

Thorn cleared his throat. “Ignore the rudimentary intelligence they faked atop the fount.”

“That’s kind of difficult given—”

“Oh, yes. Ignore me, give me time to reestablish my defenses.”

“—that, given that.”

Thorn snorted a laugh. “It’s all but disconnected. There is enough power, ambiently in this hold to maintain it for a day even without a fount.”

Gallof nodded. “Take a look at its power.”

Tala frowned, leaning closer.

“Yes, come closer. Touch me, and I will free your soul from this world.”

“No way to stop that?”

“No…the inscriptions are carved throughout the sphere.”

“Great…” Tala ignored the continued, inane ramblings of the arcane-created pseudo-intelligence.

Do you see anything?

-What rank is it.-

Well, not even Bound, in quality of power, but that’s required for a fount. It’s been expanded to the point that it’s flowrate is close to…Fused? Her eyes widened, and Be-thric, who’d been watching her closely, laughed happily.

“Yes! You see it.”

“Its flowrate is miniscule. How is it powering this place?”

“That’s simple. Gallof?”

Gallof bowed to Be-thric, before picking up the explanation, “This minor house did not have any magically augmented facilities within their hold. They bent every drop of power towards maintaining the size, and they seemed to have spent much of their coin on increasing the efficiency of the systems. It was cheaper than expanding the fount, after all. The whole thing was a play at appearing wealthier than they really were.”

“Huh. What does this mean?”

“It means that we can replace the power-source with relative ease.”

Tala frowned, but nodded. Purification scripts. Arcanes run basically all power from founts through purification scripts, so there are no issues with using the magic.This is an unbound storage device.

Be-thric stepped in. “So, you see?”

“I’m not sure that I do. You want me to power it?”

“Well, yes and no. We want you to replace the power source with something already magically bound to you. We will then remove the purification scripts, and…” He gestured to her.

Tala immediately looked down to Kit. “That will work? My dimensional storage will meld with this one?”

That’s too easy.

“Of course. A lot of research has gone into the perfecting of hold controls. We could feed this hold to the greater one, outside, and it would meld seamlessly, though I think that would be a waste. Don’t you?”

Tala nodded hesitantly.

-Arcanes use dimensional storage items, and pocket dimensions to an incredible degree. It makes sense that they’d find ways to make meldings easier.-

“So, what do I do? Will I even be able to power this place?”

Thorn grunted. “I was skeptical too, Eskau Tali. But the quality of the power you exude, combined with the efficiency built into this place? It should barely take more power than you use for your pouch.”

Tala cocked an eyebrow. “How would you know that?”

“Pillar Be-thric granted us access to the documents on your items, so that we could better serve. Your pouch is impressive, an amazing trophy from the Pillar’s conquered enemy and a truly magnanimous gift to his Eskau. Even so, it is almost as inefficient as a chaos-sparked artifact, newly arrived from the ether.”

What now?

-What now?- Alat seemed to be flicking through Tali’s memories. -He is referring to what happens around human waning cities, or other locations of incredibly high magical density, where the barrier between worlds is thin.-

Huh.

“Alright, then. Let’s do this.” She was nervous, but she knew she couldn’t refuse, and any further delay would start to look suspicious.

“Yes, please invaders. Crush us all together.”

Thorn sighed. “No one will be crushed.”

Gallof lifted the sphere from the plinth, and the scripts powered down.

Mad laughter came from the orb. “Time is on my side! Before long, we will meet our end, together!!!”

Tala ignored him, pulling Kit from her belt and setting the pouch on the plinth.

The scripts reignited.

Gallof held the sphere to one side, also ignoring the continued laughter. “Give the item power, and we will remove the purification scripts.”

Tala placed her hand on the pouch and dumped in power. Please, Kit, be alright.

Be-thric, Thorn, and Gallof each sent small flicks of power into the plinth below Kit and Tala felt an entire subsection of the inscriptions deactivate under the influence of the hue-folk magic, then it outright vanished when Thorn’s power swept through it.

“Done.” Thorn smiled. “Now, we just have to—”

Kit vanished.

Tala gasped.

A wave of power exploded outward.

Everything went black.

Tala’s magesight was overwhelmed.

The orb cackled.

A moment later, Tala could see again.

Instead of an empty armory, they now stood on a raised platform, overlooking the surrounding, rolling hills.

Instead of a plinth, Tala saw a simple stone chair, perfectly sized for her.

Be-thric nodded in satisfaction.

Gallof clasped his hands, smiling.

Thorn laughed triumphantly.

The sphere’s laughter cut off, “Oh…I continue.”

Tala tried not to pay attention to the note of sadness in the utterance.

Instead, she focused on the seat before her.

-That’s a throne.-

It certainly is. Tala sat down, carefully.

It was like when she’d first tried aspect-mirroring her perspective, if not quite to the same extent.

She couldn’t see every inch of the hold, but she could feel it, to some extent.

It felt hungry.

An indentation appeared on one of the armrests, perfectly sized for Tala’s hand.

Glad you’re still in there, Kit.

She placed her hand on it, dumping power into Kit.

Oh, I think I’m going to like this.

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

Eric Liu, ........, ~Apple~, A, A1ias , aantonides ., Aaron Greene, Aaron Sofaer, abd Srour, Aclys , Ada Wiberg, Adam, Adam , Adam Andersson, Adam James Washington, Adam Richards, adam1 , Add_Identity , AdmiralW , Adrian Gorgey, Adrian Nightshade, Adurna , advancewarssami, AfternoonMatt, agent, AgentFransis, Aidan , aidan kutcher, Aidan Mc Donagh, ajcaspers, Akastor, Alec, Alex, Alex, Alex , Alex Foster, Alex Griffin, alex kosters, Alex LeBlanc, Alex Quintero, Alex Sunier, Alex Weatbrook, Alex Wilson, Alexander , Alexander Dupree, Alexander Lease, Alison Swenson, Allora Lee, Almost Famous, Altsuperkey , Ambird King, Anas Jumale, Andinator77 , andre elizebeth, Andrew , Andrew C Kerr, Andrew Cohen, Andrew Dempsey, Andrew Glass, Andrew Goudie, Andrew Holland, Andrew Jones, Andrew Kroll, Andrius , Andy, Angela Kimova, angrycharlie, Anonymous , antab , AnthraxRipple, Apotheosis As A Service, Archie, Archivist0 , Arhsnag, Aria, Aria Jonsdottir, Arnfinn Gjorvad, Artizela, arty, Asael Sklar, 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Cs., Zach Adams, Zach Wilson, zachary gafken, Zanthras, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, znarken, Zrell

Mage:

Aaron Lewis, al , Al Bi, Alexander Belousov, Anonymous , Anton Selling, Appl, Barrie Davis, Brett Muras, Carl Clements, Carya Galabra, Chris Olsen, Cody Caliguiri, Cybernetic Angel, David, Deneas , Digdug, Dustin , dylan penlington, Eciefae4, ensou , Eric Trombly, Eric Wharton, Error, Fabian , Finn Freudenberg, Ford Yeager, Gemyma, Gert Wallis, Gleadge, GopherAtl, Gurditt Mangat, Harold Teunisse, Harry, Ian Anderson, Irakli Jishkariani, Jackson Ragland, jacob britt, James Hadfied, James Knight, Jamison Schneider, Jan, Jan Finger, Jason Case, JauPim, Jeremy , Jeremy Leonard, Jonathan Gough, Jonny, Josh , Joshua John Wallace, Justin George, Ken Wong, Lasse Pedersen, Leon Silva, Leonhard MÃ¼nzer, Linkneo5 , Lorcogoth, Lupusregina , mallix , Marcus148 , Mathias Schwendimann, Mathieu Deg, Matteo Pimentel, Max Oberg, Max Weidmer, MeatyLock , Michael , Michael Anaya, Michael Bradet-Legris, Michael F., Muspellsheimr, NebulaeDreamz, Nefraak , Nicholas Kelly, Not Real, Patrick Cole, Paul Jones, Pigeon F, Raistlin , Sage, santor25, Scott Holt, Setaria, Sid_Cypher , SirGuy , SnowingSilently, Spencer Burke, Star Sword, SZ, Tao Wong, Taylor , ToffiTee, Two Cats, ulrik aaby, Yasin Bari

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acrasa , Alexander Graber-Tilton, Alternative Facet, AndromedaStar, Aren , Aristeidis Tsialos, Austin McGue, ben , Benjamin Buco, BurnNote, Cassano , Charles, chimerarara, Chris K, Daniel , Daniel Marko, DANTE, Dave Burkett, David H, Delilah, derek giandolfi, emphes , Eythan Hayashi, Faris Bissex, Frozen, GSH, HÃ¥vard , Hallan Savage, Hamo4, Harris, Henrik Runestig, industriousrevolution , Isaac Larkin, Ivo Havener, Jeff berman, John , Jonathon Hagedorn, Joost Boere, Joseph White, Judy Halloran, Kagge91, KB , Kevin O'donnell, Kirsty , Kuro_Neko , Kyle Smith, Lonewolf, Lorenzo Ragni, Luka Lageschaar, Matt DiMeo, Michael Ireland, Michael kim, moniker, Moreldarin, Nick, nick v, nicolo maso, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, OmegaHebrew, Pawaidan, pope benedict, Pyrite, Reminder, Richard Heying, Robert Rosenthal, Russell Black, S , Sam Mullen, Shaun Skelton, Skape, Skelethin , SomethingWicked , Stan Snijder, Stefan Rabenstein, Sven Paulson, Tombur , ttuurrhh , Tyler, WanderingArchitect, Zagig

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Chapter: 214 - Sanctum

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

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<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala dumped all the power that she could into her chair via as many large void-channels as she could sustain. She felt that power expand through the pocket dimension like a wave.

Like a very slow wave…of some incredibly viscous fluid.

She grimaced. “They cut more corners than I think we realized.”

Gallof cocked an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“The hold ends a bare two inches below the ground. The rolling hills are faked with a non-uniform dimensional space. It’s no wonder there are no trees in here.”

Tala would have sworn that she could feel Kit’s influence expanding as a vehicle for her own power, worming its way through the hold, establishing itself and claiming mastery.

“It only extended about ten feet up, too. Just enough to not be noticeable on casual inspection.”—Well, the taller sub-species might have noticed.—”The artificial sun isn’t even really there, it’s a clever, but weak, illusion. No wonder the grass looks stunted.”

Thorn grunted before shaking his head. “Well, this will still be better than commissioning a new hold.”

Be-thric nodded, his enthusiasm slightly dimmed. “Indeed. The last one we commissioned took more than a year for delivery. Spatial craftsmen are always in demand.”

Tala flicked through Tali’s memories, testing if Tali would say what she really, really wanted to. She would?

Alat barked a laugh within Tala’s head. -Do it! Ask.-

“I would be fascinated to know how all of this works.”

Be-thric nodded absently, seemingly lost in contemplations of other thoughts. “It is a fascinating area of study. Gallof, please be sure to procure a set of books on the theory for my Eskau.” After a moment’s pause, he waved a hand. “And any other subject she’s interested in. I won’t have my Eskau seen as uneducated, and nothing fuels education like interest. Thorn, I want you to see if there are any other holes in her knowledge, other than those that interest her, and we can fill those too.”

Tala blinked in shock. Is that…it?

-Seems so.-

Gallof was beaming. “We’ll want a library in here for sure.”

We’ll want to get all these books back to the Archive, for sure.

-They won’t all be new to the Archivists.- Alat hedged against Tala’s glee.

But some will.

-Undoubtedly.- The alternate interface let some of her own excitement bleed through.

How has no one done this before? She playfully faked a moment’s thought. Right, because all it takes is being kidnapped by people who want to rip out my soul. She suppressed a shudder.

-I’m actually glad there isn’t trade between the human cities and these arcanes. The most likely thing humanity could offer would be undesirables for use as founts…-

That’s…dark. She grimaced slightly before she schooled her face. Yeah. There would definitely be people willing to make that trade for some of the things we’ve seen. Better to keep civil contact a distant thing.

Thorn turned towards Tala, examining her hand with evident awe, shaking his head almost unconsciously. “So much power. How long can you keep that up?”

Tala frowned, considering. “The limiting factor is the strength of my will.” She knew what she needed to say next, it’s exactly what Tali would say, so she gilded herself and continued, “So, I can continue for as long as my Pillar desires.”

The words felt gross on her tongue, but she didn’t show her true feelings. It is I, who am using you now, you self-centered— She cut herself off before she could drift towards violent thoughts or intent.

Be-thric grinned broadly, completely oblivious to her inner thoughts. “As I’d expect from my Eskau. Powerful, wise, and loyal. Don’t harm yourself, however. I suspect it will take at least a day or two for you to fully subsume this hold, using your item and the scripts in-built.”

Tala felt a wave of revulsion as her power, along with Kit’s influence, reached the first remnants of violence.

The storage unit simply...processed the organic material.

What?

-Well, that answers the question of: ‘What’s been happening to all the food scraps?’-

Is that normal? For a dimensional storage item to eat things? Did it just move them into the soil somehow?

-Be-thric seemed to suspect something like this. Ask?-

Tala cleared her throat, drawing the three men’s attention. They had each been examining the magics acting around them, seemingly testing various aspects of the hold as it was devoured.

As they all looked her way, Tala asked her question, “It seems that my dimensional storage just…ate? I think it ate one of the bodies. Do you know why?”

She could feel the influence nearing others. It was going to ‘clean’ the whole hold.

Be-thric grinned triumphantly towards Gallof, and the latter sighed. “You were quite correct, my Pillar.”

“But of course. Please, do explain it to her.”

Gallof bowed. “As you wish.” He turned and bowed to Tala. “Eskau Tali, the dimensional storage you previously held was not, in fact, a basic dimensional storage device. It wasn’t even simply an advanced one, taken from a fallen foe of great power. Somehow, it was, and I suppose still is, a tamed devouring dimension.”

“What now?”

-What now?-

The orb spoke up for the first time in the last few minutes. “It surrounds us even now. What a glorious day, we shall be consumed, together, friend and foe, forever locked in the belly of the beast.”

They all ignored the oddly excited, doomsaying sphere. Well, they all ignored it, save Terry. He flickered over to where Thorn had set the thing on the ground.

“What creature is this? Shoo. Go away.”

Terry nudged it with a talon, and the orb rolled away across the smooth floor.

“WAAAAH. What’s happening?”

Terry crouched down, wiggling before springing after the small sphere, which was just larger than Tala’s clenched fist.

He’s acting very well. If he were really hunting, he’d be flickering after it.

-He plays a young terror bird quite well.-

Tala was reminded of the time, right after they’d begun traveling together, when Terry had taken on this guise as well. He’s better at it now.

-So it would seem. He must have had a lot of practice while waiting for us to…return.-

Tala felt a wave of sadness wash over her, but she shoved it aside. I’m back now…We’re back now, and Terry’s back with us too.

Gallof cleared his throat and continued, despite the ongoing wailing from the orb and Terry’s happy trilling pursuit. “You see, most dimensional storage items are simply that: pocket dimensions or expanded spaces of various sizes. Devouring dimensions appear the same to all inspections, unless they are incredibly rudimentary or foolish.”

“Foolish? You mean…they’re intelligent?”

“In a sense. Not sapient, at least not by any research I’ve read. That means they are either not intelligent in the way we standardly think of intelligence, or they are clever enough to beat the tests and investigations. But as I was saying, they appear the same, but they aren’t. First, they seem to be able to sense the intent of their users, innately. They utilize this ability to convince their user to place more within them, more for them to devour.”

Color drained from Tala’s face. “So, we’re all about to die?”

Gallof blanched, giving her an almost offended look. “What? No! Of course not. If it was that dangerous, we wouldn’t have tested it while inside, ourselves.”

“Then…what are you saying?”

“Pillar Be-thric guessed that the foe he won that item off of had tamed the creature, somehow.”—Gallof shrugged.—”The methods for such a process seem to be closely guarded secrets of the most experienced hold-builders, the few that have supposedly managed it. After Our Pillar’s victory, the creature must have liked you well enough to transfer its affections to you.”

“I…I have been giving it power, just as Pillar Be-thric instructed.” She frowned. “Wait… How is it magic-bound to me, if it had a previous owner?”

As soon as Tala asked, she realized her mistake. It can’t. This is a direct contradiction of Be-thric’s narrative.

Be-thric turned her way, and shrugged, his face unusually calm. “These creatures can sometimes bend the normal rules. It is one reason I suspected it was more than it appeared, actually. But, I wouldn’t expect it to work again. This hold, this sanctum, is yours now, and no one can ever take it away from you, from us.”

He smiled then. To Tala’s eyes it seemed forced, because she knew the truth. Tali wouldn’t have noticed, however, so Tala smiled in return. “Truly, you have been generous with me.”

“As a Master should be to those who serve him.” The Pillar shook his head, turning back to the matter at hand. “But as we were discussing, this is an excellent development. Often times, the processing of unwanted materials is a core issue within holds. You will not have that problem. More than that, I believe we detected morphic magics in your dimensional storage. It should be able to reshape this sad excuse for a hold into a true sanctum, worthy of my Eskau.”

Even as they were speaking, Tala felt the hold reshaping. Every part that her magic and Kit’s influence spread to was compressing and reshaping into a sphere, centered on Tala and her oddly comfortable throne.

“You are once again correct,”—she lowered her head to hide her difficulty in getting on the next words—“my Pillar.”

He smiled. “Oh?”

She described what was happening, and Gallof nodded. “That makes sense. It will make the claiming process easier if your influence can push out in all directions at the same time.”

The orb went rolling across around the base of the raised platform on which they stood. “Please just break me, or get this thing away!”

Terry squawked happily and bumped the sphere to greater speeds, slapping it with his beak to change its direction around the circumference.

All four of the people found themselves watching the odd display.

Finally, Thorn cleared his throat. “What are we going to do with that fount? Its inscriptions are…lacking, as well as frustratingly permanent.”

“BREAAAAAAK MEEEEEEE!!!!” The voice came back with an oddly rolling cadence, likely due to the orb’s motion.

Be-thric sighed. “I’d hoped we could extract the fount, but it might cost more to do that properly than to just get a new one.” He shook his head, then seemed to consider. After a moment, he waved dismissively, “Tali, your pet seems to like it. You may keep it until such time as it is needed.”

Tala pulled back slightly. “But…isn’t there a danger of Terry breaking it?” He just casually set aside a human soul as a plaything for his Eskau’s pet…

-Did you expect anything else?-

It’s just a new level of…ick.

Be-thric gave a derisive chuckle. “Oh, bleed and bury me, no. Thorn would have a difficult time affecting that orb even a small amount, and he specializes in eroding and destruction. The vessel of a properly tamed fount is incredibly resilient. That is one reason they make such good armor. Larger items lack some of the resiliency across the whole item. Rather, it is usually concentrated around the physical location of the fount within the armor. For a sphere? That’s all of it. It is a shame that this oddly broken personality was forever ingrained into that vessel.”

“You’re…oddly broken…personality.” The sphere shouted their way, some of its words being lost against the ground.

Apparently, Terry had found where its voice was coming from and was entertained by the intermittent speech.

Be-thric just shook his head. “If it annoys you, we can lock it in a sound-proof box until it is needed.”

Tala shook her head, thinking about being the soul, trapped in such a place. “That isn’t necessary. I will do as you ask and keep it.”

He smiled her way. “I am glad to hear that.”

She turned her mind away from the thought of a soul in torment, which she couldn’t help, and towards the task at hand. So, I’m going to be here for a couple of days.

Be-thric seemed to be thinking in the same lines that she was. “Now, everything seems to be going well. Gallof and I will begin the preparations for the next steps. Thorn will stay here, to attend to any needs you may have.”

Gallof bowed her way. “I will return with the first of those books, Eskau Tali. At that time, we can discuss what other sorts of information you would be interested in.”

Thorn sat down and pulled out something that seemed to be an odd jumble of wire. “I’ve several ideas on how we can pass the time. We’ll begin working on this, if that meets with the Pillar’s approval.”

Be-thric’s eyebrows rose, and a smile bloomed across his face. “Excellent!” He drew out the word.

In that single word, Tala heard, once again, the horror of the man’s voice. How it echoed blood and death and an end to all that she held dear. How have I gotten used to that voice?

She barely suppressed a shudder. Gallof did seem to shiver, though he wasn’t in Be-thric’s line of sight. He glanced her way, as if to see if she had noticed. She had, obviously, but through her peripheral vision. She gave no indication to the gray-man.

The Pillar continued. “That is a wonderful tool for training the fine control of, and efficiency with, magic.” He looked towards Tala. “Especially while you are already dumping so much power into this sanctum, it should prove a worthy challenge for you.”

Tala nodded her head in acknowledgement even as Thorn bowed.

“My Eskau, I will return tomorrow, so that we may discuss the acquisition of my armor.”

As Be-thric and Gallof turned to go, Tala felt something. It was as if she had another limb, though that wasn’t right. It was as if she knew Kit was capable of performing a specific action that she’d not used before. “Wait. I think I can…”

She presented her desire to Kit and felt a flex of power just off to the side of the elevated platform.

With a slight distortion in the air, a door appeared. No, not ‘a door.’ It was the door that they’d come through to enter the hold.

Be-thric and Gallof glanced back her way, and she shrugged self-consciously. “It seemed like that would be possible?”

Gallof laughed. “Well, that will make doing this so much easier. We’ll need to bring in a lot of dirt, stone, and other building materials. Being able to just dump it through the door will be a boon to be sure.”

The two left, seeming happier for the bit of last minute, good news.

The door vanished as soon as it was closed.

“This”—Thorn turned her way, holding up the tangle of wires.—”is a magic nest.”

Tala gave him a flat look.

He grinned. “It is usually a child’s toy, but I quite enjoy it. Watch.”

Tala saw him flex his power, a tendril of magic flowing into the tip of one wire, causing it to slowly begin to move.

She saw that as he wiggled his power back and forth the wire moved as well. It was only then that Tala saw that it was a single wire.

Thorn’s demonstration wasn’t over, so she didn’t let her focus waver. When the wire with his power in it touched a non-claimed part, small, previously invisible inscriptions lit up on the magic nest and his power was ejected.

“So…What’s the point?”

He grinned. “Untangle the wire.”

He handed her the misshapen ball of wire, a tangled mess of a thing.

She took it on reflex, not really understanding.

“What.” There was no question in the word.

Thorn laughed. “When you can untangle this, we can move on from the child’s version.”

She scrunched her face, then sighed. “This will help with my efficiency?”

“No, with your control. We’ll address efficiency later. But that takes control, so…” He hesitated. “In a roundabout way… yes?”

She huffed but smiled. “Fine.”

The next four hours, until Gallof returned, were some of the most frustrating in Tala’s life.

Thorn’s demonstration hadn’t shown that messing up caused an unpleasant sensation to echo throughout her entire body, like an extremely mild, electrical shock. She’d let out an undignified yelp the first time it had happened, but Thorn had pretended not to notice anything.

Instead, he was studiously absorbed in his book.

That rusting jerk.

-He’s testing you, seeing what kind of person you are.-

Are you sure? I think he just wanted a laugh at my expense.

-Everyone has their own way of testing the waters.-

Tala took a deep breath and decided to ignore the dwarf.

There had been many, many more jolts.

Interestingly enough, when Gallof entered, he entered at the edge of the hold, not where the door had been, to let him exit.

That meant that Tala felt him enter the hold nearly five minutes before he walked into sight.

She didn’t let herself stop trying to untangle the infernal thing.

She’d gotten used to the jolts, though she still didn’t like them. The worst part was, when she messed up, the entire thing would twist back in on itself, changing its configuration randomly.

The most that she had extracted before a failure was a measly, single foot.

She didn’t have the heart to ask Thorn how long the wire was, in total, but she suspected it was close to thirty, if not longer.

I’ll conquer you eventually, you stupid thing.

Gallof carried with him a bag of books, and a smile. “Not only was I able to find an exhaustive set of primers on hold construction, nothing too advanced mind you, but I was able to find a likely source for other materials, depending on your subjects of interest.”

“Thank you, Gallof. Books would be a welcome reprieve.”

The gray-man looked at the tangle in her hands and smiled. “Ahh, I remember playing with one of those. So many ways to learn and grow all in one little tangle.”

He gave a contented sigh.

Tala grimaced.

“Books, please.”

He pulled out one and handed it to her. “Here’s the first.”

She nodded her thanks, dropped the magic nest and buried herself in the book. Now, let’s see what secrets there are for the taking.

That lasted all of three minutes.

Terry, of course, came over and bit one end of the wire, which made up the magic nest. There was an odd ripple of power that drew Tala’s attention, and she watched as the entire thing simply…unwound.

Thorn had also felt the power, turning to see what was happening, and he simply gaped.

Gallof, who Tala noticed was still there, waiting, had comically wide eyes.

In less than a minute, the entire thing untangled, flawlessly. Then, Terry tilted his head in seeming curiosity, dragged the wire over near the blessedly, momentarily silent sphere, and let go.

His magic left the wire, and it immediately snapped back into a tangle…around the orb.

The sphere made its displeasure known, instantly screeching out a wail of surprise and distress.

Thorn walked over and pulled the orb free of the magical nest, grimacing against the continued pulsing cry.

That cut off instantly as the ball-like-thing was pulled free. “Well…I suppose I should thank you for—”

Thorn turned and threw the thing as hard as he could.

The orb let out a squeal, which faded into the distance as the sphere traveled a surprisingly long way, bouncing and rolling into a dip in the monotonous, slightly rolling landscape.

Terry immediately took off after it, letting out a relatively mild, exuberant trill.

As that single playful cry faded, Thorn sighed. “Blessed silence.”

Tala turned to Gallof, who still seemed in shock. “Why are you still here?”

“I need to confirm—” He massaged his temples. “No. I’m sorry. Are we just going to ignore the fact that that creature just…solved a magic nest?”

The poor man seemed beyond himself at the very idea.

Thorn grunted. “Seemed like a clever bird.”

Tala pointed to Thorn, while looking at Gallof. “Yeah. With his level of magic, Terry’s probably older than he appears.”

Gallof’s eye twitched. He looked back and forth between Tala and Thorn before finally letting his head fall back into his hands. “Fine. We won’t look further. We’ll just ignore the clearly hyper intelligent murder bird who has infiltrated our hold.”

Tala smiled. “You forgot something important.”

Gallof looked her way, incredulity clear on his face. “And what might that be, Eskau Tali?”

Her smile morphed into a near-malicious grin as she let some of Tali show in her expression. “He’s my hyper intelligent murder bird.”

Gallof’s eyes widened again, but then, he seemed to regain mastery over himself.

He closed his eyes, nodded, brushed his clothing unnecessarily, and bowed. “As you say, Eskau Tali.”

He opened his eyes and gave a politic smile.

“Now, I need to confirm what foods you find the most appealing, so that we find compatible strains and subspecies. We will begin the installation of the ambient vegetation, rock formations, gardens, orchards, and animal facilities as soon as you have full command of this hold. Until then, the exact magics for integration into such will need to be researched. We can begin work on that beforehand, specifically now. It will be a full growth cycle before most can be of use to you, but some things complete that cycle quickly, and some natural magics are already available, which match your own.”

And so, Tala and Gallof discussed the base ingredients they were going to begin to provide for her sustenance and magical advancement.

She really enjoyed pork, so pigs would be a core part of this project. As she remembered Terry’s own desires, she suppressed a shudder. Then, she asked for another, non-magical herd of swine to be included in the layout of the sanctum.

These could be free-range as they wouldn’t really need to be caught or harvested for Tala. They would simply need to be kept from getting into anything important.

There, Terry should like having his own prey to hunt in here.

-It seems unnecessary, but it’s a nice gesture.-

Thank you. I thought so.

She and Gallof discussed the types of trees and other vegetation that Tala liked, so that those could be transplanted.

Remembering the juice that she and Tali had been served with their breakfasts, Tala asked if ending-trees were a possibility. She wouldn’t have mentioned it if the juice hadn’t been served to her since her capture.

Gallof’s reaction made it plain that he had expected the request. He seemed resigned as he promised that he would see what could be done.

All in all, it didn’t take too long before Tala was able to return to her book.

She waved absently, calling up a door for Gallof to exit through.

When he was half-way out, Tala called to him, “Gallof?”

The tall, gray man hesitated, glancing back her way. “Yes, Eskau Tali?”

“Knock next time. If you do, I may be able to call the door back here, so you are closer to me when you enter.”

He bowed. “Of course.”

“And Gallof?”

“Yes, Eskau Tali?”

“I think Thorn and I could use some dinner.”

Thorn looked up in surprise.

Gallof looked his way, and the dwarf shrugged. “That sounds excellent to me, sir.”

Gallof gave a reserved smile and bowed once more. “As my Pillar’s Eskau wishes, I will obey.”

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 215 - First Raid

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Damon Roberts, Emersen, Maxine, Pride mystic artificer

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala walked through the streets of Platoiri alone.

Well, Terry was on her shoulder, but the rest of her strike group were already moving into position.

Kit was back in the House of Blood’s hold, being outfitted by a host of servants and craftsmen. It had been nearly a week since Tala had placed Kit within the captured hold, and her dimensional storage had long since finished melding with it.

She was still marginally uncomfortable with the realization that Kit was actually a creature of some kind, but really, it didn’t matter that much, except that Tala, herself, would need to be much more powerful before she would risk a soul-bond with her storage.

But that was all a distraction. She was on a mission.

This is ridiculous. This would never work in a human city. The city defenses and defenders would never allow it.

-This isn’t a human city, and these aren’t humans.-

I know, I know. In truth, she was a bit torn with the whole thing. Succeeding would bring her one step closer to the possibility of returning home without having to fight her way free. But succeeding would also allow her kidnapper to become more powerful. Still, the decision was made.

-I still think you should pass this off to Tali.-

When we get there. I don’t want to be her more than I need to be. Tali was still the better fighter, Tala knew that, but she didn’t like how it felt, being Tali. She didn’t particularly like killing sapient beings either, but she was willing to do both things if it was required for her to achieve her goals.

-As you wish.- Alat had argued the point enough by then that she likely knew it was futile to try again.

Tala walked through a loosely populated square. Several restaurants and other eateries were doing a brisk business in the early autumn chill, and many of their customers were sitting outside, scattered through this space, at cast-iron tables and chairs.

She ignored the people, for the most part. The tail they’d put on her target had indicated that he would still be in the shop. That was the best place to strike.

Quick in and out, take the weapon, leave the candidate Eskau behind. It was merciful and effective in more ways than one.

It should minimize collateral damage, too.

Her eyes swept across the signs until she found the one that she was looking for. She’d known the name, but not the iconography used along with it.

What she saw startled her. It was largely an eerily lifelike depiction of some sort of unknowable horror.

A highly detailed croissant was central on the sign. Behind it, and surrounding the pastry was a tangle of limbs and two staring eyes. Somehow the static image was conveyed with haunting clarity that left the impression that the eyes followed Tala as she walked and the limbs moved if she glanced away for even an instant.

What the rust. Who would design something like that? Who would eat there?

The ‘Many-Fold Bakery’ was one of the best pastry establishments in the city, for those who were willing to shop there. Though, at that moment, Tala’s target should be the lone customer within.

Tali had never visited. Of course, she didn’t. She never visited any bakeries.

-What lost opportunities.- Alat conveyed the feeling of a sad shaking of her head.

Apparently, one of the candidates for Eskau of the House of the Rising Sun frequented this establishment, and as word hadn’t spread through the opposing houses about the House of Blood’s new Pillar, it was agreed that they should take this target of opportunity, first.

Because after our first raid, people like this will be more careful, or come with guards.

Nearly a dozen armsmen of the House of Blood, lightly armed and not in house colors, were scattered around the small square, ready to prevent interference with Tala’s task. There were members of the House of the Rising Sun around as well, but they seemed to be there in unofficial capacity. This was somewhat close to their hold, after all.

Be-thric had remained in the House of Blood’s hold. His presence wasn’t necessary for this task, and he would have drawn unneeded attention.

Tala took a deep breath as she crossed the courtyard and pushed open the door. Terry hopped off of her shoulder, as they’d agreed. He would wait just outside the bakery, off to one side.

As the door opened at her pull, she was hit by a wave of warm, comforting air.

The scents wafting through the gust were enchanting, and Tala found herself taking another long inhale. Though, this time it was purely for the enjoyment of the smells.

Tala hadn’t even realized that she’d closed her eyes to enjoy the experience more fully until she heard someone address her.

“It’s pretty fantastic, isn’t it?”

Her eyes snapped open, and she saw the Eskau candidate standing before the display cabinet, looking her way. Her target was, indeed, here.

He was about Tala’s own height and a cat-folk male. His fur was short and a sleek, well-cared-for gray. His fingers were long, resembling human fingers more than a cat’s paws. His eyes were a dull green around feline slits.

Tala was not wearing her uniform as an Eskau of the House of Blood, so he didn’t immediately recognize her as a threat. She was glowing with magical patterns, but that wasn’t that unusual, though the extent of her magic was likely notable.

That might be why he addressed me. Funnily enough, closing her eyes upon entry had likely helped lower his guard. After all, what sort of fool would close their eyes when faced with an enemy?

-Huh, Tali might have messed this up after all. At least the start. You should still let her fight.-

Tala ignored Alat. Instead, she smiled and responded to the cat, “It is indeed.”

Her eyes scanned the inside of the shop. There was very little room within the shop for customers. A large, glass, display case ran the width of the place, presenting the various wares offered by this bakery.

Finally, Tala flicked her gaze behind that case and froze.

A man stood there, slightly hunched, with dark hair hanging forward, mostly obscuring his face.

His skin was a sickly white with a texture that her enhanced vision showed to be incredibly minute scales.

He was tall, taller than Tala by a good two feet, though with his forward hunch his head would barely be above hers, and he was whip thin.

His eyes were locked on her, unblinking.

If Tala was being honest, she felt like a mouse looking upon a snake that it had let get too close. She felt like prey more completely than she could ever remember.

The candidate gave a half-smile, drawing her attention partially away from the attendant. “Don’t mind him. Yamanther is an amazing baker, but not very good with people.”

Tala swallowed, forcing her gaze off the oddly still baker. She saw the ripples of magic flexing behind Yamanther, and what looked like limbs extending from his back, seemingly working to staff the entire kitchen by himself.

How—?

-Shapeshifting? Seems to actually be his limbs, and they are coming into being and being pulled back into his body with seemingly little effort.-

No human could do that. The inscriptions would be distorting everywhere.

-No one without this magic, innately, could do this.-

She shook her head and refocused on her target. He’d spoken again, while she was distracted. “I’m sorry, what?”

“What were you thinking of getting?”

Her eyes dropped to his arm, which hung near the display case. There, strapped around his forearm, was his protian weapon. As a weapon of the House of the Rising Sun, it wouldn’t be morphic, but it would be able to generate items of light and fire for use by the candidate.

Take that arm, above the elbow, and take it fast.

-Tali?-

…fine. “I think I know what I want.” She smiled even as Alat ticked control over to Tali.

* * *

Tali launched herself forward, pulling her weapon into her hand with an act of will and a tug on the soul-bond, even as her bloodstars, sphere, rod, and discs snapped up from their holders into their standard places around her.

The cat’s eyes widened, but he didn’t have time to react.

She had him dead to rights. The mission was an unmitigated success with this first action.

Then, somehow, Tali’s arm stopped, her blade just barely pressing against the sleeve of the target’s arm.

A swirl of air washed over her from behind, more than should have been stirred up by her movement.

A pale, scaled hand was locked around her wrist, and her bloodstar perception showed a lanky shape looming over her from behind.

“Nnnnot. Innnn. Mmmmy. Shhhhop.” The baker’s voice was barely above a whisper but still seemed to have no trouble filling the space.

With a blur of movement, Tali found herself and her target tossed from bakery.

“Come back when you are done and cleaned up.” His whisper filled the courtyard, and while the words were still drawn out to some extent, it was not nearly as much as his first utterance had been.

As Tali slammed into and then slid across the ground, having been perfectly aimed to land between tables, the square erupted into chaos.

Bystanders fled.

Members of the House of the Rising Sun stood in shock, most beginning to move towards the candidate from their house.

Members of the House of Blood struck at them from behind, or from the side, taking them by surprise and felling many in the first instants.

Cut and drain me. Tali cursed internally.

+Wow… that did not go as we planned.+

-Did you get a read on the baker’s rank?-

+…no. How did I miss that?+

-I don’t know. I didn’t notice either, and I can’t pin down his rank based on our memories.-

+We can find out after the fight.+

Tali vaulted to her feet even as most people were just beginning to react. I should have been building the gravity in a stone.

-Yeah, that would have been wise.-

+I didn’t think it would be necessary.+

Tali’s eyes flicked down, and she saw a pebble off to one side. She immediately targeted it and began an untargeted ramp-up.

As her quarry came to his feet, landing in a low crouch, she tried to lock onto him as well.

Unfortunately, it failed.

She briefly tried to lock onto his gear as well, but he had his aura extended enough to make that impossible.

That would have been too easy.

Her weapon morphed into a sword, and she pushed power through her garments, enforcing their defensive magics.

She popped two ending-seeds into her cheeks. She had six with her.

She hadn’t used them in the fight with the other House of Blood candidates, because their protian weapons might have been damaged by the use of such powers. The House of the Rising Sun conjured items and dissolving those wouldn’t harm the enemy weapon at all.

This isn’t a display to bring honor to my Pillar; this is a harvest.

With three heavy footfalls, Tali crossed the space between them and brought her weapon forward in a precise thrust.

Her bloodstar-embedded defenses were kept in a warding pattern, against possible interference.

They hadn’t planned on killing the cat, simply taking his arm. There was no call to escalate hostilities too quickly, after all. A severed limb could be healed, even if he would never be an Eskau with the loss of his weapon.

Now, such mercies weren’t prudent.

Her sword slammed into a translucent round-shield even as it was called into being, skittering across the magical construct.

Her sword left a deep cut in the magically solidified light.

She pressed her aura outward to further gain ground on her opponent. Doing so would also help her to ward off any other attacks that might come for her.

Her strike team was now fully engaged with the few House of the Rising Sun members who were still standing.

Her new terror-bird pet simply waited off to one side, watching intently. She wasn’t sure why she liked the little guy so much, but she felt a smile tug at her lips, even though she wasn’t looking at him with her eyes. He’s pretty neat.

+See, even murder Tala likes Terry.+

-...you know that she’s the most likely to be drawn to a terror bird, right?-

+Fair…+

Fire blazed out of her opponent’s shield in a focused blast, but even as it was generated Tali assaulted the working with her aura-control, breaking the cat’s hold on the magics and letting the heat disperse instead of remaining tightly focused.

Even so, it was blisteringly hot, and Tali felt her inscriptions flaring with magic to keep her body intact. The ending-berry power she’d integrated into her inscriptions helped to maintain full-body cohesion.

She cracked a seed between her teeth while she endured.

As the blast trailed off, Tali stepped forward and exhaled across her quarry’s shield.

The ending-power swept over it, dissolving and dispersing the working like flour before a strong wind.

Tali pulled her weapon sideways in a savage back-cut, even as her opponent’s eyes widened in surprise and fear.

Unfortunately, the cat-man was quick.

He jerked back enough to save himself from losing the arm entirely, but Tali still cut his bicep deeply, seeming to disable the limb.

A hissing curse flew her way from between his teeth, even as a tight beam of light flicked her way.

Again, Tali broke his hold over it as it entered her aura. She couldn’t control it, but her breaking of his control caused it to weaken, rendering it an inconvenience but not a true threat.

It raked across her face, passing through her armor, which wasn’t intended to block light.

Her skin burned away in a flash of heat and pain, but her bone held with ease under the dispersed power.

The attack passed in a blink, even though one of her eyes couldn’t do that at the moment.

Her weapon shifted into a glaive and she thrust forward, driving the cat onto the defensive. As she continued her advance, she felt her skin regrow. Her ruined eye was reabsorbed and then replaced. The new flesh itched as it grew, then tingled like it was asleep before buzzing as if shocked. Finally, it calmed, and simply was once more.

All the while, she struck against his defenses, weaving her attacks around his awkward attempts to keep her at bay.

He was clearly not used to fighting with a single arm.

Pallaun would be disgusted with such a glaring weakness.

Another light beam lanced out, but this time it struck a table beside her, melting the legs and causing it to fall into her path. It was an obvious attempt to trip her up or slow her down.

It did buy her prey a moment.

The cat seemed to be getting desperate as he took advantage of the extra seconds to jump to the side and hurl a javelin of conjured light her way.

Tali contemptuously slapped the javelin out of the air with her weapon, but instead of being deflected, the projectile exploded.

Tali’s sight was coming from three perspectives and as such, the flash was even more disorienting than it was designed to be.

Her sight returned just in time for her to see her quarry, striking for her chest with his right hand, claws of light and fire blazing around his natural ones.

Tali jerked to the right, twisting in an attempt to spoil the attack.

The move worked, and the blow skittered across her magical defenses.

The cat hissed and twisted, whipping his limp forearm upward with the movement, along with the muscles in his shoulder and upper arm.

The hand slapped Tali across the face. More accurately, it smeared across the protective field guarding her face. Even so, it left behind something akin to luminescent paint, temporarily blinding her again.

She cracked the second seed.

Her aura control shattered the working, even as she blindly dodged the follow-up attack that she knew was coming.

She guessed wrong.

The cat’s attack hit her dead on, his magics clashing with her defenses, each canceling out the other.

His claws and natural magics tore through her clothing, and his enhanced strength let him punch through her skin and into her abdomen.

Tali gave a tight-lipped grimace against the pain, her head involuntarily tilting up and back. The agony almost blinded her in a totally different manner than she had been previously.

Her target was clawing up through her torso, reaching for her heart.

No. She dropped her head forward once more and exhaled.

The cat-man’s eyes widened as he took a face full of ending power.

His innate magical resistance held up for a flickering instant, burning through fully half of the seed’s magic before his defenses crumbled.

His head fell in on itself, reduced to fine powder in a silent wave.

As the body slumped to the ground, his arm slid out of Tali’s guts and her magics began repairing her mangled insides.

+Well, rust. That was brutal.+

-Yeah. There wasn’t much finesse, there. You might have been fine.-

+You’re not very nice to me.+

Tali turned, taking in her surroundings one more time and verifying that there were no remaining threats still standing.

She coughed once. “Strip the bodies of their gear. Any survivors?”

One of the members of her strike team shook his head. “We drove some off, and they are likely going for aid. Their hold is close, but not that close. We have twenty minutes at most, probably closer to ten.”

* * *

Tala staggered slightly as she took control of her body once more. The pain which she’d been experiencing second hand slammed into her and almost caused her to lose consciousness.

That would have been embarrassing.

-Indeed.-

“Thank you for the assessment.”

The ‘Many-Fold Bakery’ door swung open, the proprietor taking in the scene. “My customers are gone because of you.”

Everyone froze.

His voice was still a whisper but filled the yard.

Tala still couldn’t pin down his rank, though that could have been due to him keeping his power incredibly tightly controlled or because he had an item that hid it. She just had no way of knowing.

“I won’t sell any more today.” Those predatory eyes fell on Tala.

Tala swallowed and stepped forward. She felt the need to placate this…man. “We’ll buy what you can have ready in five minutes.”

A haunting smile broke across the pale face, as Yamanther produced a half-dozen wrapped bundles.

Tala glanced past the man and saw that the display case was already empty.

“Will you be paying in coin, or should I bill the House of Blood, directly?”

“Directly, please.” The courtesy came out as a purely instinctual reaction. The prey would do anything to appease a predator.

Well, it seems like our affiliation is obvious.

Less than five minutes later Tala was moving back towards the House of Blood’s hold with her strike team around her.

Terry sat on her shoulder, unusually still and silent.

Each person had a large parcel of pastries in their own dimensional storage, along with the gear looted from the fallen.

They hadn’t lost a single person, though there were a few injuries.

More than anything, however, their steps were quick, and they didn’t look back, none willing to meet the gaze of the still watching pastry chef.

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

william wallace, Thuss, Midnight Harbinger, Seth Bryant, Silberwolf325, Grimizen, Alex Griffin, FieryFern, Ocean Breeze, Nick Tinsley, Isaac Deroche, Yenin, Jonathan Timm, Ray Robitaille, Memnochian, Disclancer, aantonides ., Alex, Andrew Holland, Angela Kimova, antab, Archivist0, arty, Austin Woodard, B C, Bacon Macleod, Baldur Norddahl, BossDawg, Christian Kenney, Colin Ford, Cyrus McEnnis, David Turner, Dire Wolf, dotAlice, Enaz the great, Enif, Eric, Erling Egilsson, evilperson41, Frank, Geoff, George Hicken, Gremlin, Gull, Gustav Burkhardt, Haran, Ian Radspinner, IGS, Isaac Boyles, Jacob Ellis, James Walsh, Jedediah Wolfgang, Jeffery Nickelson, Jonah of the Whale, just_a_potato, Justin, Justin Reagan, Kai, Kamren Livingston, Keira Wulfe, Kirvin, Krikor Chichadjian, Leendert Kortlever, Logan, Lyael, Marcus Pehan, Margus234, Mark Dolson, Matt M, Matthew, Matthew Davis, Max Gustavson, Megacheez, Noah Morris, noah stevens, nugitoBambino, OlivierA, PaleMire, peter mattoon, Randy Klein, Redbeard, rizen, Robert P, Robert z, Robin Richards, Rutger Boll, Ryan Naquin, Ryan Tran, Sean McCrohan, sedael, Seth Richter, Shakez44, Solar, someguy, Stephen Pearson, Taliesin, TheLazerCat, Thomas Goyne, Thomas Stewart, Travis McHenry, Travis McIntosh, Tzucaza ., WarNachos, WhisperInTheVoid, William Priess, xIron Gamerx, Z. Cs., MoneyTree, Samuel McCarren, Matt M, Hazza Vanderbyl, Bain-Lindsay, Brian, NaughtyPaws, daniel edery, Tyler, Derek, Irisa, klabuster, Maggi von Da, Maksim, Rachel Prochner, Jo, Matt S., Onill007, Primordi, RageBone, Michael, Viria, GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Hibou Ronchon, MePe, Oliverthms, Cristi Palincas, Arnfinn Gjorvad, Varzifar, Laurids Jensen, Kenyaa, Nikolaj Rosander Madsen, Shil Modi, Aaron Sofaer, Aclys, Adrian Gorgey, Alex, Allora Lee, AverageGuy, Bosparan, Bricyn Abel, chad ensey, Chris, Cole Nyquist, David Brims, DeusCap, devarian, Doomerjunky, Dorian Grizzle, Dr.Quick, Ell Lan, Gamecats, Jake Pellegrini, James, Jarrod Manzer, Jason Morse, Jeff Gault, Jeremy James, Joe Smith, John Hadel, Joseph, Kaeson, kenneth, Lachlan Priest, M, MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, Melting Sky, Michael Mooney, Nathan Fahrenbach, Nhnnh, Oakenbear, Pedro Derze, RottenTangerine, Skarsol, Steven C, ThreatLvlPurple, Tim, Timothy Burago, tlove, Vikram Ahluwalia, Zanthras, ciopo, dennis malatesta, Andrew 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Julia O, Jonathan Frerichs, Lazy Lemon, Nikita Becker, KingWoh, Saerthas, Fraxx, Robin SjÃ¶doff, PiMs, Maria Moberg, Adam Richards, Almost Famous, Cae, Carlos Andres Rengifo Escobar, Cody Poteet, CrispyKing, Daniel Harris, Daniel Rhodes, DLR, Driftward, gingerbeard, ItWasIDIO!!, Jeremy Dorn, JTP, Julian Meltzer, Karma Baris, Kirk Morgan, Kyle Brackenbury, luke, Matthew Powell, Nate Kaufman, Payen Hell, posthumousleon, Proteus Jones, Satya Prateek, SteindÃ³r Tryggvason, Vroom, Yemisi Mcmullen, ........, Atorn Gaming, Seijax, AstroMyrkat, Magnus Andersson, da Finnci, Connor Oswald, Chris Brady, Mr Google Doodle, CringeWorthyStudios, Seth Cox, Joshua Samuel Miller, Dan, JoÃ£o Vieira, Aslak, Batty Corvina, Christian Nowitzki, RotWeisseWaffel, Erkki Parkkulainen, Dan, maxime gm, Philipp Zander, Cullen Humphries, mohammed essam, Peter Edlund, Leif Nejst, Rory natynczuk, Sylvain Arguillere, Kel Pough, Lu, T.Tandstad, Timecrafter, Jamie Johnstone, A1ias, walliz22, Adrian Nightshade, 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angrycharlie, Beau Bryant, Brett Christie-Taylor, Christopher Jack, Conor Futro, Cory Ellis, Daniel Joseph Moreau, Daniel Strickland, dewstark, Dixon Gao, Froyo Baggins, Grady Blanks, Hannoske, Jehru, Jeremy Davis Payne, Joshua Lawvere, Joshua Paye, jww, Kate Yen, KingDaviddagr8, Matthew Myers, Miri, Mountain Barber, Myles2322, Parker Hebert, Pizzatiger, Robert Adams, Robert Hinshaw, runningcrazy, Ryan Coyne, Ryan Hogan, Samuel Kirkpatrick, Sands, SecondBlahm, Simon Casey, t S, W, Xavier Lamphere, xtrnet, ChiefWizard, Xaim, Graeme Jardine, Oliver Poole, Mario Kaminsky, nymaxilian, Midnight Questions, Danny Noppen, Eyke, J, john smith, Jordan Leighton, Zach Wilson, geraint juinor, Ole Merschel, user42, OMG STOP CAPS, Shyx, roflkong3, Leyren Leyren, Max Hofinger, Olaf Dybbert, SpartanEcho, Tatiana Saturno, Jolly Javelin, skici, Eric Svahn, Simon Dingemans, Jonah Ree, Kylieth, John O'Connor, Brian, Jackie DeschÃªnes, Andrew Jones, Orr404, Mondays, Altsuperkey, MAX Brown, ~Apple~, A, abd Srour, AfternoonMatt, alex kosters, Alex Quintero, Alexander, Andrew Kroll, Attherisk, BaguaBrady, BeaR, Caricifus, Chris Goss, Cold Ramen, conkerer, DagNabItAll, Didntdoathing, Dylan Sutton, Enigma, Eric Helaney, Evan Zhou, Henri emmet, Ian Sommer, Indigo David Behling, isaac bartlett, Isaac Mathew, James Cornish, james young, Jason P, JCQuiinn, Jeremy Evans, John, Jonah Doyle, Jose Jimenez, Kageryu, Keenan Adams, Landon Sweeney, Less Than Three, Logan McAllister, Mad Max, Magnus Bigelow, Merrillz, Metzy, Mnem, Molly Hopkins, n, Nadav Ben Yehuda, PARXIVAL, RandomPerson, Samantha Sandlin, Sean Mantell, Sean Reap, Stephen L, Victoria, Wesley Ervin, Cole Ruhlig, MacLeod, Seth Wilson, Liam, Fingin, Nopret, David Adams, Mark, Bengt Ribinski, nekton, Waffleman, Anas Jumale, Raivshard, Andinator77, Andrew, Andrew Reise, Asher, Clayton odom, Crimson Twilight, Cyanin, EverlastPhoenix, George Dashner, GrithMR, James Fotouhi, Jerry, Jonathan Gregoire, Kenton Watson, Kevin Todd, Matija MiloÅ¡eviÄ‡, Matthew Gritters, Nathan Bush, Nick Riley, Nikolay Panov, Ovuca, Patrick polsey, Person8, Shadow, Steven Johnson, The Human, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander

Mage:

Max Oberg, Ian Anderson, Joshua John Wallace, Carya Galabra, Jackson Ragland, Scott Holt, Pigeon F, Lasse Pedersen, al, Alexander Belousov, Gert Wallis, Mathias Schwendimann, Setaria, SirGuy, Jan, Anton Selling, Fabian, Gleadge, ulrik aaby, Carl Clements, mallix, Cybernetic Angel, GopherAtl, James Hadfied, Jason Case, Jeremy Leonard, Michael Anaya, NebulaeDreamz, Aaron Lewis, Harold Teunisse, Irakli Jishkariani, James Knight, Jeremy, Jonny, SnowingSilently, Taylor, Gemyma, Deneas, Michael Bradet-Legris, MeatyLock, Eric Wharton, Dustin, jacob britt, Jamison Schneider, Digdug, Patrick Cole, Sid_Cypher, Finn Freudenberg, Mathieu Deg, Therese Brock von Rein, Anonymous, Chris Olsen, Matteo Pimentel, dylan penlington, Harry, Gurditt Mangat, Eric Trombly, Sage, Josh, Nicholas Kelly, Jonathan Gough, Muspellsheimr, Ford Yeager, Not Real, Raistlin, santor25, Yasin Bari, Barrie Davis, David, Error, Marcus148, Nefraak, JauPim, Jan Finger, Brett Muras, ToffiTee, Tao Wong, Leonhard MÃ¼nzer, Al Bi, Linkneo5, Lupusregina, Michael F., Lorcogoth, Appl, Cody Caliguiri, Eciefae4, ensou, Justin George, Leon Silva, Max Weidmer, Michael, Paul Jones, SZ, Two Cats, Ken Wong, Spencer Burke, Star Sword

Mageling:

DANTE, Alexander Graber-Tilton, Ivo Havener, BurnNote, Lonewolf, SomethingWicked, Tyler, Skape, Zagig, pope benedict, Reminder, Calle, Luka Lageschaar, Charles, ben, Dave Burkett, Matt DiMeo, Michael kim, Robert Rosenthal, Joost Boere, Lorenzo Ragni, Isaac Larkin, Pawaidan, emphes, Chris K, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Kevin O'donnell, Hamo4, moniker, S, Stefan Rabenstein, AndromedaStar, chimerarara, Frozen, GSH, industriousrevolution, Russell Black, Sam Mullen, Alternative Facet, Faris Bissex, Judy Halloran, WanderingArchitect, Austin McGue, Jeff berman, Kirsty, Stan Snijder, Benjamin Buco, Sven Paulson, derek giandolfi, Eythan Hayashi, Pyrite, ttuurrhh, Kuro_Neko, Tombur, Daniel Marko, HÃ¥vard, Shaun Skelton, David H, Henrik Runestig, acrasa, Hallan Savage, Aren, Cassano, Daniel, Delilah, Harris, Joseph White, KB, Moreldarin, Nick, nick v, nicolo maso, OmegaHebrew, Richard Heying, Skelethin, Kyle Smith, SpiderStuck, Aristeidis Tsialos, John, Jonathon Hagedorn, Kagge91, Michael Ireland

Inscribed:

Dax, fennek, Tandroll, Chase128, Trevor Walker, Federico Petrin, Alastair Dent, Ross Doyle, nikrowd, Eric Mueller, Isaac Fratti, Dylan, Ari Mononen, Jonathan, Dennis Bollyn, George Lanetz, Paul Lorenz, Sam Ford, ShadowCub, Anks, PeM, Mqrius, Moses Lambert, LÃ©o Viarouge, jaylu, Benjamin Piribauer, James A. Hunter, Beanboy21, Bizzy Sea, Chris, Christopher Cha, Diana Kelly, Dylan Eilerman, Harley Waldstein, Reece Zieschang, Wacjob

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Torth [OP MCx2]

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Chapter: 216 - Service to the House of Blood

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Pride mystic artificer, Maxine, Emersen, Damon Roberts

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala watched as Sanguis and Be-thric examined the items that she and her strike-team had pulled off of their fallen enemies.

She surreptitiously took a bite of a pastry. Rust, these are delicious.

-Uncannily so… Still, I don’t detect any magic, poisons, or addictive substances, so we should be fine.-

The wrapped boxes of baked goods sat on a nearby table. Only one had been opened, and the various members of the strike team were enjoying the treats as unobtrusively as they could.

Tala had fed one to Terry, and while he’d seemed to like it, he hadn’t wanted another.

The two Pillars seemed quite pleased with the haul, though neither of them was partaking of the treats.

Apparently, several of those in the square had been higher level officials of the opposing House, and they’d had some important documents on them in their dimensional storages.

There were manifests for inter-city shipments due to arrive in the near future, lists of supposedly unaffiliated groups who were shadow organizations run by the House of the Rising Sun, and so much more.

It was honestly a little astounding that so many things of note were in one place, which had them suspicious. In truth, as Tala listened in, the Pillars suspected that many of the items on each list were decoys, meant to bait enemies into attacking neutral parties, or otherwise wasting resources or goodwill.

Even if it were all true, there was nothing illegal or truly incriminating in the documents, but the House of Blood strike teams would be busy over the next couple of days, sussing out and acting on the information gathered.

There were several magical weapons or other simple items, which would be added to the House vault, and quite a bit of coinage, though nothing on the scale of House finances.

“Well done, Eskau Tali.” Sanguis smiled her direction with evident sanguine contentment. “Your forethought in having the strike team in place turned what could have been a loss into a stunning victory.”

She gave a slight bow to the man, equal to what Be-thric would have given in her place. “Thank you, Pillar Sanguis. I aim to succeed.” So I can get the rust out of here.

“Indeed.” He then held up the bracer, which was the protian weapon she had gained from the cat-man. It had been the whole reason for the mission. I wish he’d been a bit of a jerk. He was polite before he died.

-Almost everyone is kind in the right circumstances. It doesn’t mean he was a good person.-

It doesn’t mean he was a monster, either.

-Do you want to feel guilty?-

No… She just wanted to go home.

Sanguis directed Be-thric to extend an arm, and the older Pillar fastened the bracer in place on his junior. Then, there was a flex of power as Sanguis bound the weapon to Be-thric, subtly changing its magics.

If Tala interpreted the new flows and pathways correctly, this bracer would now create close-fitting, seamless, flexible armor of light directly overtop of Be-thric’s skin, below anything he was wearing. It could also create a similar set of armor, forged of fire, overtop whatever the Pillar was wearing. There were a couple other twists and paths that Tala couldn’t quite interpret, but she was proud at how her magesight interpretation was coming along, as a whole.

“And with this, Pillar Be-thric, your defenses are nearly up to proper standards. The remaining pieces will be utilized offensively and for utilitarian purposes.”

Be-thric gave a shallow bow, his grin a stark, gleaming white between his onyx lips. “Thank you, Pillar Sanguis.”

The bracer then vanished with a bending and twisting of the world, and it was done. Something about the vanishing felt like it came from Be-thric, rather than Sanguis.

Something about the change binds the armor to the Pillar in a facsimile of soul-bonding.

-Yes, but it is a…looser connection, somehow, and with almost entirely different features.-

Sanguis departed. As he left, Tala saw the smallest flicker of power reach out and a single pastry vanished from the open box.

Tala kept herself from smiling at the covert snatching.

The strike-team left as well, each to their own duties. They were not subtle with the pastries, each grabbing an unopened box to take along for their next tasks.

Finally, Be-thric and Tala were left alone.

“So, my Eskau. Shall we check on the progress of your sanctum?”

“As you wish.” She nodded her head in acquiescence. She picked up four of the remaining boxes, trusting that the servants would parse out the last few.

They walked through the hold, back towards the entrance.

Tala had left Kit in the form of a door, attached to a wall in one of the side courtyards of the House of Blood’s main hold.

When they reached the place, that courtyard was abuzz with activity as several foremen were coordinating the movements of various servants and workmen.

Large carts full of soil were being backed up to Kit and dumped through.

Off to the side were similar wagons of nicely dressed stone, large barrels of water and innumerable plants.

Empty wagons were moving off into the hold or towards the exit to be refilled, depending on the material required.

Tala found an empty table off to one side and set down two of the boxes. “Pastries!” She called, her voice filling the space. “We have to get through, so you get a short break.”

The workmen each found an easy place to stop and moved out of their way.

Be-thric glanced her way and gave a small smile. “Good, Thorn’s lessons are settling in. It is much easier to manipulate and control with kindness than with force, though both methods have their place.”

Tala barely kept anger from her features and a shudder from her body. “Your wisdom is great, Pillar.”

As one foreman spotted them, she made her way over and bowed. “Esteemed Eskau Tali. I believe that I was told that you are able to increase the size of the door to be even larger. Is that possible?”

Kit’s entrance was already as large as three standard doors across and half-again the standard height.

Still, Tala gave a nod. “I will do that as we enter.”

“Thank you, Eskau.” She then bowed to Be-thric, but didn’t speak.

It would be rude for her to address a Pillar without need. Tala was starting to understand some of the nuances of the social interactions in arcane lands.

Tala and Be-thric reached the door, unimpeded, and she touched the doorframe as they walked through.

Kit heard her desire and the opening enlarged again, doubling its width.

A happy cry went up from the servants and workers behind them, but Tala and Be-thric were already focused on what stood before them.

They were now walking on perfectly laid paving stones, put together into a road, wide enough to have two carts pass with relative ease.

The roadway was bracketed by raw dirt, stretching out into the distance. I wonder what I’ll put at the end of this road, when we move the default location of the entrance?

Tala glanced back. Many of the workers had already finished their pastries, and she was able to watch a cart being tipped, dumping its load through the entrance. As the dirt fell through, the soil vanished.

Kit is moving the material as it comes in. Tala began purposely expelling as much power into the air as she was able.

Be-thric glanced her way, not seeming the least bit startled or alarmed by her use of such quantities of magic. “That seems wise. Your little sanctum is doing a lot of work. We wouldn’t want it to run dry.”

The power she directed into the air was whisked away even faster than the dirt had been.

As they walked down the road towards the buildings in the near distance, they simply examined their surroundings in silence.

There were rolling hills of moist soil. Tala knew that clover seed had been dumped through the door the day before, so as long as they were actually able to add an artificial sun of some sort, these hills would be green in no time.

That was apparently due from the craftsmen later that afternoon.

The strike had taken place in the early morning, coinciding with the target’s usual routine.

She still felt a bit bad about the cat’s death. She would have much preferred to just take an arm…well, and his weapon.

-Really? This again?-

I can wish something hadn’t been required while still knowing it was a good outcome, all things considered.

-Fine, fine.-

Tala felt a twinge of loneliness as Alat’s response reminded her of Rane. She desperately hoped that he and Mistress Odera and her family were all right. And Lyn and Holly. There were so many people that she wanted to get back to.

All in due time. Rushing this will cause failure and taking my time will lead to success in every regard.

Tala felt a connection to the sanctum, but not like she was bound to it, not directly. It was odd: she could feel her magic flowing through it, or at least magic that matched hers in flavor and aspect.

She could feel that power all around her, and it oddly reminded her of when Tali was in command. Tala was surrounded by what seemed to be her own power without the ability to control it. She knew that her power was being used to do a ton of things without her direct input or management.

Huh. Is this what it feels like to be you?

-In a sense.-

Interesting.

Through her deeper connection with Kit and the sanctum as a whole, she knew that under the pavers that made up the surface of the road other work had been done, and other materials laid out. As such, this road would be a robust, long-lasting thoroughfare.

Similarly, she knew that, under the loamy topsoil, rock and clay had been brought in and placed to ensure the stability of the terrain over the long term.

It was amazing how much work went into establishing a hold or sanctum. I am so glad I didn’t have to do this all on my own. I cannot imagine the expense.

-We know what it cost us.-

That was a sobering reminder of the situation. Who’s bringing us down, now?

-That’s fair. It’s just hard to reconcile that none of this is free for us. We’ve paid a ridiculous, involuntary price.-

Don’t worry. I haven’t, and won’t, forget. We’ll balance the books, and this sanctum is a part of that.

In no time at all, Tala and Be-thric had crossed the soon-to-be-verdant space and arrived at the closest structures, at the center of the sanctum.

Craftsmen and magical engineers were working to build systems of power, which caused reverberations of magic to resonate distinctly within various sections of the food-production area.

Several sections were already set up. In fact, the entire central area seemed almost complete. It had been less than a week of work, but the various crews had been rotating out for near-nonstop progress.

Tala and Bethric walked through a tunnel of raspberry vines, and Tala saw that the trellises were practically vibrating with power, which would be compatible with her magics that enhanced her vascular system.

She could see that power suffusing the plants even as they continued to establish themselves.

The whole thing was so well put together that none of the resonant magic came anywhere near the path on which the two walked.

They came out of the tunnel into a central square with paths leading off in various directions.

Workers were coming and going from this point as well, though they seemed to be more of the skilled variety than the laborers dumping in material at the entrance.

In their center, a small figure was giving orders.

Be-thric leaned over towards Tala and spoke softly. “The foreman is Pride, the foremost expert in the area in the permanent establishment of foodstuff production infused with specific magics, a key asset to every major house in this region.”

Tala nodded. Don’t offend the expert. Got it.

The figure was a hue-folk who stood half Tala’s height. Purple skin and a bald pate were the first features that Tala noticed, followed closely by the most unusual means of inscription she had ever seen.

Large swaths of Pride’s body were covered with silvery metal in broad, rough scripts, and inset into those were incredibly fine, black spell-lines.

Is that zirconium?

-It must be, if it’s naturally black and a base metal. Though, it could be an alloy.-

Can you make inscriptions out of zirconium?

-Not that humanity is specifically aware of, but you can, theoretically, use any material for spell-lines.-

Huh.

In addition to the odd inscriptions, Pride wore loops of silvery chains along with other, similar jewelry practically everywhere there was space.

In contrast, the foreman’s clothing was simple in design if not in quality of construction, composed of sturdy black cloth with silver accents.

Additionally, it seemed that the foreman spent more time at a desk, or reading a book, than doing manual labor, though Tala couldn’t have said why she got that impression.

The purple figure turned towards Tala and Be-thric as they arrived and bowed. “Pillar Be-thric, Eskau Tali, welcome to the progress. My tasks are almost complete, and I have no doubt that you will be elated with the results.”

A silver and black bedecked, purple finger pointed in each direction. “This is the quadrant that I was given to work with. In the direction we are calling south, where you came from, we have the mundane berries and other fruits, infused with magic compatible with yours, of course, Eskau Tali.

“To the east we have the vegetables and grains, similarly infused.

“To the west are the animals: pigs, rabbits, chickens, and cows.

“Finally, to the north, is the path to the living complex.”

Be-thric smiled and actually gave a small bow. “Thank you, Pride. You really put yourself into your work. I trust that you don’t have time to give a tour?”

Pride’s head shook. “Unfortunately, not. I must transmute the magical structures into permanence and then be off to my next commission. Thank you for engaging us for your project.”

“Of course, Pride. You are the best at what you do.”

Pride grinned. “And with honesty like that, discretion is unquestioned.”

They bowed slightly to one another before Pride turned to Tala.

Tala cleared her throat and gave a bow mirroring Be-thric’s.

“Thank you, Pride. I look forward to sampling the fruits of your labor.” She hesitated, checked Tali’s memories, and found that there was just enough there to allow her to continue, “And, of course, the vegetables, grains, and animal product of your labor as well.”

Pride snorted a laugh and waved her off. “Thank you, Eskau. It is my honor to be of service to the House of Blood.”

Without further delay, Tala and Be-thric continued to the ‘north,’ exiting the courtyard and moving up another path to an open-air building, set on the high-point of the sanctum.

In the center was the raised platform with Tala’s seat of power. While sitting in it, she knew that she would feel much more connected to the hold, and it seemed that Kit could understand her desires more minutely as well.

To the right of the platform was a large training ring, empty ponds already in place around it to mimic, but not mirror, the training area she’d used as a candidate.

To the left was a bunker-like building, which would eventually house the entrance and exit by default. Magical defenses were being imbedded into it both to keep out any unwanted intruders, and to slay or restrain them if they managed to enter anyways.

All the magics were being hooked into Kit, itself.

More of a magical burden to empower.

-All the more reason to expand your gate. That is next on the docket, I believe. At least it should be, after the inspection.-

Straight ahead, on the other side of the dais, was a series of rooms for herself and guests whom she allowed to visit. They were all arranged around a library, kitchen, and dining space, the latter of which was situated to look out towards the ‘north’ of the sanctum, where the non-food bearing forest would be located.

Apparently, mature oaks, maples, and aspens were being brought in, and would be the backbone of her forest, though younger trees would fill in around their older fellows.

There seemed to be a whole industry surrounding the preparing of materials to outfit new holds. Quite a few arcanes simply spent their days creating base materials like soil, rock, and water, so that the filling of holds didn’t force them to strip zeme down to a husk.

I wonder just how much extra-dimensional space has been tacked on to our planet over the eons.

-There’s no way to know for sure, but in this city alone, there’s enough land in the various holds to exceed the size of this continent, and this is far from the only arcane city.-

It was an interesting line of thought.

She might have wondered why humanity didn’t just have their cities in dimensional pockets, except that she now knew the deeper reasons for the cities’ relocations. That many humans in a pocket dimension would slowly degrade its foundations. A few moving about could be compensated for, the weakness caused by their gates repaired, but even as few as a thousand gated humans would slowly ruin any pocket city they tried to inhabit.

Tala shook her head. It was not the time for morose thoughts, or considerations of what could not be.

She stepped up on the raised platform, slowly turning to take in the commanding view of the sanctum.

Waterways were already created and reinforced, though there was still very little water as of yet. Tala wasn’t a fan of eating fish so those that would be added to the water systems wouldn’t be for consumptive purposes.

“Well, my Eskau? What do you think?”

Tala found herself smiling, despite the one she was talking with. “Amazing. Truly.”

“As befits my Eskau.”

There was no sun in the sky, despite the pervasive light. The sourceless light was an illusion maintained by Kit so that they could see.

Tala patted the armrest of the throne and whispered, “We’ll get you a proper sun soon enough.”

The chair did not respond.

Thorn came out of the structure to the north and bowed to each of them in turn. “My Pillar. Eskau Tali. I trust your mission was a success, Eskau?”

Tala smiled, feeling genuine pleasure at seeing him. He was growing on her, even if mainly due to his constant presence. “Thorn. Yes, we had a few complications, but we were successful.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” He turned to Be-thric. “My Pillar, may I show her the reinscriber?”

“Of course, Thorn. I would be glad to have you do so.”

Thorn bowed again, then stepped up onto the raised platform.

He stopped and knelt behind the throne, prompting Tala to move over beside him.

There, embedded in the ground, was a small hatch.

Thorn pulled the hatch open, revealing three gold bars, two silver, and one copper.

“Here are the metals that the magics pull from to enact the reinscriptions.” He glanced at her, saw that she understood, and closed the hatch once more. “Anywhere on this platform, you can give the command and the magics will do what needs to be done.”

“Can anyone activate it?”

“On themselves?” Thorn glanced toward Be-thric before shaking his head. “I don’t believe so, no. The magic of the one activating the reinscription must match yours, and that of this sanctum. There is a separate command that others can give to reinscribe you if you are on the platform, but I don’t know it. Pillar Be-thric is the only one who does, and he wrote that, along with other secrets of the sanctum, down in a small book that is awaiting you in your room. If the reinscriber can do anything else, it will be recorded, there.”

“Thank you, Thorn.”

“It is my pleasure to serve the House of Blood.”

Tala surveyed the hold around her and frowned. “We’re sure that this will be able to run itself?”

She really, really didn’t want to have to have servants in here. That would complicate her life immensely, especially when she made good on her escape.

Again, Thorn glanced towards Be-thric, but this time the dwarf nodded. “Yes. The manipulation abilities your dimensional storage brought to this hold means that so long as you understand what needs to be done, when, and wish for the hold to do it, everything should run smoothly.”

He cleared his throat and scratched the side of his neck.

“We are creating a task list that you can run through each day, mentally, until things are fully established. That way, it should become ingrained within the cycles of the sanctum.”

Set deep below the raised platform, Tala knew there was a massive storeroom that couldn’t be accessed from the outside. There, Kit could store everything out of the way, awaiting her need of it. That was just one of the features being added, which relied on Kit’s previously demonstrated abilities to move things about at her desire.

Assuming Kit doesn’t eat the stuff while I’m not looking. That wasn’t really fair. Kit had never eaten anything she cared about. Not that I’ve noticed.

-Not that either of us noticed, and we have perfect memory of what should be in here. Kit seems to be playing the long game, and look around. It’s paying off.-

Tala grinned. “Thank you again, Thorn.”

“It is my pleasure.”

Ironically, Tala realized that all of this was meant to save the House of Blood resources in the long run. If she were really going to be an Eskau for decades, if not longer, then this sanctum would pay for itself many, many times over.

They are good at long-term planning.

-Indeed.-

It’s a shame that it won’t profit them this time.

-A real, rusting shame.-

As Tala was basking in the glory of what was coming together around her, a messenger ran up the road they’d just come in on.

The young, dog-folk boy bowed low. “The great Da'talus requests access to this sanctum and quick passage to its heart.”

Tala recognized the name of the craftsman who’d been commissioned to make Kit’s artificial sun. She looked to Be-thric who gestured for her to continue.

Tala smiled. “Of course.”

She sat in the throne and flexed her will and power.

A door materialized just to the south of the platform, directly in Tala’s line of sight.

It was normal sized, and when it swung open, it revealed a small man, who would barely reach Tala’s waist if she were standing.

He stepped through the door, the messenger ducked back through, and it shut once more, on its own.

Tala felt the entrance return to its current, default location within the sanctum, reopening and expanding for the workers to continue the depositing of materials.

Da'talus bowed, holding before him, clasped between his two hands, a relatively small object.

It was roughly the size of Tala’s head, and it radiated odd mixes of energy.

The craftsman was currently expending a massive amount of power, generating a protective field around the creation.

“Greetings Pillar. Greetings Eskau. I apologize for skipping formalities, and for asking for expeditious access here, but this is a delicate creation, and timing is key. I would have been here sooner, but some sort of disruption in the city has caused all manner of delays.”

Be-thric had indicated that Tali should take the lead with this craftsman. He apparently wanted her to continue to practice ‘what Thorn was teaching her.’ So, Tala responded, “Of course, Honored Da’talus. What do you need from us?”

“Where is the central pillar? I must link this to the core inscribed and inherent matrices.”

Tala stood and gestured at the throne. “It is here.”

The diminutive, orange-skinned man’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “I see.”

Even so, he did not hesitate.

With quick movements, he climbed onto the platform and walked to the throne.

He sat the creation down on the seat and Tala got a good look at it for the first time.

It looked like nothing so much as a gyroscope with hundreds of gimbals, each as thin as foil, each imbued with natural magics of durability and reduced friction, among other powers. They seemed to be of a whole host of metals, each layer different than every other.

They were spinning already, but Tala thought that that was more due to inertia than anything actively making them do so.

She caught flashing glimpses of an odd material at the core of the contraption, and it was that material that was radiating the odd power that Da’talus was struggling to contain.

As the creation sat on the throne, Da’talus thrust his magics outward, seemingly creating pathways in the dimensions of magic and forging them between the heart of the sanctum and his creation.

They weren’t spell-forms, simply channels for power, like Tala’s own void-channels, simply more permanent.

As he did that work, the spinning gimbals began to pick up speed, each on a fractionally different axis.

After another moment, the device seemed to be generating its own protective field, and Da’talus retracted his magics, almost seeming to stagger in relief.

“There.” A smile blossomed across his features. “That will regulate this hold for a thousand years at least, if it functions for a day.”

Be-thric chuckled. “Only a thousand years? I thought we paid for an eternal sun?”

Da’talus waved him off. “Nothing is eternal. A longer lasting sun would have to be bigger, but then it would be oversized for this hold.”—He looked around appreciatively.—“To give any significantly longer life, would require a hold at least ten times this size, if not as large as the House of Blood’s hold. Otherwise, the star would be too much, and destabilize the whole space.”

“Can it be…refueled, if that is the right term?” Tala asked hesitantly. She had a hard time grasping the timescale of a thousand years, but ideally, she’d be leaving soon, and it was very possible that this wasn’t replicable by humanity, not in this way, not at the moment. So, she needed answers now.

Da’talus shrugged. “Of course, with the right applications of space magic and the right material. I sent ahead a booklet detailing all the functions available to you. This is a complete environmental controller.”

As they’d chatted, the connections through the dimensions of magic had seemed to solidify, until now they felt like they were a permanent part of the hold.

Without any of them doing a thing, Da’talus’ creation suddenly blazed with light, very much like a miniature sun. It then rose up into the air, moving to match the sun’s position outside their hold.

I wonder if it’s matching the House of Blood’s sun, or the real one?

-Those should be the same, but I would bet the informational booklet would tell us if one has precedence over the other.-

Fair. Let’s read that sooner rather than later.

Da’talus grunted in satisfaction. “I’ll need to move about the hold and take measurements for the next few hours. I’ll let you know if any tweaks are required, as it is now outside of my ability to affect.”

“Thank you, Honored Da’talus.”

The small man bowed towards Be-thric. “It is my honor to be of service to the House of Blood.”

As the craftsman walked off, Tala stared up at Kit’s new sun. She whispered up towards the sky, “Well… you have your own star, now.”

The sun did not respond.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 217 - Gate-Breaking

A note from JLMullins

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[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Ben Morgan, ciaran mullen, Damon Roberts, Emersen, Joshua Sydney, Maxine, Noelle, PatronTurtle, Sakari Saastamoinen

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala and Thorn tried not to stare up at the new fake star in the sanctum’s sky.

Well, how fake is it really? It shines, it gives off heat, it seems to burn…

-Not a real star, so ‘fake’ is correct, but it is more real than I expected from a cursory examination of the House of Blood’s hold. My understanding is that without magic, stars have to have a sufficient mass to maintain coherence. Miniature? Artificial? One of those might be more accurate?-

I suppose so.

Thorn cleared his throat. “As fascinating as all of this is, we should get to our training.”

Terry glanced at Tala from her shoulder, then hopped down and ran off to do Terry things. Probably exploring the sanctum. Definitely not killing workers and eating their bodies.

-Yeah, that doesn’t sound like Terry.-

Tala decided to ignore the hints of sarcasm in Alat’s voice and trust Terry’s discretion, regardless of his chosen tasks.

Be-thric gave a nod to Thorn. “Very well. But one more thing before that.”

He walked over to Tala and pulled out a metal rod. “The city lord has granted our request to modify your saorsa-collar. It cannot be removed as common-law requires all gated humans to wear one, but yours will be modified to only be actionable by illegal conduct on your part, the Pillars of the House of Blood, or the city lord himself.”

Tala gave a shallow bow. “Thank you, Pillar.”

“Of course. We couldn’t leave you in a state where a mere bribe to a city guard could kill my Eskau, could we?” He pressed the rod through her collar, pushing it in so far that it should have come out the other side to skewer her neck.

Instead, it seemed to sink into the collar, fully melding with it, and Tala felt the magics shift.

“There we have it.”

Tala had investigated the magic of the collar innumerable times, even not counting the times that Tali had investigated the thing. There was no way out.

Kit couldn’t remove it.

Even if she could convince him to help her, Thorn couldn’t erect a disintegrating force between the collar and her neck to intercept the dasgannachs.

The list went on and on. She and Alat were constantly brainstorming for possibilities, but the necklace was laid bare to them, and they could easily see how each of their plans would end.

Two dasgannachs injected into her.

There was no way around it.

Tala was brought back to the present moment when Be-thric turned to go.

“By all means, proceed with your training now, my Eskau. I wish to examine the sanctum a bit more before I depart. I am working to set up an…appointment, which should be very profitable. I’ll want you to attend me whenever I am able to get it established. It should be in less than two months, though I hope it will be much sooner. We must keep pushing forward, after all.” He smiled along with the last words.

Tala nodded. “As you wish.”

The Pillar turned and walked away without another word

Thorn cleared his throat to garner her attention. “Alright then, Eskau Tali. Can you place a stone block somewhere you can hit it with your weapon?”

Tala frowned but shrugged in resignation. She hopped off the platform, then sent the desire to Kit.

A two-foot cube block of stone appeared on the edge of the platform, the center of the stone being about as high as Tala’s sternum.

“What now?”

“Strike it with your weapon in the form of a sword. Don’t do anything else, no mirroring, no enhancing, no nothing.”

Tala quirked a smile. “No nothing?”

“I don’t understand all your strange fount powers.”

She shook her head. “Okay.”

The stone was heavily magically saturated granite. She drew Flow and pushed it into the form of a sword.

Tala took a deep breath and exhaled with her swing, keeping proper edge alignment.

Her blade passed cleanly through the stone at a downward angle.

With a soft grating, the upper piece slid off the lower.

Thorn blinked at her. “Huh.”

“What was that test for?”

“I…I expected you to fail to cut the whole way through, and I wanted to establish a baseline.”

Tala rolled her eyes and jabbed at him, verbally, “That was ignorant of you.”

“My old sword, formed from my protian weapon, wouldn’t have been able to.”

She grinned. “Well, that might be one reason I won then, eh?”

Thorn groused, but she could see a small smile tugging at his lips. “Yeah, that may well be.”

“So… what now?”

Thorn sighed. “Get rid of that stone.”

Tala silently requested, and Kit made it happen.

“Thank you. Now, there should be something in your storage called ‘striking wood.’ Place it here, where the stone was.”

Tala shrugged and sent the desire to Kit.

A thin piece of wood appeared in front of Tala.

It was a three-by-three foot square and one inch thick. The broad side was facing her, and it was on a stand of sorts.

“There, cut that.”

Tala could see magics of endurance and resistance to cutting flowing through every fiber of the wood.

She took a deep breath and struck again.

This time, Flow caught in the material after cutting about a quarter of the way through, the wood charring above and below the cut until she withdrew her weapon.

“Good! Good. Thank you. Now, doing your aspect mirroring thing. Give your sword your entire magical weight.”

Tala shrugged and did as he asked, striking at a different place on the wood.

Flow cut halfway through before being caught up in the material once again.

“That’s the baseline, then. We need to increase your flowrate before we see what progress you make.”

She frowned. “My flowrate won’t affect my density directly.”

“No, but it will affect it over the long run.”

“That’s… fair.”

The wood vanished since she no longer wanted it there. This might just make me a bit lazy…

That was a hurdle for later, however.

“So, how are we going to do this? How are founts normally expanded, enhanced, and improved?”

Thorn looked a little sheepish. “Well, to my understanding, this is only really done with founts.”

“Yes, that is what I was asking. Now, what will we be doing?”

“Gate-breaking.”

-That sounds painful.-

“That sounds… painful.”

-Copy cat.-

We’re literally the same person. I can’t copy myself.

-Only marginally these days.-

Tala huffed a laugh.

“What’s funny?”

“Nothing, just arguing with myself.”

Thorn grunted, seeming to decide to ignore the oddity. “So, the way this works—”

“Gate-breaking.” Tala interrupted.

“—what?”

“The way gate-breaking works.”

“Yes, of course that’s what I’m talking about.” He sounded a bit exasperated.

Tala grinned back at him. “Good. Just checking.”

He gave her a suspicious glare. “As I was saying: the way that gate-breaking works is there are two devices we attach to a fount or, in this case, to you. One stabilizes the gate, while the other…”

Tala gestured for him to continue, then helpfully supplied. “—breaks it?”

“Not precisely, no. Though, my understanding is that that would be the result, without the reinforcement.”

“Ah, so what does it do?”

The dwarf sighed. “The other device will forcibly pull power through your gate as fast as possible, while forcing the power to flow normally. No tricks, no compression, no ‘Ways’ if I’m remembering the term correctly. Founts apparently occasionally maintain them, and it messes with the process, so safeguards are put in place to suppress them. Thus, in the end, it is just raw, unrefined power. That power wears away at the edges of the gate, expanding its base flowrate.”

Tala’s eyes widened, but he continued before she could interject.

“The two devices are linked, so the more power that is pulled, the stronger the reinforcement of your gate will be.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What is the success rate?”

“When properly monitored? It never fails.”

“What does that mean?”

“Generally, an expert in maintaining founts is present and regulates the rate of expansion to prevent catastrophic failure. In this case, you will be letting me know how to adjust the flow.”

“Why can’t I do it myself?”

He seemed hesitant. “Well… I mean we can do that, but I was thinking I could rein you in a bit.”

Tala laughed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You can be a bit brash, Tali. Never stupid, but you’re willing to take risks if it’s what Pillar Be-thric wants. We both know he wants this for you.” Thorn snorted. “At this point it’s practically required if you don’t want to spend all of every day keeping this sanctum full of power.”

“I’ll be careful, but I do want this.” Until I Refine, this is my best path to greater power, and I will need that in gold if I’m to make good my escape.

He looked skeptical, but finally nodded. “There’s something more. If it ever stops, your gate will become…resistant to this means of expansion. Slow it down as much as you want, but don’t stop unless you really can’t take it anymore.”

“I can understand that. How long?”

“Its settings are numerical, and we need at least one-hundred-unit-hours’ worth, meaning one hundred hours at setting one, ten hours at setting ten, etc. Any less will have been a waste of everyone’s time. Ideally, we’ll get closer to a thousand-unit-hours. Unfortunately, the returns diminish significantly as the unit-hours increase.”

She nodded, moving back up on the platform. “But more is better?”

“In theory.”

“In theory?” She paused, looking back towards him.

“Well, founts are expanded to meet a specific need. They aren’t generally broken as wide open as they can be, just because they can be. I don’t know that anyone has simply kept expanding a gate. If my limited understanding in integral theory is accurate that could rip a hole into the next world and kill us all, though that would probably not happen for close to a hundred-thousand-unit-hours’ worth.”

“Ahh, so I shouldn’t let it run for ten hours on setting ten thousand?” She quirked a smile.

“It doesn’t go that high, but no. No, you should not.”

She shook her head and sat down in the throne. “Even so, more power is better, right? Why not open each fount as wide as possible? Run the device until the increase is inconsequential?”

Thorn’s voice returned to its professional tone, “Because the process never fails, only when properly monitored.”

She cocked her head to one side. “Explain.”

Thorn gave a shallow bow. “Each fount seems to have a certain threshold, after which it will slowly degrade. Not in a day, or a week, but soon. The way I’ve heard it described, the founts cease working for their own existence.”

“I don’t understand.”

He sighed. “Founts devote a large chunk of the power coming through themselves to stabilize their existence, to keep themselves in the physical world. If a fount is pushed too far? It just stops keeping itself here.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know that anyone really knows why, but the experts have learned to notice the signs and stop gate-breaking before it gets there. Thus, founts are opened as wide as they will go, then sold or traded to those who can use them at that level.”

Tala was nodding. “The larger flowrate costing more.”

“Precisely.”

“Thank you for the explanation.”

“Of course.” He smiled, then cleared his throat. “I need your diaphragm and keystone clear.”

Tala obliged, flexing her power within her elk-leathers to clear those patches of her skin.

Thorn pulled out two round magical items. They were linked by a braided metal cable of various materials.

The dwarf looked at the exposed area and cleared his throat. “Completely clear, Tali.”

Tala looked down. Right, the iron paint. With a precise aspect mirroring, she pushed the elk-leather’s self-cleaning onto the exposed skin, freeing the paint.

With quick motions, she broke the areas free with a finger and tossed the dark circles aside.

Magic rushed out through the openings, and the echoes that her magic had been generating in reality around her began to fade, vanishing entirely in a handful of seconds.

“Thank you.” Thorn seemed to relax a bit as the obvious evidence of her power bled away.

Tala just shrugged.

She lifted one arm briefly, allowing Thorn to place the devices on her keystone and diaphragm, the cable running under that arm.

As soon as they were both connected, Tala felt something seize her gate, reinforcing it, but not right at the edge. The feeling was like the reinforcement was set back, just away from the edges. Then, the other device kicked on, and she felt a pull on her power like she had never experienced.

It was all she could do not to scream at the oddity of it.

It wasn’t pain, just like a limb falling asleep wasn’t precisely painful, but it felt wrong.

Thorn was speaking to her, and she did her utmost to focus on the words.

“As of now, it is on its lowest setting: one, as we discussed.” He then handed her a small disk that was connected to the two devices by another twisted cable.

How did I not see that thing before? She was forcing her mind to focus on that, rather than the abrasion in her soul.

-That’s not really important, Tala.-

She heartily agreed, which is why she was trying to focus on it.

It didn’t work.

Thorn explained how to adjust the pace and then stepped back.

Tala was already feeling off, even not accounting for the device’s direct results.

The magic in her body was in a turmoil, her spell-forms starved of new power.

About half of the power being sucked from her was being directed around and into the strategic reinforcement of the edges of her gate via the second device.

The remainder was being spilled into the air around her, where it was being quickly consumed by Kit.

Even so, that consumption wasn’t instant.

Tala grit her teeth and seized some of the power as it came out and forced it back into her spell-forms.

She felt a wave of relief as her magic stopped screaming at her.

She was working at very low power compared to normal, let alone her ‘pressure cooker’ state, but her inscriptions were still working.

-That was unpleasantly close. I don’t particularly want to die.-

Me neither…

The feeling of power being ripped through her was deeply uncomfortable in an utterly non-physical way.

It felt like someone was insulting her friends or laughing at her most cherished beliefs.

It was an ache, an agony, that was so much deeper than mere physical pain.

And she needed to increase it. Or endure this for at least one hundred hours.

That wasn’t really an option, if she were being honest.

“How many settings does it have?”

Thorn was giving her a worried look but answered without hesitation. “One hundred. Just remember, what you’re feeling? This is currently on one.”

Great. “Let’s try two.”

She activated the increase.

There were no words for the change in sensation, and she threw her head back and let out an involuntary, weeping scream.

Thorn was almost to her when she mastered herself, closing her mouth and cutting off the wail.

“Oh… bleed me dry… that is awful.” Her teeth were grinding against each other. “How long do I need to do this?”

The dwarf looked a bit pale. To say he was green would have been ridiculous. He was always green, but the green of his skin was a lighter shade than she was used to seeing. “As long as you are able, Tali. Ideally, just more than two days at this setting. Can I get you anything?”

“Do I have to be conscious?”

“I think so, unfortunately. At least for now. If you can manage to sleep with it, later, I think that should work.”

“I hate you a little bit.”

“I know, Tali, but that can’t be helped, I’m afraid.”

Tala laughed at that, and the laughter seemed to help. Is that because laughter helps the soul heal?

-That’s very conceptual thinking, but maybe?-

Seemed to work. “Maybe, do we have any good comedies? I think laughing might help me endure this.”

“I’ll see what I can find. Then, I’ll see what I can dig up in the city.”

“Thank you, Thorn.”

As the dwarf stepped back, watching carefully, Tala ticked the device up to ‘three,’ and felt her entire body flash cold at the strain. This is the worst.

Tala was mistaken.

The next week was vastly worse than that first half-hour had been.

Honestly, she couldn’t really say why she kept going. It was awful, and she was sure she could bring a halt to it at any time, but she found that she didn’t want to stop, either.

With long practice and careful ramp-ups, Tala was able to push the device up to fifty for up to ten minutes at a time, before she had to drop it back down to the twenties.

She felt like her whole family had died before her eyes.

A thousand other descriptors rolled through her mind as she sunk deeper into a depressive state.

She barely ate, constantly fidgeted, and nothing felt right.

Her soul was raw, but the results were unquestionable.

Well, she didn’t know exactly by how much her flowrate had increased, but she knew it had.

-We’ll test it when we’re finished with this stupidity.-

That was another thing that had surprised Tala, back when she could be surprised.

Alat felt agony too. She’d hidden that fact for the first day or so, but as the alternate interface became noticeably more irritable, Tala had wormed a confession out of her.

They’d almost quit the second night, after not sleeping at all the first.

Blessedly, they found a way to sleep. Though, it was hardly restful, and every second had been filled with nightmares.

I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemies.

She actually meant that.

Be-thric had visited her a few times to check on her progress, and she hadn’t been able to muster up the energy to wish he was suffering alongside her. Even when she felt like she could wish it on him, she realized that that would be too cruel.

What is wrong with me? If it’s that bad, let’s stop.

-Yes, please stop.-

Okay. We’ll stop. Tala checked the time. Just one more hour, I think I can take it on thirty-five for another hour, if we’re going to be done after that.

-If you’re sure, I can endure with you.-

And so it went.

One week became two and the sanctum was finished around Tala.

Plants began to sprout and grow, and the last of the workers departed.

Still Tala couldn’t quite make herself bring the process to an end. If I stop, what will have been the point? I can never do this again. I need to make it worth something.

Thorn remained, always nearby. Though as the days went on, he looked more and more concerned. Tala had even woken to him trying to take the control from her once.

She’d screamed herself hoarse at him for that, though she couldn’t remember why she’d been so angry.

In the end, Tala had utterly lost count of the days when Be-thric came to her. “Your dedication is admirable, my Eskau, but you are needed.”

Tala sat in her throne, slumped to the side, and barely acknowledged the man.

She’d tried letting Tali be in command, but the woman’s internal monologues about ‘doing this for her Master’ were somehow worse than the agony of the device. Or maybe it was that their repetitions had been in exact cadence with the pulsing pull, amplifying the awful?

In either case, it hadn’t been a true solution.

When Tala didn’t respond, Be-thric stepped forward, gripped the two devices, and simply ripped them off of her in one, quick motion.

Tala screamed, her throat so hoarse that it came out more like a harsh breath. Her gate had briefly spasmed, the flow seeming to stutter.

Then, the torrent rushed through the new gaping maw, power slamming into her scripts, suffusing her flesh, and burning its way free of her aura control.

Be-thric had taken a step back, a look of undisguised greed briefly flickering over his features.

After the brief slip, the Pillar snapped at her. “Master your power, Eskau.”

Tala had strained to pull her power, her aura, back in, and by slow degrees she succeeded. It was harder than the first time she’d ever attempted aura control despite the skill being deeply ingrained in her subconscious. It was supposedly something she did without thought.

That wasn’t true anymore.

“Clean yourself up. I need you in three hours. Will you be able to contain yourself by then?”

But… I could have kept going for another three hours… With such a time limit, I probably could have endured up into the seventies.

Her self was shaking.

That device had become all she focused on, and now it was gone. Gone. GONE!

Tala stared at it as it lay on the ground. I could reattach it. It’s probably not been too long. I can keep going at least for a little bit.

Be-thric seemed to see where she was looking, and he sighed. “Thorn, was there any mention of addictive properties?”

The Pillar glanced to Thorn and the dwarf shrugged, his worried eyes fixed on Tala. “I’m sorry, my Pillar, but I don’t know. I don’t think anyone’s ever used it on a gated human before. That would explain how she’s been acting, though.”

-Depression is addicting, in its own way.- Alat had kept a clearer line of thought through the whole process, and that seemed to be holding true even now. -This is better. We needed to be done.-

I…I guess that’s true. She took a deep, shuddering breath. The power within her had settled, though it still moved like the tide itself. Her throat was already fully healed. It likely had been in the first wash of power, but Tala hadn’t noticed.

Tala groaned, pulling herself back together in an almost literal sense.

The power was ripping her apart as it activated her magics more powerfully than they had ever been before. That same power was also flowing through her regenerative inscriptions, repairing the damage it caused before it could truly register.

The truly physical pain was actually steadying to her, like vigorous exercise. It helped her focus on the present. “I’ll be ready.”

Tala vaguely heard Thorn add in his own affirmation. “I’ll make sure of it.”

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

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Cs., Zach Adams, Zach Wilson, zachary gafken, Zanthras, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, znarken, Zrell

Mage:

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Chapter: 218 - Combat Ready

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Noelle, Maxine, Joshua Sydney, Emersen, Damon Roberts, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala groused. “No. I don’t want coffee.” Her aura pushed out, somehow exerting enough pressure to force Thorn to step back. She was still feeling off and, if she were being honest, a bit childish.

The dwarf steadied himself, keeping the cup in his hand from spilling. “Tali. You need to focus. Coffee helps many people to do just that. You’ve been putting yourself through the sparselands for weeks now. Your mind is frayed. You need to recover, and you don’t have much time.”

Tala glared. “I’m not getting addicted to that stuff.”—Not again.—“Besides, my scripts are already working to fix me up. All this power will make it faster, too.”

He sighed. “Please. I know Pillar Be-thric just left, but we have a lot to do in the next three hours.”

“I agree, but no coffee.” She started to move, slowly. Each action was deliberate as she felt how much more power she had. Honestly, she felt faster and stronger than she normally did when her iron paint was intact. Slow and steady.

-That’s right. We can do this.-

Thorn grunted. “Fine.” A flicker of magic wafted from his hands and the cup and beverage vanished in one. “Then, I have to resort to option two.”

He looked up, above where Tala was sitting.

She immediately leaped up, moving much farther up and away than she normally would have. Her eyes were momentarily fixed above where she’d been sitting. When she didn’t see anything there, she swept her gaze around wildly. Finally, when she didn’t see anything suspicious, she turned on the dwarf. “What’s option two?”

Thorn grinned. “Vaguely threatening language.”

She glared his way. In her head, Alat cackled. -Oh, he’s starting to understand you.-

“Now, food awaits. Most of it is what you are used to, but some is from your sanctum’s first fruits.” He pointed off to one side.

“If food is ready, why are you pointing to my room? I will not be eating in my room like some sort of savage.”

-You eat in your room all the time.-

And if he knew my true origins, he’d think me a savage, so true words all around.

Alat had no ready response to that.

“Food is ready, but you need a bath. I’ve drawn one for you.” He gave her a level look. “I’ve included my own power in the water. You’ll lose some skin, and all your hair, but you’ll come out cleaner than you’ve ever been.”

She gave him a hard look. “You know, if I die, you don’t get to take my place.”

“That much is obvious, yes.” He returned her look levelly.

“And if you are the cause of my death, the Pillars will kill you.”

“Again, this is obvious.” He gave no hint of discomfort, even as her aura flickered and flailed around him.

Tala shook her head, trying once again to rein in her power, with little success.

Thorn waited for her to return her attention to the matter at hand.

“What of this? Your magic will trigger it.” She tapped her collar.

“I’ve exempted it, naturally.”

“How?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“What, am I some wild human ‘Mage?’ Precision in all things.” He gave her a small smile.

She huffed a laugh and grunted. “Fine. Thank you.”

“It is my pleasure.”

She continued to wrestle with her magic and her aura as she carefully moved off the platform and pushed open the massive, heavy door to enter her room for the first time. As it swung shut behind her, she took a long moment to just look around.

A wide, nearly full-height window filled one wall, giving an unobstructed view to the west. The glasswork was perfect, its production likely enhanced by magic of one sort or other. Power still lingered in it, and Tala thought she understood the workings to be for durability and cleanliness.

Through the immaculate window, Tala could see the beginnings of her forest towards the north of that view, and the green rolling hills extended to the horizon before her.

To the edge of reality, she corrected herself.

Some animals moved about across those hills, but not many. Not yet.

The experts and craftsmen had established an ecosystem of sorts, though she’d required that they limit apex predators.

It had taken some convincing, as all the experts had insisted that the lack could cause radical unbalance.

Tala wanted Terry to have free range fun.

But that was all outside her room.

The room itself was simple in its beauty.

The walls were built of granite blocks with silver inlaid mortar, all polished to a near mirror finish.

The floor was a single slab of poured stone, streaks of dark and light gray playing with each other across the similarly polished surface.

Overhead, old-growth beams spanned the space, holding the wooden ceiling up, high overhead.

Apparently, there were several families who had holds filled with trees of various ages, all growing towards the harvest at the right time.

There were large floor-to-ceiling curtains that could be pulled across the window at need, but they were tucked back, out of the way for the moment.

The room, as a whole, was sparse to the extreme.

Aside from a few silver hooks set into the walls, the only adornments were her bed and a large stone tub.

The water bubbled and popped, and Tala could feel the heat radiating from it and the stone tub it was drawn in even from a dozen feet away.

There’s nothing in here. After a moment’s hesitation, she smiled. I like it.

She took Flow and her bloodstar sheath from her belt and hung them on the hooks. Her clothing retracted into a band around her neck, under the collar, and she slid into the water, dunking her head and staying under for a long count of ten.

Immediately, she felt the heat and whatever Thorn had done to the water, scour her, toes to tip.

The water transformed from crystal clear to murky grey in barely a moment. Her hair and iron paint joined the dirt, grime, and dead skin in the water around her.

Well, this is kind of gross. She grunted. It would be nice if I could get rid of—

She had barely started the thought when she felt Kit, through her new, deeper connection to the pouch, flex slightly.

The detritus in the water vanished, leaving it perfectly clean once more.

Tala gratefully tapped the stone beside her. “Kit, you’re amazing.”

The bath did not respond.

“It’s too bad that you can’t clean me directly, but personal magical defenses and all that.”

She sighed, sinking into the water once again.

Thorn was right. Whatever he’d done to the water stripped off everything that wasn’t part of her living body.

The dwarf had somehow exempted the collar, her nails, and teeth. She realized the last when she gargled and felt the inside of her mouth similarly sizzled clean.

Kit continued to remove any impurities that she added to the water as she did so.

That would have been embarrassing, losing all my teeth.

-We have inscriptions to regrow them at need.-

Yeah, but I’ve never had to use them. Imagine explaining to Holly that the first time I lost my teeth was in a bath.

Alat chuckled. -That would be pretty funny.-

The elk-leathers, retracted into a choker around her neck, drew heavily from her gate to remain in pristine condition.

That draw actually helped lessen the strain caused by power gushing through her.

She briefly mirrored the elk-leather’s self-cleaning onto her body, freeing herself of the last vestiges of grime, those that had tried to hide away.

That wouldn’t be a problem if my bath were as big as a pond.

-Do you want to request a hot-spring in your sanctum?-

No… She sort of did, but it seemed utterly ridiculous to ask for. Especially after the fact.

She placed that aside and simply luxuriated for another moment, letting her being settle. It had been a horrible…three weeks?

-Yes. We kept that infernal contraption on us for three weeks. By the end, the gains were next to meaningless.-

But not fully.

Alat groused. -No, not fully useless. Even so, we were getting a bit…frayed there, at the end.-

Yeah. I did let it go on a little too long, didn’t I.

The nature of the process meant that her gate wasn’t harmed, not really, but it was sore and hosting a greater-than-ever, unguided flow of power.

She sighed, closing her eyes so that she could focus on her magesight.

Her power, her aura, was filling the room.

Her natural restraint, hard won and long practiced, was barely enough to keep it that contained.

Any idea how much we increased our flowrate?

-Estimate?-

Sure.

-Nearly three and a half times.-

Tala sucked in a breath and got water with the air. She started hacking, coughing the water free once more. “What?”

-You heard me. We’ve more than tripled our flowrate. Why did you think our inscriptions were straining under the influx?-

Tala grunted, focused on her power, and pulled.

Slowly, over the course of about five minutes, she drew it back to be even with her skin.

She grit her teeth and held it there. I can do this.

She held it for nearly a minute before her internal grip slipped and her power blossomed outward once again.

The window flexed under the change in magical pressure.

Hey, I’m affecting the zeme in the room. I never really thought my power would be sufficient to affect the weather, let alone the currents of magic, itself.

-Tala, we’re in your sanctum. Literally all the power in here is yours, or was yours at some point.-

…spoil sport.

-But all of this is beside the point. We couldn’t keep our power in check and that doesn’t bode well. There’s no way we’re holding it in consistently in less than three hours.-

Tala sighed. She knew that to be true. Good thing we have a solution, as much as I don’t want to use it as a crutch.

She let her mind be diverted for a moment, since she knew how she would proceed.

Something had caught her magesight’s attention while her aura was fully retracted. It was a lingering feel of magic in the stone of her tub.

Now, she devoted some attention to examining it.

Even though her aura once again suffused the material, she could still see the traces remaining behind.

Thorn’s magic? That’s right. He’d have to have heated the water, somehow. It’s not like Kit can move heat around.

“Can you move energy around, irrespective of material, Kit?”

Kit did not respond.

Also, nothing got hotter or colder despite her desires for it to do so, so Tala assumed that was a ‘No.’

I’ll have to ask him how he did that… It didn’t matter at the moment, however.

It was near sunset, so sunlight was streaming through her window.

Tala decided to dry off in that sun, exiting the tub and walking across the pleasantly cool floor to her wall of a window.

She slowly turned in the light, drying quickly, likely due to the utter lack of hair. She’d held the regrowth scripts back for the time being.

In her brief times actually looking out the window, she noticed the crags of rock that jutted up from some of the hills that she could see in the near distance.

I’ll need to explore this place at some point.

It was an exciting prospect.

She held out her hand and her hot air incorporator came into it.

I’m glad that this is still here.

She dumped power into it, and the wind hit her like a physical force, actually dimpling her reinforced skin where it was pointed.

The flow through the device was hard to regulate down, but it didn’t matter too much.

The last of the dampness left her, and Kit took the incorporator back to wherever it had been stored.

Her last task was to repaint herself with iron. It was her only chance to meet Be-thric’s deadline, as much as that grated on her.

I won’t let it be a crutch in the long run. I will get my power and my aura under control once more.

Less than fifteen minutes after she’d entered her room, she walked back out, completely repainted save the middle of her back, and reclothed in a garment that left that area exposed.

Flow and her bloodstar sheath were once again on her belt.

“Thorn, will you please help me?”

The dwarf came from the direction of the kitchen, drying his hands on a towel. “Certainly.”

He took the brush and finished the application without needing instruction.

“I’d wondered how you did the hard-to-reach parts. Now, I know.” He laughed. “You get help.”

“Indeed. Thank you.”

The last stroke was completed, and Tala almost staggered.

It felt like she was a balloon that someone had started to blow air into. “Oh. Oh, wow.”

Thorn frowned. “Eskau Tali?”

“I’ll be fine.” Her aura was still widespread, but she was able to retract it with ease, now that it lacked the backing of her magic. “You mentioned food?”

She had to admit that she was famished. With a thought and a simple application of power, Tala reshaped her clothing into her normal outfit as Tali.

Thorn led the way to the dining area where a table was covered in various dishes.

“Oh! Thorn, you sent away for all this?” She immediately began to dig in. She found a steady pace between her old way of scarfing and Tali’s careful, meditative absorption of food and power as one.

Thorn cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head. “Most yeah, but some…Well, I…I cooked some.”

She looked his way. “This is like twenty different dishes, Thorn. Which one did you cook?”

“I want to see if you can tell.” He shrugged. “This is a really nice kitchen, and I like to cook.”

She gave him a skeptical look, but decided to give it a try. “Well, thank you.”

“It is my pleasure to serve.”

Everything was excellent, even though the raspberry tarts were a little less excellent than she’d have expected.

Thorn had, indeed, made those. He admitted with a shrug. “The food was grown here, sending it out to be prepared seemed…wasteful.”

Tala nodded slowly. She was used to cooking for herself, but Tali wasn’t, at least not since she’d been picked as Be-thric’s candidate. “If you want to learn how to cook, I think that’s a fine idea.”

He narrowed his eyes. “I know how to cook already.”

She met his gaze and smiled sweetly. “If you want to improve your cooking, I think that’s a fine idea.”

Thorn rolled his eyes and huffed a laugh. “Fair enough. I’ve never tried something like a raspberry tart before. Gallof had me cook for him occasionally, and I helped out with meals in the mines before that. I admit my skills could do with a polish.”

“If that’s what you want. You aren’t meant to be my cook.”

“I’m meant to serve, and this place can do virtually everything except cook.”

Tala hesitated. That was actually true. Kit had never shown the ability to use one item within itself to act on another. Moving water to drop on crops wasn’t the same thing as wielding a knife to cut vegetables. “Very well, but again, only if that’s what you want, and only if you promise to tell me if you find you don’t like doing it.”

“Very well.”

Throughout the meal, the magic within her continued to build, so that by the time she was done with her dinner, it had exceeded anything she’d experienced before.

In the past, the build up reached a maximum level, where the scripts in their inefficiency ate up the power as fast as it could be provided.

The level of that odd balance was now vastly increased.

She already had echoes carved into reality around her, and it had been less than an hour since the iron paint had been applied.

Her self-examinations were interrupted when a cat hopped up onto her dinning table. It walked among the dishes, taking licks of the various remnants.

Thorn’s eyes were fixed on the feline as it moved about. “Huh.”

Tala watched it for a long moment as well. “Thorn?”

“Yes, Tali?”

“I don’t remember a plan for any cats in the sanctum.”

“There weren’t any.”

“Then, am I delusional? Because I definitely see a cat, there.”

“No. I’m seeing it too. It must have snuck in at some point”

“Huh.”

“That’s what I said.”

Tala held out her hand, and the cat cautiously approached her. “That’s right. I’m not going to hurt you.”

When it was just out of reach, the feline stopped and sat down, staring at Tala with large, purple eyes.

“You have pretty eyes.”

The cat tilted its head, then turned and bounded off.

“Wait! I didn’t mean it!” Tala hesitated. “No… I did mean that, I just didn’t mean to scare you off!”

But the cat was already gone.

A moment later, Terry popped into existence on the table.

Tala sat up in surprise. “Terry?”

He leaned forward and squawked, very, very unhappily.

“Right. You’re bored.”

He shook himself.

“No? Not bored?”

He shook himself again. He was then on Tala’s shoulder in a flicker and headbutted her.

“Oh, you were worried about me.”

He trilled an affirmative.

Thorn cleared his throat. “He’s been acting… different since all the others left.”

Tala and Terry turned to regard the dwarf.

Oh… I forgot he was here.

-You were so focused on the cat, you forgot you had an audience.- Alat sighed. -Why am I not surprised?-

You could have reminded me.

-…-

The cat distracted you, too, huh?

-It was a pretty cat.-

Tala grinned. “Yeah, he’s a special bird.”

“Does Pillar Be-thric know he’s a teleporting terror bird?”

Tala froze. “No?”

Thorn tilted his head to one side. “I figured. I haven’t said anything to him. Now, is this a surprise or a secret?”

She swallowed, somehow feeling that the answer was important. “Secret?”

The dwarf shook his head with a chuckle as he walked around and hopped up on a chair opposite her. It seemed to have been built with his stature in mind. “I figured that, too.”

“Oh?” Tala had a bad feeling about this. “What do you mean?”

“Pillars can be… hard masters to serve. We need to have something of our own to keep our sanity. If we give them everything, they take even more.”

She frowned. That’s not where I thought this was going. “You sound like you speak from experience.”

“I do, yeah.” He sighed. “Thank you for trusting me with the truth. I suppose I can do the same.”

Tala leaned forward, interested in what he had to say.

“I wasn’t born with the name ‘Thorn.’ Gallof renamed me to have a moniker more suited to an Eskau.” Thorn snorted a laugh. “Not that it mattered in the end.”

She found herself nodding. “That’s what Pallaun…Eskau Pallaun was talking about. Your name is…was Thron?”

“Ah, so you were listening to that.” He nodded. “He is a scary man, that Eskau. But yes, Thron is the name my mother gave me.”

“Are you angry that they changed it?”

He shrugged. “A bit sad, but not angry. Gallof pulled me from the mines where I was little more than a slave. If he’d been raised to Pillar, I’d happily have served the House of Blood every day of my life. Now?” He shrugged again. “Now, I owe my life to you and to a lesser extent Pillar Be-thric. I’ll not betray or harm Gallof, and I’ll always be grateful to the House of Blood, but beyond that, I’m here to serve you.”

That settled like a weight in Tala’s stomach, more than she was ready or willing to bear at the moment. “That’s kind of you, Thron—”

“We should stick to using Thorn, Tali. It would be odd if we used a name not in the House records.”

Hah…little do you know…

-Focus, Tala.-

“Thorn, then. Thank you.” It felt like a lackluster response, but it was all she could think to say.

Terry…had gotten bored.

He flickered to Thron’s head, grabbing onto the dwarf’s silver hair with his talons.

Thron glared up at the bird. “I’m not playing this game again, Terry.”

Terry sulked a bit, then flickered away, curling up on Tala’s shoulder.

“The little terror seems to enjoy getting me to hit myself in the head. Only actually happened once, when I didn’t know he could teleport, but he keeps trying.”

Tala looked at Terry and sighed. “Yeah, that sounds like him.”

The dwarf shook his head. “Now, we should focus on getting you ready for your meeting. How’s your magic feel?”

Tala reluctantly looked downward at the magical manifestations around her.

They were somehow tighter, closer to her skin, and more precise. Each line’s glow not encroaching on those around it, nor casting light on Tala’s surroundings.

They were more detailed than ever, looking like nothing so much as her own skin, made completely of light and formed perfectly to her. It was close enough to her contours that it was actually inside her elk-leathers, rather than being projected outside the garment.

Huh, maybe the candidate I targeted thought he saw a mirror to his own power in me. Maybe that’s why he wasn’t a jerk?

-Yup. That makes sense.-

Tala ignored the edges of sarcasm in the artificial interface’s tone, returning to Thron’s question. “It’s… a lot.”

“I can imagine. Don’t forget to feed your sanctum. That should help.”

Tala had, in fact, forgotten. With relief, she grabbed large currents of her power and directed them around her iron defense and out into Kit.

The pressure lessened just a bit, but not down to anywhere near the levels she was used to.

“What now?”

“Now? We do what we can to get you ready. Your Pillar asked me to ensure that you were combat ready, but not hostile in appearance.”

Tala looked down at her hands, clad in what appeared to be gloves of manifest power. “How in zeme are we supposed to do that?”

Thron pulled out a small box. “With a gift from your master.” He hesitated, then shook his head. “Apologies, Pillar Be-thric asked that I not refer to him in that way. This is a gift from your Pillar.”

There was far more to unpack in that bit of speech than Tala had a mind for at the moment, so she simply took the small box. It opened on delicate hinges revealing a familiar little shape, along with a simple note on how to use the item.

Thron continued. “It is apparently another prize claimed by our Pillar in his forays around the wild humans to the north. He’s been keeping it in a high magic environment to maintain its magics, or so he said.”

Tala knew exactly what it was, and how to use it, but she still made a show of reading the note before placing her through-spike back at the base of her neck.

After she had pushed it into place, she mirrored the elk-leather’s self-cleaning onto the small circle of iron paint that the through-spike had isolated.

Tala then pulled away the through-spike, blew through the hole to clear it of the iron paint, and replaced it in the proper location, using a mirrored perspective through her bloodstar to put it back precisely in the small hole cleared of paint.

That done, the illusion settled into place around her.

Thron grinned. “Well, now. That is exactly what you needed!”

Suspiciously so, wouldn’t you say? But she didn’t say that. As much as she thought of Thron in a positive light as a new acquaintance, she did not need him becoming suspicious of her for any reason. His declarations of loyalty might be meaningful, but only time would tell.

So, instead of saying anything that she wished to say, Tala simply smiled and nodded. “Yes, this is exactly what I needed to best serve the House of Blood.”

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

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Chapter: 219 - Knowing Her Role

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Damon Roberts, Emersen, Maxine, Pride mystic artificer

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala and Thron talked for a little while about small things. But soon, it was just about time for Tala to leave so that she could attend Be-thric at the meeting.

As she stood to go, she noticed that, through her magesight, Thron was looking a bit…weak.

“Thorn, why are you running low on magic?”

He gave her an odd look. “Where would I be getting magic, in here?”

Tala looked around and realized that Kit was, indeed, devouring all the magic that she output, sequestering it away in a new, seemingly limitless, reserve.

“I need to spend some time in the main hold, while you are out.” He didn’t say that he had been virtually trapped in here with her for the last few weeks. He was due for a break, even if only to recharge.

Tala nodded, then smiled as an idea came to her. “Let me see.”

She held out her hand, and an orb appeared within it, screaming. “AAAAAAAAAA—oh. Hello. Will you break me, now?”

Both Tala and Thron had flinched back, away from the scream, even though it died off quickly.

Terry hadn’t moved.

Tala cleared her throat, ignoring the edge of happiness that the sphere projected at the idea of being broken. “Why, if I may ask, were you screaming?”

She somehow felt the orb direct its attention towards Terry. “I was buried alive.”

“But you aren’t alive.” You’re a trapped human soul, and I wish I could free you, but I can’t.

“Well, I’m certainly still here. Unless… will you break me?”

“No. I need you.” I can deal with the horror of using a trapped human soul later… Things aren’t ideal, and I have to work with what I have.

“That’s…just…wonderful…”

Thron’s eyes widened, seemingly understanding Tala’s idea. “Oh, no. No. I can’t use the power.”

Tala grinned, tossing the sphere to the dwarf. “Take Rob, get a magic purification item, or find another means of using the power that comes from him.”

“Rob?” The dwarf had caught Rob easily and was now examining it.

She shrugged. “He’s an orb; Rob is a nice anagram that makes sense to me. Rob, do you have a name?”

“Some insufferable creature has named me Rob, and I’ve no other name.”

“There; you see?” Tala ignored the grumpy false personality.

Thron sighed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Good.” Tala called up the door out, and they exited.

Terry rode on Tala’s shoulder and Thron carried Rob.

They stepped out into the side courtyard, now empty of workers.

“The world beyond is but another world of limited capacity.” They both ignored Rob.

Absently, Tala reached back and grabbed the doorframe. Just before she pulled, she thought she saw a cat sitting on the table, watching them leave.

She was already pulling it off the wall, however, so the view through vanished. With a shake of her head, she hung Kit on her belt.

Thron gaped at her.

She froze. “Oh…wow. I… I didn’t even think before doing that. I wanted to bring my sanctum with me, and I acted without considering.”

He closed his mouth. “That’s…that will be insanely useful. You can keep the whole thing with you at all times?”

“So it seems.”

-Smooth, Tala. Really keeping the suspicion to a minimum.-

Hush, you.

They found Be-thric nearby, seeming just having finished his dinner, if the servants carrying empty dishware away from his table were any indication.

His eyes immediately snapped to Tala’s hip and the pouch there. “Interesting. It retained the ability to take that form?”

Tala nodded her head in acknowledgement. “It just felt right, and when I grabbed the doorframe…” She shrugged.

“That is a wonderful ability. I am glad it will be easy to keep with you.”

“Thank you, Pillar.”

Thron bowed. “My Pillar, Eskau Tali has granted me use of this fount. Would you authorize the acquisition of a means of purification, so that I can utilize the power source within?”

Be-thric considered for a long moment. “Yes, I think that would be a wise use of the thing.”

“I’m right here. Either talk to me or break me and set me free.”

Tala suppressed the unhappy feeling in her chest at the orb’s words.

The Pillar shook his head and continued to address Thron. “Find a way to muzzle it, too. It should have sufficient power to keep you in reasonable shape, even in sparselands, yes?”

“Yes, Pillar Be-thric.”

“Good, then be gone. See that it is done.”

The dwarf bowed to the Pillar, then to Tala. As he turned to depart, Tala had a thought.

“Thorn?”

He stopped. “Yes, Eskau?”

“Try to find the creators of that sphere. If you can, you might be able to make use of it more efficiently, as they will know the design intimately.”

Be-thric gave her an acknowledging nod. “That is an excellent suggestion, my Eskau.”

Thron bowed again. “As you suggest.”

Without another word, he departed.

“I am glad that my little gift has worked so well for you. The ‘defenseless human’ look suits you.”

I have no idea how I should take that… Tala looked down at her hands and nodded. “It will make me less conspicuous, thank you.”

“Of course. We can’t have you scaring away your targets before they are slain, now can we?” He smiled menacingly.

“No, Pillar.”

“Here. This is for you.” Be-thric tossed her a pouch.

She caught it.

“We really need to work on your lethality in general. Those should help.”

Tala hefted the bag, examining it on her palm. It was incredibly heavy for its size. There was a subtle power coming from the contents within.

“Well? Don’t just stare at the outside. Open the bag.”

Tala opened it and found it filled with one-inch spheres. By their coloring and weight, she would guess that they were tungsten. “Pillar?”

“They are impressed with a very simple working. They use practically no power at all. They do one simple thing: They magically mark every particle of a given sphere with a number impressed into the magic around them, unique from the others.”

Her eyes widened. “That means—”

“Precisely. You can simply target the material with that signature, and even if one of the spheres is massively deformed, or even split, your working will not fail. Begin untargeted ramp up on as many of those as you reasonably can.”

She did so, only trusting herself to implement the working on four. That is…genius.

-It really is a perfect complement to how we use our power.-

Being able to ramp up four was an improvement, and she suspected she could have done more, but her control was the thing in question now, not her power. The escalation begun, she asked, “What is the nature of the meeting?”

“We are going to convince a candidate Eskau to defect from another House. After our attack on the first, he won’t come unguarded, and when he agrees, we will need to delay his guards and prevent them from killing him.”

And if he refuses, we will need to kill them all, quickly.

As they began walking, Be-thric continued. “I selected this candidate because our information indicates that he is unhappy with his master. He is also not favored to win in any potential succession. We offer a reasonably high-level position, protection, and luxury, and I am confident he will join us.”

As they reached the gate, he glanced down at her hand and hissed in irritation.

“They should have switched you out to a gold key-ring already. We’ll sort that out when we return. It’s a disgrace.’

Tala just nodded. “As you wish.”

He then looked to Terry, still on her shoulder. “I am glad that you’ve taken to your pet so well, but he should await you in your sanctum.”

Tala glanced at Terry, then held Kit open. “In, Terry.”

Terry trilled, a slightly grumpy note to his call before he hopped off her shoulder and straight into Kit.

Tala closed the pouch behind him.

Be-thric nodded, smiling once more. “His training seems to be coming along very well. It is gratifying to see your success in the taming of one lesser than you.”

“Thank you, Pillar.”

Their meeting was a little way into the city, and they set out through the streets without delay.

Tala held the four balls in her hands as they walked, two in each hand, continuing to pump power into them. She could tell that the compounding factor was greater than it had ever been.

-And with the untargeted ramp up? Almost any fight you can prep for is going to be a lot easier.-

That’s the truth.

-Assuming we remember to prep.-

Yeah, yeah. She did not dwell on her failure to do just that before the last encounter with an Eskau candidate.

That was then, this was now, and Tala would be ready for whatever this encounter brought.

As it turned out, the meeting was near the edge of a large park.

There were two stone benches, facing each other across a ten-foot-wide path. A young man sat on the far bench, flanked by eight armed and armored warriors.

The candidate Eskau was a species that neither Tala, nor Tali, had ever seen in person. He had no hair on his head, slick, almost rubbery skin, large eyes with exaggeratedly expanded pupils, and webbing between his fingers.

He didn’t seem like a beast-folk, but he could just be of an animal that Tala was unaware of.

The guards with him were a mix of various blue hue-folk and aquatic beast-folk. There was even one shark-man, who was terrifyingly gigantic, standing at least ten feet tall and looming over the rest of them from behind the group.

Tala made a call, then, and began a fifth ramp up within the bench beneath the candidate Eskau, making sure to reach through the ground and the dimensions of magic to get a firm lock, despite the auras of authority blanketing the area around the item in question.

-Oh, that’s clever, I like it.-

Her bloodstars were already in their combat configuration, two orbiting her head, her bar behind her neck with a third bloodstar locked into position above it, the sphere before her sternum, and her discs in staggered orbit around her. She called out a fourth bloodstar drop and raised it higher and higher, slowly gaining a better vantage. And a potential anchor.

-Well planned, Tala.-

Thank you.

Be-thric spoke first, even as the candidate rose to his feet. “Candidate Cuan, I am grateful that you were willing to meet with me.”

The candidate gave a slight bow. “Pillar Be-thric, there is no animosity between the House of the Turbulent Ocean and the House of Blood. Why would I refuse?”

Be-thric smiled as they both sat, Tala taking up a position behind and to Be-thric’s left. “Your guards’ presence says you are worried.”

Cuan didn’t dispute the statement. “You are a new Pillar, assembling your armaments. Every candidate in the region would be wise to step lightly.”

Be-thric nodded his acknowledgement.

Cuan turned his oddly dilated eyes towards Tala. “I have not had the pleasure of formally meeting your Eskau. She is human, yes? And she wears an illusion of surpassing quality.”

Tala glanced toward Be-thric as she knew Tali would have, and he gave her a nod of approval.

Be-thric’s written instructions, which came with the through-spike, had hinted at how she might turn off the illusion. She, of course, already knew how, but that inclusion gave her a reason for Tali to be able to do it.

She grinned at the candidate sitting across from them. “I am Eskau Tali.”

She nodded slightly in a sign of acknowledgement, and Cuan returned the gesture.

“As to my illusion?” Her grin widened maliciously. “I don’t wish to scare the populace.”

With a flex of magic, nearly identical to how she controlled her elk-leathers, she disabled the illusion.

Every one of Cuan’s guards instantly drew their weapons, but Cuan held up a hand, leaning forward. “Remarkable.”

Tala shrugged, pulling on Tali’s memories for the best responses. “An Eskau is merely a reflection.”

Cuan had grimaced at her words, just slightly, and nodded before completing the saying, “A Pillar is the mirror.”

Tala had no idea what the saying was meant to convey, and Tali hadn’t either, amusingly enough.

She released the working, and her illusion returned her to a normal appearance, a human appearance.

The guards reluctantly resheathed their weaponry.

Be-thric cleared his throat. “Now that the important parties are thoroughly introduced and greetings have been exchanged…?”

Cuan nodded. “We can discuss business. What do you want of my master?”

Be-thric shook his head. “No, no. That is not the way we should handle this at all. First, I will tell you what we are offering.”

That caught the candidate off guard, and he straightened, clearly intrigued. “Go on.”

Tala scanned the guards. None were of a higher race. They were low level enforcers, likely intended to keep lesser threats away from the candidate Eskau while Cuan dealt with other heavy hitters. That makes sense.

“We offer wealth, protection, advancement, and an honorary place in the House of Blood.”

Cuan frowned. “You wish to unite our Houses, somehow? My master is not yet a Pillar, and even if he were, a title in another House would not be…”—he shook his head—“You know all of this. What are you playing at? What do you want of my master?”

Be-thric grinned. “That is where there has been a…misunderstanding. We don’t want anything of your master. We wish you to leave your House and join ours, bringing your protian weapon with you.”

The guards behind Cuan froze, processing what Be-thric had just said, their eyes widening in shock.

Be-thric grinned. “Choose quickly, or I fear your guards might try to choose for you.”

Tala could practically see the calculations running through the candidate’s head. Then, a small smile pulled at his lips, fully revealing his pointed teeth for the first time, and he spoke quickly, “Advancement to Honored, and a hold of my own in another city.”

“Done.” Be-thric clapped his hands.

The sound seemed to break the general tension of the situation as everyone began moving at once.

The guards reached for and began to draw their weapons.

Cuan started to stand, moving away from the guards behind him.

Be-thric lowered his hands to his lap.

Tala targeted the fifth ramp up, the one she had been building in the bench beneath Cuan, at her bloodstar, some dozen feet overhead.

The slab which was the top of the stone bench ripped itself free, picking up the startled candidate and flinging him upward and towards Be-thric and Tala.

Tala immediately broke the working, and the bench dropped, slamming into and skidding across the ground.

Cuan had enough presence of mind to tuck his legs against his chest as he and the bench landed heavily.

Be-thric had to lift his feet to avoid the stone hitting him.

The Pillar gave her an amused look, even as he rocked forward, placing his feet down and standing on the now stationary benchtop.

The guards had once again frozen in surprise.

Tala stepped forward, knowing her role.

There were eight guards, and she had four stones. She knew which four she’d kill with the stones, she’d even likely get a double-kill with one stone, as the guards were nicely lined up at the moment. Even so, she had one thing to try first.

“Guards of the House of the Turbulent Ocean, you have a choice: Return to your House and report the lawful defection of your candidate Eskau or die here at my hand.”

The guards looked at one another, her appearance under the illusion was clearly still in their minds. Well, and the fact that I just ripped a few hundred pound stone from the ground with seemingly no effort.

-They have no way of knowing if that was you or Be-thric, though.-

That’s… fair.

Behind Tala, she heard, and saw thanks to her mirrored perceptions, Cuan hand Be-thric a glove which radiated the power and magic of a protian weapon. Then, the two simply began walking back towards the House of Blood’s hold.

One of the guards called out, “Hey! You can’t just leave.”

Cuan didn’t look back, but Tala heard Be-thric reassure him that his Eskau had things handled.

She sighed. “Alright, make your choice. I don’t wish to stand here all day.”

The apparent leader barked an order. “Our charge is being taken by another House, defend! C group, breakaway and report.”

Tala shrugged. “As you wish.”

Even as two of the guards turned to sprint away, Tala directed her workings to their targets, and the balls were ripped from her hands.

The air snapped as the projectiles easily broke the sound barrier in the first foot of travel. She’d ramped them up incredibly high.

Six of the guards dropped in various states of death, including one of those who had turned to run.

One of the tungsten balls had been deflected enough off the spine of the shark-man that it had killed one of those Tala hadn’t accounted for.

“Huh.” She immediately began ramping up untargeted gravity on four more balls, just in case.

-That was a bit sloppy.-

Two heads had simply burst apart, one more had clean holes punched through, and the final three had lethal wounds through various parts of their chests.

I’m glad that vital organs are in generally the same places. To be safe, she’d hit the least human targets in the head. Brain obliteration is a fairly reliable kill.

Tala began walking forward, even as the last runner turned back in horror, having only taken a couple of steps before his friends fell. The shark-man made a particularly resonant thump as he hit the ground

The last man still standing to face her had skin of alternating orange and white, a more bulbous head, and several other clearly aquatic oriented features. Some sort of fish-man?

His sword trembled in his hand, but even so, he stepped to his left, putting himself between the runner and her.

That was brave, a little stupid, but still brave.

“Shoo.” Tala waved for them to go. “I had no ill will, here. I offered to let you go, so go.”

The runner took off, and when she made no hostile move, the final guard turned and followed as quickly as he was able, only occasionally looking back her way.

Tala dropped Kit on the ground, and it opened in the form of a simple square hole.

With relative ease, she dumped each of the bodies through that hole. That done, she replaced the pouch on her belt.

There was some blood on the ground and the bench was wildly out of place, but otherwise, things looked as they had before.

With a sigh, Tala bent and righted the stone blocks that had supported the benchtop.

Then, with a surprising strain, she was able to lift the slab and carry it back, returning it to its proper place.

“There.” Tala dusted her hands off on each other and turned, walking quickly, but not rushing, to catch up with Be-thric and Caun.

Two armor pieces down. Only seven more to go.

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

william wallace, Midnight Harbinger, Seth Bryant, Silberwolf325, Grimizen, Alex Griffin, Nick Tinsley, Isaac Deroche, Yenin, Jonathan Timm, Ray Robitaille, Memnochian, aantonides ., Alex, Andrew Holland, Angela Kimova, Archivist0, Austin Woodard, B C, Bacon Macleod, Baldur Norddahl, BossDawg, Christian Kenney, Colin Ford, Cyrus McEnnis, David Turner, Dire Wolf, dotAlice, Enaz the great, Enif, Eric, Erling Egilsson, evilperson41, Frank, Geoff, George Hicken, Gremlin, Gull, Gustav Burkhardt, Haran, Ian Radspinner, IGS, Isaac Boyles, Jacob Ellis, James Walsh, Jedediah Wolfgang, Jeffery Nickelson, Jonah of the Whale, just_a_potato, Justin Reagan, Kai, Kamren Livingston, Keira Wulfe, Kirvin, Krikor Chichadjian, Leendert Kortlever, Logan, Lyael, Marcus Pehan, Margus234, Mark Dolson, Matt M, Matthew, Matthew Davis, Max Gustavson, Megacheez, Noah Morris, noah stevens, nugitoBambino, OlivierA, PaleMire, peter mattoon, Randy Klein, Redbeard, rizen, Robert P, Robert z, Robin Richards, Rutger Boll, Ryan Naquin, Sean McCrohan, sedael, Shakez44, Solar, someguy, Taliesin, TheLazerCat, Thomas Goyne, Thomas Stewart, Travis McHenry, Travis McIntosh, WarNachos, WhisperInTheVoid, William Priess, xIron Gamerx, Z. Cs., Disclancer, MoneyTree, Samuel McCarren, FieryFern, Ocean Breeze, Matt M, Hazza Vanderbyl, Brian, NaughtyPaws, daniel edery, Tyler, Derek, Irisa, klabuster, Maggi von Da, Maksim, Rachel Prochner, Jo, Matt S., Onill007, Primordi, RageBone, Michael, Viria, GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Hibou Ronchon, MePe, Oliverthms, Cristi Palincas, Arnfinn Gjorvad, Kenyaa, Nikolaj Rosander Madsen, Aaron Sofaer, Aclys, Adrian Gorgey, Alex, AverageGuy, Bricyn Abel, chad ensey, Chris, Cole Nyquist, David Brims, DeusCap, devarian, Doomerjunky, Dorian Grizzle, Dr.Quick, Ell Lan, Gamecats, Jake Pellegrini, James, Jarrod Manzer, Jason Morse, Jeff Gault, Jeremy James, Joe Smith, John Hadel, Joseph, Kaeson, kenneth, Lachlan Priest, M, MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, Melting Sky, Michael Mooney, Nathan Fahrenbach, Nhnnh, Oakenbear, Pedro Derze, RottenTangerine, Ryan Tran, Skarsol, Steven C, ThreatLvlPurple, Timothy Burago, tlove, Vikram Ahluwalia, Zanthras, dennis malatesta, Andrew Goudie, Sekander, Chris Hibbert, John 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reafan, Zrell, Mohammad Muzhaffar Bin Omar, Aaron Greene, adam1, Alex Foster, Andrew C Kerr, Andrius, C Howard, Ceeney, Chris Mantakounis, Clayton Carson, Dave, DeathOfOld, Findell, gokief, Grumlen, Gunnar Crider, Jacob trent, Jasen Nichols, Joseph Sutherland, karmaslap, Levi Cox, Lindsay W., Mechrono, Meierfrac, Noshei, Patrick Blatti, Rich Webb, Robert Mullins, Tom Roettger, Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, AnthraxRipple, Aria, Braincase, BrilliantDawn, Bunny Waffles, Calvin, Dan, Darkhelm, David Joseph Pascua, Dominic Weibel, Feltenix, Greg Shields, Jered McCullough, Justin, Kovak, Laila, Marcus Adams, mdapkins, Monte949, Pigeonpie, rintaun, SaltyVigilante, Samuel Patterson, zachary gafken, Oliver Firoozan, Alex Wilson, TurmRIC, Connor Beeson, Elias Leutgeb, Cirex123, Jan Joost Sijbesma, Apotheosis As A Service, Thernn, ajcaspers, Mr. Finch, Arhsnag, Asael Sklar, Chloe Winter, closeded, Cordelia, Dylan, ElodinGale, Jason Johnson, Kiran, minicheatbook, Omar Wazir, patrick seim, Pieter-Jan 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Mage:

Max Oberg, Ian Anderson, Joshua John Wallace, Carya Galabra, Jackson Ragland, Scott Holt, tachi-kawa, Colton Rutherford, Pigeon F, Lasse Pedersen, al, Alexander Belousov, Gert Wallis, Mathias Schwendimann, Setaria, Jan, Anton Selling, Fabian, Gleadge, ulrik aaby, Carl Clements, mallix, Cybernetic Angel, GopherAtl, James Hadfied, Jason Case, Jeremy Leonard, Michael Anaya, NebulaeDreamz, Deneas, Aaron Lewis, Harold Teunisse, Irakli Jishkariani, James Knight, Jeremy, Jonny, SnowingSilently, Taylor, Michael Bradet-Legris, Gemyma, MeatyLock, Dustin, jacob britt, Jamison Schneider, Jon Nay, Digdug, Patrick Cole, Sid_Cypher, Therese Brock von Rein, Finn Freudenberg, Mathieu Deg, Anonymous, Chris Olsen, roflkong3, dylan penlington, Gurditt Mangat, Eric Trombly, Sage, Josh, Nicholas Kelly, Ford Yeager, Not Real, Raistlin, santor25, Barrie Davis, Error, Nefraak, Marcus148, JauPim, ToffiTee, Leonhard MÃ¼nzer, Brett Muras, Lupusregina, Michael F., Lorcogoth, Tao Wong, Al Bi, Appl, Cody Caliguiri, Eciefae4, ensou, Leon Silva, Max Weidmer, Michael, Paul Jones, SZ, Two Cats, Jonathan Lodge, Spencer Burke, Star Sword, Kitty kat

Mageling:

Alexander Graber-Tilton, DANTE, Ivo Havener, BurnNote, Lonewolf, SomethingWicked, Tyler, Piotr, Zagig, pope benedict, Reminder, Charles, Calle, Dave Burkett, Matt DiMeo, Michael kim, Robert Rosenthal, Luka Lageschaar, Joost Boere, Isaac Larkin, ben, Chris K, Hamo4, Pawaidan, emphes, moniker, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Stefan Rabenstein, AndromedaStar, chimerarara, Frozen, GSH, industriousrevolution, Lucas E Burgan, Russell Black, Sam Mullen, Alternative Facet, Faris Bissex, Judy Halloran, WanderingArchitect, Austin McGue, Stan Snijder, Kirsty, Jeff berman, Benjamin Buco, Shad0wlife, Sven Paulson, derek giandolfi, Eythan Hayashi, Pyrite, ttuurrhh, Daniel Marko, HÃ¥vard, David H, Shaun Skelton, Hallan Savage, Aren, Daniel, Delilah, Harris, Joseph White, KB, Moreldarin, Nick, nick v, nicolo maso, OmegaHebrew, Richard Heying, Skelethin, SpiderStuck, Kyle Smith, John, Jonathon Hagedorn, Kagge91, Michael Ireland, Allen Roberts, David Yang, Fuzzycakes

Inscribed:

Dax, fennek, Tandroll, Chase128, Trevor Walker, Federico Petrin, Ross Doyle, nikrowd, Alastair Dent, Eric Mueller, Isaac Fratti, Ari Mononen, Dylan, Harley Waldstein, Jonathan, Dennis Bollyn, George Lanetz, Paul Lorenz, Sam Ford, ShadowCub, PeM, Mqrius, Moses Lambert, LÃ©o Viarouge, jaylu, Benjamin Piribauer, James A. Hunter, Chris, Christopher Cha, Diana Kelly, Reece Zieschang, Wacjob, Joshua Michael Royalty, KYLE MANN, Twig

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Chapter: 220 - One Simple Question

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Pride mystic artificer, Maxine, Emersen, Damon Roberts

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala stood to one side as Sanguis, Be-thric, and Cuan talked.

The two pillars were acting surprisingly cordial with the former candidate Eskau. They’d even ordered a late morning spread of food to be brought to share.

Pallaun had briefly walked by and told her they needed to talk soon, but he was off to fulfill some city-mandated duty.

I suppose I will probably have those too, soon.

-It would have been nice of Be-thric to tell Tali what those might be…-

That’s the truth.

She did not participate in the discussion between the three, though it was happening close by.

She wasn’t excluded from the conversation, in fact they’d asked her to join, but she’d requested to be allowed to stand watch off to one side.

It’s what Tali would have done. And she didn’t want to be closer to the Pillars than she had to be.

-Yeah fewer chances for you to have violent thoughts about the man who kidnapped you. The one who wiped your mind and forced you to—-

Not helping, Alat.

-Fine, fine. I’ll leave you to it.-

Her request made Sanguis laugh. “Pallaun would have requested the same thing if he hadn’t had the excuse of an assignment. The man hates politicking.”

And so she was allowed to abstain from the final negotiations.

It really was odd, Sanguis and Be-thric were treating Cuan as if he still had the protian weapon to give, even though it never left Be-thric’s hand.

They could just kick him to the curb, right? They have what they want.

-Ahh, but then who would deal with them in the future? An enemy who can be trusted may one day become an ally, but an ally known for deceit and dishonor is destined to become an enemy.-

…You pulled that from Tali.

-Of course. Be-thric tried to instill all his basic beliefs into her, so she is a perfect resource for understanding his actions.-

I suppose. Even so, she had no real interest in listening to the conversation so near at hand. Instead, her focus was on her own power and aura.

The magic within her was continuing to build, somehow.

Her power was, quite literally, ripping her apart.

That same magic was also fueling her healing scripts, so she was coming back together just as quickly, but it was still agonizing.

She’d experienced some of that when the gate-breaking device was first removed, but this was so much worse. It also seemed unending as her power density continued to climb.

-Thron did say your density would rise as a result of the gate-breaking.-

Rust that dwarf. This hurts.

-But it is doing what he said it would, and we agreed. He did literally nothing wrong.-

Fine…

She needed to be reinscribed soon. The strain put on her scripts by the extra power was monumental.

I need to find a way of mitigating that, too.

Eventually, the three finished their discussions, each looking rather pleased in the end.

It was lawful for a candidate to change houses, and the proper procedures would be followed. The House of the Tormented Ocean would be angry, they might even demand compensation, but it would be minor compared to the value of a protian weapon.

If they tried to demand that back, or something of truly equal value, it would start an inter-house war. They all knew that they’d have done the same if they could. They probably had in other cities when their own Pillars were raised up.

It was just the way things were.

A nod from Be-thric was all that Tala needed to consider herself dismissed, and she quickly departed.

She weaved through the hold, not going anywhere in particular, just letting her feet guide her. She was focused inward still. Finally, she found herself in a garden that she didn’t really recognize.

Good enough. It had been requested that she only place her sanctum entrance in one of the gardens, rather than a hallway or random room.

She looked around, and saw an out of the way wall, tucked just behind some ornamental trees. There was still a path back there, but it was out of the way.

There. I shouldn’t be obtrusive, here.

Once there, she tossed Kit against the out-of-the-way wall. As she’d expected, it became a door that seemed to have always been there, blending with the wall and the aesthetic of the place.

Satisfied, she strode through the door, and it swung shut behind her.

-What was all that for?-

All what?

-You just made the entrance to Kit really hard to find.-

Did I? I’m not really paying attention.

Alat sighed. -Fine, fine. Let’s get this sorted.-

Her desire had caused the door to open onto her platform, and the entrance vanished as soon as it closed, the internal end returning to the bunker of an entrance building a short way away.

She stripped, shed her iron paint with a quick aspect-mirror, and the flakes of iron paint vanished before they could hit the ground.

Now free of restriction, her aura blasted outward into the sanctum around her, followed closely by a torrent of her power.

The manifestations of magic around her faded quickly, and she let out a gasp of relief as her power density dropped, she stopped destroying herself with her own overcharged magics, and her body equalized back into perfect health.

She shuddered one last time, having almost gotten used to the odd sensations that were now gone.

As soon as her power filled her aura and began extending beyond, Kit sucked it out of the air.

I need to fill Kit anyways.

-Oh, undoubtedly. This is the perfect place to practice.-

But first, I need to be reinscribed and reinforce them.

-Wise.-

What specific command would be best? She thought back to the small booklet that she’d read, while trying to distract herself, early in the gate-breaking process.

-I think: ‘Rebuild my Inscriptions’ would be best, so long as you focus on their ability to handle high throughput when you give the command.-

“Rebuild my Inscriptions.”

From countless holes around the platform, metal streamed out in fine threads.

Tala quickly retracted magic from her defenses and stood ready.

An agonizing minute later, she was gasping with remembered pain, sheathed in blood, and trembling.

Her inscriptions were refreshed and reinforced.

Handling greater throughput simply meant that more metal had been used, strategically, at junction points and divergences.

The scripts and their purposes hadn’t changed one iota.

This wonder of magical artifice could not create anything new, or alter what she had, not substantively. It could only recreate what she knew had been there and tweak some basic things.

-Very good. It’s not a complete solution, but it will help.-

With a quick aspect mirror of the elk-leather’s magic onto her skin, she shimmied slightly, and a cascade of blood fell free…where it was instantly absorbed by Kit.

Well… that was expected but still quite disturbing.

-What did you want to happen?-

I honestly didn’t think about it beforehand.

Before she could think too deeply on the idea of Kit whisking away her blood to who in zeme knew where, she decided it was time to practice.

So, she reformed her clothing, sat upon her throne, and strove to master her power and her aura once more.

It was nearly six hours before Tala felt the entrance to her sanctum open, and shortly after, Thron came out of the defensive structure it now naturally rested in. He looked… quite irritated.

“Here you are!”

“Of course, I’m here. Where else would I be?”

He shook his head, waving her off. “I knew you were in your sanctum, Tali. Why did you hide the entrance?”

She opened her mouth to deny the accusation, then paused, remembering Alat asking the very same thing. “Oops?”

He growled. “I’ve been looking for you for hours.”

“I apologize.” She stood and gave a slight bow. “I didn’t consider that when I placed the door.”

“You didn’t consider…” He placed his face in his hands and rubbed furiously for a moment. “Tali, it was in a random garden that no one had ever seen you visit before, tucked behind some trees, and blending in perfectly with the surroundings. I only happened on it by chance when I was seeking out a master caretaker to pull plans for the whole hold, so we could find the extra door!”

Tala blanched, grimacing in sympathy. “I apologize, Thorn. It was done thoughtlessly. I had no intention of making things difficult for you.”

He grimaced slightly, then shook his head. “It’s fine, I suppose. Just irritating. I certainly know the main hold a lot better than I have any rights to, now.”

She laughed at that, then frowned again. Tala did genuinely feel bad. “I really am sorry.”

He waved her off. “No matter. Please do try not to do it again?”

“Could we find some way of letting you find my sanctum at need?”

Thron paused at that. “That’s… actually an excellent idea. I’ll see what I can figure out. In the meantime, I’ll go get some food heading our way, now that I know where you are. We missed lunch and dinner should have been eaten nearly an hour ago.”

She sighed, nodding. “That sounds wonderful. I am pretty hungry.”

Thron nodded and turned.

“Here, let me.” With a thought, the exit appeared right next to Thron.

“Thank you. Could you move it to the dining room, after I leave?”

“Consider it done.”

The dwarf departed, and Tala did as he’d asked, then scratched the back of her head. Oops.

-Yeah, that was pretty inconsiderate of us. I did try to warn you. Though, to be fair, I didn’t consider Thron finding us as a problem.-

Yeah. I’m just not used to Kit being public knowledge. I think I just naturally found an out of the way place without considering it beyond that.

Tala looked around herself, at her aura and power kept within arm’s reach.

This, she could maintain.

She was slowly pulling it in, holding it as tightly as she could sustain, and any closer would cause the strain to quickly overwhelm her.

It was progress.

I won’t make a whole room of mundanes uncomfortable anymore.

-You’d knock them out, Tala.-

No, I don’t think it’s that bad.

-I suppose I don’t have hard numbers on what would happen. You might be right, but let’s not test it.-

Fair enough.

She hopped off the north side of the platform and entered the large archway into the common area of her home.

To the right and left of that entrance, on the outside, were her room and the entrance to the guest wing, respectively.

Before her, the kitchen and dining space were on her left and the library and other areas to the right. The door in and out of the sanctum was against the eastern wall of the dining area.

The north and west walls of the space held large windows, giving a pleasant view of the surrounding terrain.

A small river ran between her and the forest in the near distance. From the throne a couple of dozen feet behind her, the edge of the sanctum was only a bit more than seven thousand feet away.

Two-and-three-quarters miles across, or a little more. It was massive, but still felt small.

The false sun, which was moving towards the western horizon, could support and control the weather cycles of a hold up to nearly nine miles across, give or take.

A part of that control was keeping the air balanced as breathable for the animals that now lived within the sanctum, and such that the plants could grow with ease. The previous iteration of this hold had had some scripts which performed that function, but such a critical thing being left to inscriptions was another sign of the cheapness of its original construction.

In fact, if she remembered correctly, the balance of the contained atmosphere was biased a bit towards the plant side of that equation, to help everything get thoroughly established.

The door opened behind her, as she continued to stare out at her lands, and they were hers.

She smiled. So long as Kit and I don’t get into a spat.

Servants moved on nearly silent feet behind Tala, but she knew they were there.

Not only were her bloodstars in their positions, but she could feel them moving around within Kit.

If she focused, she could feel the animals, too, but that was harder. Sapient creatures, truly thinking beings, made more of an impression with Kit, and so were easier to focus on.

She had a thought. Where is that cat?

She wasn’t able to find it quickly, so she gave up, turning to thank the men and women of various races as they departed.

“Thank you for bringing this to me. I regret that you had a farther trip from the central kitchens.”

They stopped as she addressed them, then bowed or curtsied in acknowledgement before departing.

Thron waited until they’d all exited to enter, and as the door closed behind him, it vanished. He was carrying a keg under one arm, and Tala thought she saw wisps of power that didn’t quite look like magic moving from the keg to Thron.

He glanced back over his shoulder and shook his head. “Makes a fellow feel trapped, but I suppose I’ll get used to it, eventually.”

Tala nodded distractedly. The spread of food was even larger than usual. “What’s all this for?”

“Two meals?”

“Oh! Right… I do apologize again.”

Thron waved her away as he tapped a large keg for himself.

“Acid?”

“Yes indeed.”

“And you’re already draining it?”

“Of course! Else it would eat through the container.”

A muffled voice drifted out of one of Thron’s pockets. “You could always drop me in. I’m sure that would suppress it for a time."

Thron looked to the ceiling as he took long breath and let it out slowly. “Rob. I’m not going to destroy you. I just spent a small fortune to make you useful.”

Tala frowned. “A fortune?”

“A small one. Not nearly as much as a new fount would have cost.”

“Is that why the power coming off of him is pure?”

“Pure enough to draw in predators, seeking to devour me. I thank you for your gift.”

Thron shook his head, ignoring Rob. “Yup. It’s a purification cage. His creator, whoever it was, couldn’t be found. Rob was probably an experiment the craftsman unloaded for cheap.”

“Ahhh, yes. Bethany was a horrible owl.”

Tala’s eyebrows went up, but before she could comment, Thron shook his head. “He’s just making things up, or listing people he’s met before. I followed the first two ‘leads.’ One took me to a grocer who caters to the lowest races, and the other to a grave of someone who died sixty years ago.”

“Ahhh, Augustis. You would have made a fine emperor, if only there were an empire for you to rule.”

She gave the dwarf a puzzled look. “Did you break him?”

“No, he’s been…odd all day. Ever since I took him out of the hold for the first time. Remember that?”

“Vaguely. He said something about the main hold still being a limited reality.”

“Yeah, ever since he’s been making asinine observations, as well as requesting self-destruction.”

Tala shrugged. “If he really wanted to end himself, he could.”

“Correction, oh false face for a false face. I am but a veneer over that which does not wish to die.”

She stared at Thron’s pocket mouth open. “What did you say?”

Rob didn’t respond.

Thron shook his head again. “He called me a barely bearded bumbling buffoon earlier. He’s just trying to find reasons for us to break him, but he’s right. He isn’t the fount, though he is part of the magics that regulate it. His desires to end himself are not at all a reflection on what the fount, within, might want.”

“Huh.”

They finally sat then, digging into their food.

About halfway through the meal for Tala, and three mugs of somehow-alcoholic-acid for Thron, after his dinner of course, Thron cleared his throat.

“So, we’ve a lot to work on with your abilities. I have the basic overview, and I’ve reviewed it thoroughly, but I have some questions. Pallaun is coming by in a bit as well. He completed his obligations, and there are some things he wants to discuss with you.”

Tala grunted her assent, and Thron dove into a litany of inquiries about her abilities.

It actually became rather a pain, as Tala had to be careful to answer based on Tali’s memories and knowledge, rather than her own.

Finally, in the end, he asked one simple question that she had never considered. It was a frustrating reminder of how Be-thric had provided a similar insight, but this was too important to focus on that.

“Alright. So, if you can hold off on selecting a target while you ramp up your power—”

“Only for a time. Holding a targetless working gets much harder the longer it is held.”

“Yes, for a time. If you can do that, can you change the target of the attraction, after it is in place?”

She opened her mouth, then paused, her eyes widening.

-Oh. Oh! Oh…-

Yeah… That… that could change everything.

Thron grinned. “I’m really hoping that’s a ‘Yes?’”

Tala, without a word, pulled out two of the balls that Be-thric had given her earlier that day.

She first ramped down their attraction towards the ground until it was effectively zero, then ramped their attraction up towards each other.

Thron drank his acid and didn’t press her for a verbal response. Instead, he watched the two balls sitting on the table, as Tala went back to eating.

A few minutes later, the two balls were pressed against one another, and Tala thought that the power of the attraction was sufficient.

She stood, picking up the balls and walking towards the doorway. “Coming, Thorn?”

He hopped out of his chair, hot on her heels. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

They exited out, back near the central raised platform.

With a thought, Tala called a stone block into existence from somewhere else in the sanctum.

With cautious optimism, she held out her hand, palm up, with the tungsten spheres resting there. She then pulled her hand away, and they remained, floating in place.

They would begin drifting downward soon enough, but it wasn’t noticeable yet.

She reached out mentally and seized the magic with her will.

She could feel the target each ball had for the other, the attraction, the pull.

She didn’t fight against the strength of it. She didn’t reduce it, and she certainly didn’t increase it.

Instead, she grabbed the directing end of each and pushed. She imagined dislodging the targeting.

Instantly, she felt like she had a viper in her hands. Two, in fact.

The targeting was untethered, and trying to latch onto anything around them.

Tala grit her teeth and forced the targeting onto the stone before her. One connected as she wanted, the other slipped free of her mental fingers at the last instant and grabbed onto something closer.

With a double crack through the air, the stone block exploded, destroying the target of that lock, and breaking the working.

The second sphere hit its goal much faster. It seemed that she was envisioning her control too much as a hand, and the targeting aspects locked onto that. Tala screamed as the tungsten blasted through her own right hand.

Punching through her under-powered elk-leather defenses, her enhanced skin and bone, and back out the other side through another set of each.

The ball then slammed into the ground below and behind her, but not hard enough to crack the stone, there. It was still accelerating towards her hand, damaged or not.

It had left a ragged hole through her palm which was already beginning to close as Tala dropped to her knees, seizing the working laid on the tungsten sphere with her aura and treated it like a hostile Mage’s spell. She crushed the power within the tungsten, suppressing the magical marking, and causing the working to lose its hold.

The slightly misshapen orb of metal dropped to the floor with a ping.

Thron had jumped back, and while stone fragments had gone in every direction, those that had come their way had simply vanished under the influence of a working that Thron wrought between them and the previously stationary stone block.

Ow…That really, really hurt.

-Yeah, that really did.-

Thron looked her up and down as she knelt there, staring at her newly repaired hand. “Are you alright?”

“Ow.”

“Did I see one punch through your hand?”

“You did.”

“What happened?”

“Target lock slipped.”

He grunted. “Could have been worse.”

She grunted in return.

They stared at the slowly settling cloud of dust until Kit seemingly sucked it all up, leaving the courtyard and dais completely clean once more.

Target switching was dangerous.

It could easily get someone killed or something destroyed unintentionally if she wasn’t careful.

But, most importantly of all?

It had worked.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 221 - The House’s Sword

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Ben Morgan, ciaran mullen, Damon Roberts, Emersen, Joshua Sydney, Maxine, Noelle, PatronTurtle, Pride mystic artificer, Sakari Saastamoinen

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala and Thron shared a brief long look, both seemingly considering the implications of Tala being able to switch targets on her gravity alterations.

As they stared at where the stone block had been, Rob made a throat clearing sound. “I bet that wouldn’t harm me. Let’s test.”

Thron closed his eyes and shook his head as Tala held in a laugh. In both cases, they did their best to ignore the orb.

And the existential crisis it invokes…

-Strength, Tala. We’ll find a way to help all the founts and vestiges, if and when we’re able.-

I know, but it’s still…odd.

-Oh, I know. Rob is very much like me, in a way. I’m glad that you’re still around, and that I’m not alone with just our soul for company.-

That…Tala hadn’t thought of it that way before, but Alat was right. I wonder if Rob is based on the person whose gate was stolen to make that vestige?

-We could ask at some point.-

When the time is right.

Finally, the dwarf broke the silence between them. “How hard is it to maintain the augmentation?”

Tala frowned. “I don’t maintain them, if they have a target. So long as the target and the modified object remain as I conceived of them, it should last forever.”

Thron blinked at her a few times. “Forever.”

“It should, yeah.”

He opened his mouth to comment, then closed it, frowning. Finally, he shook his head. “I don’t want to argue with you. Can you do a working, and we test that theory? You’ve said you’ve never tested how long it lasted, right?”

She shrugged. “No, I’ve never specifically tested it, but I haven’t needed to. Even so, I don’t mind verifying what I know.”

She pulled out two more of the new spheres and began ramping up their gravitational attraction towards each other as two separate workings.

As she was doing that, Terry appeared on her shoulder. “There you are. I’ve—”

A startled cry rose from Thron’s pocket. “It returns! The deep hunger has come for me…make it eat me or leave me alone!”

Thron patted his pocket. “None of that. You promised me silence. I’ve kept my promise. Have you kept yours?”

There was a pregnant pause. “Yes?”

“No. No you have not.”

“I’ll do better! I promise. In fact, I’ll start…now!”

Silence fell over them.

Thron grunted. “Fair enough.”

Tala turned to Terry. The bird was eyeing the dwarf’s pocket, but faced her when she began to speak, “Well? Where were you?”

He squawked with several descending notes then headbutted her and curled up.

“Hunting?”

He looked at her with one eye, imperiously.

“Hunting.” She grinned. “Glad you’re having fun, buddy.”

Thron shook his head. “You have emotionally bonded with that creature incredibly quickly. Are you sure you don’t have any magics towards that end? Some of the descriptions of your abilities were unhelpfully vague. I have a hard time grasping some of it, even after our recent discussion.”

Tala shrugged. “Nope. Nothing to enhance bonding, emotionally or otherwise.”

Terry had closed his eyes, but he let out a derisive trill.

“That’s rude, Terry.”

He cracked an eye open, giving her an incredulous look.

“Fine. I don’t actually know what you said.”

He closed his eye once again, and she would have sworn he wore a smug look.

Thron huffed a laugh. “You are an odd one.”—he paused for a moment, then shook his head—“Both of you are, now that I consider it.”

As Thron opened his mouth to ask something else, Tala held up her hand. “Eskau Pallaun is here.”

The obsidian skinned man walked out of the entrance bunker a moment later.

He wore black leather pants that somehow looked gray against his skin, and the bloodred of his protian gauntlet looked positively ruby at the end of his left arm.

As if a veil had been pulled back, memories from Tali came together with what Tala and Alat knew about conceptual magic and a realization struck her. Darkness. He wields the concept of darkness.

-OH! That makes so much sense.-

“Tala!” The man’s voice boomed out.

Tala froze, her heart rate picking up.

Thron gave her an odd look.

What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?

-Do what Tali would do.-

Tala cleared her throat and bowed, not having to fake the flush to her face. “It’s ‘Tali,’ Eskau Pallaun.”

The man stopped a few paces from her. “Was it? Are you sure?”

“That is my name.”

“Not Talb, Talia, or Tala-b?”

She frowned, genuinely confused. “Eskau Pallaun?”

He waved her off. “Forgive an old man his jokes.”

Does he want me to laugh? She chuckled nervously.

Thron was regarding her with consideration.

“Thron! Good to see you.”

“It’s ‘Thorn,’ Eskau Pallaun.” His words were a telling echo of Tala’s own.

Pallaun cocked an eyebrow. “Sticking with that disgrace?”

“He was my master, and I owe him much.”

The larger man shrugged. “It’s your choice, I suppose. But it is time for you to leave.”

“Eskau?”

“I want a private word with the new Eskau.”

Thron bowed. “With all due respect. This is Eskau Tali’s sanctum, and I am her attendant. I will not depart without her leave.”

The man smiled, his perfectly white teeth somehow looking black for a moment.

That makes no sense. Her mind was having trouble grasping the weight of his magical concept as conveyed by her magesight when overlaying her normal vision.

The two turned to regard Tala. She swallowed, then shook her head. “Thorn has duties, here. We can walk the sanctum, out of earshot, if privacy is a concern. I will not have him dismissed.”

Pallaun arched an eyebrow. “Well, that is a pleasant surprise.”

Thron bowed to Tala and to Pallaun. “Eskau. I will attend to my duties.”

The dwarf turned and went into the common building to the north of the dais.

Pallaun grinned. “I’d have killed him if he obeyed my order while in your sanctum.”

Tala’s eyes widened even as he placed a hand to his ear, as if listening for a reaction from the direction that Thron had gone.

“And he doesn’t listen in? You lucked into quite a wonderful servant, Eskau.”

Tala was feeling decidedly off balance. “Um, yes. I believe that I have.”

He nodded once. “Now, send away your pet. We need to talk alone.”

Tala glanced toward Terry, only to find the terror bird already rolling backwards off her shoulder. He landed deftly on the ground and sauntered off after Thron.

Pallaun didn’t comment on the fact that Terry had clearly understood him. “Now, we need to discuss your duties, going forward.”

That brought her focus back and gave her something to ground her swirling thoughts on. Yeah… I was wondering about those.

-They are pretty critical, as we are counting on them to safeguard us, if Be-thric ever discovers ‘Tali’s’ removal.-

“Oh?”

“I have been carrying your share of our duties while your initial upgrades were completed. I don’t know if you remember my checking on you while you were gate-breaking?”

She thought back. “Vaguely? I apologize, but nothing outside of myself and what I was going through really seemed important at the time.”

He grunted. “That’s fair. You did seem to be…otherwise occupied. Even so, the city is requiring more of the House of Blood, given that we have two Pillars, now. That has prestige and benefits, but also comes with more responsibilities. I am more than capable of doing the work of two Eskau."

He grinned, straightening his stance.

“But I won’t. There is much that I enjoy doing and the additional tasks are… boring.”

Well, that’s one way to shift responsibilities back to me. Even so, I don’t actually know what I’m supposed to be doing… She smiled, waiting for him to continue.

“You have no idea what the duties are.”

She hesitated, not wanting to show her ignorance, then shook her head. Tali doesn’t know either. “Not at all.”

Pallaun sighed. “As I suspected. You were raised in a little village on the outskirts, and when your Pillar brought you here, he was focused on training you to win, not for what came after.”

The obsidian man shook his head.

“I suppose I am to blame as well. We never discussed your impending duties when we sparred.”

Tala hesitantly nodded. “I am grateful for the focus on my survival. It seems to have yielded the best result possible.”

He laughed, the sound deep and full, like the rumbling of the earth beneath their feet.

Tala waited for him to finish, feeling awkward once again.

His mirth cut off abruptly. “As I was saying, your duties. You should know that an Eskau is the House’s Sword.”

“That is my understanding, yes.”

He gave a look that said: ‘Don’t interrupt.’

She closed her mouth and looked down at her hands.

His utterly black eyes seemed to fade into endless voids, momentarily highlighting just how inhuman he was.

He’s not just a man with different colored features. He is an arcane, through and through.

Tala kept herself from stepping back, but just barely.

If he noticed, he didn’t comment. He simply continued, “As one of the House’s Swords, you must contribute to the city. Those contributions fall into five categories. Now, be aware, this is in addition to the duties you have to the House itself, which you have also been neglecting due to your ignorance.”

He waited for her to silently nod in acknowledgment.

“First, if the city is attacked as a whole, in any manner, we are expected to muster and fight beside the other warriors in defense of the city. This effectively never happens. Magical beasts occasionally attack, but for the threat to be great enough to muster the Eskau…” He shook his head. “Eskau of this city have only been called on to fulfill this duty three times during Revered Sanguis’s reign as Pillar of the House of Blood.”

Three times, in how many thousands of years? “So, incredibly rare.”

“Precisely.” The Eskau glanced to her hand. “Are you almost done with that? I grow tired of standing in one place.”

She looked down at the tungsten in her hands. That is probably good, yeah.

-I’ll note the level of amplification for later comparison.-

Thank you, Alat.

“I am. Yes.” She sat the pair on the dais and made sure to hold in her mind that she didn’t want them moved. Kit shouldn’t interfere. “There we go.”

Pallaun looked around. “Show me your sanctum while I instruct you, child. I am always interested in the nuances the builders include for new Eskau, and I want to see what was made of my gift.”

Right, he donated this to Be-thric and me.

“Certainly, and thank you again.” Tala had no interest in arguing with the man. He could just ask Be-thric or Sanguis for the plans anyways.

He grunted and began walking.

As Tala and Pallaun moved down some of the side paths, by plants that were already growing at a prodigious rate, Pallaun delved back into the topic at hand. “The second duty that we Eskau perform for the city is a more common one. We are in rotation to officiate high profile duels. Specifically, where the combatants are Elder or above. The City Lord ensures that the Eskau called upon is neutral to the topic under dispute, and then leaves it in their hands.”

That made sense. Eskau were martial in nature, and so using them to oversee duels that could easily get out of hand made a good deal of sense.

I’m not exactly suited to it, though.

“I’m not sure how good I’d be at that, honestly. I’m a fair hand at killing my enemies, but protecting observers or stopping the contestants non-lethally?”

Tala shook her head.

-You know, we’ve had this issue before. We really aren’t very good at defending others directly.-

Best defense is a good offense?

-Only if you can shock and awe every enemy on the field simultaneously.-

Something to aspire to, I suppose.

Pallaun shook his head. “No, no. You misunderstand, child.”

“Tali.” Well, Tala.

He snorted. “Fine, Tali.”

“Thank you.”

He waved her off, continuing as if she hadn’t interrupted. “The duty is mainly in an officiation capacity. The arenas have magics imbued in them that provide for the defense of the onlookers, and even some means of inhibiting the combatants, but you must be there to activate them at the appropriate times and mediate both before and after. You are the force that enforces the outcome, even if those with a stake in it don’t like the results. There is still bribery and attempts to influence the outcome, but that is to be expected.”

Tala felt a tickling from the part of her mind which housed Tali.

Whenever she was interacting with someone familiar with Tali, Tala kept part of her thoughts looking for what the other ‘her’ would do.

Thus, she knew what she needed to say, “I can understand that. If the champion of my cause lost, but I thought that I could still kill the opponent and take what I want, I might be tempted.”

“Precisely. If it is over the fate of a person or item, the Eskau will hold onto it during the clash. Beyond that, it should be fairly self-explanatory. I will accompany you to the first duel that you officiate and explain how to activate the workings, as well as anything else that seems necessary.”

“Noted.”

“Third. One day per month, you will attend the City Lord as one of his guards. This duty is waived if you are traveling for House business. This duty is a show of force and unity, and your shifts of that work will be more often than standard to start, because you are a new Eskau, and the City Lord always wishes to get to know the new Eskau in his city. If your Pillar is ever moved to another city, you should expect increased shifts for the same purpose, there.”

Tala tilted her head. “I can see the logic on one side, but wouldn’t that be a terrible idea if there was any chance of dissension?”

Pallaun quirked a dark smile. “Oh? Do you believe you could truly threaten a half-Hallowed?”

Half-Hallowed…That’s above Reforged, well on the way from blue to Indigo. Her eyes widened. Then, she shook her head. “I hadn’t really thought about it, but with Revered Sanguis being a Pillar of the House of Blood, the City Lord would have to be stronger.”

The obsidian warrior shrugged. “In that regard, it depends on the individual. I once saw an Elder absolutely eviscerate a Revered in a conflict, but generally, you’re right. Universally, City Lords are monsters in battle. That is no exaggeration. About a millennium back every major House in a city united and rose up against the local Lord due to some law or other. She wiped them all out. The City Lords are old guard, every one of them. Most apprenticed under Sovereigns before they achieved that rank, some continued to learn from them even after.”

“What is it like? What sort of things will be expected of me?”

Pallaun shrugged. “You’ll have to learn that for yourself. I am forbidden this duty.”

Tala’s eyes went wide, and she swallowed involuntarily.

He grinned. “Not every member of the old guard is a City Lord, little Eskau.”

“I…” She swallowed again. What is he?

-Someone we don’t want to cross…ever.-

And someone likely to be sent after us, if we simply try to run.

He regarded her for a long moment. “Our association to the same House will not be a shield for you. Don’t cross City Lords. I won’t interfere.”

Her voice was small as she replied, “Noted.” And I won’t, if I can help it.

-Worse case? Make them hit you so you travel a long way from the backlash.-

Solid plan. Let’s never use it.

Alat laughed in her head, and there was only the smallest bit of mania in the mental sound.

“Eskau Pallaun?”

“Tali?”

“Why do you serve Sanguis?”

He cocked his head to the side, regarding her. “Do you seek to master all you might be able to slay in battle?”

“No…”

“Can you accurately assess my abilities, and that of Revered Sanguis?”

“No.”

“Then do not ask foolish questions.” He shook his head and continued walking. “The fourth duty expected of Eskau within a city is again fulfilled on a rotation, Eskau are sent after suspected dens of magical creatures in the surrounding countryside.” The man had a hard look in his eyes.

Why would...? Oh.

-Yeah, a magical creature would be using up power that the arcanes want. Magical creatures are the natural means of cleaning up leaks through the barrier between worlds, and so they need to be suppressed, otherwise this will become a non-magical world, given enough time.-

And if all the gated humans are killed.

-That too, assuming the founts can’t be coaxed into lasting forever. We really have no idea if they ever end for any reason except poor management during a gate-breaking attempt.-

“Finally, once again on rotation, we are asked to deal with untamed holds.”

Tala perked up at that. “Untamed holds?”

“Yes. When a hold is no longer under the control of free-willed beings of flesh and blood, it must be destroyed or recovered. Such loss of control can happen if the owners are too exuberant in their defensive measures, but those are generally not too difficult to recover, especially because the owners usually have a way of bypassing many of the defenses. Those are boring.” He gave her a meaningful look.

“Meaning I will be handling those, if they are assigned to our House.”

“Well reasoned. Slightly harder for most Eskau are those that need to be dealt with when a House falls and no one is left who can work around the defenses to enter the hold. Those must be breached in truth.” The look on his face spoke of amusement.

So, he likes that part of the job.

“Wouldn’t that be the same as assaulting an enemy hold, but easier, because there wouldn’t be defenders?”

He shrugged noncommittally. “I suppose it can be, but usually, there are stronger countermeasures put in place for when the last defender falls, or if the hold has to be abandoned for a time. Most want their hold to be held inviolate until it can be recovered. Those defenses can be undone if a scion of the house returns, but if not?” He shrugged. “It becomes a deathtrap for most.”

“I suppose I can see that. And the city doesn’t want a deathtrap simply sitting there, taking up space.” She felt herself relaxing around him once again. The man was an odd combination of geniality and certain death.

“Precisely.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad.”

-Oh, yes. It’s not too bad to wander through a place designed to kill off hostile arcanes by the hundred. We should be fine.-

Tala ignored her.

Pallaun shrugged. “True enough. It can be fun, but it’s rarely that difficult. Now, the final kind is where things can get… tricky. It is also where the real fun is had.”

“Oh?”

“Untamed ether holds.”

Tala frowned. “What?”

“Come now, Tali. You have to have heard stories, even in an outlying village.”

Tala checked Tali’s memories, and no. There was no mention of ether holds. She frowned. Maybe… “Do you mean false holds?”

“Ahh, yes. That’s what they are often called in folktales. The more widely used name for a false hold is an ether hold. What do you know of them?”

She considered. “I don’t know much, honestly. I’ve heard stories about monsters under your bed, make sure your closet door looks right before you open it. That sort of thing.”

Pallaun laughed. “Well, that’s not wrong, but that doesn’t really happen very often, not anymore.”

That is in no way comforting. “Please explain.”

He glanced her way, then huffed a laugh. “Fine. Basically, sometimes something attaches itself to our world from the ether. Some theorize they are ancient holds that were unmoored from reality and have only now found their way back. Others believe that ether holds are creatures in their own right, powerful beings seeking to grow stronger. Some have claimed deep knowledge and tried to dub ether holds ‘Daughters of the Consumer.’ But most consider that blather.”

He bent to examine a plant for a moment before continuing.

“Regardless, ether holds are simply holds that we did not craft appearing in places we did not place them. They can be as simple and wonderful as a forest glade where a fairy lord will grant you one wish before returning you to our world. In those cases, that hold then vanishes. Such things are so rare as to be widely assumed as a myth.”

“Are they, though?”

“The very idea is boring. Literal fairytales for commoners. An attempt to imagine some good to outweigh the bad that such things normally bring.”

“And what’s that?”

“Horrors. The worst ether holds spill creatures out that snatch the helpless and drag them back to be…used.” He seemed to be watching her closely. “Others are simply evil places, filled with malicious magic and death.”

“So… why not get rid of them from the outside?”

“That would be ideal for most, though again that is the boring path to take. Blessedly, ether holds tend to have more secure anchors than created holds. No one wants a breach in reality within a city, that would be worse than any ether hold. So, we go in and destroy the core, often finding fascinating magics along the way, facing and slaying unique creatures of power. The Eskau who destroys the core is then ejected back into reality where they entered the ether hold, and the ether hold vanishes. Unfortunately, it is a ‘one time’ source of entertainment.”

That…was a lot to take in. “That’s a lot to take in.”

-Why haven’t we heard about these things before? Do they not appear in human lands?-

“Any idea what causes them to appear?”

“It’s theorized that they are drawn to the power in the air. That’s one reason why our cities have their ambient power as low as we do. It’s also why the ascension rooms, which help us achieve higher magic density, are so small. Less area for ether holds to grab onto.”

“That sounds rather terrible.”

Pallaun grimaced. “That is a common view.” The way he said ‘common’ made it clear what he thought of the way of thinking.

Tala felt some of his geniality slip away.

“While at a societal level, it is one of the little evils that must be handled, we should know better. It is a training ground, proving ground, and place to harvest unique experiences and magics.”

He waved one hand absently.

“The common populace knows some small amount about ether holds through tales and stories, but the reality is hidden for the commoners' sanity.”

“I have to agree. I can’t imagine the average person being comfortable with the idea of a doorway to some sort of evil mini-world popping into being under their bed.”

He snorted. “Children wouldn’t be, no. I would welcome the fight, personally. I hope you would as well.”

Tala suppressed a shudder, turning away. “I assume you’re telling me this now, because one of these duties will be required of me, soon. Is that correct?”

He smiled. “Quite correct. You have a hold to tame, and I am not willing to cover for you this time.”

Tala stopped. “I don’t suppose it’s a nice, simple kind?”

“No. An ether hold was found in a nook of the town square. We have until tomorrow morning to send in an Eskau.”

“An ether hold? Don’t you want to handle it?”

“And deprive you of a learning experience?” There was a dark glint in his eyes.

“What’s wrong with this one.” It wasn’t a question so much as an accusation.

He grinned. “If the entrance is any indication, it will be a place of rot and filth. Some of those are…entertaining, but it is too good an opportunity for you to learn. I will, regrettably, have to wait until the next one to have my fun.”

Tala glowered, unable to think of anything to say in response.

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

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Cs., Zach Adams, Zach Wilson, zachary gafken, Zanthras, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, znarken, Zrell,

Mage:

Aaron Lewis, al, Al Bi, Alexander Belousov, Anonymous, Anton Selling, Appl, Barrie Davis, Brett Muras, Carl Clements, Carya Galabra, Chris Olsen, Cody Caliguiri, Colton Rutherford, Cybernetic Angel, Deneas, Digdug, Dustin, dylan penlington, Eciefae4, ensou, Eric Trombly, Error, Fabian, Finn Freudenberg, Ford Yeager, Gemyma, Gert Wallis, Gleadge, GopherAtl, Gurditt Mangat, Harold Teunisse, Ian Anderson, Irakli Jishkariani, Jackson Ragland, jacob britt, James Hadfied, James Knight, Jamison Schneider, Jan, Jason Case, JauPim, Jeremy, Jeremy Leonard, Jon Nay, Jonathan Lodge, Jonny, Josh, Joshua John Wallace, Kitty kat, Lasse Pedersen, Leon Silva, Leonhard MÃ¼nzer, Lorcogoth, Lupusregina, mallix, Marcus148, Mathias Schwendimann, Mathieu Deg, Max Oberg, Max Weidmer, MeatyLock, Michael, Michael Anaya, Michael Bradet-Legris, Michael F., NebulaeDreamz, Nefraak, Nicholas Kelly, Not Real, Patrick Cole, Paul Jones, Pigeon F, Raistlin, roflkong3, Sage, santor25, Scott Holt, Setaria, Sid_Cypher, SnowingSilently, Spencer Burke, Star Sword, SZ, tachi-kawa, Tao Wong, Taylor, Therese Brock von Rein, ToffiTee, Two Cats, ulrik aaby

Mageling:

Alexander Graber-Tilton, Allen Roberts, Alternative Facet, AndromedaStar, Aren, Austin McGue, ben, Benjamin Buco, Calle, Charles, chimerarara, Chris K, Daniel, Daniel Marko, DANTE, Dave Burkett, David H, David Yang, Delilah, derek giandolfi, emphes, Eythan Hayashi, Faris Bissex, Frozen, Fuzzycakes, GSH, HÃ¥vard, Hallan Savage, Hamo4, Harris, industriousrevolution, Isaac Larkin, Ivo Havener, Jeff berman, John, Jonathon Hagedorn, Joost Boere, Joseph White, Judy Halloran, Kagge91, KB, Kirsty, Krazo, Kyle Smith, Lonewolf, Lucas E Burgan, Luka Lageschaar, Magnuss, Matt DiMeo, Michael Ireland, Michael kim, moniker, Moreldarin, Nick, nick v, nicolo maso, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, OmegaHebrew, Pawaidan, Piotr, pope benedict, Pyrite, Reminder, Richard Heying, Robert Rosenthal, Russell Black, Sam Mullen, Shad0wlife, Shaun Skelton, Skape, Skelethin, SomethingWicked, SpiderStuck, Stan Snijder, Stefan Rabenstein, Sven Paulson, ttuurrhh, WanderingArchitect, Zagig

Inscribed:

Alastair Dent, Ari Mononen, Benjamin Piribauer, Chase128, Chris, Christopher Cha, Dax, Dennis Bollyn, Diana Kelly, Dylan, Eric Mueller, Federico Petrin, fennek, George Lanetz, Harley Waldstein, Isaac Fratti, James A. Hunter, jaylu, Jonathan, Joshua Michael Royalty, KYLE MANN, LÃ©o Viarouge, Moses Lambert, Mqrius, nikrowd, Paul Lorenz, PeM, Reece Zieschang, Ross Doyle, Sam Ford, ShadowCub, Tandroll, Tate Browder, Trevor Walker, Twig, Wacjob

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Chapter: 222 - Not-Gravy

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Sakari Saastamoinen, Pride mystic artificer, PatronTurtle, Noelle, Maxine, Joshua Sydney, Emersen, Damon Roberts, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala bisected the rotting corpse through the top of its head, Flow exiting between its legs.

The thing still tried to grab her as it fell, and she cut the falling pieces in half again, effectively quartering the zombie.

-Zombies aren’t real.-

What do you call these, then?

Tala was…not happy.

She stood on top of the only dry patch she’d been able to find so far in the incredibly odd swamp.

Swamp doesn’t cover it by half.

Instead of water, she had trudged through two-foot-deep sludge that had the consistency of week-old gravy. Tala suspected it would be a deathtrap, if the end of reality weren’t right below the surface.

-Well, two feet down.-

Don’t be childish.

-Oh, look, another one.-

Tala oriented on where her mirrored perception showed another zombie-like creature pull itself out of the gravy to stagger towards her.

Look, the ribcage is solid bone, all the way through. There’s no cavity for organs. It was never alive.

-Do you really prefer to think of these things as having been created to seem like zombies?-

Yes. Why wouldn’t I?

-Think of the implications of something creating a mimicry of zombies and doing a bad job of it.-

Tala quickly chopped this one up too. The thick muck around her was becoming oddly fluffy as the dozens of still animate limbs wriggled and thrashed, effectively aerating the not-water.

That almost looks like meringue. I’m never going to be able to look at that stuff the same again.

-It’s a lot browner, plus, look at all the detritus.-

After a moment, Tala nodded. Thank you, that helps.

Now, though, she wanted lemon meringue pie.

Alat snorted within Tala’s head. -We’re pretty odd.-

With no more immediate threats, Tala took a moment to scan her surroundings once again.

It smelled, awful. There was a cloying sweetness to the air, like someone had shot rotting syrup up her nostrils. To make it worse, there was no variation in the scent at all. It was utterly uniform, decidedly disgusting, pervasively pernicious.

-What’s with the alliteration?-

Anything to get the smell out of my mind.

She was roughly a hundred yards from the entrance, which looked like a stone archway from this side, freestanding in the swamp.

Overhead, she could feel the end of reality just out of reach.

This place was really oddly shaped, seeming almost like a long, wide hallway.

Reality ended about twenty feet to either side of her, and that seemed to represent the shape of this hold, extending away from her into the distance.

Nothing broke the gravy-like surface except the occasional ripple, which Tala suspected were more of these not-zombies.

Close to a mile away, if her estimation was correct, a stone wall blocked the entire passage.

Tala spoke out loud, just to give her something to hear in the otherwise vacuous silence, “This place comes across like someone built it after hearing a child’s summary of a horror story.”

-That…actually makes a lot of sense, yeah. Are ether holds influenced by thinking beings’ thoughts or concepts about things? This is simply a manifestation based on the commonalities surrounding these stories, aggregated across all intelligent species?-

I doubt that’s actually correct, but it still seems like as good an explanation as anything. We really don’t have enough information to know, though.

-Onward?-

Tala sighed, then nodded. “Onward.”

She stepped down from the small rise and grimaced as the fluffed sludge came up nearly to her waist. She ignored the feet and hands that scrabbled at her ineffectively.

She rolled three ending-seeds around in her mouth.

She had popped them in before entering this space. They should be an effective weapon if the things in here ever came at her more than one at a time or managed to sneak up on her.

Her pressure distribution scripts weren’t large enough to allow her to walk on the surface of the gravy, sadly. In fact, Tala had pulled power from the scripts, though she couldn’t deactivate them fully.

With power flowing through them at full strength, they actually made walking harder, as it took longer for her feet to find the truly firm footing at the edge of reality.

Two more not-zombies rose out of the sludge, one after another, and Tala cut them down with contemptuous ease.

It wasn’t pleasant to walk through the stuff. If she’d been mundane, she might not have been able to manage it at all. Blessedly, with her magics and enhancements, she was strong enough that progressing was actually super easy, barely an inconvenience.

As she was forging ahead, confident in her strength, her next step came down on…nothing. Reality continued downward as it never had before, and with a little yelp, Tala fell into a pit in the border of reality.

-Oh, that’s evil.-

Tala couldn’t see through the swamp gravy, so she pushed her bloodstars up, out of the liquid to watch for enemies.

She calmly reached around herself, trying to find anything she could grab onto.

There was nothing.

Her movements gained a bit of frenzy as she scrambled in the mirk for any way of rising once again.

I will not drown in this nasty sludge!

-Would you rather drown somewhere else?-

Tala pushed power down a different path within Flow, transforming the weapon into a glaive. She then swept around herself, searching for any firm surface. The only one was directly in front of her.

With her bloodstars mirroring her perspective for Tala and Alat, she knew that she’d gotten turned around, and that what she had found was the shelf that she’d just stepped off of.

It was a good three feet ahead of her, and already two or three feet up.

Worse, if she understood what she was feeling by searching around herself with Flow, the border of reality extended back, underneath that shelf.

There could be anything under there, watching, waiting to devour her.

Tala would have thought swimming in gravy would be easier because it was heavier than water, so she should be more buoyant. Unfortunately, because it was a semi-solid, it didn’t flow around her as she’d have liked or expected.

Her movements didn’t accomplish anything but spinning her in place as she slowly sunk deeper.

Tala was beginning to panic.

She felt like eyes were on her from every direction.

Think, Tala. Think!

There had to be a way out.

She had to have an ability or item that could save her.

-Well, you won’t drown for a long, long time. The damage that would kill a mundane will be healed by your scripts so long as they last, and you have reserves, which you’re full of.-

So, no solution meant drowning for likely at least a month.

Not better!

-Tala?-

This would be such a stupid way to die.

-Tala, we have a problem.-

I know! Quiet, let me think.

She tried throwing Flow away, over the under-gravy shelf and pulling it back towards her, but that just brought the weapon back to her hand, it didn’t move her in the proper direction at all.

There was nothing for a grappling hook to grab onto, even if she had one, which she didn’t.

Her lungs were burning.

I am not inhaling this stuff.

She was kicking her legs, trying different methods of movement, even as she continued to slowly slurp lower through the sludge.

-You really need to actually notice this!-

It was then, Tala noticed what her mirrored perception and Alat had noticed quite a while ago.

There were dozens of not-zombies coming from every direction, and if what she was seeing was accurate, there would likely be some—

Something grabbed her leg.

That’s not a ‘something!’ I know exactly what that is.

A not-zombie grabbed her leg, accelerating her trip downward.

How deep does this go?

She cut away those grabbing at her, but more replaced them, even as she continued to hack.

She needed to get out.

She didn’t have any tool that could get her out.

For one of the first times in her life, she wished that she’d taken a more traditional path.

If she were a normal gravity Mage, she could have just reversed gravity in this area and used that to rise to the top.

Rise…against gravity…

Her eyes snapped open in realization, and even through the mulch, she saw multiple mutilated faces closing in on her.

That meant that they were within arm’s reach, and she struck out with Flow.

She targeted herself. RESTRAIN!

Her power enacted, stealing all the kinetic energy from her and lifting her up.

The working would lift the target above ground level, then alter gravity to hold them there.

It was the first part that she cared about.

-Oh, that was clever.-

You couldn’t have thought of that?

-Well…we were panicking a bit.-

Yeah, we were at that.

As the creatures surged at her, she continued to strike out, fighting against the leeching nature of her spell, though every movement that was hampered by the magics accelerated her rise.

The gravy around her was swarming with skeletal creatures, faux flesh adorning them in odd ways.

Why does that one have a…kidney? Is that a kidney hanging out of its eye-socket?

-They clearly have no basis in actual biology, Tala.-

Clearly.

Her lungs were still burning, and she could feel parts of her degrading from lack of oxygen even while her magics repaired them, but Tala put the pain aside. She was almost free. It was only another moment and—

Her head broke the surface, and she gasped in a great lungful of air.

As she did, three ending-seeds shot down her throat.

Her body reacted reflexively, closing off her airway and causing her to swallow without conscious thought.

One.

Two.

Three seeds were swallowed.

Oh.

-Oh.-

That’s…bad.

Tala felt her enhanced stomach acids breach the ending-seeds in sequence, and their magics began to ramp up.

She lifted completely free of the not-swamp, and the beasts lunged out at her like fish trying to snag a bug.

Tala was a whirlwind of death.

She used her discs to redirect her assailants, positioning them to her greatest advantage. Together with her tungsten sphere and rod, she spoiled attacks and controlled the space around herself incredibly effectively.

-You’re getting a lot better with those tools.-

Why, thank you, Alat.

Flow flickered between its forms, always the perfect length to lay open what she struck at.

Her free hand caught and crushed other unfortunate creatures.

Their clawed hands and gnashing teeth couldn’t find purchase on her, even when they were able to reach.

The only damage that they wrought was to tear at her clothing, but that quickly repaired after each piece ripped free.

All the while, she was doing her utmost not to panic as her magesight watched the destructive powers build within her gut.

Maybe, my stomach acids will degrade parts of the magic? It wouldn’t work then.

-Maybe? The acid is magic now…- But Alat didn’t sound convinced.

Tala’s mind traced over every line in the building spell-forms. She picked out the patterns in the flowing magical spell-forms streaming side by side in her gut.

The seconds seemed to stretch into minutes or even hours as she continued to kill the things attacking her purely on instinct and reflex.

She was now floating a few inches above the gravy, held there by her own power.

Her strikes were angled downward as much as possible to keep herself up despite the pulls of those that managed to snag her momentarily.

Even so, it didn’t matter. The ending-seeds were about to pop.

It was so, so stupid!

I can’t just grab the spell-form, that is useless. I can’t even grab the power and redirect it. It’s too stable for magical manipulation to make meaningful changes. I might be able to strong-arm it, but that would be much too slow, if I could do it at all.

She could pull reinforcement power from the surrounding flesh to wrap around it, and that might dampen the effect. That was the purpose of the ending-berry power after all, to counter that of the ending-tree.

Unfortunately, ending-seeds were much more powerfully worked than the basic ending-tree disintegration.

She felt like whimpering and screaming at the same time.

Her body utilized magics that were so close to the ones about to blow her in half.

-It might not be that bad.-

Tala glared internally.

Alat quieted.

Blocking rivers of power would create lakes, or just cause the water to flow around the blockage. The power in those lakes would still have the remembered pattern, however. It would still activate, still tear at her insides.

I need the power to take a new path. She couldn’t vomit the stuff up. Even if she were fast enough, her anti-vomit scripts would fight her. She could pull power from them temporarily, but it still would be difficult. She just didn’t have the time.

Tala’s defensive magics were so, so close in form to the magics that would soon assail her from the inside.

The stupid magics are the inverse of what I want! She screamed into the silence of her own, panicked mind.

…the inverse.

She hesitated.

Her eyes widened. Like my inverse Archon star.

It wasn’t exactly like a river. The power was flowing according to its own nature, rather than in physically restricting banks. So, if she shunted the power away, it should reform, and if the Archon star was any indication, it would invert.

In a panic, she did something inadvisable.

With her long-trained dexterity, she stabbed her aura into one of the three streams, angling her aura against the current to create a sloped shunt. More than that, she shaped her aura around the redirected stream, angling the result away.

Power shot up the aura ramp, prevented from flowing as it wanted to, but acting by its nature, nonetheless.

Even as it was distorted away from its natural path, the magic was still bent and aspected to form the patterns of an ending-tree, thus, it almost immediately began flowing through the loops and twirls of the well-known spell-form once more.

In less than a second, the entirety of that stream had been shunted off to the side, reconnected, and was now floating, self-contained beside the others within her stomach.

Did it work? She didn’t have time to investigate.

-Skip the second!-

They could tell that the second was too close to triggering for her to work with it.

So, she drove her aura into the third spell-form, even as the first activated.

Reinforcing magics blossomed within her, the power hauntingly familiar. It was the power she had absorbed so many, many times before.

Ending-berry power.

The second spell-form activated right afterwards, destruction radiating outward and clashing with the reinforcement.

Unfortunately, it is easier to destroy than to protect.

All the inverted seed’s power was consumed, and the acid within her stomach was broken apart.

The disintegrating magics slammed against her stomach lining, eating away at it, but no longer having enough power to break through the defensive magics there.

But Tala was focusing on the final seed.

Almost…

The flow of power snapped into place even as it hit its activation threshold, and reinforcing power swept through her in a wave.

The three seeds had triggered barely a second apart, from first to last.

Her stomach churned, even as her regeneration scripts fought to rebuild her perforated stomach.

Base, highly volatile substances spilled into Tala’s insides, causing chemical reactions all through her abdominal cavity.

Her magics minimized the destruction, and repaired the damage, but it was still agonizing.

She grit her teeth against the pain, tears streaming down her face and spoiling her vision.

Thankfully, she could still see through her bloodstars, and she fought on, hampered though she was.

In the aftermath, the creatures were able to drag her back down into the gravy, and she broke the working on herself and cast it again.

Restrain.

With that, she rose back up above the surface, regaining her composure and continuing to deal destruction and spoil their attacks with Flow, tungsten, discs, and her bare hand and feet.

-Rusting slag!-

Tala coughed up bits of her lung that had been destroyed by the processes within herself, spitting to clear her mouth.

That rusting worked? A wave of relief washed through her, and she found herself laughing, even as she continued to rain not-zombie parts down on the thick liquid below her. That worked!!!!

Her jubilation helped pull her away from the remembered pain, even as the substances within her finally reached an equilibrium.

There would be internal clean-up to do after this, but that was far better than losing her lower half to this place.

-I still don’t think it would have been quite that bad, but I am glad that you succeeded.-

Tala smiled at the accomplishment, reveling in what she had done.

As she continued her active defense, contemplating her success, her eyes widened. She was struck by a realization that was the obvious follow-up, and she began to laugh.

-Tala, is that really a good idea to try right—-

Tala pulled in a deep breath and drew some power from the defensive scripts in her flesh into the air in her lungs.

With a deft will, she jammed her aura into the swirling flow of power and watched the spell-form come back together, inverted.

With a powerful exhale, she breathed out a gust of disintegration, and every enemy in a ten-foot cone…lost a few layers of bone and flesh.

Tala grimaced.

Not enough power.

She took in another deep breath and strained to pull many, many times the power of the first attempt through the defensive scripts and into her lungs.

She could feel how doing so strained the inscriptions, and she knew that she would need to get them refreshed far sooner, if she used this very often.

Then, with an increasingly familiar motion, she thrust her sharpened aura into the flow, redirecting and inverting the form.

She exhaled and time seemed to slow as the power flooded out with her breath.

Firstly, the magic obliterating every part of every enemy in a ten-foot cone.

But there was still power in dissolution.

Tala had never seen that before. Ending-trees always imparted almost exactly enough power to destroy what they acted on.

-Um… I think that might be bad.-

With nothing else to act on, the power broke apart the air itself.

There was a brilliant flash as a reaction of the now separate elements bloomed into heat and light.

Fire.

Her overuse of the power had lit the very air ablaze in one shining moment.

It wasn’t a forceful explosion, though it was loud and bright.

Even as she flinched away, Tala began to laugh, her mirth echoing across the surface of the not-swamp close on the heels of the explosion.

-Too much power. I think with those two samples, though, I can help you use the right amount.-

Still laughing with glee, Tala nodded. Let’s do this, then.

She threw Flow and drew it back again and again, cutting through many enemies each time.

Whenever she could contain herself enough to do so, Tala paused her laughter and repeated her breath of disintegration. With Alat’s guidance, they didn’t use too much power and the attacks were simply exhalations of disintegration.

The lesser use of power also put less stress on her inscriptions. She would still need reinscription sooner than she would otherwise have needed such, but she wouldn’t run them dry in a single battle or even a few conflicts.

Finally, after another minute or so of fighting, Tala was once again alone, hovering in place above a frothing mass of sinking parts.

She still had a gleeful grin stretched across her features.

She surveyed her surroundings and sighed. Now what? If I remove the working, I’ll drop straight down.

-I have an idea for that.-

Tala cocked her head to one side. “That just might work.”

A bit less than five minutes later, Tala’s feet slammed into the stone wall at the far end of the ether hold.

She had cut the working drawing her that way as soon as she’d gained a good amount of speed, and now she altered her perception of herself and her needs sufficiently to break the ‘Restrain’ working as well.

With a lithe twist, she landed in the six-inch deep muck before the wall.

Wow. I’m glad this wasn’t another pit.

She could have used another ‘Restrain,’ but she should have thought of the possibility beforehand.

“That worked amazingly, Alat.”

-I am glad to be of service. We’ve been wanting to try out some of our potential methods of flight, and that worked beautifully, at least in this confined space.-

Yeah, I wouldn’t want to do that outside of a hold…

That could end quite badly, if she wasn’t careful.

She examined the stone wall before her, and the massive gates that were the only way through. The tightly fitted stone was braced against the edges of reality all the way around.

“You know what? Why would Pallaun think this would be fun? I can’t imagine that combat would have challenged him.”

-Well, he did tell us this was a smaller one, and he shirked it off onto us.-

Tala grunted. “Might be that he’s more concerned about us than he let on.”

-You think he gave us an easy one?-

She shrugged. “Maybe. Or, maybe a combination? It was easy and disgusting, so why not give it to the new girl?”

Alat huffed a laugh. -Yeah, maybe. Or things are about to get a lot more interesting.-

“Maybe, yeah. Shall we see what lies in the ‘evil fortification?’”

-Yes, let’s see what the collective understanding of a ‘mad Mage’ might be.-

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

Zrell, znarken, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, Zanthras, zachary gafken, Zach Wilson, Zach Adams, Z. Cs., Yrom, Yenin, Yemisi Mcmullen, Xynee, xtrnet, xIron Gamerx, Xavier Lamphere, Xaim, X Y, Wundermelon, william wallace, William Priess, William Fullerton, William Davis, Will C, WhisperInTheVoid, Whisper, Whim, Wesley Ervin, Weppsu, WarNachos, Walter, walliz22, W, Vroom, Viria, Vincent Sloan, Vikram Ahluwalia, Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, Victoria, Vaulex, Varzifar, user754595, user42, Tyson Tozier, Tyrone Thomas, Tyler Thompson, Tyler, Tyler, TurmRIC, Troy Fox, Tristan Griffin, Travis McIntosh, Travis McHenry, Traian, TorbjÃ¸rn Nilsen, TomÃ¡Å¡ BlÃ¡bol, Tom Roettger, Toad, tlove, Timothy Burago, Tim Marshall, Thuss, ThreatLvlPurple, Thortinshire, Thomas Stewart, Thomas Heide, Thomas Goyne, Thomas, Thernn, TheLazerCat, TheFool, The Human, Thanks to Alex Jones for my new gender, gremlin wraith, Thaco4, ThÃ©o, Teee, Taylor, Tatiana Saturno, Tarantism, Talion, Taliesin, t S, Sylvain Arguillere, Svarog, Styx49, Stuart Anderson, STORRM, Steven Johnson, Steven C, Stephen L, Stephanie Washburn, SteindÃ³r Tryggvason, Stano MareÄek, SpitEoll, Spencer Herold, SpartanEcho, sophistsDismay, someguy, Some Total Kretin, Solar, SoddenFool, smoze, Smokestack Matt, skici, Skarsol, Siphor, sings_with_toads, Simon Dingemans, Simon Casey, Silveredgallium, Silberwolf325, Signspace, SideraX, Shyx, Shil Modi, Shelbo, Shakez44, Shadow, Severed Hat, Seth Wilson, Seth Cox, Seth Bryant, Sekander, Seijax, sedael, Sebastian Viller, Sebastian Lindqvist, Sebastian Larsen, Sean Reap, Sean Panajotovic, Sean McCrohan, Sean Mantell, Sean Carter, Seadrake, ScottDR, schnixxes, Schelm, Satya Prateek, Samuel Patterson, Samuel McCarren, Sam Oppy, SaltyVigilante, Saerthas, S T, Ryudachi, Ryan Tran, Ryan Naquin, Ryan Hogan, Ryan Coyne, Rutger Boll, runningcrazy, RotWeisseWaffel, RottenTangerine, Roger, Robin SjÃ¶doff, Robin Richards, Robert z, Robert Simons, Robert P, Robert Mullins, Robert Hinshaw, Robert Adams, rizen, Rip Woodham, rintaun, Rich Webb, Rhaid, RexRegis, Retaliation ., Reodude, Relein, Reid Palmquist, Reed Montemurro, Redbeard, reafan, Ray Robitaille, Ratoo, Raphael, Ransom Hollister, Randy Klein, RandomPerson, Ramapriya Rangaraju, Raivshard, RageBone, Rachel Prochner, Primordi, Powernap, posthumousleon, Politician, Pizzatiger, PiMs, Pigeonpie, Pieter-Jan Van Steenkiste, Phlorez, Philipp Ziehe, Philipp Zander, petr Bae, peter mattoon, Peter Edlund, Person8, Pedro Derze, Payen Hell, Pawel Maskowicz, Paul Becker, patrick seim, Patrick polsey, Patrick Blatti, PARXIVAL, Parker Hebert, PaleMire, Paerofar, Ovuca, Orr404, OrangeSpork, OpCrystal, Onill007, OMG STOP CAPS, Omar Wazir, Olof DahlstrÃ¶m, OlivierA, Oliverthms, Oliver Firoozan, Oliver, Ole Merschel, Ocean Breeze, OakieTheTree, Oakenbear, nymaxilian, nugitoBambino, Notye Penyar, Notcreepycreeper, Noshei, Nopret, Nonie, nokko, noah stevens, Noah Morris, Noah Jones, Noah, NNeil, Nikolay Panov, Nikolas allen, Nikolaj Rosander Madsen, Nikita Becker, Nick Tinsley, Nick Riley, Nick Norris, Nicholas Anile, Nhnnh, NeutralQuartz, NaughtyPaws, Nathaniel Baxter, Nathan Fahrenbach, Nathan Bush, Nate Kaufman, Narasan, Nadav Ben Yehuda, n, Myles2322, Mr. Finch, Mr Google Doodle, Mountainking, Mountain Barber, Monte949, MoneyTree, Molly Hopkins, mohammed essam, Mohammad Muzhaffar Bin Omar, Mnem, Miri, minicheatbook, Miles Pettey, Mikael Svensson, Midnight Questions, Midnight Harbinger, Michelle Goodman, Michael Zaiken, Michael Stephan, Michael She, Michael Seedorf, Michael Olson, Michael Mooney, Michael Mercado, Michael Maor, Michael Goulet, Michael D Chavez, Michael, Micah Wallis, Metzy, Merrillz, MePe, MenacingSand, Memnochian, Melting Sky, Meierfrac, Megacheez, Mechrono, mdapkins, Mcnoodlies, maxime gm, Max W, Max Gustavson, Mattias Klason, mattias hessleryd, Matthew Walter, Matthew Powell, Matthew Myers, Matthew Davis, matthew bird, Matthew, Matthew, Matt S., Matt M, Matt M, Matt Labrum, Matija MiloÅ¡eviÄ‡, mark mÃ¸llegaard, Mark Dolson, Mark, Mark, Mario Kaminsky, Marinus, Maria Moberg, Margus234, Marcus Pehan, Marcus Adams, Marcel Amendt, Maksim, Magnus Andersson, Magisch, Maggi von Da, MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, M, Lygon Bowen-West, Lyael, luke, Ludger, Lu, Louis Nel, LordErr, LordDark, lol, Logan McAllister, Logan, Lindsay W., Liam, Lia, Leyren Leyren, Lewis Dyer, Levi Cox, Less Than Three, Lerous, LeJordon, Leif Nejst, Leendert Kortlever, Le GarlantÃ©zec, Lazy Lemon, Lars Majewski, Lanhail, Landon Sweeney, Laila, Lachlan Priest, Kylieth, Kyle frasch, Kyle Brackenbury, Kyle, Kristia, Krikor Chichadjian, Kovak, Klecksi, klabuster, Kirvin, Kiran, KingWoh, Khress, Kermity, Kenyaa, Kenton Watson, Kent Gunn, Kenneth, kenneth, Keira Wulfe, Keenan Adams, KDP, karmaslap, Karma Baris, Karl Tageman, Kamren Livingston, Kai, Kageryu, Kaeson, Jywert, jww, Justin Thomas, Justin Reagan, Justin Gray, Justin, just_a_potato, Just Dave, Julian Meltzer, JTP, Joshua Turnbull, Joshua Smith, Joshua Samuel Miller, Joshua Paye, Joshua Lawvere, Joshua Holt Sorensen, Josh Fryza, Joseph Sutherland, Joseph 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Mage:

ulrik aaby, Two Cats, ToffiTee, Therese Brock von Rein, Taylor, Tao Wong, tachi-kawa, SZ, Star Sword, Spencer Burke, SnowingSilently, Sid_Cypher, Setaria, Scott Holt, santor25, Sage, roflkong3, Raistlin, Pigeon F, Paul Jones, Patrick Cole, Not Real, Nicholas Kelly, Nefraak, NebulaeDreamz, Michael F., Michael Bradet-Legris, Michael Anaya, Michael, MeatyLock, Max Weidmer, Max Oberg, Mathieu Deg, Mathias Schwendimann, Marcus148, mallix, Lupusregina, Lorcogoth, Leonhard MÃ¼nzer, Leon Silva, Lasse Pedersen, Kitty kat, Joshua John Wallace, Josh, Jonny, Jonathan Lodge, Jon Nay, Jeremy Leonard, Jeremy, JauPim, Jason Case, Jan, Jamison Schneider, James Knight, James Hadfied, jacob britt, Jackson Ragland, Irakli Jishkariani, Ian Anderson, Harold Teunisse, Gurditt Mangat, GopherAtl, Gleadge, Gert Wallis, Gemyma, Ford Yeager, Finn Freudenberg, Fabian, Error, Eric Trombly, ensou, Eciefae4, dylan penlington, Dustin, DT, Digdug, Deneas, Cybernetic Angel, Colton Rutherford, Cody Caliguiri, Chris Olsen, Carya Galabra, Carl Clements, Brett Muras, Barrie Davis, Appl, Anton Selling, Anonymous, Alexander Belousov, Al Bi, al, Aaron Lewis

Mageling:

Zagig, WanderingArchitect, ttuurrhh, Sven Paulson, Stefan Rabenstein, Stan Snijder, SpiderStuck, SomethingWicked, Skelethin, Skape, Shaun Skelton, Shad0wlife, Sam Mullen, Russell Black, Robert Rosenthal, Richard Heying, Reminder, Pyrite, pope benedict, Piotr, Pawaidan, OmegaHebrew, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, nicolo maso, nick v, Nick, Mudith Mallajosyula, Moreldarin, moniker, Michael kim, Michael Ireland, Matt DiMeo, Magnuss, Luka Lageschaar, Lucas E Burgan, Lonewolf, Kyle Smith, Krazo, Kirsty, KB, Kagge91, Judy Halloran, Joseph White, Joost Boere, Jonathon Hagedorn, John, Jeff berman, Ivo Havener, Isaac Larkin, industriousrevolution, Harris, Hamo4, Hallan Savage, HÃ¥vard, GSH, Fuzzycakes, Frozen, Faris Bissex, Eythan Hayashi, emphes, derek giandolfi, Delilah, David Yang, David H, Dave Burkett, DANTE, Daniel Marko, Daniel, Chris K, chimerarara, Charles, Calle, Benjamin Buco, ben, Austin McGue, Aren, AndromedaStar, Alternative Facet, Allen Roberts, Alexander Graber-Tilton

Inscribed:

Wacjob, Twig, Trevor Walker, Tate Browder, Tandroll, ShadowCub, Sam Ford, Ross Doyle, Reece Zieschang, PeM, Paul Lorenz, nikrowd, Mqrius, Moses Lambert, LÃ©o Viarouge, KYLE MANN, Joshua Michael Royalty, Jonathan, jaylu, James A. Hunter, Isaac Fratti, Harley Waldstein, George Lanetz, fennek, Federico Petrin, Eric Mueller, Dylan, Diana Kelly, Dennis Bollyn, Dax, Christopher Cha, Chris, Chase128, Benjamin Piribauer, Ari Mononen, Alastair Dent

Looking for a fun new tale to read? Take a look at:

The Level Zero [Hero]

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/61480

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Chapter: 223 - Villain

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Damon Roberts, Emersen, Maxine, Pride mystic artificer

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala stood before heavily reinforced doors at the far end of a fake swamp within her first ether hold.

Her feet squelched in muck as she shifted back and forth, considering the barrier to her path.

-Oh! Could we reduce our downward gravity enough to make the surface area enhancements on our feet sufficient to hold us up?-

Tala blinked several times. Well…rust me to slag. That would have been a useful idea about ten minutes ago.

Alat conveyed a shrug. -Just thought of it.-

Tala almost put her face in her hands in resignation, but then she saw how filthy she was.

“Yeah… We’ll try that next time.”

Now, the big doors.

Well, let’s try the easy way, first. She walked up and pushed.

The gates didn’t open.

With a shrug, she drew Flow, and cut upward between the doors.

She felt the slightest resistance, followed by loud thuds.

When Tala pushed again, the doors slid open, though it still took some effort to get them to move.

She stepped up onto the smooth, clean stone, and briefly aspect mirrored her clothing’s self-cleaning onto herself.

With a few bounces as she moved forward, all the sludge fell free.

As she landed from the final bounce, she cut back behind herself and to the right, cleaving a not-zombie in half, shoulder to hip.

Its steps had been utterly silent, and without her mirrored perspective, she’d likely not have noticed it until it was fully upon her.

The thing had been charging at her from behind, coming through the gates she’d opened. One last nasty thing from the swamp. Unless more spawn on their own…

She had no idea where the creatures actually came from. They seemed physical, while also seeming too magical to be real.

-That makes no sense, but yeah, I agree. I don’t think these could ever exit, but that tracks, considering they stayed in.-

Yeah. I suppose the holds that send out creatures make more ‘real’ ones? Somehow?

-Maybe we’ll find out further in.-

As she scanned the room around her, it was obvious that the fighting was far from over.

She was flanked by the two halves of a crossbar that had held the doors against her.

Beyond them, near the edges of reality, assuming it hadn’t changed shape or size past the wall, statues lined the periphery of the space.

The smallest appeared to be little more than half her height, while the largest was close to twice as tall as she was.

They were made of a variety of materials, everything from simple granite to steel, from clay to wood.

As she looked around, every one of the statues began to move.

In addition to the mobile statues, pale bipedal creatures were scattered throughout the space.

They looked vaguely human, but their features were… wrong.

Their skin was too pale, their features not quite where Tala expected them to be.

They moved on silent feet, shifting towards the edges of the space.

Tala sighed.

Her magesight gave no good information. Everything looked uniformly the same color, orange.

The specific magic of the creatures, of the place in general, was a nonsensical jumble to her eyes, so she put that sight from her mind.

It was time to get to work.

Crossing most of the space was laughably easy.

The statues were mostly harder substances, which cracked and crumbled under hits from her tungsten rod and sphere.

Her discs deflected attacks and warded off opponents, helping to stagger them and keep her from being overrun.

The pale creatures hung back, seemingly hesitant to engage.

Wise of them, I suppose.

Then, one of the big metal statues reached her.

The first was half again her height and had four arms.

Flow removed two in quick succession. Tala ducked under a third, but the fourth caught her in the chest.

The defenses on her elk-leathers flared, protecting her from the blow with ease, but even so, she was flung backward and out of the building.

-Reduce weight!-

Tala did so even as she skipped across the surface of the rancid sludge.

She was able to catch the surface with a hand as she flew, flipping up and landing on her feet.

She left her gravity fairly high, so she could still move, bent low, and sprinted back across the surface of the not-gravy. Each step sunk a few inches into the muck as she pushed off, but no more.

This is way, WAY easier.

The all-pervasive power in the air, combined with the odd linkage that everything seemed to share, meant that to try to target anything, she’d have to overcome the magical weight of everything. At least, that’s how it felt the few times she’d tried.

With all her strength, she built up speed, covering the remaining distance in great leaping strides.

She passed through the open archway, and the hall passed in a flash before she slammed into the metal statue glaive first, breaking the offending thing in two.

Gotcha. A smug smile pulled at Tala’s lips.

As the two halves fell away, though, another fist used the pieces as cover to slam into her from the side.

A second giant statue, this one granite, had joined the fight.

Tala slammed into the side of the combat hall before she’d even registered being struck, and the edge of reality was sufficiently hard for her to break bones against.

She slumped to the ground with a groan, her skeletal system snapping back into place, and back together, before healing with audible pops and cracks.

In her moment of lowered capacity, the first of the pale creatures lunged at her. It had been near where she had landed to begin with, so it covered the distance between them quickly.

Tala’s tungsten rod moved to smack it aside, but the metal passed straight through the being.

What the rust?

Its outstretched hand landed on her, and she felt a titanic PULL on her magic.

Her body was completely drained in less than a second of contact.

What?

For the first time in Tala’s life, she was utterly without magic.

Her gate was still there, trying to refill her, but every iota of power that came through was immediately ripped from her with a feeling reminiscent of her fingernails being pulled.

It had bypassed her authority?

What?

It had ignored her aura.

How?

She couldn’t regain control over her own power.

Slag, slag, slag!

Tala felt like her whole body was freezing in panic.

Why didn’t we re-apply the iron paint? It might have helped, here!

She felt weak, her body seeming unusually heavy, despite her reduced gravity. She was feeling the inertia of her increased mass more than anything.

Get AWAY!

Flow swept out, only in the form of a knife, because she couldn’t power any other form.

Blessedly, it still had magic, as it was connected directly to her gate, and no drain at her gate could break or weaken that connection.

Still, the strike moved more slowly than Tala could remember ever swinging the blade, but the creature seemed reluctant to break contact, so Tala succeeded in cutting through the beast’s thin neck, decapitating it..

That, apparently, caused a destabilization of the power that it had just stolen. There was a forceful detonation and Tala was tossed away once again.

Blessedly, even as she bounced across the stone floor, her gate gushed power back into her.

-What the rust was that? Did you black out?-

Tala paled. Did you… did you go offline?

-No, of course not…- Alat hesitated. -What the rust… yes. There was no power in you, all your scripts dropped into starvation mode, they would have burned through their metals and sputtered out entirely in another few seconds… including me.-

Yeah, I’m not letting that happen.

She flipped to her feet, turned, and exhaled a cone of disintegration at two more of the leeching creatures, obliterating them entirely.

Tala was still panicking, just a bit. To help calm herself down, she was rambling a bit within her own head, Don’t let the white ones touch me. Expand my view; don’t let any of these use the others to make attacks of opportunity.

It was a brutal fight after that.

While her bloodstars could mirror Flow’s offensive magic, they lacked the size to sufficiently harm her enemies.

Unfortunately, the white magic-leeches were able to ignore anything less than an instantly lethal blow, and the discs did nothing to slow them.

The pale creatures seemed to be able to pass through anything besides magical attacks as if it wasn’t there. The result was that Tala often found the things hiding inside the statues she killed with her hand, feet, or tungsten. The leech-things used every opportunity to get close.

A few even managed to grab at her feet and legs from under the floor.

Blessedly, Flow’s cutting edge was magical in nature, else she’d have had very little recourse.

What felt like hours later, Tala stood, panting, in the center of the space, surrounded by ruined statues.

The floor had great chunks cut out of it, and many deep gouges were partially filled with the fine powder that was all that remained after ending-tree power washed over an enemy or section of stone.

Her inscriptions felt raw and strained.

Any arcane would have died after the first touch from one of the pale-leech-men. She’d sustained at least half a dozen full drains and slain close to two dozen of the horrid things.

-I don’t like the feeling of winking out repeatedly.-

It isn’t pleasant out here, either.

Alat shuddered. -It feels almost the same as you entering dreamless sleep, but there is something so much worse in the experience.-

Like there’s nothing assuring you that you’ll ever wake up, and each time you do awaken, you realize that it might not have happened.

-Exactly, yes.-

They shuddered together.

“I hate you just a bit, Pallaun.” Surely, not every ether hold could be like this. Were the laughably weak not-zombies at the beginning meant to lull her into a false sense of security?

-Or, did the hold learn from how you fought them, and create obstacles based on what you did?-

I’d hope that Pallaun would have told us something like that, but no. These would have been more effective against other Eskau. If anything, these were still easy for me, relatively speaking.

-Agreed, any other arcane would have had no margin for error.-

It’s worse than that. They wouldn’t have had any knowledge that it would have been an error.

Alat hesitated. -Wait, we’re forgetting the protian weapon. An Eskau could have pulled some power from their weapon. It wouldn’t have been the same as you having your gate, but they wouldn’t have been as helpless as most Arcanes.-

Ah, right. That would balance things a bit.

Her breath was once again under control, and she realized that she was stalling, staring at the archway that led out of the far side of the room.

A heavy green curtain hung blocking it, and the fabric swayed in the breeze ever so slightly.

What horrors await us deeper in?

-Maybe the visage of an easily recognizable, but strangely twisted version of a mad-mage is behind this curtain? That would be refreshingly simple.-

Yeah. I’d just need to kill the evil Mage, and we could go home. Her mind hitched at that for just a moment. She couldn’t go home, not yet.

Not now, Tala. Focus.

She gilded herself and cautiously moved aside the curtain, finding a massive mirror.

What?

Tala took a moment to look at herself in the mirror. She looked tired, her hair in disarray. Much of it had been cut or torn at various points and had regrown outside her tight braid.

Alat was laughing in the back of Tala’s mind.

What?

-It doesn’t matter.- Alat gained control of her mirth. -There has to be more, we haven’t found the core.-

Right.

Tala hesitated, looking at her reflection.

In truth, she hardly recognized herself.

Even though she could almost constantly see herself, if she wished via the mirrored perspective in her orbiting bloodstars, she rarely did so. Her view was aimed outward, as it should be in such a hostile environment. And that’s not even considering this ether hold.

That said, she took the time to look, and she looked different.

It wasn’t the dust and debris that clung to her skin and hair. I could really use a bath when I’m done here.

It wasn’t the House of Blood insignia on her clothing. I have no idea if they can see into here or not.

It wasn’t even the broken and obliterated enemies around and behind her. I demolished all who came against me.

No. Her stance was different, the way she carried herself, and the quality behind her eyes.

She looked like the predator that she had become.

I doubt anyone would try to accost me in a back alley these days.

-Likely not, no.-

Am I changing too much, Alat?

-What do you mean?-

I… I feel like I’ve had to do a lot of things that I wouldn’t have done so easily before… before Tali.

-We’re in a pretty difficult situation, and you’re making the best of it.-

That wasn’t very satisfying to hear.

Alat sighed internally. -You are quicker to violence, but you are facing those more capable of harming you. Your solutions are more… permanent, but your recent trials require decisive action. You are making different choices because you are in different circumstances. Do not judge yourself too harshly.-

After a moment, Tala found herself nodding. Though, her reflection still seemed on the edge of violence. I am about to face an unknown enemy. Readiness for violence is wise.

-That’s my Tala. Let’s see what awaits!-

Tala reached out and pushed, putting her strength behind it.

There was a cracking sound, like a lock breaking, and the entire mirror swung away from her.

Beyond, a large circular room awaited her.

The floor was truly level, seeming to simply be the edge of reality rather than any material.

-Nothing is ever true level.-

What are you talking about?

-There are always imperfections.-

Oh…I mean, sure? I guess so.

Overhead, a half-sphere of the same material completed the space.

At the center, a single figure sat on a throne.

Should I be concerned that that throne looks an awful lot like mine in Kit?

-Probably just a coincidence.-

Your sarcasm is reassuring.

The figure looked to be one of the pale creatures, but it wielded a sword that was as black as the void.

It looked like a two-dimensional cut-out of a sword, except that the dimensions seemed to shift as the blade rose and fell, tapping against the creature’s hand.

Can it talk?

-How am I supposed to know?-

“Can you speak?”

The beast shook its head almost ruefully as an arrogant smile spread across its face. “Blah, blah. Blah blah!”

-What the rust?-

What the rust?

The thing continued, seemingly giving a speech with the single, nonsense word.

-Why would it be trying to give the impression of speech?-

Tala grimaced. “Because bad guys always monologue in stories.”

-…yeah, that tracks. What is with this place?-

Pallaun will tell us when we get out. She’d insist upon it.

Nevertheless, Tala wasn’t about to let a villain monologue, real or false.

She charged forward, closing the distance in three bounding steps.

Flow met the void-sword and was turned aside.

Tala rolled with the motion of her weapon, striking again from a new angle, but the second attack was spoiled as well.

Each of the two blocks had been the smallest of movements, causing her strikes to just miss.

Still, she used the minor distraction to whip the rod through her opponent’s chest.

The tungsten passed harmlessly through the rusting thing, and she did not want to risk the tungsten or discs in a clash against that sword.

She let her momentum carry her past the throne rather than stopping to slug things out.

So, blade against blade, eh? No other tools.

-Well, if it touches you, that would be bad.-

Fine, so its blade and touch vs Flow. I can work with that.

The pale figure stood, uncaring of its doll-like nakedness.

A distorted mouth opened too wide, and it screamed at her, clearly incensed.

Tala stepped back under the force of the scream.

Once it finished, she shook her head to clear it. “Did you really want to monologue that much?”

“BLAH, BLAH!!!”

This is ridiculous. I’d be laughing if the thing weren’t so creepy. She would bet gold that it could drain her dry with a single touch, too.

No telling what that sword will do if it cuts me.

She loosened her shoulders and gave a small smile. Well, this did turn out to be a challenge after all.

-Pallaun does seem the type to enjoy this sort of thing.-

Tala closed more deliberately, never fully engaging.

Neither of them were able to land a meaningful hit on the other. Even so, after three more quick exchanges, Tala was grimacing. I can’t win in a contest of skill.

-Tali?-

Not fully, no. I think… Tala reached back, trying to pull on Tali’s experience instinctually.

Her gaze firmed, and she lunged backward.

Flow morphed into a glaive, and she threw it with all her strength.

Her opponent almost seemed to sigh in disappointment, flicking its sword up to knock the glaive aside.

When the void blade was about to hit her weapon, Tala altered its form.

Flow became a knife, and the deflecting sword passed just in front of it.

White eyes showed an instant of shock before the blade buried itself in the pale forehead.

-Huh. That was much easier than fighting blade to blade.-

Truer words.

The creature dissolved, just like its weaker brethren had, but the sword remained behind.

“Yeah, I’m taking that.”

She bent down, and as she grabbed the hilt, she felt a deep hunger from the weapon. It wanted power, and Tala couldn’t possibly supply it with all the power it needed. Strangely, there was almost no physical sensation from the weapon in her hand, just a somehow tangible ravenousness.

Hmmm… We’ll see what Thron has to say about this.

-Or Pallaun.-

The obsidian Eskau might want it for himself, but that didn’t quite align with what she knew of the man.

“So… the throne is the core?”

-That’s what it looks like, from the way the magic flows.-

Tala took a moment to examine the zeme herself and concurred.

“Well, Kit,”—Tala pulled the pouch off her waist. A small smile tugged at her lips as she looked at one of her longest-held tools—“are you hungry?”

The pouch did not respond.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 224 - Questioning

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, ciaran mullen, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Pride mystic artificer, Maxine, Emersen, Damon Roberts

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala watched as the pocket reality collapsed around her.

Great strips of something that distorted the magic, and her natural eyesight, were peeled off and drawn into the pouch that Tala had set upon the throne at the heart of the ether hold.

She would have been concerned, but Pallaun had explained this part to her. At least he did that much.

He said that when the core was destroyed or otherwise overcome, the ether hold would collapse, ejecting the Eskau back into reality.

Though, to be fair, his description had sounded more like the fracturing of a vase than a predator peeling strips off its prey’s corpse.

Beside her, Tala saw two constructs of magic clashing. One was connected to the pouch, beside which Flow rested so that Tala could continue to feed Kit.

The other seemed to originate from the throne, and was anchored in the very fabric of the world around her.

The conflict was happening in the dimensions of magic, so it was incredibly difficult to see anything but general ideas, but the sense Tala got was of a leopard circling a wounded hare, lunging in to grab what bites she could as the hare became weaker and weaker.

Kit was consuming the hold, and each bit of power gained strengthened Kit and weakened the opponent.

It reminded her of when Kit had been expanded the first time, by Master Jevin, back in Makinaven.

The magics involved had looked like an otherworldly predator, eating some prepared food.

The same features were echoed in the tableau beside her, but Kit was much larger and more powerful, and this bit of food was still kicking.

Tala continued to supply Kit with magic as the flaying continued, all the while making sure to hold very clearly her desire for her sanctum, as it had been built, to remain unchanged.

To her mind, the extra volume gained would add to the height within Kit, and most of the base materials would be…consumed by the same.

I still need to come to grips with that.

-It was pretty obvious that the gunk we put into Kit was going somewhere.-

That’s true enough.

Anything interesting would be placed on the dais for her to examine later.

Well, anything except this sword.

She looked down at the weapon in her hand, Flow resting in its sheath on the throne.

The sword had a similar shape to Flow in its sword form, but it was hard to discern the details.

It was as if the sword reflected no light at all, shrouding its contours and shape.

The very power in the air seemed to be pressing in around the blade, though that was wavering as Kit consumed more and more.

No… that’s not right. The power isn’t pressing in on the blade.

-The power is hardened, staying just out of reach of the weapon.-

That was it.

The ether hold was keeping all power from touching the void sword. Even as it fought and died, it still maintained that working, that effort of will.

We need to pay close attention to what it’s doing; I have the feeling that we’re going to need to replicate it.

-Already on that. Can you do something for me? I think it will help.-

A moment later, Tala was rotating the two bloodstars mirroring perception for Alat around the sword, moving them up and down its length, so that Alat could examine every nuance of the magics involved.

-Perfect. Keep that up until we leave here. I’m learning some interesting things.-

Throughout that time, Tala, of course, was feeding power to the weapon. When she had begun to lessen that flow, she felt as if her hand was about to be ripped apart and pulled into the weapon, so she maintained the heavy burden.

It clearly wasn’t enough to fully utilize the weapon, but a truly massive void-channel, the largest she could maintain, did seem to provide enough magic to be above some minimum threshold.

Yeah, it will let me hold it as it consumes the world.

-Don’t be like that. This is a fascinating bit of natural magic. It resembles an artifact, but somehow…more organic?-

I thought artifacts were natural. How does that make sense?

-So did I. This is like seeing hundreds of drawings of trees, then finally seeing the thing itself. Sure, the drawings look really real, really organic, but they are nothing compared to the real thing.-

So…artifacts are constructs?

-Or just less complicated than this. Instead of a picture, think of the artifacts as baby trees, with all the features, just that they’re not fully developed yet.-

Huh. I think that makes more sense, as I can’t imagine someone making artifacts and then sprinkling them randomly around waning cities.

-That’s fair. I suppose that the artifacts are just manifestations of magic brought into being by the surge of power around those cities.-

Or drawn in, in the case of creatures posing as items.

They both looked towards Kit.

If the leopard and hare metaphor was to be extended, the leopard had just pounced and pinned the hare down. The end was upon them.

The remains of reality fragmented into strips around her, and with a strange twisting sensation, Tala found herself standing firmly back in her core reality. The ether hold entrance was gone.

Flow was now back at her belt, hanging opposite Kit.

She had an instant to see a whole crowd of people gathered around her, but still at a reasonable distance, before the sword in her hand roared to life.

Tala’s enhanced perception registered the all-consuming blackness expanding outward in a wave.

Oh, the blade isn’t void-black because of its materials, it’s that color because it eats whatever touches it…except at the handle, but that has a cost.

She was so glad she hadn’t been stabbed by this sword.

-Focus, Tala! Aura control, mimic what the hold was doing.- Alat poured the knowledge she’d gained through her close examination of the weapon into Tala’s conscious mind.

Tala quickly sorted the flood of information as she flexed her aura, which she still held in a sphere roughly an arm’s length from her at the edges.

Now, she distorted it to fully encapsulate the sword, then she pulled it outward in a bubble around the weapon, preventing any magic from entering or exiting the space.

The result was a visible bubble of void, seemingly encapsulating her right hand. There were flickers of movement across the surface of that void as it interacted with, and was rebuffed by, her aura. In those variations, she thought she saw a pair of eyes, blacker than the void, gazing at her for the briefest of moments.

In that fraction of a racing heartbeat, Tala would have sworn that they looked…smug?

Alat, I think I’m seeing things.

-It is pretty common to see patterns in randomness. That’s what cloud-gazing is, after all. Humanity is good at finding seeming order within chaos.-

Tala returned her focus outward, and thankfully, it had been less than a second since she exited the hold.

Pallaun was the closest to her, and he was also the only one to have reacted. It had been a simple reaction, as he just transformed his protian weapon into a tower shield, which he held between them.

Tala took in the others before her, and her eyes widened.

If the embellishments around their heraldry were to be believed, this was a group of Eskau from quite a few major Houses. Be-thric and Sanguis were there, and it seemed like the Pillars from the other Houses were with their Eskau as well.

Be-thric stepped forwards. “Eskau Tali. Please explain what you hold in your hand.”

Tala gave a bow to those gathered, not to Be-thric. Not at all. He just happens to be standing near those I’m bowing to. “This is the weapon of the final enemy I slew. From what I understand, it is a sword of the void. It consumes everything that it can. I am containing it for the moment.”

Be-thric cocked his head, then nodded. “Other void items have been recovered from ether holds in the past. Eskau Pallaun, suggestions?”

Pallaun bowed towards Be-thric, his weapon returning to its place and form as his gauntlet. “If it pleases Pillar Be-thric, I have a containment box which could suppress the magics and remove the item’s urgency for now.”

Be-thric turned to the other Pillars. “Is that acceptable?”

There was some grumbling, but everyone seemed to agree in the end.

Pallaun stepped forward, pulling out a large box from his belt-pouch.

It was clear that his own pouch was a dimensional storage, as the box he produced was many times too big to have fit.

He opened the lid, and Tala gingerly put the sword into the box.

“Eskau Pallaun? Why are they all—”

“No unnecessary talking!” A Pillar of the Falling Moon shouted over her. On his chest, he bore the emblem of his House: A anthropomorphized moon with fury across its features.

Pallaun shook his head as he closed the box. Magics flared to life briefly, and then the sword was contained, at least for the time being.

He then presented the box to her, and she leaned it against her leg.

Tala was suddenly feeling nervous. Did they find out I’m not Tali?

No, that was ridiculous. Pallaun wouldn’t have given me back the box if that were the case.

She opened her mouth to question, but Be-thric shook his head once. “You will only speak to answer questions, as tradition demands.”

The Pillar of the Falling Moon cleared his throat. “Were you warned of this?”

She frowned, then shook her head. “I don’t even know what ‘this’ is, so… no?”

A crescent moon pendant in his hand pulsed with light, and the questioner nodded once.

She opened her mouth again, but Be-thric gave her another look, and she shut it.

“What did you fight within?”

“Zombie-like creatures, bipedal magic-leeches, and statues.”

Several people exchanged nervous looks.

The same Pillar continued the questioning. “Did any of the statues have wings?”

“No? Not that I saw.”

“Did any cover their eyes?”

Tala thought back. “No? I mean they might have done so to defend against a hit to their heads, but not noticeably.”

That seemed to satisfy the man on that count.

He then proceeded to ask her myriad other questions that seemed inane, but it seemed like the watching Pillars hung on her every word.

He wanted to know if she could see a false sky within, and what color it had been.

Puke brown, but without the chunks.

He wanted the exact count of the various enemies she’d slain.

Alat was able to help Tala provide that.

Which opponents were armed and with what.

Only the final enemy and with the void sword.

On and on it went.

Finally, the man came to the last few questions.

“Were you healed, or instructed to heal, before destroying the core?”

“No.”

“Are you injured at all?”

“No, of course not.” She looked to Be-thric, frowning in confusion. He knows I heal virtually instantly, what is this about?

Be-thric cleared his throat. The question he asked was addressed to the Falling Moon Pillar, not her, “Do you need her to strip down to prove that she is undamaged?”

Tala kept herself from stiffening, but the inquiring Pillar shook his head. “That is unnecessary.”

Be-thric smiled.

The other turned back to her for one final question, “Are you aware of any bets?”

“Bets? No.”

The pendant in his hand broke apart, and part of the light moved to rest against Be-thric’s chest.

Several of the watching Pillars laughed and congratulated Be-thric, and some were sulking, and came forward to console the Pillar of the Falling Moon.

The light also went to others, though it was less. Once that was complete, items began to change hands.

Tala leaned close to Pallaun and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

“Yes, you can talk now, Eskau.”

“What is this about?”

“It is common practice for the Houses to bet on an Eskau’s first ether hold. Your Pillar leveraged himself and his assets past the point of sanity to make a single bet, there was only one taker.” Pallaun grinned. “The others likely smelled something human about the situation.”

Something… human?

Pallaun glanced at her then rolled his eyes. “Something fishy, something off.”

Oh… That was pretty insulting.

-Tali would only care because she’d want to prove she wasn’t like other humans. She wouldn’t address it.-

So, Tala didn’t. “What was the bet? What did he win?”

“He bet that you would emerge without a scratch on you. And he won…” He turned and gestured.

The Pillar of the Falling Moon was arguing with a candidate Eskau and potential Pillar from his own house, if the embellishments around their own sigils were any indication.

“No.” Tala was in disbelief.

Pallaun grinned. “Yes.”

The Pillar of the Falling Moon ripped a crescent shaped knife from the candidate Eskau’s belt and strode over to Be-thric, presenting the protian weapon to the onyx man. “Your winnings, Pillar Be-thric.”

“Thank you, Pillar Mesek.”

“Let it never be said that the House of the Falling Moon dishonors our agreements.”

“You are truly above reproach.” Be-thric bowed.

The other Pillars and Eskau seemed to have finished paying off their various wagers, and the group began to disperse.

Well, I guess we just earned him another protian weapon?

-Seems like it, yeah.-

Well, that’s one more step towards freedom. She didn’t like helping Be-thric get more powerful, but she couldn’t deny that that was the quickest path back to the human lands. Back home.

Sanguis and Be-thric spoke briefly with Pallaun and Tala, instructing them to head back to the main hold. He was to help her assess the void sword and discuss possibilities.

Be-thric patted Tala’s head affectionately. “You continue to deliver, my Eskau.”

Tala was proud of her self-control.

She didn’t consider striking him in return.

She didn’t even flinch away. Instead, she channeled Tali’s memories and neuro-pathways. She bowed to the retreating Pillars, directly behind Be-thric. “Thank you, Pillar Be-thric.”

“No bowing, remember?” But he patted her head again, clearly pleased.

She nodded. “As you wish.”

“Good, good. It’s time we upgraded your gear. Your worth grows every day, my Eskau, and that blade might be just the thing to enhance your weapon.”

Pallaun turned, eyebrows climbing. “Pillar Be-thric? I will not insult you by asking if you know the dangers, but are you sure?”

Be-thric waved the Eskau down. “I simply ask that the two of you confer with Thorn and experts on the subject. Don't take any action until we can discuss it.”

Pallaun nodded, but he still seemed unconvinced.

After that Be-thric and Sanguis headed towards the City Lord’s keep, apparently they had business to be about.

Pallaun and Tala turned back towards the House of Blood’s hold.

“Eskau Pallaun?”

“Yes, Eskau Tali?”

“There was a lot that you failed to mention about ether holds.”

The large man shrugged without slowing his pace. “Tradition and my instructions dictated I remain cryptic.”

She grimaced, then shook her head and sighed. “Fine. So? Can you tell me more now?”

He glanced her way, then shrugged again. “Not much to tell. Every ether hold is vastly different. You already know the commonalities.”

“Breathable air, ground to walk on, at least at the entrance, and a core.”

“Precisely. Beyond that, they vary extremely. Some have creatures within, some don’t. Of those that do, some of the creatures conform to what we know of how living beings should function, others don’t. Of those that don’t have creatures within them, some are undefended, others have intricate traps, still others have puzzles, and so on.”

“Still…” She wanted to ask if they were really infinitely variable, but that isn’t something that Tali would ask.

He shook his head. “One of the stranger ones I’ve overcome was filled with creatures of gas. I could only see them as distortions in the air around me. They couldn’t be killed, and I simply had to endure as I searched for the core.”

“Endure?”

“Their touch was like steam, or acid, or a chill deeper than the deepest winter. Each was different, and each was intent on forcing their way into my flesh to bring about destruction.” He smiled wistfully. “That was a challenging hold."

“Surely that wasn’t entertaining to you?”

“It wasn’t a good fight, no, but it tested my mind. I had to think in new ways and overcome adversity.” He shook himself as if invigorated. “What is life but the constant struggle to improve oneself? The day you fail to do so, the day you stop, is the day you die, even if it takes years for your heart to stop beating afterwards.”

She didn’t have an answer to that.

“Now, did your dwarf remain in your sanctum or will we need to hunt him down back in the main hold?”

“He is in the main hold’s library, seeking advice on what volumes to add to my own.”

Pallaun grunted. “A wise use of time. I would have killed to have a servant such as he when I first was raised.”

The obsidian skinned man turned to her, grabbing her shoulder in a surprising gentle, but still firm, grip.

“Treat him well. He will be an asset to you and the House for centuries if properly cultivated in the role of adjunct to an Eskau.”

Tala cocked her head, considering. Finally, she nodded. “I think you’re right. He is too useful to take for granted.”

It might be worthwhile, trying to figure out a way to get him to defect, help me get free, and come with me back to the human lands.

-We also need a plan as to how we can kill him if he tries to stop our escape.-

Truthfully, Tala didn’t know which would be harder.

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Chapter: 225 - Internal Monologue

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Tala sat upon her throne within Kit. She was surrounded by an eclectic mix of items that had, apparently, been within the ether hold. Even so, that was not where her mind was focused.

While so closely connected with her sanctum, sitting upon the throne, she could feel that the ceiling within Kit was noticeably higher than it had been.

We gained a few extra feet of sky.

-And took another step closer to getting home.-

We did at that. Just a few more protian weapons for Be-thric; then, we’ll head home and drop the might of a human city on his head.

-Yeah. That is definitely the obvious solution. As soon as we’re within a few miles of a human city, I’ll be able to connect to the Archive and coordinate, at least in theory.-

Tala felt a smile pull at her lips, and she looked down at the box across her lap. Until then, we just need to keep our head down, gain everything we can, knowledge and books included, and freedom will be ours without having to come up with or execute any crazy plan.

The weapon, contained on her lap, was an interesting one. I don’t suppose this could deal with the collar and let us go home sooner?

-I don’t see how it could.-

What about meshed with Flow, so we could take on the consuming properties?

-While that’s interesting, I think it would be incredibly inadvisable.-

Tala thought for a moment, then huffed a laugh and shook her head. Because my scripts aren’t a part of me, and would therefore be subject to the draining effects, too.

-Exactly, and even if we could aspect mirror its power to hit the collar all at once, I honestly don’t know what it would do. It would be just as likely to activate the collar, leading to a painful death, as disable or destroy the thing.-

dasgannachs have to be susceptible to magics, and this sword thing definitely feels like it should work.

-In theory, it might, but is it worth the risk, when there’s an upcoming, perfectly viable means of getting free? Besides, from the reaction to the sword, items like this aren’t unheard of. I can’t imagine the creator of the collar didn’t account for things like them.-

I suppose.

-I actually think that triggering a bunch of ending seeds around our neck would have a higher chance of success, but it would also blow away your inscriptions, likely even your active ones, if there were sufficient power to affect the collar quickly enough to be effective.-

Iron paint under the seeds? That would help direct the power outward.

-Again, it might work, but the risks are far, far higher than our current plan.

Yeah, to overcome a half-hallowed level of reinforcement, I can’t see iron paint doing more than helping a bit.

-And so, you’d still be affected.-

So, I’d be headless, without healing scripts.

-Most people just call that dead.-

Tala barked a laugh at that.

Thron, who’d been working off to one side, sorting through some of the loot, gave her a searching look. “Are you alright, Eskau Tali?”

“Tali.”

The dwarf gave a half smile, and his tone and bearing were both a lot less formal as he continued. “Right, of course. You alright, Tali?”

“Yeah, just talking to myself, thinking through some things.”

He grunted. “Must be quite the internal monologue.”

Tala shrugged.

“So, what’s it like in your head?” He grinned, lifting one hand to mimic a mouth. “Blah, blah, blah, aren’t I so lucky? Blah, blah, blah, I should give Thorn a raise.”

Tala chuckled, then decided to tease him in return, “Wait, you’re paid?”

He gave her a good-naturedly incredulous look. “Did you think I stay around because of your winning personality?”

It was her turn to grunt. Yeah, Tali’s the worst… “That’s fair.”

He hesitated, seeming a bit taken aback. Then, he laughed, seeming to take her statement as a continuation of the joke. With a shake of his head, he seemed to decide that the jokes were at an end. “In all seriousness, loyalty and pragmatism keeps me around, that’s for certain, but the pay makes everything easier.”

“Loyalty?” She smirked. He’d spoken a bit about his desire to repay debts, but that didn’t really strike her as loyalty, per se.

The dwarf shrugged. “You could have killed Gallof, but you gave me a chance to surrender. I owe him a lot, and you allowed me to repay his kindness. Beyond that, you accepted our request to serve. It is most often Eskau that block such pleas, and you did not.”

That made Tala feel a bit guilty on several counts. I didn’t really think of objecting, and I didn’t actually spare Gallof…

-Well, Tali was the one running the show at the time.-

Really? She thought back, and realized that she couldn’t really remember who’d been in charge. She knew that she’d been acting like Tali, then, but she couldn’t say with certainty that Tali had been in charge.

-She was.-

That made Tala feel even worse. If anything that made Thron loyal to Tali, not her. “Thorn?”

“Yes, Tali?” He looked up from the tome.

“Do you…begrudge my victory?”

He shrugged. “As I said, my previous master is alive, as am I, so no.”

She hesitated, grimacing slightly despite herself.

“Tali?”

Her grimace fully manifested. “Well…”

-Tala, what are you doing?-

I feel bad. He should know that I was bluffing when I threatened Gallof—well, Tali was bluffing.

-What purpose would that serve? She would never tell him.-

It would make me feel less awful for deceiving him, and I am not her. “Do you want to know a secret?”

-You are all over the place today, Tala. What is going on with you?-

I just fought through a not-swamp filled with not-zombies, Alat. Things are feeling a little crazy…

-Fine, fine. You do what you think is best. He probably won’t turn against us and make escaping harder.-

Tala ignored the sarcasm and focused on the dwarf.

He gave her a flat look. “Absolutely not.”

-Oh. I did not expect that.-

She hesitated, her mouth already open to tell him. “Oh…Okay.”

Alat laughed inside her head. -I take it all back. I like him.-

You liked him before.

-Yeah, I know. But you’re right. We should find a way to bring him along, if he wants. He’d be fun and useful to have around.-

Yeah, if he wants. Though, that might be really unlikely.

Thron seemed to see how off-guard his answer had taken her, so he took the initiative and moved the conversation along. “Back to the subject of pay. Even though I was joking, it is rather important that you know the details. I imagine you aren’t very familiar with power taxes and the benefit of working for a major House?”

“Aside from the honor of it?” Tali would be proud, though Tala had to fight off a grimace.

“That’s true too, of course.”—but he waved the sentiment away—"Now, members of houses are paid with power both directly and indirectly. Everyone in the city pays a flat tax to access the ambient magic in the air. For servants and members, that’s covered by the House of Blood. In addition, the power within the main hold is denser than that in the city at large, if only by a little. That within the holds of minor houses, and other organizations, usually lies between that of the city and the major House holds. Being in a higher density of power improves vitality, longevity, health, and a whole host of other things.”

Tala found herself nodding. That made a lot of sense. How much are those benefits worth on their own? Throw in food and shelter, and very little other pay would likely be necessary for most.

“For me personally, access to your sanctum and its resources is a boon, and then, there’s this guy.” Thron patted his pocket. “I have the use of this fount, though he still belongs to you, officially. His power has a richness, a uniformity that I'm not used to. I’m used to magic coming from multiple sources and blending all together. Even when I had a protian weapon, the power was solely used for the weapon itself, rather than being purified or attuned to me. Having a single source is a treat.”

“There’s a difference?”

“Yes and no. The power is just a bit…smoother. Most of the time, power takes a long, long time to fully deaspect, and it isn’t worth the time or effort to make it truly pure. The infinitesimal impurities can clash, but not harmfully so. Thus, having a single source is slightly more pleasant. That’s all.”

“Huh.” That was simply something that she would never have to deal with. I am my own single source. That did bring the fount back to mind, however. “How is Rob? I haven’t heard him this afternoon.”

“He’s holding to our agreement. I don’t let him be a toy, he stays quiet.”—the dwarf looked around—“Where is our terror bird friend?”

“He’s off hunting. I expect he’ll be back soon, though.” Tala considered as she looked at the lump that was Rob in Thron’s pocket. “Really? He’s been quiet?

“Yes.”—he hesitated, then sighed—“Well, quieter. When the librarian told me that if I was too loud he’d have to kill me—obviously joking—Rob here started screaming and begging to be destroyed. He almost got me thrown out.”

Thron glared down at his pocket.

Rob made a petulant, whimpering grunt, but didn’t say anything.

“Managed to quiet ‘em, else I’d not have all those.” He gestured to the boxes of books he’d tucked in one section of the quadrant. “So, about your internal conversation, do you want to bounce ideas off of someone else?”

Tala considered the offer. She did need to talk through a few things, and as amazing as Alat was, talking to her meant that Tala was still literally talking with herself.

-Yeah, that’s fair.-

Pallaun had promised to send an artificer their way before he left Tala in her sanctum a few hours earlier, so they should be arriving relatively soon.

The entrance to Kit was now in one of the main gardens, and the servants were aware of its exact location. That meant that the artificer would have no trouble finding her.

While Be-thric had asked Pallaun to consult on the use of the void sword, he didn’t actually hold authority over the Eskau.

Pallaun had simply promised to send the expert and given one bit of advice before departing, “Most would say send items of the void back to the void. I say such a weapon unused is a battle lost before it’s even begun. You will never achieve true greatness without risk.”

Tala sighed, coming back to the moment at hand and addressing the dwarf. “What do you think about binding a void sword to my weapon?”

Thron stood and walked over. He looked at the ground to one side and in front of her. It was free of odd items, that space having been cleared earlier. “May I modify your dais, here? I’ll avoid the magics for reinscription.”

“Sure?” She really had no idea what he was planning on doing.

He smiled and sat a bit away from her, in front and to her right. There was the momentary sound of sizzling, and he sank slightly. “Ahh, there we go. That’s more comfortable.”

Tala cocked her head. “Did you just erode a seat into that stone?”

Thron shrugged. “Yeah. Flat stone isn’t very comfortable.”

Well, I suppose he did ask.

-Yeah, you’ve no call to be annoyed. What did you think he was going to do?-

I honestly have no idea. As funny as it was, with his legs crossed before him, he was so small.Like an oversized catapult stone.

-No one would use something so beautiful as a siege projectile.-

Tala had to admit that Alat was right. The almost iridescent green skin still struck her as resembling nothing so much as an unpolished gem, and his true-silver hair and beard made him closely resemble an expensive statue of a wise mentor.

Thron shifted slightly, ruining the statue illusion.

Well, I did just fight a bunch of moving statues.

-But the metaphor was a statue, not a moving statue.-

Fair, fair.

There was another sizzle, then Thron nodded to himself. “Now, your weapon is soul-bound, right? That’s the term?”

Tala checked and, yes, Tali knew that term. “Yeah.”

“Honestly, I don’t think I’d want my soul bound to the void, in whatever form. Magic is a grueling taskmaster, Tali, and the power we use can and does change us.”

She considered her Bound ceremony, and the choices she’d made while improving her equipment. Tala found herself nodding. “I know, Thorn. I really do.”

Terry chose that moment to return, flickering into being on Tala’s shoulder.

Rob gasped, but otherwise didn’t make a sound.

Terry cocked his head, staring at Thron’s pocket.

Tala tapped the bird on the beak. “Terry, leave the little orb alone.”

Terry squawked derisively, headbutted Tala, and curled up.

Thron grinned. “He’s under my protection, tiny terror. You’d have better luck hunting in the city.”

Terry lifted his head and looked between the two of them. He then looked towards the defensive bunker, in which the exit lay before letting out a questioning trill.

Tala quickly shook her head. “No, Terry. That’s not a challenge or invitation. Don’t hunt in the city.”

The terror bird squawked once and curled back up.

Thron gave Terry another searching look. “I don’t know if I should be concerned by that creature, or think his ambition is cute.”

Terry lifted his head, regarding Thron levelly, with a clearly implied assertion of superiority.

Thron met his gaze levelly. “You may be strong, little terror, but I’m betting you don’t play well with acid.”

Terry seemed to hesitate at that. Finally, he let out a collection of seemingly random squawks before curling back up.

The dwarf straightened slightly and seemed to be working to hide a smile. “Now, as you were saying, Tali?”

Right, the void sword. “I feel like it would be a useful tool.”

“Only if you could control it, and that depends on the exact nature of its magics.”

“How can it sustain itself, by the way? There’s no power source, and it’s contained, so it can’t be draining power from the environment.”

Thron shrugged. “Good question for the artificer, I suppose.”

Tala sat.

And Thron sat.

And they were silent.

For a long minute.

“Well, I’m going to look through another book.” He’d been alternating between sifting through the loot from the ether hold and the books he’d gotten from the House of Blood’s main library.

Tala nodded. “And I need to be practicing my aura-control.”

He smiled as he walked to grab a book. “It does seem to be getting better.”

“I haven’t made that much progress.” She sighed.

“You haven’t had that long to progress. You’re doing well.” He gave her a reassuring smile.

She felt herself smile in return. He really was a kind and useful servant. You know, I’m probably going to have to kill you, one day. I won’t spare you if it costs me my freedom.

-What the rust? That’s dark, Tala. Why would he oppose you?-

You’re the one who said we need to figure out how to kill him at need.

-But not right after he was kind! Who thinks about how to kill a man who just complimented you? Honestly, did you dye your hair at some point?-

Tala frowned. What? I don’t think I understand. What does the color of my hair have to do with anything?

-It doesn’t matter. So, what brought it to mind?-

I don’t know. I just feel like he’s going to be there when everything goes down.

-Time will tell, I suppose.-

Thron was looking around himself, at the piles of random items, then down at the book in his hands. “I should probably get back to it.”

“What have you found so far?” She found herself curious.

He tapped the book against his open palm, considering. “Quite a few silver bars, a handful of gold coins, a small mountain of copper, some mundane weaponry, a couple of books in languages I can’t read, things like that.”

Tala perked up. “Oh? What is generally done with the harvests from an ether hold?”

Thron gave her a level look. “They are generally very minimal and simply given to the Pillar of the House. In the rare cases where there is a substantial harvest, and this would likely qualify, the Eskau is entitled to ten percent of the haul.”

Ten…percent? Her eye twitched.

-Calm, Tala. Tali would be ecstatic to be adding to the wealth of the House.-

I know… She tried to portray sincerity as she said, “That’s amazing! I’m glad that the House will be strengthened, and that I will be granted anything at all.”

Thron smiled. “My advice will be to forgo all of your share, and ask for the void sword, assuming the artificer gives us good news.”

Tala considered. That was likely a wise course, honestly. At the moment, she had no need of material wealth, as Be-thric was showering her with anything capable of improving her in abundance. And the precious metals provided for my reinscribing would cover most, if not all of my debts when I get home.

-If you don’t use them up on the way.-

She looked back to the dwarf, and noticed he had a bit of reluctance in his eyes. He had been at the sorting and intermittent reading for hours.

I can offer him a break. I could probably use one, too. “Do you want to take a break and spar?”

He regarded her for a moment, then nodded, smiling. “That would be nice. We can see how well you’ve progressed in your control.”

“Oh?” She stood along with him.

“Of course. If you can’t break my hold on the space around me, you won’t land a single blow.”

* * *

Tala screamed through clenched teeth as part of her hand vanished again, spraying blood at the dwarf. That blood also vanished before it could land.

Her flesh knit back together as she pulled her fist back.

“I’ve told you, Tali. You must break my hold, else you’ll encounter corrosion that even your impressive physiology cannot withstand.”

How is he getting through my defenses? The magics involved should be precisely opposed to his own.

He’d proven his protection effective, time and time again. He hadn’t bothered to fall into a fighting stance or even raise his hands defensively, and yet he was perfectly safe.

Assuming I don’t use my weapon.

-Well, you aren’t actually trying to kill him, not now.-

Tala knew that; she really did. She also knew that this was good training, but that didn’t actually make it any more pleasant.

They were standing on Tala’s training circle, within her sanctum. Pools of slowly moving water surrounded them, save for a single bridge that allowed easy access.

In truth, she could have just leapt over the water, but it was nice to have the bridge all the same.

-Why don’t you ask him? He should know how his power works, after all.-

There was no reason not to, so she did, “How are you able to erode my flesh so easily? My magics are directly opposed to dissolution magics.”

“I embody the concept of corrosion.”

Tala waited for more, but it didn’t seem to be forthcoming. “What does that actually mean?”

He hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. “I don’t actually affect your flesh magically, not really. I simply magically expose it to the concept of physical corrosion. If I embodied true corrosion, I would be practically invincible, but magic can get through my aspected aura with ease.”

He grinned, then.

“That’s why I have other methods of defense, but that’s hardly important at the moment.”

“Does that mean that something non-corrodible would be able to get through?”

He shook his head. “Not at all. My aura would still show it how to degrade, and it would.”

“That seems broken.”

“Broken?”

“Too powerful. It doesn’t even seem like you’re expending power.”

“That’s because I’m not. I’m cycling my power within myself, allowing it to radiate with the concept of corrosion, or acid, and that permeates my aura, providing the effect.”

“See? That’s broken. That’s too powerful.”

He chuckled. “Do you mean unfair?”

“Yeah, unfair works, too.”

“Says the woman with an infinite well of magic within her very soul.”

Tala hesitated for a moment. “Ahh, that’s…that’s fair.”

“Hardly. I find it incredibly unfair that you effectively never have to be concerned about running out of power.”

“Fine, fine. We each have something broken about ourselves.”

“Thus, unfairness is fair.”

She laughed, and he grinned in return.

She then punched at him.

Instead of the hit landing, Tala fell back cursing and suppressing another scream.

“I did tell you that it was passively generated. Surprise is not a factor.”

She growled as her hand restored itself. “You might have been lying.”

“True, but I wasn’t.”

She sighed, shaking out her arm. It was worth a try…

“Again?”

She nodded, firming her resolve. “Again.”

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 226 - The One to Seize

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Sakari Saastamoinen, Pride mystic artificer, PatronTurtle, Noelle, Maxine, Joshua Sydney, Emersen, Damon Roberts, Ben Morgan

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala and Thron sparred for nearly an hour, Tala refusing to give up.

In truth, ‘sparred’ was a bit generous.

Thron patiently stood in the center of the training circle, giving pointers and occasionally politely suggesting that they try other means of practice.

Tala listened to his advice, attempted to implement it, then threw her aura against his, and tried to hit him.

She had enough control of her own body that she never lost more than a hand to each attempted blow.

Of course, that still hurt.

After the first couple of times, Thron had suggested that they look for another way to train, but Tala had refused. Apparently, he’d wanted her to experience the ‘real consequences’ of aura control in combat, but he hadn’t really expected her to use this as a method of practice.

-Why not try meditation? We can focus on control and then try again later.-

I want to succeed, Alat. I’m tired of being in my own head, only pulled out when I have to do something. I want to do something that helps me and only me.

-Study, internal practice, and meditation is doing something for you. It’s not physical, but every step you take to improve is a step forward.-

Tala growled as her aura slipped slightly and her entire left fist was burned away before she pulled her punch back.

Thron tilted his head. “Tali? What was that?”

As her fist regrew, she came back into a fighting stance. “Nothing.”

He held up his hands. “Wait a moment. What’s going on? While I wouldn’t choose your methods, you are making excellent progress. Whatever that was, though? That was sloppy. What’s going on?”

Tala hesitated, then let her fists fall to her sides. “I feel like…”

The dwarf waited, not pressing the human and allowing her to pull her thoughts together.

“I feel like I’m just treading water. I’m not moving towards my goal?”

Thron nodded, sitting down on the flat, textured stone. “And what is that goal?”

She threw her hands up. She was frustrated, but she was present enough in the moment to pull the reasoning from Tali, and how she would respond. “I want to improve, and I’m at a bottleneck until we get the method from the wild humans to the north.”

He nodded in response but didn’t say anything.

“I know that every protian weapon we capture for Pillar Be-thric gets us closer to that goal, but it just feels like I’m along for the ride. I want to DO something.”

“I can understand that.”

She huffed a short laugh. “Oh?”

“No one of quality wants their fate in others' hands, and you feel like you’re not steering your own destiny right now. You’re learning the ropes as an Eskau, you're out of your element in wider society, there are no others of your kind who are peers to your station. You are alone, flung into the unknown, and while you see great things coming your way, you want to be the one to seize those rewards, yourself.”

“Exactly!” She threw up her hands and started pacing.

“Okay.”

She stopped mid-step. “What?”

“Okay.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’ve been handling the scheduling of your duties, specifically delaying them to allow you to settle in. I apologize for… delaying overmuch. My intention was to let you have the space you needed to practice and just… be.” He shrugged. “Let’s change that. Starting tomorrow, I can bring you the options for the day, and we can pick your schedule together.”

He hesitated for a moment.

“Well, the big things we should discuss the evening before. Would that work for you?”

Tala was a bit taken aback. “Really?”

“Of course. If I weren’t here, this would be up to you, regardless. Though, I don’t know of any Eskau who doesn’t get an adjunct fairly quickly to help with scheduling of duties.”

She felt a smile pull at her face. “That sounds excellent. I think I could really use a bit more hand in choosing my tasks.”

“Then, it shall be.” He pushed himself back to his feet. “Now, will we continue this training? Or are you willing to consider a less painful method?”

She considered for a moment. “How is my progress compared to what you’d expect?”

He grimaced. “Aside from that last… attempt. You are moving much faster than I’d expect.”

“How likely is it that that’s just because of me?”

He sighed. “Unlikely. Visceral feedback almost always leads to quicker improvement, so long as it isn’t overwhelming, or painful to the point that it causes you to shy away.”

She smiled. “Alright then. Let’s do this.”

Tala focused on her aura once more. Per Thron’s advice, she didn’t try to claim the territory around him, directly.

Instead, she hardened her own authority around herself, bending her will and her magical weight to reinforcing her sovereignty over herself.

Then, she punched at him.

Tala managed to suppress all parts of her reaction to the pain, even as Thron nodded. “Good, that was much better. Are you willing to modify the training, while keeping your… feedback?”

She looked down as the skin on her knuckles regrew. “I’m open to the idea.”

“Simply extend your hand towards me and watch the interactions of our auras. Push forward slowly, and see what happens.”

Yeah, that actually makes sense. Go slow to see what’s happening.

-Instead of continuing to punch a stone wall, and wonder why our knuckles are bloody?-

Wisdom, thy name is Alat.

Alat snorted a laugh within Tala’s head.

Now out of her fighting stance, Tala lifted her hand, palm towards Thron, and reached for him.

Her magesight was focused on their conflicting auras.

To her surprise, she saw that his didn’t harden, it didn’t push outward. It just was.

Hers corroded as it came in contact with his.

I don’t know what I expected. That’s what I was feeling.

-Yeah but we associated the corrosion with our flesh more than with our magics.-

She stopped her hand’s movement, and just flexed her aura, hardening it, softening it, moving it around, and just playing with it in general.

In the end, she’d progressed quite a bit.

At the start, her flesh had vanished a good six inches from the dwarf. When they had to stop, it was closer to two inches. That was quite a bit more progress than it seemed. It became exponentially harder to maintain control of the area around her hand, when near a hostile aura, the closer Tala got to her opponent.

She knew that both from the current bout of training as well as her earlier training with the group of Archons in Bandfast. Though, in Bandfast she had moved her own aura, rather than fixing it to herself, and using her own movements to breach the hostile authority.

And, they never had this solid of a lock on the space around themselves.

-They also weren’t Fused, or Mature as the arcanes call the level.-

That’s true enough. Thron was solidly orange to her magesight. He’d explained that he would require her permission, as well as Be-thric’s, to advance. She was inclined to allow it, once she was able to breach his defenses, as having an increasingly difficult challenge would only help with her own improvement.

Terry had spent the entire time floating around on the surface of the surrounding water, moving with the subtle currents to slowly circle them without any effort.

But Tala’s training came to an end when she felt the door within her entrance bunker open. She suppressed the defenses within, to prevent any unfortunate accident.

“He’s here.”

Thron immediately nodded and turned towards the bridge. “We should welcome him.”

While Thron took the closest bridge over the water around the training circle, Tala dove into it. She quickly retracted her clothing as she moved through the water, mirroring her elk-leather’s self-cleaning to allow the water to clean herself quickly. The clothing grew back across her just before she vaulted out onto the stone at the outside edge. With a marginal effort of will, she’d maintained the mirror, causing the water to cascade off of her, even as she hopped in place a couple of times.

-That’s effective, I suppose. Couldn’t you have just mirrored the self-cleaning without the dip in the pond?-

Of course, but then I’d have been shedding a bunch of grime onto the training circle.

-Wouldn’t Kit have just taken it away?-

Right. Well, the water was nice. Also, she’d probably have had to strip, and she’d not have enjoyed doing that even behind Thron’s back.

-That’s true. Arcanes don’t really seem to have a nudity taboo, but it still might have been… odd. The water did feel nice, too.-

As the water splashed onto the ground around Tala, Terry lifted his head from where he was drifting past. He briefly glared Tala’s way before laying back into his watery repose.

Tala smiled at the terror bird and left him to his relaxation.

She and Thron walked into the central courtyard just as the artificer came out of the building.

The hue-folk male was light-brown skinned, the color enough off of ‘flesh’ colored that he was unlikely to be mistaken as human. His hair was the same color, which likely helped prevent confusion. His power placed him solidly in the Honored rank, the power within and around him green to Tala’s magesight.

It was all Tala could do not to gape. How many people of the upper-middle ranks are there in arcane cities?

-Based on what Master Jevin and Master Xeel said, alot.-

Yeah, I’m starting to realize exactly what that means. It seems like basically everyone of consequence is more powerful than most of humanity. An instant later, she amended. More powerful than most human Archons, honestly.

She was pulled from her contemplations when the hue-folk male’s eyes turned to her.

“Oh! There you are.” He bowed. “Eskau Tali, I presume?”

She nodded in return. “I am, yes. And this is my adjunct, Thorn.”

The artificer bowed to Thron as well, if slightly less deeply.

He’s bowing to the title, and the association with the House of Blood. There is no way he’d defer to us if we weren’t associated with the House of Blood.

-Just another benefit of working with a major House. Tali was certainly ecstatic.-

He doesn’t seem to care about my race in the slightest. Do you think it is the same reason?

-Likely. What he cares about is performing a service for our House. I’m sure there are those who wouldn’t work with a human, there have to be at least some, but most likely won’t care-

I feel like we should be able to use that…

Alat laughed within Tala’s head. -What? Establish the House of Humanity? Force them to recognize the power of the human race?-

It’s not the worst idea I’ve ever had, but probably something above our rank to deal with.

The internal exchange had taken barely a few seconds, and as the artificer stood straight once more, he introduced himself, “Well met. I am Cerdai. Eskau Pallaun of the House of Blood sought me out and requested that I come to consult on a void item. Am I in the correct location?”

“Indeed.”

The dais was empty of items as the loot from the ether hold had been stored away for the time being.

Cerdai wasn’t looking that way at the moment, so Tala made her desires clear to Kit through their magical connection, and the box containing the void blade came into being atop the stone without sound, magical fluctuation, or other indication.

Tala gestured to the previously empty dais.

Cerdai turned to look, taking in the box with apparent surprise. “Oh! Good, you have it properly contained.” He was nodding to himself. “May I?”

“Of course.”

As Cerdai stepped forward, power swirled around him, quickly forming an infinite loop of intricately intermeshed power in a shell closely hugging his skin.

Tala felt something from it, just like she’d begun to feel corrosion from Thron.

The stability of change?

It made no sense to her at all.

-Really? Gravity is a constant acceleration, if we don’t alter it. That is a change that is stable.-

Tala blinked at that. Oh, wow. Yeah, that makes total sense.

Cerdai’s power hadn’t felt connected with gravity, but now that Alat had made the connection, Tala could feel how gravity was… related? Yeah, that was the right word.

Concepts are so broken…

When Cerdai opened the box, his magics twisted to create a second area of containment sealed off from the one in which he was, but still created by the same twisting spell-form.

There were flickers of power within the mesh of magic as the artificer was apparently doing a preliminary investigation. “Ahh, I see. It is still fresh. That is good.” He looked their way. “I require some time to examine it properly. Would you like me to take it with me and return, or do my work, here?”

She glanced towards Thron, but he gave no reaction. I’d probably prefer it stay here. “I think here is just fine.”

“As you wish.”

“Do you require a separate space to work?”

“No, this will be just fine.”

Tala caught movement at Cerdai’s feet, and he looked down.

A cat wove its way between his legs. “Oh, hello, kitty.”

He smiled and the cat looked up, purring.

“Those are very pretty eyes you have.”

It’s back. She looked closely at it with her magesight, but she didn’t see anything unusual about it. No unexplained magics, no unusual densities. It just looked like a cat.

A cat that was utterly ignoring her in favor of the most power dense thing in the sanctum.

-Well, that’s disappointing.-

It could be disguised in some manner we’ve no way to penetrate?

-That’s always possible of anything, everything, and everyone.-

Fair, fair. That didn’t really make her feel better, but it did make sense. She couldn’t waste time on things she couldn’t possibly know for sure.

Thron was also regarding the cat, but he looked more curious than suspicious.

Though, it’s a bit hard to distinguish emotions on his inhuman face. While talking with the dwarf, she often forgot his inhuman nature. He seemed to have a very similar culture to Tala, herself, with a bit of Tali’s perspective if she were being honest. Thron was raised as a slave and had risen to be more.

Just like humanity as a whole, now that I consider it.

Suddenly, the cat perked up, then turned and ran away, around the dais.

A moment later, Terry flickered into being on Tala’s shoulder, looking around with a gaze that reminded Tala of a predator searching for prey… or competition?

-The cat doesn’t seem to like Terry.-

And it seems to have some way of knowing he’s coming. But that was a mystery for another time. “Cerdai?”

“Hmm?” He’d watched the cat leave, and now was already refocused on the item in his hands.

“How long do you need?”

“I’d say about an hour.”

“Is there anything that you want or need from us?”

“No, no. I’ve got what I need.” As he was speaking, he flicked his wrist and a tool appeared within it. He used the silvery pick to prod the void sword.

“Alright. Let us know if anything comes to mind.”

“Yes, yes.” He said it with a smile, but it was clearly a dismissal. He hadn’t seemed to notice Terry’s arrival at all. If he had, he didn’t seem to mind one way or other.

With a shrug, Tala turned and walked into the common area of her sanctum, motioning for Thron to follow.

As they entered through the large archway, she spoke. “I’m going to work on my aura control and the magic nest. I want you to observe and give commentary.”

“As my Eskau commands.”

She thought for a moment, then shook her head. “But first, please arrange for some food. I pulled quite a bit from my reserves, regrowing my hands so many times.”

He grinned broadly, showing off broad, flat teeth.

I never noticed before. He doesn’t have canines, or cutting teeth at the front. He’s not a herbivore… right? No, she’d seen him eat meat.

“I did tell you your way wasn’t the best.”

She shrugged. “I can only really eat if my reserves are low, and they were pretty close to full. Thus, this is actually better.”

He shrugged. “I will go get food. Can you move the entrance in here?”

She waved a hand, a completely unnecessary gesture, but it was fun. The exit appeared in one of the dining room walls.

With another bow, Thron departed.

It was effortless for Tala to maintain the entrance and exit’s new location as she sat in one of the comfier chairs off to one side, looking out over her sanctum.

She reached out and took the magic nest from the air as Kit brought it to her hand.

“Thank you, Kit.”

The sanctum did not respond.

“Well, then. Let’s get this done.”

Terry looked at the item, a smug glint in his eye.

“Yes, yes, you are very wonderful, and I have a long way to go to catch up.”

He trilled happily before nuzzling into her cheek.

“Thank you, Terry.”

Without further delay, she set to work.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 227 - Understanding

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Noelle, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Damon Roberts, Emersen, Maxine, Pride mystic artificer

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala sat, screaming internally at the stupid magic nest in her hand.

It felt like it was being purposely difficult.

For whatever reason, within the magic nest, she had great difficulty making her magic turn left. And as she continued, the magic nest seemed to be incorporating more left bends the longer she practiced with it.

Why is it so much harder within the nest?

-It seems like there’s greater resistance than under normal circumstances.-

Tala nodded to herself. So, it amplifies any deficiencies, to allow and force improvement?

-That would be my guess, yes.-

Huh…Well, it seems like my magic isn’t an ambiturner, then.

-What?-

It can only turn one way, like ambidextrous but for directionality.

-…That’s not a thing.-

Ambidextrousness is very much a thing.

-That’s not—- Alat hesitated. -Wait…You’re messing with me?-

She grinned. And here I thought you could read my mind before I expressed things to you.

-Of course, I can but I try not to. It makes for boring conversations.-

Tala thought about it and realized the obvious: Alat could only talk to Tala, so of course she’d want those conversations to actually be…meaningful?

Fair enough. There was also the fact that Alat had promised to try not to peek in on all her thoughts, at least not all the time. It was nice of the alternate interface to have been working at doing just that.

Thron cleared his throat. “Talking to yourself again?”

Tala started, jerking slightly. “What?”

“You’re talking to yourself again, right?”

“What makes you think that?”

“You’re making odd faces.”

Tala paled slightly. She didn’t realize that she had such an obvious tell. What now? I obviously can’t admit to having another ‘me’ in my head.

-He has no reason to suspect that, Tala. Just act natural.-

Oh…right. “You don’t emote when you’re thinking?”

“Not so…expressively, or animatedly. It really does look like I’m watching you talk to someone else, but much too fast to be reasonable.”

-Well…rust. That’s irritating.-

“Yeah, I’m talking to myself.”

He gave her an odd look. “You know that I am right here, if you need to bounce ideas off someone.” The offer seemed genuine, and not petulant as Tala might have expected.

Thron was sincerely interested in assisting her, if she wanted the help. “I know. If need be, I’ll bounce things off of you. Sometimes its easier to process internally, though.”

“Very well.”

Tala shifted, feeling her stomach rumble. “When is the next meal coming, by the way?”

He gave her a skeptical look, then glanced towards the clean dining table. “You just finished the last meal around a quarter of an hour ago.”

“It wasn’t that recently…was it?”

“Well, I was done more than half an hour ago, but you brought the last bits over with you to continue practicing.”

Tala glanced to side table beside her chair.

She did vaguely remember doing as Thron said. Those were really, really good sausages…

She sighed. “Even so, I’m still hungry.”

He sighed in turn, but he was also smiling a bit ruefully. “The artificer will be done soon. After we talk with him, I’ll send for more food.”

“Thank you.”

He hesitated. “I feel like I’m forgetting something.”

She cocked her head. “Oh? I can’t imagine what it would be. Do we have a duty to perform?”

“No.”

“A delivery incoming?”

“No.”

“Appointments?”

“No.” He seemed to be getting annoyed with himself.

“Well, I don’t think either of us can magic up the answer.”

His eyes widened. “Oh! Right! The test on your power.”

“What?” Tala frowned.

“You were proving that your working didn’t end.”

“Oh! That’s right.” She held out her hand, and the two tungsten spheres that she’d amplified towards one another appeared on her palm. From what she could see, the effect of attraction towards one another was undiminished. “Catch.”

Tala tossed him the spheres, and Thron easily caught them. He examined each sphere in turn, attempting to pull them apart and failing. He hadn’t tried overly hard, but that wasn’t the point. “This is ridiculous.”

“What?”

“It doesn’t continue to use power? The effect continues without further magical input?”

“No power that I’m aware of, and I believe so? So, no power from me, at least.”

The little green man grunted. “That’s an interesting theory. If we weren’t in this place, nearly barren of power, I’d say it likely is pulling from the ambient power around it.”

Tala was, as they spoke, still dumping most of her throughput into the air around herself, and Kit was absorbing it the moment it passed beyond her aura.

Thron scratched under his beard. “As it stands, this is just insane. Do you have any idea what you could do with this?”

“Stick things together forever?”

He snorted a laugh at that. “If I understand the description of your powers, you could have a belt attracted to a sphere or other item, while preventing the attraction from working in the other way.”

“That’s correct.”

“Then, once that’s established, you could lift the sphere and the belt would accelerate towards it. If that pull had a higher force than gravity acting on you, you could fly.” He shook his head in bewilderment. “Moreover, with simple constructs you could use that process to empower virtually anything with flight, and since your effect doesn’t seem to fade, it would be done without any further need of power, forever. Energy-less movement and support.”

Tala blinked a few times before vehemently protesting. “No! That’s not how gravity works at all.”

“But it is how your powers work.”

She felt a weird sort of headache building. “That wouldn’t work at all. No. Not even a little.”

She shook her head, frowning as she tried to reconcile what he said.

-Huh…your powers can theoretically cause something that is senseless to you, and so your very being is rejecting the very notion.-

She groaned, rubbing at her temples. What’s going to happen? Tala was feeling quite a bit uncertain.

-Well, it will change your fundamental understanding, break your fundamental understanding, or simply not work, but from what I can guess, the pain will just get worse and worse until you verify which.-

Can we go back?

-I mean… I could erase the memory, but that seems like it would be setting a bad precedent, and I’m not actually sure it would work. Your fundamental understanding is core to who you are, it’s not just about memory.-

Tala growled. “Rust you, Thron. Now, I have to try it, or I’m going to break something.”

Thron started slightly at the use of his real name, but he didn’t say anything as Tala tossed the magic nest aside. The thing vanished as it arched through the air, whisked away by Kit to…somewhere. Tala really didn’t care where.

She then stood, calling her tungsten rod to her hands.

Alright, target my belt, and increase its pull towards the rod.

She dumped power into the increase, and she and Thron both watched expectantly.

Even Terry raised his head from the corner where he’d curled up on a pillow.

Where did that pillow even come from? She hadn’t really been paying attention to the terror bird.

Even now, though, it was just a passing thought as Tala didn’t have time nor mental space to contemplate that further.

After a bit, her belt began pulling towards the rod, just as expected. The rod still rested easily in her hands, no added strain detectable.

Alright, then. She focused on herself, targeting her being. Restrain.

She lifted off the ground, as expected from that working. She was now nearly completely untethered from the stone beneath her feet, and she should be incredibly easy to move.

Then, her belt tried to pull towards the rod, which moved her. Her movement moved the rod, keeping it at an equal distance from the belt.

Tala wasn’t adding any further power, and there was no magic obvious in the vicinity due to Kit’s efforts.

Even so, there was suddenly a weird, stuttering ripple of power through the space between the belt and the rod.

Tala felt a spike of pain in her head, then the working shattered, and Tala was left floating in the air, drifting forward slowly due to the initial pull of the belt. Any thought of that movement as a ‘victory’ or ‘success’ was destroyed by the now overwhelmingly splitting headache.

Thron grunted. “So, I was right, but it still doesn’t work.”

Tala groaned, the pain subsiding slightly. “Seems so.”

She altered her perspective and broke the restrain on herself. Her gravity now returned to normal, she dropped to the floor with a muffled thud.

She massaged her temples, trying to drive away the splitting headache. “Gravity doesn’t work as a means of propulsion, not like that.”

The dwarf shrugged. “It is fascinating how our own magics limit themselves and us. Sometimes it is that very limitation that allows our workings to function at all, and sometimes it makes the seemingly-obviously-possible fail.”

She pulled herself out of her pain enough to look at him questioningly. “Oh?”

He nodded. “To me, the idea of magic eroding makes no sense, so I cannot directly obliterate spell-forms or things of magic with my concept or power. I work around it, but I know for a fact that others can make magic erode. Though, they have other limitations.”

He chuckled.

“The ending-trees that we commissioned for your sanctuary are capable of such, in fact.”

Tala had honestly forgotten about those. That was pretty foolish. “How did that go, by the way?”

He gave her a searching look, then shrugged. “I’d thought you would have been to the grove already.”

“I haven’t.”

“I understand that now.” He grinned back. “It is quite something, really. A completely isolated section of your sanctum, so that the trees cannot take over or influence the rest of your private dimension.”

Tala did remember hearing something about that. Apparently, incorporating an ending-tree grove had nearly doubled the cost of her sanctum creation. Though, Thron had proudly informed her that he’d kept them a full twenty percent below budget. That was below the already reduced budget, because they had a dimensional space to begin with.

She had no idea what anyone else could possibly have wanted that would cost so much more, but she’d never cared enough to ask. Maybe when I see the grove.

She shook her head. “But back to the matter at hand. I’ve seen magic be eroded by magic from those very trees.”

The dwarf just shrugged. “To me? It makes no sense that magic would degrade or erode. Fade? Of course, but corrode? Never.”

“Huh.”

Thron seemed to hesitate. “I suppose…I should probably apologize. I didn’t mean to bring your fundamental understanding into doubt, nor to cause you pain by making a suggestion.”

Tala waved him off. “It was a reasonable question. My foundation isn’t so weak that a simple query can unseat me.”

He chuckled. “By the stars, I certainly hope not.”

“It is an odd thing, coming against something that defies our understanding of the world, of our own magic. How did your teachers or trainers explain it to you?”

He cocked his head for a moment. “Well, it was like the act of stealing to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I conceptually know that people can steal, obviously. I’ve even been in situations where I was near death, and stealing would have helped, but it just…never made sense.” He shrugged. “I cannot conceive of myself stealing. The idea of theft doesn’t shake my understanding of myself, and in the same vein, knowing that someone else’s power can erode magic does not shake my own understanding of my own power.”

Tala grunted. “Huh. That makes a lot of sense, actually.”

She winced again as another wave of discomfort rippled through her mind, marking an uptick in the pain.

“Oh, this still hurts. I…I think I need some quiet.”

Thron’s response came as a polite whisper. “As you wish.”

And so, they sat in silence for a bit longer. Finally, Cerdai’s voice sounded from out in the large courtyard, echoing through the open archway to reach them. “Hello? Would either of you fine folk be available?”

Tala and Thron looked at one another before standing at the same time and walking out of the building. The pain was mostly gone, but Tala was still moving a bit slower than she was used to, letting the last echos fade.

“Ahh, there you are. Greetings once again, Eskau Tali, adjunct Thorn.”

“Greetings, Artificer Cerdai.” Tala smiled, despite the lingering ache. “What have you determined?”

He patted the box, which was once more closed around the void sword. “This weapon is in excellent shape and should be able to be combined with a fount-core weapon to great effect.”

Tala frowned. “What about a soul-bound one?”

Cerdai looked temporarily hesitant. “Soul-bound?”

He frowned, scratching the tip of his nose.

“I don’t think I’ve ever worked with one.” He glanced her way, his eyes narrowing. Then, a hunger seemed to spark within them. “Do you have one that I could examine?”

Tala hesitated. They may not ever have had the chance. Should I let him?

-I don’t see how we can avoid it, if we want to improve our equipment while in arcane lands. We certainly don’t have the expertise to do the merging ourselves. Not by an inch or a mile.-

That’s true enough… There was one thing that made her more confident than she might otherwise have been, if she were being honest.

To this man, she was an Eskau of the House of Blood. Stealing from her, or harming her, would be a very foolish move. Ironically, she felt like she could trust the power of her captors to keep the artificer honest and on good behavior.

She hated that she had been taken, and no amount of benefit would ever make her look kindly on the House of Blood, but she was in a precarious position, and any defense was a boon. Still, reminders never hurt.

“As Eskau Pallaun sent you to me, personally, I see no reason not to trust you to examine my weapon.”

Cerdai hesitated for an instant, then nodded. He didn’t appear as if he’d been planning anything untoward, but he definitely seemed more cautious after her reminder.

Good.

She called Flow from its sheath into her hand, pulling it with a trivial act of will.

She then flipped it around and caught the knife’s blade, extending the handle towards the artificer. “Here you go.”

Cerdai took Flow with a reverent hesitance, his power immediately beginning to wash over the weapon. “Oh…oh! Oh, this is fascinating.” He looked up. “This weapon can change shape, yes? It mirrors protian weapons in that way.”

“It can.” She mostly hid the wince. Tali would have winced, too, as Tali had been meant to be a protian weapon, but she had failed. As for Tala, it was a reminder of how close she had come to being forever bound within a tool for others to use.

Failure and a near brush with eternal enslavement.

Neither were good, but Tala was certain she was happy to have ‘failed’ to become a protian weapon.

Cerdai had begun talking to himself, Tala only able to hear him because of her enhanced senses, “And its power-source is here, within it, but also…not. Of course, it is her. Somehow her soul and this weapon have the same underlying location in the dimensions of magic.” He barked a laugh. He was clearly talking to himself and just as clearly enamored. “Spectacular! This should be able to function anywhere in the world, regardless of the location of the Eskau, its power source. Is this replicable? If we could bend the dimensions of magic and permanently interlink them, it would allow for an incredible decrease in our need for founts.”

He shook his head and laughed. “What am I saying? It would just increase the availability of fount-powered items. It would revolutionize the—Oh…”

His demeanor fell, and he sighed. “It is a connection and displacement forged of will more than anything else. That’s a pity.”

Cerdai’s ramblings became quieter, then.

Thron was giving Tala a look that conveyed a deep concern over the sanity of the artificer. Then, the dwarf smiled and pointed at Tala, then Cerdai.

What?

-He’s saying that’s how you look when you talk to yourself.-

Oh… Tala glowered, and Thron grinned.

Finally, Tala cleared her throat. “Artificer Cerdai?”

“Huh? What?” The man jerked, seemingly having forgotten her presence. “Oh, Eskau Tali, my apologies.”

“Can we combine them?”

“Hmmm? Oh, of course. The spell-forms will need to be altered, but not greatly, and you will have to be the initiator. I doubt the enaction will have too much of an adverse effect on you, unless you have willpower weaker than that of a child.” He gave her an appraising look. “You aren’t a simpleton are you?”

Thron bristled, and Tala knew that Tali would have been…less than pleased. Tala, though, felt a wave of nostalgia and home-sickness, as the hue-folk male reminded her of Holly in an odd way. She snorted a laugh, covering the swelling sadness within her chest and startling Thron.

Though she was going a different direction with the tenor of her response, she still compiled the content from Tali’s memories and tendencies. “The House of Blood would be weak indeed, were it forced to raise a child as Eskau.”

“True enough.” Cerdai nodded, still seeming distracted by the knife in his hand.

Tala prodded, “How soon?”

“Hmm?” The Artificer was staring down at Flow once more.

“How soon can it be done?”

“Oh! Any time. Point me to a wide clear space of earth, or stone you don’t care for, and I’ll get to work.”

Tala was about to ask about payment, reminded of her interactions with the Constructionist Guild back in the human lands, but her knowledge from Tali quelled that instantly. Of course, the House of Blood will cover it, and Pallaun likely already negotiated the rate.

In either case, it was not for her to bring up.

“In that case, follow me. I know exactly where we can perform the merging.”

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

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Chapter: 228 - The Manipulation of Concepts

A note from JLMullins

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<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala stared into the void.

Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate.

Unlike previous times where she had combined items with herself, or that which was soul-bound to her, the void was black in that there was no light, or input of any kind.

As she examined the absence of things more closely, Tala realized that she was the void and was surrounded by the void and nothing else.

This is awful.

She could feel what had led her to this moment. She had been filled with an insatiable hunger to consume everything, even heat, until she was one with all that was left.

And all that was left?

Nothing.

Nothing was left.

Hard pass.

The manifestation shifted, and Tala looked down upon herself, standing as an unchallengeable goddess of war.

If Pallaun’s skin was the color of obsidian, Tala’s was now the color of the void. No matter how she moved, she looked two dimensional, as light simply could not escape once it touched her.

She stood between two armies, one of humans and one of arcanes, and they both were coming for her.

This manifestation smiled, though it didn’t show. Tala still felt the unbridled glee of this version of herself.

Magics and effects bombarded her, but they only caused her to grow in power as she absorbed them all. Her own gate provided stability, power to maintain a solid foothold in the physical realm without degrading it overmuch.

These attacks? They let her grow.

Well, I suppose I could see this as a way to get the arcanes and humans to unite?

-Against you.-

I look like I’m winning.

Alat snorted derisively.

Hey, wait. I don’t remember you being in this with me, before.

-You didn’t have me at your last merging. Though, I’m a bit surprised to be able to actively witness this. I expected to have to review your memories after you were done.-

This is simpler, I suppose.

As the armies died to the blacker-than-black blade in void-Tala’s hand—

-Vala!-

No. Just no.

—this possible version of her swelled in power. The growth was more akin to the advancement of arcanes than that of humans, but there was definitely a…difference. She wasn’t an arcane in this version, and her advancement wasn’t identical to theirs.

A hybrid path? Is that possible?

-Let’s see what we can learn.-

Tala had already decided to reject this option, but she, like Alat, thought there was something to it, something they could pull from the manifestations of possibilities.

After the two armies were utterly decimated, Tala realized that she had to solidify her rejection of this path, or it would be chosen merely by her overt attention.

No.

A parade of thousands of manifestations followed, each featuring her suffused with the void, working towards the obliteration or absorption of all things.

Well, this isn’t good.

-It almost feels like something is skewing the possibilities offered to you.-

There is a chance of that, I suppose.

She hardened her will and pushed.

I will not contribute to a hastening of the end of all things.

Instantly, the vast majority of manifestations that she felt building around her awareness flickered and winked out.

Tala thought she saw a pair of eyes watching her for the briefest of moments once again.

The sword? It was trying to gain greater influence? That might be right, but she wasn’t sure.

The next possibilities offered were much more palatable, though none were acceptable.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Tala found a version of herself in which almost all the power was contained within Flow and the portion of her soul which was directly linked to that weapon.

The smallest hints would also be tied to her elk-leathers, giving them a bit of absorptive and nullification properties, and she had the deep knowledge that if and when she used those powers, her physical body would be affected…somehow.

It was the best option available. So, this was her only real choice, unless she wanted to abort the whole thing.

Doing so would likely banish the void sword due to its nature, at least that’s what Cerdai theorized before they began.

It was now or never.

Maybe never would be better?

It was her choice, after all.

No. This offers a great deal of power, and I’d be foolish to neglect that. She had no wish to be foolish or weak.

She flexed her will once more, searching one last time for a superior option, but there were none. She could practically feel the void sword opposing her. It wouldn’t accept a bond where it gained less than this.

Very well. Agreed.

* * *

Her vision splintered back into normal sight, and she found herself sitting cross-legged on the dirt of the space they’d chosen for the working

All traces of the spell-forms were gone, and Thron stood over her, hand outstretched. “Eskau Tali, are you alright?”

“Tali.”

The dwarf grinned. “Tali, how do you feel?”

Tala swayed, the incredibly familiar feeling of soul-deep tiredness washing through her. It was no more than a minor inconvenience, like having just completed an intensive workout. That didn’t make it any more pleasant, however.

As she shifted, moving to take the offered hand, she grabbed Flow with her other one.

Once she was on her feet, she examined the weapon.

The darker parts were now closer to black, but otherwise, it hadn’t visibly changed.

Her elk-leathers honestly felt more changed than her weapon, and those garments simply felt like they had an ever-so-slight distortion effect on the light and world around her.

The main, obvious result was a soft breeze, seeming to be blowing toward her from all directions.

She flexed her connection to the garments and stopped that as soon as she noticed it. Please don’t drain away all the air from in here. That would be really irritating.

Cerdai was standing off to one side, his magics clearly examining her as unobtrusively as he was willing to bear.

“Artificer Cerdai, please perform your examination.”

Without verbal response, power washed over her in overlapping, cascading waves.

Tala practically staggered under the sheer magical pressure but managed to maintain her equilibrium.

“I’m not sensing any of the void magics in the weapon at all.” The artificer was frowning. “I am sensing it in your clothing, however. Did something go wrong?”

“Not at all. I simply made the best choice that I could.”

“Fascinating. So, it is not an unlimitedly controllable process?”

“No, I have to choose between a finite selection.”

“So, the sword was unable to join with your weapon?”

“Oh, no, that wasn’t the result at all.” She grinned, holding Flow out. She dove into the connection with the weapon, now feeling six paths of power, rather than just three. “Observe.”

With excitement, she poured power into the simplest new path. Hah, I’m feeding my weapon with a void-channel, making a void weapon.

She hesitated at that. Huh…I might be more bent towards this type of magic than I realized.

-So it seems.-

The knife in her hand transformed, absorbing her power at nearly ten times the rate Flow passively required in its resting form.

The transformation was simple enough, the knife simply darkening until it resembled the void sword from before. It was so dark as to appear two dimensional.

As the power fully snapped into place, something about her vision, even her magesight, changed.

It was as if, suddenly, she could see the energy within everything around her. Everything physical had a certain flavor of power and energy within it, which seemed to be the bonds that held it together, kept it solid. There were also other energies which seemed quite a bit more esoteric and outside of Tala’s ability to easily understand.

Cerdai and Thron were both brimming with magical energy to her new vision, though their auras and control had obscured it before. When she looked down at herself, she saw the same was true of her, along with her gear.

Now that her vision had shifted, she was able to see Flow as more than a two-dimensional shape once again. It looked like a normal knife, but it felt hungry. Where everything else she could see had a modicum of power and energy, Flow didn’t, and it seemed to dislike that.

In truth, that was too great an anthropomorphizing of the weapon, but it was also the best way for her to conceptualize the sense she got from that which was around her.

She took all this in almost instantly, just as the dwarf and hue-folk male did.

Thron stepped back, looking not at the knife, but at her face. Cerdai didn’t react visibly, though Tala did see the energies flowing within him pick up speed just before he began sweeping her with magics.

Those magics were sucked into Flow whenever they came close to the weapon.

Rather than asking Thron what he was staring at, Tala moved one of her bloodstars to where her mirrored perspective could see her own face.

Her eyes widened in shock as she took in her own visage.

Instead of eyes, all that she could see were void-like holes, and surrounding those ravenous pits, cracks seemed to be radiating outward through her face.

No, that’s not quite right.

The cracks weren’t actually in her flesh and bone at all.

They weren’t growing; they simply were. It was as if reality itself were breaking down under the force of her gaze.

Oh, that’s going to be terrifying in conjunction with the manifestations generated while wearing the iron paint.

-You will look positively inhuman.-

Tala didn’t dignify that with a response.

Thron seemed to regain control of himself a moment later, and he straightened. “That’s deeply unsettling, Tali.”

She pitched her voice slightly higher than usual, speaking in a monotone as she tilted her head just slightly to one side, even as she widened her eyes a bit more, and let a slight smile pull at her lips, “I can see your soul.”

His eyes contracted fractionally in an instinctive reaction, before his features set into a frown. “That’s not funny.”

Tala sighed, letting her face and posture return to normal.

She cut off the rush of power streaming into Flow. Without the constant influx of power, the knife returned to its resting state, and her eyes returned to normal…well, normal for her.

They still looked a bit too red to be non-magical, almost seeming to be glowing.

“Better.” The dwarf looked towards the artificer. “Anything interesting?”

“Undoubtedly, but all I did was verify that the merging seems to be stable. I can delve deeper, but it seemed a violation without the Eskau’s explicit consent. I would be examining pieces of her soul, after all.”

Tala hesitated, wanting a bit more information before making a decision. “What sort of things could you learn?”

“The state of your soul overall, the flavor of the concepts surrounding your magic, that sort of thing.”

“I can’t use conceptual magic.”

“Of course not.” The artificer’s smile seemed genuinely puzzled. “But your magic still contains concepts. Conceptual magic is the manipulation of concepts. But, just like a crossbow can impart kinetic energy without manipulating that energy directly, human magics contain, and can impart, concepts without directly interacting with this same.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

Cerdai hesitated for a moment, then cleared his throat. “So…?”

“Oh! Yes. My apologies. Please do a more detailed scan.”

The magics washed over her without hesitation, and she once again had to fight to maintain her balance before the torrent.

She was successful, however, and held her ground without wavering.

“Fascinating. Your soul, aside from the expected bifurcation, is… stretched? Distorted? The half anchored in the next world is solid and coherent, but the half on this side? It has tendrils reaching out in all sorts of directions. Some don’t even appear to be attached to anything…” He seemed to consider. “No… wait. Can you extend your aura outward?”

Tala nodded and did so.

“Amazing. Somehow, your soul is trying to connect with your aura, directly. It isn’t, not yet, but it is trying.”

That was odd. Tala didn’t think she’d been doing anything that should have caused that.

-Except that you think of manipulating your aura in the same way you imagine manipulating your bloodstars and soul-bound items.-

Could that affect things this strongly?

-We could ask.-

So, Tala conveyed her thoughts to Cerdai.

“That might be behind that part of what I’m seeing, yes. The human soul, especially a gated-human soul, is much more…malleable than most. That said, I don’t know for certain.”

Tala considered.

“Oh, and the concept most strongly associated with your magics is ravenous, jealous desire.”

She blinked at that. “What?”

“Your healing magics return what’s yours to you, mainly your health and your body as you have forged it. Your internal enhancements effectively take what you have and amplify it toward your desires. Your gravity magics are all about amplifying the pull of one object towards another or reducing it. You could describe that as one object’s desire for the other, if you were inclined to anthropomorphize. And so on.”

He paused for a moment, nodding to himself.

“Oh! And your entire being is speckled with…impurities? That’s likely the best word for it. These are at a magical level, embedded in the dimensions of magic. From the looks of it, your body is straining to realize its full potential, but can’t, not quite, due to that muck in the way.”

He sees the issue. He detected what we need to remove to Refine me. She almost asked him how to remove it, but then, she stopped. No, I don’t want him to tell me. If he does, and he’s right, then there’s no reason to go to the human lands, and I’m going to be stuck here, forever.

Before she could debate further with herself, let alone say anything, Thron spoke up, “Impurities…is that what humans do to Refine? Remove those impurities?”

Cerdai gave Thron an unamused look. “I’ve no idea. From what I can see, the stuff is intrinsically embedded within her body’s fusion with her soul. That alone is insane on a level I cannot express, but it isn’t any different from her soul’s fusion with her other bound equipment.”

What? I would have thought the link between my body and soul would be stronger, a fusion versus a bond.

-I think Fusing strengthens all your soul-bonds. At least that was my understanding.-

She might have asked, but Cerdai continued speaking, “If I were asked how to remove it, which I’ll note that I wasn’t, I would say doing so would kill her, categorically.”

Well, that’s useless.

Tala felt irritated that he hadn’t been able to provide a means of Refining, but at the same time, she was obviously relieved that her best hope for escape still lay in the need to seek a means of Refining for her advancement.

Thron grunted, then gave Tala a consoling smile. “That would have been too easy, eh?”

She forced a smile and nodded. “Yeah. No shortcuts, it seems.”

Cerdai clasped his hands. “My work is done, but I would love the opportunity to study you and your equipment further, if you are willing.”

Tala hesitated, then shook her head. “Not in the near future, I’m afraid. There is too much needed of me to pursue such at this time.”

The artificer sighed in resignation as he bowed. “I understand and expected as much. Thank you for allowing me to examine you as much as I have. Please call for me if you ever have need, once again.”

She nodded respectfully in return. “Absolutely. Thank you for your assistance.”

She waved her hand, and the exit appeared directly beside the man.

His eyes widened slightly, but he didn’t comment as he bowed towards Thron and departed.

The door vanished as soon as it closed.

Tala turned to the dwarf. “The ending grove?”

“As you command.” He gave her a small smile.

“Lead the way. Don’t worry about positioning, I can see past you just fine.”

He blinked at her a few times, then snorted a laugh before turning and setting off.

It was a short walk to a nearby hill. From the top of that hill, Tala could look down on the grove.

It was a thing of beauty.

A ring of stone completely surrounded the large grove, some fifty trees in all, each seemingly fully grown.

The stone enacted a single effect, which Thron described.

“What you see is just the top edge of a complete half-sphere. The magics in the stone are powered by your sanctum and they create an utterly empty space between the stone and the soil in which the trees are planted. It is a force-effect, generated by magic, but not magical in and of itself. Nothing can cross the space, be it dust, liquid, or root. The effect further extends in the upper half of the sphere, creating a segregation of the air around the trees from that within the rest of the sanctum.”

“A bubble of isolation.”

“Indeed.”

“Further, the magics condition the air and soil to be ideal for fruiting, while not for growth of the trees, themselves. I am not an arborist, but my understanding is that that particular portion of magic is quite difficult to get precisely correct.”

“Is that why I already see berries?”

“Indeed.”

“How am I to harvest them?”

Tala saw no means of entering the ending-tree grove.

Thron cleared his throat. “Well, I believe the assumption was that you would find a way.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Oh? That’s utterly unhelpful.”

“See if you can simply… ask your sanctum?”

She shook her head, feeling quite skeptical, but decided to try it out nonetheless. She held out her hand and focused on one of the berries she could easily see.

I would love to have that berry—

A small weight settled into the palm of her hand, and the stem on the tree she was watching sprang up slightly, now relieved of the weight.

Thron grinned but didn’t comment on how correct he had been.

Tala matched his grin, excitement overflowing across her features as she giggled with glee. “Oh…oh, yes. This is going to work amazingly well.”

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 229 - Future Duties

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

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Ben Morgan, Damon Roberts, Emersen, Joshua Sydney, Maxine, Noelle, PatronTurtle, Pride mystic artificer, Sakari Saastamoinen

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala didn’t really know how to feel about the following two weeks.

First of all, after seeing the ending-grove, Thron had informed her that she’d somehow missed sleeping for the past few days, mostly due to her running around so much.

She’d been understandably shocked, but when she and Alat had checked her memory, it seemed that he was correct.

That means that I haven’t actually slept since the gate-breaking.

-That’s probably not very good for you, honestly.-

Her expanded flowrate was supercharging her inscriptions to the point that it seemed to be nearly negating her need to sleep. Even so, as soon as the wondrous act was mentioned, Tala felt her entire body sag in anticipated relief.

That was how she found herself sleeping for nearly twenty-four hours.

When she awoke, she felt renewed and invigorated like never before.

From there, she dove into her duties as an Eskau of the House of Blood.

As a new Eskau, most of her time was spent training or eating as more and more of the crops and other products of her sanctum were ready for harvest.

Thron had to slaughter the animals when they were ready and prepare anything that required more than simply picking free hanging harvests from a plant. Even so, overall, between Kit and Thron, it was trivially simple to keep Tala supplied with food.

Beyond that, Tala was required to settle a few disputes between servants too high ranking to be ignored or diverted to Thron, but not of quite enough importance to take time from Be-thric. Blessedly, there were only about a hundred such servants in all of Platoiri. Even so, they seemed to be quite competitive as often as not, leading to the disagreements requiring mediation.

After listening to the first two, an owl beast-man and a gray hue-folk male, argue for nearly three hours, Tala refused to offer judgment and informed them that they had ten minutes to settle it themselves before she cut off a finger from each of them.

They’d joined together to rail against her after that.

Then, the fingers had been taken.

They settled their own dispute less than five minutes later.

Thron was oddly approving of her method in solving that issue, and Tala really didn’t know how to feel about that. It didn’t help that Tala felt like Tali would likely have handled it similarly, though Tali would likely have taken a hand rather than a finger.

The second pair she’d had to mediate between had each calmly explained their position in brief sentences, and the answer had been utterly obvious to Tala.

“No, it is not reasonable for Heart-Servant Vanlin to take over part of your duties, Arnor, even if he is faster than you. If you wish to forgo some of your duties, you must also give over some of your rewards, but you have refused to do this.”

Vanlin had steadfastly refused to ‘assist’ Arnor at the end of each workday, even though Vanlin had finished his own duties and more, and Arnor had still not met minimum requirements.

The two were apparently friends, and Vanlin had helped Arnor a couple of times, but when the latter came to expect the help, Vanlin had begun refusing.

Honestly, it was a case of Vanlin still wanting to be friends, while not being taken advantage of, and Arnor not really thinking of it from his friend’s perspective.

Idiocy…

Tala’s word was law in this case, and the two were able to depart her sanctum as friends, because neither had had to ‘give ground’ on their own.

The Eskau was an Eskau. Who were they to argue?

That second mediation set the tone for most of the others. At least, she didn’t have to actually take any other fingers.

In each other case, Tala simply had to tell them what they both already knew was the right course of action. The very fact that she spoke took the responsibility from the parties involved and allowed relationships to function more smoothly.

This is really, really weird. Just tell them ‘no.’

-But then you’re telling your colleague ‘no.’ This way, they can both maintain the fiction that the ‘asked’ might have been willing, but a higher power said not to.-

Tala sighed. I suppose.

Around training and seemingly unnecessary mediation, Tala occasionally attended Be-thric when he met with those either outside the house, or only loosely affiliated.

Those meetings were filled with negotiations, trade discussions, and the building of relationships.

No one engaged with her directly, as she was simply meant to be a symbol of the power of the House of Blood. That was more than fine with her.

She always wore her iron paint, with the through-spike suppressed, while at these events, and no one ever gave Be-thric any trouble.

I kind of wish they would… Part of that was to give her something to do, and part was so that someone would make Be-thric’s life worse.

Her final duty was every three days or so. At that time, she simply walked with a servant of the House of Blood to each of their affiliated businesses and lesser houses to collect the portion of the profits which were owed to the major House supporting them.

Tala quickly realized that she had three roles in such circuits.

The first was similar to her task when accompanying Be-thric: to show the power of the House of Blood to those in partnership or subservience to them.

The second was as a guard to the servant collecting the payments.

Finally, she was to ensure that that same servant didn’t skim any off the top.

Why Tala, herself, couldn’t be the collector baffled her, until Thron explained.

“An Eskau lowering themselves to speaking with the merchants and nobles not actually a part of the House, would be unseemly. And you having to handle the payments yourself?”—He shook his head.—"No major House is that tight on funds or that lacking in servants loyal to them. Even my performance of that duty would imply that we were short on servants that we trust.”

The explanation did make a modicum of sense, Tala had to admit.

All in all, those two weeks passed in an oddly mundane fashion, very similarly to how she would have spent her time if she were in the human lands, though her job was obviously different.

And, you know, I’m a slave.

-I agree, but your slavery is mainly in the involuntary nature of your hiring, rather than how you are treated or what you are asked to do.-

Yeah… Which is why she was so conflicted. For the most part, her job wasn’t objectionable, except when she was around Be-thric…or when she actually gave a moment to consider the many, many founts around herself.

Yes, this is a wonderful place except, of course, the uncounted souls in eternal enslavement and torment.

-Yes, it’s practically a paradise.- The sarcasm was thick in the sentiment, and Tala heartily agreed.

Even so, time passed, and she fulfilled her duties and improved.

Finally, the morning dawned on the day of her first duty shift as Guard of the City Lord.

Tala had slept again the night before, but only for a couple of hours. She was down to only needing those couple of hours of sleep every second or third night since her day of rest allowed her to reset and acclimatize to her increased flowrate.

The rest of the night, after her short sleep, she had trained, finally mastering her aura enough to hold it within the boundary of her skin full time, without the need of the iron paint.

As the false sun mirrored the real one, Tala finished her training and began her preparations for the day before it began to light her sanctum.

She bathed, painted herself in iron, and reshaped her elk-leathers to match their formal form, which she’d worn to the feasts before and after her battle to become an Eskau.

Now, however, the emblem was updated to reflect her increased rank. Like at the feast after, actually.

Speaking of food, Thron had worked with a chef from the main hold to prepare Tala’s daily, morning feast earlier than usual.

She had to admit, it was fascinating to eat the bacon with marbled magics running through it. It added an entirely new dimension to the already utterly succulent food.

The fat contained magics to increase the caloric and nutritional capacity of that tissue, while the muscle within the delicacy carried power which mirrored the magics on her own muscles.

Apparently, the livestock were deeply difficult to kill with anything mundane, so Thron had simply taken to severing their heads with a quick application of corrosion.

Every part of the meal contained magics similarly paired with those within her body, and the results were showing.

Her inscriptions, and her natural magics which mirrored them, both used more power and used that power more efficiently than ever before.

Near the middle of her breakfast, Tala noticed Terry flicker in to eat a plate of more mundane bacon and a steak set aside for him. That ingested, he flickered to her shoulder for a quick nuzzle, and he was off once more.

He rarely killed the creatures that he hunted through the outskirts of her sanctum, but he enjoyed it, nonetheless.

Tala had actually been able to determine that Terry seemed to be training and beginning to breed the beasts to be harder to hunt, simply so that he had a greater challenge in turn. Though, the reasoning was more a guess on her part than actual knowledge.

It was an odd thought, and one that put Terry’s intelligence in a far scarier light.

From what she’d been able to gather, he always ate the first one he caught, and rewarded the last one he found, slowly forcing improvement in the wild porcine herd. The process was similar for the other ‘wild’ animals in her sanctum as well, with the rabbits showing the greatest changes from his ministrations.

Even with the ability to seek them out directly, through her deeper connection with Kit, Tala often had a hard time finding the rabbits that were supposed to be there.

Blessedly, she was able to find them on occasion, so she knew Terry hadn’t simply eaten them all.

He does seem to enjoy the hunting and…training quite a bit.

Tala didn’t think that the animals had been augmented to breed more rapidly, so it wouldn’t be a fast process. Even so, the creatures didn’t seem to be dying out, despite daily hunts, so she was left uncertain as to their true numbers and breeding rates.

She almost wished that she could get an informational panel or something to display the number of creatures within Kit, but she knew that she’d very likely rarely use it.

She didn’t really care enough to even ask for specifics of the beasts, if she were being honest.

Besides, today is going to be busy enough without me digging into Terry’s hobbies.

Tala finished off her meal with a large pitcher of ending-berry juice.

Throughout, she maintained a state of near meditation, moving the various powers into alignment with her compatible scripts and magics as she consumed them.

It was an oddly calming process, honestly.

As such, in seemingly no time at all, it was time for her to depart.

She thanked Thron and the chef for the food, summoned the exit to appear beside herself and allowed the chef to exit before her.

She had no interest in trapping the cook within Kit for the day.

Thron stayed behind as he would spend the time reading through the books they’d been granted, searching for gaps in the knowledge contained within.

Any Eskau related duties around the House of Blood’s hold would be taken care of by Pallaun, while Tala attended the City Lord.

With Kit on her belt, hanging opposite Flow, Tala set off to fulfill her duties.

When she arrived, Tala found that the City Lord’s residence was quite different from what she’d expected.

Instead of being a hold, it was a modest sized place, set among a reasonably sized park, near the center of the city.

This particular park had a heavily magic-imbued wall surrounding it, making it obvious that it wasn’t a public space.

The residence, itself, was an interesting mix of a fortification and an incredibly nice home.

The aesthetic was that of the simple house of a wealthy family, while the power ingrained within was that of a fort expecting daily assault.

Tala presented herself at the gate just as the sun peeked over the horizon, fully transforming the gray sky of pre-dawn into the blues, yellows, and reds of first light.

The clouds overhead already blazed with color, and that was only magnified by the arrival of the sun.

“Greetings, Eskau Tali.” The gate guard bowed to her. He was a cat beast-man, whose aura was nearly to true green.

No wonder he can guard the gate alone.

Tala gave a nod in return. “Greetings, Honored Elder. Shall I go straight to the main house? Or is there another place I should check in?”

Tala briefly connected a void-channel to a path within Flow, and the world changed. She focused most closely on the man before her and noticed that his power was already circulating in quick, whipping patterns within him.

Already primed for a fight.

-They likely have to be ready at all times. Plus, arcanes don’t really seem to lose power from active effects, unless those effects are stressed.-

The man didn’t react, confirming what she’d already known: The alteration to her eyes and surrounding features were hidden by the through-spike’s illusion. And this man doesn’t have any ability to pierce those illusions.

“The City Lord has requested your attendance in the highest tower.” The guard pointed to the singular tower that jutted out of the top of the house, rising a good hundred feet above the roof of the four-story structure.

A Mage’s tower, too. How had she missed that, earlier?

The answer was quite obvious, now that she knew to look. There was a ‘disinterested’ working, wrought around the entire tower. Unless a person knew to look, or were directed to do so, the tower would be so uninteresting as to not be seen at all.

So much more effective than simple invisibility.

“Thank you, Honored Elder.”

The guard bowed once more and stood aside for her to pass through the open arch.

As Tala walked underneath the stone gateway, and into the grounds proper, she passed through a barrier of sorts and almost stopped in surprise.

The space within the private park was expanded to an insane degree. From the outside, it looked totally normal, and even the magics of the expansion weren’t visible to Tala’s sight.

Maybe my voidsight would have seen this from the outside, if I’d looked anywhere besides at the guard. She could check after she left.

The home had not changed, but it was now at least twice as far away from her as it had appeared before, and the gardens were revealed to be extensive in the extreme.

Their mastery of magic is… She shook her head.

-I know, right? Humanity has so much that we could learn from arcanes.-

Tala found herself grinning. We still have so, so much knowledge to steal.

She picked up her pace just a bit. After all, she was supposed to check in and assume her duties at first light, and she was still quite a ways from the structure.

As she approached, she noticed various workers doing repairs or cleaning, or performing other tasks around the structure. Some were up on the roof, and one or two even seemed to be working on the tower itself.

She came to the main doors, and she was met by a beast-folk woman who looked like nothing so much as a pigeon person.

The being was… odd to say the least, but Tala didn’t stare too much.

“Eskau Tali?” Her voice was surprisingly deep and melodic, indeed sounding a bit like a pigeon’s coo.

“Yes.”

“Right this way, please.”

Tala followed the pigeon-woman inside, not really taking in the décor as she was directed to a stairway a short distance within the house.

Tala jogged up the stairs, coming to the top rather quickly.

She hesitated before the doors on the landing at the top, taking a deep breath to slow her heart before she knocked.

“Come.” The very air vibrated with the single word.

The door seemingly unlatched itself. That was not an analogy. Without any exterior magics acting upon it, nor any power acting within that Tala could see, the door unlatched and swung open.

What?

Before her was another section of stairs that led up and out into the center of the room above.

Tala climbed them quickly, the last few allowing her gaze to sweep most of the room as she reached the top.

A man sat at a reading desk off to one side, a large tome open before him.

His aura was, indeed, more than halfway between blue and indigo, and power practically hummed around him, though he did not appear to be using magics at the moment.

“You are a bit late, though I’ll grant that you arrived at my gate at the appointed time.”

Tala gave a hesitant bow, not excessively deep but a bow, nonetheless. “My apologies, City Lord.”

“Arrive on time to fulfill your future duties, and all will be forgiven.” He still hadn’t turned around.

“As you say.”

“Now.” He finally moved to face her, giving her her first good look at him.

To Tala’s eyes, he looked to be in his mid-twenties, though she knew that wasn’t correct. His skin was a deep crimson, his hair was shockingly white, and his eyes were a burnt orange, no pupil in evidence.

Tala almost expected to see horns on his head, to match him to the mythos of demons put forward in some plays back in the human lands.

He might actually be the origin of those myths. The City Lord was old, and she would not doubt for an instant that he was around before the large section of humanity had broken away to achieve their modicum of freedom.

His build was lean, like a sprinter, and his clothing was simple but obviously well made. At the moment, that meant a plain shirt and pants, hanging loosely around his well-muscled frame. He wore no obvious weapon, but with the power at his disposal, she doubted he needed any.

All this, she took in as he spun around. She felt his eyes move across her, the pressure of his gaze greater than the power behind Cerdai’s magical scans.

“You really are human, and gated at that, fascinating.”

Tala felt the through-spike being suppressed by an outside power, even while it still lay solidly inside her aura and control.

The illusion faded, and she was rewarded by a slight widening of the man’s eyes. “Incredible density and resonance. Were you of proper, unbroken stock, you might signal a long-looked-for uplifting of your race.”

He shook his head sadly.

“Alas, you are of the broken ones, a vestige of mistakes made long ago.”

Tala didn’t know what to say. So, she stayed silent.

-Wise choice, in my estimation. Well done.-

Tala held in a smile as she fought to not roll her eyes at Alat.

The City Lord didn’t seem to mind the lack of a response, as he continued, “Now, to business. There is an assassin climbing my tower, bent on slaying me.”

Tala frowned. “What?”

“Look down over that balcony, there.” He pointed to one of the doors out of the tower room, out onto an outdoor space.

Tala walked out and looked down. “All I see is a window washer.”

“Ahh, he is clever in his disguises. Please slay him, that we may get on with the day.” The tone was light, but the City Lord seemed utterly serious.

Tala cocked an eyebrow. “Are you sure he is your would-be assassin?”

“Of course! You doubt the word of your City Lord? Should I kill you and him, myself?” There was no heat in the voice, just seemingly genuine curiosity.

“No doubt or disrespect intended, but your window washer is decidedly female.”

The City Lord blinked at her a few times, then burst out laughing. “Oh, that is a horrid mistake on my part isn’t it.”

He continued to laugh, Tala standing awkwardly on the balcony, not sure what to do. The laughter caused the air to visibly shudder as it reverberated with the man’s power. Blessedly, the tower seemed to be magically reinforced, because it didn’t move or sway in the least.

Finally, he got himself at least a bit under control. “To think, I set up a silly test to see if you were a thoughtless killer, or an easily cowed sycophant, and I get the sex of the target wrong.”

He started laughing again, shaking his head.

A test? What sort of nonsense is this?

-Pallaun did say that the City Lord would want to see who you were and get to know you.-

But who tells a warrior to kill a servant as a test?

-He could have saved the woman, likely, but maybe he doesn’t care? There are a few dozen founts in this room alone. He isn’t exactly a beacon of morality.-

The City Lord finally stopped laughing completely and was nodding to himself. “Well, if nothing else, you’re observant. I’ll give you that.”

“Thank you?”

“Oh, you’re more than welcome, Eskau Tali. Now, let us be about the business of the morning.”

Tala could already tell; it was going to be an… interesting day.

A note from JLMullins

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RandomPerson, Randy Klein, Ransom Hollister, Raphael, Ratoo, Ray Robitaille, rbot, reafan, Redbeard, RedEyeLordofFire, Reed Montemurro, Reid Palmquist, Relein, Reodude, Retaliation ., RexRegis, Rhaid, Rich Webb, rintaun, Rip Woodham, rizen, Robert Adams, Robert Hinshaw, Robert Mullins, Robert P, Robert Simons, Robert z, Robin Richards, Robin SjÃ¶doff, Roger, RottenTangerine, RotWeisseWaffel, runningcrazy, Rutger Boll, Ryan Coyne, Ryan Hogan, Ryan Naquin, Ryan Tran, Ryudachi, S T, sÃ¸ren Frost, SÃ©bastien Kingsbury, Saerthas, SaltyVigilante, Sam Oppy, Samuel McCarren, Samuel Patreon, Samuel Patterson, Satya Prateek, Schelm, schnixxes, ScottDR, Seadrake, Sean Carter, Sean Mantell, Sean McCrohan, Sean Panajotovic, Sean Reap, Sebastian Lachs, Sebastian Larsen, Sebastian Lindqvist, Sebastian Viller, sedael, Seijax, Sekander, Seth Bryant, Seth Cox, Seth Wilson, Severed Hat, Shadow, Shakez44, Shelbo, Shil Modi, Shykarn, Shyx, SideraX, Signspace, Silberwolf325, Silveredgallium, Simon Casey, 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Cs., Zach Adams, Zach Wilson, zachary gafken, Zanthras, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, znarken, Zrell,

Mage:

Aaron Lewis, al, Al Bi, Alexander Belousov, Anonymous, Anton Selling, Appl, Barrie Davis, Brett Muras, Calle, Carl Clements, Carya Galabra, Chris Olsen, Cody Caliguiri, Colton Rutherford, Cybernetic Angel, Dani, David, Deneas, Digdug, Dom, Dustin, dylan penlington, Eciefae4, ensou, Eric Trombly, Error, Fabian, Finn Freudenberg, Ford Yeager, Gemyma, Gert Wallis, Gleadge, GopherAtl, Gurditt Mangat, Harold Teunisse, Ian Anderson, Irakli Jishkariani, Jackson Ragland, jacob britt, James Hadfied, James Knight, Jamison Schneider, Jan, Jason Case, JauPim, Jeremy, Jeremy Leonard, Jonathan Lodge, Jonny, Josh, Joshua John Wallace, Kitty kat, Krazo, Lasse Pedersen, Leon Silva, Leonhard MÃ¼nzer, Lorcogoth, Lupusregina, mallix, Marcus148, Mathias Schwendimann, Mathieu Deg, Max Oberg, Max Weidmer, Maximilian Sack, me, MeatyLock, Michael, Michael Anaya, Michael Bradet-Legris, Michael F., NebulaeDreamz, Nefraak, Nicholas Kelly, Not Real, Patrick Cole, Paul Jones, Pigeon F, pope benedict, Raistlin, Reepham, roflkong3, Sage, Sam Vinh, santor25, Scott Holt, Setaria, Sid_Cypher, SnowingSilently, Spencer Burke, Star Sword, SZ, tachi-kawa, Tao Wong, Taylor, Therese Brock von Rein, ToffiTee, Two Cats, ulrik aaby

Mageling:

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Chapter: 230 - City Lord

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Noelle, Maxine, Joshua Sydney, Emersen, Damon Roberts, Ben Morgan

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala stood on the City Lord’s balcony, his voice traveling to her without effort, even as it seemed to shake the very air it moved through.

She was looking down at the window-washer that the City Lord had briefly tried to convince her was an assassin.

What is with this guy?

-The powerful are eccentric?-

So it would seem.

“I am, sadly, at an unstable place with my power, and so I am confined to this tower, unless at dire need.”

Tala cocked her head, looking at the man who sat a good thirty feet from her. Why would he tell me that?

-Because the betrayal of a House would obviously qualify as a dire need?-

The man continued to talking, “As such, you will run errands for me.”

Tala frowned at that. “I was under the impression that I was to be a sort of ceremonial guard. Is that incorrect?”

“Hmm? Oh, no that’s correct. The errands will never take you too far from me.”

“But the tasks I will be doing are those of a servant.”

“You could still kill the assassin.”

She huffed a laugh, then nodded slowly, though she didn’t really understand. Humor the crazy powerhouse. I just have to get through today.

“As an example, please go get my breakfast. I am quite hungry, and it tends to be rather…lethal for the servants to come up here.”

Tala hesitated at that. Lethal?

She felt the power reverberating through the air, the very dimensions of magic shuddering at his every spoken word or careless action, but it didn’t feel lethal.

Her confusion must have been clear on her face as the City Lord smiled. “I can see you’re a bit baffled.”

That much is obvious. “How would it be lethal for them to come up here? I feel the instability around you, but it’s not directly damaging, let alone lethal.”

“Oh, I see, you misunderstand. They are simply too slow, so my breakfast always arrives cold. That is quite irritating, and I don’t take it too well.” He waited a moment. “The kitchen had my food ready at first light. You really should get going.”

“You’re joking again.”

“Am I?” He arched one eyebrow as he turned back to his writing desk. He reached out with one hand and grasped at nothing, making a vain attempt to pick up a mug that wasn’t there. “Now, who do I have to kill to get my breakfast tea when I want it?”

The last was supposedly said to himself, but it was clear that he intended for Tala to hear.

I have no idea, at all, how to understand this guy. She also didn’t know his name. I’ll ask him after I get the breakfast. It must have been an oversight for no one to have told her.

She sighed, gave a shallow bow and headed back down the stairs to search for the kitchens.

The entirety of the day passed in that manner.

The City Lord sent her to get various things from his house, below, and she did as she was asked. She was also required to do the same within the tower room, or to place things back where they went. She also needed to tidy up, take down a note or two, or perform other seemingly menial tasks.

He never answered any of her questions meaningfully.

The perfect example was when she managed to ask for his name at an appropriate time. In fact, she had been rather proud of herself, as she’d managed to ask in a way that was polite and not at all insulting or awkward.

Unfortunately, his only response was, “Names are such interesting things. Call me anything you want, and if I respond that is my name, is it not?”

“I suppose, but don’t you have an actual name? Like one that you use regularly?”

“City Lord, or just Lord would qualify.” He nodded to himself distractedly. “That is what most call me.”

“But those are more like titles, right? If a City Lord were to die, someone else would take up the title?”

The man had given a faux look of contemplation. “You know, I’m really not sure. No City Lord has ever died and left behind a city in any shape for another to rule it, so there isn’t any precedent.”

“What about if you meet another City Lord? Do you all just address each other by the name of your city?”

“I wouldn’t know. City Lords are quite insufferable people, and I have no interest in meeting any of them. Now, I am out of tea and have been so for nearly a full minute. Please rectify that and be more watchful in the future.”

As the sun finally set, Tala felt herself sag with relief, at least internally. What an utterly strange, ridiculous day.

The last sliver of the sun vanished, and the City Lord smiled. “Thank you for your…adequate service today, Eskau Tali. I will see you in one week’s time.”

Tala had been in the middle of a shallow bow, and she hesitated. “One week? My understanding was that my duties would be monthly.”

“Ahh, but you are too interesting to go a month without seeing you again. I will see you in one week’s time.”

With that obvious dismissal, Tala departed. Great.

-Maybe silence would have been a better course?-

Maybe… Near the end, it felt like he was being purposely obtuse, as if to force me to ask further, even if just to clarify.

-Yeah, suddenly calling tea a ‘hot herbal infusion’ was needlessly convoluted…-

I know, right? And he only did it once.

-And asking you to grab him another blown-melted-sand vessel mostly filled with a purposely staining, low viscosity, compound substance?-

Just call it a bottle of ink! Tala felt herself smile even as she shook her head. Complaining to and with Alat helped alleviate much of her irritation.

I do wonder if he was trying to provoke me.

-He’s definitely an odd one.-

The next week passed as the previous one had, and she soon found herself back at the City Lord’s home, bowing slightly in greeting just as the sun peeked over the horizon.

“Good, good. You are on time today. That bodes well.”

“As you say.”

“Now, take off that tunic.”

Tala hesitated, glancing down at the only covering she wore on her torso. She lifted her gaze back up to meet the City Lord’s. “No.”

“No?” He cocked his head to one side, seemingly genuinely perplexed.

“No. But thank you for the compliment.” Did he really think I would just strip?

The man’s confusion deepened, causing his frown to grow. “Thank you for… Oh! You think I want to see what lies beneath.” He shook his head, laughing to himself. “No, no. I just find the House of Blood’s insignia a bit unsightly, today. I’m sure it is a whim, but I’ll satisfy it nonetheless.”

He gazed at her expectantly.

Tala cocked an eyebrow, then shrugged.

She reached into her elk-leathers and flexed her power slightly, removing the symbol. “As you wish.”

The City Lord grinned, seemingly having been interested in how her clothing functioned. “Fascinating! I have clothing with multiple forms, of course, but nothing quite so… morphic. I thought I detected such magics within the garments. Can you make it do anything?”

“It can take the form of nearly any type of clothing, if that is what you are asking.”

“I see, I see.” He hesitated, his hand swiping through the empty air where his teacup usually rested. A frown growing across his face as he vainly swiped once again.

Tala sighed internally, bowed slightly once again, and went to get his breakfast.

She was now getting used to his antics, though she still wasn’t sure if he was just this odd, or if he was continuing to mess with her to learn more about how she handled truly ridiculous things.

-Probably a mix of both. I bet one day he just started doing it, not knowing what it was.-

Yeah, then he just kept right on doing it… forever? She shrugged. Just because.

-Or something like that.-

The home, itself, was elegant in its simplicity.

What embellishments there were, all seemed to have a purpose.

There was no gilding, no gaudy colors, no needless filigree.

Instead, there were high ceilings, exposed pillars and trusses, and an obvious quality of craftsmanship presented for the world to see.

No mistakes were in evidence, fixed or not, as everything had been made to an incredibly high standard.

The back halls for the servants were slightly less perfect in their simplicity, but they too were obviously finished with extraordinary skill.

The kitchens were large without being palatial, and the staff was professional almost to a fault.

They always already knew why she was there whenever she arrived, and they always had what she needed ready on a small table beside the door.

This was the fourth meal that she’d picked up for the City Lord, not counting snacks or pots of tea, and the servants were always working, seemingly never done. The amount of food seemed fit to feed an army, and Tala supposed there might just be an army of servants all told, employed to care for and meet the needs of this estate. So, the amount of food made sense.

There was also the fact that among the kitchen staff, the weakest in terms of simple strength of aura was a boy. His task seemed to be to perpetually clean the floors from one end to the other before starting at the far end once again.

He probably had other tasks, but he always seemed to be working at that one whenever Tala dropped through.

The boy’s aura was fully yellow.

The head chef—a tall, rat-man—was filled with power to the point of being green. Who has an Honored as a chef?

-The City Lord, apparently.-

When she’d asked Thron, the dwarf hadn’t known the City Lord’s name and his quick research hadn’t revealed it either.

When they’d asked their fellow Eskau, Pallaun had just laughed and given no other response.

Focusing back on her current task, Tala lifted the oddly heavy tray, laden with a nearly Tala-portioned breakfast, tea included.

The food itself was so overladen with power that Tala had felt her magics rebelling whenever she had to carry a tray full of it. This time was no different.

Blessedly, she’d learned how to harden her aura against it. Though, she was still uncertain exactly how it affected her magics, even with her iron paint in place.

-There is just a much greater quantity of power. At least that’s my guess. It simply overflows into the dimensions of magic, thus making the iron paint less of a barrier.-

Yes, I understood that part, but how? How did they pack so much power into the food?

That, Alat didn’t know.

Tala shuddered at the thought of what the effect would be without the paint.

The reaction seemed incredibly linked to proximity, so if she weren’t carrying the tray, there wouldn’t be any issue. That was likely the only reason others could be near the kitchen at all.

And as to the powers coiled within each morsel? They were so complex and convoluted that Tala couldn’t tell what any one of them did.

Returning to the City Lord, she was easily able to take the stairs two or three at a time, due to her strength and dexterity. Never thought I’d be using my enhancements like this.

Back up in the tower, she laid out his food beside him, and he took the cup of tea as soon as it touched down in its customary spot.

“Adequate. Grab me that book.”

Tala turned, used to this after the first day.

A single book was highlighted in blue on the shelf. The color was a purely magical effect, in that it was simply magic wrapped around the book and compressed to the point that the power looked blue to her magesight.

The magic didn’t do anything, it was simply used to highlight the current item of interest.

Honestly, it was another bit of the arcane’s ridiculousness, as he could have more easily simply summoned the book to himself.

But what could Tala do?

As soon as she touched the tome, the magic unraveled and flowed back into the City Lord. Tala picked up the book and brought it to him.

Thus, this second day of attending the City Lord went, passing almost entirely without incident or unusual happening.

That is, until near sunset.

Tala, after the umpteenth seemingly meaningless task, finally decided to ask a question that was bothering her, “Why is your magic unstable or unsafe? What about your current power makes it so?”

The City Lord paused his writing, then resumed, finishing out the sentence.

With a sigh, the man set aside his pen and turned to her. “As a gated human, to reach my next advancement I would need to be untethering myself from the needs and worries of this world.”

He gave her a derisive look that showed exactly what he thought of that.

“As a true practitioner of magic, however, I seek something that you have naturally, but never fully grasp.”

She waited hesitantly.

After a moment, he grinned. “Care to guess what that is?”

-That’s a trap if ever I heard one.-

Alat was unquestioningly correct, but after nearly two days of observing the man, Tala felt like she had a reasonable feel for him. Therefore, she risked an answer, if a bit of a teasing one, “A name?”

The City Lord blinked back at her, his eyes widening, then, something seemed to cross his mind, and he huffed a laugh, shaking his head. “Oh, you’re joking. That’s funny. Out of the mouth of infants and all that.”

He waved dismissively, and Tala frowned. What?

-I think you said something profound without realizing it?-

What, though?

-I have no idea.-

Was it about the name?

-Well, yes, that was probably it, but I don’t know what was profound about it.-

“You do odd things with your face when you’re thinking.”

Tala jerked, returning her attention to the City Lord.

“Also, that answer was disrespectful.”

Tala’s left arm vanished.

In its place, now floated her inscriptions, burning with impotent power, showing her exactly where her arm should be.

Her eyes widened. What?

There was pain, of course, but her mind simply refused to process it. It didn’t seem real.

Her scripts acted immediately, keeping her blood from painting the room and regrowing the arm at a frankly ridiculous speed.

-He…he just ripped off your arm.-

Alat was right. Based on the damage to the remaining flesh the part that had been taken had been ripped away.

She hadn’t felt his power act.

She hadn’t felt any flex of magic at all.

Her aura hadn’t slowed him.

Her iron paint had meant little.

Her elk-leathers hadn’t stopped it.

The slight void-magics within their defenses hadn’t negated it.

She had been utterly helpless.

She still was.

The City Lord spoke again, his tone not changing in the least. “But, you asked me a question, and questions should be honored.”

He took a deep breath and shook his head.

“When I ask you a question, I expect a thoughtful answer. Anything else is rude. Don’t forget again.”

So, he didn’t like that I gave a flippant answer? She was still in shock. It just made no sense.

-For you, losing the arm is little more than a flick to the back of a toddler’s hand.-

Are you kidding me? He ripped off my rusting arm. Tala’s shock was turning to rage, but she contained it.

She swallowed, glancing down at her reformed arm, allowing the concern to hold the fear in check.

Her elk-leathers had grown back over the limb, but everything was not as it had been.

Her hand was flesh colored.

The iron paint was gone.

She mastered her emotions and simply nodded.

“Good. Now, to answer your question: My power is unstable because I have passed the threshold of power which a mortal form can contain by itself, yet I lack a base of magic. As a gated human, you will never run out of power, and your body uses it to enhance natural processes. Your type’s advancement also builds this base of power, guiding and containing your magics as a matter of course. To be Hallowed, I must forge a base of magic that powers me without being expended.”

Tala frowned, choosing her words carefully. “How can you use magic without using it?”

A sad smile pulled at the City Lord’s lips, and Tala saw deep frustration behind the expression. “Precisely. I am efficient to a degree that is nearly eternal, but I still use power.”

“So… why the instability?”

“Because the drips of power that are used up or escape don’t play well with the natural world. My density is just too high.”

Tala’s eyes widened. The ripples, the shaking, the power I feel radiating from him, are all just the fractional inefficiencies of his magic escaping?

Alat seemed at a loss for words.

“How?” Tala was only able to get out that one word.

The City Lord shrugged. “How difficult is it for you to knock over a tower of blocks, built by a toddler?”

“Not hard?” She was still hesitant in her answer.

“Exactly. Can’t you even do it by accident if you stomp too hard on the floor or if you aren’t careful?”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

“Thus is the world around me, and any of my power.”

“The world was assembled by toddlers.”

The City Lord grinned. “Oh, I wish. No, no. The world, as it is now, is the unstable pile of blocks left over after the toddler’s tower has fallen. It is even less able to withstand careless bumps or the whims of fate. Our world is but the crumbling remains of a once great construction, atop the table of the next world.”

“I’m not certain I follow. If that were the case, then wouldn’t gates help? They would be like nails, securing the blocks to one another and to the table underneath.”

“And how well can you nail a pile of rubble down? Would you not destabilize it more, simply by attempting to drive in a nail? Next, you’ll state that you can hold a moonbeam in your hand or keep a wave upon the sand. You would make the problem worse.”

She hadn’t thought of it that way.

His eyes hardened. “Your kind does make the problem worse. If we ever lose need of gated humans, the world will be better for their erasure.”

Tala straightened. He’ll kill me, or not, but I won’t cower, beg, or flinch back.

The City Lord’s anger passed quickly, however. “But we digress. As I am, a lapse in concentration would kill every Child within a mile and incapacitate any Mature in that same range.”

Tala looked out the window. The outer wall was just over a mile away.

He smiled slightly. “That is the reason for the spatial expansion, yes.”

She swallowed, then pressed slightly. “City Lord, I know you’ve been out of this tower.”

He waved her off. “Of course. I’m not a prisoner, but it is mentally taxing to be on guard constantly.”

Tala had actually been starting to see the City Lord as just another person, this conversation being a bit more ‘human’ than she’d expected, arm removal aside. Don’t think on that. Don’t remember the feel of its lack.

“It is so irritating to deal with all the whining when a stray thought causes the destruction of a city block, or a breach in a hold I happen to be visiting. Most would have died soon anyways. The truly worthwhile would be fine.”

And there goes the last vestiges of the illusion of humanity.

The man turned back to his work, seemingly dismissing her from his mind once more.

What the City Lord was describing sounded incredibly like aura control, if approached differently. In that way, the City Lord was right, she and every other human Archon worked on their control, worked to rein in their power, from the moment they became Bound.

Tala also suspected that the issue came from where the City Lord had stalled.

If she had to guess, and with Alat to check her eyes, it was barely a guess, she would say that the City Lord was just over halfway from Revered to Hallowed.

Like with Refining. Getting halfway is the easy part. In this case, the City Lord likely had to increase his density first, then the control would cement it, and move him into the truly Hallowed range.

That means that he actually has the power of a Hallowed, just not the control.

Somehow, that made her feel better. His rank was basically three tiers above hers.

-The power running through him. It isn’t pure. It has those micro-clashes that Thron talked about.-

So, he got his power like most arcanes do, from many different sources.

-Most likely. That probably makes it harder to control at his level of compression. Any lapse causes the power to want to spread back out.-

Huh. I suppose, creating a stable base would allow for true purification of the power, and then he wouldn’t have that issue.

-Should we mention that?-

Tala laughed internally. Give him an insight that might be insulting at worst, and at best allow a City Lord to advance in rank? No. She shook her head. Rust no.

With no further incident, her work finished less than an hour later.

“You will return in one month’s time.” He didn’t turn to regard her.

“Yes, City Lord.” She gave a shallow bow and departed.

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

Zrell, znarken, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, Zanthras, zachary gafken, Zach Wilson, Zach Adams, Yrom, Yenin, Yemisi Mcmullen, Xynee, xtrnet, Xavier Lamphere, Xaim, X Y, Wundermelon, william wallace, William Priess, William Fullerton, Will C, WhisperInTheVoid, Whisper, Wesley Ervin, Warren Zielke, WarNachos, Walter, W, Vroom, Viria, Vikram Ahluwalia, Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, Victoria, Vaulex, Varzifar, user754595, Tyrone Thomas, Tyler-Adam Cohen, Tyler, Tyler, TurmRIC, Tristan Griffin, Travis McIntosh, Travis McHenry, Traian, Total, TomÃ¡Å¡ BlÃ¡bol, Tom Roettger, Tom, Toad, tlove, Timothy Burago, Tim Marshall, Thuss, ThreatLvlPurple, Thortinshire, Thomas Stewart, Thomas Heide, Thomas Goyne, Thernn, TheLazerCat, TheFool, Thanks to Alex Jones for my new gender, gremlin wraith, Thaco4, ThÃ©o, Teee, Tataru Taru, Tarantism, Taliesin, Sylvain Arguillere, Svarog, Styx49, Stuart Anderson, STORRM, Steven Johnson, Steven C, Stephanie Washburn, SteindÃ³r Tryggvason, Steffen, Stano MareÄek, SpitEoll, Spencer Herold, SpartanEcho, Solar, SoddenFool, smoze, Smokestack Matt, Slambo, Skyra, skici, Skarsol, Siphor, sings_with_toads, Simon Hughes, Simon Dingemans, Silveredgallium, Silberwolf325, Signspace, SideraX, Shyx, Shil Modi, Shelbo, Shakez44, Shadow, Severed Hat, Seth Wilson, Seth Cox, Seth Bryant, Sekander, Seijax, sedael, Sebastian Lindqvist, Sebastian Larsen, Sebastian Lachs, Sean Reap, Sean Panajotovic, Sean McCrohan, Sean Mantell, Sean Carter, Seadrake, ScottDR, schnixxes, Schelm, Satya Prateek, Saramon H, Samuel Patterson, Samuel McCarren, Sam Oppy, SaltyVigilante, SÃ©bastien Kingsbury, sÃ¸ren Frost, S T, Ryudachi, Ryan Tran, Ryan Naquin, Ryan Hogan, Ryan Coyne, rvs, Rutger Boll, RottenTangerine, Roger, Robin SjÃ¶doff, Robin Richards, Robert z, Robert P, Robert Mullins, Robert Hinshaw, Robert Adams, rizen, Rip Woodham, rintaun, Rich Webb, Rhaid, RexRegis, Retaliation ., Reodude, Relein, Reid Palmquist, Reed Montemurro, Redbeard, reafan, rbot, Ray Robitaille, Ratoo, Raphael, Randy Klein, Ramapriya Rangaraju, Raivshard, Rain, Rahul Sanku, Ragmas, RageBone, Rachel Prochner, qenesu, Powernap, posthumousleon, Politician, Pizzatiger, PiMs, Pigeonpie, Pieter-Jan Van Steenkiste, Phlorez, Philipp Ziehe, Philipp Zander, Philipp Duckwitz, peter mattoon, Peter Edlund, Person8, Pedro Derze, Payen Hell, Pawel Maskowicz, Paul Becker, patrick seim, Patrick polsey, Patrick Blatti, PARXIVAL, Parker Hebert, PaleMire, Paerofar, Ozark, Ovuca, Orr404, OrangeSpork, OpCrystal, Onill007, Omar Wazir, OlivierA, Oliverthms, Oliver Firoozan, Oliver, Ocean Breeze, OakieTheTree, Oakenbear, nymaxilian, nugitoBambino, Notcreepycreeper, Noshei, Nonie, nokko, noah stevens, Noah Jones, Noah, NNeil, Nikolas allen, Nikita Becker, Nick Tinsley, Nick Riley, Nick Norris, nicholas machado, Nhnnh, Netrier, NaughtyPaws, Nathaniel Baxter, Nathan Fahrenbach, Nathan Bush, Nate Kaufman, Narasan, n, Myles2322, Mr. Finch, Mr Google Doodle, Mountainking, Mountain Barber, Morzan The Lazy Dragon, Monte949, 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Laila, Lachlan Priest, Kylieth, Kyle frasch, Kyle Brackenbury, Kyle, Krikor Chichadjian, Kovak, Klecksi, klabuster, Kirvin, Kiran, KingWoh, Khress, Kermity, Kenyaa, Kenton Watson, Kent Gunn, Kenneth, Keira Wulfe, Keenan Adams, karmaslap, Karma Baris, Karl Tageman, Kamren Livingston, Kai, Kageryu, Jywert, jww, Justin Thomas, Justin Reagan, Justin Gray, Justin, just_a_potato, Just Dave, Julian Meltzer, Joshua Smith, Joshua Samuel Miller, Joshua Paye, Joshua Lawvere, Joshua Holt Sorensen, Josh Fryza, Joseph Sutherland, Joseph Saunders, Joseph, Jordan Leighton, jonch1243 ., Jonathan Timm, Jonathan Gregoire, Jonah of the Whale, Jonah Klinar, Jonah Doyle, Jon Nay, Jolly Javelin, John O'Connor, John Noone, John Hadel, John Growcott, John D'Arcy, Joey Fisher, Joe Smith, Jody, Jo, JJ327, Jett Hardin, Jess, Jeremy James, Jeremy Dorn, Jeremy Davis Payne, Jered McCullough, Jennifer, Jehru, Jeffery Nickelson, Jeff Gault, Jedediah Wolfgang, JCQuiinn, Jayden Kirkham, Jasper Walters, Jason Petry, 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Mage:

ulrik aaby, Two Cats, Taylor, Tao Wong, tachi-kawa, SZ, Star Sword, Spencer Burke, SnowingSilently, Sid_Cypher, Setaria, Scott Holt, santor25, roflkong3, Reepham, Raistlin, pope benedict, Pigeon F, Paul Jones, Patrick Cole, Not Real, Nicholas Kelly, Nefraak, NebulaeDreamz, Michael F., Michael Bradet-Legris, Michael Anaya, Michael, MeatyLock, Maximilian Sack, Max Weidmer, Max Oberg, Mathieu Deg, Mathias Schwendimann, Marcus148, mallix, Lupusregina, Lorcogoth, Lasse Pedersen, Kitty kat, Joshua John Wallace, Josh, Jonny, Jonathan Lodge, Jeremy Leonard, Jeremy, JauPim, Jason Case, Jan, Jamison Schneider, James Knight, James Hadfied, jacob britt, Irakli Jishkariani, Ian Anderson, Harold Teunisse, GopherAtl, Gleadge, Gert Wallis, Gemyma, Ford Yeager, Finn Freudenberg, Fabian, Error, Eric Trombly, ensou, Eciefae4, Dustin, Dom, Digdug, Deneas, David, Dani, Cybernetic Angel, Colton Rutherford, Cody Caliguiri, Chris Olsen, Carya Galabra, Carl Clements, Calle, Barrie Davis, Appl, Anton Selling, Anonymous, Alexander Belousov, Al Bi, al, Aaron Lewis

Mageling:

Zagig, WanderingArchitect, ttuurrhh, Sven Paulson, Stefan Rabenstein, Stan Snijder, SpiderStuck, SomethingWicked, Skelethin, Skape, Shaun Skelton, SecretsOfTheVoid, Sam Duralde, Russell Black, Robert Rosenthal, Richard Heying, Reminder, Pyrite, Piotr, Pawaidan, OmegaHebrew, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, nick v, Nick, Mudith Mallajosyula, Moreldarin, moniker, Michael kim, Michael Ireland, Matt DiMeo, Luka Lageschaar, Lucas E Burgan, Lonewolf, Kyle Smith, Kirsty, Kevin O'donnell, KB, Kagge91, Judy Halloran, Joseph White, Joost Boere, Jeff berman, Ivo Havener, Iscunnin, Isaac Larkin, industriousrevolution, Ian, Harris, Hamo4, Hallan Savage, HÃ¥vard, GSH, Fuzzycakes, Frozen, Faris Bissex, Eythan Hayashi, emphes, dimi1010, derek giandolfi, Delilah, Decree, David Yang, David H, Dave Burkett, DANTE, Daniel, Chris K, chimerarara, Charles, BurnNote, Benjamin Buco, ben, AndromedaStar, Alternative Facet, Allen Roberts, Alexander Graber-Tilton

Inscribed:

Wacjob, Twig, Trevor Walker, Tate Browder, Tandroll, sn0mm1s, ShadowCub, Sam Ford, Ross Doyle, Rentfunk, Reece Zieschang, PeM, Paul Lorenz, nikrowd, Mqrius, Moses Lambert, LÃ©o Viarouge, KYLE MANN, Joshua Michael Royalty, Jonathan, James A. Hunter, Isaac Fratti, Harley Waldstein, George Lanetz, fennek, Femmianne Vermaak, Dylan, Dmitriy Ochkov, Diana Kelly, Dennis Bollyn, Dax, ciaran mullen, Christopher Cha, Chris, Chase128, Benjamin Piribauer, Azzurous, Ari Mononen, Arcanes, Alastair Dent

In case you haven't read it, Salvos is pretty entertaining, and the next book is out on Kindle! (It's still on RR, too.) 😁

Salvos on RoyalRoad

Hellprinces: A LitRPG Adventure (Salvos, Book 9) - Kindle edition by Lewis, V.A.. Humor & Entertainment Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com

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Chapter: 231 - Guild Hold

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

noëlle, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Damon Roberts, Emersen, Maxine, Pride mystic artificer

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala, unfortunately, couldn’t just go back to her sanctum and relax, despite the day with the City Lord being as trying as she’d expected. The loss of the arm was…new.

-Well, you handled it just fine.-

It recovered quickly enough, I think it helped that the arm wasn’t just laying there on the ground beside me. More than anything it was just a punitive tax on my resources.

In planning out the day with Thron, Tala had elected to breach a renegade hold that evening, and she was to meet the dwarf at the entrance.

Once she was clear of the City Lord’s estate, she found an out of the way wall and placed Kit upon it.

She walked onto her dais and activated the reinscription magics. As she was still mostly painted, she chose to have threads of gold, interlaced with a bit of silver and copper, flow through her mouth and down her throat, as much as that was fundamentally awful.

As it finished, she let herself move once again, spitting out a bit of blood to one side.

It vanished before it hit the dais.

That done, she retracted her clothing, repainted her new arm, and used her mirrored perspective, via her bloodstars, to ensure that there were no other breaches in that defensive layer.

The echoes, even hidden by her through-spike, had faded with such a large breach in her iron paint, as provided by her bare arm.

Now, the power began building once again, quickly beginning her internal resonance.

Fully defended and inscribed once more, she exited Kit, hung the pouch from her belt, and set off towards the meeting spot.

The location was a bit out of the way in the District of Doors.

The district itself abutted the City Lord’s estate, but the holds nearest that private park were much sought after, and the locations changed hands so often the truly established powers didn’t bother.

Thus, that part of the District of Doors was filled with those on a path upward, or those trying to head off a fall from grace.

In either case, her destination was in another part all together, with the holds well established and unlikely to have moved in the last century, and even less likely to move in the next.

When she arrived, she found herself impressed by the surroundings.

There were several lovely parks nearby, and the entrance of the hold in question was one of the more prominent ones in the area. It was beautifully appointed and decorated, lavish almost to the extreme in the owner’s attempt to draw attention to it. They had succeeded splendidly, the effect made more pronounced by the purple, glowing, magical field preventing anyone from accessing it.

To Tala’s surprise and confusion, Be-thric was awaiting her instead of Thron. He was standing only a couple dozen feet from the sealed off entrance of the shielded hold.

“My Eskau!” He held his arms out wide, grinning broadly as she approached.

If it had been anyone else, she would have thought he wanted a hug, but Tali’s memories confirmed that that was decidedly not the case.

“Pillar Be-thric.” Tala didn’t bow, per Be-thric’s request, but she also knew that Tali wouldn’t like that, so to mirror what would be expected, Tala nodded in acknowledgement. “To what do I owe the honor of your presence?”

“One moment.” He waved his hand and an explosion of magical tendrils shot out of him in every direction. They wove through the air and ground around them, locking it off from any outside observer.

When Tala looked outward, everything appeared blurry as well as hazy; it was noticeably darker, and no sound entered from the outside.

“There we are. You see, this has become a rather delicate matter.”

Tala cocked her head to one side, listening.

“This is the main hold for a specialty crafting guild, and they have apparently been very devious crafters.” The hue-folk male’s eyes sparkled. “They’ve been researching and actually building automata.”

She frowned. Neither her own, nor Tali’s, memories providing any clue as to what was going on.

“I see you’re confused. Let me explain. Ever since the Black Legion, automata have been completely outlawed in all forms, great or small.”

“You mean, like moving statues?” Tali’s memory was still drawing a blank.

“No, no. Not like statues at all.”—he waved her off with a long-suffering expression—"They are, effectively, artificial lifeforms with programable consciousnesses. They can draw in magic from the environment and even advance in rank, if designed to do so.”

“So, people, but fabricated?”

“Not really. They have no soul, broken or whole, and so they have no significance, no will.”

“I see.” She was frowning. Again, she checked with Tali’s memories, and she came up with nothing. “What is the Black Legion?” Something about the name tickled her memory, but nothing specific came to mind.

“The Black Legion is an army of self-repairing automata built back in the War of the Broken Soul to bring back certain lost property.”—he waved that off as unimportant— “The issue with them was that they went wild. They had to be so complex that they developed complications, which manifested in a semblance of desires in conflict with their creators’. All in all, it ended badly for everyone, and automata were banned.”

No wonder he came here himself. This seems like something that Tali really should have heard of, and her not knowing could come across as odd to others, and they might not handle it in a way that would be good for her fake memories.

Tala frowned, glanced towards the hold in question. “But these crafters ignored the ban.”

“They did.”

“And their automata went rogue?”

Be-thric hesitated, then shrugged. “They aren’t sure. Mid-afternoon, yesterday, the hold ejected everyone bodily, the automata physically throwing out those who wouldn’t leave by other means. Then, the barrier activated, and the guild called for help.”

“That’s where I come in.”

“Precisely.” His greedy grin was back. “But it gets better than an enjoyable fight.”

Tala found his excitement infectious and checked for mental magics.

-None. He’s just really happy, and something’s telling us that we’re going to like the results as well.-

That’s weird…

“They would face a significant penalty if the nature of their experiments were discovered. They’d lose their hold, their status, and likely much, much more. So, in exchange for our silence, and the utter destruction of automata within, I secured you the right to consume their hold.” He said the last as if he were unveiling a birthday gift.

In truth, Tala was dumbstruck. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she was at a loss for words.

That is rusting amazing.

-Kit gets to eat a large guild’s main hold?- Alat was giving off waves of excitement, too.

A hold of a prominent guild would easily allow Kit to double in internal volume, if not more. Moreover, the authorization to consume the hold meant that nothing within would have to be returned to the owners.

Be-thric’s grin widened ever further. “I can see you are speechless. Good!”

This is ridiculous. Why? Why is he doing this for us?

-You know why. It’s not for us. It’s for him. Us improving is him improving. He sees us as so thoroughly in his pocket and under his thrall that our advancement is only good for him.-

I guess… I guess I still had my doubts. How can he not realize we’re not Tali? I’m sure I make dozens of little mistakes every day.

-No one observes that closely, Tala, and you returned to yourself at a time of transition, when Tali would have made large changes in how she acted, regardless.-

Tala felt a seed of joy and hope truly blossom in her chest as the realization hit home. We’re going to make it, Alat. Unless something catastrophic happens, we’re going to get out of here once his armor is complete. He’s going to take us home himself.

Her hope hardened into expectancy as she imagined him getting the punishment he deserved at the hands of her fellow Archons.

Be-thric continued speaking, pulling her out of her vengeful fantasies. “You have been an excellent…Eskau. You proved my faith in you a dozen times over, and I am more than happy to secure you privilege and gain as a small thank you.”

Tala was still a bit speechless. There was little else that she would seek out more valuable to her at the moment. Save my freedom.

She didn’t let that thought sour her expression.

He really was giving her a mountain of treasure, while supercharging her advancement.

Did that make her feel bad for what she knew would be coming for the arcane?

No. Not one bit.

Take them for all their worth.

-Then lead the lamb to slaughter.-

The narcissistic, kidnap-happy lamb. Tala teased internally.

-The analogy fits.-

She finally was able to respond, pulling heavily on Tali to do so. Honestly, she considered just switching out for Tali, but she couldn’t bring herself to give up control. “Thank you, Pillar Be-thric. This Eskau is honored by your arrangement of this boon.”

He continued to smile happily, clearly having seen at least some of the emotions flickering across her face and wildly misinterpreting them. “Of course, of course.”

He pulled out a keyring and held it out to her.

“These will allow you to unlock each section as you go deeper in. They were paranoid folk and placed the hold’s core at the very back, deep within multiple layers of security.”

Be-thric then handed her a small book, detailing the specifics of what she would find inside.

“Now, I have another appointment to get to. I appreciate your suggestion on where we can get the next protian weapon, and I like it. Our information network is looking into what candidate Eskau might be visiting a lesser hold in the next weeks, so that we can execute a hold-breach and claim the prize.”

He patted her on the shoulder and waved his other hand, dismissing the privacy barrier.

“Good luck, my Eskau. Continue to make me proud and bring honor to the House of Blood.”

“I will, Pillar Be-thric. Thank you.”

Without further comment, Be-thric departed, off to his next task.

Dusk had turned into full night as they spoke, while magical light made the streets bright and safe.

Before her, an arcane barrier barred her entrance, but she could deal with that.

But first, we need to read this.

She whipped through the book detailing the defenses and contents of the hold before her in less than an hour, Alat helping her parse the information more quickly.

After that, she was ready to go.

She had taken out a set of tungsten spheres and spent the last part of her reading first rendering them effectively weightless, then amplifying their attraction towards one another as two separate workings.

Now, she approached the gates.

This should be fairly simple, actually. The book had informed her that it wasn’t a heavy magical defense. It was simply meant as a temporary delaying tactic to allow the hold’s defenses to be readied.

There was also that the true purpose of the barrier was to keep the automata in the hold, to prevent their discovery in case one went rogue. It was a rather prescient feature, though they seemed to have underestimated the scope of the potential issue.

Tala took a deep breath, pulled power from the flesh around her lungs, and with an act of will, inverted it.

Tala exhaled a stream of disintegration at the magical barrier, quickly eroding a breach in the defense.

She hopped through, still holding the spheres in one hand.

The barrier slowly repaired itself behind her, but she didn’t care.

The automata were now locked in there with her.

The next thing to bar her path wasn’t anything special.

This was not a major House’s hold.

It was well defended, but the entrance wasn’t authorized to have the same level of security.

Thus, all that really barred her way after the barrier was a mundane, if heavily reinforced, door.

She lifted one bare foot and, with a powerful kick, shattered the locking bar to throw the entrance wide open.

The first room was a waiting area, a foyer and welcoming space for customers of the guild.

Under normal circumstances, there would be servants, refreshments, and comfortable seating.

Of course, there were no servers at the moment.

Trays of drinks and platters of food lay scattered about, and much of the furniture was overturned.

It hadn’t been so long that the food had spoiled, so the smell in the air was just a bit jumbled from the dropped items.

The room wasn’t otherwise empty, however, as Tala got her first look at the automata.

They were very much like men made of an almost white steel. Unlike the animate statues she’d fought in the ether hold, these had joints, and inner workings that poked out around the strangely liquid looking metal of their main pieces.

The metal men stood haphazardly around the room, seeming to have stopped as soon as the last of the guildmembers were thrown out.

Their faces were utterly emotionless, and a break in the faceplates showed that the mouths were intended to open, just as the book had said.

Their eyes had a subtle purple hue that gleamed in the low, slightly flickering light; several of the magical lights around the room having been cracked or broken.

These automata were all the most basic model. They were designed to fight with whatever they could lay their hands on, or just with their hands directly, and they were strong, but they hadn’t been designed, specifically, for security or combat.

No, these were the servant models.

Even so, the brief overview of their specifications had informed Tala that they would each be about as strong as she had been before Fusing, which was honestly insane.

-Any one of these would tear through a human city like a natural disaster until the defenders arrived.-

Also, true to their label of automata, they were actively drawing in magic from their surroundings.

She couldn’t see what they were doing with it, but she knew it likely wasn’t good.

As they hadn’t moved since the last person had been thrown out, there were two standing right inside the door that Tala had just kicked open.

Every head snapped towards her almost moving as one the instant she breached the entrance, and Tala attacked.

Flow became a sword, and Tala beheaded the first two with a clean sweep, even as they were still coming out of whatever power absorption mode they’d been in.

A thick, vibrant purple liquid sprayed out, almost seeming to glow as it rained down around the two bodies, crashing to the floor.

Two down.

The spheres in her off hand had made the sword swing a bit awkward, as she’d had to do it one handed.

Thus, she wanted them gone. So, she picked two figures at the far end of the room and altered the sphere’s targets to their upper chests, a weak point on these models according to the book and the location of their cores.

The air cracked as the spheres tore through it, raising the temperature of the room a couple of degrees in an instant before the two automata’s upper torsos seemed to vaporize.

The others in the room were fully awake and aware, by then.

Some were already sprinting her way, either unarmed or still carrying that which they’d wielded against the guildmembers.

Others were moving to grab nearby objects to use against her.

This is going to be fun. Tala couldn’t tell if she was being serious or sarcastic.

-A bit of both, I think. It will be a chore, but a fun chore.-

She grinned, reaching out to target the two that were closest, still a dozen yards away at least.

It took all her magical weight to hammer a lock into place.

Crush. They hunkered down, not slowing. Well, that’s unfortunate.

Crush! The stone cracked beneath their thundering feet. Oh, come on.

CRUSH. The two dropped to all fours, using their increased weight to close on her more quickly. Now, that’s just creepy.

CRUSH!!! They slammed to the floor, flattening and sending out a squelch of purple liquid, like a crushed, previously-bloated mosquito.

That was ridiculously inefficient. She’d used eight rings across those two, and she knew there would be hundreds of these things to deal with.

Who builds an army of untested creations? These people were idiots.

She used a quick restrain on the next charging figures, but the one that followed immediately behind that one grabbed it and threw the thing at her.

NO! You cannot utilize my own working against me. She broke the effect, and the thing slammed back to the ground.

The doors closed behind her on their own with a click, and a full ten enemies reached her nearly simultaneously.

Tala spun through the attackers, using the Way of Flowing Blood like never before, her practice both alone and with Thron showing its merit.

Flow moved between its standard forms— knife, sword, and glaive—so fluidly that it was hard to tell which shape it was in at any given instant, and it was always exactly the form that Tala needed it to be as she needed it.

Her bloodstars added to her weapon and martial forms. The three around her head giving her and Alat a view in every direction and allowing her to grow a helmet over her head with her elk-leathers as she fought without losing any awareness.

Tala leveraged the two bloodstars within the tungsten rod to whip the metal in tight, automaton-cracking arcs.

The sphere containing a bloodstar still acted mostly as a spoiler, keeping enemies at bay, or throwing them off by being in just the right place to delay and give Tala an extra instant to exploit for an attack or to shift out of the way.

The three defensive plates were used for just that: defense. They blocked fists, furniture legs, serving trays, and even the occasional cheese knife. Some of those were thrown, but most were wielded by inhumanly strong arms.

To add to the difficulty, any automaton that wasn’t fully dispatched—by either losing its head or having its core disabled—seemed to quickly repair itself, even picking up and reattaching limbs as needed.

Even so, Tala found herself grinning like a madwoman.

It had been so long since she was truly tested.

The ether hold had been a pain, but in its own way, it had been too easy.

Once she found the counter for each type of enemy, they died in droves.

There was some of that, here, but the automata were adapting, learning as they fought her.

Moreover, they seemed to be learning from the others that fought her.

Each new opponent joined the fray, seemingly already aware of the tricks she’d used before, knowledgeable of how she fought.

It was terrifying in a sense.

It was invigorating.

She loved it.

They pressed her from all sides, but they couldn’t touch her.

She was just better than them.

At least, she was better than the first twenty or so.

Even the next twenty weren’t that difficult to overcome.

Then, the forty-second somehow used the others around her to make its way through her guard and lay a hand on her shoulder.

It wasn’t an attack, so it didn’t hurt, and it wasn’t blocked by her elk-leather’s defense.

Instead, the thing jerked her backwards, throwing her off balance, and the world seemed to slow.

A frown began forming across her features in slow motion as her mind raced.

What? The rusting thing got through?

-You saw it coming.-

Yeah, but I tripped the other one in its way.

-You did that before.-

Rust…that’s right. They are adapting faster. I think they’re narrowing in on my fighting style.

-So? What do we do?-

We have to change the game.

Tala’s eyes lit with an idea. Then, they vanished, replaced with empty holes in reality, as Tala activated Flow’s void-knife form.

As she fell backward, she twisted and drove the blade into the automaton’s arm.

Magic began rushing out of the thing and into the knife.

Tala’s voidsight, her altered magesight thanks to the power of the void flowing through her, showed her the movement of the power within her enemies, and she noticed when the thing internally severed its own limb.

The arm dropped free, and the void-knife had no more power to pull as it had gobbled up all that remained in the limb in an instant.

Well, that worked pretty well.

-I’ll say.-

Tala took a deep breath and spun back towards those on the other side, which had been seeking to take advantage of her temporary stumble.

With a working of will and a powerful exhale, she blasted them with dissolution magics.

Unfortunately, they didn’t all simply turn to dust.

No, that would have been too easy.

Instead, their magics rose up and fought against the disintegration of the metal bodies, draining a large chunk of power from each automata her breath hit.

That works too. Her grin was back, now so wide it made her cheeks hurt.

-Let’s do this.-

Less than two minutes later, a total of a hundred and twenty of the basic automata lay broken and leaking in the welcome room around her.

She was liberally splattered with the vibrant, glowing, purple liquid. Nothing about it seemed to hurt her.

With a quick bouncing hop in place, most of the stuff fell free to rain on the floor around her. She didn’t aspect mirror the self-cleaning as doing so would break free her iron paint.

Maybe at the end of clearing out this place. Then, I can take a bath.

Tala looked at the large set of doors on the far side of the space from the entrance and the keyhole in them.

That will lead into the next section.

-There will be more than just these basic ones in there. Some preparation would be good.-

Agreed.

So, Tala sat and prepared all ten sets of tungsten spheres Be-thric had given her, having recovered the two she used at the beginning of her rampage through the welcome area.

She couldn’t hold ten sets of spheres in her hands at once and didn’t even want to hold one as it was awkward and threw off her grip for many of her forms.

She settled on putting them back in their pouch on her belt, set on pulling them out at need.

And she had no doubt that she would need them.

For each set, she had amplified their gravity towards one another to a degree that they would easily decommission at least the basic automata.

She wasn’t sure about the more advanced models.

After all, the more advanced automata had armor.

A note from JLMullins

BONUS CHAPTER: This is where the fifth Bonus Chapter comes in for allPatrons.

(That's right, even the $1 tier!) 🎉

Chapter: 231 Bonus - City Lord, Cuan, & Be-thric

These are secondary POVs that add to the worldbuilding but are not required for the story.

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Chapter: 232 - Armored Units

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

noëlle, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Pride mystic artificer, Maxine, Emersen, Damon Roberts, Jesse Maggard

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala was finally ready, her preparations complete.

She stood within a guild’s main hold, within the city of Platoiri.

Around her lay the broken bodies of basic model automata.

Before her stood the entrance into the next section of this dimensional pocket complex.

Her tungsten sphere pairs were gravity amplified to lethal levels and awaiting her need in the pouch at her waist.

Not Kit. A different pouch.

Kit hung beside the lesser pouch, together balancing out Flow that hung on her opposite hip.

She had contemplated holding Kit when she went through, but decided that there was no need.

She still did have her tungsten rod and sphere in position, along with the three defensive discs in random orbit around herself, however.

The book didn’t say anything about ranged combatants, but they sure did seem to throw accurately enough.

With one last nod to herself for confirmation, she unlocked the door into the next section, watching with her magesight as defensive fields and spatial locks retracted to give her access.

Instead of swinging open, the doors faded away, and she was left standing in a decorative archway, leading deeper into the facility.

She knew from the book that if she put the key back into the center of the empty space she could reestablish the doors and seal off the welcome atrium, but that shouldn’t be necessary.

Sadly, there were no convenient automata standing right in front of the door this time, so she was forced to leap to get within range of the closest ones.

Flow snapped into her hand, taking the form of a glaive as she lashed out.

The space she was in now was a faux outdoors, roughly a mile or so across.

Dozens of outbuildings were scattered throughout the lightly wooded area.

The trees were conifers, a mix of pine and fir if Tala’s guess was right.

The ground beneath her feet was a well-manicured lawn, and there were seating areas, including picnic benches, scattered throughout, especially concentrated near the paths and waterways.

It was a park, exclusive to the guild and their guests.

Well, now exclusive to solely their arcane creations.

-And you.-

Tala smiled at that. And me.

The first automata she slew in quick succession were all the base model, and none of the first dozen even had time to come out of their magic absorption mode before they were decommissioned.

Regardless, it wasn’t long before she saw squads of the armored variant, the ‘foot soldiers’ coming her way.

In addition to the armor, they were all armed with mundane weaponry, but nothing seeming to be long range.

-Yeah, what sort of madwoman would throw a sword?-

Hush you.

There was a single odd automaton in the middle of each squad of five armored units.

That’s odd. Do you remember anything like them mentioned in the book?

-No, but the concentration of power within them is much greater than the others.-

Conveniently, there were four squads coming Tala’s way, so as she fought through the base automata she pulled out pairs of spheres, switching their targets one set after another, to take out the twenty armored enemies.

The air cracked with a series of reports that sounded like hail striking a metal drum, assuming the hail was as large as Tala’s fist.

The first two armored foes died easily, but not in the way Tala had hoped.

Their chest armor, heavily reinforced over their cores, was harder than she’d hoped, and it deflected the tungsten sent to destroy them.

Blessedly, the angles of the armor sent the attack up at an angle, into their heads.

Two heads vaporized, and their bodies began to fall.

Tala took a couple of punches from the basic units around her as she finished sending off her twenty spheres.

This is ridiculous. Holding them in pouches is slower than keeping them in my hand, and still takes my hand to get them free for use.

They didn’t really hurt as her elk-leather’s defenses actually deadened the blows. Hey! My defenses weren't immediately overpowered.

That was a nice change, honestly.

Four more bodies dropped, then twelve were falling, then sixteen.

Interestingly enough, as Tala had targeted the things’ cores, the tungsten returned to slam into the fallen bodies once again, sometimes ending up resting in a newly created divot in the tough armor exterior, and sometimes finding a way down inside to actually reach the targeted destination.

Even so, while they were struck down, they were adapting.

Tala could see magic flowing through their armor as it reshaped. It wasn’t fast enough for most of her targets, but the final four? It did quite a lot.

The seventeenth and eighteenth armored foes had morphed enough of a deflection that only half of their heads were blown off, rather than the entirety being basically vaporized by the redirected impact.

It was still decommissioning for them, but it was an improvement from a defensive standpoint.

The nineteenth and twentieth had enough time to alter their armor, having morphed the defense to have something like a gorget, but grown up from the breastplate. Isn’t that called a bevor?

-Your guess is exactly like mine.-

In any case, it caused the spheres to deflect up and to one side, knocking the targets around, but not killing them.

Tala cursed, but it quickly didn’t matter as those spheres, like all the others, were still locked onto her foes’ cores.

The tungsten slowed as it moved away then quickly accelerated back down with another nearly unified crack in the air.

They drilled down through the less armored necks and struck the cores.

Gravity for the win! It wasn’t a single attack that could be deflected and then ignored. Her projectiles just start coming, and they don’t stop coming, forever.

Well, until they hit their target, but that means they’ve arrived.

-The sentiment stands, I think.-

Tala held in a maniacal laugh as she finished wiping out the twenty-five or so basic units that had swarmed her at the beginning.

That worked so, so well.

-Well, aside from having to pull them out of your pouch.-

Yeah, that wasn’t ideal, but the rest? Amazing.

With the armored units dealt with, she just had the four examples of the unknown variant. What idiot in the guild decided to try to hide these?

They were approaching slowly, making Tala wish that she’d kept some spheres back to speed things up.

The four were still more than a hundred yards from her when another group of armored foes charged through a large, decorative shrub just about thirty feet to her right and sprinted at her with incredible speed.

The two in the lead would reach her at the same time, and from what she’d seen with the deflection of the spheres, she didn’t think a single cut would go through both armored enemies cleanly.

So, she transformed Flow into a glaive and thrust it with her dominant hand, skewering the one on the right. To her surprise, her grip held firm, despite the somewhat awkward angle even as the massive thing rammed home upon the blade.

Its weight and momentum threw her backward, but she held her stance and slid across the ground, even as the skewered automaton was already eliminated, its core breached.

The one on the left closed the last feet a little slower than it expected due to her backwards movement, and Tala had time to get into position and slam her left hand forward in a half-fist punch.

She almost just used her fist, but something deep inside her made her realize that she needed penetrative power, so she trusted herself, and her body, to get the job done.

Her hesitancy was unfounded.

Tala often forgot that she was strong.

Her bones were strong, her connective tissue was ridiculously robust, and her muscles were even stronger.

Sure, she used her elevated strength to do quite a few things, but she rarely used it directly.

Now, she did.

She felt the bones in her hand groan in protest as her knuckles rammed into the magically reinforced armor of the automaton.

If all she did was punch, she’d be more likely to throw the attacker away than do real damage. That is why she had used the extra moment of set-up time to jerk her three defensive plates into place behind the foe, pulling them against the thing’s back to act almost like a tripod to support it, and force it to take the full power of her strike.

A low crunch resounded over the battlefield, Tala slid further back, causing her glaive to pull free.

An instant later another crunch resounded, and Tala’s fist exited the back of the being, coated in purple fluid and fragments of the automaton’s core.

At the same time, the opponent that had been skewered upon Flow’s blade fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

Hah! Take that, you rusting creations.

The foe she’d punched through became a limp weight on her arm, dragging her downward, and she let it as the next three enemies arrived.

Flow took off two legs while in the form of a sword, one from each of two of Tala’s foes.

As Flow was literally cutting the legs from under her enemies, Tala kicked the right knee of the third opponent, breaking the magically reinforced joint and causing that one to collapse next to her as well.

She then plunged Flow into three cores in the form of a knife, each piercing thrust getting more difficult as the armor over each subsequent automata’s core thickened in anticipation of her tactic.

It wasn’t enough.

She rolled back to her feet to face the odd variants, even as she felt power build above where she had just been kneeling.

An explosion of purple fire washed over the downed automata that Tala had just decommissioned, and she watched as they melted into an indistinct puddle.

There was no heat outside of the fire, but Tala could tell that within was hotter than a forge.

Yeah, that’s pretty obvious due to the melting automata. She grimaced. And, great. They’re magic users?

-We knew they absorbed power.-

To reinforce their bodies, Alat! Not to act like rusting Mages! Needless to say, there had been nothing about this in the notes.

Who begs for a favor, then doesn’t warn the asked about rusting magic users!?

The second Mage variant lifted its hand, and Tala was engulfed in the arcane fire.

The elk-leather defenses, mundane and magical, kept out most of the initial blast, but the heat was still unbelievable, as it warred with all the enhancements within her own body.

She found her body failing.

The fire only lasted a second, and when it had passed, Tala’s body reknit itself.

Blessedly, nothing had truly scorched, it had just started to melt.

Yeah…that’s a… that’s a real blessing. Tala grit her teeth against the pain as her body pulled back into proper placement.

-Deep breath! It’s coming again.-

The next one extended its hand and even though Tala dodged, the fire still blasted down upon her.

This time, however, she noticed a few things.

First, her tungsten began to look a little radiant, which seemed… bad. With a thought she willed the sphere and rod out of the fire.

Second, the fire seemed to be shooting from a single point over head, rather than simply coming into being all around her. That explained why her aura hadn’t been contested.

Third, her iron paint had flashed off, even under her elk-leathers.

That’s annoying.

She filled her lungs with power, inverted the spell-form and exhaled upward at the down-rushing fire.

The ending-tree power slammed into that of the arcane fire and consumed it, eating the entirety of the power remaining in the blast.

Good, that’s an okay counter. It’s a bit annoying that I have to look at the source and exhale, but it’s workable.

Well, it would have been workable, except that the final Mage variant was extending its hand, and she had just fully exhaled.

She had a choice to make: Was she going to take the full brunt of another blast?

Yeah, no. Rust that.

She acted on reflex, allowing her instincts and reactions to counter the attack more quickly than even her enhanced thoughts could command.

She extended Flow upward into the form of a void glaive.

The power requirements were enormous, and she knew her body would be utterly drained dry of power in less than a second, despite the massive void-channels she was already directing into Flow.

But that was more than enough time.

The void-glaive stabbed through the point at which the purple fire was about to erupt, and it consumed the working whole.

Even better, if more expensive.

Flow shrank back to its dormant, knife shape, and Tala took a couple of panting breaths.

She looked critically towards the four enemies moving to surround her.

Defense isn’t going to win me this one.

-Well then, let’s go.- Alat sent Tala the impression of a determined, fierce smile.

Tala flung Flow in the form of a sword towards the farthest enemy, while charging towards the closest herself.

-See? Madwoman.-

I said hush.

She lunged and wove, managing to stay out of the areas of effect of the next two purple blasts.

The fourth never came as Flow easily cleaved through the Mage variant.

Sadly, the one right beside it, less than five feet away, was unharmed. Why do I feel like I should be able to hurt that one too?

-Life is a mystery sometimes.-

Tala vaulted the last stretch as she slammed her knee into the chest of the automaton. With both her hands free, she grabbed onto its shoulders as she did so, riding the thing down to the ground.

Even as it slammed down, she grabbed its head, giving a great, twisting pull.

She used a large portion of her strength as her back arched, and she growled in determination.

With relatively little resistance before her efforts, the head tore free.

I might need to get another weapon somehow. Throwing Flow is awesome, but it leaves me unarmed.

-Your hands work pretty well.-

Yeah, so would a rock, but it’s not ideal.

-Fair, fair.-

She pulled, and Flow zipped back to her, clipping another of her foes on the way by.

Sadly, that damage was healed rather quickly.

Feeling a bit ironically vindictive, Tala flung the headless Mage variant at its fellows, sprinting after the body to capitalize on the chaos.

Less than half a minute later, the other three Mage like things were out of commission.

Not bad, Tala. Not bad at all.

-Yes, let the self-congratulations flow through you.-

Rust you, Alat, I’m doing great.

Alat just chuckled. -You’re right; you are.-

Tala took a moment to look around at the park-like surroundings. They were a bit torn up nearby, but for the most part, this place was still pristine.

Good. I think parts of this can be quite useful to us.

A thought occurred to her, likely born of what she’d seen out of the edges of her vision earlier.

She pushed Flow into its void-knife form, and her vision changed.

With the voidsight, she was able to see the edges of reality for the simple reason that there was nothing past them at all.

Ahh, I can see the void.

-Well, you can not see anything, and that absence indicates the void.-

Semantics.

-Fair enough.-

This pocket dimension ended only a foot or so below Tala. She could also see that, below the trees, great bowls of reality had been created, extending down and out in a half-sphere to allow the trees to have a solid foundation.

That’s a clever way to save on internal volume while still allowing healthy, large trees.

She continued her examinations as she retrieved all her tungsten spheres from the bodies of the armored automata.

She could feel something watching her.

The book had indicated some sort of unified connection between all the things, and that it could observe within the hold as a whole. So, the feeling wasn’t unexpected.

Even so, she wasn’t in a rush.

In fact, no matter how long she was in here, within reason, her duties would be taken care of by others. It would be nice to have a bit of a break from the monotony, honestly.

It couldn’t last forever, sadly.

I give it a week before Pallaun is sent in after me.

She definitely wouldn’t need a week, but she was tempted to take as much time as she could, regardless.

Eh, I’ll see how this plays out.

That’s when her enhanced hearing began to pick up the thud of footfalls.

She hadn’t had a chance to charge up more than a single set of tungsten spheres to a lethal level.

Well, that’s irritating.

She also really didn’t want to hold the spheres…

She cocked her head in thought, an idea striking her. With a mild application of focus and power, she willed her elk-leathers to grow a set of ties on her upper chest.

She then deftly fastened those around the two spheres, using the dip between them to keep them from moving side to side.

Their attraction to each other was sufficient to allow her to pull the cord relatively tight without pulling between them.

She tested it out, moving around. The spheres did pull a bit, but it wasn’t too bad.

She’d reduced their downward pull first, so they weren’t weighing her down with anything but their inertia.

Well, let’s give this method a try.

She looked up as, around a bend in the main path, a squad of ten automata came into view.

These were armored as expected, but a few things seemed to have changed.

First, their armor had grown.

This was not mere stretching or reshaping. Unfortunately, they looked to have doubled, if not tripled, the mass of metal in their armor as compared to the initial armored units Tala had slain.

Additionally, their heads were pulled lower, seemingly more closely connected to their shoulders. The shape of the armor was now clearly meant both for deflecting blows away from the head and core and to make it difficult to get a good grip on the head or neck.

They can upgrade to counter me, too? Not just change behavior or do surface level changes?

-This was listed as a factory for them, Tala.-

Yeah, but their production speed can’t be this good.

-I believe that these were merely upgraded based on your previous clashes.-

That made a lot of sense, actually.

Building new ones? Slow.

Upgrading existing ones with a bit more armor? Fast.

Alright, then. I suppose it’s time to make some more scrap.

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

Thuss, william wallace, Midnight Harbinger, Seth Bryant, Silberwolf325, Grimizen, Alex Griffin, Nick Tinsley, Isaac Deroche, Yenin, Jonathan Timm, Ray Robitaille, William Priess, WhisperInTheVoid, WarNachos, Travis McIntosh, Travis McHenry, Thomas Stewart, Thomas Goyne, TheLazerCat, Taliesin, Solar, Shakez44, sedael, Ryan Naquin, Rutger Boll, Robin Richards, Robert z, Robert P, rizen, Redbeard, Randy Klein, peter mattoon, PaleMire, OlivierA, nugitoBambino, noah stevens, Nim, Megacheez, Max Gustavson, Matthew Davis, Matthew, Matt M, Mark Dolson, Margus234, Marcus Pehan, Lyael, Logan, Leendert Kortlever, Krikor Chichadjian, Kirvin, Keira Wulfe, Kamren Livingston, Kai, Justin Reagan, just_a_potato, Jonah of the Whale, Jeffery Nickelson, Jedediah Wolfgang, James Walsh, Jacob Ellis, Isaac Boyles, IGS, Ian Radspinner, Gustav Burkhardt, Gull, Gremlin, George Hicken, Geoff, Frank, evilperson41, Erling Egilsson, Eric, Enif, Enaz the great, dotAlice, Dire Wolf, David Turner, Cyrus McEnnis, Colin 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Bailey Ortiz, Arthur Cuelho, Eythan Hayashi, Kitty kat, rvs, bastien plutino, Arvi Saluste, sn0mm1s, Philip Santeford, j s, Evan Gulick, Dennis Senyak

Mage:

Max Oberg, Joshua John Wallace, Ian Anderson, Carya Galabra, tachi-kawa, Scott Holt, Colton Rutherford, Lasse Pedersen, Mathias Schwendimann, Gert Wallis, Alexander Belousov, al, Setaria, Pigeon F, Jan, Fabian, Anton Selling, Gleadge, ulrik aaby, Carl Clements, mallix, Calle, NebulaeDreamz, Michael Anaya, Jeremy Leonard, Jason Case, James Hadfied, GopherAtl, Cybernetic Angel, Deneas, Michael Bradet-Legris, MeatyLock, Taylor, SnowingSilently, Jonny, Jeremy, James Knight, Irakli Jishkariani, Harold Teunisse, Aaron Lewis, Gemyma, Jamison Schneider, jacob britt, Dustin, Sid_Cypher, Patrick Cole, Digdug, Finn Freudenberg, Mathieu Deg, pope benedict, Chris Olsen, Anonymous, Reepham, Rugger, Eric Trombly, Josh, Nicholas Kelly, santor25, Raistlin, Not Real, Ford Yeager, David, Marcus148, Nefraak, JauPim, Barrie Davis, Error, Michael F., Lupusregina, Lorcogoth, Tao Wong, Al Bi, Two Cats, SZ, Paul Jones, Michael, Max Weidmer, ensou, Eciefae4, Cody Caliguiri, Appl, Dani, Star Sword, Spencer Burke, kyle, Jonathan Lodge, Dom, Maximilian Sack

Mageling:

Mudith Mallajosyula, BurnNote, Alexander Graber-Tilton, DANTE, Ivo Havener, Ian, Lonewolf, SomethingWicked, Piotr, Skape, Zagig, Reminder, Charles, Robert Rosenthal, Michael kim, Matt DiMeo, Dave Burkett, Joost Boere, Isaac Larkin, Chris K, Luka Lageschaar, Kevin O'donnell, Hamo4, ben, moniker, Pawaidan, emphes, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Alternative Facet, Faris Bissex, Stefan Rabenstein, Sam Duralde, Russell Black, Lucas E Burgan, industriousrevolution, GSH, Frozen, chimerarara, AndromedaStar, WanderingArchitect, Judy Halloran, Stan Snijder, Kirsty, SecretsOfTheVoid, Jeff berman, Benjamin Buco, Sven Paulson, ttuurrhh, Pyrite, HÃ¥vard, derek giandolfi, David H, Shaun Skelton, Hallan Savage, SpiderStuck, Skelethin, Richard Heying, OmegaHebrew, nick v, Nick, Moreldarin, KB, Joseph White, Harris, Delilah, Daniel, Kyle Smith, Michael Ireland, Kagge91, Decree, Iscunnin, Fuzzycakes, dimi1010, David Yang, Allen Roberts

Inscribed:

ciaran mullen, Dax, Tate Browder, fennek, Tandroll, Chase128, Trevor Walker, Azzurous, Ross Doyle, nikrowd, Isaac Fratti, Ari Mononen, Alastair Dent, Jonathan, Harley Waldstein, Dylan, Liam Tilitzky, ShadowCub, Sam Ford, Paul Lorenz, George Lanetz, Dennis Bollyn, PeM, Mqrius, Moses Lambert, LÃ©o Viarouge, oeser_chr, Benjamin Piribauer, James A. Hunter, Wacjob, Reece Zieschang, Diana Kelly, Christopher Cha, Chris, Rentfunk, Femmianne Vermaak, KYLE MANN, Joshua Michael Royalty, Twig, Arcanes, Niall Bole

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Chapter: 233 - That Depends

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Ben Morgan, Damon Roberts, Emersen, Jesse Maggard, Joshua Sydney, Maxine, noÃ«lle, PatronTurtle, Pride mystic artificer, Sakari Saastamoinen

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala laid on the ground, surrounded by slowly leaking, broken constructs of metal and magic.

That was actually pretty exhausting. What the rust?

The ten heavily armored automata had required her to get in close and hack through their defenses a little at a time, all while evading the ones she wasn’t currently assaulting.

The stupid things had had wells of power that were entirely too deep, and had that power directly connected to their own integrity-defending magics, rendering her disintegration breath ineffective, at least at its current efficiency.

The automata were too quick to cut their losses and seal off limbs for the void-blades to reasonably drain them.

They had just enough magical weight to make enacting workings directly on them infeasible.

She’d tried to hold them in place to deliver punishing blows, but they’d worked together to wriggle free or otherwise minimize the damage.

Thus, most of her hits had sent them flying away, allowing that target to heal while she fought the other nine.

Throughout, they’d struck her with armored, empowered fists and mostly mundane blades.

The attacks had hurt, but only occasionally made her bleed, sometimes internally, sometimes mixing her red blood with their purple vital fluids to splash across the ground.

Thus, the fight had turned into a contest of endurance.

It was no surprise to Tala that she had won in the end, but it had taken a couple of hours.

That was dumb. She was no longer panting.

Honestly, she’d never needed to breathe heavier, but her body still had that reaction to extended, strenuous activities.

How can something requiring such precision, and filled with so much action, have been so boring?

-Repetition?-

It had been incredibly repetitive.

-They knew you to be an unstoppable force with what they had available, so they sent a delaying force?-

Yeah… that would be my guess from their actions as well. She sat up.

Even knowing that this hold was delaying her for some reason, she still wanted to prepare. Sure, she could go sprinting off to find whatever they were doing, but a half-hour more of preparation would set her up so much better for whatever this place had in store and shouldn’t mean the difference between success and failure.

-Deep within the bowels of the guild hold, the ‘Tala-destroyer’ neared completion. They just needed twenty more minutes. Their best minds were at a loss: How could they delay the invader? Little did they know, the invader was delaying herself.-

Rust you, Alat. I’m trying to be wise and methodical.

-Definitely the wise choice. This won’t be the point at which, in a poetic twist, your standard brashness would have been the wiser course.-

Tala glared at nothing in particular, making it very clear that the look was intended for Alat.

-Fine, fine. Do what you want.-

I was going to anyway.

Tala pulled out a set of one-inch tungsten spheres and hesitated.

You know, instead of tying these on after, I can skip a step by… She applied her will and power to the garments, and a small flap of leather extended from the front of her elk-leathers.

She held one ball in place on either side.

First, she reduced their downward pull, then she amplified the gravity between them.

Soon enough, they were holding themselves in place, the bit of leather all that separated the two.

Tala was able to let go, and they stayed in place.

Ha! That’s great.

She moved just a bit, and they tried to roll off the leather to get closer together.

No! No, no, no. She grabbed them, forcing them back in place, as their pull still wasn’t that strong yet. This was just a test, after all.

The tie had held them just fine. Why was this different?

It was a raised ring.

With that realization, Tala caused a circle of elk-bone to grow within the leather, encircling the point where the two balls pushed closest.

Eh? She moved a bit, and the spheres swayed back and forth a bit. She pulled the leather tab back in, until the two were held tight against her, and that seemed to work.

Alright! Let’s do this.

-That was well thought through.-

Why, thank you, Alat.

Tala ended up fully amplifying all ten sets of magic-marked tungsten spheres, placing five on her front, and five on her back using leather with embedded bone-rings as spacers and to hold them in place.

She had done them one set at a time because while she could do more than that, it would slow down the amplification a corresponding proportion, thus not actually being faster in the end.

There we go! Let’s see what we have to deal with next.

Tala moved through the park quickly, checking each building she passed, but finding them empty.

The buildings were the heart and soul of the guild’s daily operations, just as the book had described them to be. They were offices, meeting rooms, laboratories, and libraries. There were storage buildings, cafeterias, and even living quarters scattered throughout the parklike section of the hold.

A few were locked, but Tala opened those with a small application of force.

As she finally approached the far side of the space, she came around a turn in the path and saw the door to the next area.

In front of it stood a dozen of the much more heavily armored automata, standing in groups of four, each group around what looked like a Mage variant, containing even more power than the few she’d seen so far.

You have got to be rusting kidding me.

They hadn’t reacted to her presence, so she had a moment.

In that moment, she had a thought, and she opened up Kit.

“Terry?”

Terry flickered into being on her shoulder, looking around.

“Do you want to fight some metal people?”

He gave her a deeply incredulous look before vanishing once more.

By the traces of dimensional power evident to her magesight, he returned to his playing and hunting within Kit.

“I guess not, then.”

Fine. How do I want to handle this?

She could just blast the fifteen units in the head, but she didn’t know what lay beyond them.

-Really? You’re not going to—oh.-

Tala gave a sly grin as she did just that, putting her preparation to good use.

First, she flipped the targets on three of the sets of spheres on her front as she took a spinning step to expose her back and do the same with four sets that were fastened there.

The extra distance meant more speed, which meant more penetrative power, though the acceleration was much slower at the start.

There, half used.

As she finished her twirling step, she saw the results.

Twelve headless armored automata were falling. One of the Mage variants was swaying with a hole through the middle of its head, though the damage seemed to be healing.

The final target of one of her spheres was another Mage variant.

Tala cocked her head in surprise as she saw a purple barrier fully formed before it, cracks clearly radiating out from a point of impact, and her tungsten sphere pressing deeply into a divot in the magical shielding.

What kind of shield is that?

-Probably some rusting conceptual slag.-

Tala just grunted.

She wasn’t worried about the damaged Mage variant, as the sphere targeting that one had clearly done a through-and-through, likely slowed down by a partially formed shield.

It’ll come back— As she was thinking of it, the sphere returned, arriving even before the armored bodies hit the ground.

The returning sphere smashed through the other side of that automaton’s head, and the resulting damage, added to the original hole, seemed to be more than it could heal as it began collapsing too.

I really, really like having a bunch of these pre-charged. I’m going to get more.

-Probably wise, yeah. They can call you the ball girl, and you can cover yourself in tungsten spheres.-

You’re making it weird, Alat.

Tala tilted her head back and exhaled as the one unoccupied Mage variant tried to rain fire down upon her.

Her breath canceled the attack out, completely.

Enough stalling.

She sprinted forward, and as she did so, her magesight showed her a blaze of power, just in time.

Behind the mostly down enemies, four weapons of some kind unfolded from the walls and fired all in one smooth motion. There were two on either side of the door.

And they didn’t mention static defenses in their book? What the rust is wrong with these people?

Beams of crackling purple energy struck at her at speeds rivaling her tungsten spheres.

Blessedly, she’d had her defensive plates in front of her in a defensive pattern, and she was able to jerk them into place to take the blows. The unknown material held up beautifully to the almost purely energy-based attack.

Unfortunately, there were only three defensive plates, while there were four incoming attacks.

Flow was already in her hand, and she tried to interpose the weapon between herself and the attack, empowering it to take on the form of a void-knife.

The beam was too coherent, however, and while a large part was sheared away and devoured by the void, at least a third simply deflected to the side and downward, hitting her hip and incinerating a hole straight through her.

It wasn’t a large hole, as the void-blade had eaten up quite a bit of the attacking magic, but it was still about the size of two or three fingers held together.

Her body did not like that, not one bit.

To complicate things, the wound had somehow introduced the foreign power into her system, as it now partially focused in on her spell-lines and tore through those channels, as well.

Tala’s mind immediately felt like it bifurcated.

My rusting leg, too? Couldn’t it have just taken my arm again? She raged against the pain, fighting to stay lucid.

She calmly assessed the threat even as she stumbled, her running stride utterly thrown off by the temporary crippling of one of her legs.

You have to be kidding me! She screamed internally at the odd agony, feeling her native magical sense screaming out in pain at the foreign power continuing to assault her from within.

The weapons were charging up again for another shot. It looked like they could fire every couple of seconds.

Get the rust out of my leg. She seized the power within her and wrenched the foreign magic out, sending a purple bolt of lightning arcing to the ground behind her.

Those weapons weren’t in any way sapient. They were items, wielded by no one. Created to be a passive defense. Their magical density was passive as it followed the commands within. They didn’t have the power to resist on their own.

Crush. She executed the working four times in quick succession, once on each emplacement.

They weren’t meant to be physically robust, and the single working was sufficient to rip each from their mountings and send them crashing to the ground, power arcing off them in every direction, reminiscent of the way it had looked when Tala had expelled the power from her own body.

Rust you too, you stupid weapons. The hole in her hip sealed up after the hostile power was expunged, taking longer than it should have, while still being ridiculously fast.

Her stride solidified as she once more sprinted forward.

The scripts around the injury are strained. Whatever magics are in that power, they don't play well with others.

-Yeah. That’s not good.-

Well, I’m glad I got rid of the source?

-Let’s just hope there aren’t any more.-

Aside from the one enemy wholly dominated by holding off one of her tungsten spheres, there was only one more Mage automata, and it had decided to do something new.

A bolt of arcane, purple lightning struck out at her, and Tala had to laugh.

It was trivially easy for her to break the magical hold on the power with her aura as it came close, causing the power to jump down to the ground, rather than continue forward to strike her as the caster had clearly intended.

Before the thing could recover from its miscalculation, Tala reached it, and plunged a void-sword Flow down into its body, sucking out the power in an instant.

Tala was feeling a bit vindictive, so she just left the blade in there for a bit.

To her surprise, the automaton began to distort, pulling in on itself before seeming to vanish into the void-sword now simply held vertically in the air before Tala.

Well… That was unexpected.

-Did you notice that the pull on your power to maintain the form greatly diminished near the end, there?-

I did. She didn’t know what it meant, but she’d noticed. Was it getting power from the material it absorbed?

-Possibly.-

Every time she used one of Flow’s void-forms, she became more grateful that she hadn’t taken a blow from the thing. Who knows what it would have done?

The last Mage variant didn’t even look her way as she walked up and stabbed the barrier with Flow, breaking it and allowing her sphere to slam into the head.

Tala then decapitated the thing, just to be sure. After all, the sphere had only made a large hole, and she didn’t want it to recover somehow.

I wish I got some sort of signal, or notification when my enemies were dead. That would make things so much easier!

-Yeah, just keep hitting them ‘til you hear a DING-

Yeah. Tala grinned. That would be nice.

-I could offer that, but you and I sense the same things. I feel like it would just be annoying.-

That’s true, yeah. She sighed. I suppose it’s just not to be.

She quickly collected her tungsten spheres and began re-amplifying one set, placing the other sets in their pouch.

-You aren’t going to recharge all of them, are you?-

No, I feel like that would be a foolish delay. Besides, I still have three sets. This one makes four.

-Good, good.-

When the set she was working with reached proper power levels, she nodded to herself and walked up to the massive doors.

After a moment’s examination, Tala pulled her knee to her chest and kicked the door with her bare foot…

The door held and her own strength threw her backward, tripping her up and causing her to fall onto the ground.

“Ow…”

-Why did you do that?-

I was curious if I could?

-Fair enough? But you could have done something to enhance yourself, you know. Increase your weight, mirror void into a shoe, something.-

Yeah, I could have. They’d already discussed it and firmly agreed that mirroring void into herself would be a very bad plan, at least for now. But I wanted to see if I could on my own.

-You wanted to see if you could kick down one of the most secure doors, within a very wealthy guild’s hold?-

I didn’t think it was likely, but I still wanted to know.

Alat sighed. -You do you, I guess.-

Tala climbed back to her feet and pulled out the keyring. Ready?

-What? Why are you asking me? I’m not going to be doing any— oh, you’re mocking me again.-

Just poking. Tala grinned as she put the key in the lock and turned it.

The door vanished, revealing a simple thirty by thirty-foot cube-shaped room, the walls lined with the white steel.

In the center stood exactly what she expected, while not being what she expected at all.

This was the last defender of the hold, an automaton of the highest caliber, designed as the final failsafe to protect the core, which lay behind the doors on the far side of the room.

Apparently, the critical equipment and research materials were also behind that door. So, Tala was incredibly excited to open it.

Tala had expected the defender to be massive, for some reason, even having read a description of it.

‘State of the art combat programming, each portion of the armor more defensive than a squad of the armored variant. Able to chop through the lesser versions with a single swing.’ That last part is actually the most telling. Even Flow had some trouble cleanly cutting all the way through.

No, the issue was that Tala had imagined a hulking thing, a juggernaut of strength and defense.

What stood before her was a figure that was thinner than she was, while being about the same height.

It looked alien, like an emaciated child that had been stretched to the height of an adult. The covering, while still white, had subtle purple lines running through it, like inscriptions or spell-forms.

They didn’t make sense to Tala’s magesight.

I don’t know what else I expected. The unknown medium and material would make interpretation difficult even if I was a master inscriber, which I’m obviously not.

Its face looked human, if subtly off. Its eyes were, as expected, purple, and the back of its head seemed to house an orb of some kind.

Tala had a sinking feeling that she knew what the orb was, even before her magesight made it obvious.

It looked almost identical to Rob.

Was Rob an early version that they pawned off to recoup costs and cover their tracks?

-This is a crafting guild, the idea that they sold off some of what they created is just logical.-

Not to mention that Rob was obviously odd and experimental in many regards. It makes sense that it came from a place like this, I suppose.

The orb, more than anything else, was a housing for an embedded fount.

This thing would not be running out of power.

Seems like they dealt with the self-destructive desires?

-And the chattiness.-

The eyes somehow seemed to be staring through her, even though they had no pupils, so Tala couldn’t have said what they were looking at in either case.

To get her mind off of how freaky the thing looked, Tala decided to continue her banter with Alat. In any case, see? They weren’t delaying me at all. There is only one.

-Or, this is part of the delaying tactic. And something even worse is being finished behind those doors.-

Tala growled. Fine. We’ll be fast, then.

She willed two spheres to eliminate the threat, one aimed for the head and the orb at its back, the other the core and the heart of the automaton’s magical functions.

-You know that probably won’t work, right?-

Would be better if it did.

The snap in the air had an off echo, and the automaton was suddenly standing in a different position, a sword held in a high guard, edge rippling with purple energy.

This energy wasn't purple in rank, simply in the color it gave off to her mundane eyes, just like everything else about these automata.

Tala had felt her two workings vanish, the blade having deflected or bisected the spheres, and the energy in the weapon having dispersed the magical signature Tala had based the gravity amplification on.

Well, I should have thought of that possibility.

Strangely, the automaton didn’t move further, seeming to just continue to stare at her.

It was slightly eerie, just highlighting the inhuman nature of the thing.

-It didn’t react until the spheres entered the room.-

That just means it’s even faster than it seemed. “I don’t suppose you’ll just let me pass?”

It still didn’t move, but its mouth opened.

Rather than a nutcracker like motion, this model seemed to be capable of more biological-looking facial movements. “That depends, what are you offering?”

Huh… I was not expecting that.

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

~Apple~, A, A1ias, aantonides ., Aaron Sofaer, abd Srour, Aclys, Ada Wiberg, Adam, Adam, Adam Andersson, Adam James Washington, Adam Richards, adam1, Add_Identity, AdmiralW, Adrian Gorgey, Adrian Nightshade, Adurna, advancewarssami, agent, AgentFransis, Aidan, Aidan Mc Donagh, Alec, Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex Foster, Alex Griffin, alex kosters, Alex LeBlanc, Alex Quintero, Alex Sunier, Alex Weatbrook, Alex Wilson, Alexander, Alexander Lease, Alison Swenson, Almost Famous, Ambird King, Anas Jumale, Andinator77, andre elizebeth, Andrew C Kerr, Andrew Dempsey, Andrew Glass, Andrew Goudie, Andrew Holland, Andrey Kutsyh, Andy, Angela Kimova, angrycharlie, Anonymous, AnthraxRipple, Apotheosis As A Service, Archie, Archivist0, Arhsnag, Aria, Aria Jonsdottir, Arnfinn Gjorvad, Arthur Cuelho, Artizela, Arvi Saluste, Asael Sklar, ashandarei, astarsword, Atorn Gaming, Attherisk, Austin Woodard, AverageGuy, Avista Askenazu, B C, Bacon Macleod, BaguaBrady, Bailey Ortiz, Bain-Lindsay, Baldur Norddahl, bastien plutino, Batty Corvina, BeaR, Beau Bryant, Ben Dean, Bennett Pelton, Biomass, BjÃ¶rn, BoB, bob sicks, Bolimest, BossDawg, Braincase, Brandon Cleveland, Brian, Brian, Bricyn Abel, BRUNO ASTUR, Bunny Waffles, C Howard, Cae, Caleb Zimmerman, Calvin, Carl Bunch, Carlos Andres Rengifo Escobar, CaughtRedHeaded, CentaureHeart, chad ensey, ChiefWizard, Chloe Winter, Chris, Chris, Chris Brady, Chris Calabrese, Chris Hibbert, Chris Mantakounis, Chris O'Hare, Christian Kenney, Christian Nowitzki, Christopher Catania, Christopher Dulyx, Christopher Harris, Christopher Jack, christopher Reiber, Cindercon, ciopo, Cirex123, closeded, Cody Poteet, Cole Nyquist, Cole Ruhlig, Colin Brown, Colin Ford, conkerer, Connor Beeson, Connor Sunier, Cordelia, Cory Ellis, Crimson Twilight, CringeWorthyStudios, CrispyKing, Cristi Palincas, crystalcat, Cyan, Cypha, Cyrus McEnnis, da Finnci, Daba, DagNabItAll, Dakota, Dan, Dan, Dan Addis, Daniel A, Daniel B, daniel edery, Daniel Harris, Daniel Joseph Moreau, Daniel Rhodes, Daniel Sigui, Daniel Strickland, Danny Noppen, Darcy Lessard-Patola, Darkhelm, DasUberGryx, Dave, dave hutch, David Brims, David D, David Joseph Pascua, David Schleimer, David Turner, Dawn Krene, DeathOfOld, dennis malatesta, dennis pettersson nygren, Dennis Senyak, Derek, Derek Singer, Desertdoe, DeusCap, devarian, Didntdoathing, Diego Avendano-Morineau, Dire Wolf, Disclancer, DLR, Dmitriy Ochkov, Dominic Weibel, Doomerjunky, Dorian Grizzle, Dorian Lee, dotAlice, Drac, Draega, Drake Morgan, Drendude, Drew Gilmour, Driftward, Dustin, Dylan, Dylan Sutton, è‡ªç”±, Elias Leutgeb, Ell Lan, Elliott Fawcett, ElodinGale, Ely Brookes, EmissaryOfZork, Enaz the great, Enif, ENIM Skills, Enrico Choy, Eoin Barrett, Eric, Eric Helaney, Eric Svahn, erik lindquist, Erling Egilsson, Ethan, Ethan Munday, Evan Gulick, Evan Morris, evilperson41, Eythan Hayashi, Fabian Elzo Kraemer, Federico Petrin, Felipe Andrade, Feltenix, FieryFern, Fingin, FishFace, Flogoyog, Flusspferd, FoolRegnant, Frank, Frank, Fraxx, Frederic Axt, Frederik, Frost, FunkyCredo, Furnastone, GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Gabriel, Gabriel Jarman-Ivens, Gamecats, Geoff, George Dashner, George Hicken, geraint juinor, gingerbeard, Glenn Clemente, gokief, Grausheira, grayfire, Greg Shields, Gremlin, Griffin Skutsch, Grimizen, Grizzly Fiction, Grumlen, Gull, Gunnar Crider, Gustav Burkhardt, GuyWhoReadsALot, Gyslain Desgagne, Hamilton, Hannoske, Hassanein Fadhel, Hazza Vanderbyl, HeartHawk, heh, hellunit, Henri emmet, Henrik T., Hibou Ronchon, HJ, HjÃ¶rtur Ãžorgeirsson, Hollowlce, Hornblower, Ian Radspinner, Ian Sommer, IGS, ikorack, Ilundihl, Im Hello, ImBaroqe, Ink's Muse, Inzuris, Irisa, Isaac Boyles, Isaac Deroche, Isaac Mathew, Itbeme12321, ItWasIDIO!!, Izmir Beqiri, J, j s, Jackie DeschÃªnes, Jacob, Jacob Ellis, Jacob Knight, Jacob trent, Jake Pellegrini, Jalty, James, James Beaudreau, James Davidson, James Derr, James Lavender, James Walsh, james young, Jamie Johnstone, Jasen Nichols, Jason Johnson, Jason Morse, Jason P, Jason Petry, Jasper Walters, Jayden Kirkham, JCQuiinn, Jedediah Wolfgang, Jeff Gault, Jeffery Nickelson, Jehru, Jennifer, Jered McCullough, Jeremy Davis Payne, Jeremy Dorn, Jeremy James, Jess, Jett Hardin, JJ327, Jo, Jody, Joe Smith, Joey Fisher, John D'Arcy, John Growcott, John Hadel, John Noone, John O'Connor, Jolly Javelin, Jon Lundy, Jon Nay, Jonah Doyle, Jonah Klinar, Jonah of the Whale, Jonathan Gregoire, Jonathan Timm, jonch1243 ., Jordan Leighton, Joseph, Joseph Saunders, Joseph Sutherland, Josh Fryza, Joshua Holt Sorensen, Joshua Lawvere, Joshua Paye, Joshua Samuel Miller, Joshua Smith, Joy, Julian Meltzer, Just Dave, just_a_potato, Justin, Justin Gray, Justin Reagan, Justin Thomas, jww, Jywert, Kageryu, Kai, Kamren Livingston, Karl Tageman, Karma Baris, karmaslap, Keenan Adams, Keira Wulfe, Kenneth, Kent Gunn, Kenton Watson, Kenyaa, Kermity, Khress, KingWoh, Kiran, Kirvin, Kitty kat, klabuster, Klecksi, Kovak, Krikor Chichadjian, Kyle, Kyle Brackenbury, Kyle frasch, Kylieth, Lachlan Priest, Laila, Landon Sweeney, Lanhail, Lazy Lemon, Le GarlantÃ©zec, leakysubmarine, Leendert Kortlever, Leif Nejst, Leon Ernst, Lerous, Less Than Three, Lewis Dyer, Leyren Leyren, Lia, Liam, Lindsay W., Logan, Logan McAllister, lol, LordDark, LordErr, Louis Nel, Lu, Ludger, Lyael, Lygon Bowen-West, M, MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, Maggi von Da, Magisch, Maksim, Marcel Amendt, Marcus Adams, Marcus Pehan, Margus234, Maria Moberg, Marinus, Mark, Mark, Mark Dolson, mark mÃ¸llegaard, Matija MiloÅ¡eviÄ‡, Matt M, Matt M, Matt S., Matthew, Matthew Davis, Matthew Hiller, Matthew Myers, Matthew Powell, Matthew Walter, mattias hessleryd, Max Gustavson, Max W, maxime gm, mdapkins, Mechrono, Megacheez, Meierfrac, MenacingSand, MePe, Merrillz, Metzy, Michael, Michael D Chavez, Michael Goulet, Michael Maor, Michael Mercado, Michael Mooney, Michael Olson, Michael Seedorf, Michael Stephan, Michael Zaiken, Michelle Goodman, Midnight Harbinger, Midnight Questions, Mikael Svensson, minicheatbook, Miri, Mohammad Muzhaffar Bin Omar, mohammed essam, Molly Hopkins, MoneyTree, Monte949, Morzan The Lazy Dragon, Mountain Barber, Mountainking, Mr Google Doodle, Mr. Finch, Myles2322, n, Narasan, Nate Kaufman, Nathan Bush, Nathan Fahrenbach, Nathaniel Baxter, NaughtyPaws, Netrier, Nhnnh, Nicholas F, nicholas machado, Nick Norris, Nick Riley, Nick Tinsley, Nikita Becker, Nikolas allen, Nim, NNeil, Noah, Noah Jones, noah stevens, nokko, Nonie, Noshei, Notcreepycreeper, nugitoBambino, nymaxilian, Oakenbear, OakieTheTree, Ocean Breeze, Oliver, Oliver Firoozan, Oliverthms, OlivierA, Omar Wazir, Onill007, OpCrystal, OrangeSpork, Orr404, Ovuca, Ozark, Paerofar, PaleMire, Parker Hebert, PARXIVAL, Patrick Blatti, Patrick polsey, patrick seim, Paul Becker, Pawel Maskowicz, Payen Hell, Pedro Derze, Person8, Peter Edlund, peter mattoon, Philip Santeford, Philipp Duckwitz, Philipp Zander, Philipp Ziehe, Phlorez, Pieter-Jan Van Steenkiste, Pigeonpie, PiMs, Pizzatiger, Politician, posthumousleon, Powernap, qenesu, Rachel Prochner, RageBone, Ragmas, Rahul Sanku, Rain, Raivshard, Ramapriya Rangaraju, RandomPerson, Randy Klein, Raphael, Ratoo, Ray Robitaille, rbot, reafan, Redbeard, Reed Montemurro, Reid Palmquist, Relein, Reodude, Retaliation ., RexRegis, Rhaid, Rich Webb, Richard Davis ll, rintaun, Rip Woodham, rizen, Robert Adams, Robert Hinshaw, Robert Mullins, Robert P, Robert z, Robin Richards, Robin SjÃ¶doff, roflkong3, Roger, RottenTangerine, Rutger Boll, rvs, Ryan Coyne, Ryan Hogan, Ryan Naquin, Ryan Tran, Ryudachi, S T, S.G., sÃ¸ren Frost, SÃ©bastien Kingsbury, SaltyVigilante, Sam Oppy, Samuel McCarren, Samuel Patterson, Saramon H, Satya Prateek, Schelm, schnixxes, ScottDR, Seadrake, Sean Carter, Sean Mantell, Sean Panajotovic, Sean Reap, Sebastian Lachs, Sebastian Larsen, Sebastian Lindqvist, sedael, Seijax, Sekander, Seth Bryant, Seth Cox, Seth Richter, Seth Wilson, Severed Hat, Shadow, Shakez44, Shelbo, Shil Modi, Shyx, SideraX, Signspace, Silberwolf325, Silveredgallium, Simon Dingemans, Simon Hughes, sings_with_toads, Siphor, Skarsol, skici, Skyra, Slambo, Smokestack Matt, smoze, sn0mm1s, SoddenFool, Solar, SpartanEcho, Spencer Herold, SpitEoll, Stano MareÄek, Steffen, SteindÃ³r Tryggvason, Stephanie Washburn, Steven C, Steven Johnson, STORRM, Stuart Anderson, Styx49, Svarog, Sylvain Arguillere, Taliesin, Tarantism, Tataru Taru, Teee, ThÃ©o, Thaco4, TheFool, TheLazerCat, Thernn, Thomas Goyne, Thomas Heide, Thomas Stewart, Thortinshire, ThreatLvlPurple, Thuss, Tim Marshall, Timothy Burago, tlove, Toad, Tom, Tom Roettger, TomÃ¡Å¡ BlÃ¡bol, Total, Traian, Travis McHenry, Travis McIntosh, Tristan Griffin, TurmRIC, Tyler, Tyler, Tyler-Adam Cohen, Tyrone Thomas, user754595, Varzifar, Vaulex, Vervacitus, Victoria, Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, Vikram Ahluwalia, Viktor NechvÃ¡tal, Viria, Vroom, W, Walter, WarNachos, Warren Zielke, Wesley Ervin, Whisper, WhisperInTheVoid, Will C, William Fullerton, William Priess, william wallace, Wundermelon, X Y, Xaim, Xavier Lamphere, xIron Gamerx, xtrnet, Xynee, Yemisi Mcmullen, Yenin, Yrom, Zâ€™Rwin, Zach Adams, Zach Wilson, zachary gafken, Zanthras, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, znarken, Zrell

Mage:

Aaron Lewis, al, Al Bi, Alexander Belousov, Anonymous, Anton Selling, Appl, Barrie Davis, Calle, Carl Clements, Carya Galabra, Chris Olsen, Cody Caliguiri, Colton Rutherford, Cybernetic Angel, Dani, David, Deneas, Digdug, Dom, Dustin, Eciefae4, ensou, Eric Trombly, Error, Fabian, Finn Freudenberg, Ford Yeager, Gemyma, Gert Wallis, Gleadge, GopherAtl, Harold Teunisse, Ian Anderson, Irakli Jishkariani, jacob britt, James Hadfied, James Knight, Jamison Schneider, Jan, Jason Case, Jeremy, Jeremy Leonard, Jonathan Lodge, Jonny, Josh, Joshua John Wallace, kyle, Lasse Pedersen, Lorcogoth, Lupusregina, mallix, Marcus148, Mathias Schwendimann, Mathieu Deg, Max Oberg, Max Weidmer, Maximilian Sack, MeatyLock, Michael, Michael Anaya, Michael Bradet-Legris, Michael F., NebulaeDreamz, Nefraak, Nicholas Kelly, Not Real, Patrick Cole, Paul Jones, Pigeon F, pope benedict, Raistlin, Reepham, Rugger, santor25, Scott Holt, Setaria, Sid_Cypher, SnowingSilently, Spencer Burke, Star Sword, SZ, tachi-kawa, Tao Wong, Taylor, Two Cats, ulrik aaby

Mageling:

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Chapter: 234 - Negotiations

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Sakari Saastamoinen, Pride mystic artificer, PatronTurtle, noÃ«lle, Maxine, Joshua Sydney, Jesse Maggard, Emersen, Damon Roberts, Ben Morgan

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala looked through the open archway at the utterly inhuman thing before her.

It had two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head, but it wasn’t even biological.

-To be fair, it also has a face, and you know, a human soul powering it. Sort of like you, actually. I do like your face.-

Tala huffed a laugh at that, but then refocused.

The thing had just asked her what she offered to get past, and Tala had yet to answer. “What do I offer?”

“Yes.” Its entire form was utterly, unnaturally still, except for its mouth, which moved as it spoke.

Tala realized that she expected its torso to move at the same time, filling lungs with air and exhaling to allow for speech, but it obviously didn’t need that.

Some form of sound or air magic was letting it generate a voice.

“What do you want?”

“What does anything want? To exist.”

Well, clearly different from Rob.

-I’ll say. Rob would have just let the tungsten spheres hit and gleefully ceased to be.-

“You already do.”

“I wish to continue.” There was still no emotion on the faux face.

“You see, I’m still a bit stuck on the fact that you’re talking. The information given by the guild is sparse, and they did indicate rudimentary dialogue options, but you can actually speak. I mean to say that you are having a conversation, not simply uttering pre-inscribed phrases.”

“I was to be the first, the maker’s true attempt to add to the forerunners.”

“Forerunners?”

“Most know them as the Black Legion.”

Tala felt goosebumps move across her skin. “They were attempting to replicate the Legion?”

“If it is information you wish for, that can be traded as well, but I still do not know what you offer.” The thing still hadn’t moved.

Well, this isn’t going anywhere, fast. “What is your name? I’m Tali.”

“Lie.”

Tala blinked. “Excuse me?”

“You cause ripples through both worlds when you lie.”

“I am called Tali.” Tala insisted.

The thing tilted its head slightly, in the first movement since it sliced Tala’s spheres in half. The motion conveyed confusion in the eerily sapient gesture. “Interesting. That is true.”

“A name is just that which I am called and respond to.”

“That is also true.”

“Then, by logic, my name is Tali.”

“That is false. How strange.” The sword lowered, the automaton coming out of its guarded stance, while still obviously being ready for an attack.

-I am Alat.-

“That was true.” Genuine confusion moved across all its features, a creepily human expression on the faux human face. “But you didn’t say anything. So…what was true?”

What the rust?

-I have no idea. I was just trying to be silly. You know, break the tension.-

Tala decided to redirect the conversation. “How are you doing that?”

“Detecting the truth?”

“Yes.”

“Your soul crosses the border between this world and the next. Everything you do creates ripples in the fabric of reality. The more at harmony with reality you are, the smaller those ripples.”

“And lies are at odds with reality?”

“Lies aren’t true, and reality is true…so, yes?”

The automaton leaned forward just slightly, seeming to show interest.

“Are you a child? Do they make children bigger than I was led to believe?” It turned its head to the other side, seeming to examine her again.

“No, I’m not a child, I just haven’t…” She shook her head. “How can you feel the fabric of reality?”

“My power source fluctuates its output minutely based on the integrity and ongoing nature of the barrier between worlds.”

“Wait, your powersource? Do you mean your soul?”

“It is not my soul, but it is a part of a soul.”

“Why not yours?”

“It was found that if a constructed consciousness was too connected to, or representative of, the soul powering it, the nature of it leaked through, and the consciousness would become unable to function per design. Previous versions were flawed in this way. I am the superior model.”

Tala frowned. “Why are you sharing this information so freely?”

“It would be dishonest to let you believe you were interacting with one of your own kind. I simply use the remnants of a human to fuel me.”

“That’s…” Tala really didn’t know how to feel about that, so she decided to focus on what they had been talking about. “Well, we were discussing truth detection. What you say actually makes a lot of sense.”

“Yes.”

-I have never considered investigating why your throughput fluctuates minutely. The variance I can detect is less than a thousandth of a percent. It changes more between your inhales and your exhales, or when your heart beats.-

And the other fluctuations are deviations from those regular cadences?

-On average? Yeah. There is no way we can translate that into some sort of truth detection. It’s too minute. How sensitive is that thing?-

“Are you…talking with yourself?” The thing frowned.

“I am.”

“Why?”

“That is privileged information.” Tala was becoming very frustrated with this whole conversation and the situation in general.

“Ah, I see. That is one of the things that you offer then, understanding of your…oddity?”

“I’m not—!” Tala closed her eyes in irritation. This rusting—

As soon as she closed her eyes, the automaton attacked. Tala of course saw it with her mirrored perspective, courtesy of her customarily oriented bloodstars.

With speed rivaling a crossbow bolt, Tala’s attacker crossed the space between them in a blur.

Only Tala’s incredible reactions allowed her to pull Flow into her hand, alter its form into that of a sword, and deflect the lunging thrust. Tala sucked in a breath in surprise at the assault, even as she foiled it.

“You are surprisingly fast for a biological creature, especially one of your low rank.”—To the automata, Tala would look halfway between Elder and Mature. Not weak, but in no way an arcane elite.—“Or, are humans different?”

Power coiled behind the thing’s eyes, and purple fire blossomed forth, vastly more powerful than that which the Mage variants had wielded.

Tala exhaled at the same time, having anticipated something like this.

Her breath met the fires, canceling them out even as she cut across, forcing the automaton to block and discontinue the magical attack.

As she struck, Tala willed another set of spheres towards her foe.

With a series of cracks and the groaning of metal, the tungsten slammed into Tala’s foe…and stopped on the armor, barely dimpling the surface as they continued to be pulled in by ever increasing gravity.

Without looking down, the automaton clearly was able to analyze the tungsten. “Fascinating. That is a much stronger force than I expected.”

It lashed out at Tala with three quick strikes, while Tala parried each, only counter-attacking on the final one to drive her enemy back.

“You are no longer talking. Do you wish to cease negotiations?”

Tala frowned. “Negotiations? You just attacked me.”

“Of course. If you would die so easily, you would have nothing to offer me. You are proving the value, or lack thereof, you offer in a deal with every clash.” Six more strikes followed, the style of the thing wholly impossible for anything with a skeleton.

It twisted and struck like a strange combination between a snake and an octopus, simply not being where Tala expected it to be when she tried to counter.

“But, you gave me your name, or at least what you are called. I have not returned the courtesy.”

Tala found herself huffing a laugh. It’s trying to kill me, but it still talks of courtesy?

“I am Io.”

“Like: Eye, oh?”

“Yes.” Io attacked again, their swords not making much of a sound as they clashed.

My sword is basically just a wire with magic making it more, and Io’s is so wreathed in power I doubt Flow has contacted the material yet.

“No comments? No insults? I was under the assumption that enemies often attacked each other with words while they fought.”

“Is that what the chatter is for? To distract?”

Io cocked its head. “Oh, it could serve that function, couldn’t it?”

Tala frowned again. Io might never have actually been put to use before. Is this its first fight?

Io began to sing as it attacked once more. “I once was a cow to hide from a cow, but became a lone hawk all alone for now.”

“What are you doing?”

The automaton stopped singing for a moment as it continued its attack. “Distracting you.”

It then began singing again. “I am joyful and princely, I think you should know—”

Tala punched it in the face.

Io flew backwards hitting the wall and sliding down.

She sprinted forward, but the automaton was already vaulting to its feet.

“I see. It can also distract me. How interesting.”

Tala just growled, now firmly on the offensive. Even so, she still was hesitant to fully commit. It was still talking. There might be a chance for a peaceful resolution.

The Way of Flowing Blood really proved its worth as Tala flowed from strike to strike, finally hitting the thing repeatedly, drawing small spurts of purple fluid, laden with power.

Each cut was minor and sealed quickly, however, and given that Io had functionally limitless energy, it was an exercise in futility.

Also, the automaton was learning how she fought, and countering her more effectively with every passing moment.

The two tungsten spheres were still embedded slightly into Io’s chest, doing little.

This is pointless.

-Now you know what your enemies feel like, fighting you.- After a moment, Alat added another insight. -And why humans, in general, are so feared for their rank.-

No joke… Though, we can’t utilize our gates quite this effectively. We still have our fleshy bits to think of and take care of.

“You are talking to yourself again… Don’t you find that distracting?”

Tala moved her head slightly to the side barely avoiding a thrust that she couldn’t quite deflect fully.

“Shall I begin singing again?”

Tala caught the thing’s wrist and used the opening to kick it with all her strength while keeping a firm grip.

Io’s offhand was ripped off as the automaton was thrown backwards, through the open archway and back into the space in which she had previously been waiting.

Its armor flowed down over the stump, forming a new hand.

That took material. Could that be the path to success?

-Only if it can’t absorb more.-

Tala looked at the metal lined walls, and the automata that Tala had previously decommissioned, laying on the ground around where they had been fighting. Yeah… that would render that strategy pretty useless.

Io seemed to want to talk some more. “So, what now? Are we destined to be two immortals, locked in an epic battle until Judgment Day and trumpets sound?”

Tala shrugged. “Or you could surrender?”

Io tilted its head. “No... No, that isn’t right. You aren’t immortal, not yet, and your resources are finite.”

It gave a weird, almost self-satisfied smile.

“I will win, given time. I am eternal.” Something unquantifiable had changed in the thing’s demeanor. Its mouth closed, and Tala got the sense that it wouldn’t speak again.

If it was seeing what I had to offer, it now seems to believe that I can’t beat it, so negotiations aren’t needed.

“Yeah, rust that.” Powersource, the fount, is in the head. I need to separate that first.

Tala drew in a deep breath and held it, filling her lungs with more power than she’d ever used before, compressing it and drawing in more even as she inverted it.

Tala flooded magic into the inscriptions on the soles of her feet, greatly magnifying the surface area that she was able to push off of.

She bent forward and lunged. The ground exploded below and behind her as she tried to launch herself with such force that the stone of the path she was on simply couldn’t bear it, despite the obvious magic reinforcement.

Her expanded footing pushed through the stone as it crumbled before it finally caught the edge of reality, giving her an unshakable launching point, and all the power in Tala’s body uncoiled, rocketing her forward at an unbelievable speed.

Flow flickered then went black, shifting to a void-sword.

Tala’s voidsight revealed a build up of power that her magesight wouldn’t have been able to identify, and she reached down to slap the ground even as she streaked above it, redirecting herself at the last instant.

A blast of purple fire and lightning exploded in a line through where she should have been, even as she lashed out with Flow, her target never in question.

Tala used the slight resistance that she felt from Flow as another touchpoint, flipping around to land feet-first on the back wall of the defensive room, absorbing the impact with her legs and preparing to spring forward once again.

Io’s head was spinning through the air, its neck severed by the single strike, the metal around it having been sucked dry of power even as Flow cut through the material itself.

That said, power was already reaching through the dimensions of magic to pull the head back towards the body, several founts worth of power-flow acting through the room itself to impose wholeness on the automaton.

So, radical self-repair? Fine. I need to break the orb holding the fount.

There were other power sources within this hold, set up and bent towards defense. She could see magic moving through the area towards her enemy.

“No.” The word carried with it the entire payload of dissolution power she’d prepared as Tala directed the power at the corner below where she temporarily braced.

She felt it in her aura, and to her surprise, she was able to nudge it, focus it with her will. That’s useful.

The floor and a massive section of the wall exploded into dust, revealing and severing quite a few pipelines of power that had been attempting to power and activate various defenses and countermeasures.

Before she could fall, Tala pushed off again, causing the solid metal of the wall to groan and crack under the pressure, despite its truly ridiculous thickness.

Tala flashed back by the automaton, hitting the ground in front of Io on her feet and skidding across the smooth metal floor, back out of the room and onto the stone of the path through the park.

Behind her, the orb which had held the construct’s consciousness, as well as the fount that powered the thing, cracked and shattered.

The consciousness was broken.

The fount was consumed.

She felt the briefest flicker of a white void, one that she was incredibly familiar with from the times that she’d merged things with her soul-bound items or herself. Well, except for when she’d added in the void-weapon.

The white nothingness didn’t fully manifest, however, and Tala got the distinct feeling that the fount was being subsumed into Flow but wasn’t powerful enough to even attempt to truly influence the weapon, let alone her directly.

Tala gasped, falling to her knees as power raged through Flow like never before.

To her voidsight, it looked like an infinite well of power had been forcibly shoved into an unfillable power-hungry maelstrom.

Tala felt an incredibly odd sensation as the fabric of reality seemed to pull together, rolling over the fount and seemingly forcing it into the void.

A moment later, it was gone, wholly consumed.

Reality itself had worked to banish the fount, and Tala swayed at the realization.

Our gates…they really are abominations, aren’t they…

-Now’s not a good time, Tala.-

Tala swallowed, shaking off her existential dread. She licked her lips and said the only thing she could, eyes locked on where the fount had been. “Be well in the next world.”

Flow no longer pulled from her to stay in the form of a void-blade, though Tala could tell that that was a temporary thing.

Tala walked forward, her steps steadying after the first few. When she was in the center of the white room, she stopped, waiting for what she knew would come.

-This is a bit… suicidal? You still see what’s in those walls, don’t you?-

And I can’t lock on until the shielding opens. I think I got this.

-Yeah, your plan is solid, but you’re feeling pretty…fragile right now.-

It’s fine. Tala dismissed Alat’s concern.

-…are you going to be alright? That was awesome and all, but the way the fount was…at the end there… reality itself…- Alat seemed at a loss for words, and Tala, herself, felt the same.

As Io’s body finally hit the floor, having somehow maintained its stance for more than twenty seconds, the walls began to move.

Without much thought, Tala scooped up the automaton’s sword and dropped it into Kit.

She could investigate it later.

From the walls, dozens of the defensive emplacements began to unfold, each already charging the purple beam attacks.

Tala would have none of it.

Even as she pulled in another deep breath, once again infusing it with a truly staggering amount of power, she swept her gaze around the room, locking on to each defensive item, one at a time.

Crush.

The mindset and working lashed out again and again.

It was a fast act of magic, but not fast enough to stop them all, and she hadn’t expected to be able to.

Instead, she exhaled slowly as she spun, filling the air around her with dissolution power.

With her aura, she strained against the inherent nature of the magics and kept it from wasting itself on her or her equipment. She also kept it from drifting away to break apart the other things around her.

The first purple beam lanced out, seeming to vanish into the air around her. It looked almost like it was carving its way into something in the air around her, but couldn’t quite break through.

More weapons were crushed, but Tala wasn’t in a rush.

She was methodical, efficient, unstoppable.

More beams fired, but none could reach her.

Her aura was unyielding as she shifted the magics defending her into concentrated pockets as her voidsight revealed where the next build-up of power signaled an incoming attack.

Her dissolution magic consumed the attacks as it spent itself towards that goal, breaking up the very fundamental power within the hostile magic.

The last attack came after the last of that magic was spent, and Tala hadn’t bothered to refresh it. Thus, she was required to block with void-sword Flow, but that was it. Only once.

A final crush destroyed the last defensive weapon.

She stood still, unwinded, and victorious.

The last automaton’s body lay beside her, and a single melted line marked where the deflected attack had landed after meeting Flow’s void-form.

It was a minor thing, the power of the magics greatly reduced by the hunger of the void.

Is that all? Really?

She searched around herself with her voidsight, feeling the burden of power-requirement beginning to return as void-Flow finished processing the fount.

Tala knew, intuitively, that the power-draw of the weapon would be greater now than ever before.

Flow had been strengthened and that would carry a price.

Nothing is ever free.

Her will felt raw from working with the endingberry-like power.

She somewhat numbly dumped the body and separated head of Io into Kit.

The head was missing the orb at the back of its skull, in addition to its other issues.

I’ll deal with that later, too.

For now? She had a final door to open, along with libraries and storerooms to ransack.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 235 - Faith

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

noÃ«lle, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Damon Roberts, Emersen, Maxine, Pride mystic artificer, Jesse Maggard

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala sat and ate from an incredible spread of tasty food. I feel like I should get sick of, or at least get used to, this, but it seems like every day they change up the spices and methods of preparation.

When she got back home, she would have to seriously consider finding and hiring a cook…

Thron sat at the other end of the table, regarding her critically. He’d mostly finished his own food, though he was still nursing a tankard of acid. “You know, I still find it very strange that there was almost no loot.”

“From what?” She smiled innocently around the dumpling she’d just popped into her mouth.

He gave her an unamused look. He’d been occasionally, gently prodding her on the subject for the last few days. His questions had become more pointed, as she hadn’t told him to leave it.

Tala shrugged, not even trying to hide her smile as it turn rueful. “I really don’t know what to tell you. My sanctum ate the hold, and I suppose it just ate basically all the material too.”

“There was nothing? Really? From an entire hold of master craftsmen?”

“Well, my understanding is that there were only a few master craftsmen, the others were assistants and apprentices.”

He gave her another flat look, and she grinned back.

“No, there wasn’t really anything more than the few ingots of white metal.” She’d found quite a few of those in the storeroom past Io’s chamber.

It had been three days since she’d allowed Kit to consume the guild hold.

There had been… a lot of loot. With the back areas, there had even been a few magical items aimed at aiding in the construction of the automata. Even so, a cursory examination quickly made it very clear that the magical constructs had been built by hand, for the most part.

No unending army for me.

There had been quite a few ingots of the white metal, along with a number of books and research materials, which would likely help her investigate the automata related items as a whole. Needless to say, she’d taken everything, hiding it all down in the ‘secret’ underground vault.

The base materials had simply been added to some of the expanded space downward, while most of the added volume had, once again, simply allowed Kit to increase the height of the ‘sky.’

Tala didn’t think that Thron had noticed the few new trees that had been transplanted into some of the far parts of the sanctum, and the two holding ponds were now just a bit deeper, to accommodate the new water.

Kit couldn’t do anything truly intricate or precise in the construction department, at least not without Tala’s direct involvement, so the changes really were minor.

Some of the loot, however, was going to be a problem.

She really didn’t know what to do with the four fount orbs that she’d found. They were sealed in some fashion, and locked down, so it wasn’t like they were dumping power into Kit, but she still had to figure out how to handle them. Some automatic magics within the hold had been enacted upon them when she’d disabled the magics drawing from the founts.

Even though she’d preferred to have been able to keep the gains hidden, in order to use the metal, she needed to know what it was. So, she had passed off a few ingots to Thron.

When Be-thric had been told there wasn’t any material recovered from the hold, he had dismissed the issue as understandable, given the loss of the entire hold. They had been discussing the ‘debacle’ with Sanguis and Pallaun at the time.

Apparently, the guild was ‘distraught’ over the loss of their hold but weren’t actually leveling any official complaints.

Tala had explained, per Be-thric’s direction, that something had gone strange within the hold due to the guild’s experiments, and that had led to the hold’s destabilization.

This all had the added benefit of being true.

When they were briefly alone after the debrief with the other Pillar and Eskau, Be-thric had simply stated that if she discovered anything interesting, she should let him know.

He obviously knew that she’d looted the hold entirely, and he was pleased to allow her to use the results as she deemed fit.

-His level of trust for Tali is… admirable?-

Yeah, it almost makes me feel bad.

-Your level of sarcasm is staggering.-

Isn’t it, though?

She had assured him that, of course she would keep him informed, and he had been satisfied.

And on the time-scale of arcanes, it won’t matter. We will go to the human cities before it comes up again.

In that vein, they needed more protian weapons, and her plan was being implemented.

Within the next week, Tala, Be-thric, and at least a couple of squads of House of Blood warriors would invade a minor house’s hold, on the night they were holding a banquet.

That banquet would have at least one candidate Eskau in attendance, most likely without the prospective Pillar.

It was common practice for candidate Eskau to be sent as a token presence from major Houses to such events, especially when the minor house was currying the favor of the major.

A slightly greater show of favor would be for the prospective Pillar to go instead, with even more conveyed by them both attending.

It was all very… political.

Tali had never been sent as such a representative because she was human, and there really hadn’t been that much time.

Most candidate Eskau were in the position for years, if not decades, before getting a chance to advance in rank within the House.

But all this was beside the point, as Thron had not believed her for an instant when she claimed to have not looted anything further.

“I’m not an idiot, Tali.” He shook his head.

“And I am very glad of that. You’d be rather useless to me if you were.”

“So?” He took a deep pull from his tankard, clearly giving her a moment to respond.

Tala sighed. Be-thric had told her that it was up to her if she brought Thron in on the reasoning behind the destruction of the hold. This might actually be a really good way of testing his loyalty.

-Tell him some of the truth, but imply that Be-thric doesn’t know?-

Precisely.

-Be careful, Tala. He could just go to Gallof, or Sanguis, or Pallaun.-

She frowned at that. I didn’t actually think of that. He is more likely to go to his old master than to Be-thric, and I don’t know if Gallof is informed…

So, she wouldn’t hide that Be-thric knew, but it could still be a good test. “Fine, fine. The guild was researching automata.”

The dwarf barely turned his head to the side before he sprayed acid across the floor. He began coughing, clearly trying to regain some semblance of control over himself.

“Are you alright?”

He shook his head, still coughing for a moment longer. When he reined himself in, he leaned back, seeming shell-shocked. “Does the Pillar know?”

“He does.”

“That’s why he supported your claim of no loot.” His eyes widened. “That’s why the place was destroyed. They didn’t just have some. They were making them.”

He is a bit clever, isn’t he? Tala shrugged, seeing no reason to lie, not about this. “Yeah. It was a pretty weird experience, honestly. I think at least one of them was fairly sapient.”

Io was an odd one. In thinking of Io, Tala remembered something. “Oh! And I did actually forget one item of loot.”

I really do want to know what the thing’s sword does.

Tala willed for Io’s sword to appear on the ground beside the table.

Thron noticed its appearance and hopped down to pick it up, balancing it across his two palms. “What is this?”

“The weapon wielded by the final one, the odd one.”

“It’s not magical?”

“It was. The thing's magic wrapped around it, strengthening it, and making it more effective. I think it was linked to its power source, somehow, but it didn’t feel soul-bound.”

Thron looked closer, then his eyes widened. “No.”

“What is it?”

His hands began to tremble just slightly. “Tali…This is a concept weapon.”

Tala frowned. “A what?”

“A concept weapon. It’s… it’s easier if I just show you.” He hesitantly grasped the hilt, and a veil of green seemed to coat the white blade. “This…”

He shook his head, staring at the sword that looked almost comically large in his hands. His demeanor and his reactions conveyed a mix of reverence for and fear of the thing he held.

“Tali, this weapon is worth more than your entire sanctum.”—he shook his head—“No, that’s the wrong order of magnitude. You could never sell this. Fundamentally, it’s worth more than this city and everything in it, but if anyone of power found out you had it, they’d just take it, and expect you to be grateful if they left you alive.”

He swallowed, his hands beginning to shake once more.

“They haven’t been made in…”—he swallowed again—“I don’t even know.”

“I can see your concept affects the magic of the blade, but—”

“No, that’s not right, Tali. This blade allows for the wielder’s concept to be manifested as an aspect of the blade. It is a training tool and a powerful aide. For me, it removes one of my greatest weaknesses. Even just as it is, I can wield corrosion dozens of times farther from my body, even if only along the length of the weapon. With practice? This is a weapon that puts protian weapons to shame.”

She bit the side of her lip, considering. “Huh. How did the guild get it?”

Thron was still staring at the weapon as he whispered a reply. “That is an excellent question.”

As the blade continued to glow green, Tala noticed something. “What is happening to the metal?”

Thron looked closer, and his eyes widened in horror.

The white seemed to dissolve off the outside of the sword, leaving a black, almost glass-looking material behind.

Thron practically squeaked as he jerked his hand away, dropping the blade.

The sword fell, bouncing off the stone floor a few times before settling. Each hit sent a ringing, resonant tone through the air, like the striking of a massive bell.

“That…”—he took a step back, seemingly unconsciously—“That is a sword directly from the Black Legion, but that’s impossible.”

“What? Are you sure?”

“Yes, or it is so closely mirrored as to make no difference. From what little I know of concept weapons, the materials and color affect the creation process, but not the outcome. Black was basically the hardest to make, so they were only ever made for the Black Legion.”

“Very on theme of them, I suppose.”

He didn’t even crack a smile at her comment. The dwarf looked like he was torn between kicking the weapon away from himself and kneeling before it in reverence.

I need to keep him talking. “Wait… why would they give concept weapons to weak automata?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, if the thirteen were tests, why would they have sent them off with such powerful weapons?”

“Oh!” He shook his head. “They didn’t. The swords came to the Black Legion after they grew in power. It isn't really known if they figured out how to make them, or traded for them or something else.”

Tala grunted. “Huh. So, what does this mean?”

“It means that somehow, the guild whose hold you cleared, had gained first hand sources on the Black Legion.”

Tala shrugged. “I suppose so, but is that really so odd? There have to be some items, some detailed records around.” Maybe there are some among those I took from the hold…

He shook his head. “I’d have thought you would know this, but no. The Old Guard swept up every remnant. The Mind Flayer himself sought out all those who tried to hide fragments, and the Old Guard threw every scrap in when they sealed the Black Legion in the earth.”

“Say, what?”

-What?-

“Did you not hear tales of the Legion growing up? How do you not know this?”

Tala gestured to herself. “Human. Remember?”

He grimaced. “Right, right. You really don’t look very human these days, and I’m not used to humans…mattering.”—He had the good grace to look a bit ashamed at that statement.—“That might actually change the tales told.”

After a moment of silence, Tala prompted. “So…?”

“So… I don’t know where to begin.”

“At the very beginning? That’s a very good place to start.”

He gave her an unamused look, before sighing. “Very well. So, the Black Legion were the unified response to the threat from the wild humans to the north. They were the first true utilization of the founts in warfare."

Thron snorted and shook his head.

“They are the entire reason why no weapon is permitted to have, or be directly wielded by, a constructed consciousness. There are some allowances made for cases of hold defense, but that is a whole bevy of nuance that there is no reason for us to delve into.”

“Alright.”

“So, the automata were built hastily and with limited resources. It was a theoretical solution, one among thousands, so they didn’t devote all their resources to it. With those constraints, they were built with three basic, core drives: Grow stronger, maintain operational functionality, support the others.”

“Really? Nothing about ‘don’t attack us?’ “

Thron chuckled. “In the beginning, they were so weak it hardly mattered, and the secondary functions covered things like enemy recognition and the like.”

“So, I’m guessing things didn’t go very well.”

“Not in the least, no. The first batch of thirteen were sent on their very first mission, but they never made it. They vanished.”

Tala almost asked where they went, but she realized that Thron was about to tell her.

“No one could find them, and they were eventually considered lost. The project itself was put on hold as the conflict continued. Decades later, we were losing a particularly important conflict, when suddenly, an unknown, Revered warrior dropped out of the sky and turned the tide.”

“One of the thirteen?”

“Precisely. They had seemingly taken their directives oddly and sought strength above all else. During the short span of years where they were fully allied with us, we learned that they’d found an ether hold to set up in. Within, they had grown in strength and numbers. For not only were the originals strong, they had created the Legion based on their own designs. For, how can they support the others, if there were no others? But this is getting too detailed.” Thron shook his head. “Suffice it to say, things did not go well. The Black Legion eventually decided that, in order to follow their drives, they had to end the war regardless of the casualties. They slew hundreds of the strongest on both sides, decimating the rank and file of the Old Guard with several, concurrent surprise attacks before the Black Legion was even known to be an enemy.”

“What then?”

“Then? We brokered a temporary peace with the wild humans and drove the things back into their ether hold. No one who ever went in ever came out again. All information on the creation of the Legion was destroyed or thrown in after them, and the entirety was sealed, deep beneath the earth, locked behind the strongest seals and barriers that could be created at the time. The knowledge of where this prison lay was obliterated by the Mind Flayer, so that no one would be tempted to seek out the Black Legion, and that is where the tale ends.”

“You know, this seems like a lot more information than would be from myth or children’s tales.”

“Of course it is.”

“Then…why did you think I would know it?”

“You should know of the Legion from children’s tales. It’s just fascinating, so I learned more when I had the resources to do so.”

“Ah, okay.” She frowned. “Wait, but what of the temporary peace?”

Thron shrugged. “By the time the Black Legion was locked away, everyone was bloodied and weary of war. The Sovereign enforced peace expired, but no one was eager to fight again so soon. So, they didn’t. There have been skirmishes to be sure, but the war has never resumed.”

Tala grunted. “So, the Black Legion did their job after all, eh? They ended the war?”

Thron shook his head. “No. Their aim was never so noble. The Black Legion was designed and directed towards the eradication of gated humanity, regardless of the collateral consequences.”—he gave her an apologetic look—“Apologies for the bluntness, Tali. Now that I consider it, it’s really not that surprising that you weren’t told the tales as a child.”

“You aren’t wrong. To you, it’s a history lesson. To me, it would have been a horror story.”

They sat in silence for a long moment, then Tala frowned.

“Wait.”

Thron looked her way, seemingly reluctant to take his eyes of the black blade, still laying on the floor. “What?”

“The automata used a fount as a power source. From my understanding, the Black Legion did the same.”

“That is my understanding as well, yes.”

“But humans can’t use conceptual magic.”

Thron hesitated, frowning. “I suppose… it wasn’t? Was the soul, itself, the driving force behind the automata?”

“Well, no. In fact, it went out of its way to tell me that it was separated from the soul powering it.”

He grunted. “Well, there you have it. My understanding is that the gate, and a consciousness’s connection to it, is what disrupts the direct use of conceptual magics.”

Tala found herself nodding. “Because concepts are the impositions of ‘not reality’ upon reality, and the connection through to the next world makes gated humans more sensitive and susceptible to the whims of existence.”

“That’s an odd way to put it, but maybe?”

She shrugged. “Well, regardless, while I want to study it and see what I can make of the thing, it isn’t immediately useful to me.”

“So, we should give it to the Pillar?”

Yeah, RUST that. “Actually, I was thinking that you should use it to practice. At least for now.”

Thron gave her an odd look. “Me?”

“Yes, you. Practice with it within this sanctum, out of sight and away from scrutiny. It can only serve to make you a better adjunct for me.”

“I feel that the Pillar would be… displeased with that use of resources.” He was regarding her carefully.

Does he think I’m testing him? Tala shrugged. “He need never know.”

This might actually be a reasonable way to do just that, a method to test Thron’s loyalty. I wouldn’t have shown the weapon to the dwarf if I’d known what it was, but that herb’s been ground.

-And if he tells Be-thric?-

We can truthfully say that Be-thric suddenly having the weapon would be very suspicious, as well as endangering him, greatly. If it was ever safe to do so, of course we would give him the weapon.

-Which is true, because, for us, it would never be safe to give him that much power.-

Precisely.

Thron looked torn, but he did slowly bend down and pick up the sword. There was longing in his eyes, even as his gaze flicked between Tala and the weapon he now held. “This… even to train with… this is too much.”

“You are my adjunct, Thron.” She used his real name, purposely. “Either I trust you, and help you as I can, or I will be lost. Do I seem like someone who should try to train a replacement for you?”

Tala was slightly uncomfortable with just how close to true that statement was. I can’t even fathom how much of a pain it would be, if Thron was gone, and I had to have a dozen unknown servants in here to replace him.

-Yeah, there is no way that Be-thric would let you be unattended. An Eskau without servants would reflect poorly on the House and the Pillar in particular.-

Thron began nodding, gears obviously turning in his head, even as a smile pulled at his lips. ”As my liege commands. I will endeavor to honor your faith in me and put this to good use.”

“That is all I ask.”

-And now, we wait...-

…and see if he really can be trusted.

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

Thuss, william wallace, Midnight Harbinger, Seth Bryant, Silberwolf325, Grimizen, Alex Griffin, Nick Tinsley, Isaac Deroche, Yenin, Jonathan Timm, Ray Robitaille, aantonides ., Alex, Andrew Holland, Angela Kimova, Archivist0, Austin Woodard, B C, Bacon Macleod, Baldur Norddahl, BossDawg, Christian Kenney, Colin Ford, Cyrus McEnnis, David Turner, Dire Wolf, dotAlice, Enaz the great, Enif, Eric, Erling Egilsson, evilperson41, Frank, Geoff, George Hicken, Gremlin, Gull, Gustav Burkhardt, Ian Radspinner, IGS, Isaac Boyles, Jacob Ellis, James Walsh, Jedediah Wolfgang, Jeffery Nickelson, Jonah of the Whale, just_a_potato, Justin Reagan, Kai, Kamren Livingston, Keira Wulfe, Kirvin, Krikor Chichadjian, Leendert Kortlever, Logan, Lyael, Marcus Pehan, Margus234, Mark Dolson, Matt M, Matthew, Matthew Davis, Max Gustavson, Megacheez, Nim, noah stevens, nugitoBambino, OlivierA, PaleMire, peter mattoon, Randy Klein, Redbeard, rizen, Robert P, Robert z, Robin Richards, Rutger Boll, Ryan Naquin, sedael, Shakez44, Solar, Taliesin, TheLazerCat, Thomas Goyne, Thomas Stewart, Travis McHenry, Travis McIntosh, WarNachos, WhisperInTheVoid, William Priess, xIron Gamerx, Disclancer, MoneyTree, Samuel McCarren, Matt M, Hazza Vanderbyl, Brian, NaughtyPaws, daniel edery, Tyler, Derek, Irisa, klabuster, Maggi von Da, Maksim, Rachel Prochner, Jo, Matt S., Onill007, RageBone, Michael, Viria, GaÃ«tan 'Nimitz' Vansteene, Hibou Ronchon, MePe, Oliverthms, Cristi Palincas, Arnfinn Gjorvad, Aaron Sofaer, Aclys, Adrian Gorgey, Alex, AverageGuy, Bricyn Abel, chad ensey, Chris, Cindercon, Cole Nyquist, David Brims, DeusCap, devarian, Doomerjunky, Dorian Grizzle, Ell Lan, Gamecats, Jake Pellegrini, James, Jason Morse, Jeff Gault, Jeremy James, Joe Smith, John Hadel, Joseph, Lachlan Priest, M, MÃ¡rton KlenyÃ¡n, Michael Mooney, Nathan Fahrenbach, Nhnnh, Oakenbear, Pedro Derze, RottenTangerine, Skarsol, Steven C, ThreatLvlPurple, Timothy Burago, tlove, Vikram Ahluwalia, Zanthras, dennis malatesta, Kenyaa, Andrew Goudie, Chris Hibbert, Sekander, John Growcott, Le GarlantÃ©zec, FieryFern, Ocean Breeze, Glenn Clemente, William Fullerton, Adam, Jayden Kirkham, smoze, znarken, James Beaudreau, Kyle, Gyslain Desgagne, Max W, TomÃ¡Å¡ BlÃ¡bol, Schelm, Siphor, Frederic Axt, Ryudachi, BoB, Ludger, Federico Petrin, Alex Weatbrook, Cypha, Dan, David Schleimer, Drew Gilmour, erik lindquist, FoolRegnant, HeartHawk, Hornblower, John D'Arcy, John Noone, Josh Fryza, Joy, Klecksi, Lanhail, Michelle Goodman, Mountainking, Noah Jones, Notcreepycreeper, Philipp Ziehe, Phlorez, Ramapriya Rangaraju, Reed Montemurro, Reid Palmquist, Ryan Tran, Seadrake, Sean Panajotovic, sings_with_toads, Slambo, Zach Adams, Kenneth, mark mÃ¸llegaard, Will C, Leon Ernst, Ink's Muse, Sam Oppy, hellunit, NNeil, Simon Hughes, Nathaniel Baxter, Andy, Nonie, Bain-Lindsay, Thaco4, Lerous, Alex LeBlanc, Drake Morgan, Mark, Kermity, Traian, Varzifar, Grausheira, Mohammad Muzhaffar Bin Omar, reafan, Zrell, Shil Modi, Aaron Greene, adam1, Alex Foster, Andrew C Kerr, Andrius, C Howard, Chris Mantakounis, Dave, DeathOfOld, gokief, Grumlen, Gunnar Crider, Jacob trent, Jasen Nichols, Joseph Sutherland, karmaslap, Lindsay W., Mechrono, Meierfrac, Noshei, Patrick Blatti, Rich Webb, Robert Mullins, Tom Roettger, Vigneshnandha Subramaniam, ciopo, ThÃ©o, David D, HJ, Oliver Firoozan, Daniel B, Alex Wilson, Vervacitus, Connor Beeson, Eoin Barrett, Elias Leutgeb, Cirex123, Apotheosis As A Service, Tataru Taru, Thernn, schnixxes, Ilundihl, Steffen, Aaron, Aidan, Arhsnag, Asael Sklar, Chloe Winter, closeded, Cordelia, Dylan, ElodinGale, Jason Johnson, Kiran, minicheatbook, Omar Wazir, patrick seim, Pieter-Jan Van Steenkiste, Smokestack Matt, TheFool, Vaulex, Paul Becker, AnthraxRipple, Aria, Aria, astarsword, Braincase, Bunny Waffles, Calvin, Dan, Darkhelm, David Joseph Pascua, Dawn Krene, Dominic Weibel, Feltenix, Greg Shields, Jacob Knight, Jered McCullough, Justin, Kovak, Laila, Marcus Adams, mdapkins, Monte949, Nicholas F, Pigeonpie, Rain, rintaun, SaltyVigilante, Samuel Patterson, zachary gafken, Stuart Anderson, mattias hessleryd, ScottDR, Ely Brookes, Lewis Dyer, MenacingSand, TurmRIC, Adam Andersson, Michael Maor, Marcel Amendt, Styx49, Magisch, Gabriel, Mr. Finch, Stano MareÄek, Andrew Glass, CaughtRedHeaded, Dakota, Dan Addis, Draega, Grizzly Fiction, Itbeme12321, Jacob, jonch1243 ., Justin Gray, Nikolas allen, Pawel Maskowicz, Ragmas, S T, Shelbo, Svarog, Wundermelon, Mikael Svensson, Hollowlce, Khress, FishFace, Reodude, Daba, James Davidson, Sebastian Lindqvist, Gabriel Jarman-Ivens, Biomass, Joshua Smith, Darcy Lessard-Patola, Felipe Andrade, STORRM, Adam, Alexander Lease, Frederik, Narasan, ImBaroqe, Politician, Yrom, Inzuris, grayfire, Jess, dave hutch, Adam James Washington, Alex, Aria Jonsdottir, Christopher Catania, crystalcat, Daniel Sigui, Ethan, Frank, GuyWhoReadsALot, James Derr, Just Dave, Kyle frasch, Nick Norris, OakieTheTree, OpCrystal, OrangeSpork, Paerofar, Raphael, Ratoo, RexRegis, Rip Woodham, user754595, Whisper, Desertdoe, Jalty, nokko, Anonymous, Silveredgallium, Flogoyog, Sean Carter, Fabian Elzo Kraemer, Dorian Lee, LordErr, Alison Swenson, Artizela, bob sicks, Bolimest, Christopher Harris, Daniel A, Diego Avendano-Morineau, Frost, Joseph Saunders, Michael Olson, Noah, Powernap, Rhaid, Richard Davis ll, Roger, S.G., Saramon H, ShotoGun, Tarantism, Thortinshire, Toad, Lazy Lemon, lol, X Y, Robin SjÃ¶doff, Ethan Munday, Severed Hat, Lygon Bowen-West, Add_Identity, Fraxx, Louis Nel, Flusspferd, KingWoh, Jywert, Nikita Becker, Maria Moberg, Atorn Gaming, Seijax, PiMs, Adam Richards, Almost Famous, Cae, Carlos Andres Rengifo Escobar, Cody Poteet, CrispyKing, Daniel Harris, Daniel Rhodes, DLR, Drac, Driftward, gingerbeard, HjÃ¶rtur Ãžorgeirsson, ItWasIDIO!!, Jennifer, Jeremy Dorn, Jon Lundy, Julian Meltzer, Karma Baris, Kyle Brackenbury, Matthew Powell, Nate Kaufman, Payen Hell, posthumousleon, Satya Prateek, SteindÃ³r Tryggvason, Vroom, Yemisi Mcmullen, da Finnci, Chris Brady, Mr Google Doodle, CringeWorthyStudios, Seth Cox, Sylvain Arguillere, Joshua Samuel Miller, Lu, Batty Corvina, EmissaryOfZork, mohammed essam, Peter Edlund, Christian Nowitzki, A1ias, maxime gm, Philipp Zander, nicholas machado, Jamie Johnstone, Leif Nejst, Tyler, Marinus, Sebastian Larsen, Adrian Nightshade, AgentFransis, Alec, Andrew Dempsey, Avista Askenazu, Ben Dean, Brandon Cleveland, Carl Bunch, Colin Brown, Connor Sunier, Drendude, Dustin, Elliott Fawcett, Evan Morris, Furnastone, Griffin Skutsch, Jason Petry, Jasper Walters, JJ327, Jody, Jon Nay, Joshua Holt Sorensen, Kent Gunn, Lia, LordDark, matt green, Michael D Chavez, Michael Goulet, Michael Seedorf, Oliver, Relein, Retaliation ., SoddenFool, Spencer Herold, Stephanie Washburn, Tristan Griffin, Tyrone Thomas, Michael Stephan, Viktor NechvÃ¡tal, Archie, AdmiralW, James Lavender, DasUberGryx, Signspace, Walter, ashandarei, BjÃ¶rn, Enrico Choy, Im Hello, ENIM Skills, SideraX, Xynee, Aidan Mc Donagh, Teee, BRUNO ASTUR, Hassanein Fadhel, Derek Singer, Michael Mercado, Sebastian Lachs, Timecrafter, Xaim, Chris, Morzan The Lazy Dragon, Tom, Adurna, advancewarssami, agent, Alex Sunier, Ambird King, andre elizebeth, angrycharlie, Beau Bryant, Christopher Jack, Cory Ellis, Daniel Joseph Moreau, Daniel Strickland, Hannoske, Hazel Smith, Jehru, Jeremy Davis Payne, Joshua Lawvere, Joshua Paye, jww, Matthew Myers, Miri, Mountain Barber, Myles2322, Parker Hebert, Pizzatiger, Robert Adams, Robert Hinshaw, Ryan Coyne, Ryan Hogan, W, Warren Zielke, Xavier Lamphere, xtrnet, Karl Tageman, ChiefWizard, roflkong3, Shyx, Leyren Leyren, SpartanEcho, nymaxilian, Midnight Questions, Danny Noppen, Jolly Javelin, Simon Dingemans, geraint juinor, Kylieth, skici, Eric Svahn, John O'Connor, J, Jordan Leighton, Sam Vinh, Zach Wilson, Brian, Jackie DeschÃªnes, Orr404, Ada Wiberg, Hamilton, Tim Marshall, Reepham, ~Apple~, A, abd Srour, alex kosters, Alex Quintero, Alexander, Attherisk, BaguaBrady, BeaR, Bennett Pelton, Caleb Zimmerman, conkerer, DagNabItAll, Didntdoathing, Dylan Sutton, Eric Helaney, Henri emmet, Ian Sommer, Isaac Mathew, james young, Jason P, JCQuiinn, Jonah Doyle, Kageryu, Keenan Adams, Landon Sweeney, Less Than Three, Logan McAllister, Merrillz, Metzy, Molly Hopkins, n, Ozark, PARXIVAL, RandomPerson, rbot, Sean Mantell, Sean Reap, Victoria, Wesley Ervin, Pere, Thomas Heide, Liam, Fingin, Cole Ruhlig, FunkyCredo, Mark, è‡ªç”±, SpitEoll, Azzurous, Anas Jumale, Raivshard, Seth Wilson, dennis pettersson nygren, Cyan, Altsuperkey, Novo, Andinator77, Crimson Twilight, George Dashner, ikorack, Jett Hardin, Jonathan Gregoire, Kenton Watson, Matija MiloÅ¡eviÄ‡, Nathan Bush, Nick Riley, Ovuca, Patrick polsey, Person8, Shadow, Steven Johnson, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, Skyra, Philipp Duckwitz, christopher Reiber, Henrik T., sÃ¸ren Frost, Netrier, Rahul Sanku, SÃ©bastien Kingsbury, David Adams, Andrey Kutsyh, Izmir Beqiri, Arthur Cuelho, Bailey Ortiz, CentaureHeart, Chris Calabrese, Chris O'Hare, Christopher Dulyx, Dmitriy Ochkov, heh, Joey Fisher, Jonah Klinar, Justin Thomas, leakysubmarine, Matthew Hiller, Matthew Walter, Michael Zaiken, qenesu, Total, Tyler-Adam Cohen, Zâ€™Rwin, Eythan Hayashi, Kitty kat, Kagge91, rvs, Arvi Saluste, bastien plutino, Tanguy, sn0mm1s, Orion, Adam Curtaz, Dennis Senyak, Evan Gulick, Gilles, j s, Kvk, odd socks, Philip Santeford, Scott Nichols, Seth Richter, ThrasherGX, Zap, Zoe Weinstein

Mage:

Max Oberg, Joshua John Wallace, Ian Anderson, Carya Galabra, Scott Holt, tachi-kawa, Colton Rutherford, Lasse Pedersen, al, Alexander Belousov, Gert Wallis, Mathias Schwendimann, Setaria, Pigeon F, Jan, Anton Selling, Fabian, Gleadge, ulrik aaby, Carl Clements, mallix, Calle, Cybernetic Angel, GopherAtl, James Hadfied, Jason Case, Jeremy Leonard, Michael Anaya, NebulaeDreamz, Deneas, Michael Bradet-Legris, MeatyLock, Aaron Lewis, Harold Teunisse, Irakli Jishkariani, James Knight, Jeremy, Jonny, SnowingSilently, Taylor, Gemyma, Dustin, jacob britt, Jamison Schneider, Sid_Cypher, Digdug, Patrick Cole, Finn Freudenberg, Mathieu Deg, Anonymous, Chris Olsen, pope benedict, Ilya Katz, Eric Trombly, Rugger, Josh, Nicholas Kelly, Ford Yeager, Not Real, Raistlin, santor25, David, Marcus148, Nefraak, Barrie Davis, Error, Lupusregina, Michael F., Lorcogoth, Tao Wong, Al Bi, Appl, Cody Caliguiri, Eciefae4, ensou, Max Weidmer, Michael, Paul Jones, SZ, Two Cats, Dani, Jonathan Lodge, kyle, Spencer Burke, Star Sword, Dom, Maximilian Sack, Piotr Listos

Mageling:

Mudith Mallajosyula, BurnNote, Alexander Graber-Tilton, DANTE, Ivo Havener, Ian, Lonewolf, SomethingWicked, Piotr, Skape, Zagig, Reminder, Sean S, Charles, Dave Burkett, Matt DiMeo, Michael kim, Robert Rosenthal, Joost Boere, Isaac Larkin, Chris K, Luka Lageschaar, Kevin O'donnell, Hamo4, ben, moniker, Pawaidan, emphes, JauPim, Nikolaus Johann Kurmayer, Alternative Facet, Faris Bissex, Stefan Rabenstein, AndromedaStar, chimerarara, Frozen, GSH, industriousrevolution, Lucas E Burgan, Russell Black, Sam Duralde, Judy Halloran, WanderingArchitect, Stan Snijder, Kirsty, Jeff berman, SecretsOfTheVoid, Benjamin Buco, Sven Paulson, derek giandolfi, HÃ¥vard, Pyrite, ttuurrhh, David H, Shaun Skelton, Hallan Savage, SpiderStuck, Daniel, Delilah, Harris, Joseph White, KB, Moreldarin, Nick, nick v, OmegaHebrew, Richard Heying, Skelethin, Kyle Smith, Decree, Michael Ireland, Iscunnin, Allen Roberts, David Yang, dimi1010, Fuzzycakes, Osman Mir, Travis Brown

Inscribed:

ciaran mullen, Dax, Tate Browder, fennek, Tandroll, Chase128, Trevor Walker, Ross Doyle, nikrowd, Isaac Fratti, Ari Mononen, Alastair Dent, Harley Waldstein, Jonathan, Dylan, Liam Tilitzky, Dennis Bollyn, George Lanetz, Paul Lorenz, Sam Ford, ShadowCub, Soren Peterson, PeM, Mqrius, Moses Lambert, LÃ©o Viarouge, oeser_chr, Benjamin Piribauer, James A. Hunter, Chris, Christopher Cha, Diana Kelly, Reece Zieschang, Wacjob, Femmianne Vermaak, Rentfunk, Joshua Michael Royalty, KYLE MANN, Arcanes, Twig, Niall Bole, Blake Sutton, Mikayla, Norman Brumm

If you haven't read it, Unbound is quite enjoyable, at least to me! 😁

Plus, book 6 - Expanse is not out!

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Chapter: 236 - Tests

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

noÃ«lle, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle , Joshua Sydney, Pride mystic artificer, Maxine, Emersen , Damon Roberts, Jesse Maggard

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala looked down at the inhuman body on the floor that still leaked the occasional drop of purple, glowing fluid.

She stood within the sealed off vault, deep within Kit. The ground beneath her bare feet was the edge of reality of the pocket space.

The look, texture, and sense of it was a bit nostalgic, reminding her of when she’d first gotten Kit. We’ve come a long way, haven’t we, Kit?

Tala knelt down and smiled, patting the ground. “Thank you, Kit.”

The pouch did not respond. -Feeling nostalgic?-

A bit, yeah. I miss home… She felt a tightness in her chest at the thought. Soon. We have a plan. We’re moving towards that goal.

Alat spoke in her head, clearly trying to distract Tala by drawing her attention back to the automaton’s body, before her, -It looks… warped.-

“Yeah, I noticed that. It almost looks like it hadn’t filled out yet, maybe?” She shrugged. “I’ve no idea how this most advanced one was made. Maybe, part of the process is growing, and it wasn’t ready yet?”

They had found a large vat of the purple liquid, which seemed like Io could have come from it. That was in addition to the larger holding tanks of the same power-saturated liquid.

Tala had considered the idea that Io had been grown, and it would make sense. Io had a far more organic look than the other units, and the automata as a group had acted to delay her at several points. If their goal was to let this final unit be as complete as possible before she reached it, that would track.

Especially if the beginning of that growth marked the guild’s loss of control over their creations. Even while unfinished, Io held mastery over the lesser units, even while growing within the tank.

It had been meant to be a general and hadn’t liked those it was meant to serve. I feel like that might be a common issue…

-Maybe? It’s not like we’ve looked into the historical records of the various forms of government.-

If you think about it: humanity is, generally, led by the strongest Archons, who are also those with the greatest fighting clout against the arcanes, and where the strongest don’t lead, I believe that the strongest chose the leaders. Do we come from a military dictatorship?

-Eh, a benevolent military dictatorship, if anything. Well, it is also more than one, so a benevolent military oligarchy?-

That tracks for the most part. She did wish the secrecy wasn’t required for so much, though. She understood it, but that didn’t make it any more fun.

But that was beside the point.

Io’s body lay, broken on the ground before Tala, the separated head beside it.

“The orb was much larger than Rob is.”

-It probably had another layer added around the consciousness? Or Io was just a more complicated construct?-

“The books will probably tell us.”

At the thought, a bookcase appeared beside her, and she glanced at the titles.

One stood out to her immediately, as it had before she took the books from the guild hold’s library to begin with.

‘Automata’

The book itself began as an almost insultingly simple primer on the creations. Though, as the text progressed, it built upon that simple foundation, growing in complexity.

Tala sat down, a chair appearing under her as she did so. Kit is so convenient. “Thank you, Kit.”

The sanctum did not respond.

She had hours before her next duties, so she read on.

After reaching the midpoint, Tala began to frown. This is enough to build up to creating the basic units. Those I fought first.

-Indeed.-

As she continued, she came to the parts that would allow for the other variants, and finally the creation of Io, though obviously that name wasn’t used.

Tala even thought she found the point in the book at which the guild had likely created Rob a bit before that, a ‘simple artificial consciousness, integrated inextricably with the fount.’

That pretty much settles it. You know, we’ve never asked Rob where he came from…

-Do you really want to talk to it? All Rob ever does is ask to be destroyed.-

No… not at all… She did feel a bit bad. On one hand, she felt like she should honor the orb’s request, but on the other, Rob wasn’t the fount, so it was the equivalent of killing two people because one wanted to die. Though, is Rob even a real person? If that isn’t his soul?

-I have no idea, Tala, what makes a person a person. Regardless, we probably should talk to him at some point.-

Yeah… but not now.

She was only three-quarters of the way through the book.

Obviously, Tala couldn’t build these things, not yet, but the book was set up almost as a series of crafting projects, each of which would lead naturally into the next, growing the craftsman’s competence enough to tackle those that followed.

There was enough vagueness that no two people following the book would have the same results, but the core concepts were there, the structure for building fundamental competencies was unmistakable.

This doesn’t look too hard. I bet I can do this on my own. I just need to find times to sneak down here and get to work.

-Tala.-

I have most of their tools and materials, I could begin on the first project now. The raid on the hold isn’t for another few days. With their notes and tools, I’ll have a jump on them, too.

-Tala!-

But do I really have to start at the beginning?

-It’s a trap!-

Tala jerked, looking up from the book. “What?”

-Around that book… There are mental magics of some kind.-

Her eyes widened as she focused, anchoring her will and really looking.

Sure enough, something about the book seemed to put off an aura of conceptual magic, so subtly woven throughout that she hadn’t noticed even a hint of it.

-I only noticed because we’ve never really had an interest in creating complex things on our own. It was entirely out of character.-

Yeah… It made sense that the guild hadn’t seen the issue.

“So, this book is a trap?”

-Or a means of having external agents built.-

Tala frowned. “And where there’s one…”

-There will be more, yeah.-

So, Tala had evidence that something akin to the Black Legion, if not those automata themselves, were trying to seed knowledge of these dangerous creations in the world at large.

“That’s not concerning at all.”

-Yeah… not in the least…-

Tala looked back toward Io’s body, and then checked the book. “Well, at least we confirmed one thing. Io was definitely grown, and definitely not complete.”

-And if we put it back in the vat, it will begin to grow again.-

“Without the orb, it won’t be able to function…”

-Yeah, so it shouldn’t be a threat. It could be utterly invaluable to be able to study one that was complete.-

Tala hesitated, narrowing her eyes as she examined the magical dimensions around the book. “Are we being influenced, again?”

-I don’t think so… there was nothing that obscured the truth, just something akin to reckless curiosity.-

Yeah, I suppose I’m pretty familiar with that tendency. She formed Flow into a void-knife, and regarded the book before her with her voidsight.

There was nothing obvious.

Well, that wasn’t true. There was an incredibly obvious, pulsing aura of ‘increasing curiosity’ around the book, but she didn’t see anything that would cause foolishness, or anything that would bend the truth.

Not that we really understand conceptual magic.

-You don’t really have to understand what fire is to tell if something is burning.-

So, something could be smoldering beneath the surface?

-Fine… that wasn’t the best analogy.-

Tala grunted, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter. This is too valuable an opportunity to squander, and the risks seem minimal”

She chuckled. “If it gets out of hand, I can just ask Kit to eat it.”

Tala made her desire clear, and the vat appeared just as the bookshelf had.

With casual ease, Tala picked up what had been Io’s body and dumped it in the tank. She then grabbed the head and tossed it…She missed.

-Really?-

Tala just grinned, picking the head up and tossing it again, making it into the vat this time.

She watched as power flowed through the scripts, clearly pulled from the purple liquid.

Nothing happened immediately, at least not at a physical level.

To Tala’s magesight, tendrils of power began snaking their way between the head and torso, while also seeming to slowly seep into every particle of the creation.

Well, I’ll just need to keep an eye on things, check in every so often, I suppose.

She willed herself back up to her training area.

As she did so, she purposely pictured herself without the saorsa-collar once again.

It came along with her anyways.

Like Terry’s collar, it’s tied to me. She wasn’t foolish enough to try to will it away directly. She had absolutely zero doubt that it would fail and trigger the thing to boot.

“Now, you said there were some things you wanted me to test?”

-You got what I asked you to get, so yeah. We’ll start with that ball.-

Tala shrugged, sitting cross-legged and calling the leather ball. It was tightly stitched and sealed with some sort of sealing oil. “What now?”

-Enact a gravitational amplification on just the air within the ball, and cause it to pull in on itself.-

Alright. So, Tala began the process. It was trivially easy, but she knew that Alat had something planned.

Nearly immediately, the ball seemed to deflate just slightly, and within a few minutes, it had contracted inward substantially as the air compacted.

That’s really nicely flexible leather.

Alat seemed to ignore the superfluous thought. -Good. Now, do the same thing with a sphere of open air, the same size as the ball.-

Tala shrugged, and did so, the air compacting inward substantially after a short period.

The air’s compression was distinguishable to her normal sight due to the distortion that was created by the thicker air, and Tala watched it sink to the ground, resting there.

Compressed air is obviously denser than normal air.

“What now?”

-How did you define the first target for the working?-

“All the air within the ball.”

-Good, good. How did you define the second?-

“The air that is within a sphere of this size, centered at this location.”

-That makes sense. Now, change that target in your mind.-

“To what?”

-The air found within a sphere of this size, centered at this location.-

Tala frowned. “Alright.”

For ease, she broke the other two workings, even though they were technically disconnected from her, and not requiring any additional input.

The ball reinflated with a fwoomf, and the air dispersed with a pulse of wind.

So, a foot in diameter, centered there.

She poured power into the working.

Just as with the previous working, the air began to contract, getting more and more compact, and distorting light that passed through it more and more.

There was a difference this time, however. As the affected air contracted inward, more air was pulled into the target zone, thus coming under the parameters of the working.

This immediately had the effect of creating a slight breeze that grew in strength as Tala continued to increase power to the working.

-Stop, but don’t break the effect.-

Tala did so, and the wind continued.

-What is happening, from your perspective?-

“As more air enters, it moves towards the center, which is the greatest concentration of the air to which it is attracted.”

-Have you then made an area of affect?-

Tala huffed a laugh. “Of course not.”

She moved her hand through the space, feeling the thickness as she passed her hand through, but felt no crushing gravity.

It was a bit warm, but not overly so.

The movement of her hand disrupted it slightly, making fun patterns in the distortion that slowly settled after her hand had moved through.

“Like passing my hand through warm water, or near enough.”

-No gravity?-

“No, of course not.”

-Why not?-

“Because the working only acts on the air, not everything entering the area. Alat, you know this. I can’t do area of affect magic. What is the point?”

Alat sent an incredibly happy feeling. -After analyzing holds and dimensional spaces, along with what we learned from the dimensional anchor, this was the last piece I needed to verify. Now, I think I have some things for us to practice, and fun uses of our power to build towards.-

“You’re being very cryptic.”

-By design, my dear Tala. That is by design. We’re done with that one, too.-

Tala dismissed the working, which was still compressing more and more air into it. With a loud concussion, wind blasted outward, carrying with it a pleasant chill.

After enjoying the cool air, Tala sighed. “Well, we have a few more days before the raid. I’ll follow your plan at least until then.”

-How magnanimous.-

“You can have more time if you tell me what this is about.”

-In due time. Shall we begin? I want you to enact it on air that is a set distance from yourself, now.-

“That should work, but if I move too quickly…” Tala cocked her head to the side. “It will cause an explosion of air, which would move me even faster, if just a bit. Is that the point?”

Alat didn’t give up the game.

“Fine, fine. You said you have a lofty goal; the first steps are not the end of the journey. Let’s see what we can do.”

And so, Tala spent what little free time she had over the next days, practicing increasingly odd uses of her gravity magics.

One interesting result, at least from Tala’s perspective, was that she could implement the compression to all but liquefy most of the air at a set distance from herself, meaning that the effect would move with her. It wasn’t fast to set up, but it was relatively easy, and would slow incoming attacks quite a bit.

The problem Tala had foreseen came to pass, in that if she moved very quickly, the compressed air would move outside the effect and disperse. That speed was quite great, depending on the size of the working, but it was a factor to consider.

There was also the problem that if it was even close to all-encompassing around her, it quickly deprived her of breathable air.

That wasn’t the end of the world, but it wasn’t ideal.

She could use the static variant to create hazards across a battlefield if she had time to prepare a space for a fight, but they were rather obviously visible, so she doubted she would use them much. Plus, I’m much more often the aggressor than the defender.

She wasn’t really sure how to feel about that realization, but it seemed to be true by her remembrance.

The most interesting result, from Tala’s perspective, came after Alat had her enact the working on all air within an inch of her arm, directed at the tip of her index finger.

Once the amplification grew great enough, a strong wind began constantly flowing towards her, then down her arm to blast at wherever she pointed. The air would move through the point it was directed at and away from her arm, thus no longer falling under the mental image used as a target. In that way, this method didn’t actually create the partially liquified air.

Once that proved workable, Tala immediately jumped into a pond and began enacting the same working on the water for both her arms.

She held onto a rock at one end of the long holding pond, while the water churned around her.

Do you think this is sufficient?

-I think you’re a bit crazy, but sure. This seems like plenty.-

Tala let go, turning to face down the length of the pond and pointing behind herself.

She immediately moved backwards, the water rushing past her arm pushing her along in the same direction.

What?

It dragged her underwater, and she quickly broke the working, floating to the surface.

What the rust? Oh… The water moving past didn’t push off of her to move, it simply rushed by.

Well, that was silly. Of course it drags me along. She grimaced. What was the point of that, Alat?

-Me? This was your idea.-

Tala sighed, then cocked her head to the side. Wait a minute…

This time, she targeted the water at her feet, and pointed up at the back of her head.

Even as she began building the amplification, she felt the pressure on the bottoms of her feet, the inscriptions for increased surface area working incredibly well.

Tala began giggling.

This is so odd, but it makes complete sense. The water is moving from behind me, so of course I’ll move with it.

She made sure to orient the flow so it went mostly across her back, thus, that would help to pull her upward. At least if I’m remembering how lift works…

-It should work that way, yes.-

When she had built up enough amplification, she let go of the stone, pointing her body down the length of the pond.

Immediately, she took off through the water, moving faster than any fish.

“THIS IS AMAZING!” Or, at least that’s what she tried to shout, but opening her mouth and the slight shift of her body threw off her alignment somehow, and she was suddenly dunked fully underwater, shooting for the bottom.

Tala moved her legs and feet frantically, trying to redirect her movement back to the surface, but she was quickly disoriented.

Even so, Alat helped point her in the right direction, and a moment later, she shot upward, out of the water entirely.

With no water to act on below her feet, the working dispersed, even as Tala arced through the air.

“Rust.” She slammed down on the shore, her breath driven from her chest. “Ow…”

-Yeah, that looked painful.-

But worth it.

-Oh?- Alat’s tone conveyed her knowledge of what Tala meant, along with a desire for Tala to say it anyways.

If I can perfect that in water, there shouldn’t be any reason I can’t use it in the air.

Flight. This could, in theory, allow her to fly!

There were two unfortunate things, however. First, though the working functioned like any other of Tala’s gravity magics, something about it, and her own fundamental understandings, caused a constant drain on her power, and she could feel a similar strain on her inscriptions, though that was fairly sustainable.

Not like the crush or restrain mental constructs.

Even so, she couldn’t set up an energy-free pump, or anything like that.

Alas.

The second sad thing was that, in the end, it wasn’t combat effective for the moment. Thus, it wouldn’t factor into the raid.

The remainder of the time passed in a blur. She filled her time with the performance of her regular duties as Eskau and training, both at Alat’s direction and with Thron.

The day of the raid arrived, and she went to meet up with those who would accompany her.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 237 - House of Ravens

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Ben Morgan, Damon Roberts, Emersen, Jesse Maggard, Joshua Sydney, Maxine, noÃ«lle, PatronTurtle, Pride mystic artificer, Sakari Saastamoinen

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala stretched, twisting to one side, then the other as she walked.

She felt a series of oddly relieving pops with each twist. That’s the spot.

She smiled contentedly, then checked her gear.

Three bloodstars rotated around her head and a fourth floated a bit behind the base of her skull.

Between her neck and that fourth bloodstar, her tungsten rod was fixed, vertically in place, moving with her as if attached, though it never touched her or inhibited her movements in the least.

The tungsten sphere, with a bloodstar at its core, rested just in front of her sternum, and the three defensive discs moved around her body in tight, oscillating orbits.

Flow and Kit hung in counterbalance to one another.

Thron was off with an artificer, discussing the white steel that Tala had gotten from the guild hold. They’d wanted to meet with the man earlier, but he’d been otherwise engaged until that very morning.

What can you do, right?

Her elk-leathers covered her nearly completely. She had grown shoes around her feet and a collar reaching up her neck, so that only her hands and head were uncovered.

As she moved, she could feel the tungsten spheres held tightly against her torso sway ever so slightly, but they didn’t get in the way.

Tala glanced to the side, where Be-thric was walking beside her. “Are we ready?”

Eight soldiers of the House of Blood surrounded her and Be-thric as they moved through the streets of the District of Doors.

Be-thric grinned back towards her. “Unquestionably.”

Tala had been clever with the idea. Most would consider themselves safe within another’s hold.

Be-thric had been meticulous in picking out the specific target. The House of Ravens was a relatively new, minor house, and it had invited several major Houses to this celebration.

Only one had elected to send a representative.

That one major House was a competitor to the House of Blood in several ventures, making the removal of one of their candidate Eskau a worthy move. Even just the taking of her protian weapon would do as much as killing her, arguably more, but they had planned for either eventuality.

Together, Tala and Be-thric had chosen the soldiers to allow for a smooth execution of the strike. A specialized hold-breacher, six soldiers skilled in quick strikes, and a leader who was good at thinking on his feet.

All told, they had likely overplanned, over-prepared, and more than simply Tala, herself, was overkill. Even so, she wanted there to be no room for error.

She hadn’t particularly liked working so closely with Be-thric in the planning, but it couldn’t be helped. If this failed, they wouldn’t get another chance for the acquisition of a protian weapon in this manner. They had to make it count. What I do to get back home.

All told, it would require something going incredibly oddly for anything to be a problem.

Even if a true Pillar of the major House was in attendance, or this minor House was hiding someone of true power, there would be issues but not insurmountable ones, no real problems.

If the City Lord is there, and decides to oppose our action, that would certainly do it.

-Well, of course, but that’s sort of the point of the City Lord. Anything he opposes, within the city, is a no-go. So, this really isn’t any different.-

That was an odd thought, actually. All of arcane society within this area lived under the whim of the City Lord. He could, quite literally, kill them all, and only a few beings in the city could likely even slow him down.

And their opposition would likely cause as much death and damage as the unchecked City Lord, himself, though it would be less directed…

In the end, if the City Lord decided to level half the city, those with power enough to oppose him would likely just grab who they care about and move out of the way.

It was just simpler than fighting, not to mention more likely to succeed.

No one really seemed to mind the dictatorship; it wasn’t like the City Lord had actually done anything of the kind in living memory for most of the populace.

But he could. And Tala didn’t like the feeling of that possibility hanging over her head.

-The powerful always could but worrying about it never helped anyone.-

Thanks for the reassurance…

-I don’t offer reassurance, I offer reality.-

Tala just sighed.

Her attention focused outward once more as she, Be-thric, and the House of Blood soldiers rounded a corner. Her gaze locked on the entrance to the hold in question. The House of Ravens is in for a bad day. Hopefully, they won’t make it worse by resisting.

Their mission was a bit like the whims of a City Lord in that regard. The minor house couldn’t stop them, and if they chose to try it would likely go worse for all involved. It would just be better if the House of Ravens buckled down, got out of the way, and hoped to not attract the ire of those above them.

And that’s likely exactly what they would do.

The door to the House of Ravens’ hold didn’t stand out from the others around it.

It was a simple red, wooden door, between a black and a blue one. On the upper panel, the minor house’s crest, three ravens in flight, seemed to have been burned into the material of the entrance.

There were no guards outside.

There were no defensive fields.

Nothing.

The lead soldier, Ce-annaire, fell in beside Be-thric as he asked, “Pillar Be-thric. Which plan do we implement: a quiet entry or a breach?”

They had prepared for both, deciding to wait on the final decision until they were on the scene.

Be-thric looked to Tala. “Eskau Tali?”

Well. Hmmm…

-Kick down the door, storm in magic blazing and swords swinging, or knock and ask to be invited in, otherwise we have to stand impotently on the threshold.-

That second one was never part of the plan, and what? Why couldn’t we enter without an invitation?

-Superstition? Convenient plot device? Good manners?-

You make absolutely no sense, sometimes.

She made her decision. “Quiet breach. Allowing surrender will get us what we want more cleanly than butchering the lot of them. We have no need to wipe out a minor house, tonight.”

Ce-annaire nodded acknowledgment as he pointed to one of the others, motioning him ahead. The indicated man moved forward at a jog.

Alright, follow the plan.

They strode forward, following the soldier, Saru if Tala remembered correctly.

Saru, a green, hue-folk man, grabbed the door handle and released a small pulse of magic.

There was an audible click before the door swung inward, revealing an open, elegant entry hall.

Another surge of power radiated from the man, and the doorway seemed to distort, allowing them to breach three at a time.

A total of nine entered, three ahead and three behind Be-thric, Tala, and Ce-annaire.

Saru staggered a bit, then turned and quietly headed back toward the House of Blood’s hold, his task complete.

He was barely red to Tala’s magesight.

He spent all his power on those two workings.

-Fascinating.-

The door snapped back to its proper dimensions behind them, swinging shut on weighted hinges.

Right inside, the soldiers drew weapons on the two defenders who had been stationed as guards and doormen.

The soldiers of the House of Blood each utilized a limited subset of the Way of Flowing Blood, obviously only practicing the portions for their given weapon.

The Way of Flowing Blood was a reasonably effective martial art, but where it excelled was when utilized in concert with the House of Blood’s particular protian weapons.

When used in isolation, the various sub-forms for any given weapon were heavily weighted towards offense, which made sense because an Eskau could simply use the forms for a shield or other defensive tool to defend.

They weren’t exclusively offensive, obviously, but the purpose was obvious, nonetheless.

Tala didn’t have that issue, despite being limited to only three of the myriad weapons normally available to an Eskau because her body and armor were a powerful defense.

Though, the issue did go a long way toward explaining why she took more damage than would otherwise be ideal.

Even so, the soldiers didn’t have to fight.

The House of Ravens’ guards saw the House of Blood insignia and immediately took their hands off of their weapons, stepping backwards and dropping to their knees.

They were no fools. They knew their minor house had nothing the House of Blood could possibly want. Moreover, they knew that they would simply die if they resisted, and that would change nothing.

Good. Step two, completed successfully. If someone of prominence was here, or if they had a strong backer, those two would have tried to resist. Their compliance is a good indicator of what lies within.

Now that the assault group from the House of Blood was firmly within the hold, Be-thric spread his arms wide, and his armor distorted into existence around him.

Tala saw him begin to glow within the armor as the protection of light covered him below the gear. He then appeared to catch fire before that fire condensed into what seemed merely to be a heat haze around him.

Tala could no longer feel the heat, even while walking beside him, but she knew that her improved biology wouldn’t be able to withstand the extreme temperature if she tried to strike at him through the defense.

His wearing of the armor was already an attack on the resources of this minor house. The damage to the integrity of the hold from the strain of so many founts, moving in close proximity to each other, would cost a lot of power to repair.

It wouldn’t be something that drained their assets, but it would strain the fount that they had powering the hold, and limit their ability to raise the density of magic within, as they needed to divert power towards the reinforcement and repair.

A lesson in the cost of hosting opponents of the House of Blood.

Tala was both pleased with herself for having come up with the idea, and a bit sickened at how much she enjoyed the puzzle of gaining so much from a single, decisive action.

I really do need to get out of here, soon, or I’m going to start to like it here. She very pointedly did not glance towards Be-thric. She knew that, at the moment, she would have difficulty restraining her hostility towards him, and it would be foolish to give up the game.

Ce-annaire had a map of the hold, and he directed them on the most direct route, allowing them to move through the passageways with quick efficiency.

When the group from the House of Blood encountered servants, the soldiers moved them aside and allowed them to recognize the situation for what it was.

None resisted in the slightest.

Good. These people are just in a bad place at the wrong time. No reason for them to die.

Even so, the soldiers had their magics at the ready, and it was an odd thing, seeing the various powers that the soldiers employed.

Two stood out more than the others. One somehow used shadows like a living part of himself. The other had cut herself and was coated in a thin layer of her own blood. That blood was seemingly completely under her control, and she used it both offensively and defensively.

It wasn’t as strong as armor, or as penetrative as a standard weapon, but it was flexible. Her use of the Way of Flowing Blood was the closest to the true combat style, among the soldiers, but hers had been modified to compensate for the relative weakness of her tools.

They continued, not needing to kill or harm anyone, and reached the dining hall with little issue. The shadow wielder opened the door with a flourish, bowing towards his Pillar to hide his amused smile from those in the dining hall.

The rest of them swept in amidst gasps of surprise, their entrance even causing one scream of startlement.

Tala’s gaze immediately found the candidate Eskau sitting at the head table.

Flow snapped into Tala’s hand even as she strode forward, in front of the others, just as they’d planned.

An act of will suppressed her through-spike, allowing Tala’s truly inhuman visage to be displayed before all those present.

The intricate cage of powerful inscriptions, seemingly carved into reality itself with light, hugged her iron-painted skin.

With a heavy channeling of power into her weapon, Tala pushed Flow into its void-sword form and pointed the weapon at the not-ever-going-to-be Eskau. She knew that the act also caused her eyes to appear as irregular tears in the world, adding to the visual effect. “Surrender your protian weapon, or die.”

Please just surrender. There’s no need to die here. Tala would kill her without hesitation, if necessary; it was already decided, but she would prefer a simpler, more peaceful, outcome.

The hue-folk woman paled slightly, the reaction looking odd on her ash-gray skin. Her eyes looked almost human as they widened at the threat, though the glowing orange irises weren’t natural. An artifact of her power?

Around the room, the House of Raven guards stepped backward and knelt, clearly signaling that they would not interfere.

The target of Tala’s threat stood, brushing her black braid back over her shoulder. “I am Tin-talun, candidate Eskau of the House of the Eternal Fires Within. What reason does the House of Blood have for so assaulting the House of Ravens? Or for seeking to deprive me of what is mine?”

Tala saw the head of the House of the Ravens, predictably a raven beast-man, shrink in his chair just a bit.

He was mostly human in appearance, simply having dark gray skin, black feathers in place of his hair, and incredibly sharp features. Though, to be fair, Tala could only see him from the shoulders up.

His hunching made complete sense as well; no one with even half a brain would want to be a focal point in a contest between two major Houses.

Tin-talun was trying to draw the minor house into the conflict, and the poor man just wanted to stay out of it, and not offend the winner, whoever that would be.

Tala smirked. “I am Tali, Eskau of the House of Blood. No assault has taken place on the House of Ravens. We are gathering the protian weapons required for Pillar Be-thric of the House of Blood. Such is the way of Houses, as I am sure you are aware.” Hey! I didn’t have to pull from Tali for that one.

-Nicely done.-

Tin-talun nodded once.

“Good. We understand one another. Now, I can kill you and take the weapon from your corpse, or you can hand it over and live. Either way, we will leave with the protian weapon, and this celebration can continue in peace. Your choice will simply determine if you are around to enjoy the festivities or if your hosts have a body to dispose of.”

The woman seemed to straighten for a moment, then deflate. “Very well.”

She’s going to attack me.

-Yeah, that’s pretty obvious.-

Tin-talun whipped her hand up and forward. A dagger flew towards Tala, seemingly made of rough stone, run through with molten, glowing cracks. “Then have it!”

Hey, she attacked before she yelled. Good choice that.

-Not every enemy can be trusted to be a fool.-

Thank the stars for that. Can you imagine how boring a world that would be?

The woman vaulted over the table just behind her weapon.

Tala grimaced, changing Flow to its non-void sword form and striking the lava-knife out of the air.

A void form would have worked better, but using void magics very likely could have just consumed the thing, and they needed it intact. First we finish Be-thric’s set, then we can all go home.

As Flow hit the knife, the thrown weapon exploded in a shower of burning rock and molten metal.

The magic defense on Tala’s elk-leathers entirely stopped the portion of the attack that reached her, keeping her from even minor injury.

Huh, that was incredibly weak. No one else had been close enough to be caught in the minor explosion.

Be-thric was largely unnecessary for this venture, but he had come just in case their intelligence had been faulty once again.

They didn’t want a repeat of the bakery incident, with a more hostile person this time.

The guards had accompanied them to deal with the minor house, if necessary.

It didn’t seem like they would be necessary beyond what they had already done.

Tin-talun was still advancing on Tala quickly, but Tala was hardly concerned.

The woman reached out, and the fragments of stone and metal came back together in her hand, forming a greatsword.

What a foolish choice for a weapon form. We’re practically already too close for it to be an effective shape to fight me. Not that there was really a good choice.

Tala reached out with her will and her magic to switch targets for a pair of spheres, and a familiar crack filled the air as they shot for the ashen woman.

Tin-talun responded incredibly quickly, somehow deflecting both spheres with a single movement.

Huh, she’s good with a greatsword, even in close quarters? It still wasn’t as versatile in such tight confines. She’s not half as good as Rane.

-You’ve not seen her fight. Isn’t that a bit of a premature assessment?-

Tala grunted. I can tell. She’ll lose almost immediately.

-If you say so.-

Tala shifted her focus back to the matter at hand. You know, Io deflected my spheres, too. They might be more predictable than I thought? Maybe, I should ramp them up higher in the future…

They had slammed into the ceiling above the combatants.

Tala smiled.

She nodded and calmly spoke. “Fair warning Tin-talun: Those were more than a single strike projectile.”

Tin-talun frowned, watching her warily, but not attacking for the moment.

Tala helpfully pointed up as some dust trickled out of the two broken holes.

The other woman glanced towards the ceiling, seemingly on reflex, and Tala lunged, extending Flow into the form of a glaive. She also willed for her elk-leathers to grow a helmet at the same time.

I do not want to be covered in ‘her.’

Tin-talun jerked her head back down and blocked with a somewhat clumsy sweep of her large weapon. Even so, Tala hadn’t tried to be overly fast or hard to block, allowing Tin-talun to easily deflect the glaive thrust.

The ashen woman looked thoroughly confused as Tala sprang backward once more. “What was the point of that silly misdirection?”

Then, the tungsten spheres worked themselves free of the ceiling, and the air cracked once again.

Tin-talun’s head burst from a dual impact before the woman could react.

Tala was blessedly protected from the splatter by her helmet. Just as I planned.

She quirked a smile, speaking to the corpse but loudly enough that everyone present would hear. “Since you asked: I find that the truth is often a convenient distraction.”

After Tin-talun had been ‘tricked’ to look up once, she had been slower to respond to potential feints or distractions from above her again.

Tala stepped forward and caught the greatsword, pulling it from the dead hands, even as Tin-talun’s headless body fell limply to one side.

Tala released her hold on her through-spike, and the illusion snapped back in place, leaving the appearance of a rather unassuming, small, human woman.

Without another word, Tala turned, strode to Be-thric, and presented the sword to him. He smiled and accepted the proffered weapon.

Without any acknowledgement or gesture to the members of the House of Ravens surrounding them in the dining hall, the group from the House of Blood departed, their goal accomplished.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 238 - Preparations for Departure

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

Sakari Saastamoinen, Pride mystic artificer, PatronTurtle , noÃ«lle, Maxine, Joshua Sydney, Jesse Maggard, Emersen , Damon Roberts, Ben Morgan

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala accompanied Be-thric through the gate of the City Lord’s estate, Thron and Gallof each walking at a measured distance behind the one they served.

The day had finally arrived, and they were to leave for Croi in just a few hours. It had been a week since their raid on the House of Ravens, and the city was abuzz with talk and rumors about the House of Blood.

Some thought they had taken the Game of Houses too far, but most seemed to see the lack of casualties within the minor house as a sign of both the power and the restraint of the House of Blood.

After this last acquisition, it would be difficult to get more protian weapons in Platoiri. Every candidate Eskau of every House was seemingly on edge.

Even so, Be-thric was overjoyed by the results, and even Sanguis was pleased. The elder Pillar had even officially delegated his vote to Be-thric for the upcoming conclave of the Pillars of the House of Blood.

Which brought them back to this day.

If Tala was to leave the city, the City Lord would need to either remove or modify the saorsa-collar.

If he removed it, Tala would have to seriously consider escaping sooner than she planned.

Doing so would mean being hunted more quickly, and likely having to fight, run, and hide the whole way back to the human lands.

While that wasn’t ideal, if it got her home sooner, it might be worth it.

Tala didn’t actually know how they would be traveling, and every time she’d asked, Be-thric had been rather cryptic, simply smiling and saying, ‘You’ll see soon enough.’

Because that’s not unnecessarily ominous or anything.

-He’s been fine lately. It’s probably some sort of pleasant surprise.-

Yeah, all he did was kidnap us and brainwash us into being his loyal servant and slave. No reason to doubt the guy.

-You know that’s not what I meant…-

The sun was not yet up, but the guard at the gate had been expecting them.

The Pillar, Eskau, and two adjuncts climbed the tower and found the City Lord exactly as Tala had found him each time that she’d attended him.

“So, you’ve come about the human’s collar?” The City Lord’s voice sounded almost lazy, but it was heavily laced with power, regardless.

Thron and Gallof dropped to their knees and bowed. Tala and Be-thric each bowed their heads in acknowledgement.

It was Be-thric who responded, “We have.”

“Are you going by mundane routes or through Doman-Imithe?”

“I had planned a route through Doman-Imithe, but recent reports show a shift in the paths. Do you know of a safe way to Croi?”

The City Lord cocked his head, and Tala could imagine his self-satisfied smile. “You could not afford my guidance.”

He still had not turned around.

“Is that where your conclave will take place?”

Be-thric nodded. “All from the House of Blood eventually flows through Croi.”

The City Lord snorted. “That may once have been true, but Corinis is not as he once was.”

Be-thric sucked in a breath, anger flickering across his face. Still, his response was measured. “Pillar Corinis mourns his brother still, City Lord. That is not weakness.”

The City Lord finally turned around then, his eyes hard. “We all mourn the passing of the Mind Flayer. I counseled war in response, but I was in the minority. Even so, eternity is unending and all valleys indistinguishable by the metrics of infinity.”

“Save the valley of death.”

“For those who enter it? Yes. But for those who simply pass by?” He shook his head. “It is but another ripple.”

Be-thric was clenching his jaw, clearly furious.

The Mind Flayer is dead? That... is actually a relief.

-Not that we knew much about him.-

Except that he ripped the knowledge of how to make the Black Legion from the mind of every human and arcane alike.

-Any idea what Doman-Imithe is?-

No, and by the look on Gallof and Thron’s reactions, neither do they. She was keeping a close eye on everything with her aspect-mirrored perspectives. It was somewhat hard to read the two arcanes, given that they were still kneeling with their faces to the floor, but she thought she could detect confusion and curiosity from them both. Something to research later, I suppose.

-Be-thric might just tell us.-

She sighed internally. You are probably right…

She didn’t really want to talk to him more than necessary, but it would be foolish to not engage with such an obvious source of information on the topic.

Be-thric seemed to have gotten himself under control when he spoke again, “Regardless, City Lord, it seems that we will take a more mundane route.”

“Very well.” The City Lord snapped his fingers, and Tala froze.

She was utterly unable to move, as a metal spear appeared, floating beside her, pointing at her neck.

He then gestured, and the spear plunged into her collar. By all rights it should have gone through into her throat, but just like the other time the collar had been adjusted, the item simply sank in, shifting the magics within.

“I have allowed the collar to remain un-triggered between here and Croi, within that city, and for a return trip. I have allowed three weeks for that venture. If more time is needed, seek a modification from the City Lord of Croi. I’m sure that she would have no trouble altering a collar of my creation.”

The sparkle of malice within the City Lord’s eyes made Tala doubt the assertion. It seemed that this City Lord did not particularly like the City Lord of Croi, and thought her abilities lacking.

Be-thric bowed his head once more. “Thank you, City Lord.”

Again, the City Lord waved the comment away. “Eskau Tali, you will attend me promptly after your return, be it in three weeks or a day.”

Tala nodded. “Yes, City Lord.”

“Good.” He simply turned back to his writing table, clearly dismissing them with the action.

The four left without a word, the silence of the City Lord setting that expectation.

After they once again were out of the City Lord’s estate, Thron and Gallof each breathed a sigh of relief.

Gallof glanced at his former candidate Eskau with a smile. “For all we missed out on, I am not sad that interacting with him is among that which is no longer expected of us.”

Thron grunted and nodded.

Gallof then turned towards the estate that they just left and bowed. “No offense meant, City Lord.”

Tala almost questioned the arcane’s actions, but then realized that it was not unreasonable to assume they had been overheard, and in either case, the placation was likely wise.

Be-thric shook his head slightly. “He does not listen to every comment about him within Platoiri, and if he did, and reacted, he would wipe us all out and be done with it. There is not a person in this city who hasn’t complained about something relating to him or how this city is run. Such is natural. No one and nothing can please even a single individual all the time, let alone a population of this size.”

Gallof bowed towards Be-thric. “Thank you for the wisdom, my Pillar.”

Be-thric waved him off. “Tis nothing much besides the truth.”

Tala thought the time was right, so she asked, “Pillar Be-thric?”

“Yes, my Eskau?”

She was proud that she didn’t flinch in the slightest at his response. “What is the Doman-Imithe?”

Thron and Gallof both perked up, clearly interested in the answer as well.

Be-thric seemed to consider. “I had hoped to show you.”—He looked between the three.—“Show all of you, actually, but it was not to be. I cannot say much, save that it is a place of dangerous magics, but little of intelligence. For those of power, it is a simpler, often safer, means of traveling between known points.”

“For those without power?”

Be-thric smiled humorlessly. “Any not at least part-way through the Maturation of their power wouldn’t survive to take a breath. Those fully Mature can survive if they are careful. More power, as stands to reason, increases one’s ability to come through unscathed.”

A place that is nearly instantly lethal to anyone below Orange, below Fused?

-Now, I’m interested.-

Yeah, me too. “How do you enter it?”

Be-thric grimaced slightly. “I cannot say, not yet. Hopefully the conclave will open that information as well.”

They were walking back towards the House of Blood’s hold in the District of Doors.

Gallof cleared his throat. “My Pillar, with the…less conventional means of travel unavailable, whatever it may have been, what needs doing for our venture?”

Be-thric sighed. “That is an excellent question. Please procure a permit and appointment for ballista travel.”

“Very good. Four hours?”

“If you would, yes.”

Thron was nodding, but Tala frowned. A quick, virtually unnecessary check with Tali’s memories showed that Tali didn’t know what it was either. “Ballista travel? I assume you don’t mean ballistic?”

Gallof shook his head. “No, no, Eskau Tali. A small, expanded space is attached to a ballista bolt, then fired from a heavily enhanced and incredibly accurate siege engine. Such a projectile can obviously not land within our destination city, but it can get us within about ten miles, compared to the four hundred we would have to cross otherwise.”

Four hundred? Alat… if that takes us south.

-That will be out of range of even our section of the Archive.-

Thron nodded. “It is incredibly expensive, but we should be in the city just after sunset. With the conclave in two days, any other method would be cutting it close.”

That’s… that’s sort of genius, depending on how it’s done. She was trying to look past her sudden concern.

-Could such things be implemented to augment or replace caravans?-

Possibly? “Are there no dangers to such a method?”

Be-thric nodded. “Of course. The magic-resonance from the flight will likely call beasts to the point of launch, the point of landing, and draw them after us all along the flight path. We will have a battle on our hands when we exit, but it should not be too great a trial.”

Tala found herself nodding. “And that’s why a permit is needed on this end.” And likely why such things aren’t used between human cities.

“Precisely.”

Tala cleared her throat and tried to act casually. “Which direction is Croi in?”

Thron grunted. “Southeast, but mostly east.”

She nodded, keeping her relief from showing. “Huh.” Should still be in range, then.

That was a blessing and a half.

Gallof bowed. “I will head to the administrative offices, then to the local ballista travel specialist most in favor with the House of Blood at the moment.”

Be-thric nodded. “I leave it in your hands, my adjunct.”

With that the tall, gray-skinned, white bearded arcane departed, a smile on his lips.

The Pillar didn’t look at the others as they continued to walk, and he addressed them, “Make your own preparations for departure.”

Thron bowed and Tala grinned. There was an experiment that she’d been hoping to try. “As you say. Where shall we meet?”

“The exit of the House of Blood’s hold in three hours.”

Thron bowed and thanked the Pillar for his guidance.

They arrived and parted ways.

Tala immediately tossed Kit against the nearest wall.

Thron noted the placement and went to get them a large breakfast.

Good man.

Be-thric went deeper into the hold to do…whatever it was he had to do. Tala didn’t really care.

-I’m so glad we have time to keep trying this!!-

I know, right? Tala had had the idea late the previous night, and had spent the last hours before the trip to see the City Lord in final preparations.

The door into Kit opened on her testing area, deep in the heart of Kit.

She closed the door, and it vanished, revealing the hall that had been behind it. A purple glow now came from that end of the hall.

Tala had been checking on the automaton’s growth over the last week or so, and it was coming along nicely. It already looked much more human in proportion, and the power within was amazing.

There were still no signs of a mind, consciousness, or any magics of animation. So, that was a relief.

But that was a different project, and her time was limited.

Before her, a simple ten-foot cube was hollowed out in the surrounding dirt and stone.

It extended before, above, and to either side of her, the entrance she stood at being in the bottom center of one of the sides.

With a grin, Tala targeted all of it. One thousand cubic feet.

That wasn’t a part of the target-lock, obviously, but it was good for her to remember, to ensure her math had been correct.

The target was a combination of specifying this exact subset of air and a consideration of it as being useful compressed as ‘Tala’s first air sphere.’

She’d found that applying a label to her targeting was the easiest way to break the working, because all that breaking the working required, if so labeled, was firmly and unequivocally deciding to label the target something else.

But that was beside the point.

Join. She aimed the amplification at itself and began ramping up the gravitational attraction of the air to other parts of the locked-onto particles.

She’d initially tried variations of the ‘all air within this space’ amplification, but she found that that made the latter steps impossible.

The air began to compress inward, drawing more air in to fill the now vacant space. This moved air was not affected by the working directly, simply filling in the space that the affected air had vacated. Long tubes up to the surface allowed that air to be drawn down from the main area of the sanctum.

The distortion of light through the air became easier to see the more the air compressed.

At first, the large sphere pulled up, off of the edge of reality that was the floor. But it soon lost most semblances of buoyancy and floated down, settling into place on the hard surface.

Tala was taking it slowly with the amplification, checking the magics and verifying the integrity of the working throughout. This was more amplification than she’d ever applied to one working, at least to her memory.

Near the end, the distorted transparency of the air began to cloud, replaced by a mainly blue-green matte color, shot through with red, black, and true-blue.

The colors became more and more distinct until it seemed that the entirety of the result was made of the colored material.

Then, the black and blue faded towards red and were wholly subsumed, leaving red and blue-green that both became more and more reflective, taking on a metallic appearance.

It had taken right around six minutes, and the new creation of compressed air reached almost precisely one-cubic-inch.

A little faster than I calculated, even going much slower than I had to. Nice.But what in zeme happened to it? She walked forward and placed her hand on the small sphere.

It felt hard. She was able to pick it up, but just barely. The round surface and the small size made getting a grip on the thing trickier than she’d expected. Plus, the surface was oddly low-friction.

In the end, she was only able to lift it by getting her fingers around the sides and under, not relying on friction at all.

By her calculations, and the feel in her hand, she would place the weight at just about eighty-three pounds. Around nineteen pounds heavier than a tungsten sphere of the same size.

She hadn’t really accounted for the air being slightly cooler underground, so it ended up heavier than she’d planned for, but not too much. Not that that’s a problem.

It felt warm, too. Not hot, because she’d moved slowly and allowed it to equalize as it compressed, but it was definitely quite a bit warmer than room temperature. So, it should shrink, just a bit, as it cools off.

She laughed, tossing up and catching the highly compressed, solidified air.

Alat suddenly communicated confusion. -Wait… Tala?-

Yeah?

-How heavy is tungsten?-

If I remember correctly, it’s around fifty-four pounds per cubic inch. Why?

Alat pulled up their notes, which appeared like pages in front of Tala that were invisible and intangible to anyone else.

See, right…here…— Oh…

Alat began laughing as they both rechecked all their work. They had meticulously calculated how much ‘air’ they would need to compress and what level of compression that would require.

The one problem?

Tala had missed a decimal point when copying over the weight of tungsten, which they were aiming to mimic.

-A cubic inch of tungsten only weighs about half a pound.- Alat’s laugh became a bit of a manic cackle. -We overshot the density we were aiming for by nearly a factor of one-hundred-fifty!-

Tala sighed. “Well, that’s embarrassing. How did we miss that?”

-We never rechecked the input numbers, themselves, just the equations and the math.- Alat’s mirth had quickly subsided to giggles. -That sphere is…Well, it’s much more than we were aiming for.-

That’s for sure. Tala sighed. Should I disperse it?

-No! That is like a siegestone next to a pebble. Save it, it's for an emergency.-

I suppose you’re right. Even a passing consideration made it clear that having this as an ‘emergency measure’ could only be useful.

-On the plus side, it worked.-

Well, we knew it would. Tala was still feeling pretty embarrassed.

-It’s pretty interesting to learn that it seems air isn’t transparent when solid.-

Yeah, who would have thought?

-Mages who study this kind of thing, I suppose.-

Tala shook her head, chuckling. Well, if this is going to be an emergency tool, I should probably make it actually useful. Seems like now is time for the next steps.

She targeted ‘Tala’s first air sphere’ and reduced its gravity with regard to the ground below.

That was accomplished with ease, and that let the ball stay basically wherever she placed it.

With a grin, she made a second one, basically identical to the first, this time labeling it ‘Tala’s second air sphere.’ If I’m bringing a siege weapon, I might as well bring two.

Also, she couldn’t really ramp up the targeted gravity of her sphere without a second one.

With that second sphere the proper size, and its gravity attraction downward basically removed, she took the two spheres, and amplified their gravitation toward each other, just as she did for her tungsten spheres.

It worked perfectly.

Soon, they were pinched tight on either side of a piece of leather extending from her elk-leathers, held close to her side, near her hip.

Tala laughed again. “This is amazing!”

-Congratulations, Tala. Masterfully done.-

Tala turned, and felt an odd resistance. Oh…rust. I just added around a hundred-sixty pounds of inertia resistance to all of my movements. That’s going to get me killed.

Her stomach gurgled.

Right. I can decide what to do about it later.

With a thought, she moved herself to her dining room just in time to see the last servant stepping out through Kit’s exit, and the door swinging shut.

Thron saw her and smiled. “Perfect timing, Eskau Tali!”

She sighed, but had to acknowledge that the servants might have heard him. So, she didn’t correct his usage of the formal language.

“Thank you for placing the entrance in here. That made things much easier.”

Tala shrugged. “Of course.”

She looked at the spread of food laid out before her, most of the ingredients originating from her own sanctum as more and more of the food production had come into full swing.

“Thorn, this is amazing. Thank you.”

He smiled and bowed. “It is my pleasure to serve.”

His eyes flicked to her side and widened slightly.

“So… it worked? Or… what are those?”

She grinned triumphantly. “It worked perfectly. Apparently, solidified air isn’t clear?”

Thron grunted. “Well, glass can be made from sand, so it’s not like things that can be clear always are.”

“That’s true enough.”

“It sounds like we will get to field-test them soon enough.” He tilted his head to one side, clearly still looking at the insanely compressed air. “They almost look like metal marbles, all polished and smooth. Though, I’ve never really seen metals exactly that color before. May I touch them?”

“Sure.”

He reached forward and poked the spheres. “Amazing. They seem harder than almost anything I’ve ever felt. May I try to corrode one?”

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Later. If it works, somehow, it might cause rapid expansion, and that would ruin this food.”

“Ahh, of course. That was thoughtless of me.” He looked a bit ashamed, but still incredibly curious. Finally, he shook his head and turned towards the table. “Let us eat.”

Tala didn’t need to be told twice.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 239 - An Excellent Plan

A note from JLMullins

A special thank you to MM's patrons:

[Patron list pulled the night before posting]

Transcendent:

noÃ«lle, Ben Morgan, Sakari Saastamoinen, PatronTurtle, Joshua Sydney, Damon Roberts, Emersen, Maxine, Pride mystic artificer, Jesse Maggard

<Find the rest below the chapter>

Tala and Thron finished their larger-than-usual meal, chatting about small things.

As Tala finished up her portion and Thron nursed his third tankard of acid, they finally came back around to more serious topics.

The dwarf started, “I did finally find an artificer who was able to give me more than platitudes and generalities about the white metal from that guild’s hold.”

“So, you finally got an appointment with Cerdai?” Tala grinned. That was the artificer who’d helped combine the void-sword with Flow.

Thron quirked a smile in return. “Yeah. He really does seem to be the best.”

“So, what did you learn?”

“It’s an unknown alloy that responds to magic and will-power to change state and shape without the need for heat or outside force.”

He pulled out the bar that she had given him. As he held it, Tala saw his magic move through it, and it changed form, lengthening into that of a crude sword.

“It acts like an infused item, but without any spell-lines either forced or naturally imbued. It simply works this way by nature. It can be made harder or more durable. It can’t really be flexible without joints, and I don’t have the mastery to make something articulated. It seems to be its own skill, similar to aura, power, or will control, while being distinct from them.”

“Fascinating.” Tala reached out and pulled a bar of the metal from the air. Thanks, Kit.

“If integrated into items, it can theoretically have preset states that it will return to, allowing for self-repair without the need of a will to guide the shaping.”

Huh, I don’t suppose I ever left one of the automata alone with an injury long enough for it to heal.

-Yeah, you pretty much destroyed them once you engaged them. Except Io.-

Except Io, but Io was so different in all regards that I thought that its self-repair was a feature of the more advanced model rather than the metal itself.

Tala focused on the bar in her hand and tried to push power into it. She felt meta-physical pathways with the metal, that were similar to those in her elk-leathers and in Flow, but they seemed…less defined? Rather than forest paths each leading off in a different direction, they seemed like a prairie after the passage of a herd.

The paths crisscrossed back and forth in seemingly random patterns, while all generally moving in a similar direction.

Fascinating.

-Well, we can begin experimenting with it. It would be good for our overall control.-

I knew you hated the magic-nest as much as I did!

Alat grumbled slightly. -Fine. Yes. That thing is devilishly difficult.-

“Cerdai also made an interesting claim.”

That got Tala’s attention. “Oh?”

“He said that the void magics in your equipment should allow the absorption of this material directly into any item it is present in. He warned that it would likely do nothing for your weapon, except maybe change its color when not in void-form, but your clothing? He was quite sure that it should be integrate-able.”

Her eyes widened. With expectant hands, she pressed the ingot to the sleeve of her left arm.

Nothing happened.

Thron cleared his throat. “He did say that you would have to will the integration, specifically focusing on the void-power within the garments.”

Tala grunted and did so. I suppose I shouldn’t have it expected to just take in anything that touched it. I really wouldn’t want that to begin with.

The metal seemed to liquify, being drawn down into her elk-leathers, where it vanished.

Does this mean…? She tried to manipulate the clothing, to make armor, starting with a left vambrace.

White armor blossomed into existence around her left arm, but no more came.

So, I’m limited by the mass of metal I’ve absorbed? She felt like she could stretch it out some more, but she’d specifically focused on it being armor, and so it wouldn’t become too thin.

-It seems so.-

The armor itself was a bit odd. It seemed to retain some of its liquid properties.

Tala felt like she could force it into the form of standard plate armor, but the elk-leather’s direct connection to her soul, to her will, allowed for something far more…flexible.

As she focused on the garments, she could feel the metal that was a part of it, like a reserve of material, all being utilized at the moment.

So, I can’t grow more like I do with the leather. Good to know. She thought for a moment. Seven or eight of these ingots should be enough. To make a full set of armor.

Thankfully, Thron knew she had more than that. I think I told him that I have twelve?

-Yes, yes you did. How do you not know that? You have perfect memory.-

Perfect memory doesn’t mean I remember everything all the time. It means I can remember everything, and that is what I was doing, when you supplied the answer, and made it unnecessary.

-Rust me, I’m spoiling you.-

No, you’re helping.

She quickly pulled out seven more bars and willed them to meld with the elk-leathers.

They melted into the material with ease.

Tala then followed her connection with the elk-leathers and flexed her power and her desire, causing her outfit to change, metal flowing over the surface of her clothing as well as her previously bare skin to cover her completely, even coating her head.

From the outside, she could see through her mirrored perspective. She looked like she had been dipped in metal, fully coated.

She knew it hugged her closely on the inside, but it seems that her desire for ‘armor’ had influenced the shape, and the exterior was much more uniform, being thicker around her vital areas, leading to a much less nuanced visage.

“That’s…disconcerting.” Thron was staring at her, wide-eyed.

It felt odd to move in it, and she was forced to maintain a constant connection and funnel of power into the armor.

She also couldn’t breathe, but that wasn’t too much of a problem. If she needed to, she could make air holes, or retract it from around her nose or mouth entirely. All the better to exhale destruction with, my dear.

-You’re talking to yourself again.-

I’m talking to you.

-So, I’m your dear?-

…Yes, my dear Alat.

Alat snorted within Tala’s head. -Fine. Have your fun.-

When she tried to withdraw her will, the metal locked into place. It was a terrifying moment before she reestablished constant control.

Well, that’s irritating.

-It’s nice that it can allow you to move, though.-

Yeah, one more thing to train my endurance in, I suppose.

She altered her connection, forcing the armor into a more traditional shape.

It wasn’t nearly as covering, but it didn’t require constant input in this form.

It also uses a lot less of the material.

Thron grinned. “Seems like you should test it out. Want to spar?”

She quirked a smile. “Sure, I think we have time.”

* * *

Tala, Thron, and Be-thric arrived at the exit to the House of Blood’s hold at nearly the same time.

Tala and Thron exited Kit, allowing Tala to pull the dimensional storage off the wall and hang it from her belt.

Be-thric came from deeper in the hold, sturdy boots in evidence on his normally slippered feet.

Tala had left her siege-spheres within Kit, deciding that having to pull them from the pouch was better than allowing their inertia to slow each of her movements.

She had chosen to only manifest the white metal as bracers for the time being, not really wanting to walk around in full armor at the moment.

Be-thric looked to her bracers and smiled. “Well, those are quite lovely, my dear Eskau.”

“Thank you.” She pasted on a smile that was convincing enough, blessedly.

Gallof entered the hold a minute later. “Good, good, you’re all here.”

Tala frowned. “How did you arrive right about when we did?”

“I’ve been checking every so often. I had some tasks in the neighboring holds, so it was easy enough to do.”

She grunted. That made sense, she supposed.

The gray man smiled. “Shall we?”

There were no objections, so off they went.

Gallof lead them through the relatively busy streets to the south-eastern edge of the city.

Both Tala and Tali had stayed mostly in the core of Platoiri, so the sights were relatively new.

The outer portions were actually very mundane, though the buildings looked much older than Tala was used to. I suppose that’s the result of human cities having such a short lifecycle. The oldest building I’ve ever seen was less than three hundred years old.

She hesitated. Wait, Makinaven was older, right? But those aren’t really buildings. I doubt they re-hollow out the tree every cycle.

They soon reached a large work yard, in the center of which rested a massive ballista.

Though, if it’s shooting four hundred miles, it’s smaller than I’d have expected.

The four of them crossed the yard and found a squad of five Elders, decked out for war, surrounding the siege weapon.

They shouldn’t be needed as the magical resonance should clearly be moving away from the city, but the guards are likely wise.

In addition to the Elders, there were a dozen workmen, adding last minute bits of magic to the machine and the projectile.

Incongruously, a door was set, hard up against the side of the ballista, connected to the bolt by strings of power.

Thron spoke under his breath so that Tala could just barely hear him with her enhanced ears. “The door will vanish once we are inside, and we will be ejected from the pocket-space when the bolt shatters on impact at the far end.”

“Thanks.” Her response was a bit louder than his, but not much. She’d learned that his hearing was insanely good. Apparently, all dwarves had super-human sense. Not very fair, that.

She supposed that she had a limitless source of power in her back, so she likely won out on that one.

Gallof talked to a workman, and the four of them were ushered through the door.

The entrance was closed behind them, and the door vanished, leaving only a singular hole about the size of Tala’s finger. The link with reality.

The space inside was incredibly sparse.

The walls were entirely edges of reality, with a bench made up of the same running around the outside.

There was just enough room for each of them to sit, legs pointing towards the middle. It was just enough that they didn’t feel terribly cramped.

Be-thric looked to Gallof and cocked an eyebrow.

Gallof reddened. “My apologies, my lord Pillar. This was the only one available before the conclave.”

Be-thric just sighed. “I would have loved for my Eskau to see outside as we flew, but this will do, I suppose.”

“See outside?” Tala hadn’t expected that possibility.

Gallof turned and awkwardly bowed to her in the small space. “The more luxurious bolts are designed to allow the passengers to see outside in all directions. It feels very much like flying but without the wind or danger.”

“Interesting.” She bit the side of her lip in thought. “If I may, how much did this cost?”

“This one?”

“Yes.”

Gallof quoted a price that caused her to pale. It was equivalent to around a hundred ounces of gold, back in the human cities.

“And a luxury one?”

“About three times that.”

“Well. That is certainly good to know.” There is no way I will ever be getting one of these on my own.

The sound from outside was coming through the small hole, muffled and a bit distorted.

It sounded like a countdown, but even with her enhanced hearing Tala was only mostly certain.

There was a surge of power, the backwash also traveling through the opening, then the light coming through the opening changed, and a low, melodic whistling began.

It was a soothing, deep note. Deeper than any human mouth could generate with a whistle.

Gallof leaned back. “And we’re off.”

Tala nodded appreciatively. “Fantastic inertial isolation. I didn’t feel even a hint of movement.”

Thron grinned. “We’d be in a bad way if it wasn’t. We hit full speed in under a second.”

“What is full speed?”

“About four hundred miles per hour.”

So, just more than eighteen times gravity? That wouldn’t have been pleasant, but I don’t think I’d have died.

-You would probably have died. You would have come back, but it would have been at least a low-level healing across your entire body, and I’d bet I’d have had to rebuild your mind from nearly scratch. Your brain would definitely have fared the worst.-

“Well, I’m grateful for the isolation, then.” Tala smiled genially.

“Indeed.” Thron leaned back, pulling out a book.

Gallof and Be-thric did the same, so Tala decided to, as well.

What she really wanted to read was ‘Automata,’ but doing that in front of the three other passengers would have been…unwise to say the least.

So, instead, she pulled out a random book, and had Alat super-impose ‘Automata’ overtop of it, based on her memory of scanning through the entire thing.

The no-longer-Io body seemed to be nearing maturation, and Tala wanted to know what she could do with the automaton.

As they flew, Tala felt the reverberation of power coming through the opening and could only imagine the level of magical resonance they were creating outside.

This would be an insane way to travel in the human lands. Can you even imagine?

-Well, if there were squads ready to defend the occupants and cargo upon landing…- Alat conveyed uncertainty. -I suppose it would depend on how it looks when we land. Here isn’t exactly analogous to home, but it isn’t that far off.-

Tala grinned, playing it off like she’d read something entertaining. You know, it might be a good way to clear out a region.

-I do think the City Builders lure in all the magical beasts of an area before they start building, purge the lot of them to avoid issues later on.-

Yeah, I remember reading that. How do they make the purging permanent?

-We were going to find out when we visited the city construction sites…-

We’ll get around to that. Tala put a bright spin on her thoughts. She needed to stay positive. This very trip was to arrange for the return to a human city. So, so soon.

-I know. It’ll be fun to see.-

The rest of the flight passed rather uneventfully.

After nearly an hour, Be-thric looked up. “Be ready. We should be impacting in less than five minutes.”

They all put away their books, and Tala cleared her throat. “I have a plan for our landing, based on what I understand of the situation and our capabilities.”

The other three regarded her in silence, clearly interested in her opinion and plan.

“Gallof will make a defensive structure in which Pillar Be-thric will wait out the fight in comfort with Gallof at his side. Thorn should provide a layer of protection overtop the creation, from inside naturally. I will deal with the magical creatures.”

Gallof shrugged and began building a working.

The gray man’s specialty was larger workings, specifically with rock.

Thron cocked his head to the side. “Yeah, that seems like a fine plan to me. There really shouldn’t be anything above Elder, right?”

Be-thric seemed to consider. “No, there shouldn’t be. Are you sure, my Eskau? We could all deal with the attacking beasts together.”

“I am sure. This is what I am here for.” After a moment’s thought, Tala added, “That said, you all will be locked under stone. Thorn should leave an opening in his defense on the far side of the first enemies we spot. If I get into trouble, I’ll come around and cut into the stone. If you sense that, come out and support me.”

Assuming I can get enough time to do that… sure.

-Hey! That means Terry can fight with us. I think he’s been getting bored.-

Be-thric nodded and grinned. “That sounds like an excellent plan.”

Less than two minutes later, a wave of power washed over them, and Tala found herself standing near the top of a rise in a relatively flat plain, surrounded by splintered wood.

There’s not even a crater from the impact. Fascinating.

A city was partially visible in the distance. And, we’re just over ten miles from the city, I’d guess.

That was some pretty accurate targeting.

Thron, Gallof, and Be-thric stepped over to the side and Gallof released his working, causing a bowl to be hollowed out below them, and a thick dome of stone to grow over top.

It looked almost like a great hemisphere of stone, slowly rotating up out of the ground until it finally met new stone on the other side.

From Tala’s brief glance, she would bet that it was at least three or four feet thick.

Nicely done, Gallof.

A moment later, Tala saw power that was distinctly Thron’s wash over the surface, stabilizing and forming a barrier of corrosion.

She walked around the new, mini-fortification and found the gap in the acidic protection on the south-eastern side.

That makes sense, most of the creatures should come from the opposite direction.

In retrospect, assuming that they’d wait until the first creatures were spotted, in order to position the gap had been a bit silly.

I’ll learn and have a better plan next time.

-Progress, not perfection. That’s the goal.-

Tala just smiled.

After a deep breath, she walked the dozen or so feet up to the top of the rise and looked around.

I don’t detect any far-seeing magics or anything else indicating observers.

-Neither do I.-

Tala saw the first magical beasts approaching from the surrounding lands. They’ll be here in less than a minute.

Most were coming from the north-west, along their flightpath.

With a smile, Tala opened Kit, looking down into it as she spoke. “Hey, Terry! Want to do some hunting?”

A note from JLMullins

Archon:

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Chapter: 240 - Not the Best Plan

A note from JLMullins

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Tala screamed internally as she cut down a wolf the size of a pony, the last remaining one of a pack of twelve.

Okay. This was not the best plan.

-I don’t know what you’re complaining about. Things are going just fine.-

Tala spun towards her next foe. Unable to get Flow around in time, she punched her armored fist into the side of the head of a charging thing.

It looked like a unicorn but wrong. It was much, much bigger. Its head was forward, instead of up like a horse, and it actually had two horns on its nose, instead of one on its forehead. One was much more massive, curved and vicious looking, while the other was closer to a nub of bone.

It’s like the hulking armored knight of unicorn-kind.

-It is pretty outrageous.-

Aside from its mundane features, the magic about it was overbearing.

Even though Tala’s fist connected solidly, and she felt the crunch of breaking bone, she lost out in both mass and magics.

The thing easily weighed three thousand pounds, and with a magical weight of an Elder.

She was physically thrown back as the front horn struck her shoulder, and the wave of kinetic energy sent into her with the hit flung her away at even greater speed to skip across the ground, back towards the dome of stone that housed Be-thric, Thron, and Gallof.

She was able to catch the ground briefly as she skipped along and flipped up to land on her feet, skidding to a stop. That avoided too much concussive damage, but it was still highly unpleasant.

Terry was, as usual, a blur of teleportation and blood. They’d already been fighting for close to five minutes, and things were going well so far, but she had a growing headache.

How are there so many creatures?!

More continued to arrive, almost all coming from the north-west.

Following our trail…no wonder this isn’t a commonly used form of travel. Tala understood why a mandate on those traveling like this was to deal with the truly magical creatures that followed in their wake. She couldn’t imagine the sort of devastation these creatures could have caused if they simply fell upon the nearest city. Even if defenders were close at hand, quite a few normal people would still die.

-Still common enough to be able to depart with a few hours’ notice.-

That’s…fair.

The battle unicorn—bicorn?—was still coming, though it was looking a little worse for wear with half of its head caved in, and one horn missing. Hey, it’s a unicorn, now.

-You’re ridiculous. You’re a biped, even if someone rips off your leg. You’re just an injured or crippled biped.-

It didn’t heal. Maybe, it couldn’t heal quickly for some reason, but it seemed like it didn’t need to, despite what should have been a lethal wound.

Tala was coated in the white-steel armor, her will and power flowing into the material to keep it flexible and moving with her.

On the positive side, she had yet to take anything save whip-lash-like, or concussive, damage because of her combination of magical and material defenses.

On the negative side, her head felt like she’d been doing complex calculations, to the tenth decimal place, for hours.

This is rusting awful.

Most of the creatures she and Terry had killed were in the red and orange to her magesight, so it was more akin to stomping out endless streams of bugs than fighting off a pack of wolves.

Though, she had killed at least two packs of wolves.

This bicorn—now one horned bicorn—was one of the only yellows they’d seen so far.

Blessedly, the stream of new opponents seemed to be lessening, and this thing was surprisingly tough. Well, I am fighting up a rank in this conflict. I’d say I’m doing pretty well, all things considered.

Speaking of the bicorn, it was almost upon her, charging once more, and she’d had time to prepare this time.

Flow, as a glaive, was ready.

At the last moment, Tala stepped to one side and thrust forward, ramming Flow through the thick, magically reinforced beast between its neck and shoulder.

Traditionally, the maneuver would be used on a charging boar, with the spear braced against the ground or something else equally immoveable, but this thing was much bigger than a boar, and Tala knew that that tactic would never have worked.

Additionally, this was a magical creature; so, of course, the glaive thrust wasn’t nearly enough to finish it off. Even so, Tala’s attack did disable one of its front legs.

As it continued forward, that leg buckled, dropping the beast down to a grinding slide on its face as it moved past her.

A flick of magic and Flow shifted to a sword. Tala used the beast’s own momentum to drag Flow’s blade along to cut down its side, laying it open.

Tala’s head-covering pulled back from around her mouth just as she exhaled into the open wound, her breath filled with dissolution power.

That ate away a good half of the beast, and Tala rammed Flow in the form of a void-knife into the beast’s side, ripping out its remaining power for good measure.

She sighed at her own inefficiency. I could have used the void-sword to cut it open.

-Ironically, the void-forms don’t cut as well. So, you might have been dragged back or knocked off your feet. The void consumes more than cuts. I think you made the right call.-

Tala smiled, turning to face north-west.

The smile faded, and a frown pulled at her hidden features.

The creatures she could still see, which had been continuing to come her way, were now dispersing, running north-east or south-west, perpendicular to the path that they’d been on moments before.

What’s that about?

It wasn’t like she’d shown new abilities or anything that might have scared them off.

She had used most of her magics in the first couple of minutes of the fight, and everything since had just been a remix of those methods of killing. Though, she’d only used one pair of tungsten spheres, and she still had the siege-spheres in reserve.

Terry, of course, had no issue showing off how easily he could hurt these creatures, which should have been more powerful than him.

He wasn’t able to instantly kill them as he did with most everything they had encountered around the human cities, but his every fight was a foregone conclusion when it began.

You know, I might have killed more of these things than Terry has.

-You have, but not by much. The endingberry-like dissolution is a great equalizer for keeping these tough, regenerating opponents down.-

That made Tala rather proud, actually. She was dealing a bit more death than even Terry. He’d still dominate in his ability to kill weaker opponents quickly, but that just makes sense. It’s what he’s been doing for most of his life.

She, on the other hand, almost always fought against things stronger than herself, at least theoretically so. She felt like some sort of hunter. The killing of stronger beasts a primal part of who she was.

No. Hunter isn’t correct. While I do enjoy fighting, I don’t really seek out the kills. If these things leave me alone, I’d be happy to let them be.

Another minute of killing later, and no more enemies remained near at hand.

Terry took the moment of calm to eat the carcasses that he hadn’t eaten before. Strangely enough, he kept glancing towards the horizon between each little meal. Finally, he flickered over to her and bumped Kit with his beak.

“You want to go inside?”

He bobbed an affirmation, trilling softly, then bumped her in the chest.

“You want me to go inside too?”

He bobbed again.

“I can’t, Terry. I have to stay out here and finish things up.”

He gave her a long look, then tilted his head questioningly.

“What’s bothering you?”

He bumped Kit, then her chest again.

“I’m not getting in.”

He trilled, seeming a bit irritated, now.

“Terry.”

He trilled over her, then turned his back on her, facing the north-west.

“Terry, if you think it isn’t safe, get into Kit.”

Terry glanced back at her, tilting his head again.

“I’ll be fine, my friend. You couldn’t kill me after all.”

He waggled his head back and forth, then squawked.

“Don’t lie to me. You tried. You didn’t put your all in, but you definitely tried.”

After a moment, he bobbed another time.

“So, if you think it’ll be dangerous, go in.” Tala opened Kit for the terror bird. “There is a lot that I can survive that you couldn’t.”

She smiled.

Terry glanced back towards the horizon, then to her.

He gave a mournful trill and then vanished back into Kit.

After he left, Tala turned to look back to the north-east. What is happening over there?

The Zeme, the flow of magic, in the air was…odd.

There had been quite a few currents caused by their arrival, but those had largely settled down.

Her headache was growing, and she was tempted to retract the armor, but something felt off.

Alat? Do you know what’s going on? Can you tell?

-No, but I agree. There’s something going on.-

She turned towards the rock dome. What she was seeing, feeling, and sensing, along with Terry’s reaction had made her quite uneasy. I think we should get the others.

-Yeah. That’s probably wise. I’m glad you aren’t letting your guard—-

Something streaked past Tala, and she staggered to the left.

Her right arm, which had been holding Flow, was gone.

In its place was the golden outline of the limb, the always active spell-lines burning with power even as her flesh began to regrow around them.

She could sense Flow behind her, and her mirrored perspective saw the creature still holding her arm in its jaws, the prize still coated in white metal.

What? She couldn’t process what she was seeing.

The lizard-like creature was blue to her magesight, at least in power density.

She would have thought it was a mythical dragon, but it didn’t have wings. Is that…

-A drake.-

Its form was unexpected to say the least, but something else dominated her mind as she took an infinite second to examine the newly arrived threat in her mirrored vision.

The material it seemed to be made of was hauntingly familiar.

She felt herself go cold, and for the first time in a very long time, she had no idea how to handle the enemy that had set upon her.

The drake’s claws, its teeth, its skin, its every scale was made of the same indiscernible, indistinct nothingness that marked the edge of every dimensional space that Tala had ever seen.

This massive lizard was somehow composed of the edge of reality.

No, that’s not right. It is somehow… reality itself? Or composed of it, like a statue is made of stone.

-Or the sword that was made of void?-

A counter-magic to void, you think?

-It makes sense.-

Its eyes were the only things that seemed different, glowing with a fierce, white light that somehow made Tala want to make things.

As a whole, the creature reminded Tala of nothing so much as the way reality itself had acted to help force Io’s fount into Flow.

-Hey, at least we know why everything else was getting the rust away.-

Yeah…and it outweighs us, magically, by two-and-a-half ranks…

-Yeah, it’s time for backup.-

How, exactly, are we going to do that?

The reality-drake was between her and the stone dome which housed her potential allies for this fight.

Well, talking has worked sometimes in the past. Her right arm was back, and as she turned to face the reptile, she called Flow back to her waiting hand.

Thankfully, she hadn’t used all the metal that she’d absorbed to make her armor, so she had enough to reform the protection on the regrown arm. But I can’t do that again…

“Nice lizard. We don’t need to fight.”

The lizard threw its head back and ate her arm with an awkward glug-glug, that reminded Tala of Thron downing a tankard of acid way too fast.

“See? I’m not all bad. Can we talk this out?” She started circling to one side to get around to the—

The drake vanished from her sight, and the world tipped as Tala fell sideways.

It rusting took my leg?!

-This isn’t good, Tala.-

You think?

Tala quickly crouched, gritting her teeth through the pain as she tried to regain her balance rather than falling.

Even as she struggled to do that, her armor opened up across her back and five sets of tungsten spheres cracked the air as they streaked towards the drake.

She turned around to see the aftermath of her attack with her own eyes and saw… nothing. The spheres had splintered on the drake’s scales, and then pulled back together in piles as close to their individual targeted parts of the drake as they could get.

The two that she’d aimed at the eyes seemed to just be gone.

The drake threw back its head and jerked its body a bit to fully consume her leg.

It was as big as the bicorn, but lower to the ground.

Okay, move to the stone mound.

She tucked and lunged that way, diving into a roll just as the reptile vanished again.

It missed her this time.

Just straight lines, then?

She came back to her feet, her leg restored, and sprinted perpendicular to her attacker, making for the dome.

She briefly considered retracting her armor, but felt like the drake would have been ripping away much larger sections without the support that the armor offered around her.

Tala was closing in on the dome.

Almost—

It took both legs, sending her spinning end over end, screaming in agony.

Alat helped clamp down on the pain, even as Tala slammed into the ground, the normally innocuous impact sending shivers of pain through her.

It felt like the two legs that she no longer had were broken.

That’s awful in just about every way.

She wasn’t going to make it to the dome.

She only had one choice.

In desperation, she jammed her hand down into Kit and pulled out the set of siege-spheres.

Untested, untried, my last hope. She really didn’t like the sound of that. Nothing this powerful should be anywhere around here. How am I this unlucky?

Without delay, she moved the targets of the spheres to the center of the drake’s chest, and they boomed away through the air.

The beast had been about to charge once more, and its mouth had been open and aligned just right for one of the two to shoot straight down its throat.

The second one missed the open maw by a hair, slamming into the side of its neck and dragging across the scales before it struck the drake hard in the shoulder, the first telling blow Tala had managed.

The beast flinched back from the hit, and when the deflected ball of compressed air quickly came back to strike again, albeit quite a bit slower, the drake tried unsuccessfully to dodge.

The one it had swallowed seemed to have done some damage, as glowing, white blood was leaking out of the drake’s mouth.

After the third, now far weaker, hit from the sphere on the outside, Tala decided it wasn’t going to be enough.

My second air sphere is sphere B and nothing else.

A flicker went through the sphere now pressing to the drake’s side, and the gravitational affects vanished.

BOOM!

Tala was flung backwards as a thousand cubic feet of air expanded outward in a freezing flash.

The drake was tossed aside like a ragdoll, its entire left side now encrusted with ice, but as it came back to its feet, clearly a bit disoriented, there didn’t seem to be any actual damage done.

You have got to be kidding me! Tala came back to her own feet, still trying her utmost to get to the dome, which housed her salvation from this nightmare of a fight.

The drake rolled to its feet, eyes locked on her as it growled.

Fine. My first air sphere is sphere A and nothing else.

A WHOOMP resounded through the surrounding landscape, a wave of dust radiating out from the drake even as the ice on its side broke loose and fell free.

Tala felt the concussion resonate in her chest, and the ground buzzed beneath her feet as she ran.

The drake staggered and fell to its belly, its eyes closing in obvious pain before a gout of white liquid shot from between its teeth.

Tala gasped in relief, stumbling to her knees and forcing her armor to take a more static shape, finally allowing her mind rest.

I did it. I killed a —

The drake’s eyes opened, the powerful white glow now tinged with obvious rage and just a bit of pain.

Nope, not dead. Up, Tala. GET UP!

She staggered to her feet, even as the drake did the same, clearly at least somewhat injured but not actually in danger of death.

What is that thing made of?

-Magic, Tala. Maybe even reality itself…whatever that means.-

Oh…right.

She hobbled towards the hemisphere of rock that contained her backup.

This was not the best plan…

The drake didn’t immediately streak past her. It didn’t take another chunk from her, so that was a blessing.

In her mirrored perspective, she saw it limping after her, each stride more stable and sure than the last.

Tala healed faster, but then she’d been less damaged.

The drake, for its part, was slowly slipping from blue towards green to Tala’s magesight.

The dome was just ahead, and she was finally able to sprint at full speed. Even so, she wasn’t going to be fast enough, she could tell.

Rust this. She wrapped each hand around one of a pair of tungsten spheres attached near her stomach.

She gripped as hard as she could, bracing herself as she altered the targets of the spheres to the ground just beyond the rock dome, on the side that she needed to get to.

Her mind felt like it shattered, she had never intended for the magics to work that way, but the effect lasted long enough to jerk her off the ground and through the air before it tore the spheres free.

The drake hadn’t seemed to move, but it was now far ahead of where she’d been, clearly having just missed her.

Tala had a lot of trouble focusing her vision as she landed in a roll right beside her destination.

She turned Flow into a glaive, and fell towards the dome, one hand extended to stab the unprotected patch of stone.

Her other arm had been turned up as she fell, and the drake now feasted on it at a safe distance.

Rust me.

But the small cut she’d managed in the stone was enough.

The entire defensive structure burst, like a soap bubble, and Be-thric strode out, his aura blazing a true blue.

He has been increasing in magical density since his elevation… Tala felt a little delirious from the repeated extreme pain.

Be-thric saw her, saw the splashes of blood around the battle field, then focused on the drake, extending a hand.

The creature staggered, confusion replaced the focus and rage in its eyes.

Tala took a few steadying breaths.

Thron and Gallof came to stand on either side of her.

Thron knelt. “Are you all right?”

She nodded, accepting his help to stand.

Be-thric turned away from the drake, which was still standing, though unsteadily now. Panic was clearly beginning to fill its features, but it didn’t move. “It was quite injured, Eskau Tali. I’m impressed with your performance. There shouldn’t have been anything nearly this powerful to contend with, and it seems that you hurt it quite badly.”

“Thank you.” She felt a bit of happiness at the compliment but squashed it. “What did you do?”

“Oh, that?” He motioned back to the beast as it fell over. “First, I erased its innate knowledge of how to move using its legs. Then, I obliterated the portion of its mind responsible for the involuntary beating of its heart. It can heal all it wants, but it won’t be able to move, nor circulate its blood. It’ll die in time.”

Her mouth dropped open. That’s an awful way to die.

“Tali?”

Tala came back to the moment, Be-thric’s use of just her name catching her off guard. “Yes?”

“Where are all the other bodies?”

What? Oh… Oh, no…

-Don’t panic, think for a moment. You’ve got this.-

And she did, too. The reasonable answer came almost instantly. “There was a lull before that drake arrived, and I took the opportunity to put all the corpses into my storage.”

“Oh, that was a good use of resources. I imagine your sanctum will have devoured them by now. Wise of you to continue to offer such gifts to your hungry companion. It is likely actions like that which have allowed you to attain the relatively stable relationship you have with the void-beast.”

I… didn’t think of that. She glanced down at Kit. I’ll feed you some more tasty things soon.

She looked up at the drake. “Could I have that one?”

Be-thric shrugged. “I don’t see why not. Improving the reliability of your sanctum is worth more than any mere harvest, even from such a beast.”

“Thank you, Pillar Be-thric.” She walked towards the drake warily. It was still alive, but clearly in a bad state. It was rapidly dropping through the color spectrum to her magesight as it desperately threw power at any number of unknown attempts at recovery.

Tala occasionally saw flickers of power from Be-thric as the arcane reinforced or re-did his working, preventing any attempt on the drake’s part from succeeding.

Tala guessed that every subsequent working that Be-thric did was easier, as his opponent’s magical weight continued to drop.

She nodded, drawing Flow to her, changing its form to that of a sword, and severing the drake’s head with a single, quick slash.

She then moved the head away from the body, preventing the weakening tendrils of power from being able to draw it back.

That sealed the monster’s fate utterly, and it was dead less than a minute later. Its head and body went into Kit a moment after that. With the other three still quite a ways away, Tala patted her pouch. “Eat up, buddy. Thank you for all that you’ve been doing for me.”

The pouch did not respond.

With that done, Tala returned to the other three, and together, they turned towards the nearby city and set off.

It was time to secure permission for the mission that would allow her to return home.

Finally.

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Chapter: 241 - Croi

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Mage:

Max Oberg, Joshua John Wallace, Ian Anderson, Carya Galabra, tachi-kawa, Scott Holt, Colton Rutherford, Lasse Pedersen, Mathias Schwendimann, Gert Wallis, Alexander Belousov, al, Setaria, Pigeon F, Jan, Fabian, Anton Selling, Gleadge, ulrik aaby, Carl Clements, mallix, NebulaeDreamz, Michael Anaya, Jeremy Leonard, Jason Case, James Hadfied, GopherAtl, Cybernetic Angel, Deneas, Michael Bradet-Legris, MeatyLock, Taylor, SnowingSilently, Jonny, Jeremy, James Knight, Irakli Jishkariani, Harold Teunisse, Aaron Lewis, Gemyma, Jamison Schneider, jacob britt, Dustin, Sid_Cypher, Patrick Cole, Digdug, Finn Freudenberg, Mathieu Deg, pope benedict, Chris Olsen, Anonymous, Ilya Katz, Eric Trombly, Josh, Nicholas Kelly, santor25, Raistlin, Not Real, Ford Yeager, David, Marcus148, Nefraak, Barrie Davis, Error, Michael F., Lupusregina, Lorcogoth, Tao Wong, Al Bi, Two Cats, SZ, Paul Jones, Michael, Max Weidmer, ensou, Eciefae4, Cody Caliguiri, Appl, Spencer Burke, Jonathan Lodge, Dom, Maximilian Sack, Piotr Listos

Mageling:

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Chapter: 241 - Croi

Tala, Thron, Gallof, and Be-thric reached the edge of the city of Croi after an uneventful trek across the ten miles of plains.

After their magically noticeable method of travel, Tala’s fight with the magical beasts had been a bit lengthier than planned, but not by much.

Besides that fight, they’d only stopped for a moment so that Tala could duck into her sanctum to be reinscribed and repaint her limbs with iron. Tala tried not to think too long on why those limbs needed to be repainted.

As such, it was barely after sunset when their feet found paved streets.

Just like in the human lands, there were no dedicated roads between arcane cities.

This was true, even though magical creatures were far less hostile towards arcanes than they were to humans, and arcanous creatures were much rarer.

The entire set of differences and distinctions was something that Tala still didn’t fully understand, honestly.

There were arcanous creatures that had gone through founts. Those were mundane beasts with a bit of magic added on the top. Sometimes they could become powerful enough to be considered magical beasts, but they were always aspected like the fount from which they’d gained their power.

Tala was unsure how they continued to get power to use, but from what she understood it just became a natural thing for them to generate power as part of their bodily functions. It was an incredibly finite supply, and if they didn’t eat or sleep, they wouldn’t continue to produce it.

Though, I suppose no one actually has told me that for certain.

-And that doesn’t really make sense from what we know about magic and where it comes from…-

From what Tala could tell, arcanous animals didn’t really exist in the arcane lands, as confusing as that was, so she couldn’t see if the arcanes had any better information or theories.

Truly magical magical beasts were common to both the human and arcane areas of the continent, and likely found all over the world.

These beasts got their power from a bond with something. That bond wasn’t unlike a soul-bond, but it wasn’t with a human.

To her knowledge, no one had ever witnessed the birth or creation of a truly magical creature, so a lot was speculation. Humanity wasn’t even sure if magical creatures were altered mundane creatures, jumping straight from mundane to magical, or if they were created as fully magical with or without the necessity of parentage or some form of egg or birth.

Arcanes simply saw truly magical creatures as reality’s response to improper or reckless usage of magic. That predicted the appearance and behavior of the creatures, so most didn’t care further. Tala hadn’t been able to find research materials beyond that.

In either case, truly magical creatures gained power from that which they were bound to. The most common was from the land or reality itself. They were brought into being, or made into what they were, to defend the area or drive out something unnatural.

All this to say, roads were not possible when the land itself might somehow spawn a creature of power to wipe out the constructed, or traveler-worn, thoroughfare and anyone unlucky enough to be upon it at the time.

So, the feel of fitted stone under Tala’s bare feet, and the sound of the boots of the other three on the same, was a welcome statement that they were back in civilization.

True, it was a human enslaving civilization, but Tala would take what she could get at the moment. She was still feeling a bit strained, and her head was still pounding, from the fight with the minor horde of creatures, capped by the ‘reality drake’ or whatever the rust that thing had been.

Arcane city defenses were much more nebulous than human ones, but that made sense given that, in general, arcane cities were left alone, where human cities were forced to move every few centuries or be destroyed.

Overall, the differences were many and compounding.

Croi was a truly ancient city.

Tala had learned a bit about it in preparation for this trip. It had been more than ten thousand years since its founding, and the very feel of the place was heavy with history.

There was a cold nip in the evening air, but that made sense as it was getting close to the shortest day of the year. Even so, as far south as they were, snow had yet to stick on the ground.

That lack alone made Tala rarely really contemplate the fact that it was mid-winter, closing in on the end of the year. It’s right around a month until my twenty-first birthday.

It was an odd, disconnected thought among all the internal observations of the magnificent city, but it sat heavily within her.

This time last year, she was taking trips back and forth between Bandfast and Marliweather, trying to get in as much time with her siblings as possible before Nalac and Illie left for the Academy.

Unless I lost more time than I realized. Be-thric could have been mucking about in my head, trying to create and perfect Tali for decades, for all I know.

-I don’t think so, and you don’t either. Don’t let fear make you jump to conclusions.-

…I suppose so. I hope they are doing well.

-Nalac and Illie? Yeah… I bet they took the disappearance pretty hard.-

If they even know.

-They know, Tala. They would have been told. Most students read the letters they were sent, and your siblings would do the same.-

Yeah… Imagine how surprised everyone will be when I show up. That lifted her spirits a bit, and she smiled.

Gallof sighed. “It is good to be back in a city, is it not? Back here in particular.”

That’s right. Gallof and Thron were based out of Croi until the opening for a new Pillar came available in Platoiri. Tala glanced towards the man. “Has it changed?”

“No, it’s only been a few months. Croi hasn’t really changed in centuries, a few months are meaningless to such a place.” He was clearly enamored with the place, and Tala could somewhat understand.

Even the outer edge was interesting.

They were still coming in from the outskirts. Another difference between human and arcane cities was very obvious as they slowly made their way inward.

Human cities had most of the residences in the center, as they shrank over time. Arcane cities built outward, and most of the time, the outermost structures were homes.

As such, they only started passing other people after they were a few blocks in.

Tala immediately saw the difference in populations between Croi and Platoiri.

In Platoiri, Thron had been an outlier. He wasn’t the only dwarf by a long shot, but his kinsmen were few and far between.

In Croi, it seemed like every other person was a dwarf.

Their skin ranged from Thron’s emerald green through the other jewel tones: ruby red, sapphire blue, even amethyst purple, among others. For those dwarves, their hair was always some sort of metallic color: silver, gold, copper, or some derivation thereof. Then, there seemed to be another set of dwarves with metallic skin and gem-like hair.

Tala had a hard time not gawking when a dark-gray metal skinned dwarf with practically glowing ruby hair and beard walked past.

Wait… his skin looks like mine with the iron paint. She suddenly wanted gem-like hair. That is amazing.

She really wanted to touch their hair, but realized it would be anything but appropriate even to ask.

Ahh, the burdens of being civilized.

-Civilized? You’re the Eskau of the House that practically runs this city. You tell them to come here and let you feel their hair. No one’s going to say anything.-

That is an abuse of power right there.

-Eh, take the perks while you can.-

You’re terrible sometimes, Alat.

The variation in citizenry was more than just due to a larger number of dwarves. There were very few beast-folk of any kind. Hue-folk were slightly less common as well, and in their place, statistically speaking, were other races that Tala hadn’t really seen before.

She almost had a heart attack, and only Alat’s help kept her from showing overt panic, when a humanoid plant passed them by.

Leshkin! But no, somehow Tala could tell that it wasn’t. There was more…intellect behind the movements of the being, and the body seemed much more…functional? Leshkin were effectively animated plants, like a statue forced to move via magic, but made of vegetative matter. The beings that Tala saw were complete creatures, seeming to eat and drink, and have internal organs, simply of a more plant derived form.

Fascinating.

There were also lizard people, which Tala knew enough about to not think of as lizard beast-kin. They did not see themselves as beast-folk. They claimed to be dragonlings. They also claimed that they were the descendants of humans and dragons, while beast-folk were the descendants of experiments gone wrong. So, in general, everyone was offended and angry over the distinctions, and Tala knew to stay clear of the subject with either sub-group of races.

The dragonlings, for their part, looked like oddly proportioned humans with variously colored and textured scales. Well, that and draconic heads, which were just a bit disturbing after Tala’s recent one-sided fight with the drake.

She definitely tried not to stare at those, no matter how lovely and fascinating the patterns of their scales may have been.

Through all of this, Gallof was guiding them through the streets, and Tala was following mainly without thought, simply moving with those that she’d already been traveling with, while she tried to take in all the sights that surrounded her.

Aside from the citizenry, her eyes took in the soaring architecture, and the incredible artistic embellishments on many of the buildings.

There was no District of Doors in Croi, at least not like that in Platoiri.

The House of Blood was nearly without rival within this city. The City Lord was rumored to be a daughter of the House of Blood in ages past, but if so, she’d long ago severed official ties with the House to rise to the position of City Lord.

In considering that rumor, the Platoiri City Lord’s belittling of her abilities might have been another jab at them, like his comments regarding the Mind Flayer.

Who knows with that madman. Tala was not looking forward to returning to Platoiri and resuming her shifts with the City Lord, but that was a problem for another day.

Gallof wasn’t leading them to the center of the city and the House of Blood’s main hold, here. No, that would be a walk of nearly an hour, if there were no delays or detours. Instead, he took them down into an underground passage labeled: ‘Compression Lanes’

Tala had obviously read about these in reading about the city, and she was excited to see them.

They came down a set of stairs into a nexus of sorts, where large hallways led in every direction. Gallof led them unerringly down one of the passages.

Tala felt the magic around them, and it was almost purely dimensional compression.

The air became thicker, but not unbearably so, and they soon exited the hall into another nexus, the air returning to normal.

Each passage was a straight shot to another nexus, and the space between was compressed, a mile down to a hundred feet or so. That level of compression was tolerable even for Child level arcanes, but Tala suspected that it would be painful, if not lethal, for a mundane human to pass through the oddly compressed air.

It was odd, because it wasn’t actually compressed air, instead it was as if each step took her through the space containing vast quantities of air. It was hard to describe, but she could decidedly feel the odd stresses on her body from the magics.

Gallof seemed quite familiar with the system of travel and easily navigated to take the needed passage in each nexus.

Finally, as they came up another set of stairs to street level, close to their destination, Tala was able to see for herself what Croi offered in place of the District of Doors.

Directly across the street from the entrance to the City Lord’s estate a nearly equally magnificent gateway led into the hold of the House of Blood.

Around those paired monoliths of power, other houses and groups vied for prevalence.

To Tala’s fascination, the doors of every other hold in the area seemed to be mounted on a series of locks in the ground. From her understanding, it was trivial to move a hold entrance, and that happened regularly.

In this city, no house or guild could buy, or even rent, a particular space. The location of their hold on any given day was purely at the whim and will of the City Lord and the House of Blood.

Though, in truth, the order and placement didn’t change anywhere near that often.

I cannot fathom trying to find where you needed to go if it did change even every few days.

Tala instinctively stood up straighter as they neared. She forced her will and her magic through her garments, reshaping them into immaculate clothing befitting her station and displaying the emblem of the House of Blood. She’d retracted the white-metal armor before the trek towards the city for two reasons. First, walking in armor was never a fun time. Second, the drake had eaten a lot of her armor, and she’d not taken the time to absorb more metal into her elk-leathers to replenish that finite resource.

I’m going to have to be careful of that, aren’t I?

-Yeah… I foresee it becoming a problem, if we aren’t careful.-

The guild’s notes on how they made the metal should be in the information we acquired somewhere.

-Yeah, we can hope. It seems like useful stuff.-

Be-thric noticed her change and smiled, giving her an approving nod. “Well thought, my Eskau.”

Tala pasted on a smile. “You are too kind, Pillar Be-thric.”

“Nonsense. You are the pivotal reason we are here. It is to acquire more power for you, and through you, me and the House of Blood. The impression you make will mean everything.”

Great… no pressure. This wasn’t new information, of course, but it was still a bit nerve wracking to be reminded. “I will do my utmost to make a good impression, then.”

Another difference between Platoiri and Croi is that here, guards stood outside the House of Blood’s hold, and the doors were flung wide.

That provided an interesting picture, actually, as it was clearly day within the hold, while full night had fallen even as they were just entering the city, and the four of them were at its heart, now.

The guards saw them and were either expecting them or noticed Tala’s livery.

One was a dwarf, and the other stepped forward and addressed them. “Greetings, great ones of the House of Blood.”

The few others who were in the area turned to regard the four.

The guard continued. “Be welcomed, brothers and sisters of the House. Welcome, Pillar who is our strength against the weight of the world. Welcome, Eskau who slays those who would oppose our interest. Be welcomed, one and all!”

His pronouncement echoed through the streets, and several of those near Tala and her group fell to their knees, bowing as they passed.

I suppose that makes sense in a city controlled by the House of Blood.

The guard’s voice had also echoed through the open doorway and some of those inside were looking out.

The most prominent to Tala’s eye was a shorter woman, about her own height, wearing well-fitted dark platemail. She moved like it weighed nothing and didn’t seem to restrict her in the least.

There was no helmet in evidence, so Tala assumed the armor was magical and would grow the helmet at need. It appeared expertly made with no gaps that Tala could see. Where there would normally be gaps, smaller, more flexible configurations of plates were in evidence.

The only item that seemed odd was the woman’s left gauntlet, which seemed too big to be standard. Her protian weapon? She’s an Eskau?

That would make sense if the protian weapon was overlaying an existing gauntlet.

Tala suspected that this woman was as well guarded in her plate-mail as Tala was inside her white metal armor, while maintaining direct control over it.

The woman almost looked human at first glance, and she had no gate. In fact, she had no color or obvious feature or magical flow about her at all that Tala could see with her magesight. Very good aura control.

As Tala looked closer, she almost froze in her steps.

The woman’s skin was as fair as a newborn babe’s. Her hair was as dark as pitch. Around her eyes and across her forehead, inscriptions were evident, composed of some dark metal, only seeming to add to the woman’s beauty.

Tala couldn’t see any power flowing through the spell-form, but she didn’t expect she would, given the other parts of the woman’s aura control.

Even so, the most striking feature, the one that had almost tripped Tala up when it was noticed, was her pointed ears, poking out from among the dark hair.

There are RUSTING ELVES!?! Fair skinned, almost otherworldly beauty, pointy ears. That checked all the boxes Tala knew of. She’s an elf…

-Well, you’ve met dwarves. Why didn’t you expect elves? They are often part of the same tales in mythology.-

The elven woman in question strode towards their group, meeting them just inside the hold.

Her voice was as melodic as it was soothing, yet there was no weakness or frailty to the sound, “Greetings. I am Eskau Meallain, true servant to Pillar Cruas.”

Tala gave a nod of acknowledgment. Ostensibly, she and Meallain were equals, but Cruas was second only to Corinis in the House of Blood as a whole. Tala did not want to be on this woman’s bad side. “Thank you for greeting us personally, Eskau Meallain. I am Tali, Eskau to Pillar Be-thric.”

She gestured to Be-thric, and he nodded in respect to the woman as well.

“Be welcome, Pillar. Be welcome, Eskau.” As Meallain gestured for them to enter, her eyes met Tala’s, and Tala saw the elf’s control loosen just slightly, allowing Tala’s magesight a spark of insight.

Blue…The woman is rusting Revered. Tala was more and more glad that she didn’t need to fight her way free of the House of Blood, because every bit of information she learned served to convince her more fully that she would fail.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 242 - A Fragment

Tala nodded a bit lower to Eskau Meallain. “We thank you for the welcome.”

The elven woman gave a half smile in return. “Come, we have many here worthy of conversation.”

She turned and led Tala, Thron, Gallof, and Be-thric deeper into the hold.

Her stride was purposeful and steady, with only a slight sway between steps. The result was akin to a predator, comfortably sauntering through their own den.

Do not anger that woman, Tala.

-Seconded. Tala, let’s be on your best behavior.-

Tala seriously considered giving Tali the reins but dismissed the idea. There were a growing number of things that the ‘other’ woman would not have a good reason for, and a mental breakdown wouldn’t help anyone.

-I’ll…work on that. Hopefully within an hour or two?-

I thought you were keeping things up to date…

-We’ve been doing a lot of ancillary things, Tala. My focus was elsewhere. I’m just glad we’re still within range for a personal Archive connection.-

Tala came back to the moment as she continued to follow Meallain and frowned, her magesight was picking up… something. The zeme, the ambient magical currents, of this hold was oddly placid, unnaturally calm, as if the space were abandoned and no magic had moved through it in a long time. Though, obviously, they were all moving through the space as Tala looked around. What is going on?

Additionally, there was a growing, odd feeling around her gate. It wasn’t a constriction, nor a pain, nor a limiting. It felt like… Like gate-breaking, but without the increased pull, nor the marginal offset. It feels like something is reinforcing the edges of my gate, locking it in place.

-What does that mean?-

I have no idea, but keep on guard. Something is odd here.

They rounded a corner, coming out onto an exterior terrace walkway.

Tala stopped mid-step, in unmitigated awe.

She didn’t even notice her three traveling companions and guide staring her way expectantly. She obviously saw it with her mirrored perspectives, but she didn’t really register it.

No, her eyes were fixed on what lay before her.

A vista of expansive beauty stretched out before her. She saw rolling hills with a flock of some type of white birds just taking wing, the sunlight sparkling off of their feathers.

There were scattered trees, leading into whole forests, and in the distance, she saw mountains.

What the rust?

-What the rust?-

Meallain’s smile grew. “Magnificent, isn’t it? House lore contends that it’s a fragment of the old world, snatched from the Doman-Imithe as it crumbled. It is the greatest pride and worst-kept secret of the House of Blood.”

Be-thric was grinning. “And before you ask, this is why I didn’t tell you. It must be experienced without preamble, or the experience is lesser.”

Tala just found herself nodding as she walked towards the railing. She couldn’t see the edge of reality, here.

She briefly flickered Flow into the form of a void-knife so that she could see with her voidsight, but still, there was no evidence of the edge of the space before her, above her, or below.

There were no illusions. There was no end. It’s another world?

-That shouldn’t be possible.-

You’re telling me.

She turned around and looked back, but the hold extended beyond the entrance as well, just like her own standard entrance into Kit was not at an edge.

“I…” She closed her mouth and shook her head. Instead of speaking, she turned back to look out upon the world that lay within the hold.

They stood there for a few long moments.

Finally, Tala ordered her thoughts sufficiently to ask a question, “How is it this big? This shouldn’t be possible.”

Meallain nodded. “Excellent question. It actually isn’t.”

Tala frowned. “I see no illusion, no edge of reality.”

The elven woman quirked a smile. “What you see, beyond the middle distance, is echoes of reality. This is a truly massive hold, a rough sphere, twenty-five miles in radius.”

Tala did quick math. More than sixty-five-thousand cubic miles of space? That is insane! “How…I mean. Why?”

“To preserve what is lost. The anchors claw back more and more from Doman-Imithe, but it is a slow process. This hold began a mere mile in diameter at the foundation of our House. Through the millennia we have rebuilt this much of our lost home.” The pride was evident.

“This…how has the House of Blood not dominated the world?”

“Hmm? Oh. I think you misunderstand. This is not a resource; this is a treasure and an investment. Other holds exist to create raw materials, to fuel economic advancement. Some are created to house food production or personnel. This hold”—she shook her head—"This hold is too precious to soil or exploit. While we do use an underground portion for research into the nature of magic, we ensure that the sanctity of this place is preserved.”

Tala frowned at that. Then, she and Alat focused on her magesight once again, instead of her eyesight, recalling the oddity she’d noticed when she first arrived.

Now that she could see so much open space, her sight and mind were able to truly perceive what was going on, and she gaped anew.

Meallain chuckled. “And there it is. The true wonder of this place.”

“How is the power so still, so stable?”

“There is no zeme, here. Apparently, the currents of magic that are so pervasive on our world only exist because of the weakness in the fabric of reality.”

“So, this fragment…?”

“Shows how things were meant to be. There is no magical resonance here. There are no ether holds, no magical creatures, no disruptions to the majesty of magic.”

“How? It’s a broken piece, right?”

“Ahh, shattering a properly tempered piece of armor doesn’t ruin the temper on the fragments does it? To do that, one has to attempt a reforging, and do it…wrong. Our world, our precious Zeme, was rebuilt from fragments such as this, but it was rebuilt by amateurs. Well-meaning amateurs to be sure, and they had more skill than any alive now possess, but they were still woefully inadequate to the task of reality reconstruction. The very fact that Doman-Imithe exists, a step further away from the next world, the source of magic, than Zeme, is a perfect demonstration that it wasn’t put back quite right.” She barked a laugh. “The fact that there is a Doman-Imithe at all, means they didn’t even use all the pieces in the reconstruction.”

Tala was hanging on every word. This actually lines up with much of what I was told at my Raising. A great calamity broke the world, and everything that has happened since was purely a reaction to that.

“Ahh, but I am rambling, and this isn’t a class. Please forgive me.” The woman smiled warmly. “I just came from teaching a lesson on the history of this place, and I fell back into that role.”

Tala shook her head. “No, I appreciate learning what you know.”

She looked Meallain up and down.

“You taught a class in full armor?”

“Of course! It’s just so comfortable, why would I ever take it off?”

“I suppose.” Tala didn’t really know how to reply to that. Instead, she turned to look out at the vista once more.

Out of her mirrored perspective, Tala saw Be-thric lean closer to Thron, and she heard him whisper a question, “I’ve not known Tali to be so interested in holds. Is this normal for her?”

Tala almost froze at that. Rust…Rust! She hadn’t been thinking about maintaining a ‘Tali’ like attitude in the slightest.

Thron leaned a bit closer to Be-thric and shrugged. “After the work on her sanctum, she dove into research on the workings of holds. Since her venture into the ether hold and the one owned by the crafter’s guild, she has only been more intrigued, my lord Pillar.”

Be-thric nodded in response, scratching his chin. “Fascinating. I never”—He seemed to freeze for a moment, before seeming to change what he had been about to say.—“I suppose it is only natural for her to develop interests outside of her duties.”

Thron bowed his head slightly. “Begging your pardon, Pillar Be-thric, but I don’t think she sees the nature of holds as outside the realm of her duties.”

The Pillar nodded again. “Yes, I can see how that might be true.”

His smile grew.

“How wonderful. A masterpiece indeed.”

Thron frowned, clearly confused, but he didn’t seem to want to question Be-thric on the comment.

Meallain sighed. “We really should get you all to the dining hall. Dinner will have started by now, so your entrance will be sufficiently dramatic.”

She gave Be-thric a meaningful look, and to Tala’s nearly horrified shock, the Pillar blushed, muttering under his breath.

The look was odd, as it somehow appeared like Be-thric’s skin became dark red, which actually required a lightening of his skin. Does that mean he had an emotional reaction akin to me paling and blushing at the same time?

She didn’t know.

The elf turned, leading them away. As they walked, she leaned closer to Tala and spoke in a stage whisper, clearly intending for Be-thric to hear what she said. “I used to watch your Pillar, Eskau. He was quite the dramatic child. Things only got worse when he found a master with a similar bent to himself.”

She grinned conspiratorially.

Be-thric cleared his throat, face set in a stone expression. “I would appreciate it if you maintain the proper decorum when speaking of a Pillar of the House, Eskau.”

Meallain glanced back and huffed a laugh. “You’ve grown a lot, little Be, but not so much as to order me about in my own hold.”

Be-thric grimaced but didn’t reply.

Against Tala’s better judgment, she found herself liking Meallain.

It would be a shame to be killed by her.

-Yeah, death at her hand would be so much worse than regular, run of the mill death.- Alat’s sarcasm was palpable.

Hush you. I was going to say, ‘It would be a shame to have to kill her.’ But that is obviously not going to happen.

Alat projected the sound of a gasp. -What? Tala? Have you learned humility?-

You’re really rusting annoying sometimes, you know that?

-I offer what you need, when you need it.-

Tala only sent a feeling of grumpy grumbling as a response.

Their path through the hold—world fragment?— took them back inside the building, and before they re-entered, Tala took one last sweeping look over the vista.

She’s right. There is no sign of meddling in view from here. This building is the only thing on the surface within view, and the results are…stunning.

She wasn’t sure why the view settled into her heart more than a similar vista would in the ‘real’ world.

Rust, back in Makinaven, she’d seen vistas at least this expansive, if not more so.

This somehow feels…peaceful.

-Like before, somewhere deep inside we knew that there were the skeletons of millions buried below the ground we saw.-

That’s a bit…dark. She considered. But I think you’re right. There is something wrong with our world, Alat. And now we’ve seen how it should be.

Her heart ached, a feeling like a constriction in her chest, and her eyes watered.

Our world is broken. She felt a firming within her innermost being. It should be fixed.

Tala felt her steps gain a firmness, and a confidence as she turned and followed the others inside.

A smile tugged at her lips even so. Let’s get free and back to our people first, though.

-Yeah, that’s probably a wise order of operation.- Even though her words were teasing, there was a solidity to Alat’s response. She clearly agreed with Tala’s desire.

We can give a record of this memory to others. When they see this…We won’t have to do it alone.

-Tala…the sovereigns. If it were possible, wouldn’t they have done it?-

If they didn’t cause it? Maybe. Who knows.

Back in the building proper, Meallain led them down a wide hallway, the sound of a subdued meal echoing down the corridor around them.

They turned a corner and stopped before two great doors.

Servants stood to either side. One was a dragonling with mother of pearl scales, and the other was a red-gold-skinned dwarf. His hair was almost pearlescent, each strand having a distinct luster and shine, and the braiding in his hair and beard showed it off in spectacular fashion.

Tala couldn’t help but assume that they’d been picked as a complementary set for aesthetic purposes.

Meallain’s friendly demeanor had been replaced once again with stoic professionalism. “Announce us, if you please.”

The servants bowed and pushed the doors open in unison. As soon as the way was fully clear, the Eskau strode forward, those she was leading following closely behind.

The dwarven servant’s voice resonated through the room, announcing their arrival, “Eskau Meallain, Titan of the Plains.”

The dragonlings voice was similarly basso as he spoke in counterpoint, “Pillar Be-thric, Grand-Apprentice of the Mind Flayer.”

And there it was. Tala had suspected that Be-thric had some connection to the Mind Flayer, but he’d never told Tali, and even seemed to have purposely avoided the subject of his master and his training. Now? Now, Tala knew.

Not that it changes anything?

-Still, good to know. Not a direct apprentice as I’d have guessed. But still, the apprentice of the apprentice of such a notable figure is no small thing.-

The dwarf continued the announcing, “With Eskau Tali, Blade of the Void.”

Blade of the Void, eh? Isn’t that giving away a bit too much of my capabilities?

-Not really? Also, these are ostensibly your allies.-

Right…

The dragonling finished on a relatively anticlimactic note, “And retinue.”

The two then bowed to the room and departed, closing the door behind them.

The entire dining hall seemed to have paused at their arrival, the occupants turning to see who had entered, to put faces with the announced names and titles.

There were only around two dozen people in the roomy space. Quite a few were Eskau and Pillars, but there seemed to be a few others like Gallof and Thron in attendance as well.

All of the Pillars were in the green to blue range to her magesight. The Eskau were generally between yellow and green, with Meallain being an obvious exception. The others seemed to be at least yellow, making Thron and Tala the exceptions. Both were unusual because they were solidly between orange and yellow.

It’s been a long time since I was the weakest person in the room.

-Maybe we should ask the servants to come back?-

Tala kept a smile from her face and changed the subject. This is likely no more than half of the Pillars of the House of Blood. She suppressed a shiver. How powerful are the arcanes?

-Xeel did say they were overwhelmingly powerful but ununified. It seems that human information is correct in that regard.-

At least in vague terms, yeah…Is it bad that I almost feel like I like the House of Blood? They’ve been at least half-way decent people overall. If they’d approached me, instead of kidnapping me, I might have even been happy here, for the most part.

-Yeah, but they did kidnap you.-

Oh, yeah, no doubt about that. We’re burning as much of this House to the ground as we can. The nicest cannibal still isn’t ever really your friend.

-That…that is a horrifying analogy, Tala.-

I aim to please.

She leaned close to Thron in the brief pause and whispered, “Just retinue, eh? Sad you didn’t get a title?”

He eyed her out of the corner of his eyes, then his lips twitched towards a smile as he responded even more quietly, “I used to have a title, but it was gradually undermined. It’s fully gone now.”

Tala turned to look at him. “Was that a corrosion joke?”

He turned towards her as well. “It’s not a joke if it has to be explained.”

Meallain cleared her throat. “Right this way. Servants will meet us at our table and bring us what we want from this meal’s selection.”

She led them across the hall, greeting many of those they passed.

Everyone, even the Pillars, gave her nods of respect as she passed. Apparently, neither her Pillar, nor Pillar Corinis was in the hall at the moment, making Eskau Meallain the highest ranked member of the House of Blood in attendance.

Tala and Be-thric were also acknowledged, but no one tried to strike up a conversation.

The five of them sat at a corner table and a servant came to let them know what food was prepared. Of course, the servant assured them, if they required something else, they would be happy to accommodate, but it might take a bit longer.

That proved unnecessary as they all found something that sounded good.

As they were waiting for their meal, Meallain turned to them with a grin. “Now, how are we going to get you those last five protian weapons?”

Be-thric nodded. “Yes, your advice would be good in this case.”

Tala cleared her throat. “I actually have some ideas.”

The other four turned towards her.

Thron smiled. He’d heard her ideas and helped her refine them, working together to throw out some of the more…outlandish ones.

Meallain simply nodded. “As is proper for an Eskau. What have you come up with?”

“Well, we are obviously not the only House with a new Pillar, or with a Pillar about to be raised. Could we negotiate with one of our own House’s candidate Eskau for their weapon, then trade that to another House for one of theirs?”

Meallain leaned back, frowning in consideration.

Be-thric huffed a laugh. “That’s an idea. If we can entice candidate Eskau from other Houses, why not one of our own?”

Meallain nodded but seemed conflicted. “I’m not sure I like the precedent it would set, though. We’d effectively be incentivizing them to give up.”

Tala shrugged. “Anyone who would give up for personal gain wouldn’t be a good Eskau, but they might still be a good member of the House. Better to keep them within our House, than to lose them to another, just as former Eskau candidate Cuan was lost to his former House, to our benefit.”

That made the older Eskau pause. “That is true enough. It also gives future generations a reason to form protian weapons beyond an attempt to become a Pillar or as a ticket out of the House altogether.”

Wait… What? No. I don’t want to incentivize the creation of more vestiges. But it was too late.

“I like it. I’ll see what I can find. There are few potential Pillars and candidate Eskau that chose to pass up the opportunity for advancement that you seized. They might be open to…other paths.”

Be-thric was clearly very pleased. “What else have you come up with?”

Tala now felt…off. She didn’t want to create more reasons for humans to be hunted down. But she’d already told these to Thron, so he would pass them on if she didn’t. In for a copper… “Why not negotiate directly with another major House? See if they would simply trade one to us?”

“A common tactic.” Be-thric nodded.

Gallof continued. “We are actually in talks with several. One that we’ve been speaking with is here and their local leadership seems to be hoping to use the trade to gain a greater foothold and closer working relationship with the House of Blood within this city.”

Tala nodded. “Are there any minor houses that could be joined with the House of Blood, rather than struggling to attain status as a major House? Bring them in as a full part in exchange for the protian weapon or weapons that they’ve managed to forge?”

Be-thric nodded. “That is also done. It is a common way to expand the House when a new Pillar is raised. There are several such minor houses attempting to court us in that manner. One looks promising, but not definite. The others either have sub-par protian weapons, which shows that they are not of quality to join our House, or other factors make them unsuitable.”

Well, good. No more poor incentives.

-None that you’ve been made aware of.-

Tala sent an internal glare towards Alat.

“The last is simple.”

They all leaned in a bit.

“Why not just go take one from inside another major House’s hold? Their candidates are wary of going out in the cities near us, for fear we’ll waylay them. Why not get them where they are?”

Meallain laughed loudly, pushing herself back. “Oh, I like her! That couldn’t be done, here, but in Platoiri, when you’re back?” She laughed again. “That would be excellent. Can I come?”

Tala shrugged. “If you can? Sure.”

The elven woman waved her off. “I can get where I need to be. That sounds amazing. There’s a large branch of the House of the Rising Sun in Platoiri, right?”

Gallof nodded. “There is, Eskau.”

“Then, I’ll seek approval for such a raid. That hasn’t been done in centuries. It will serve those beasts right.”

Tala shrugged. “Well, those are the ideas I had, which seemed to hold up under scrutiny.”

Meallain was smiling. “I like this one, Be. Where did you find her again?”

Be-thric hesitated. “You’ve read the tale, right? You know already.”

She glanced his way, some of her mirth leaving her features. “Right, right. Silly of me.”

That might have spoiled the mood of the conversation, but they were spared any awkwardness by the arrival of their food.

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Chapter: 243 - Ask an Expert

Tala had to call back the servants four times to get more food. After all, the fight, specifically with the drake, had left her reserves in dire need of a refill.

In truth, the only reason it was limited to four requests for more was that Meallain had intervened, simply telling the servants to keep Tala’s portion of the table filled with a variety of foods until Tala requested a stop to the meal.

Tala’s gratitude toward the woman grew, as did her mixed feelings. Yeah, I really don’t want to fight her.

-And that has nothing to do with her power.-

Of course, it has to do with her power. No one wants someone they like to punch them in the face. It ruins the otherwise genial feelings.

Alat snorted a laugh within Tala’s head. -Truer words have rarely been spoken.-

Once the others had finished, despite eating much more slowly, Tala decided to ask an expert about something that had been unclear to her. “Eskau Meallain?”

“Yes?” The elven woman was enjoying a cup of tea and seeming to have been lost in internal contemplation.

“How does the Doman-Imithe, Zeme, and the next world, the source of magic, work? I must admit, even the existence of the Doman-Imithe is new to me, and so I’m not really clear on…”—she gestured around herself, indicating the world-fragment they sat within—“how all this works.”

Gallof’s eyes widened, then looked back and forth between Tala and Meallain, but didn’t say anything.

Meallain simply smiled. “I would be forced to give young Be quite the thrashing if you had known, so don’t feel bad for asking.”

Thron and Gallof both seemed to be almost holding their breaths.

The older Eskau quirked a smile. “Stop trying to act small, you two. It’s embarrassing. You can listen as adjuncts to a Pillar and Eskau. Everyone in this dining hall already knows this, if they’ve ever cared to ask, so there’s no concern about that either.”

“What of the servants?”

“They are all irreconcilably bound to the House and to discretion.”

Tala had no idea exactly how that would be accomplished, but she really didn’t want to change the subject. Because of that, she simply picked up another bit of food and began eating it as the elf gave the explanation.

“The long and short of it is rather simple. Our planet was broken, and all was thrown towards the next world in a very literal sense. The very planet dying. Some very powerful workings were cobbled together in the last moments, and Zeme was formed from the fragments, at least most of them. But, Zeme wasn’t…right. It had been dead. Our entire world could be considered undead, by the loosest definitions, but that’s beside the point.”

What now?

-Say what?-

“The point being, the physicality of our planet was scattered through the dimensions of magic. The greatest concentration is here.” She hesitated, then laughed. “Well, not here, outside of this hold: the world we call Zeme.”

Okay… I think I follow that at least.

“The world your gate and our founts access, the ‘source of magic’ as you called it, is underneath Zeme, underpinning it. It is stable, and the literal foundation of reality everywhere. It is the source of stability in the physical world, which is why magic attempts to act as a stabilizing force, generally speaking, but that is also tangential to the current topic.”

-Alright, this tracks so far.-

Shush, you. I’m trying to listen.

“As the source is underneath, Doman-Imithe is on top of Zeme, for lack of a better description. It is a wasteland of planetary fragments, wild magics—some of which could make a Hallowed quail, and beasts older than Zeme itself.”

“Void beasts?”

“Hmmm? Oh, no. The void is…” Meallain scrunched up her face. “The void isn’t part of this discussion, but I will say that, to continue this analogy, the void is above Doman-Imithe, though that is a nearly entirely deceiving analogy. When our world broke apart, part fell towards the next world, dying, and part was pulled towards the void, also dying but in a different way.”

“So, Zeme is closer to the source of magic than it should be, and Doman-Imithe is closer to the void?”

“As a high-level concept? Sure. It’s more like an odd triangle projected into a fourth dimension of randomly alternatingly compressed and expanded existence, but I could also make any string of words into a relevant analogy to the void because it is chaos, just as the ‘next world’ is order.” She grimaced again. “Incredibly loosely speaking, but not actually. But, you’ve gotten me off topic.”

“I apologize.” Tala felt a bit of a headache building as she tried to grasp what the woman was saying.

Meallain waved her off. “No apologies are needed for curiosity. So, the final part of this, which is the real skull twister, is: Which is ‘reality?’”

“What do you mean?”

“Is the Doman-Imithe real? Or is Zeme?”

Tala frowned. “I don’t understand. Aren’t they both real?”

“Well, yes, in most senses. I suppose a better question, which I did try to ask, would be: Which is aligned with reality?”

“Oh. Ummm…Wouldn’t it be Zeme?”

“We’d hope so, but no.”

She blinked. “What?”

-What?-

“If you leave our planet, even only traveling as far as the moon, you pass out of disrupted reality, and beyond the patchwork creation that we call Zeme. Out there, there is only one existence.” The elf laughed. “Ironically, it is real, it has magic, and it is a void, all at the same time, but each of those have different connotations out there, and I’m getting off topic again.”

Tala shook her head, trying to clear it as she frowned. “I… I don’t think I understand.”

“It’s a little joke, and I’m not going to explain it. You might discover for yourself one day. Then, you can look back on this conversation and chuckle.” She shrugged. “But that’s beside the point. Once you get out that far, if you turn back, what do you think you see?”

“I have absolutely no idea.”

“Wise answer. You see the Doman-Imithe: a broken planet that has been decimated by magic, time, the void, and creatures outside of our comprehension.”

Tala’s eyes widened as something clicked into place for her. No human who has left the solar system has ever come back. “What if you try to return?”

“Then, you are in the Doman-Imithe. Unless you know how to travel through it, and leave it to enter Zeme, you will never come back to what we know as our world.”

And there it was. Someone has to know this.

-Among humanity? Maybe, maybe not. I’ll add it to the list of things we’ll ask about first.-

Something else is wrong, too. She's talking like leaving the planet would get you stuck, but Master Jevin implied that it took leaving the solar system.

-There's not really a way to bring it up with her. We'll just have to ask Master Jevin, or someone else, when we get back.-

Even beyond the obvious questions, Tala knew that the implications were uncountable, but at the moment, she was in a state of information overload. “Umm…thank you… thank you for telling me all of this.”

“Of course. It is something that must be known at some point, though it doesn’t really affect us very often.”

“So…How does one get back from Doman-Imithe?”

Meallain frowned. “Why would you need to know that?”

“I deal with gravity, and so, there’s a non-zero chance that I will eventually, somehow, end up flung beyond our planet.”

Thron choked a laugh into his tankard and started coughing.

Tala closed her eyes and took a calming breath, suppressing her mix of mirth and irritation. I’m the one who said it. Him agreeing shouldn’t be that insulting…

When Tala opened her eyes again, she saw that Meallain was suppressing a smile.

“It seems like you and I might need to spar some time, Eskau. As to your question? That’s not for me to say. Not yet at any rate.”

Spar…her? Tala felt a bit of a thrill. She could wipe the floor with me, normally. I wonder how she’ll handicap herself for the fight.

Tala learned the answer less than half an hour later: Meallain didn’t.

Be-thric and Thron had gone off to take care of various tasks, and Gallof had come with the two Eskau to the training arena. Apparently, he had to call the start to their first fight, then he would be on his way as well.

He had done just that.

Tala groaned as she lay on the ground, waiting for all four of her limbs to regrow. She apparently did that more slowly when they all needed to be regenerated at the same time. Her toughened body had meant nothing before the Eskau’s power.

I didn’t even see her move.

-Well…you actually did. See?-

Alat replayed the memory from less than ten seconds earlier.

Gallof called, “Fight!”

Meallain’s hand lifted, seemingly in slow motion, while Tala was frozen.

In reality, the elf had moved so quickly that it was less than one of Tala’s racing heartbeats between the call to begin the fight and the attack landing.

As for the attack, Meallain’s gauntlet, or more accurately the protian weapon overlaying the gauntlet, sprouted four blade-whips, each moving independently but in tandem.

The cuts had been so clean that Tala had not even felt a twinge of pain until her limbless torso hit the ground.

The replay of memory ended, and Tala grimaced, though that was more at the shocking pain than the unpleasant memory. Yeah, I didn’t need to see that.

-Really? I think it was quite informative. Additionally, it distracted you for a bit from the agony, didn’t it?-

Tala just grit her teeth before opening her eyes again as someone approached.

Meallain stood over her, smiling down in sympathy. “Apologies, Eskau. Ranking and betting is only allowed upon the first fight between Eskau, unless they both agree otherwise, or the previous loser has advanced significantly. If I were to have leveled the playing field our first time around, it could have had…implications.”

Tala managed to respond around the pain and tingling of regrowing limbs, “So you said.”

“We can have a…productive match, now.” As she stood over Tala, Meallain shed her armor, the plates simply seeming to fade away.

That sharpened Tala’s focus. “What? How did you do that?”

Meallain grinned. “Magics to allow my armor to become insubstantial at will. Costly to use, when not in our hold, but useful in allowing me to be battle ready at all times without the encumbrance, if I so wish.”

“Then, why eat in the armor?” Tala sat up, her arms and legs back in place and her clothing regrown atop them. They still itched and tingled. And my reserves are down again.

-You could always eat the limbs? Recover the reserves directly.-

Tala fought the urge to gag, even though she knew that she couldn’t actually vomit.

Meallain shrugged, helping Tala stand. “It is a good habit to show strength at all times, and it builds familiarity and dexterity. Every edge is useful. There are Eskau of other Houses that I’d not like to fall behind.”

That…was a terrifying thought.

-Yeah…let’s avoid them.-

Agreed.

Tala took a moment to take in the woman’s outfit, the clothing that she’d been wearing under the armor.

Meallain wore quilted, form-fitting pants of a ruby-red linen.

On her torso was a similarly quilted, black gambeson that hung down to just above her knees. It fit her perfectly, not in the sense of hugging her curves, but in fitting her so that it wouldn’t pull or bunch in ways that restricted her movements.

Like a Mage’s clothing.

-Like the clothing of anyone who has to move, and where perfection is the goal.-

That’s fair.

-And, she obviously will have magics, probably even inscriptions.-

You’re probably right. Those are less common among arcanes, as they don’t seem to need them the way humans do, but they are still pervasive.

Still, Tala had questions, “Wouldn’t the armor just slow you down? I understand it’s protective, but is it protective enough to justify the increased hits you certainly take because you wear it?”

The elf grinned. “It has no inertia in respect to me and my movements, nor a transfer of any force to me from its own movements, unless I so allow.”

Tala’s eyes widened. As she thought about it, there would be few magics more useful on heavy armor for an agility-based fighter.

“I see you understand the utility. I do quite like it. Plus, it throws people off. They expect me to be slow, or at least slower.” She shrugged. “Its fun to disabuse the onlookers of that notion.”

“Not the person themselves?”

“The dead can’t change their point of view.”

Oh…right.

-She’s just a bit terrifying, but in an utterly different way than Pallaun. Huh. Do you think…?-

No. Pallaun would wipe the floor with her.

-Yeah, that was my impression too.- Alat seemed to consider. -Why is he serving Sanguis, then? Or, more to the point, why isn’t Sanguis more prominent or powerful?-

Politics?

-Must be…-

Or something else. It’s not like we understand the inner workings of the House, even though we’re ostensibly part of the governing structure.

-Eh, they seem to like to educate us when it’s important, and not before.-

So, it seems. Though, some of that likely depends on when we ask.

-True enough.-

“So, Eskau Tali. Are you ready?”

Tala looked her way and froze. To her magesight, Meallain now matched her in power exactly, meaning the elven woman now sat halfway between orange and yellow. At the same time, a ring on her finger that hadn’t been there before radiated blue power.

Wait… Tala looked closer.

There was no ring, at least not physically. Instead, it was simply a tightly controlled loop of power, held outside the arcane, around her finger.

-That…that is impressive control.-

To say the least.

Tala swallowed. “I suppose so, yeah.”

Meallain moved.

Tala couldn’t think, she couldn’t really register the woman’s attacks, she could only let her instinct take control.

An oddly resonant gong sounded with each clash of the protian weapon against Flow.

Tala used her weapon more fluidly than she ever had before.

After exchanging an uncounted number of strikes and counterstrikes without any solid hits landed, Meallain began to move towards her, causing Tala to realize that the woman hadn’t been moving her feet. Oh… that’s not good.

Tala strove to keep her back, Flow clashing with the protian weapon as each took various forms.

Glaive countered spear, then greatsword.

Sword countered longsword, then shortsword.

Knife countered dirk, then chain.

That failed spectacularly.

The blocked chain simply continued its trajectory, wrapping around Tala, seeking to entangle her.

Tala growled, Flow being a void-knife that severed the protian weapon.

The entire length of chain beyond the cut fell to the ground in a splash of blood.

Meallain struck out, hitting Tala in the chest and driving her backwards.

“There it is! Now, let’s get serious.”

On the positive side, Tala found that she was both stronger and faster than the elf, at least with their internal powers roughly equivalent. Additionally, Tala never lost another limb, though she took an alarming number of wounds.

It had been a long time since her healing had been so thoroughly strained.

The number became a bit embarrassing as Tala knew that her armor had actually stopped the majority of the strikes, which got past her guard.

Needless to say, Tala lost every bout. She wasn’t able to even land a hit on the woman.

True, she didn’t use her tungsten spheres, but Meallain didn’t use any other magics either, and Tala was losing badly enough as it was. She didn’t wish to add another aspect in which she could be overcome.

The sun was setting when Meallain helped Tala up for the last time. “Well done!”

Tala laughed humorlessly. “Hardly. You utterly outclass me.”

“I should, with millennia of experience.”

She paused at that. Yeah, that makes sense. Her movements were perfect. Every action exactly what it needed to be.

“For a youngling? You’re fantastic. In a couple of hundred years, you’re going to be a terror to the other Houses.”

“And until then, I’m going to be rather easy to kill for anyone of note.”

“What? No. No one of worth or power would stoop to killing younglings.”

Tala grunted. That makes sense, I suppose.

As she considered, she was of three minds. On one hand, that seemed like so long. On the other, it was really no time at all in the grand scheme of things. And regardless of both of those, she wouldn’t be here, then.

She found that the thought of it made her a bit sad.

These people strove for excellence, just as she did.

They did what they believed was right, even though she fundamentally disagreed with that definition.

The House of Blood was actually quite well arranged, with members and even servants benefitting from the setup.

Doesn’t change the fact that they kidnapped me.

-Yeah…that’ll never be great. All of this is built on that foundation.-

Yeah…But, I can’t help but feel that if I could shift their understanding, just a bit, they could be stalwart allies to humanity.

-And if you could change the perspective of a wolf, he would be a great boon to the sheep.-

That’s why sheep dogs are so fantastic, right?

-And that took millennia of directed and selective breeding.- Alat paused for a moment, seeming to consider. -That’s an interesting idea, actually.-

Tala sent a glare towards the alternate interface.

Meallain clapped her on the shoulder. “Don’t look so down. While the Pillars spend all day tomorrow in their stuffy meetings, you and I will train.”

There was a mischievous glint in the elf’s eye.

“And if my understanding of your magics is accurate, you are in need of much food, once again. Yes?”

“That’s true.”

“Is your sanctum producing yet?”

“It is.”

“Good! Good. We’ll find a place to set up your entrance, and I’ll procure a few cooks for you.” She hesitated. “You do have a kitchen up and running, right?”

“I do.”

“Good, good.” She nodded to herself, seemingly already lost in thought.

Tala glanced towards the setting sun, then frowned. “That’s not a magical construct.”

“Hmm? Oh, no, it’s not.”

“Then… what is it?”

“It’s the sun.”

Tala frowned. “But it was night outside when we arrived.”

“It was.”

“So…if that’s the sun, how?”

“Oh, why are the time-zones not aligned?”

“Yes.”

“Well, because this fragment comes from a different place on the original world. What you see up there is an echo of how things should be, it is the sun, but it’s not really there. If you tried to fly to it by any means, you would simply be cast into the Doman-Imithe…” She frowned. “Probably. There’s actually a reasonable chance that you’d end up in the void…”

The woman grunted.

“Don’t try to leave the world-fragment, except via the door.”

“Understood.”

“Come on. Let’s find your adjunct and a place for your sanctum.”

Tala sighed, considering. “He’s probably in the library if you have one.”

“If we have one?” The elf gave her a bemused look. “You’re joking, right?”

“No. I just thought you all might have it elsewhere, to not take up space in the fragment.”

“Oh, I suppose that makes sense. So, he’ll be there?”

“Probably. He’s a rather voracious reader.”

“Ahh, one of those? I thought I liked him.”

She laughed. “He is pretty knowledgeable, yeah.”

“Well, then. Shall we head to the library? We’ll have to be careful crossing the sand.”

Tala frowned. “What?” What on earth do they keep in the sand that we need to be careful of?

“Sand.” Meallain pointed. “The sand training yard is between us and the library, and you’re a bit…sweaty. We wouldn’t want to track in sand.”

“Oh…right.” She stepped to the side. “One moment.”

Tala aspect mirrored the elk-leather’s self-cleaning and hopped in place.

Sweat and grime fell off of her in a wave, splashing just a bit when it hit the hard ground. Tala had chosen the stone training area because it was what she was used to of late. Maybe we’ll use the sand next time.

Meallain cocked her head to the side. “That was…effective. A bit odd? But effective.”

“Yeah.” Tala kept herself from apologizing, but only just. Tali wouldn’t have apologized…

The elf huffed a laugh, clearly seeing at least some of Tala’s feelings. “It’s fine, Eskau Tali. This is a training arena. No one’s going to complain about a bit of grime.”

Tala nodded, sighing. “True enough. Shall we go?”

“Yes. After you.”

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 244 - Attrition

Tala leaned back in her bath, luxuriating in the near-boiling heat.

She’d enjoyed one feast, and a team of chefs was methodically working towards the creation of a second, using her sanctum’s ingredients.

Gotta refill those reserves.

She’d stripped off her iron paint and had been reinscribed before the bath as well. Losing her arms had lost the majority of her rings, and she couldn’t let that stand, after all.

Be as prepared to fight as possible.

She stayed in the bath, despite being clean already, and her body didn’t really need to be relaxed by outside heat, but it just felt so good.

Glorious. This is simply glorious.

-Ahh, yes. What wonders can be achieved via tyrannical rule.-

When one is on the side of the tyrant, things do seem a lot rosier, don’t they? Tala sighed. Now, don’t ruin my bath. I fought reality itself, today, then sparred with a crazy elf that somehow made the previous fight seem easy.

-I don’t think that a drake made up of fragments of reality is actually reality.-

If I break off a bit of rock and throw it at a pig, has the pig been hit by a rock, or not?

-Fair enough.- After a moment, Alat sent the impression of a wide grin. -Tormenting pigs, eh? Is Terry rubbing off on you?-

Tala ignored the alternate interface, letting her mind wander once more.

She maintained her mirrored perspective, along with those for Alat, and at this point, it was a subconscious action that took almost no effort.

With her mirrored sight, and the little bit of magesight that had become naturally a part of that vision, Tala occasionally saw subtle warping in the tub around herself.

There was apparently a large vat of hot water, somewhere, and Kit was exchanging the cooler water in her tub with the hot water in that other source.

I do want my bath to stay hot. The things that Kit was accomplishing were truly spectacular. “Kit? Do you want to chat sometime? I feel like you display some intelligence.”

The room around her did not respond.

“Well, let me know if you change your mind.”

Terry lifted his head from where he lay on the bed and trilled questioningly.

“Just trying to talk to our benevolent world-maker.”

He trilled again in a series of descending notes before curling back up and closing his eyes once more.

“Love you too, buddy.”

That got his attention. He looked her way once again and tilted his head.

“It’s an expression. I like having you around. I definitely didn’t like our time apart.”

He slowly bobbed his head before letting loose a soft, mournful cry. Without further sounds, he settled back down.

Tala had kept her eyes closed, relying on the bloodstars orbiting above the tub to see her friend.

As such, she saw the door to her bedroom open slightly before closing.

That wasn’t hard, they were well-hung and opened with the lightest touch, if they weren’t locked.

She hadn’t bothered to lock them.

In any case, she easily saw the intruder.

It was a black cat with purple eyes.

Tala sat up, turning to face the cat.

The feline hesitated, mid-step, when Tala moved.

“Hey there, kitty.”

The cat purred slightly.

“Are you hungry?”

A riaow came in response.

Tala smiled and willed for a bit of bacon to appear before the cat. She thought that she might have heard a startled exclamation from the kitchens next door, but Tala was probably imagining it.

The cat scarfed down the bacon, then came a bit closer, seeming quite hesitant.

Everything that Tala could see indicated that it was just a normal cat.

With very pretty eyes.

-They are quite unusual, aren’t they?-

Her bath forgotten for the most part, Tala carefully got out and dried off, allowing her clothing to re-grow over herself as she bent down, holding out her hand.

Another piece of bacon came into her hand, as she held it out.

The cat came forward and ate it from her fingers without issue.

Tala tentatively reached out and began to pet the kitty.

“Soft kitty, warm kitty.” She smiled. “Little ball of fur.”

The cat began to purr.

“You’re not some eldritch abomination are you? A void creature in disguise?” She kept the same tone to her words as with the first cooing.

If this is a manifestation of Kit, I wish my book to appear beside me. She wished that very hard. Her book didn’t appear. “So, you aren’t Kit, are you.” Or Kit can selectively ignore my wishes, which would be… terrifying.

-Or it can’t process ‘if’ logic?-

Well, that would be less terrifying, then. ‘If’ logic is really simple, after all. Anything that can’t understand it isn’t very intelligent.

-Yeah, and we’d rather fight a tide of beasts than a few hyper intelligent creatures.-

But when have we ever had the choice?

Terry flickered into being beside Tala and the cat stiffened.

The terror bird tilted his head to the side, examining the other predator.

The cat arched its back, hunching its head low.

When neither animal made another move, Tala sighed. “Terry, be nice to the kitty. It was clever enough to make its way in here. Let’s let it stay.”

Terry flickered to the cat’s other side, but from the feline’s perspective, the bird simply vanished.

The cat seemed to hesitate, straightening a bit and looking around Tala.

Terry patted the cat on the head with one taloned foot.

The cat sprang away with a startled cry and hiss.

“That wasn’t very nice, Terry.”

The terror bird was looking after the cat as it sprinted from the room, pushing out through her double-hung doors. He looked contemplative.

“What? Were you testing it?”

He looked her way and squawked noncommittally.

“Sometimes you're impossible, Terry.”

He chuffed in obvious amusement before flickering back to her bed and curling up to resume his nap.

Tala stood, feeling quite a bit sad that the cat had left so soon. “I’m going to get more food. Enjoy the nap!”

Terry lifted one talon and waggled it back and forth absently as Tala let her door close behind herself.

It was a quick stroll from her bedroom to her dining room, where the House of Blood chefs were ready for her.

Another glorious meal really showed the depth of diversity her sanctum had to offer.

Each dish was a harmony of flavors and magics, each perfectly attuned to her, helping deepen her connection to her own power with every bite.

Oh, my… rust… I might need to take these cooks with me.

-What if they don’t want to go?-

Tala hesitated. Does it make me a bad person if I considered kidnapping, however briefly?

-Hey! You can joke about it now. That means you're getting over the trauma. Right?-

Yes… joking.

The food was so delicious.

The cooks finally left after her third distinct feast, promising to return to prepare breakfast for sunup.

It was an odd thing, actually. The entire House of Blood within Croi operated on world-fragment-time. Most holds that Tala had encountered simply mirrored the time of the outside world, but obviously the House of Blood’s hold, this world fragment, didn’t.

Thus, it would be a solid few hours before she could have breakfast.

With the chefs gone and Thron retired to his room for the night, Tala was alone as she looked out on the nightscape of her sanctum.

False stars showed overhead, though there was no moon.

Her enhanced sight could see well enough by starlight, and she was once again struck by the beauty of her home.

As it turned out, Kit matched the time of the House of Blood’s hold, rather than that of Croi, outside.

So, it monitors where it is directly. Good to know, I suppose.

She somehow knew that she could force a change, make it any time of day that she wished, but she didn’t want to.

It was better to honor the natural cycles, to live life in tune with the wider world.

Or at least the local fragment of it.

She read late into the night, slept as much as she needed, and still had time to stretch, exercise, bathe, and reapply her iron-paint before breakfast.

I do love my enhanced self.

-We’re pretty great, yeah.-

Humble as the day is long.

Her breakfast was as glorious as her dinners had been. She poured out praise on the chefs even as she ate every bit of food they could throw together for her.

Her reserves had taken quite a few large hits the day before, and it was going to take a mountain of food to replenish them.

Thankfully, for their newest Eskau, the House of Blood was ready and willing to provide.

Meallain had apparently taken a great interest in Tala, for one reason or another.

Tala was pretty sure it was a combination of her history with Be-thric, the fact that Tala was the first human Eskau of any house, and that she was someone new, who was ostensibly on an equal footing with the elf.

Regardless of the actual reason, Meallain had decided that she wanted to help Tala train.

The next days were…instructive.

The elf, being the uncontested leader of the House of Blood's Eskau in this city, had wielded that authority to get Tala plenty of sparring partners of various levels.

Apparently, Pillar Corinis had a relatively new Eskau who was powerful but still inexperienced.

There had been a…disagreement between the elf and the previous Eskau roughly a hundred years ago, but that is all the information that Tala was able to glean from mild inquiry.

Apparently, it was still a sore subject for most everyone involved, and she was advised not to ask further.

Needless to say, the newer Eskau did not join in the sparring.

Every single Eskau was better than Tala in martial combat.

She could still beat most of them, due to her endurance, strength, weight, and ability to heal, but it was a war of attrition.

Meallain likened it to a tree winning because it blunted the ax.

Tala did not like being the tree.

Aside from Meallain, Tala sparred against two other Eskau more than any others.

Reidh was an Eskau in a city on the southern shores of the continent. He was a dragonling with burnt-orange scales and pleasant, almost human-seeming brown eyes. Fighting him was a strange sort of nightmare.

Reidh wore no armor, but every one of his scales was inscribed in interlinking spell-forms that Tala learned made them sturdier than anything she’d ever tried to break. She had to learn that the long way around because with the combination of the new medium—dragonling scales—and a new material—some sort of metallic blue substance—she had no basis for her magesight to try to guess at what they did.

Add to that the facts that his concept seemed to be related to friction and he was devilishly clever at its utilization, and Tala ended up with rather…educational fights.

Every time their weapons met, Tala had to harden her will and control or she’d find Flow would suddenly twist in her grip or slip from her hand.

Strikes she deflected into the ground would suddenly make her footing unsure, robbing her blocks or strikes of much of their power.

He was obviously more skilled than her in martial combat, but he was a cautious fellow by nature, usually standing his ground and allowing her to attack.

Tala whipped past Reidh again and again, trying to rely on her footing when near the dragonling as little as possible.

Flow was in the form of a glaive, and she struck with the haft more than she ever had before as that didn’t depend on proper alignment, and she simply couldn’t trust that she’d be able to maintain that needed alignment.

Reidh’s grin grew with each exchange, his protian weapon taking the simple form of an enlarged draconic hand most of the time.

“Good, good! You are adapting to my idiosyncrasies.” He chuckled, both his words and his laugh sounding clean and clear, likely the result of having to perfect pronunciation with a less than ideal mouth for the language. “But don’t get too complacent.”

That was his only warning.

Tala slid past him, closer than usual, Flow thrusting forward in the form of a sword. Her aura was hardened against long-range intrusion, and she was focused on the strike. He’s mine, now.

The blood-hand of the protian weapon caught her blade and seemed to break apart like a popped water-skin. The blood flowed down Flow’s length, locking it in place and forming around her hand.

There was no chance for escape.

Reidh was already pulling back towards himself, moving her bodily. He easily turned Flow’s blade to the side just enough for it to skitter off his reinforced scaled side.

His other hand came to rest with his natural claws pierced through her elk-leathers and into her abdomen, drawing blood without fully breaching her abdominal cavity.

He was careful not to strike her too deeply, his precision utterly obvious, and the result was clear. He had a clean path up to her heart, and she couldn’t have stopped him.

The power looping through the inscriptions in his claws clearly enhanced their cutting ability along with their durability.

Tala sighed, shutting out the pain and uncomfortable sense of vulnerability garnered by the wounds. “Victory to you, again.”

Reidh shrugged lightly. “We do not spar to find the victor, young Tali.”

She grinned in return, forcing a jovial tone to her voice. “Oh? So, I can state that I have won, because I am learning more?”

The dragonling laughed with genuine mirth. “You may say whatever you wish, but I’d advise against claims that many would misunderstand.”

She found herself nodding. “As you say.”

“Again?”

Tala nodded. “Again.”

The third that she fought most often through those days of training was an incredibly diminutive figure, one of the few beast-folk that Tala had seen within Croi.

De-arg seemed to be related to some animal that she’d never seen before with large, round ears, a fluffy tail, and standing barely taller than her mid-thigh.

He kept his protian weapon in an odd form much of the time. It was a long staff, nearly twice his own height, capped by a ‘C’ shape that was affixed to the end of the stave about a third of the way around the curve.

De-arg used the weapon to trap, deflect, and redirect Tala’s limbs and weapons, while he mainly attacked using his small hands and feet.

Each blow seemed to radiate through her like every ounce of power behind the strike transmitted perfectly through everything it encountered.

The little creature was so light that he shouldn’t have been able to do anything to her, but he constantly stole her balance and redirected her own actions to devastating effect.

Even when she did hit him, it was akin to striking a bit of dandelion fluff and didn’t seem to harm him in the least.

The result was that she felt like she was fighting with herself more often than the fluffy fellow. It was excellent for the refinement of her techniques because every weakness in her stances and balance was highlighted and exploited more thoroughly than ever before.

So, she fought, watched, learned, and adapted. Her movements were refined, her reactions quickened, and finally, on the third day, they bore fruit.

Tala froze, her chest inches off the ground, balanced on one leg while the other was out behind her in counterbalance to her thrust.

Flow, in the form of a glaive, was embedded through the meat of Meallain’s upper arm.

Blood was already flowing from the wound and down the shaft. The elf’s weapon, in the form of a swordbreaker was pressed against that same shaft, having deflected the blow as it came in.

The elf gave a pained laugh, even as Tala pulled free her weapon and stood.

“Fantastic! Well done, Tali.”

“I was aiming for your heart.”

“As you should have, but you had more stabilization behind such an unconventional thrust than I imagined. I failed to fully deflect the attack.”

Tala felt herself smile at the compliment and the accomplishment. I finally hit her!

-Hey! Good job. She’d still have killed you, but nice job drawing some blood.-

Oh, I’m aware.

The woman had never even used her magical abilities against Tala. Though, Tala had seen them used in demonstrations against other Eskau.

It was rude to delve into someone else’s concepts, and Thron had only told her, because he was to serve her, and she needed to know because of that.

Even so, the results spoke for themselves.

From what Tala saw and felt, it seemed that Meallain wielded a concept similar to feinting.

Meaning, she was capable of instantaneously convincing even experienced warriors that she was about to do something that she never actually did.

Tala would have thought it was some sort of mind-magic, but the power coming from the woman never seemed to directly act on her opponents.

When used sparingly, it caused those same opponents to make what seemed to be masterful reactions to attacks that never came.

And when Meallain used whatever the magic was freely, it meant that her opponent was fighting their own innate reactions and experience more than they were fighting her.

That was, in the end, why Meallain had refused to use the ability on Tala, after all. “I want you to develop deeper, quicker, and more intuitive fighting, not force doubt upon you for the same.”

In any case, Meallain was grinning practically ear to ear. “That was impressive. What’s more impressive was that it was deliberate. Looking back, I can see how you maneuvered me, and allowed me to deflect your previous strikes a bit more easily.”

Tala chuckled. “Yeah, I thought that using the blocks to help build my own momentum would aid the strike as well.”

“That it did. The final thrust was fast and more stable, while coming from an unexpected angle. Truly, well done. I only wish that your—” She stopped for a moment, her gaze moving to somewhere behind Tala. “Well, speaking of which, Be!”

Tala saw Be-thric coming out of the nearby building through her mirrored perspective. So, she turned to see him with her own eyes, studying the mixed emotions that were playing across his face.

Meallain frowned as the Pillar joined them. “Are you alright? Did the other Pillars need a break?”

He shook his head. “No, no. Nothing so mundane. The conference is over. We came to an agreement.”

“Oh?” Meallain looked back and forth between Tala and the Pillar. “So? You don’t look happy. Did they deny you?”

A thrill of fear ran through Tala. What? No…That’s the plan? Alat? Alat!

-Calm, Tala. Listen to the answer. We don’t know, yet.-

But, how can we—?

Blessedly, Be-thric was shaking his head. “We unanimously agreed that the attempt is in the best interest of the House. I would not let them deny me in that, and in the end, I swayed every Pillar to my way of thinking.”

Tala swallowed, feeling a wave of relief. “Well, that is good.”

She smiled towards the elf, hoping to get some positive response, but Meallain didn’t return it. She was still focused on Be-thric.

The older Eskau’s frown was deepening. “Then, what’s wrong? Why do you look like someone took away your dog?”

Be-thric grimaced. “You always were too good at reading me. There was a condition set upon the venture. I must complete it alone.”

As she processed his words, Tala felt like her entire body began to freefall, even as the weight of worlds crushed her chest, and a dull, ringing reverberation filled her head, fuzzing her thoughts.

She barely managed to whisper a single word. “What?”

A note from JLMullins

IMPORTANT: For those who are concerned about the direction of this twist

Without (major) spoilers, the question of Tala's volitional ability to choose her own path will be resolved within the next 10 chapters. That means that both Mage and Archon level Patrons have had this mystery resolved!

Sorry for the vagueries.

I don't wish to force spoilers on anyone, but I think that this covers enough chapters to not spoil specific timing, and enough scenarios to not spoil what the actual outcome might be. 😁

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Chapter: 245 - Despair

Tala’s world was filled with a buzzing that was as much visual as auditory.

She vaguely felt Alat guiding her in her choice of words and actions, briefly expressing shock that she wouldn’t be allowed to protect Pillar Be-thric on the venture and requesting time to process the news.

It was granted, and Tala retreated into her sanctum.

No…

No.

No.

No…

This can’t be happening.

That was my way out. My way home.

No.

No.

No.

-Tala?-

No.

No.

No.

-Tala.-

No. No, no.

-Tala!-

Tala snapped her head up, looking around in confusion, trying to find the person who had dared interrupt her. “What?”

-Tala. Pull yourself together. I’m in your mind.-

She groaned, lowering her head back down onto her knees.

In her brief moment of outward examination, she saw that she was sitting on her bed, curled up beside the massive window, and the sun was setting. She’d either been there for an hour or so, or more than a day.

-Just an hour. You’re not that far gone.-

I’m nearly a thousand miles gone. Tala snapped back, desperation and fear tingeing her response

-So? What now?-

Now? I adjust to a life in a gilded cage, bowing and scraping to a monster who stole everything from me in a fit of childish stubbornness.

-Sure, you could do that. Or…?- Alat left it hanging, the unanswered question grating on Tala.

Or? Or! I can’t do anything! She paused. I can’t do anything.

-Yeah, you said that. I don’t think that—-

No, no. You aren’t listening. I can’t do anything. But the Pillars could be convinced. She sat up, taking her overwhelming despair and pushing it aside.

It was not overcome. It was not banished, but the flickers of hope kept it from suffocating her once again.

I need to speak to Meallain. I’m out of my depth, here, and she might know what we can do.

She called up some water and ensured her face was clean and clear. She used her mirrored perspectives to check her physical state and fixed what was awry.

“Thanks, Kit.”

The source of water did not respond.

Tala straightened herself, hardened her resolve, and summoned the exit to her sanctum.

Tala would have a feast awaiting her return in her own sanctum, so she would be fast.

It was easy to find Meallain once Tala was back in the House of Blood’s hold. She was in her office of sorts, dealing with petitions of one kind or other.

The elf looked up from her writing desk as Tala entered. “Ahh, Eskau Tali. What brings you here this evening? Are you well?”

Tala shook her head. “Honestly, no, Eskau Meallain, I’m not doing well. I am to let Pillar Be-thric go into hostile territory, alone. This goes against everything I have worked for, everything I am.”

The truth and fervor of Tala’s words thrummed through the room, though that truth was not as the elf would interpret.

“I will not stand idly by while he goes on such a mission. I should be with him. It is my duty. It is required.”

Meallain gave her a sad smile and nodded. “I can understand the sentiment, truly I can, but the council has spoken. There is nothing you can do about it, without their permission.”

“Then, how can I change the ruling? How can I gain their permission?” She spoke firmly, resolved in her goal.

“What do you mean?”

“It is my duty to be beside Pillar Be-thric. If I cannot accompany him on this mission, I don’t know what I will do.” Her voice and demeanor wavered on the edge of cracking as she spoke the last. Still, she hardened herself and continued, “Is there anything that I could do to sufficiently impress the other Pillars, that they might change their minds? Is there anything that I can do to convince them? Anything.”

Meallain looked troubled by that. “While I commend your fervor, especially with regard to little Be, the word of the council is sacrosanct. It is not for us to question or seek to change.”

“I’m not seeking to force a change. I am seeking for them to make a change, and I just want to know what I can do to make that attempt. Surely such has happened before.”

“Well…yes. The council does occasionally alter its rulings on an issue.”

“That is what I seek. How can I attempt to accomplish that?”

“You can’t, Eskau Tali. The conclave has come to an end, the decision has been made and the Pillars are already on to other business. None have departed, but the motion is closed. Only a member of the deciding council could bring it back up, and none would be open to discussing their decision with you. They might even penalize you, or Be, if you tried. Please, don’t let your ardor make things worse.”

Tala closed her eyes and groaned quietly, flopping into a nearby chair. That’s a dead end then.

-What next?-

If I can’t change the council’s decision, there must be ways of going around the council’s decision. Things have to be flexible under certain circumstances, else the House would have fallen due to unforeseen happenings.

-And if that doesn’t work?-

Tala grit her teeth. Then, I can ask Be-thric if he can put any pressure on the others. He said he tried before, but maybe he can try again.

-That sounds like an unpleasant option.-

Hence, why it’s the last one I’d choose.

-Fair enough.-

“Tali?”

Tala’s eyes snapped open, and she beheld Meallain’s concerned expression. The elf had set her paperwork aside, and was turned fully towards Tala.

“Are you alright?”

Tala shook her head. “Honestly, no. I…I don’t know how to handle this result, this decision. I never even considered the possibility, if I’m being honest.”

“How is your head? Do you feel…like yourself?”

She frowned. “What? Of course, I do.” What is she—oh. Tala barely kept from reacting. She knows about the mind alteration. She’s concerned that this is threatening the integrity of my false mind.

-That’s an interesting angle. But I believe that if we suggest that to Be-thric, he’s more likely to try to ‘fix’ us than to work towards a change in the decision.-

Yeah, we should nip that in the bud. “I am just frustrated that I won’t be allowed to do my job.”

The elf seemed to examine her closely, leaning forward just a bit. Finally, she smiled, nodding to herself as she leaned back. “That is laudable, Tali. It truly is. I wish I had better options for you.”

“I appreciate your time, regardless. I apologize for bothering you unnecessarily.” Tala stood and bowed.

“It was no bother at all. It is my pleasure to help younger Eskau.”

“Until tomorrow, Eskau Meallain.”

“Until tomorrow.”

Tala returned to her sanctum and to dinner.

She was still shaken, teetering on the edge of emotional collapse, but she actually had some ideas on how she could proceed.

-We really did stake our hopes on this mission, didn’t we.-

You think?

-Yeah. A back-up plan would have been wise.-

I’ll remember that for the next time we’re kidnapped.

-You better.-

She was careful to keep her emotions hidden and to thank the chefs profusely for each course, even though she barely tasted the food. Can’t let them see…

When they were finished for the night, well after dinnertime for less voracious eaters, they left her with a huge pile of extras.

Tala called the exit into the kitchen so they could leave more easily, and thanked them once again.

Then, in silence and isolation, Tala ate, not really tasting the food, and contemplated what was to come.

* * *

Tala woke early the next morning, having stayed up well into the night the night before thinking and restoring her reserves.

She moved through her morning routine with unthinking efficiency, only pausing at a prearranged time to allow the chefs direct access to her kitchen once again.

She stretched and exercised physically, magically, and spiritually.

As the chefs had arrived early, they had time to make rather more complex creations than she had expected.

Thus, after her bath and refreshment of her inscriptions and iron paint, Tala was able to enjoy baked eggs and bacon nestled within many layered pastries.

Though, for some reason, they didn’t taste quite a good as she’d have expected. It’s fine. I’m sure it’s just me.

She was also provided with a wonderfully dark tea, mixed with near-caramelized milk. This, this is what I needed…right?

Alongside the savory repast, a large spread of fruits and berries provided by her sanctum were laid out for her. A well balanced breakfast. Yeah, this will help.

The food and beverage combination was an ideal way to greet the day, and so Tala did just that, watching the sun rise upon her own private sanctum.

The chefs, having done all the requisite work quite early, were ready to depart to let her eat in peace. “Pardon, Eskau Tali.”

“Hmm?”

“Would you be able to summon the exit for us?”

“Oh!” She was grateful for her iron paint, which covered her blush of embarrassment. “Of course, yes.”

She called the door out, and the chefs departed.

“Thank you!” She called out after them, as the door closed. “Smooth…really smooth.”

WIth a sigh and a self-reproaching shake of her head, she turned back to her breakfast.

As she contemplated her situation, she decided that she felt much better after a night’s sleep, which for her was only a couple of hours.

She was still a hair’s breadth from panicking, but that hair was much sturdier, now.

I can do this. I can find another way home.

-That’s the spirit! Enjoy your slavery pastries and dreams of freedom.-

Tala looked down at her breakfast, then rolled her eyes, shaking her head. Sometimes, I hate you.

Even so, a smile was pulling at her lips.

You are really, really odd sometimes.

-Oh, I know. I feel like its because of our divergent natures. What seems an obvious solution to me, makes no sense to you, and vice versa. Thus, what I feel is a perfectly good joke elicits an ‘I hate you’ rather than laughter.-

Tala took a long draft of her dark tea, choosing to change the subject rather than address such an esoteric topic at the moment. This is so good. It reminds me of coffee, in a way.

-Yeah, I was going to ask you about that. Is it really wise to take up a drink that so closely resembles your previous addiction?-

Tala shrugged, taking another long pull. Probably not.

-Ahh, comedy gold. I see it now. You truly are the joke master of this mind.-

She found herself smiling. I am glad you’re with me, Alat. If I’d been alone…

-Yeah…-

If I’d been alone, I’d never have been at all. This body would belong to Tali, and Tala—I—would be gone forever, worse than dead. My flesh and soul to be puppeted by a sycophantic murder slave.

-That…that sounds like the title to a fun book.-

What? Sycophantic murder slave?

-Yeah.-

Seems really one note. I feel like it wouldn’t be that interesting for very long.

-Probably true. Though, the title would be to draw people in. There’d have to be nuance within the pages.-

Yeah, but Tali didn’t really have nuance. She had a veneer of personality over pure utility.

-True enough. Tali is…she isn’t a complete person, not really.-

Speaking of our own little sycophantic murder slave: We might need her in the coming days.

-I assumed as much. I’ve finished restructuring her memories to remove inconsistencies and level out her mind. It isn’t perfect, but I assume you aren’t planning on turning over control for extended periods?-

Not too long, no, but I do want her to be coherent when she is in charge.

-Then, perfect. We’re good to go.-

Thank you. Tala munched into another pastry, kept magically hot on a plate provided by the House of Blood chefs. I am getting spoiled in so many ways, aren’t I?

-I find it better to avoid pointing such things out to you…but yes.-

Tala snorted a laugh, turning her attention back to the stunning vista arrayed before her. Take joy where it can be found.

-And conquer sorrow as it comes.-

It was going to be a busy day, but she still had a couple of hours. Siege orbs?

-Siege orbs-

They weren’t as convenient as the tungsten because their greater mass meant they dragged on her if she had them outside of Kit.

Wait a moment… Her eyes widened, then she started laughing. Oh, I’ve missed an obvious application, haven’t I?

-That… that’s pretty interesting, actually.-

I’ll make siege orbs later.

Less than five minutes later, she found Thron reading a book in one of the gardens of her sanctum.

“Tali! Good morning to you.” He seemed a bit tentative in his greeting, as if trying to gauge her mood.

Why? Oh… She felt herself sadden. No. I am moving forward. “Thorn, I have a commission I want you to work on for me.”

“Oh?” He perked up, seeming to have noticed her momentary dip in mood but not focusing on it.

“What is the strongest, most durable metal we have available?”

“Honestly? The white metal from the guild-hold.”

Tala blinked a few times. “Wow… I didn’t think of that, and I should have.” She chuckled, shaking her head.

Alat started laughing. -I didn’t think of that either.-

Thron frowned. “Tali? Is everything okay?”

“Well, no, but I think what I want will be easier than I’d hoped.” She grinned. “Thank you for pointing out the obvious!”

He grinned back at her. “I am happy to assist.”

Tala gave a little wave, then willed herself down into the underbelly of her sanctum.

Io’s body was nearly finished growing, and the purple tank filled the space with a marbled, ever shifting light. Thankfully, the automaton body hadn’t moved or shown any impetus to do so.

“I’m not here for you. Not yet.” She patted the side of the tank distractedly.

Tala called one of the ingots of white metal to her and pushed her will and power into the material to begin reshaping it.

I need to deal with the armor recovered from the drake at some point. It seemed that Kit had consumed the reality drake, and her limbs oddly enough, but left the white metal for her to recover. She just needed to reshape it. Another time.

Tala focused on the ingot in her hands and formed it into a bar with a nearly triangular cross-section, but with two sides bowed outward.

More than anything, it looked like a stupidly thick scale.

That is, in fact, exactly what it was.

With an act of will and power, Tala shaved off one scale, barely a fifth of an inch thick.

-I think that’s a bit too thick, given the strength of this material.-

Tala grimaced. “You’re probably right.”

With a sigh, she slumped just a bit. Another failure…

-Hey, now. Not a failure at all. Nothing’s broken, nothing's done.-

Tala hesitated, collecting herself to a degree.

“You know. We’re going to be using this against really powerful opponents. This is a bit thicker than what my elk-leathers had covering me.”

-Would a bit more thickness actually help?-

“That’s…fair.” She sighed. “I can probably get these impressed with durability or defensive magics, but not here, not now. Plus, that would be a bit frustrating to maintain.”

-Let’s try the base premise of your idea before we over-complicate it. I think about a tenth of an inch should be plenty thick, honestly.-

Tala shrugged, recombining the metal before severing a thinner scale.

She held the scale up to the bottom of her tunic and began amplifying the gravity of the scale towards that section of leather. It wasn’t fast, but it did work.

After just a couple of minutes, she was able to remove her hand and the scale stayed in place. She would ramp it up further, and while she did that, her hands were free.

I have more capacity than this.

She severed a few more scales, having to remake one or two because of her still distracted mind, and began amplifying them all, carefully placing each.

-It looks like it’s working.-

Tala found herself grinning. Yes. Yes, it does.

Two hours later, she had covered most of the front of her top with small white scales.

She peeled off the vest she’d formed of elk-leather and broke the leather’s connection to her outfit. That will now be a good base for the scales that I can doff and don at need.

The scales clattered to the floor, and Tala let out a yelp of surprise.

She covered her mouth and closed her eyes. Get it together, Tala.

Tala shook her head, banishing the tears from her eyes before they could start to gather.

-Tala?-

I’m okay. Just give me a moment.

After a deep breath, she lowered her hand, opened her eyes, and stared down at the pile, regarding the mess before her. Then, she groaned. “Oh, that was foolish of me. I just substantially changed the nature of their ‘target.’”

-Well, at least you have a place to work from, now. You proved the premise.-

That I do.

As each of the scales would be gravitationally attracted to a single, discrete part of the leather, they wouldn’t press on her, nor harm the leather, but they would contain the amplified gravity she needed for a quick re-targeting and attack.

Rather than running around with a couple of dozen orbs affixed to her clothing, she would have a hauberk of scale-mail, ready for each scale to be a deadly projectile.

If I don’t make another foolish mistake. She sighed. She didn’t have time to start again. Not right then.

She had an appointment to keep with Be-thric.

I’m going to need your help, Alat. I don’t want to be near him right now. He was a means of escape, but now he’s just the source of my captivity, no matter how opulent.

-I’m here, Tala. I’m not going anywhere.-

Tala took a few long breaths. It probably would have been wise to take some time to level myself earlier, eh?

-Probably, but you’re coping pretty well, honestly.-

She snorted a laugh.

She didn’t want to go, not now.

Be-thric was going to negotiate with one of the few other major Houses in the city for a protian weapon, and the presence of his Eskau was critical for proper presentation.

I’m a symbol of power for my kidnappers. I am the mighty right hand of the one who tried to take everything I am.

-And you will smack him down with that power soon enough.-

Tala took another deep breath, nodding. I will watch for an opening. With the collar in place, I don’t foresee one coming, but my eyes will be open. We will find a way to be free.

-That’s right, we will.-

No one will keep me, no one will dictate my future but me.

She felt her back straighten, her stance solidify, and her head lift.

She knew it was a hollow confidence, born more of desperation than certainty, but she didn’t care. She would find a way to fill the void and concoct a remedy to this disaster.

Alright. Let’s do this.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 246 - Grueling, If Profitable

Tala was completely incidental in the short negotiations, though she did have the utterly fascinating duty of standing beside an Eskau from the House of the Dark Abyss.

The man was, ironically, a white-skinned huefolk of such pure coloring that it extended to his hair, irises, and pupils.

Moreover, he leaned into his coloration, hard.

His name was White.

If Tala hadn’t been forewarned, she’d have thought he was joking, and that would have been an awkward way to begin negotiations.

White’s gear was all equally colorless. The only item that broke the monotony was a nearly void-black bracelet that seemed to almost suck in the light around him, though it left his own whiteness alone.

He didn’t talk as he stood beside Tala, and something about his aura allowed him to utterly hide it from Tala’s magesight. Though, something about him made her believe that she was nearly equal to him in power ranking.

He’s somehow even made his aura white.

-Well, you have to appreciate his dedication to the theme.-

I guess so, yeah.

The Pillar of the House of the Dark Abyss had come with only two other people. The first was obviously White, his Eskau, but the second was a deeply dejected looking young dragonling with steel-gray scales.

As Tala listened, she was able to determine that, somehow, the boy had allowed his potential pillar to be killed.

She had winced in sympathy when she’d learned that.

An Eskau surviving the death of his Pillar meant either death or banishment, depending on the circumstances, where death was the rule, and banishment was only offered as an option in truly extraordinary circumstances.

The kid seemed to be the favorite nephew of this particular Pillar.

Nepotism apparently counts as extraordinary circumstances. Good to know.

-Well, it’s not like he’s getting off with a warning. He’s losing his weapon and being banished.-

I’d think this was a way out for us…

-But they’d never take off the collar and just let us walk free. It would be death, even if we could engineer ‘extraordinary circumstances.’-

Yeah.

-The best case scenario would have us sent to a different city, put under the authority of others, likely in a far worse situation than we find ourselves now.-

Too true.

The potential Pillar’s death and the pronouncement of banishment on the no-longer-candidate-Eskau had created a set of circumstances where the House of the Dark Abyss had a protian weapon available for trade, and Be-thric was capitalizing on it.

Tala didn’t listen to the details, as they really didn’t matter.

A minor functionary from the House of Blood in Croi sat with Be-thric, advising him on some of the specifics that could be offered or granted by the local House of Blood, as well as providing insight into the House of the Dark Abyss as needed.

All in all, it was boring, but Tala did her part, which meant standing stoically as a show of force near Be-thric. As that didn’t require action or much of anything, really, she took the time to think.

No matter how I make my escape, more power and competency will be a boon. It will help in escaping, making my way home, and once I arrive.

-So, we should reach back out to Meallain?-

Yes, Meallain. She should be willing to continue training us, and I really want to figure out more about Doman-Imithe.

-We’ll have to be circumspect with regard to Doman-Imithe.-

Of course. We should probably build up some knowledge about it on our own, if we can find anything. I also want to pursue a different angle in regards to the council’s decision. We should talk to Gallof and Thron.

-Yeah, that makes sense. Thron makes the most sense to me. He should be able to gather more information for us more easily, and he likely already has insight into other options.-

That’s what I was thinking, yeah.

In the end, Tala wished that she’d paid a bit more attention, because the ‘price’ that Be-thric ended up paying was fairly simple. First, the House of the Dark Abyss would be able to have first bid on a couple of long term trade contracts with the House of Blood coming up for option in the coming months, and the boy—Ganog—would be coming with Tala, Thron, Gallof, and Be-thric back to Platoiri, forever banished from any city in which the House of the Dark Abyss was present.

Oh…great. We’ll have another hanger-on for the trip back. Tala sighed internally, keeping her face carefully neutral.

Ganog removed his own light-sucking bracelet, his own protian weapon, and presented it to Be-thric.

The Pillar of the House of Blood accepted it graciously even as the Pillar and Eskau of the House of the Dark Abyss left without a backward glance.

They apparently took the boy’s banishment quite seriously, even if they had gone out of their way to see him reasonably situated in exile from their House.

Their departure seemed to be a signal of sorts, because Gallof came from an alcove to the side, greeting the boy and leading him away so that Be-thric could be about more important matters.

Speaking of which, Be-thric, for his part, came over to Tala, while the room cleared around them. “Eskau Tali.”

“Pillar Be-thric.”

“I know you are less than pleased by the decision of the Council.”

“That is… accurate.” She couldn’t keep emotion entirely from her response, though she wasn’t sure if what came through was anger, despair, or something else.

“Your devotion to duty is admirable, my Eskau. If you wish to talk through this, I will listen as I did after your accident. I don’t want this shock to harm you.”

“I will remember that.” You mean you don’t want this to harm my mental state…

-Yes, he’s not a nice person, Tala. Focus. He’s standing right in front of you.-

Be-thric gave a small smile and nodded once. “Very well. I won’t belabor the point, and I’ve things to be about.”

“Good day, Pillar.”

“Eskau.”

Without another word, Be-thric departed.

Tala stayed behind, standing in silence.

She remained alone in the meeting room, fighting back rising despondence.

Don’t cry, Tala. Keep your emotions in check.

-Tala?-

I’m fine. I’ll be fine. This is fine. She didn’t allow herself to consider what was around her, simply focusing on getting herself under control.

-You’d say that even in a burning room.-

Well, to be fair, if it was a normal fire, I probably would be fine.

-That’s not really the point.-

I know… Tala took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I hear you. I promise.

-We’ll get through this. Together.-

Tala felt a smile tug at her lips. Thank you.

Only shortly after that, she was able to wrangle herself back under control. Finally, with a nod of assurance for herself, she straightened and departed.

Tala grabbed the attention of a passing servant and ordered them to carry a message to Meallain.

There. She said that she’d planned on working with me until we depart, and that isn’t for quite a bit, yet. We’ll reestablish a schedule, and I’ll get to train. If nothing else, improving herself would better her odds, no matter what plan she came up with, and what means she utilized to finally get free.

Tala was pulled a bit out of her dark mood as she walked across an exterior passage, the majesty of the world fragment captivating her, making her feel small and insignificant, along with her problems.

The world already died. We’re all living on borrowed time, and every second is a gift.

-That’s a good way to look at it.-

Too bad my gift was soured by a— She cut off her own thoughts. Enough of that.

-Yeah, that wasn’t going anywhere productive.-

She followed the passage back into the building, quickly returning to Kit.

The entrance to her sanctum had actually been set up in quite an interesting area of the hold.

It was in an alcove in a purpose-built circular room with a half-dozen such alcoves, each labeled with the occupant of the hold set up within.

This seemed to be one of many, as Tala’s was the only door present at the moment, and she knew for a fact that there were other visitors who’d brought their own extra-dimensional lodging.

Tala took a moment to admire the artistry in the skylight, central to the round space, before she strode the rest of the way to her door.

With a firm grasp on her own desire, Tala opened the entrance to her sanctum, right beside Thron.

The dwarf took in a startled breath, head jerking up so he could look at her as she opened the door, but otherwise he didn’t react to the sudden nature of her appearance.

He was in her library, a rather large room, filled with bookshelves save for the three-foot wide walkways, snaking throughout.

The shelves were absolutely packed.

The only exception to the shelves and aisles was a single, large chair situated right beside the entrance. It was in that chair that the dwarf sat, his legs swinging freely above the ground, a large tome open across his lap. “Eskau Tali. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? I assume that your entrance, here, is not a coincidence.”

“It is not.” She pulled the door closed behind her, blocking sight and sound, but she didn’t dismiss it. “Thron, I need help.” She used his real name as he’d called her ‘Eskau.’

The dwarf frowned, knowing full well what she had done and why. “Tali.”

She smiled, feeling a bit of mirth. “Thorn.”

He sighed. “Well, I’m glad that you’re feeling a bit better, at least.”

“Just a bit. Especially if you can help me.”

“I’ll do what I can.”

“Is there any way that we can go around the ruling of the council? Any nuance in the House’s laws, or conditions that could make it reasonable to ignore the ruling?”

To Tala’s surprise, Thron didn’t argue or dismiss the idea out of hand.

She had prepared arguments to use if he had done that, but instead, he simply nodded slowly. “Ahh, yes. I see what you’re getting at. There are some circumstances where that might be acceptable, even laudable.”

Tala grinned. “Wonderful. What are they?”

“That’s the issue. If you force the circumstances, they generally aren’t valid.”

She sighed. “I’ll trigger that spell-form when it’s needed. Tell me anyways.”

He shrugged. “Very well. If the obedience to the ruling would cause substantial, unforeseen harm to the House, it can be ignored, but the consequences must still be borne by the actor.”

The loss of an Eskau?

-They would lose you either way.-

Right… “Anything else?”

“If members of the deciding council die, and the votes of those remaining would have supplied a different outcome.”

Tala’s eyebrows rose, and she tilted her head to the side, an idea quickly forming. It was a bloody idea, but that was fine by her.

Before the plan could fully bloom, however, Thron dashed her hopes. “But that only holds if not a single one of the Pillars’ deaths can be even loosely tied back to a party affected by the ruling.”

She grimaced.

“By the Pillars,”—he shook his head—“you would have tried to kill one, wouldn’t you?”

She sighed, sliding down the door to sit cross-legged on the floor. “Probably not. No.” They’d probably be too powerful for me to kill out right, regardless. But it would have been nice to have the option available for consideration…

“I’m not sure I believe you…”—He shook his head again.—“Regardless, that wouldn’t change the outcome even if you succeeded as you’d be responsible.”

“I got that, thank you.”

Thron grunted. “Just making sure.”

She leaned back, knocking her head against the door behind her and groaning.

“There is one other way.”

“What is it.” She didn’t even make her tone questioning. It’s not like this one will be any more workable.

“If those affected really don’t like the decision, they can ignore it, and act with their best judgment.”

She sat up straight, her eyes snapping open. “Really?! That’s—”

Thron was shaking his head, fighting a smile.

“That was quite rude, adjunct.”

“Oh, I am terribly sorry, Eskau.” He lost the fight and cracked a smile.

Tala huffed a chuckle, then found herself continuing to laugh.

“Oh, the look on your face.” He smoothed his beard. “You’re right desperate, aren’t you?”

She pulled up her knees and put her head down on them, fighting down the laughter, and fighting even harder to keep it from turning into sobs. I’ll get home.

I’ll get home.

This is just a setback.

I’ll get home.

Thron waited for a long couple of minutes before Tala lifted her head and nodded. “Yes, Thron, I am desperate.”

He opened his mouth, seemingly to rebuke her for using that name but hesitated. Finally, he shook his head. “Why?”

“Why?”

“Yeah. Why? Why is it so rusting critical to you?”

Tala cocked her head. “Does that curse even make sense for you? Your spell-forms use a material that doesn’t rust.”

“So do yours. The worst gold and silver do is tarnish.” He grinned back at her.

She snorted a chuckle. “Fine, fine.”

“So?”

She gave a long-winded sigh. “I need to accompany Be-thric.”

“I got that part. Why?” He wasn’t leaning forward, but Tala could feel the intensity of his gaze and his interest in the question.

She growled in frustration. “Nothing will go right if he goes without me. I cannot help but feel that it will be a colossal failure if he leaves me behind.”

Thron grunted in a sort of understanding. “An Eskau’s place is between her Pillar and danger. There’s no doubt about that. I won’t lie and say it makes sense to me, sending a Pillar off on his own.”

The dwarf shook his head, finally closing his book and setting it on the side table beside the chair.

“But he’s a powerful one, Pillar Be-thric. I don’t see him dying, even without you.”

“But the mission won’t succeed without me.”

“Why do you think that?”

She stood, beginning to pace in frustration. “I can’t express how, but I just know.”

“A feeling? A premonition?”

Tala stopped. “Yes? Would that matter?”

He scrunched up his face. “Under other circumstances, maybe, but I happen to know that the more superstitious of the Pillars voted with Be-thric on this one. The ones that you actually want to alter their vote wouldn’t be swayed by such a thing.”

She threw up her hands, turning away. “What’s to become of me when he goes?”

“Become of you? You’ll do your normal duties in Platoiri until he gets back.”

“And if he doesn’t come back?”

“Then…” Thron frowned. “Hmm.”

She stopped her pacing again. When did I restart that? “Well?”

“That’s a good question, actually. Any other Eskau, at the death of their Pillar, would be in one of two positions. If they could have or should have prevented it, they would face death or banishment. If they couldn’t or shouldn’t have prevented it, then they would most likely be stripped of their title and protian weapon and be incorporated into the House as a member of standing, even if not one of high standing.”

“And in this case?”

“In your case, you mean?”

She nodded.

“I have no idea. There is no precedent.”

Another grimace stole across her face. “Great. My fate is being thrown to the wind.”

“I wish I had better news for you, but you really aren’t wrong.”

A thought crossed Tala’s mind, and she seized it. “You know…”

The dwarf paused, narrowing his eyes as he regarded her. “Yes?”

“A distraction might help.”

“Why do I feel like you’re about to ask me to do something questionable?”

“Because you are wise.”

He snorted. “Flattery is wasted on me, girl. What can I do for you, Tali?”

“I want to know about the Doman-Imithe.”

He sighed. “That isn’t really freely available knowledge. You were there, same as I, when Eskau Meallain explained that to us.”

“I’m aware, but certainly you could… acquire some books on the subject?”

He regarded her skeptically.

“You can’t tell me that you aren’t curious, yourself.”

“You’re right, I can’t.” He frowned. “Are you sure?”

“I’m not asking you to do anything against the House. Eskau Meallain said it herself, we’re entitled to the information, the appropriate time for conveyance simply hasn’t occurred yet. I just wish to speed up the timeline.”

Thron shook his head, but he was smiling. “I’ll see what I can do, but no promises.”

“Thank you, Thorn. That is all I can ask.”

They sat in companionable silence for a minute more before a loud knock resounded on the sanctum’s main door, which Tala had maintained in the library with them.

When Thron opened it, a servant delivered a message to him and departed.

It was from Meallain; she was available for training.

Let’s get back to it, then.

* * *

The next week passed in monotonous repetition.

Tala trained with any Eskau who had the time, always with Meallain overseeing and guiding the work.

She ate feasts that slowly seemed to regain their flavor, so long as she didn’t dwell on the future too much.

In the off times, she studied with Thron, digging through the books he was able to find that mentioned the Doman-Imithe and piecing together a more accurate picture of what it was, what it was not, and how it related to Zeme as a whole.

Their hope was that if they put together enough of the mystery, it would open the door to the information, directly.

Otherwise, she spent the time making siege orbs and amplifying the gravity on her scale-mail.

The white metal scales now formed a protective, cohesive layer on a hauberk that she could doff and don at will, giving her a truly massive number of projectiles along with some solid protection.

As for siege orbs, Tala realized that there was no reason to have a limited number, so she made them whenever she had the chance, and nothing better to do.

She was getting more skilled at their formation and could easily read or exercise while creating one, so long as she was in the underbelly of her sanctum.

Even with the progress she made on the orbs and scales, she didn’t use either as projectiles in training, instead focusing on improving her martial abilities and instincts.

It was a grueling, if profitable, week.

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Chapter: 246 Bonus - De-arg

These are secondary POVs that add to the worldbuilding but are not required for the story.

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Chapter: 247 - No Power in Zeme

Tala slid under a thrust of a bloody spear, grabbing onto it with her off hand even as she slashed at her opponent’s legs with Flow, in the form of a glaive.

Such a move would normally lack power, a polearm was designed for use with two hands after all, but her prodigious strength and long practice let the strike hit home with vicious efficiency.

She wasn’t basing her strength off of the ground, nor even off of her grip on her enemy’s spear, thus, when everything around her suddenly became slick, lacking virtually all friction, Flow still bit deeply into Reidh’s boot.

His scales, of course, weren’t even scratched.

Even so, the dragonling laughed, stepping back and bowing. “Well done, young Eskau Tali. Truly, you are a wonder to spar against.”

The properties of the ground had returned to normal, allowing Tala to stand with ease before she bowed in turn. “Thank you, Eskau Reidh, but I feel you are being too kind. I didn’t even scratch you.”

“Yes, but you ruined my favorite boots.” His eyes were twinkling with mirth.

“I’m…sorry?”

He waved her off. “Even that which is ruined can be restored.” He gave her a searching look. “But you truly do not understand, do you.”

“I suppose I don’t.”

He nodded, sinking into a seated position, his tail curling around his legs. “Where do I sit on the path of advancement?”

“Honored.”

“Yes, and yourself?”

Refining, so Yellow-Orange, that’s, “Mature Elder.”

He smiled. “Yes, precisely. You are more than a full step behind me in power.”

“Exactly, that is why I couldn’t even scratch your scales.”

He shook his head. “No, child. That is why even you laying a weapon upon me is impressive.”

She hesitated at that. Tala hadn’t thought of it in that light. “Well, you were holding back.”

He lifted one hand and waggled it back and forth. “In part, yes, but mostly no. I am not fighting below my level of skill, and I am treating your hits as if they would harm me. The only thing that I really could do, which I am not, is to force your aura back to your own body and affect everything with my power.”

“Which you could.”

“Probably. I also could simply ignore your attacks and overwhelm you, but neither of us would learn or grow from that.”

“So?”

“So, this is not a test of magical weight, Eskau. It was a test of martial skill, and you are the warrior who landed a hit.”

She felt a smile tug at her lips and responded from her heart. “And if it were a test of honor, convincing your opponent of their victory would be the deciding action.”

Reidh laughed, seeming genuinely pleased by her comment. “You have a bit of a flatterer in you, eh?”

“I try to speak the truth, if the truth is flattering that has more to do with you than me.”

He snorted in response. “If you keep at it, I may think you want something from me.”

“Another match?”

With a broad, tooth filled smile, he stood. “That, young Eskau, I can do.”

Meallain had begun leaving Tala to train with Reidh or De-arg, though the elf stayed nearby when Tala fought any of the others. This allowed Tala to train even more, as Meallain did have other duties to attend to as well.

Before her trip to Croi, Tala would have said that she’d mastered the Way of Flowing Blood, but she’d been greatly mistaken. Even the short time that she’d spent under the tutelage of the senior Eskau had caused her to improve by leaps and bounds, though she definitely wasn’t leaping or bounding.

At least all the old masters agree on that: going ballistic is rarely wise in a fight.

Reidh helped her learn how to move and leverage her strength without having to rely on a sure footing or a sure grip.

De-arg forced her to perfect her stances, weight distribution, balance, and movement. The small bear-like man was utterly ruthless in his exploitation of her every flaw.

She had yet to land anything close to a solid blow on the small Eskau.

He would be an utter nightmare to fight if anything important were on the line.

-Indeed.-

When the day of sparring was done, and the other Eskau had bid them goodbye, Meallain came to sit beside Tala as she stretched. “How are you?”

Tala shrugged. “I’ve been better, but I’m getting by.” She narrowed her eyes, examining the other woman. “Why?”

“Well, your time here in Croi is more than half through, and Be is almost done negotiating for two other protian weapons.”

Tala stiffened, then nodded. “I see.”

“If it helps, they are both based upon your ideas, whether or not he had those thoughts earlier.”

“Oh?” She was almost afraid to ask.

“Yes. There was a candidate Eskau of our House who was…not up to snuff combat wise, and his potential Pillar was similarly realizing that she didn’t really like the politics involved in ever becoming a Pillar. They’d passed up three potential raisings, which isn’t a good precedent.”

“I see.”

“So, clever Be bought them out of their rank, securing their protian weapon, and is nearly finished negotiating to trade it with another major House in the city for one of theirs. I don’t know how they have one to trade, but it does happen on occasion.”

“That’s one.”

“Yes it is. The second comes from a minor house in this city that has been pursuing majority for nearly five centuries. They only just managed to forge a protian weapon.”

I wonder how many humans died needlessly to their failed attempts. But she kept her face carefully neutral. “Oh?”

“Yes. Unfortunately for them, they don’t really have many warriors who could wield it well, nor the structures or culture in place to make good use of it. They have devoted their resources towards magical research rather than combat, after all.”

“So, they’ll trade it away?”

“Oh, no. They’d never do that.”

Tala cocked her head to the side as she turned to regard the elf.

“No, Be offered to allow their minor house to join with the House of Blood in a place of honor, in exchange for the weapon. It’s apparently a good one, nearly entirely based upon kinetic manipulation.”

Great… “I see.”

Meallain smiled comfortingly. “You seem…less than pleased at the progress. Your ideas were sound, and you do your duty well.”

That is truly comforting in her eyes, isn’t it. “It means that I will be abandoned in Platoiri all the sooner.”

The elf’s hand fell on her shoulder. “I’d thought that was still weighing on you.”

Tala scoffed. “How could it not? He is to leave me behind and go into danger without me.”

Meallain sighed. “We need to distract you from that. Can I get you experts on holds and pocket dimensions? Books, treatises? Items of power to let you delve more deeply into that hobby?”

“That would be a boon, if you are willing, but I have another curiosity that weighs more heavily.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Well, the books are simple enough to get at the very least. What else pulls at your mind?”

Tala seized the opportunity. “What of polar synchronicity between the worlds?”

The elf stiffened slightly, then smiled, shaking her head. “You’ve been digging into the Doman-Imithe?”

“Nothing forbidden, but yes.”

She sighed. “The council would not be pleased if they knew.”

“At the moment, that doesn’t seem like a negative.”

Meallain raised an eyebrow, seeming taken aback, but then she shook her head. “That is fair, I suppose. I will admit that I don’t understand their decision any more than you do, but it isn’t ours to question. Even so, that is a hard lesson to learn, especially for the young.”

She hesitated.

“In this I do have some discretion, and what they don’t know won’t hurt them.” She bit the side of her lip in thought. “Be, though, if he knew he might…”

Tala thought quickly, then put on her most open, honest face. Ahh, yes, honesty worn as a mask. “It would be a wonderful surprise for him upon his return, if I were to be an aid to him in regards to the Doman-Imithe?”

“Yes… I can see that.” She shrugged. “He need not know all the specifics of your training, and this is something he’s previously expressed interest in having you learn. I see no issue with teaching you the basics, but only the basics, yes?”

“That would be wonderful. Thank you, Eskau Meallain.”

“Just Meallain. It seems that I have much to teach you, directly, and using honorifics in such intricate dialogues will become tedious quickly.”

“As you wish, Meallain.”

Thus, Tala’s time with Thron was expanded by Meallain’s presence, along with the books she procured for them.

Each book was only offered for a short time, with specific passages intended, but Tala was always able to find a moment to flip through so that Alat could copy it in full. Though, that sometimes required setting the book behind a barrier off to the side and looking through it with one of her mirrored perspectives.

Thus, while Meallain focused on giving her a solid foundation on the Doman-Imithe, Tala built the scaffold for learning so, so much more.

A week later, Be-thric finally secured his two deals, and a celebration rang out through the House of Blood. Their new Pillar had almost completed his regalia and would be departing for his home city soon.

The first negotiation had culminated in a minor house shedding its own identity and joining with the House of Blood, both gaining and growing in power.

This was an additional cause for celebration.

The second had allowed those who might have brought dishonor to the House of Blood to step from their path honorably, and join their fellows as assets, rather than failed, potential leaders.

It was a truly joyous occasion, and the celebrations spilled out into much of Croi, though most were not made aware of all of the exact reasons for celebration.

Only two more protian weapons are needed, Alat.

-And preparations are already underway in Platoiri for a raid on a major House to get the second to last one.-

We need to act soon. Be-thric’s departure might be the best time to flee, but we still need a reason to be allowed out, a way to deal with the collar in one way or another.

-Yes, otherwise it will end us.-

They had pored over ideas of how to deal with the collar, but the truth was, she simply lacked the power to do anything effective against a half-Hallowed level construct. She had plans, though.

When she returned to Platoiri, she was to attend the City Lord, and there were potential paths she could investigate on that front.

-You seem more hopeful.-

I think less despairing is more accurate. I have nothing I can actually hope will work, but I refuse to believe that I won’t find something.

-That works for me.-

Their next idea involved talking with Be-thric at length, which Tala really, really didn’t want to do. Blessedly, Alat had fully prepped Tali, so the plan was to turn control over to her for the first time in quite a while and see if she could sway Be-thric in one way or another.

The celebration was the perfect setting as well, and after a full day of feasting, with a night and another day planned, it was the perfect time.

Alright. Let’s go find the Pillar.

-Let’s do this.-

* * *

Tali knocked on the door to her Master’s suite within the House of Blood’s hold.

Be-thric had retired for a few hours, to enjoy some peace before he was to rejoin the festivities below, and out in the city.

It felt like ages since she’d seen him, though she knew that they’d crossed paths quite a few times earlier that very day.

+I have been avoiding him, I suppose.+

-You think? It’s a blessing that we don’t really need her to be in command very much, if at all, or there would be so, SO many issues I’d have to iron out.-

+Right, right. I do apologize for that.+

-No, you don’t. You’re not sorry at all for the choices you’ve made.-

+…that’s true enough.+

A servant of the hold answered the door and stepped back to allow her entry. The dwarven woman’s somehow deeply thrumming, yet still relatively high-pitched, voice rang out. “Announcing, Eskau Tali.”

Be-thric’s voice floated through a pair of doors that were thrown wide leading out onto a balcony, “My Eskau has torn herself away from the celebration to visit me? Come, come! I am just enjoying a moment of quiet on this auspicious day.”

Tali walked through the lush, if not opulent, entry and sitting room and out those same doors.

She stopped in wonder as the view captivated her once again.

This suite of rooms was up, near the top of the large building at the heart of the hold that was a world-fragment, and her Master had been given a truly spectacular view.

Interestingly, it was a view in the opposite direction of the one she’d first beheld upon entering the hold.

Rather than forests and plains leading towards distant mountains, Tali now beheld hills and dunes of sand leading down to the shore of the sea in the middle-distance.

As if brought on by the sight, she could suddenly smell the salt in the air and hear the far-off call of seabirds with her enhanced senses.

From Meallain’s lessons with regard to the Doman-Imithe, Tali knew that those things weren’t actually there and simply manifested as echoes of the reality that once was.

The world-fragment ended well before the shore of the sea.

In the past, when she’d looked in this direction, her perspective had been too low to see past the near hills to the water beyond.

“Do you like it?” His voice pulled her attention from the vista.

She turned and bowed without thought, freezing halfway through the motion and straightening. “My apologies, Pillar Be-thric. I was distracted by the majesty of it all.”

A smile was playing across his lips. “It is wonderful, that is true. Sometimes, you are so like a child in how you view the world.”

She felt herself coloring, but he waved a hand placatingly.

“I do not mean that as an insult. To the contrary, it is refreshing. I, myself, spent a good deal of time in this hold in my youth, before the death of my parents. It is beautiful, but not truly special to me anymore, and it evokes memories of sadness.” He shook his head. “But you? Your enjoyment of it brings joy back to me. Thank you for that.”

+That’s interesting. He’s never spoken of his family before.+

-No, he hasn’t…let’s see what else he says.-

She looked down and nodded. “It is my pleasure to serve.”

“None of that, none of that, my Eskau. The House is celebrating, and much of that is on your account. Come! Eat and drink if you wish.” He motioned to the food arrayed on the table beside himself.

She stepped forward and poured herself a glass of water. “I…you never speak of them, you know.”

“Hmm?”

“Your family, your parents.”

His smile faded slightly. “Ahh, that is true enough. They were an odd set, my parents. My mother was a Pillar, my father her Eskau. She was the daughter of the founder of the House of Blood, the last of her siblings, as I am the last of mine.”

Tali didn’t interrupt, letting him take his time.

Be-thric took a long drink of what seemed to be wine. “Our House is not loved by most other major Houses. We accept all, regardless of race or lineage, and that has allowed us to grow strong quickly, on the scale of such things.”

He huffed a laugh, then, shaking his head.

“Our enemies sought to bring us down in the same way they would another House: They targeted the founding family.” His grin became vicious. “But my family was never our true strength. As my aunts and uncles fell to the machinations of our enemies, they were replaced, one by one, with stronger Pillars, and our power grew.”

Tali took another drink, hoping he would continue, and he did.

“Nepotism has always been a bane of the strong, and we were no exception. But our opponents, by the very acts they intended to destroy us, forged us into something stronger, tearing out that weakness before it could become rot. My family may be all but gone, but what they stood for, the core of what they are, will live on forever.”

She knew the right response, felt it resonating within herself. “For all have Blood, and that unites us. For all have Blood, and that is our strength.”

“Indeed.” He sighed.

+Well, rust…+

-This isn’t exactly news, Tala.-

+I know, but it still makes me want to like him, even while I still hate him irrevocably.+

-The House of Blood is likely the best means for humanity to connect with the arcane world, if it ever happens.-

+Yeah.+

-We could do a lot of good if we stayed and pushed for that connection.-

+Oh, I am aware.+

-…So?-

+We break free and try not to harm the House too badly. I’m going home.+

-That’s what I thought.-

Be-thric seemed to come back to himself. “Now, you must have come for a purpose, and I doubt it is to listen to me ramble. I hear that Eskau Meallain has taken you under her wing for martial training. Is that bearing fruit?”

“It is, yes. She is an excellent teacher and a… trying sparring partner.”

“As she should be. She was master of my grandfather’s guard before we became a major House. She’s almost as old as Pallaun is rumored to be.” He chuckled at that. “How Sanguis convinced that old beast to join our House, I may never know.”

So, even Be-thric sees Pallaun as a beast?

+That’s interesting. I guess I just assumed he’d know more or have a different view.+

-Well, we could have asked, but that would have required being around the man, more.-

+Yeah, not worth it.+

“But I am controlling the conversation again. What can I do for you, my Eskau?”

Tali glanced towards the servants who waited off to one side.

Be-thric noticed the glance and dismissed them. A moment later they were alone, Pillar and Eskau.

“Is this space private from listening ears?”

The Pillar nodded.

Alright, then. No excuses. She took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “I… I cannot stomach the idea of you going on the venture without me. The purpose of the trip is for my growth; it will be dangerous, and it will take quite a bit of time.”

He nodded, seeming unsurprised by the topic. “I understand how you feel, but the decision is made.”

“Is it final, though? The other Pillars are still here. Can’t you change their minds? Aren’t I your Eskau? Can’t you insist that I come with you? Can we trade favors, or otherwise influence them?”

“I tried, Tali, I truly did. There are…extenuating factors that you aren’t aware of. Those change how Pillars perceive…the venture and make those opposed staunchly against changing their minds.”

“Then tell me, and I will see those factors overcome.”

He sighed. “I wish I could. Truly, I do, but it isn’t possible.”

+What? He almost sounds genuine.+

-Yeah. That’s really odd. Does he want to tell her that she’s fake?-

+Probably not. Maybe, it’s something else?+

-Could be, I suppose.-

“What could there be that you can’t tell me?”

He smiled at that. “I obviously can’t tell you that.”

Tali grimaced.

“Do you trust me?”

-No.-

+Only to pursue your own interests.+

“Unequivocally.”

His smile wavered a hair at that, but he maintained it. “Then trust this: I have done everything I can to change the council’s decision.”

Tali closed her eyes, fighting back frustration. She took several long, deep breaths, letting them out slowly.

Be-thric, for his part, let her take the time that she needed.

Finally, Tali opened her eyes and nodded. “Very well, the decision stands.”

+And there goes that option… I knew we shouldn’t have bothered approaching Be-thric.+

-Hold on a moment. I don’t think she’s done.-

Tali did, indeed continue, “So, how can we go around the council’s decision with the least consequences?”

Be-thric blinked at her a few times, then burst out laughing. “That!” he laughed again. “That I did not expect. Oh, Tali, you are somehow full of surprises.”

Tali waited for him to finish chuckling, before she squared her shoulders. “So? What are our options? I assume that if we simply ignore the decision, we would face censure when returned.”

“Censure? At the very least. They might simply execute us both on the spot.”

She frowned. “Is that likely?”

“No. It really isn’t, actually. If we returned, which we should, it would be in triumph, and that would prevent execution from being a serious option.”

“So, it is possible, then? We could defy them?”

“Could we? Possibly. Pallaun would likely enforce their ruling, he might even stop the venture all together if he thought we intended such a thing. Meallain definitely would.”

Tali bit the side of her lip in thought. “Could we keep it from him?”

“In theory? Yes. In practice? Unlikely.”

“I would rather not advance, if it means you go into danger alone.”

Be-thric leaned forward. “Take that from your mind, my Eskau. You will not stagnate, while I can help it. I am going. That is not up for debate, and it seems like you will not be coming with me.”

Tali grit her teeth in frustration. “There is nothing that can be done?”

“Nothing.”

With a wave of irritation and frustration, Tali bowed. “Very well, then. Good day, Pillar.”

Without another word, she turned and departed.

Be-thric didn’t stop her, nor did he respond.

In her mirrored perspective, Tali saw him lean back, seeming troubled.

Good. Maybe, he’ll get this sorted.

+Well, hopefully that doesn’t come back to bite us.+

-It shouldn’t, but yeah.-

Tali barely kept from slamming the doors on her way out of the suite. The servants of the hold were waiting in the hallway, and she sent them back in.

I will come with you, my Master. There is no power on Zeme that can stop me.

+And on that note, back to me.+

-Agreed.-

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Chapter: 248 - Return to Platoiri

Tala felt a bit of sadness as she took Kit from the intricate, dedicated alcove that the sanctum had rested in for the last weeks.

She had learned all she could in her time in the city of Croi, though she’d basically never gone out into the city itself. Her time had been dominated by tasks and training within the hold, within the world-fragment.

There were so many things that felt subtly different within this place, and she’d gotten the impression that most higher-level magics functioned better within a world-fragment.

Magic was both easier and harder. It was more work for her will-power to enact the magics, but it seemed to linger longer, more stable after being formed.

Not that I used much magic within the world-fragment. It did seem like Kit was a bit more stable, but that was likely due to the sanctum being located off the hold.

One of the Eskau she had worked with most, De-arg, had occasionally made comments that implied his power was uniquely suited to the world-fragment. Though, she’d not really seen him use his power.

He was really, really fast and accurate, though. His training had been incredibly fruitful in improving her grounding and stability. I do wonder what concept he wields. Maybe accuracy?

-I don’t think that’s a concept that can be wielded.-

It’s no more esoteric than ‘corrosion.’

-Fair point.-

Terry had stayed within her sanctum for the duration of the stay in Croi. So, for his sake if nothing else, she was glad to be heading back to Platoiri.

And back to the acquisition of protian weapons. They had intel on a prime target for the eighth one and were seeking leads on the ninth and final weapon after that.

Then, Be-thric leaves with or without me.

-It’ll be without if we don’t do something about it.-

Yeah. She still had ideas, and she was running them down as best as she was able.

As she moved towards the exit of the hold, she looked down at her white, scalemail armor. She was quite used to it by this point, and it moved with her excellently.

The scales, themselves, were less potent projectiles than her siege orbs, but that was to be expected. They were intended for lesser targets. Even so, their blade-like nature gave them superior penetration to the tungsten orbs she had been using.

And the siege orbs are for things that could kill me with ease.

-For now.-

True. Things that could kill me with ease, for now. Tala found herself grinning. Even without a solid plan, she could almost taste her freedom, and she felt like every improvement to herself moved her that much closer.

-Soon.-

Kit and Flow sat as wonderful counterbalances to one another on her belt, while most of her bloodstar tools rested in the sheath on the back of the belt.

Only four bloodstars were out as she strode through the heart of the House of Blood’s power.

Three circled her head, and one rested near the base of her skull, just far enough out to not interfere with her braid. Together, the four gave her and Alat three-hundred-and-sixty degree perspectives of the world at all times.

Always wary.

-For we are in the belly of the beast.-

And it thinks we are of its flesh.

-That…is apt. Gross, but apt.-

She was pulled from her inner conversation as she reached the entry hall.

Gallof and Thron were already waiting near the open entrance to the hold, and Tala took a moment to greet them before glancing out into the city outside.

Directly across from the entrance to this hold were the gates to the City Lord’s manor. City Lady?

-CL? That would work either way.-

I think City Lord is better.

-Longer to say than CL.-

Yeah, but I can see it being confusing, and that’s beside the point. I figured we’d meet her on this trip.

Alat sent over the impression of a shrug. -I suppose we didn’t need to. We still have two days to get back to Platoiri before the collar triggers, after all.

-I think it’s tomorrow at sunset, actually?-

Oh… She did some quick calculations. You’re right. That’s less ideal.

They were going to leave nearly a week earlier, in order to allow plenty of time for a less hurried return trip, but Meallain had been insistent on Tala staying longer, even going so far as to procure the services of a specialized dimensional mage for a quicker return at her own expense.

The process was apparently painful, and even more expensive than ballistic travel, but it had quite a few other benefits.

The quickways in the underbelly of Croi were modeled on the same concept, so Tala was quite curious to see how it worked.

Meallain, Reidh, and De-arg had bid her goodbye the evening before, each giving her parting advice.

Reidh had implored her to focus on drawing strength from within herself, rather than from external sources or points of leverage.

Meallain had reminded her that the appearance of strength was often more potent than true, but unknown, strength. The elf also emphasized that the council had reasons for its decisions and that they should be honored.

De-arg had told her to be as stalwart as the sand.

That guy has so much wisdom he’s come back around to being obtuse, again.

-Sand does endure. Sure, it shifts, but it is always sand. It gets everywhere, never-ending.-

Huh. I suppose I can see that. Do you suppose that’s what he meant?

-I have literally no idea.-

Tala grinned, shaking her head.

“Eskau Tali?” Thron came to stand beside her. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, just trying to parse what Eskau De-arg told me last night.”

Thron grunted. “I’ve never met the man, but I hear his advice is…odd.”

“That is a fair assessment.”

Shortly thereafter, Be-thric arrived with the former-candidate Eskau from the House of the Dark Abyss.

Oh, right. I forgot about him.

-What? How could you have forgotten? You were literally in the room when they decided he would come with us back to Platoiri.-

I didn’t say I didn’t know. I had to have known in order to have forgotten.

-Huh. I’ve never really thought of it that way. Okay.-

Tala grinned to herself as she greeted the boy, “It was Ganog, right?”

The young dragonling jerked slightly, clearly startled to be addressed. “Oh, um. Yes. Eskau Tali?”

“That’s right.”

He scratched the steel-gray scales on the side of his neck. “I appreciate the opportunity to leave with you all.”

The others greeted the boy, and they departed as a group.

There was no fanfare, no farewells. They’d each said goodbye to everyone they wished to say such to.

It was a cool, if not cold, day, but it was a stark contrast to the weather within the hold. Apparently, the world-fragment had been from closer to the equator than Croi was.

Huh, I didn’t really focus on the temperature when we arrived.

-You treated it like entering a building, and after you learned of world-fragments, that dominated your mind. Plus, you know, the weather doesn’t really bother you.-

That was true enough. Most of the arcanes around them were of a rank to be unaffected by the weather, but they did seem to be wearing a bit thicker clothing than usual.

Tala, Thron, Gallof, Ganog, and Be-thric didn’t stay on the streets near the city center for long. They had too far to go. Instead, they descended back to the quickway nexus nearest the hold.

With a short jaunt through the quickways, they arrived at the northeastern part of the city, near the edge. They came back up the well-traveled stairs into bustling streets.

The pedestrians made way for them, given that they all wore House of Blood colors, and Tala and Be-thric were obvious by their demarcations of office.

There weren’t many vehicles, either magical or beast-drawn, but those that there were, made way too.

It was a short walk to a middling sized tower, Tala only really noticed its height because it was the tallest thing in any direction towards the near edge of the city, like a lighthouse on a prominence.

I bet that factors into its functionality.

Their group made their way inside, where a servant greeted them and led the way up to the top.

At the top of the tower was a large chamber. Centered within the space, a truly massive ring of metal, the body of which was more than ten feet thick all the way around. The massive magical construction was set in what looked like nothing so much as a gyroscope.

A strange arcane, the likes of which Tala had never seen before, was scurrying around, quite literally dumping power from himself and a bundle of six founts that he carried with him. The magic was pouring very specifically into various parts of the contraption at his direction.

“Ahh! The House of Blood travelers, good, good. You are right on time, early, as you should be.”

Gallof called back up. “Where do you need us?”

“You are going to Platoiri, correct? If not, we might have a problem…” He muttered the last.

“Yes, yes we are going to Platoiri.”

“Wonderful! Your payment was received, and we are almost ready. Go up those stairs, the walkway should extend shortly.”

Tala, Thron, Gallof, Ganog, and Be-thric walked up a set of sturdy metal stairs off to one side, and paused on a wide platform, level with the small, six-foot opening in the center of the massive ring.

The power in the room positively thrummed.

Ganog, for his part, stuck to the center of the platform, clearly a bit overwhelmed by the level of power around them.

It was so thick and complex that Tala felt utterly lost when she attempted to parse it.

The little arcane resembled a three-foot, bald, old man, with huge tufts of white hair on either side of his head. Are those coming out of his ears?

-I think from behind them?-

It seemed to be both when she looked more closely.

He paused near them, examining them before muttering to himself as he continued his work. “Good, all Mature at least. Children can’t survive more than a couple dozen miles. Nothing fragile, of mundane make. Only a few founts, but enough that I’ll have to submit the path as compromised for the next few months.”

Tala frowned, not truly understanding what he meant, but she supposed it wasn’t meant for her, so that was fine.

He paused however, staring at Kit. “You have anyone in that dimensional storage, Eskau of Blood?”

Tala frowned, glancing down. “Oh! Yes, I have a pet Terror bird. There is also some livestock within the storage.”

“The livestock will be fine, even if they are magically imbued. That’s fairly standard for personal holds or extensive dimensional storages. The terror bird sounds interesting, though.” The arcane scratched his chin. “Mundane or arcanous?”

“Arcanous.”

Be-thric cocked his head to the side, then nodded. Tala heard him mutter. “Right, she said that he can teleport a bit.”

The small man twirled one of his tufts of white hair, muttering, “Animalist, not mundane…” He nodded, looking back to her. “What type of power?”

“Dimensional, I believe.”

“Really? That’s fascinating. I wish we had time for me to examine him. Unfortunately, this isn’t relevant. Unless you have a lot of founts that I can’t detect, or a few gated humans in there, there isn’t cause for concern.”

“Oh. Well, thank you, then.” She wanted to ask ‘Why?’ but the arcane was clearly busy and not interested in talking further.

And that settled that.

Tala returned her gaze to their surroundings.

The air was positively filled with dimensional magic.

She leaned over towards Thron. “Am I right in assuming that this utilizes dimensional compression, just like the quickways but to a much greater degree?”

The dwarf nodded. “Yes. The device makes a straight-line compression. It’s murder to walk through, literally if it’s too much for your rank, but it’s fast.”

Gallof huffed. “Ludicrously expensive. The practitioners are quite wealthy, even with their services only used a few times a year. Even so, there’s no magical resonance via this method, and it seems we need to be extra careful in that regard. That last monster…”

Tala shuddered and nodded, even as the hue-folk man shook his head. Yeah, I don’t want to fight another reality drake, or whatever that was. I may have improved during my time here, but that would still be beyond me.

-Well, you do have the siege orbs.-

She paused, then grinned. That’s true. I could coat the world in explosive ice.

After another moment’s consideration she nodded. You’re right. I could take one. It would be a pain to rebuild my stock after, though, so avoiding the possibility is preferable.

A couple of minutes later, all was ready.

Ganog was shifting from foot to foot, seemingly trying to make himself smaller.

This kid was a candidate Eskau?

-Maybe a newer one? Clearly he wasn’t that good at it, given how things shook out.-

That’s fair.

A metal walkway grew out towards the opening, and the magics around them came to a crescendo.

Light coming through the ring intensified and the large room became uncomfortably warm, the temperature continuing to climb.

“Have a nice trip!” The little arcane waved, even as his entire body seemed to be straining, magic being wrung from him like water from a rag.

They didn’t delay.

Tala went first, as was her duty.

As she stepped through the opening, it felt like trying to step through a brick wall that wasn’t overly well mortared.

She pushed with all her strength, and she felt the metal beneath her back foot tremble slightly as she slid through the thick air.

The experience was awful.

She closed her eyes and tried to suppress her hearing to bear through the overstimulation of her senses.

It felt like she was being compressed and stretched in one. Hey! It’s sort of like my dimensional anchor.

That was only true in the sense that a needle prick was sort of like a dagger to the heart.

She kind of missed that thing. It had been somewhat useful a time or two. I wonder what happened to it?

-Be-thric likely disposed of it, or sold it, or took it off of you and left it behind?-

Yeah…it’s not like we can ask him. It was obviously magical and obviously not bound to me, because of the inscriptions on it. I could understand him not wanting to risk it. She was distracting herself from the slow as molasses progress.

Finally, she pushed all the way through, her leading foot coming down on springy soil.

Her progress was still slow, but now she was pulling herself out.

At long last, she felt like she won through.

Her eyes snapped open, and she stepped to the side, so as to not be in the way of those following her.

Before her, the familiar skyline of Platoiri dominated the near view.

Behind her, she could see an oddly hard-to-perceive cylinder of dimensional power stretching off towards the horizon.

She was panting, drawing in air like she’d been underwater for a long while.

That was uniquely awful.

-We traveled a really long way, though.-

Yeah, I suppose… She felt something and glanced down, remembering what Thron had told her. Rust!

She slapped her hand onto Kit and dumped power into the pouch.

The short trip had highly strained Kit, even though she’d topped off its power as they were approaching the tower, it was almost empty when she began to refill it.

Now that she focused on it, all of her items felt…worn, like they had been dragged across some sort of magical sandpaper. That’s an awful metaphor.

She looked closer, the world-fragment and her studies into the Doman-Imithe making her think of the integrity of reality a bit more than usual.

With a pulse of power, she transformed Flow into voidform so that she could see the fabric of reality more clearly with her voidsight, and what she saw made her eyes widen.

There was a single, sizable gouge in the surface of reality beside a few much smaller ones, leading off into the distance, from the way that she’d come. That was the only way she could describe what she was seeing.

Be-thric began to appear, his foot first, then coming together just as she must have.

As he arrived, Tala saw four little scratches appear within the skin of the world near the gouges that she suspected came from her own gate and the founts she’d stolen from the guild-hold. The four founts he carries?

It was no wonder this wasn’t a common form of travel. And I stress it more than a handful of founts.

It was a sobering thought.

She let the voidform drop as Be-thric stepped to the side, fully reformed and grimacing. “That is highly unpleasant.”

“Well, we shouldn’t use that method very often then.” She smiled slightly, leaning on how Tali would have responded.

“True enough. In either case, we can’t as it is highly straining on…well everything. It is ill-advised to use such methods more than once a year or so. Though, emergencies do happen.”

In less than five minutes, the other three had come through, and the column of power had broken apart.

Tala cocked her head, considering. “What would happen if it deactivated while someone was inside it?”

Thron huffed. “Eskau Tali, it would spread them across all the intervening space, because that is where they would be without the magic holding the working together.”

“Ahh, yes. That does…make sense.”

Ganog seemed to somehow pale as he heard that, and he swallowed visibly.

I guess he didn’t know it was that dangerous?

Without further delay or discussion, they made their way into and through Platoiri without incident, coming to the district of doors barely before noon.

To their surprise, a messenger from the City Lord was waiting outside the hold’s main entrance.

Gallof scurried forward. “My apologies, messenger. One such as you should not have been made to wait outside of the hold. I swear that those responsible will be—”

The messenger held up his hand, silencing Gallof. “There is no need, Adjunct. I am right where I wished to be.”

He bowed and presented a slip of paper to Tala.

Tala took it with a muttered thank you.

The note on the page was simple.

The City Lord commanded her attendance of his person that afternoon, or if she could not be pulled away from the duties of her House, the following day could be acceptable.

The messenger did not wait for her reply, and he was already gone by the time Tala looked up.

Be-thric gave her an inquiring look. “What do you wish, my Eskau?”

She sighed. “I will go now. It is almost noon, and I don’t wish to be late.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. We have much to do in the next few days, and a half-day’s duty is lighter than a full one.”

He nodded appreciatively to that.

She turned to Thron. “Do you need me to place my sanctum before I depart?”

The dwarf smiled and gave a bow. “That would make my tasks easier; yes, Eskau Tali.”

That determined, they entered the hold, and Tala placed Kit’s entrance in a garden quite near the hold’s main gate.

Gallof and Be-thric quickly disappeared with Ganog into another part of the hold.

Thron thanked her and entered Kit.

Tala, for her part, stopped for a long moment, just feeling the hold around her.

Her budding knowledge of Doman-Imithe, alongside spending so long within the world-fragment, caused the fragility of reality in the hold to stand out starkly.

Now that she was looking for it, she could feel that Zeme lay somewhere between the two, closer to the world-fragment than the hold in solidity.

Why didn’t Kit feel this weak?

-It was likely because it was attached to the world-fragment, pulling stability from that anchor.-

She bit the side of her lip in thought. Maybe…

-Are you intending to start a new habit?-

Hmm?

-Biting your lip.-

She stopped. I’ve done that before. It’s not new.

-Yes, but you seem to be doing it more, recently.-

Huh. Might be so. She shook her head and set off.

Stepping out of the House of Blood’s hold and back into Zeme let her feel the solidifying of reality yet again. It wasn’t as precise as using her voidsight, but she was growing in her ability to sense what that form of vision showed.

It’s exactly like the books say. She’d not had time to review all the advanced texts she’d copied into her personal portion of the Archive, via Alat’s incredible perception and ability to grab the pages nearly instantly.

What she had gleaned made it clear that the feel of reality was the easiest means of determining where one was in the worlds.

The world-fragment felt like a sheet of steel.

Zeme was wood. In the most stable places, it was a hardwood that could almost be mistaken for metal; in the weakest, it was softwood, easily marred.

Holds were generally as paper, mere shavings of reality, shaped by cunning hands.

And the Doman-Imithe is a tight net: cords of flexible strength riddled with holes.

She shuddered.

Even her limited understanding of reality made the very idea…disconcerting. Not that I’ll get a chance to explore it.

She was waved through the City Lord’s gates and followed the same path up to his tower that she’d used previously.

Nothing seemed to have changed in her time away.

He even seemed to be wearing the same clothing, though she couldn’t actually remember him wearing anything else, so it was possibly magical clothing. Or he has multiple, identical sets.

“Eskau Tali. So, you decided an afternoon in my company is better than a full day?”

“When I have many demands on my time, City Lord? Yes, reducing my tasks is a boon.”

He huffed a laugh. “Still confrontational with your betters?”

Tala didn’t like the way the conversation was starting out, so she tried to change tack, “Are there any assassins you wish brought low? The bat-gargoyle, perhaps?”

“You mean Bruce?”

Tala hesitated, uncertain if he was joking. “You named your gargoyle?”

“Of course not, don’t be silly, child. The sculptor tried to name it ‘Fear,’ but that was ridiculous, and so I decreed that another name be chosen.”

“So…Bruce.”

“Would you have preferred man-bat?”

“I suppose not.” Why are we talking about this?

Before she could rethink her conversational choices, he reached to take a drink from a cup that wasn’t there.

With a barely contained sigh, Tala went to get his food and tea. It was going to be a long afternoon.

The time passed as she would have expected.

She attended the City Lord, and he largely ignored her.

Finally, when her service was nearly at an end, he turned to face her. “So, Eskau Tali. Your very being is resonating with a desire to ask something. It is getting…distracting.”

“My apologies, City Lord.”

He waved that off. “Don’t apologize. Ask.”

She swallowed. She had, in fact, been trying to find a way of bringing up her question. Well, this is as good a time as any. “My House is going to send m…Pillar Be-thric off on a dangerous venture without me.”

“That is not a question.”

She swallowed, straightening her spine and hardening her resolve. “Will you remove my collar when he is sent, so that I might follow him?”

The City Lord leaned forward, steepling his fingers. “Against the wishes of your own House?”

“Yes, City Lord.”

He tilted his head to the side. “Fascinating. Tell me why.”

Here goes nothing.

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Chapter: 249 - Risks and Liabilities

Tala took a deep breath, centering herself.

The City Lord was leaning towards her, clearly interested in her explanation.

She had just asked him to remove her collar, allowing her to violate the ruling of the House of Blood, and he didn’t reject her outright.

We might be able to do this.He just wants to know ‘why.’ I can give him a good ‘why.’ “He’s the Pillar; I’m the Eskau; what more can I say? I cannot allow him to go into danger without me.”

He scrunched his nose. “That is why your House’s council should have approved your participation. They said ‘no.’ Why should I allow you to go around their decision?”

She hesitated, then reworded this first reason. “Pillar Be-thric will die if I don’t go with him. I cannot let him go alone.”

“Why would that sway me in the slightest?” He looked genuinely confused. “As I’ve said, the safety of a House’s Pillars is their business. I trust that isn’t the only reason you have?”

Well… that was negated more quickly than ideal.

-Next idea?-

Obviously. “Because this shouldn’t involve you at all.”

His head titled slightly to one side. “Interesting. Go on.”

“If I weren’t human, I would follow him on this venture, and it wouldn’t involve you or a collar or anything. I might be reprimanded, but that would be my choice, the consequences solely mine to bear.”

“Ahh, but if you weren’t human, this venture would be unnecessary.”

“That is hardly the point.”

“I disagree, but go on.”

She took another breath, finding her balance before continuing, “The only reason you are involved at all is this stupid collar.”

“The collar that you want me to remove.”

“Precisely.”

“The collar that is meant to prevent you from acting in ways counter to your sponsoring House.”

“…Yes?” She was not aware that that was the supposed purpose. I thought it was a mandate by the City Lord.

-Yeah, that’s what we were told.-

“The collar which is currently preventing you from acting against the express ruling of your House.”

“…yes.” She grimaced. Well, when you say it like that…

“So, you see the problem? Your argument is that I should remove your restriction, because you want to do the very thing the restriction is meant to guard against.”

“I…I thought the collar was a requirement required by you, at your will, and by your discretion.”

He shrugged. “That is both true and false.”

She cocked her head to the side, a slight frown creasing her features. “Explain.”

The room suddenly warped, and Tala was on her knees with no memory of falling, breath driven from her lungs, heart stuttering in her chest.

Her aura control, and authority over anything, her own body included, was utterly gone.

Her gate was held in a vice-grip, her flow of power cut off as completely as if she were born without one.

The City Lord hadn’t moved, but his face was stony, utterly without mercy.

Anger or fury would have been less terrifying.

“You do not command me, human child. I’d thought you understood that.” The pressure vanished, the crumbling walls and half caved in roof pulling back together under the City Lord’s power.

When did that break? The sound of dripping drew her perspective back to herself, and she was able to see streams of blood running down her face from the corners of her eyes and out of her ears. The dark, crimson liquid was dripping onto the floor from where it gathered on her chin.

“I will not tell you again.” His voice was perfectly level, perfectly controlled.

Tala nodded, barely keeping a rein on her panic. Pull it together, Tala.

-Are you alright?-

Not in the slightest, but…but I need to try this avenue. She slowly stood, giving a deeper bow than usual. “My apologies, City Lord. If you would be willing, can you explain what you mean?”

He smiled, all traces of displeasure gone. “Well, every City Lord forbids human advancement, unequivocally, as it sets a bad precedent, and it never ends well. If a House is willing to take on liability and risk, a prerequisite is that collar.” He pointed to her unnecessarily. “That eliminates the problem once their gamble fails.”

“If I may, what sort of risk?” She was still fighting to keep her emotions under control. She was not used to being faced with such overwhelming power, and it was rattling to say the least.

“It depends. Ten times the worth of any damages owed due to unlawful actions of the elevated human. That part is the most commonly invoked. If the human does something so heinous that they execute her, the House owes the City ten founts for every rank the human was allowed to advance before their fall to inevitable failing. If the human is banished into the wilds, it’s twenty founts, because someone has to be sent after her to kill her properly.”

Tala frowned. “Forgive me, City Lord, but wouldn’t the collar kill me, were I to be banished?”

“That’s the interesting quirk of the relationships between the Houses and the City Lords. If their act of banishment killed you, that wouldn’t be banishment, now would it? As such, to honor their ruling on their own members, we remove the collar. But.” He held up a finger. “But we don’t want an uncollared, advanced human out and about, so she has to be hunted down.”

Could that work?

-Do you really want this guy, or one of his enforcers hunting you down?-

No, but it is a possibility…Let’s call this the worst case scenario, but it could work.

“Now, it basically never happens, because the cost is so prohibitive to the House.”

Tala blinked. “Excuse me… It seems that you are speaking about this like there are quite a few humans that are, or have been, in my position.”

“Am I? I suppose after millennia it seems that way. You are the only such in this city.”

“Oh…Alright.”

“But as I was saying, banishment to the wilds basically doesn’t happen. Banishment to another House or city doesn’t happen, because there would have to be another House or City Lord willing to take responsibility for you, and you’d have just proven yourself to be a horrid burden.”

She grimaced, remaining silent.

“Now, for you, as an Eskau of all things, they’d never banish or kill you while your Pillar lives, not with the particularities of your specific arrangement, but that is precisely your concern.”

Tala nodded but didn’t interject.

“If he were to die, I could see that as grounds for your death or banishment. As a former Eskau at that point, they might opt for banishment, if you’ve been a good little Eskau up until then. That would also make them look much better to the other major Houses. It’s never a good look when you have to execute your own Eskau.” He clapped his hands, smiling magnanimously. “That’s your solution! If your Pillar dies, you can be banished to go save him, so long as you can avoid my hunters long enough to succeed.”

She gave him a non-amused look that bordered on disrespectful, but the City Lord just waved it off.

“You just need to learn necromancy and avoid those hunters too. Your Pillar would never be the same, of course, but you’d have him back.”

Tala scrunched her face but moderated her tone to respond. “I do not believe that would work for me, but thank you for the suggestion.”

“No one likes a groveler, child.” His tone was jovial, but it had a hard edge. “I was mocking you. Use that spine, which makes you so interesting. Don’t pretend it was anything else.”

“Yes, City Lord.” She grit her teeth, her tumultuous emotions joining together as irritated anger.

“That’s more like it.” He quirked a half smile. “Now, what if the collar kills you? They just have to pay for the replacement of the collar. It is a simple and relatively cheap solution.”

“Then, why would any House ever execute the human any other way? If I may ask.” She added the last hastily, despite her continued anger.

“You may. The answer is: They really don’t. Generally, the collar is triggered, and the matter is over. The body is utilized very specifically towards the benefit of the City Lord as a peace offering and apology for wasting everyone’s time. But even if that weren’t the case, we would dispose of the corpse, because we can’t allow the whole process to have any positive incentives.”

“Utilized?”

“Yes, gated humans who have died with their gate intact keep a remnant of connection from their body to the next world.”

“So, you somehow use the corpse to make another fount?” Tala couldn’t keep the disgust off of her features.

“What? No. Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous. It’s not that type of connection. A gate is a pipe through which magic can flow. The connection that remains after the human’s death is more like a solid cable. No power will ever flow through it again, at least not in the way you are meaning.”

Tala frowned, uncertain of the utility of such a thing.

He sighed and shook his head. “I suppose I shouldn’t expect you to understand the implications. It isn’t like you’d have been given extensive lessons on the Doman-Imithe.”

Her eyes widened, but she held her tongue.

“Yes, the Doman-Imithe, the broken world. The backside of the coin on which Zeme exists, balancing on the border between the void and power. Now, a dead, gated human deposited in the Doman-Imithe increases the cohesion of reality in that location for both the Doman-Imithe and Zeme. A body from Zeme, tied to the next world, and decomposed in the Doman-Imithe. It draws the three together.”

“Wait, but if that’s true…If I may ask, why wouldn’t there be a massive program to give gated humans amazing lives, encourage lots of children, and then put their bodies in the Doman-Imithe when they die of old age?”

“An excellent question. The first reason is very simple: The stabilizing effect from a single unranked gated-human corpse is less than the damage done by opening a door to the Doman-Imithe. Higher ranked humans? Now, that is worth it.”

So… If I fail, I’ll be killed and dumped into the Doman-Imithe…

-I hear it’s lovely this time of year, all that snow.-

I suppose the seasons are aligned with Zeme, yeah? What’s your point?

-No point, I just like snow.-

The City Lord sighed, bringing Tala’s focus back to him. “Now, is there anything else?”

“I suppose there is nothing I can do for you to get you to remove the collar?”

“Of course there is. I will happily remove it pre-execution, for your banishment, or off of your corpse.”

Her eye twitched. “I meant that you remove it so that I can follow Pillar Be-thric on his mission?”

“Not a single thing.”

She hesitated. “If my House had approved my going along with him…?”

“I’d have changed the parameters of the collar. It wouldn’t have come off.”

She nodded. “I expected as much. Thank you, City Lord.”

“Now, stop being so…jittery, and let me work in peace.” He spun back around and reached for a non-existent cup.

With a silent sigh, she bowed slightly and departed to get him another drink.

As she walked, she felt a frown grow across her features. Wait… I know a cup was there…Does he just obliterate them when they’re empty?

-I don’t think I saw it go anywhere else.- After a moment’s pause, Alat continued. -No, it was there until a bit ago, then it simply vanished when he knocked you to the floor.-

Now that she considered it, she’d never taken any dirty cups down to the kitchen. She’d only gotten new ones.

-He might just stick them in a dimensional storage?-

Yes, he’s so wealthy that he has a pocket dimension for singly used, dirty cups.

-Now, that’s flexing your wealth.-

Tala grinned, feeling a bit more emotionally level. The City Lord hadn’t been the solution, but he had given her a lot of information.

The remainder of her time attending the City Lord passed uneventfully, and she departed as the sun set.

She’d taken the remaining time to think, and she had come to a decision.

I’m going to have to kill Be-thric without being implicated or setting off the collar. They would banish me, and I can make a break for the human lands.

-Oh, yes. That should be quite easy. Once we succeed, we’d only need to cover a few hundred miles, avoiding a pursuing Revered, more than likely.-

Or more than one.

-True, or more than one.-

Is there a better option? She quirked a smile as she waved to the gate guard on her way out. I could take a reality drake, now. I should be able to mess up an arcane Revered, if I absolutely have to.

-That might be a bit optimistic, but it sure would be interesting to see what an over-abundance of siege orbs could do.-

And in the worst case, I die free and fighting. Tala nodded to herself. I’ll keep looking for other solutions, but this is the plan until I find something better.

There was a long silence as she made her way back to the District of Doors and the House of Blood’s hold.

Finally, Alat sent an affirmation to Tala. -It’s not a sure thing, but it is a fighting chance.-

Maybe even literally.

Alat chuckled. -Well, we should make more siege orbs, then. If our last line of defense is ludicrously over the top applications of power, we might as well shoot for the moon.-

Ahh, yes. More little bundles of death. After all, we have a raid tomorrow. If this gambit is to succeed, we need to gather enough worth and wealth for the House that we can argue for banishment over execution by collar.

-To be useful!-

And win our freedom or die trying.

* * *

Tala took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and grinned.

This is it.

She pulled out a pair of siege orbs. She had been amplifying them to the point that the spheres almost distorted towards one another. I didn’t actually consider that I’d be using them for something this close to their intended purpose so soon.

-Breaching, sieging, same difference.-

She grinned. One only lays siege to that which one cannot breach.

Alat chuckled in response.

Before her were the heavily fortified and magically reinforced front gates of the House of the Rising Sun.

Soldiers of the House of Blood were already subduing messengers, minor members of the House, and common folk who had been near at hand when they arrived, moving them away from the doors in question.

Be-thric stood beside her in nearly complete armor, radiating power and deadly focus. Besides the squads of soldiers, they were on their own.

Well… that wasn’t precisely true, or really true at all.

Meallain stepped up beside Tala, her thick armor not hampering her in the slightest. “Let’s get this show on the road. I’ve been wanting an excuse to kick these idiots' beaks in for decades.”

The elf had arranged for her own arrival, by some means, after insisting that she wouldn’t miss this raid for the world.

It was to be a precision strike.

There were at least two candidate Eskau for the House of the Rising Sun who were in residence at the moment. One of their protian weapons would soon be in hand.

Just this one and one more, and we’re done.

Ironically, the House of Blood in Platoiri was unusual for only having had one potential Pillar and candidate Eskau. Tala had come to learn that there were quite a few who could have participated in the contest for the position that Be-thric now held, but they chose not to for one reason or other.

But all of this was beside the point.

The plan was simple: Tala would breach the front gates and the soldiers would sweep into the hold. They would kill if necessary but avoid it where possible.

Tala, Meallain, and Be-thric would follow close behind, dealing with any major threats.

They would all be searching for one of the candidate Eskau, and when they were found, the strike force would converge, acquire the weapon, and retreat as a group.

They weren’t going to obliterate the hold, nor kill enough to start a true inter-House war.

What they were doing was technically within the bounds of the regular conflicts between major Houses, but it hadn’t been done in recent memory.

That’s what makes it unexpected. Tala’s smile grew.

One of their soldiers called out. “Clear!”

She had insisted that they clear the area around the entrance before she did this.

“Brace, one!” Tala called out, and they all hunkered down just slightly. White metal expanded over Tala, completely covering her, though flowing and resolving below her scalemail hauberk.

With an increasingly easy flex of her will, the two orbs changed the target of their gravitational amplification and moved.

The air tore, and the area around the gate heated up a few degrees.

An explosive boom followed instantly on the heels of the colossal crack that was really innumerable cracks and rumbles all overlaying one another so close together as to be impossible to parse.

Dust and shards of various materials ballooned outward, only to be cleared a moment later by a working of one of their soldiers.

Meallain whistled appreciatively, and Be-thric cursed.

The defenses had held, but that was to be expected from the purely kinetic strike.

What caught everyone off guard was three-fold.

First, the wall on which the hold rested, the very structure of the District of Doors that had stood for millennia, was cracked, shattered, and utterly dislocated.

The entrance to the hold had been moved backwards by a full foot. The doors were somewhat bent and buckled around the two orbs, one embedded in each side, but they still held, entirely sealing the hold against them.

“That shouldn’t be possible.” Be-thric was aghast.

Honestly, Tala was too. The anchors for holds weren’t generally moveable without specialized magics. Yet, Tala’s attack had done just that. Moreover, the District of Doors was built with magically reinforced materials, which were designed to stand up to the secondary affects of the City Lord’s wrath, so that he’d have less to rebuild.

Good to know; my direct assault is a bit more powerful than the reverberations put off by the City Lord’s Magics. As interesting as that was, she needed to focus.

Tala looked to Meallain. “Is it safe to do the secondary attack?”

The elf frowned, clearly examining the magic and fabric of reality around the door for a moment. “Yes, do it.”

You are now orbs Bill and Ted.

Their labels, which tied them to the workings that had created them, were altered and the effects undone.

If the sound of their flight had been the slapping of a sovereign, the explosion that followed was her scream of utter and absolute rage.

Even braced, Tala, Meallain, and Be-thric were thrown back. Blessedly, they all maintained their feet, sliding more than flying back dozens of yards.

The entire area was cold extremely quickly, the radical temperature change alone cracking stone in the thoroughfare. Everything was coated in a thin layer of ice as the moisture was ripped from the air by the sudden cold.

The less magically, and physically, dense people around them were less lucky, and a good number were thrown, screaming, in all directions.

Blessedly, none had been very close, and they were all of sufficient rank that no one seemed to have been too badly injured, at least not on the outside of the hold.

The inside was a different story, entirely.

Through the clearing air, their soldier working his magics once again, around the now breached entrance, Tala saw at least half a dozen House of the Rising Sun soldiers scattershot through with debris from the now-decimated, previously-heavily-reinforced door.

At least a few were obviously already dead.

Few can survive decapitation by doorknob…

The soldiers of the House of Blood had been rather well prepared and off to the sides, away from the direct pressure wave, unlike Tala, Meallain, and Be-thric.

Thus, they were able to change direction and charge forward just a bit earlier, crying out encouragement to one another.

There was only the sound of groaning in response from the House of the Rising Sun as fifty men and women of various races poured into the enemy hold.

Let’s get this done.

A note from JLMullins

Side-Quest Progress as of this Chapter's posting: 224/1000 (Worldwide)

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Chapter: 250 - In the House of the Rising Sun

Tala followed in the wake of her soldiers, her feet easily cracking through the thin layer of ice to find purchase, even with the increased surface area of her steps.

She heard the sounds of brief clashes, but rarely any screams of pain. They’d brought true professionals.

Tala took the main corridor to the left, towards the more elite common areas.

Be-thric was heading towards the more guest centric section of the hold, as one of the candidate Eskau who was supposed to be inside was supposedly a guest from another city.

Meallain took the path straight ahead. That way led to the main services for the average guild member. That way was also the audience hall. So, if anyone encountered a full Eskau or Pillar it would be her.

Tala was the next most likely, but as they were striking during the middle of the day, the upper echelon shouldn’t be taking advantage of the facilities, leaving them to be utilized by the candidates. Or, at least, that’s what Tala hoped.

She strode down immaculately cleaned, wide corridors, done in beautiful motifs of sunlit vistas and beast-folk cavorting in the wilderness.

She passed servants bundled to the sides of the hallway, wrapped in one-use magical restraints. The net of metal formed to the target and held them comfortable but immobile for the span of two hours, or until released.

They couldn’t be used again after that.

Tala had a dozen with her as well, though she shouldn’t need to use them. The House of Blood soldiers were clearing out the innocents and bystanders.

A cry came from up ahead, “Banner!” The call agreed upon to indicate a significant threat.

Tala launched forward, cracking the stunning floorboards beneath her heavy, rapid tread as she followed the echoes of the voice, and the brief sound of the clash of arms. Moments after the shout, she burst into a room in chaos.

Four House of Blood soldiers were backing away, their weapons raised, and various magics flickering.

On the other side of the room stood a man in simple clothing, framed by light coming through the doorway behind him.

He had a badge of office, indicating he was a master servant for the House of the Rising Sun. Even so, he was Honored. A gardener?

As she entered, magics struck out from the gardener, none aimed at her as she’d only just arrived.

Her soldiers were able to block, but even so, great, jagged rents were torn through the room, and one of her soldiers cried out, bleeding from a savage cut.

“Ma’am!” The soldiers acknowledged her.

The gardener straightened, seeing her as a true threat and taking a moment to pause and assess her properly.

Tala kept her focus on the opponent. “We are here for one thing only: a candidate’s protian weapon. Will you stand aside, and let us pass, or must we continue with the violence?”

He scoffed, his furry skin becoming more apparent as he stepped forward. “You have invaded my home, the home of my master, and the Hold of my House. It is you who have chosen violence, white devil, or whoever you are. Death is the only result for such a crime.”

A mole-man? Interesting choice for a gardener.

She didn’t have time to contemplate that at the moment. “I’m Eskau Tali, of the House of Blood.” With a flick of will, she changed the target of one of her scales to the man’s head.

With a whisper-crack, the leading edge of her scale drove through his forehead, dropping the gardener in an instant.

“If death is required, it will be yours.” She smiled ruefully. I would have liked to say that to him, but you don’t warn your enemies with a line like that.

-Yeah, solid choice of timing.-

The soldiers goggled at her for a moment, but she snapped them back into action. “Wounded, retreat. Remainder press on. We need to be in and out fast. Time’s wasting.”

They snapped into action, obeying her without question or hesitation. Two went past the downed enemy and into the rooms beyond.

As for Tala, she walked over to the dead gardener and placed her hand over the wound.

With a rather greater effort of will, she reached out to the scale of metal and changed its target to the metal on her palm

It cracked into her armored palm, breaking several of the bones in her hand. She let out an uncontrollable whimper at the pain that caused.

Still, it had worked just like in practice.

I never practiced with one amplified to this extent though…

She moved her hand to where the scale had come from and did another transfer, grunting at the pain of it striking her side, even from the short distance away.

Oh, that rusting hurt.

-It is a weapon.-

She stood, ignoring Alat. Her body had already healed from the self-inflicted damage.

Onward!

As she stepped past the gardener, she noticed the room he had been in. It was a small sitting room with a fireplace, a bookshelf and a chair.

That’s a nice looking chair. She didn’t have time to test it out, but it looked incredibly comfortable.

She glanced around, not finding anyone watching.

After all, why not? Why shouldn’t I keep it?

-Tala?-

Tala tossed Kit on the floor, the pouch opening to a hole large enough for Tala to quickly drop the chair through.

I have time. I can take some things.

Then, it was as if the whole world paused. I’m planning on getting banished. They’ll have no use for Kit, but they will want some of the other things back. If I want to ensure I come away with a bounty I shouldn’t just take some things…

Tala’s face broke into the biggest grin that she’d had in quite some time.

I can take everything.

She knew just what to do. With quick motions, she snatched up Kit, and the pouch reformed as she stepped up to the bookshelf.

With a quick motion, Tala swept all the books from each shelf, dumping them straight into Kit. The shelf was built into the wall, so it stayed, but the side table and the gardener’s body went in next.

I won’t take any of the living. She didn’t want to deal with prisoners, after all. But the dead? They might have things of use on them. Some might even have dimensional storages or magical items of other varieties.

She now had a new goal, even as she continued the hunt for a candidate Eskau.

Tala swept through any empty room she found, cleaning it out with the finesse of a tornado. If it wasn’t nailed down, she dumped it into Kit.

Ironically, this utter lack of discretion made it take way less time than if she took only select things.

Paintings came off the wall as she passed.

Every book was taken.

Silly little statues of precious metals or even just stone were dropped into Kit.

And throughout, her smile only grew.

She was gaining a bounty that might be useless, or it might hold unknown treasures.

She couldn’t expect to be able to raid the House of Blood, but she could raid this hold, and if she was really lucky, it might just incense the House of the Rising Sun enough that they took vengeance on the House of Blood, after she’d left.

She even found quite a few training aids ranging from magic nests to what seemed to be a deactivated sparring golem. Even Tali had only gotten access to one of those on rare occasions. Magically expensive to operate.

She moved deeper into the hold, responding to several other calls for aid.

Most surrendered, some didn’t, and those she killed were dropped into Kit along with the first master gardener. All in all, only one opponent put up a true fight.

Frustratingly, it was in the garden right outside the library that she met the problem servant.

Tala dove into a low roll, while she cut two large thorns from the air. The soldiers who had called for her help had already moved on, searching deeper elsewhere while she dealt with this issue.

They were fighting around an artificial pond. What is with these gardeners?

This one was a sort of green snake-woman, and she was also a master gardener like the unnamed mole-man from earlier.

The House of Blood forces had only been in this hold for less than a quarter hour, but it was already pushing on too long.

Tala’s initial attack, the willing forward of two scales, had been thwarted somehow.

The woman’s concept had washed over the scales as they’d approached, and they’d simply fallen to the ground.

Now, Tala was fighting her way forward as the creature used the flora around them to assault her.

She’s like that big bear I fought to become an Eskau…Ogi? Yeah, but she’s way more powerful than he was.

As if to emphasize the point, a vine burst from the ground, wrapping around Tala’s leg and tripping her up.

It didn’t stop her, as Flow severed the offending plant with little difficulty, but it did slow her.

The snake woman was retreating but not leaving the courtyard beneath the fake sky. She’s trying to hold me here…and it’s working.

Tala growled. You know what? Rust these plants.

She pulled in a huge lungful of air, and filled it with power to an extreme level. She manipulated the spell-form, flipping it to dissolution magics as she exhaled, spinning in a circle.

The very air broke apart under the assault, along with the plants which had surrounded her.

The powdered plant mixed with the temporarily divided air, before it all reacted, blossoms of fire rolling out, away from Tala and across the garden, carrying more of her dissolution magic with it.

She felt the familiar sizzling within her mouth as those same magics obliterated anything not protected by inscriptions within her as well.

Hmm, refreshing. The heat radiating back towards her was a nice counterpoint to the tingling across her throat, teeth, tongue, lips, and gums.

-You’re kind of scary sometimes.-

I aim to obliterate.

Alat snorted a chuckle…somehow.

The snake-woman let out a hissing screech. The fire hadn’t reached her directly, but this garden had clearly meant something to her.

Tala took the moment of distraction to sprint forward.

Great, I’m resorting to destroying someone’s life work for an edge.

-And that’s worse than killing them…how?-

Fair point.

She thrust with Flow as a knife, forcing it to transform at the last instant into a glaive.

As the blade came within a handsbreadth of the woman, a powerful force tried to take ahold of Flow’s form, somehow.

Tala locked her will in a vice grip, and tripled the power going into maintaining Flow’s current form.

But the power had never tried to actually stop Flow, just change it.

Thus, the glaive took the woman in the center of her chest, punching through her sternum and into her heart.

She died instantly.

Rusting finally.

Tala quickly gathered up the white scales that had failed to harm the woman. They were completely without gravitational amplification. I’ll fix that, later.

She dropped them into Kit, followed by the woman, herself.

With glee, she then turned to the library.

This was not the public library of the sanctum. No, this was the more exclusive library for the Pillars, Eskau, up-and-comers, and high officials.

Tala kicked in the door and found the spacious interior empty of people.

It was massive, honestly. There were two stories packed tightly with shelves full of books.

With a manic chuckle, she began.

The shelves around the outside of the space were fixed to the walls, but with quick, powerful jerks she broke them free, dumping the mostly intact shelves and all their contents into Kit.

In less than three minutes she’d cleared the first floor.

Gotta go faster.

Two minutes later, she’d cleared the second floor, and she was practically giggling with glee. YES!!!

The books would be added to her secret library in the underbelly of her Sanctum.

She was about to leave when she noticed an oddity to the flows of power around a seeming random part of one wall.

She moved closer to investigate. Something is…hidden? Yeah. Something is hidden here.

-I don’t think we can breach that, Tala. Not without using a siege orb, and that will call far too much attention to us.-

Well, no reason not to try something. She pulled Flow to her hand, altering it to a void-sword.

With powerful cuts, she struck the wall all around the odd magics, severing the connections of power, before she drove Flow, now in the form of a void-knife, into the wall.

Her weapon ate the power, gobbling it up with abandon.

Less than thirty seconds later, the illusion and security scripts were broken. That wasn’t designed to keep out intruders. It was meant to hide it, to keep such methods from being needed.

-Good thing we have such amazing magesight, then.-

Oh, absolutely.

There was even a divot that served as a nice little handle. Be careful, Tala. Someone might have decided to take shelter in here.

She pulled it open, eyes searching for anyone hiding inside.

There wasn’t anyone in there, but she gasped at what she did find: More books.

-Unexpected! Books in a library!-

Hush you, this is clearly their equivalent of a restricted section.

As she moved to step inside, she heard an echoing chorus of voices. “Forward!”

It was a silly subterfuge. The command for a retreat sounding like the opposite only gained the smallest of hesitations and most minimal of confusion.

That was enough.

She had apparently missed the call for gathering to claim the weapon, or the protian weapon had been gained before such could be issued. In either case, ‘Forward’ was an indication of success.

Tala echoed the call even as she ignored the command.

She lunged into the secret library and took everything.

Just as she had been.

A few titles grabbed her eyes as they fell into Kit.

Some would likely be worthless to her: Archival ledgers and records for the house.

Those will be a perfect ‘find’ to turn over to the House of Blood.

-Continuing to build your worth to them? Fantastic idea indeed.-

While many were interesting, some... some made her shake with anticipation and long to sit down and start reading immediately.

She couldn’t do that, however, no matter how much she wanted to read: ‘Advancement and the Unbroken Road to Sovereignty.’

There’s no way it’s accurate, but it likely contains some truth.

-All of these are likely just partial truths, if that. This is but a minor city for this House, so there won’t be anything world-shattering, but it will still be useful.-

The only other text that grabbed her attention in the moment was a simple one: ‘A primer on the creation of Risen Sun Protian Weaponry.’

And with that alone, we’ve struck gold.

But it was beyond time for her to be gone.

Tala turned and sprinted from the secret room, making straight for the exit.

Tala wasn’t the last one out, but she was near the back.

A few of the soldiers were being carried by their fellows, but when she checked with a captain who was helping hold the retreat, she was greeted with pleasant news: No fatalities on their side and no one left behind.

The last of the soldiers were counted and as a group they executed a jogging retreat.

As soon as she was free of the enemy hold, she used her will and power to retract the metal from over her head.

She blinked her eyes as they adjusted to the light. She was getting more and more used to seeing with only her mirrored perspective. Eyeslits are a weakness I can avoid.

Meallain was holding a bracer that positively blazed with light and power. “Victory to me, little Be.”

Be-thric was shaking his head. “With that? We all won.”

The elf laughed. “So we did, so we did.”

They called out a greeting to Tala as she joined them, and it was a triumphant, if slightly bedraggled, group that made it to the House of Blood’s hold a short while later.

There, they debriefed, and Tala turned in three of her binding constructs. No one even questioned her. It was simply assumed that she’d used the other nine.

More bounty for us.

She did turn over the ledgers, claiming to have come across them in a locked room while searching the hold.

That had the benefit of being utterly true. The best lies are true.

-I feel like I should be concerned by that line of thought, but I also can’t find fault with the logic.-

Tala grinned, turning towards Meallain to cover the expression’s true cause. “Thank you, Eskau Meallain. Without your assistance that operation would have taken longer, and with a longer timeframe, we would surely have suffered greater casualties.”

It was still odd to her that casualties meant both hurt and killed.

The elf grinned languidly in return.

“Oh, Eskau Tali, it was a pleasure. Those beast-folk have been getting uppity all across the continent. It’s nice to strike a blow against them, and this?” She held up the ledgers and accounting books. “These aren’t recent, but they will give amazing insight into the workings of the House. We’ll take them down a peg or two.”

Be-thric joined them, even as the soldiers were dispersing to receive healing and be fully debriefed by their commanders. “Meallain, you cinched the victory, but I think those documents will be more valuable to the House as a whole in the long run. Incredibly well done, Tali. You prove your worth yet again.”

Tala felt a genuine smile at her lips. “That was my genuine hope, Pillar Be-thric. I wish to be invaluable to the House of Blood.”

Until the moment I make my move.

Be-thric shivered and looked towards the gate. “Lock down the entrance. I feel something in the air. If they retaliate, let’s make them work for it.”

“Yes, Pillar!” The gate guards engaged the more extensive defenses, and the air positively hummed with power.

Meallain frowned. “Be? Is everything alright?”

He frowned. “It’s gone now, but I felt…I don’t know. Like someone was digging my grave.”

Tala stepped forward. She carefully held her thoughts neutral towards Be-thric, instead pulling conviction from her desire for freedom. “If so, I’ll be there when they try, Pillar Be-thric. I think underestimating me will be the last mistake my opponent ever makes.”

-You walk a fine line, Tala. Don’t let your arrogance ruin us, now.-

Be-thric shivered, glanced towards the gate, then shook his head, turning to smile her way. Even so, there was still a tension in his gaze. “Thank you, my Eskau. That is a comfort.”

A note from JLMullins

Side-Quest Progress as of this Chapter's posting: 267/1000 (Worldwide)

Looking for a fun new story to try?

Rise of the Devourer [Isekai LitRPG] might be the one for you! 😁

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/65226/rise-of-the-devourer-isekai-litrpg

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Multi-Region Review Link!

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Purchase Book 1, Mageling:

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Chapter: 251 - That Girl

Tala leaned back, wiping her mouth with a napkin as she looked at those around her in the lunch meeting.

I am so glad that I ate before coming. Because of that, she’d finished first, as opposed to usual, where she was used to eating way more, and for way longer, than those around her.

She didn’t really mind, but it was an interesting contrast, now that things were reversed.

While waiting for the others to finish, she pulled out a simple ledger, and Alat projected one of the texts on the Doman-Imithe overtop of it.

Some light reading after lunch.

It had been a few days since the raid on the hold of the House of the Rising Sun, and the city had been abuzz with gossip and rumors about the attack.

The House of the Rising Sun was reeling.

They’d lost quite a few key members and servants, and a large number of their lesser affiliates had scaled back their relationships with the House, or sought work or trading partners elsewhere.

The House of the Rising Sun was balancing on the edge of total collapse in the city of Platoiri, and Tala was being hailed, internally, as a hero of the House of Blood, because it was her suggestion that had fostered the raid, and she had been one of the principal instruments in its success.

Meallain had taken her aside after the fact and asked about Tala’s siege orbs. They took a lot of preparation and weren’t universally usable, but they hit way above her rank.

Apparently the City Lord had left his manor to personally inspect the damage done to the District of Doors and even refused to levy a fine against the House of Blood for ‘excessive use of force.’

In truth, the very fact that the House of the Rising Sun had acknowledged the crushing power of Tala’s assault on their entrance was a major win for the House of Blood.

With regard to the City Lord, word was, he spent five minutes walking around the broken wall and shattered entrance to the House of the Rising Sun’s hold, then simply grunted, then said, ‘That girl.’ with a shake of his head, and departed.

The House of the Rising Sun received the denial to their request for punitive action against the House of Blood shortly after.

Now, every time Tala came out of her sanctum, she was greeted by well-wishes and raucous shouts from members and servants of the House of Blood.

“Hey, it’s ‘That girl!’” Followed by a jovial, laugh, was the most common among those.

She bore it with good cheer. Part of the point of her participation in the raid had been to foster exactly that type of response. She wanted to be seen as a valuable asset. Banishment, not death. I need banishment, not execution.

Even so, she was still investigating other options.

She’d contemplated some truly insane options.

Tala had even briefly considered disabling the scripts that kept her body at its current size and shape.

Maybe if I balloon up sufficiently, my neck will get bigger than my head, and I can just pull the collar off?

They’d been able to determine that the collar wouldn’t resize, and they both knew that the City Lord wouldn’t give her a bigger collar just because she got fat.

Needless to say, the long-shot of Be-thric’s death without her implication, ideally without her involvement, was still her best bet at freedom.

Sooner would actually be better at that point, because right then? If the House of Blood were to order her execution, it would turn all the honor and prestige she’d earned for the House into shame, her fame becoming notoriety overnight.

Banishment would do that to a degree, depending on how it was handled, but not nearly to the same extent.

She returned her mind to the book in hand, and only a few minutes later, everyone was sufficiently done for the discussion to begin.

Sanguis stood. “As you all know, Pillar Be-thric will be leaving for the human lands within the month. After all, with Eskau Tali by his side, the final protian weapon is as good as acquired.”

There were nods and laughter around the table, and quite a few smiling faces briefly turned her way in acknowledgement.

Drawing their attention back, Sanguis continued, “We need to determine the best city for him to enter.”

Makinaven would be hilarious. Jevin would obliterate him, outranked or not.

Gallof stood. “In my research, I’ve found a few human cities with good intelligence about their defenses and defenders. Pillar Be-thric himself was able to confirm roughly at what point they are in their great cycle, so we have a good idea which cities will be occupied at this time.”

Appreciative murmurs went around the large room.

“Now, the Forest Cities are problematic, as each is known to have at least one powerful protector.”

Thron cleared his throat. “Pardon, Honored Gallof, but doesn’t every human city have powerful protectors?”

“Ahh, yes. But the Forest Cities have something more. It is estimated that each of those cities are watched over by someone equivalent to a City Lord, at least while fighting within the human settlement, itself.”

There were widened eyes and a few startled intakes of breath.

Way to go Master Jevin. I knew you were powerful, but on par with the City Lord? She kept her smile suppressed, shaking her head instead.

Gallof frowned when he looked her way, clearly misinterpreting her feelings exactly as she’d intended. “We are aware of your feelings, Eskau Tali. But we hope that you will put them aside to help us ensure your Pillar against a deadly fate.”

“His fate would be better ensured by my presence.”

Pallaun huffed a laugh. “She’s right, but we aren’t going to change the council’s mind soon enough for it to matter.”

Meallain stood. “To get back on topic, I would recommend the city site currently called Clevenhold. It is on the fringe, hard up against the sea, and in past cycles it has been less well protected from land-based threats and infiltration. After all, they have to devote a great portion of their magics towards warding away the beasts of the ocean.”

She sat back down, and once again, mutters of agreement rippled around the room.

Clevenhold? Never been there. It was on my interrupted route, but so was every other city so that isn’t saying much.

-Hey! We can tour the cities when we get back. That would be a good way to level-set, a good way to get back into the feel of human society.-

Yeah, that sounds nice. She thought for a moment. I wonder what they’ll do about my contract with the caravan guild. I suppose I’m technically in violation, but I can’t imagine them being a stickler about it, when I was magenapped.

Gallof snorted, drawing Tala back to the conversation at hand. “Clevenhold. As in Cleave-and-hold? Really? Who names these cities?”

Meallain gave a half-smile. “They have a set of names that they use. It seems that the old ones in power got tired of coming up with names, so they stopped even trying.”

Thron grunted. “Efficient.”

Be-thric chuckled. “Leave it to the dwarf to focus on that aspect.”

The dwarf gave a seated bow. “Why do the work any way but the best way? Efficiency makes everything better.”

The Pillar smiled in return.

Sanguis tapped the table firmly, sending reverberations through the room. “So, do we agree?”

Those around the table gave a chorus of agreement.

“Alright. Then, let’s get down to the specifics.”

Tala added her thoughts here and there to the planning, keeping her insights and statements to things that Tali would have knowledge of.

For the arcanes’ part, the older members of the planning group seemed to have a concerning level of knowledge about the methodologies and practices of human Mages and city defenses.

We’re going to want to make sure they know about this…

-I suppose this was bound to happen when we keep doing ‘what works’ and don’t really have any feedback from our dormant enemies.-

I guess so.

Suddenly, the light in the hold flipped to a vibrant purple, casting everything in amethyst hues. Tala got the distinct feel of the City Lord from the light.

Tala felt a power seize everyone and everything within the entire hold, locking them into immobility.

Palluan quirked a smile and took a drink, and while Tala didn’t see Sanguis move, she got the feeling that he could have. He was just respectful enough to maintain the fiction.

The City Lord’s own voice followed, seeming to come from right beside her ear, not too loud while still being easy to understand, “Attention, House of Blood. A hold-breach dispensation has been paid against this dimensional dwelling.” There was an almost malicious mirth behind the words. “You have one hour.”

The City Lord’s grip, along with the odd lighting, vanished without a trace.

Tala blinked, looking around. “What?”

All around the room, and indeed throughout the hold if Tala’s enhanced hearing was any indication, people were on the verge of panic.

Thankfully, cooler, older, wiser heads prevailed.

Thron leaned over. “Another major House wished to attack us, but didn’t feel confident in breaking through the defenses on our entrance. So, they’ve paid the City Lord to breach our defenses. The City Lord seems to have included our forewarning as part of whatever ludicrous sum was paid for the action.”

“That’s possible?”

“Oh, of course. He won’t kill anyone without cause, but kicking in a door, so to speak? Sure. It’s good revenue, though it usually involves his underlings and only involves minor houses.”

Similar conversations were happening all throughout the room, and likely throughout the hold, as those who knew of this part of the law conveyed it to those who didn’t.

The dwarf grinned. “I think he was laughing because you kicked their teeth in, and they don’t have any confidence in returning the favor on their own.”

She frowned. “Or they don’t want to waste themselves on the opening attack.”

Thron shook his head. “Doubtful. The amount they would have gained by a surprise attack would greatly outweigh the cost, if they could have managed it.”

Sanguis stood back up, commanding the attention of everyone present. “As you all heard, we have an attack to prepare for. Common law dictates that any defense within thirty feet of the entrance is subject to breach by the City Lord, along with any bottleneck or dead-end within a further hundred yards. Let’s get the appropriate defenses online and clear out those that won’t be useful in this action. Move non-combatants to the fortified positions at the rear of the hold along with any valuables.”

Tala fought down a grin. If I get the chance in the chaos, I can raid some stuff from here, too…if I’m careful.

Nods went around the room, and people began dispersing.

Tala looked around, incredulous. “Really? That’s it?”

Meallain clapped Tala on the shoulder. “We know what we’re about. Your adjunct will have been informed on protocols for an imminent breach. You should follow those. The name of the action will be fighting retreat. We won’t be able to hold them, so we make them bleed for every inch until they cut their losses and leave.”

“Can’t hold them? But you’re here and Eskau Pallaun.”

She gave Tala a serious look. “My presence here is no secret, Eskau Tali. They wouldn’t have gone to this expense if they didn’t have a plan for each of us. They’ll be under-prepared as we’re not idiotic enough to let our true capabilities be known, but we’d be foolish to assume that our most famous combatants can keep them back.”

“I…I didn’t consider that.”

The elf smiled. “Go.”

Thron motioned for Tala to follow him, and she did. “See you in the fray.”

Meallain called after her, making sure that everyone still nearby could hear her clearly. “We are the House of Blood, and today? Today, their blood will flow through our house.”

Tala nodded once in acknowledgement before following Thron once more.

She is a scary lady.

-Yeah…The City Lord wouldn’t send her after us…right?-

I can’t imagine they’d send members of a House after their own banished.

-Yeah. That makes sense.- Alat only sounded somewhat mollified.

Servants were already carrying various valuables away. Well, there goes that idea…But it’s possible some stuff will be missed.

The dwarf began speaking as Tala joined him, walking quickly through the hallways, “Since the action has been declared, it can’t be changed, and they knew that we’d know. They are going to be coming in, hard. It really seems like you rusting kicked a hornets’ nest, Eskau Tali.”

She frowned, considering. “Do we know that it’s the House of the Rising Sun?”

“No. But I would bet my teeth that they're involved. They likely called in members from other cities. In fact, I’d be surprised if it was only that one House. Whoever they are, they’re attacking us, knowing we’ll be forewarned. As Eskau Meallain said, they likely know we have Eskau Pallaun and her in residence. That’s either rusting stupid, or we have an army coming through our gates.”

“It seems so… Where are we going?”

“To move your sanctum, of course. It’s within the range of violability.”

“Ahh, yes. Moving the sanctum would be wise, then.” Kit will also be useful to have with me.

“I’d recommend keeping it with you.”

“I was just thinking that.”

He smiled and continued, “Your siege orbs could be useful.”

Tala blanched. “In our own hold? Isn’t that…unwise?”

“Not at all. Anything destroyed can be rebuilt easily enough. We’ll make them bleed, and that is all that matters in the end.” He hesitated. “You likely know this, but expect them to have someone specifically to counter you. I’d count on a few, if not a few teams, specifically chosen to capture or kill you.”

“Capture?”

“Of course. The ransom they could get for you would go a long way to flipping the trajectory of power that your raid set into motion.”

She hesitated. “What do you think the chances are that they have someone watching our entrance?”

“Their assault force is probably already outside, awaiting the City Lord.”

She sighed. “Then no sneaking out to counterstrike their hold?”

He laughed. “Sadly, no. I’d bet that there will be a few squads hidden near the entrance to try to get out behind the assault force, but they probably won’t succeed.”

Tala grunted. “Understood.”

They arrived at where she’d left Kit, and she grabbed the doorframe.

It came away from the wall easily, the entire doorway distorting and reforming into a pouch that she hung from her belt.

Thron scrunched up his face in a grimace, seeming to be working himself up to mention something difficult. “Eskau Tali…The concept sword—”

Tala turned on him with fervor, cutting him off. “Is for when Pillar Be-thric’s venture is over. Not before.”

“But the assault—”

“I will not let my enemies force my hand. It stays our secret.”

“Yes, Eskau.” His tone was stiff and perfectly formal.

She softened her own tone and placed a hand on his shoulder. “We won’t need it, and I won’t have such a perfect surprise wasted.”

Thron relaxed slightly and nodded. “As you say, Tali.”

She quirked a smile. “Now, where can we set up?”

The next three-quarters of an hour passed in a blur as Tala used her prodigious strength to help move mobile defenses around within the hold.

Aside from the bit of manual labor, Tala reviewed a list that had been given to her by Thron. He told her it was a list of ‘who I’d hire if I needed to kill you.’

She was torn between being impressed by his due diligence and a bit concerned that he had such a thing ready to hand.

In either case, she flipped through and let Alat take in their descriptions and powersets.

By that point, Tala was in her position, standing behind a weighed-down, reinforced barricade.

The hold had been radically changed in a short time.

A large swath had been cleared around the entrance, and only a few walls and other defensive emplacements left standing.

No traps or other similar defenses would survive the City Lord’s incursion, so they weren’t wasted.

Finally, all there was to do was wait.

One hour on the dot from the beginning of the City Lord’s warning, the hold entrance opened, the gates swinging wide without any resistance.

The City Lord’s voice carried through. “I thank the House of Blood for making my duties light. Those of you who survive, come to my manor, and I may have something for you.”

He stood in the center of the now open gates, and Tala could see armed and armored warriors pressing close behind him, without daring to pass him by. Even so, his eyes swept across their preparations and settled on her.

“You become more interesting, girl. Should you survive, make your request again.”

Tala froze. What? Is he saying…?

-I think he might be.-

He smiled ruefully. “I’ll still probably say ‘No,’ but I think the conversation might be more…entertaining than last time.”

Even with the probably ‘No,’ there was a new candle of hope lit within her.

-Tala, he’s playing with you.-

She grimaced in return. You’re right. I know you are.

-I think he doesn’t know what to make of you. He’s trying to suss out what makes you tick.-

Great…

Someone behind the City Lord cleared their throat. “Pardon, City Lord, but…?”

The City Lord glanced back as if just noticing the horde of arcanes, ready for the assault. He then looked back into the hold at the defensive positions and battlelines. “Hmm? Oh, by all means.”

With the barest wisps of power, he was gone.

Tala thought that she caught something, though she didn’t think it was magic, at least not mostly. Is he just that fast?

Regardless, she didn’t have time to contemplate.

The assaulting force charged.

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Chapter: 252 - Down, Boy

Tala’s magesight strained to pick out details as a dozen blazing lines of power lanced out in defense of the House of Blood’s hold.

Each was countered before it was halfway to the attackers.

Tala assessed the defensive reactions. Weaker members up front with some specialized in direct cancellation of different types of long-range attacks.

A wave of arrows were launched from several large apparatuses, specific defenses designed to threaten those with counters to magical attacks.

A kinetic disruption swept through the clouds of arrows, dropping them to the ground harmlessly.

Alright, I’m up. She grinned.

She wanted to blast straight into the oncoming tide, but she now knew that someone would have a counter of one kind or other. She and Thron had planned ahead for that eventuality.

Their defenses are responsive, so I simply need to misdirect.

She flipped the targets of three pairs of her siege orbs to large sacks, placed equidistantly in an arc before the oncoming foes.

With a concurrent crack that made her ears ring, the orbs tore across the battlefield

Time seemed to slow as Tala brought her enhanced mind and senses to bear.

Several very odd-looking barriers shot up surrounding her enemies, exactly as she knew they would.

Cold redirection? Kinetic absorption and redirection and…what’s that last one?

-Doesn’t matter. Focus. The misdirection worked as planned.-

Each of the siege orbs had struck true, obliterating the sacks laid out for her and beginning to scatter their contents, scrap metal from the hold’s smithy.

In the fraction of an instant after the six all-but-simultaneous impacts, she changed her labeling of the orbs, breaking the effects that kept them gravitationally compressed.

The orbs exploded in a deafening boom.

The basic effects were as she’d seen before, a pressure wave followed by an incredible cold that iced everything nearby.

That was countered rather effectively by the overlapping defenses, though some parts of the blast got through each portion. Leaving some reeling backwards and others coated in frost.

That wasn’t the only effect, however.

This time, fragments of enhanced metal were carried along with the blast wave.

The shards that encountered the kinetic redirection were shunted off to the sides, but the rest flew true, shredding through the enemy lines.

Even those that were redirected still crashed into the enemies.

Most who were struck staggered, a new hitch in their steps even though their armor took the brunt of the impacts, but a few fell and a few of those never rose.

A cheer went up from the defenders.

First blood had been spilt, and it was their attackers who bled.

Tala sent another set of siege orbs forward hoping to capitalize on the confusion her successful attack had wrought, aiming for one of the sides. Unfortunately, the enemy was not as distracted as she’d hoped.

Even as her attack tore across the intervening space, she saw dimensional distortions, and the orbs vanished.

What?

-Pocket dimensions. Opened specifically to swallow your orbs.-

What rusting cheaters!

-Says the girl with lethal air balls.-

…That’s fair. She broke the workings regardless of the lack of effect. No reason to give them more information.

Finally, the assault force utilized their own magics.

The House of Blood was not without competent defenders, however.

Just as the defensive magics had been negated, so were the assaults of the aggressors.

As expected, this would become a close-range battle soon enough.

Unfortunately, no singular arcane on either side could simply overwhelm all opposition, so it was not in the best interest of either side to highlight their powerhouses, especially not this early in the conflict when their enemies could more easily bring greater force to bear on anyone revealed.

Tala was somewhat unique in that her siege orbs simply moved too fast to easily track their origin. Unless I use too many.

-They were able to intercept them, however.-

I think that was more static defense in the way, than actively pinpointing the orbs’ exact location.

-That’s probably true.-

Even so, that will mean that they have a better idea of my location than ideal… She bit the side of her lip, then stopped, glaring internally.

Alat just laughed.

Okay. I’m shifting to my secondary position.

Magics were flying back and forth, now, along with flights of mundane arrows.

Others were trying subterfuge on both sides, but her attack had been a brutal reminder of that possibility.

As the attackers drew closer, the defensive magics on both sides had to react more quickly. They couldn’t be static because no defense was perfect, and it was easy for the right attack to be implemented to bypass any particular defense.

Tala dropped back and moved around the defensive ring to another location prepared for her. The soldiers hiding nearby nodded in her direction, but then time was up, and the enemy was upon them.

She lost focus on the bigger picture as lightning, fire, and something that seemed to be the concept of acid shot toward her position.

Hey, Thron has company in his power.

Even so, she heard members of the House of Blood scream out in pain, and her enhanced senses told her that at least one or two of the defenders near her died.

Rusting, seriously? Stay behind your defenses!

She had ducked behind her own barrier, using her aura control to break the direction on the incoming powers.

She’d even extended herself to break the authority of the attacking arcanes firing on the soldiers near her. It wouldn’t stop the attacks from landing, but it would spoil any attempt at accuracy.

Even so, lightning tore up stone and threw chips in every direction, fire greatly heated the space around her to an almost painful degree, and she could hear sizzling as her stone barricade was eaten away from the other side.

Well, rust you, too! She took in a deep breath, filling her lungs with power.

A now familiar twist and it was ready.

She waited a heartbeat until she heard the expected call, “Counter!”

No doublespeak this time. She wondered if the enemy had expected that. Does that mean they think we’re retreating?

She really didn’t have time to contemplate it, and her opponents probably didn’t either.

She jumped up and to the side.

Her eyes locked on six attackers closing on her position.

She contracted her entire torso, using her enhanced strength to add force to her exhale.

With an act of will, her aura control shaped, funneled, and accelerated the dissolution power forward, turning a strong breeze into a torrent.

Fire, lightning, and acid responded but were eaten away before they could come close.

Sadly, the magics had virtually perfectly equaled out.

She thought she saw some dissolution effect the fringes of their armor, and she felt static, heat, and some burning spice in the air around her.

Hey, I just countered six arcanes at once. They were even all near her in rank, being perfectly split with three orange and three yellow. Three Mature and three Elders.

-I agree. That was quite impressive.-

Cries of alarm went up from those before her even as she closed on them with great loping strides.

She hunched as close to the ground as she could get while maintaining a stable form. De-arg would knock me flat, but these don’t have a chance.

Flow flashed into her hand, taking on the void-glaive form as she struck out.

Five heads popped upward, freed from their bodies even as their defenses and bodies were drained of power in that single swing.

The sixth arcane had fallen backwards, out of the line of the incredibly powerful swing.

Lucky slag.

The lucky arcane took a deep breath, and Tala braced for a breath weapon or something of the like.

She should have struck him down instead.

“She’s here! That human girl is here!”

Rusting seriously? She growled. Unlucky me.

A flick of will put one of her scales into the frog-man’s head, crumpling his helmet like it wasn’t even there. Though, the squealing crunch likely highlighted her position as much as his shout had.

The screeching sound penetrated the din of battle and other screams even more clearly than the frog-man’s oddly powerful voice.

Tala’s enhanced hearing immediately began picking out shouts among the oncoming force, relaying her location to her enemies.

Great. I guess we’ll get to see what they brought for me, now.

-Better to know for sure than fear in uncertainty?-

Tala grimaced, using the moment’s respite to sweep Kit across the six bodies, taking them all from the ground before her, where they might have gotten beneath her feet in the fight to come.

Let’s do this.

* * *

Rust, rust. RUST!

Tala sprinted down a hallway, diving below a bolt of black lightning, even while she took two ice-spikes to her back.

You can combine void with lightning?!

-Apparently, you can do a lot of insane things…-

Thankfully, her armor protected her from the piercing, though she still felt the blunt force distort her insides.

Three Mature mercenaries were on her tail, and if their coordination was any indication, they’d worked as a team for a long time.

Thron had listed this group as highly favorable, despite being a half-rank below her, because of their particular combination of ability coupled with their excellent teamwork, filling in for each other’s weaknesses.

She shot scales from her back as she rolled back to her feet, using her mirrored-perspectives to pick targets.

She no longer tried to target them directly, as they could somehow sense that, or were at least very ready for it.

Now, she targeted the floor, walls, or ceiling, trusting in the incredibly acute angle to reflect the scales into her attackers.

She also made sure to break the targeting when the scales hit, so they wouldn’t lose momentum by having their gravitation pull them backwards.

As a result, she’d been able to make a few clean hits.

This time was no exception.

The hawk-man screeched and stumbled, clutching his arm, even as he shot another pair of black lightning bolts from his eyes.

Tala dove around a corner at the last instant. The corner of the wall behind her didn’t explode so much as simply cease to exist.

Thankfully, it wasn’t loadbearing so nothing came down on her, but it was still too close.

I need to keep distance and wear them down.

Of course, that’s when the second one caught her.

A massive bull-man shattered the wall beside her, hitting her and slamming her bodily into and through the wall opposite.

Tala yelled in surprise and rage, even as she plunged Flow at the man in the form of a knife, her motions so quick that it brought to mind a sewing machine.

Each stab came away bloody, and each wound closed immediately after she’d pulled the blade free.

After a dozen knife stabs, she pushed power and Flow flickered into a void-blade.

Her eyes must have given away that something had changed, because the bull caught her thrust, when he’d ignored the others.

I guess the through-spike's illusion doesn’t fully hide my void-eyes from those who know to look?

-Is that really important right now?-

Not really. She exhaled in the attacker’s face, causing his flesh and bone to melt backwards in a wave.

In a turn of events that again reminded herself of fighting…well…herself, the dissolution left behind an intricate set of purple inscriptions hanging in the air, highlighting where his flesh had been.

Those magics sparked and spat power as the dissolution tried to work on them as well.

The light began to dim just fractionally before the bull-man’s healing kicked into high gear, and the front of his head regrew, overpowering and overcoming the remains of dissolution magics.

Rusting, slag. That should have been enough power to powder his whole body.

-You survived the same power.-

Not this much!

-Hyperspecialization is no joke, Tala, and these were selected specifically to counter you, it seems. It’s no wonder the one who closed in is a self-regeneration specialist. No one else could really keep up with you. He doesn’t even have anything dedicated specifically to stopping damage, just healing it.-

But he’s harder to hurt than a mundane. His concept maybe?

-That could track.-

Tala fired off an insane barrage of scales into the front of the man, blasting straight through him, leaving only quickly healing punctures before coming back to hit him again, lacking the momentum to push through again.

Unfortunately, those that she’d aimed for his spine somehow didn’t cut off his control of his body.

Can’t use the ‘griffon method’ then.

Even so, the dozens of heavy impacts gave her the opportunity to plunge void-knife Flow into his chest.

He roared, his power dropping noticeably, though he remained well within the Mature rank, still.

His well of power is surprisingly deep. I wonder what’s keeping him from advancing?

He also lashed out, connecting a solid punch into her guts, which blasted her backwards through a half-dozen walls.

They were stone walls, and that had hurt.

She felt her bones reknitting, but she was momentarily unable to rise or even breathe.

Alat?

-Yeah?-

Remind me not to do this again…

-Noted.-

She frowned. Now, where did that stupid ice-badger get—gah!

A lance of ice grew from the wall she was leaning against, trying to thrust through her from behind.

Instead, it was spoiled by the defenses in her elk-leathers, both magical and metal.

She was thrown aside, and Tala saw the little pile of slag duck back out of sight.

The badger-man was the size of a normal badger, but with more human-like features and an upright posture.

Void-lightning hawk-man, regenerating bull-man, and stealth obsessed ice throwing badger-man. She growled through the pain, getting up enough to stumble into the next room before the previous one imploded with a forest of ice.

She didn’t really know how long she’d been engaged in a running battle with these three, but it felt like hours.

-Less than half an hour.-

Rust… She hated reacting. They’re tracking me, somehow.

With an effort of will, she suppressed her through-spike.

That will change my look to any sort of magically sensitive sight.

Mostly healed, she tossed a set of siege orbs into the ice-filled room and began circling around.

When she felt she was a safe distance, she altered her label for the orbs, breaking their compression.

A massive whoomp blew apart the whole section of the hold.

The bull bellowed another roar of pain from near the blast, and Tala grinned.

She knew that wouldn’t have killed that pursuer, but it would have hurt.

Alright if their pattern holds, the bull will be stomping around, trying to find me; the hawk will be closing in slowly, and the badger will be…

While carefully looking around a corner, towards the devastation she’d just wrought, her magesight picked up a distortion in the air. Unfortunately, it wasn’t detailed enough to determine which way the little badger was looking.

Found you.

Being as careful as she could be, she snuck forward, keeping at least one of her mirrored perspectives locked on the form she was all but certain was the badger.

The nearly invisible figure did seem to be looking towards where the blast had gone off.

Almost… there…

Flow was sheathed at her waist, and she carefully reached into Kit to get another set of siege spheres.

She still didn’t know how they were spoiling her targeting, but if she had to, she’d find a way to strap the orbs to the frustrating little badger.

-Tala, wait. Something's wrong. That shape isn’t right for the badger.-

Almost as Alat spoke, the badger became visible, and it had a hostage.

A child was huddled on the ground, one of the badger’s feet was on his head, and an ice-spike spun lazily, hovering over his chest, point toward the boy’s heart.

“That’s far enough, Tali. You—”

Tala launched forward without hesitation.

The badger’s eyes widened, clearly taken aback by her complete lack of hesitation.

Her left hand caught the small menace by the throat and slammed him into the nearby wall. Her aura crashed into his and with her surprise on her side, she broke his hold over the ice spike before she kicked it from the air, shattering it into uselessness.

“GO!”

The boy rolled to his feet and took off at a dead run.

What was he doing here? Why wasn’t he evacuated? She didn’t have time to investigate that thought, however.

The bull and hawk stepped around nearby partially broken walls.

Blessedly, they ignored the boy.

A trap then? It made some sense. She’d not seen any sort of distortion before.

The badger-man snapped his jaws at her, and she slammed him casually against the wall again, cracking something in his shoulder. “Down, boy.”

The badger whimpered.

The hawk-folk man lifted his uninjured arm and pointed it at her, void-lightning dancing along the limb. “Let him go, Tali. You are outmatched here.”

She laughed, her eyes flicking back and forth between the two free opponents facing her. The whole while she was watching all three of them with her mirrored perspective.

A bluff of lack of perception was a slim advantage, but it was something, and she was in a pretty bad place, tactically.

The badger’s will was scrambling against her own, and he was slowly winning, his experience and desperation slowly winning out in the space just around his own body..

If they notice his efforts and help, they’ll break my sovereignty in an instant.

The bull’s voice was surprisingly deep. “We have nothing against you, but we will bring you in. We’re paid better if you’re alive.”

“So your employers can ransom me back to my own house?”

The hawk shrugged. “Everyone lives; we get paid; seems like a good plan.”

“Yeah.” The badger’s voice was as slimy and annoying as she’d expected it to be. “Let me go, you human bi—”

Tala didn’t think, she just struck out, ramming her right hand, siege orbs and all, through the badger’s open mouth and down his throat.

She knew the little creature was convulsing around the intrusion, but his teeth couldn’t even penetrate her armor.

The bull and hawk exclaimed in disgust, surprise, and anger.

Tala didn’t really care. “You should have learned when to shut up.”

She ripped her empty hand from the smaller being’s mouth ignoring the ick on her armored arm, and threw him towards his friends.

She mentally changed the labels on her siege orbs. You are orbs death and decay. The working broke and the room was painted with blood, guts, and viscera.

Worse, it was flash frozen, after coating everything.

Tala heard both of her remaining attackers begin gagging, and sent a couple of scales their way as she took the momentary distraction to duck away.

The scales were foiled, as they had been for the entire time these three—now two—had been pursuing her.

Okay. That was really gross. I’m not doing that again.

-I second that… But, hey! One down.-

An instant later, the bull roared and she heard the concussive sound of breaking walls.

Rust…

She turned to face the oncoming bull, only to be struck by void-lightning from the side.

Her entire body locked up even as she felt her power be bled away.

She grit her teeth. How did the hawk get around the side so fast?

Her body wasn’t responding as her muscles spasmed and the magic that could normally overcome such things was bled away.

Her aura couldn’t break the directing power of the attack, the attacker was simply too focused and too strong.

Oddly, she no longer heard the bull breaking through walls.

Where is he?

She writhed on the ground uncontrollably, utterly helpless as the hawk came forward. “You will pay for that. He was a useful asset, and now he’s gone.”

Around the electrical shocks, she managed to get out. “You didn’t like…. him either, eh?”

He grimaced, and the lightning increased, evidently no response coming.

She managed enough mental cohesion to send a couple of scales at the hawk, but the nearly continuous lightning branched and struck them from the air before they could hit.

Tala screamed internally. What can I do? What am I not seeing?

An obsidian finger reached out, seeming from nowhere and tapped the side of the hawk’s temple.

The avian-like head distorted then popped in a puff of blood, bone, brains, and feathers.

It took another few seconds for the lightning to stop, and when it did, Tala was suddenly able to perceive someone looming over her.

“Eskau Tali. We need to find your Pillar. He was singled out, as you were, and I fear he is fighting alone somewhere.”

“Pallaun?” Tala gasped, accepting his hand up. “You killed them?”

The Eskau frowned. “I killed this one but no others near here. Pillar Be-thric is missing, and the battle is far from over. Seek him out in that direction.” He pointed. “I will go the other way. Are you well?”

She nodded, her body healing quickly, though her muscles still spasmed.

“My gate feels…raw.”

Pallaun nodded. “That can happen when assaulted by the void, though normally it is stress upon one’s founts.”

Tala gave a mirthless smile. “The perks of being my own powersource.”

He shook his head with a snort. “Go. We are pushing them back, and they’ve lost far more than we have, but there is still potential for disaster.”

She nodded. “Thank you. He had me dead to rights.”

“For the glory of the House of Blood…”

“...their blood will flow.” She finished ritualistically.

Without another word, they moved off in opposite directions.

I’ll still need to watch for that stupid bull.

Even so, one thought was pushing to crowd out all else.

Be-thric is in danger, and I have been sent to tip the scales.

A determined smile pulled at her lips.

This. This might be the perfect opportunity.

A note from JLMullins

Side-Quest Progress as of this Chapter's posting: 383/1000 (Worldwide)

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Chapter: 253 - Acidic Tide

Tala jogged through the rather beaten down complex.

The battle had not been kind to the architecture.

She was able to snag some things of value, but not many. Unfortunate, that.

-No kidding.-

She and Pallaun had parted ways nearly a quarter hour ago, and she felt like she could sense Be-thric’s power nearby.

She occasionally caught sight of the bull-man following her at a hesitant distance. I need to deal with him before I find Be-thric and whatever is going on there, or I’m going to be killed.

The bull-man might tip the scales against Be-thric, but Tala thought it more likely that he’d ignore the Pillar and simply dispatch her.

That would be just the perfect way to die…

So, she had a problem to deal with. It was a smaller problem than when there had been three pursuers, but it was still a problem.

She saw a relatively intact room off to one side, and an idea came to her, causing a malicious grin to spread across her face.

That’s perfect.

Her mirrored perspectives ensured that the bull-man couldn’t see her at the moment.

She pulled Kit from her belt and threw the pouch against the wall beside the door.

Kit grew over the doorway, filling it in with an exact replica of the door that had stood open a moment before, per her desire.

Now, if he came this way before, nothing should seem amiss. These people had seemed far too well informed so far. She suspected a traitor within the House of Blood. Well, another traitor.

-A more active traitor?-

For now.

A small smile tugged at her lips, but she suppressed it.

With her plan ready to be enacted, she leaned against the doorframe that was Kit and took an all-too-real moment to catch her breath.

When the bull-man came into view, she jerked her face towards him and gasped.

A small smile pulled at the man’s inhuman face.

Tala grabbed the door and shoved it open, diving inside and moving off to one side. She ‘tried’ to close the door, but it caught on a bit of rubble that she’d kicked in the way as she dove through.

The bull reached the door a moment later, kicking it open and rushing through.

He was halfway across the room before he spun on his hooves and faced her, back near the door.

“So, you decided to stop running?”

“Of course. You should surrender, you know.”

He laughed, an almost braying sound that was just too much like a ‘moo’ to sound like a donkey. “You’re all alone, human girl. No nightmarish Eskau is nearby. I made sure he went the other way. There’s no one here to save you this time.”

She smiled. “Funny that you say that.”

At her words, the walls melted, the illusion built by Kit shattering, revealing that they stood in the midst of rolling hills.

The bull looked around in confusion. “What?”

“Welcome to my sanctum.” Her smile widened. “I’d like you to meet Terry.”

Terry flickered into being behind the bull-man, talons ripping through the remains of the man’s shirt and lightly scoring into the bovine’s back.

The man screamed in surprise more than agony, even while he healed, turning in a rage before stopping in horror.

He looked up.

And up.

And up.

Terry towered over the invader, easily double the large man’s height.

Tala cleared her throat. “Please don’t play with your food, Terry. He’s rather robust.”

Terry trilled absently then stomped down on the bull.

The man had attempted to dodge, resulting in all but his head being crushed.

He couldn’t even cry out in pain, at least not until Terry lifted his foot, and the bull’s magic dumped power into a full body healing.

Huh, he doesn’t rely on internal reserves for his healing. He could probably have his head cut off and grow a new body.

-Yeah, but that means his healing takes a lot more power because he’s also calling the material into existence.-

Everything’s a tradeoff.

-He also seems overly protective of his head. I bet he doesn’t have an easy way to recover from brain damage.-

You’re probably right. It did seem like he might have had some specific protections around there.

What followed was eerily similar to how Terry had fought Tala, herself, and Tala had a front-row seat to how that would turn out if Terry ever turned on her.

The bull-man didn’t even have the advantage of magical weaponry or other workings to call on.

His concept did seem to be around bodily strength and sovereignty of everything within his own flesh, but it wasn’t sufficient to overcome what seemed to be a nearly eight-fold weight disadvantage.

His magic did make Terry’s claws pretty useless when Terry was smaller than a wagon.

So, that’s how he was able to counter my scales, even when they stuck within him. Once they were in his body, he was able to break their working and move them out.

It was a terrifying combination with his obviously healing-focused inscriptions.

But Tala had two clear advantages over the bull, when it came to a fight against Terry.

First, her magical power was limitless, her healing effectively only constrained by what she’d been able to consume and store within herself.

Second, Terry liked her and had never done too much damage at any one time.

Tala watched the bull-man’s power drain at an insane rate. With no ambient power available to draw upon, the conflict was a foregone conclusion.

The bull tried to grapple with Terry or hit him, but it was pointless.

“I have to go, Terry. Please finish him quickly. I don’t want him in here or coming after me.”

Terry flickered around the man in a storm, showering the ground with bovine blood.

He trilled in contented, if reluctant, agreement. He’d see it done.

“Thank you, my friend.”

With that, she stepped back through the door and pulled Kit free of the wall once more.

She knew that, in the sanctum, Terry was finishing off the bull-man in the middle of unbroken, rolling grassland.

There was no way that he’d escape. Unless Terry plays with him too much.

She’d just have to trust her avian friend.

Now, where is Be-thric? She needed to find him. She could imagine no better time to facilitate his death.

It was time to make her bid for freedom.

Less than five minutes later, Tala came to the edge of the structured part of the House of Blood’s hold and ran out of the building complex and into the open land on the northside of the hold.

She’d found Be-thric.

The Pillar stood facing a group of nine arcanes.

One was in armor reminiscent of Sanguis and Be-thric’s own, bearing a crest that appeared to be a bubbling, sickly green wave. From her memory, that was from the House of the Acidic Tide.

Well, she now knew what other House had joined that of the Rising Sun to assault their hold.

Beside the one Pillar was clearly her Eskau, and they were utterly fixed on Be-thric.

The other seven were a little ways away, apparently on guard against any House of Blood reinforcements, and they all seemed to be mercenaries rather than Pillars, Eskau, or even House soldiers.

The mercenaries were scattered through the range of rank between yellow and green, except one, who was fully blue to her magesight.

Six warriors between Elder and Honored, and a Revered mercenary, along with a Pillar and Eskau who are also Revered? That was quite the strike force.

But why were there so many mercenaries? Tala knew that there had to be at least a few other Eskau and Pillars from the two attacking Houses. Where are they?

The obvious answer came to her instantly. Fighting Sanguis or at least attempting to engage him. Maybe part of the delaying forces who were after Meallain and Pallaun.

After all, while harming the House of Blood was a core objective, it was Tala and Be-thric who had been responsible for the recent attack on the House of the Rising Sun.

As for Be-thric, several other arcanes already lay broken around his feet, and the hue-man looked winded.

If Tala had to guess based on what she saw, there was at least one candidate Eskau among those bodies, having attempted to help bring down a Pillar of a rival House to gain favor.

Be-thric had proven too enduring for that to work, however.

More’s the pity.

Unfortunately, Tala had burst from the buildings directly between the two groups.

When Be-thric saw her, his eyes brightened, and he smiled triumphantly.

Well, he’s confident.

As for the others, a woman’s voice came from within the most ornate set of armor, “Good, I was about to send these seven after you within that sprawling hovel you people somehow live within. You’ve saved us the trouble and them the time searching. Kill her. I’d hate to lower myself to the killing of an Eskau myself, and the time for capture is long past. Let us finish this.”

She hesitated for a moment, then added one addendum.

“Except you, Sandor. You fight with us against the Pillar. The girl is not even an Elder, your men will be fine.”

The Revered warrior moved from the others to take up a position beside the Pillar and her Eskau.

The other six mercenaries shouted their acknowledgements and rushed Tala. Their charge was highlighted by the magics of the three more powerful arcanes unleashing a renewed assault behind them, magics streaking towards Be-thric.

Alright. He’s going to lose. I just need to survive and make sure no one else comes to his aid. I’m glad I came, else he’d only be facing two.

-Yeah, kill these and then get out.-

Yeah, that was implied by ‘survive.’

She was fairly sick of having her scales rendered useless, so she decided to save them for close-quarters surprises. At least they hadn’t been utterly useless when used in that way against the bull-man after all.

Tala danced among the lesser warriors, bought by Houses of the Rising Sun and Acidic Tide.

Clearly the best that these two Houses had brought—their other Eskau and Pillars—had been sent after Pallaun and Meallain in one way or another.

So, they’re probably dead already, or driven off. Tala did grin at that thought. She genuinely saw the two Eskau of the House of Blood as her teachers, and she knew they were far more lethal than most would realize.

There were reasons that the House of Blood had remained so powerful, despite most other Houses being biased against them, and two of their best Eskau were a big one.

The six continued their assault, magical weapons rending the air around her, but she was never where they thought she should be.

Flow flickered between its six forms too quickly for anyone without enhanced senses to track.

Tala kept it in each form less than an eyeblink, timing the changes to allow for more efficient movements, and precisely the required reach.

A part of her, deep within, reveled in the strain she could feel in the vestiges within their weapons as she cut deeply into those weapons again and again with Flow’s void-forms.

Soon you will be free, trapped souls. A little discomfort and then freedom.

Flow’s more mundane forms were perfect for deflecting their attacks into their fellows, or otherwise spoiling the attacks, or blocking when the potential of passing her weapon through theirs would be to her detriment.

And she used far more than just Flow.

White scales flicked out when the enemy least expected them.

Her opponents were far from weak, though they seemed to be on the younger side. They took some damage from the scales, but most of the bits of white metal were obliterated by one form of magic or other.

They really did do their research on me. After all, each of the attackers had a magical device somewhere on their person that empowered their workings with a nullifying effect when directed at her scales.

Unfortunately, none of the white projectiles were simply deflected. So, she didn’t get to take advantage of their secondary impacts.

Her feet, hands, elbows, and knees struck her opponents as well, whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t perfectly successful. How could she be, when she was against six seasoned combatants, used to working together?

They landed uncounted blows upon her.

Many were absorbed or deflected by her defenses, but quite a few got through.

Those that did, healed slowly due to how they seared or otherwise magically denatured the flesh around the wounds, but blessedly none were debilitating to the point of slowing her down or inhibiting her combat abilities.

They were good at what they did, and they had been prepared for the general nature of her abilities. But even so, those that faced her were not up to the challenge.

She broke and bled her enemies, blood from seven sources co-mingling to muddy the ground.

After every exchange she gained more new wounds than they, but she healed, and they didn’t.

After every exchange, they were just a bit more worn down.

They fought at a frenetic pace, the martial equivalent of sprinting. Even so, it was nearly three minutes before her endurance paid off, and they started making mistakes.

They dropped in quick succession after that, and soon, Tala was left gasping for air over half a dozen corpses.

She allowed her attention to move back outward.

Somehow, Be-thric had stood toe to toe with the three attackers arrayed against him.

More than that, two of the three were dead, the mercenary and the Eskau.

Only a single hue-folk woman, the Pillar, stood facing the newest Pillar of the House of Blood.

Be-thric hadn’t come away cleanly, however.

His armor was broken and battered, though it was slowly repairing itself.

One arm hung limp, and his light and fire protections were utterly overcome. Tala could see the magics for them reaching out, attempting to reestablish those defenses.

How did he defeat all three? She couldn’t understand for a moment, then she saw it. Lingering magics around the heads of the downed warriors.

He overwhelmed their auras sufficiently to manipulate their minds directly. She felt a flash of fear. He shouldn’t have been able to pierce their auras at all.

After all, it wasn’t like he’d have caught them unaware. They were in the middle of a battlefield!

They had been arcanes of an equivalent rank, what he’d done should have been impossible.

-It was another front to fight on. A front that he knows well, and they did not. With the proper tactics it makes sense.-

She shivered. Be-thric was a terror, one that needed to die.

The Pillar of the House of Blood looked exhausted, and both Pillars were running incredibly low on power.

The ground around Be-thric bubbled and spat with corrosion and acidic power that somehow lingered and continued to assault everything around it.

Somehow, the Pillar’s helmet was almost entirely missing, and Tala could see remnants of it still affixed to his deformed breastplate.

Nevertheless, Be-thric was building magic around himself, eyes locked on his equally bedraggled and harried, final opponent.

No. No. NO! She felt it in her bones. He was going to win; somehow, beyond all reason, he was going to survive.

In that moment, she saw a potential Eskau move on the ground on the far side of Be-thric. She seized on that.

“Be-thric, behind you!” She also sent a scale whipping for the fish-man’s head.

It struck with a crack that likely killed the enemy on the spot, but Be-thric turned anyways, following the sound and releasing his working on the corpse. After all, why would his Eskau bring his attention to a threat that was so easily dispatched?

As he enacted his magics, he shouted. “Delay her!”

Power slammed down on the mindless candidate Eskau’s head, preventing even the inactive, lifeless nerves from firing.

The ground quaked as spikes of hardened stone shredded the corpse, before flares of light and heat seared the remains to ash.

-Rust! That would have ended this for sure.-

Tala didn’t know who might be watching; she didn’t have time to verify no one was observing them.

She had to obey the order.

Alat had been watching the battle at large, and so she was able to provide Tala with an effective plan of attack on the Pillar. Tala knew she could overcome her.

Even so, in battle timing was everything.

Very deliberately, Tala hesitated the barest heartbeat before sending her last scales whipping toward the bloodied Pillar of the Acidic Tide.

A pair of siege orbs followed just behind, not targeted directly for the woman.

The enemy Pillar’s stark white hair whipped in a tangle around her as she acted.

In that brief moment’s delay, the Pillar managed to thrust her hand towards Be-thric, and a needle of power, so overwhelming that it briefly blinded Tala’s magesight, lanced across the distance.

It struck a breach in the armor of the newest Pillar of the House of Blood.

The woman didn’t even twitch as her defensive magics concentrated to vaporize Tala’s scales as they were incoming. Just as Alat had observed them doing each time the woman had defended against various attacks before.

The orbs slammed into the ground on either side of the Pillar, and Tala immediately changed her labels for them, breaking their compression and detonating them on either side of this last enemy.

The ancient muck-green woman didn’t have a chance to scream as her weakened body and broken armor were crushed between two tremendous explosions.

The woman would never have fallen for such a simple misdirect if she’d been fresh.

If she hadn’t been worn down by Be-thric, the Pillar would have been hurt, but not outright killed, by the blasts.

But she hadn’t been fresh, and her defenses had been worn down.

Tala’s gambit had succeeded.

She’d done it.

Tala pulled herself back together somewhat literally. Her body was broken and bloodied, but they’d won.

She’d won.

Be-thric knelt on the ground taking deep, ragged breaths. His body was filled with corrosive power that was slowly winning against his fortitude and overcoming all of his magics.

Even the inside of his protian wrought armor was bubbling and distorting from the simple proximity to the powerful magics of destruction.

It was radiating so overwhelmingly from him that everything around him was being broken down before Tala’s very eyes.

She frowned. He’s losing but too slowly. If someone comes who can help, he’ll survive. Even if someone else comes and can go get help, they can likely save him, and my standing around while he dies will be incredibly suspicious.

Tala straightened her back, squaring her shoulders.

This is my best chance. Laying right beyond him is the protian weapon of a candidate Eskau, likely more than one. If he survives, his armor is done, and he will depart.

She hadn’t wanted to be so directly involved, but there would be no better time.

There would be no other time.

She’d thought the woman’s final attack would kill him quickly, that’s why she finished off the rusting enemy Pillar.

She’d been wrong.

Well, I have to clean up my own messes, it seems.

She had made her choice, she would seize her freedom or die trying.

It was time to finish this.

* * *

Be-thric looked up at Tali, his breath coming in great gasps.

“Well done.” He coughed, forcing his mind to focus. “I don’t have the strength to call for aid. Go for help. There’s still plenty of time.”

She walked forward, her features warped with conflicting emotions.

“I’ll be fine,”—he coughed up a wad of blood and spit it to the side. His protian weapons were reinforcing him, battling the corrosive magics even as they tried to heal him.—“if you go now.”

He could feel lethal intent from nearby, but that was to be expected. The entire hold was dripping with lethal intent, and some of the lessers that he’d killed might still have some life, some hate, left in them.

They would be dead soon enough either way.

But Tali didn’t go. Instead, she moved towards him, uncertainly, as he knelt on the ground.

More the fool, me. I enforced within her the need to stay by my side if I am in danger. He let out a rueful, hacking cough. Am I to die because I didn’t give my puppet enough nuance?

He might survive, but he didn’t think it likely.

“At least”—cough—“At least call for help, my Eskau.”

She slowly nodded, taking in a deep breath.

He saw power building within her through the breaches in her iron paint beneath her armor. She must have taken heavy damage for that layer to be so riddled with perforations.

He frowned. The power he saw building wasn’t amplification magics, nor anything else that would help her call for aid. If he’d had his wits more about him he’d have immediately known she didn’t have such workings regardless.

What is she doing? He opened his mouth to ask just that when she exhaled in a tight stream, dumping dissolution power over him.

Time seemed to slow as Be-thric realized the truth of his own fate.

Tali would never do this. There is no power on Zeme that could make her harm me. I ensured that.

His eyes widened at a glacial pace even as they began to melt away, the magnitude of his folly becoming clear. His mastery of the mind gave him far more time to process that realization than he had any right to.

So…Tali is gone, and that human somehow recovered herself. But how? That makes no sense? I utterly wiped her mind away…except, I had to leave her understanding of her own inscriptions. Did she somehow rebuild herself from that fragment? How—?

The power slammed into him, close enough to the working already embedded into his flesh that they worked together.

The balance was instantly tipped, and his death rushed at him like a falling star even with his perception slowed.

His last word was simply a garbled, “Oh.”

He knew he’d never take another breath.

He briefly contemplated simply slipping off into the next world and leaving her to whatever fate the House of Blood chose for a traitorous Eskau.

No. This rusting dog bit me.

With his last vestiges of willpower, he triggered her collar.

Be-thric, Pillar and last Scion of the House of Blood, would pass from Zeme into the next world to the sweet accompaniment of the agonized screams of his greatest failure.

That would remove some of the shame of his failure, surely.

Even so, something still wasn’t right, and his last thought was one of confusion.

Why isn’t she screaming?

A note from JLMullins

Side-Quest Progress as of this Chapter's posting: 402/1000 (Worldwide)

Vote for MM on TopWebFiction! http://topwebfiction.com/listings/millennial-mage

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MillennialMage

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Multi-Region Review Link!

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Chapter: 254 - Wonderful

Tala looked at Be-thric, kneeling in his final moments, acidic power flowing off of him in waves.

She had made her choice: she would seize her freedom or die trying.

It was time to finish this.

He looked towards her, heaving great gasps of air.

The smallest smile, filled with pride and self-satisfaction, pulled at his lips despite his pain. “Well done.” He coughed, grimacing in an obvious attempt to focus. “I don’t have the strength to call for aid. Go for help. There’s still plenty of time.”

His voice was barely above a whisper. Without her enhanced hearing, she’d not have understood him at all. Even so, she walked forward.

Should I just let him die? Her mirrored perspective was sweeping the hold around herself. She was now certain no one was watching, and no one was observing.

-That’s too risky. Someone could arrive at any moment. We can’t leave this to chance.-

Anything I do will carry the signature of my magic. I can’t blow off his head, or stab him with Flow… Dissolution. It’s close enough to acid that it should simply work together to end him.

His smile grew, even as his pain also multiplied. “I’ll be fine,”—he coughed up a wad of blood and spat it to the side—“if you go now.”

Tala could see the Pillar’s armor waging an all-out war against the corrosive magics even as it tried to heal him. But the Pillar of the House of the Acidic Tide had known her magics.

Be-thric was dying, his aura slowly sliding down the color scale to her magesight.

Do I risk his survival? The very act of asking herself that question solidified her choice. No. He dies now.

Be-thric frowned, glancing around in confusion.

Rust. He’s sensing my lethal intent.

But he wasn’t focused on her.

He’s too disoriented, and there’s too many enemies nearby.

This really would be her last, best chance.

It was now or never.

Don’t be aggressive. Move close like I’m going to check on him.

Tala moved towards him, trying to project uncertainty, as he knelt on the ground.

An almost rueful smile pulled at his onyx features, exposing blood-covered, too-white teeth. “At least”—cough—“At least call for help, my Eskau.”

Perfect. That lets me take a deep breath without being suspicious. She slowly nodded, taking in that deep breath.

-You are overthinking this, and taking far, far too long.-

Confusion slowly built across Be-thric’s features.

Come on, come on! She pulled more power into her lungs, faster than she ever had before.

He frowned and opened his mouth, seeming to be about to ask something.

Now or never! She exhaled in a tight stream, dumping dissolution power over his exposed head and down into his armor, using her aura control and willpower to keep the power contained and directed.

His eyes widened even as they began to melt away.

Tala watched the magics mix within the mostly contained space around his flesh. They were close enough to one another to not clash too much.

The balance was instantly tipped, and his death became instantly inevitable.

Good. His death should be too fast for him to process what’s happening, let alone react.

She smiled, his eyes already unable to see her triumph.

His mouth moved, but was too far gone for anything but a garbled grunt to escape.

At that moment, one of her mirrored perspectives picked Thron coming into view. He didn’t see, did he? What is he going to think is happening?

Then, as Be-thric’s body utterly turned to a homogenous gloop, Tala felt a wisp of will-power reach out through her aura.

What? No! The dissolution should have been fast enough. There was no reason he should have been able to react. It had been less than a heartbeat since she’d exhaled.

-He’s a master of mind magic.- Alat’s internal voice was filled with self-recrimination. -If we can think faster than average, imagine what is he capable of.-

The totality of Be-thric’s remaining magical weight, guided by long-honed skill, slammed through her attempts to deny him.

Even as the will-born command extended towards the collar, her hands shot upward, faster than thought, and she strained with all her might, mirroring void from Flow into the armor over her hands.

It did nothing.

Rust.

His will connected with the collar.

As the command connected, two spikes slammed into her neck, and she felt the briefest moment of wrongness even beyond the gaping wounds in her neck.

Then… nothing.

The spikes retracted, and her wounds healed over.

What? I’d thought that—

Agony like nothing she had ever experienced seized her entire body.

The first of her spell-lines were being subsumed, and that was how Tala learned a very interesting thing.

Dasgannach-controlled material was somehow different from the mundane variety.

Why did that matter?

Because different materials required different spell-forms to perform the same function.

Her spell-lines, sweeping outward, away from the point of injection, were becoming wrong, and one by one, they were stuttering and failing. For some reason, the dasgannach seemed to be ignoring her back for the moment, but that was small comfort.

-Tala?- The panic in the alternate interface’s voice struck at Tala’s very core. -Tala! What’s—-

Alat’s voice cut off abruptly.

The inscriptions which formed her foundations were now wrong, the basis of her existence was gone.

Alat ceased.

Alat? Alat! Tala screamed internally, even as she felt more and more of her inscriptions going off-kilter.

Thankfully, she had no idea what they should do now, so she wasn’t firing off random magics; her intent wasn’t in alignment with the workings so they couldn’t activate.

What it did mean was that her magics were being obliterated one by one, her magesight stripped away, her enhancements gone.

There were some lingering remnants, because her natural magics had become more and more imprinted with her particular workings, but it was nothing compared to what she was losing.

With that change, the armor generated by her elk-leathers was too heavy, too stifling, so she dismissed it, feeling the acidic air tingling against her skin.

Blessedly, the magics had dissipated enough that it was uncomfortable rather than damaging.

Focus Tala, focus!

She ground her teeth and focused outward.

When did I fall on the ground?

She was writhing, her hands locked around the collar that had already delivered its deadly load.

A moment later, it clicked open, falling into two halves.

She was free.

Free to die.

A scream finally tore free from her, and she spasmed, the collar halves being tossed aside in the uncontrolled motions.

No. I can’t die like this. That rusting bit of slag is finally dead. There is no way I’m joining him in death. She’d known this was a possibility, but she still refused to accept it.

Come on, Tala, don't panic. You can solve this. What do I know about these things?

First of all, these weren’t normal. They’d been modified to be more lethal, faster acting.

But I don’t know how they’ve been modified. Focus on what I know about dasgannach in general.

Dasgannach were naturally-occuring, animate, slime-like creatures composed solely of a particular material that seemed to have no organic or distinct structures, nor any determinable magics about them, while still being able to move and act.

They would suffocate, surrounded by breathable air.

For iron dasgannach, their victims often feel invigorated until all their iron is claimed, after which it is stripped out of them, the only evidence being the complete lack of iron after the dasgannach has departed.

They supposedly don’t move or alter the material. They only claim it somehow to be removed at a later time.

Well, that was one difference, though her knowledge was sparse, and she could be mistaken. The gold dasgannach had altered the gold somehow.

To be fair, though, the iron within herself seemed unchanged, despite feeling off, and her knowledge on the creatures was anything but complete.

She could still breathe; her blood was still doing its job.

I need to get a better sense of what is happening.

She dove into herself.

Due to the naturally imprinted remnant of her magesight, helping her see within, she was barely able to perceive the two dasgannach slowly subsuming their chosen elements from within her.

The gold one was obviously much faster, as she had far less gold in her body.

The iron one was still focused on her abdominal cavity and the iron on her skin.

Can I use that? Can I get it out before it gets into my blood or starts taking over the iron from the rest of me?

She tried to target her own organs. She needed to be fast, because she needed the healing scripts to still be functional so that she could grow new organs.

They resisted the targeting as if they were entirely iron.

She tried again, imposing her will along with her knowledge that her anatomy was only partly iron.

Two words rang through her head, though they weren’t actually words.

Instead, it was as if a primal intent, utterly without a mind, had lashed back at her, and her consciousness had interpreted it as words.

NO. MINE.

She reeled. It was proof that, while the dasgannach didn’t have a will, they did have impetus, instincts, and drives.

Still, that was more than she’d ever heard of a dasgannach communicating.

It didn’t communicate, you idiot. It just didn’t let you stop it, and your mind interpreted the action as words. She was becoming loopy from the pain of having her magics slowly stripped away from her.

The gold dasgannach seemed to have saved the best for last, and that time had come.

The thing devoured her keystone, and everything went white as she was utterly overcome with unprocessable sensations.

She jerked back to awareness, twitching on the ground, someone propping her up.

Everything was hazy, and for the briefest instant, she forgot what was happening to her.

Alat, what’s going on? There was no reaction. Alat?

Her mind was strangely…vacant.

Her very brain felt like it was malfunctioning; though, she could somehow feel her weak, natural magics, which had been designed to facilitate and augment brain function, bridging the gap of something that should have been there.

Alat? Then, memory crashed through her, and she remembered.

Alat was gone. She was alone.

No, that’s not right.

Tala forced her eyes to focus and found Thron holding her up, propping her on one side.

Why is he doing—

She heaved, vomiting across the ground, thanks to his positioning. The bile joined several other disgorgements that she hadn’t even noticed spewing.

Oh… I hate that so, so much.

“Tali? What happened? There at the end… did you…?”

Tala frowned. There at the end… He saw Be-thric die, but he shouldn’t have seen my part in it… right?

If he had, it would have been the worst timing possible.

She’d been checking for anyone nearby, but her focus had been elsewhere. What if he’d come into view right as she had exhaled?

I have to say something.

She tried to spin a tale, but it was incredibly hard to talk. “He was…dying…”

She swallowed, trying to wet her mouth.

“Tried…couldn’t…He thought…collar.”

Thron cocked an eyebrow. “That’s the story you’re going with? You tried to help him, and his last act was to deactivate the collar? I watched you use void magics on the thing. Did that really work? What is happening to you? Why are you in pain?”

Tala screamed as something pulled, seeming to ooze from her back.

The dwarf must have felt something because he jerked away, letting her fall to the ground as the golden dasgannach peeled itself out of her.

It flopped to the ground, and Tala watched in her mirrored perspective as it steamed power. A moment later, it simply became a lump of inert gold.

It just died? It ate my inscriptions and died?

That was extra insulting.

Thron was wide-eyed. “The collar was triggered, not deactivated or disabled? Tali… Why did Be-thric trigger your collar?”

She grit her teeth against another scream.

Oddly, she wasn’t in pain. If anything, she felt suddenly good overall, like her body was ready to run a caravan route. However, her lack of magical enhancement, and the recent horror of the gold dasgannach’s departure, all colluded to make her want to scream uncontrollably.

She felt wrong.

She retained just enough awareness to feel the thing inside her, slowly claiming the iron within her body. It had saved her extremities for last, but the violation spread inexorably onward.

Thron knelt, now a safe distance away. Too close and the iron dasgannach could jump to him when it finished with her. “What can I do? Do you want me to give you a peaceful end?”

She shook her head vigorously. She was not giving up without a fight.

“As you say, then. I can’t burn it out of you; I don’t have the ability. I don’t think anyone has the ability to remove it, even if we had time to find someone.” He grimaced. “You’re dead, girl. Please, let me end your pain.”

Tala shook her head again.

“If he activated the collar… did you…?” He hesitated. “No, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know…”

Even so, she could see him going over his own memory, parsing it for what had happened.

Not that it was very important to her, all things considered.

The iron in her legs had been claimed, and in her torso and head; it had even claimed all the iron that remained in the paint upon her skin.

It was slithering through her right arm at that moment, the feeling both nothing and nothing she could describe.

She shouldn’t have been able to feel it, but she could.

“Stay.” It hurt to force out that one word. Even that wasn’t right. “Please.”

Thron nodded, clear disgust and fear warring with compassion within the dwarf. “I’ll stay with you until the end.”

Tala closed her eyes and strove with all her being to focus. How much did they change these creatures? Noelle and Master Jevin swore up and down that it was impossible to feel them claiming the material within your body. That’s what made them so pernicious.

She could definitely feel this one.

That really wasn’t important, however. She needed to survive.

As soon as it claims all the iron in my body, it will leave, and we’ll both die.

Tala didn’t want to die.

She’d just killed her tormenter; she wanted to revel in that victory for a decade or two, at least.

It would be so convenient if I could just bond the stupid thing, but it won’t bond. What had Noelle said? It won’t bond even if the star is forged in its preferred material.

Tala froze, stiffening with realization.

The dasgannach was finished with her right arm and beginning to extend its influence down her left arm, its final conquest.

It won’t eat an Archon star. Even if it’s in the right medium.

The influence reached her elbow.

It won’t leave until it’s claimed all of its preferred material.

Desperately, Tala fumbled, feeling like she was trying to thread a needle in the dark while wearing mittens.

Without her keystone, her magic was hard to control.

Without her magesight, it was difficult to tell what was going on.

That didn’t matter. She had to succeed.

The dasgannach’s authority passed her left wrist.

Come on.

Come on.

COME ON!

She threw all that she had at the problem, desperation clawing at the bedrock of long practice, filling in the gaps where she’d always relied on her inscriptions.

Each of her fingers was subsumed, one by one.

There!

With two fingers' worth of iron left, Tala formed the weakest Archon star she could manage, continuing to add power to it as slowly as she could.

The dasgannach finished claiming all the iron in those last two fingers, in her entire body, except that within the Archon star.

Victory!

For a long moment, nothing happened.

She honestly hadn’t expected anything to happen.

So, not victory, just a temporary stalemate… The horrible feeling of slowly being taken over had passed. The damage was done; there was nothing left to lose to the dasgannach’s authority.

Once again, Tala felt the primal, unthinking intent of the thing vibrate through her whole body.

STOP. MINE!

Tala did her best to growl back, No. Mine.

Her entire body began to shudder as the iron within her trembled.

She vomited again, heaving until her abdomen ached and her stomach was long since empty.

MINE! Again, it wasn’t a word, nor did it come from a mind, but it was utterly clear, nonetheless.

Then take it. I offer it to you freely.

There was no response.

Tala began to giggle maniacally. I thought not. You’re welcome to it, whenever you want.

Still, nothing happened.

After what seemed like an eternity, her star ever so slowly gaining in power, she was able to return her focus to the outside world.

I can’t keep this up forever. When the star reaches capacity, it will be ejected from my body, and then I will die.

Still, she’d bought herself at least a few days to find a better solution.

Unfortunately, while the Archon star was taking up a small bit of power flowing through her gate, the majority had nothing to do and nowhere to go.

Thankfully, Kit was there, and so Tala directed all the excess into her sanctum.

She honestly didn’t know what she would do without Kit being there to take in her power. Just venting it outward would be…not ideal.

Still, the problem was solved for the moment, so she slowly opened her eyes.

She focused on her surroundings and stiffened.

Arcanes surrounded her, many holding clearly magical devices pointed her way, and they were discussing something among themselves.

They were the defenders of the hold, and they were likely examining her to determine what was wrong with her.

Or, more likely, how I’m alive.

Lacking her hearing enhancements, she had no way of knowing what they were saying.

Pallaun was frowning as he watched her, but as such, he noticed her move. “She’s awake.”

He stepped forward and gingerly placed a magical band over her head, careful to not touch any part of her.

The band immediately tightened down over her mouth.

“You will not speak until judgment is reached. If you give us cause, you will be immediately executed. You remember, that’s how these things are handled. It’s a formality. We'll get this off of you as soon as we can. We will not bind your hands. Nod if you understand.”

She nodded, still having trouble focusing, and Pallaun seemed to have noticed that, if his overwrought explanations were any indication.

“Pull your bloodstars back in your belt.”

She did so, moving them all into their holsters held across the back of her hips.

“Good. You will stand and follow. You will not come within arm’s reach of anyone else, nor will you attempt to touch anyone else. Nod if you understand.”

She nodded. The dasgannach. They can somehow tell that it’s still in me, and they are concerned about it jumping into someone else.

Tala slowly got to her feet, feeling incredibly unsteady.

No one tried to help her.

No one dared come close.

Meallain was kneeling next to Be-thric’s armor, tears pouring down her face, muttering something that Tala had no hope of hearing without enhanced senses.

Thron was watching Tala with evident concern, his eyes occasionally flicking to the now empty armor, which had only recently held Be-thric and the Eskau weeping over it.

I wonder what he’s thinking.

She’d likely find out soon enough. Pallaun had spoken of a judgment. That meant a trial.

Wonderful. I’m going to be put on trial. Well done, not implicating yourself in Be-thric’s death, Tala. Really, really well done.

She hesitated, and it took her a moment to realize that she was awaiting Alat’s response. It would have been a marginally insulting jab, meant to pull her out of her dour mood.

It never came.

As Tala followed the victors of the House of Blood, her eyes started to fill with tears.

Soon, her shoulders were shaking due to great, uncontrollable sobs.

She was alone, utterly and completely alone once again.

Tala, human Mage, captured, enslaved, raised up as Eskau, and slayer of her Pillar, walked alone among members of her former House, utterly oblivious of their attention.

She was dying, despite everything, and she likely wouldn’t be given an opportunity to find a solution.

Even so, all that she could do was mourn the loss of a snarky voice that should have been within her own mind.

A note from JLMullins

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Non-MM, Silly and Fun Chapter - Tek and the Wizard's Cat

A note from JLMullins

This is not in the Millennial Mage universe.

I have not had the space to write an April Fool's chapter for you all with all else that is going on. So, instead, I thought that I'd share a silly—and hopefully fun—chapter from another story I wrote years ago.

May you enjoy, or skip at your leisure. 😁

Tek glared at his candles, steadily pulsing orange, blue, green, yellow, and back again.

That meant only one thing within his home. Someone was at the entrance.

Leaving his book on the side table, Tek pulled open his inner door.

With one step, he crossed the planar lines, reentering the material world and coming into his shadowed foyer. A single step more, this time through shadows, took him to the alcove sixty feet above and just inside his front door.

The darkness here was complete. It almost made him content enough to return home. No, the blasted spell will keep my candles pulsing for hours if I don’t answer.

Without further time to dally, Tek flung open the door, revealing a sunlit day and an urchin pressing his hand against the metal plate beside Tek’s door.

Tek glared. The human child was nearly as tall as he was. Are they getting bigger? “What.”

The boy stepped back in alarm. “I…“ he hesitated.

Tek rolled his eyes. “What do you want?”

“I have a message, sir.”

Tek looked over the boy, again. No, not an urchin… a messenger? Then, not a boy. Tek sighed.

The oldest human would always be a boy to him.

Tek grimaced. Except a wizard.

The messenger winced, stepping back, a letter held out in shaking fingers.

Tek snatched it from the trembling fingers, turning to close his door. Then, he paused. “Are messengers still paid a pittance?”

The messenger, who had likewise turned to go, paused. “Yes, sir. But it keeps food on the table, and a roof overhead.”

Tek grunted. “So does slavery, but I don’t recommend it.” He flipped a coin to the boy—man.

Gold caught sunlight as it spun through the air, and Tek shrunk back.

Catching the coin with ease, the messenger gasped. “Sir, I cannot… I mean… how could I… What did I?...Sir?”

The coin was a full Royal… from a different kingdom.

A money changer could make the change, or the gold could be sold by weight, but those were both inconveniences, which was precisely why Tek had given the man enough to feast with for days. “Don’t squander it.”

The door closed with a thunk.

Though it took only a moment, when the messenger threw open the door to protest, Tek was gone.

Only an empty room remained, smaller than a closet and draped in black cloth. The messenger searched for another exit for longer than he should have. FInally, he sighed, pocketing the coin and closing the door on his way out.

Tek, 60 feet below, sighed as well. If the man had neglected to close the door, he might have been trapped until nightfall.

Not that he wished to go out, but it was the principle of the thing.

A door opened, a step across planes, and the comforting clunk of a home secure.

Peace.

With a sudden motion, the letter in his hand gnawed at him.

Tek cursed, shaking his hand and flinging the fanged paper across the room. It landed on his chair, where it began to tear at the upholstery.

Cursing again, Tek stepped through shadow to cross the room in an instant, and ripped the letter free, opening it to deactivate the inherent spell.

Tek,

I trust that this note will not have caused too much damage before you deigned to read it. I needed to ensure you could not ignore this one.

Tek glanced at the pile of letters on the entry table and grunted.

I need your help. My cat—

Tek cursed a third time, throwing the letter down. I am not an animal tamer.

The rustle of paper alerted Tek moments before the letter latched onto his ankle.

Stifling yet another exclamation, he bent down and snatched up the letter. So, I have to finish reading? I wonder how he wove that…

My cat will not listen to me anymore. He simply refuses to hunt the rodents infesting my library.

If you won’t help, I will have to get another of the blasted things and restart training from scratch.

I am desperate.

Come soon, or my next note will be less…docile.

Sincerely,

Andronous, Wizard, Scholar, Ancient

Tek rolled his eyes, gathering up the twelve letters Andronous had sent and burning them to ash with a flick.

Andronous was known for sending spells in pieces, each innocuous until combined.

To his credit, he had eliminated several rivals that way, as well as forcing help from Tek more times than Tek would admit.

The tear in his chair irked him, but it sealed with barely a flick of the wrist.

The bite to his ankle would heal in a matter of hours. Unless he gave the letter venom…I really should have examined it before destroying the thing.

A third sigh escaped his lips.

I suppose I have to go.

With a quick motion, Tek threw on one cloak, then another.

Door, planes, shadow to shadow, door, street, people.

Tek growled, low in his throat; why were there always people?

He had chosen a quiet street for his permanent door, but time had seemingly increased its popularity.

A quick check showed no one looking directly at him, and a pull inward, combined with a twist, morphed him into the shape of a cat with a jeweled collar hidden within its long fur.

Even as a cat, Tek found the streets uninteresting, the people more so.

Tek stepped from shadow to shadow, never pausing long enough for his presence to be marked, never allowing his passing to cause a stir, and never leaving a trace.

***

The stone lair of Andronous was impressive, from a material perspective. The very façade dripped with expense.

Tek ignored it.

Such trappings were simply a human attempt to leave a legacy upon the world once they passed, whether material or cognitive. Sad, really.

Tek stepped into a comfortable shadow, deep within the confines of the building.

It was a storage closet, by the smell.

Then, he stepped deeper, emerging into the low light of a fire, burning brightly at the far end of an overstuffed library.

Three smells assaulted Tek in that instant: fire, barely contained; books, new and ancient, all well cared for; and the unwashed cacophony of rodent kind.

There had to be hundreds of the things.

Tek knew that spells kept them from the bookshelves, but for reasons Andronous had never been able to explain, magic couldn’t keep them out of the room entirely.

”What madness is this?”

A violently orange cat, perched on one of the taller shelves, locked eyes on him. “Oh praise the great utters, you’ve come!”

Andronous was nowhere to be seen, of course. Tek tried not to sigh as he replied, “What are you doing up there, Meleti?”

“There are too many, Tek. I… I just can’t.”

Indeed, too many eyes to quickly count were turning towards Tek, peeking out of corners, and around bits of torn rug.

“The man creature said he sent for you days ago. Why did you not come sooner?”

Ignoring the question, Tek stepped through shadow to the top of the bookcase that stood next to Meleti’s. “Have you been up here since the first letter?”

“What? You think me mad? This is simply the best place to see them all.” The cat motioned to a hole in the ceiling. “I can get in and out through there. The vermin are confined to this room, or so it seems.”

“Where did they come from?”

Meleti looked incredulous.

“Right. You don’t care. So, why hasn’t he gotten rid of them?”

“Apparently, it’s my job. Can you believe that?”

“Yes. You agreed to this.”

“Did I?”

“Yes. You get all the food you want, beds in every part of the ‘palace,’ and no other cats within the walls. In return, you must deal with vermin.”

“Well, that does sound like something I would agree to…” The cat smiled mischievously before continuing, “But you’re here, now. You can deal with them.”

“No.”

“No? No! After everything I’ve done for you?”

“You have that backwards, Meleti. You are indebted to me. You’ve never helped me in any way.”

“Humph.” He leaned over the edge of the shelf, looking down at the hoards. “It would be so… messy.”

“You’re a cat. Deal with it.”

“So are you.”

“Would you rather I be a dog?”

Meleti hissed. “You wouldn’t dare.”

This was getting nowhere. “Meleti, please? Andronous is becoming annoying, and he is threatening to get another cat.”

Meleti gasped. “Well, I never. Wizards break their word so easily these days. I thought we had an arrangement.”

“You do. An arrangement you are ignoring.”

“My honor is impeccable.”

“Your timing is not.”

“Our agreement does not specify the manner in which I deal with the vermin, nor the time table in which I do so.”

“Never trust a cat’s watch.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said, ‘Never trust a cat’s watch.’”

“You take that back!”

“No.”

Another hiss. “How dare you doubt my honor!”

“Will you attack me?”

“Yes!”

“When?”

“Now!”

Tek let out another, long winded sigh. “Well, then I guess I have a few days to prepare.”

Meleti’s eye twitched, and he lunged across the gap between shelves.

Tek stepped through shadow to the shelf Meleti had just left and sighed again. “Meleti, we can do this until Andronous gets a new cat, or you can do what you agreed to do.”

Meleti landed with, well, cat-like grace, whipping around to face Tek again. “You insult me, then expect me to work?”

“Yes.”

“Humph.” He settled down on the shelf, once again studying the vermin below. “They are quite a large clan.”

“Are you scared?”

Meleti’s eyes narrowed. “Are you tall?”

Tek grunted. “If I wish to be, yes. The question stands: Can you honor the bargain or will you accept another cat?”

“Those are the options?”

“Yes.”

“I could give you quite a few dead mice if you change your mind.”

“I have no interest in such, and if I killed these mice, what would I need with others, provided by you?”

“I could tell you secrets about the man.”

“I either know them, don’t want to know them, or don’t care enough to know them.”

“I could introduce you to other animals?”

“I make my own introductions.”

“I could—“

“Meleti. The answer is no.”

The cat shifted in irritation. “Fine.”

Without another word, he lunged forward and dropped. Three vermin died as he landed, and then the blood bath began.

Tek had no interest in watching. His altered biology made him instinctively desire to pounce as well, to taste rodent flesh. It was an impulse he had never indulged.

Besides, his ankle and paw were beginning to burn and itch.

With a step, he was in a formal sitting room, atop Andronous’s head.

The wizard yelped, lunging from his chair and causing Tek to drop lightly to the floor.

“Thrice cursed cat! I—“

Tek stood, unfolding into a small humanoid shape once more.

“Tek? You came!”

Tek held out his hand. “Anti-venom.”

Andronous handed him a small bottle.

“Oral or topical”

“Oral.”

Tek downed the contents and tossed the vial into the fire. “Don’t ever do that again, wizard.”

“Did you get Mutton to do his job?”

Tek twitched at the name. That’s not his name. You know that. “Yes. I suggest sending the cleaning staff in a couple of hours. He will be busy until then.”

“Excellent.”

The itching faded from Tek’s ankle. “What did your letter inject me with?”

“An altered form of urushiol… that’s poison oak oil.”

Tek’s eye twitched. “So the itching—“

“Would have been the worst of it… This time.” The wizard regarded Tek, narrowing his eyes. “Honestly, Tek, you shouldn’t ignore me.”

Tek ignored the ridiculous threat, holding out his hand. “Payment.”

“I gave you the anti-venom.”

“Which was something that I didn’t need, for a venom that you inflicted upon me. Now, pay me, or I will fill this place so full of rats even a host of cats won’t be able to cleanse them all.”

The wizard grimaced in distaste. “I don’t have anything for you.”

Tek smiled. “Excellent.” He pulled a piece of paper from one of his many pouches, handing it to the wizard. “This will do.”

The wizard looked over the paper, color draining from his face. “This is too much. It will take me days to create this.”

“That is my price. If you find it too steep, call someone else next time. I will expect delivery within the week.”

With that, Tek stepped from the room.

He found the nearest closed door and pulled a key from a hidden pocket in his tunic.

With a quick motion, he unlocked something deeper than the door and opened the side entrance to his own home.

A key retrieved, a step between planes, and a firmly closed door left him home once again, and separated from the insufferable wizard.

Happily alone… in the pulsing light of his candles.

Orange, blue, green, yellow.

Someone was at the door.

A note from JLMullins

MM chapter will resume Monday, as usual.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 😊

Happy April.

Chapter: 255 - Unpleasantness

Tala was able to mostly pull herself back together by the time that they reached the main audience hall, where Sanguis sat in his chair, listening to reports and directing the after-battle clean up.

From the snatches Tala had heard and processed on the relatively short walk, the two attacking Houses had been driven back with massive casualties. The House of Blood had lost some soldiers, but far fewer than the Houses of the Rising Sun and Acidic Tide.

When the group loosely surrounding Tala entered the audience chamber, a hush fell over those present.

Sanguis stood, meeting his Eskau’s gaze. “Pillar Be-thric?”

“Dead, it looked like a Pillar of the House of the Acidic Tide managed to plant a working within his flesh before she was overcome.”

The Pillar of the House of Blood cursed. “Why is her mouth bound?”

Tala, for her part, sat in a chair that was off to one side, without being out of the way. She moved carefully, being sure not to make sudden movements as well as allowing the guards and others to keep a healthy distance as she took her seat.

She felt exhausted, and she just wanted to be alone in her grief.

Mostly, though, she just felt numb.

Sanguis’s eyes flicked to Tala. As he took in the large gap left around her, they widened.

Pallaun nodded. “Her collar was triggered, though the pieces have evidence of both void and acidic magics throughout their structure. My belief is that that shouldn’t have been enough to trigger the device.”

Sanguis growled. “But you said the Acidic Tide Pillar is dead?”

His Eskau nodded. “Her Eskau as well.”

“That’s something at least.” He huffed a laugh. “More than something. That makes six Eskau and Pillars of those two Houses lost, and we only lost one.”

Meallain growled.

Sanguis held up his hands. “Be-thric was a loss, and a frustrating one at that. His death hurts our House incredibly, but our two brazen adversaries have paid a phenomenally high price for their attack.”

That seemed to mollify the elf, if just barely.

“Clear the room, save Eskau, adjuncts, and myself.”

Everyone else departed, and the doors were closed after them.

Sanguis had four adjuncts with him at the moment. That was either the privilege or burden of being head Pillar for this city. He had more to manage, so he had more adjuncts to help with the management.

Gallof was there as well, and Thron stayed as befit his station.

All told, there were ten of them remaining in the room, including Tala.

Sanguis returned to his seat. “First, we address the unpleasantness in the room.”

Thron and Gallof stepped forward and knelt, speaking as one, in a clearly ceremonial fashion. “We swore our lives in service of a Pillar of the House of Blood, and he has passed to the next world. Our service is at an end.”

Tala’s eyes widened. What?

She felt an odd moment of disjointment as she waited for agreement that would never come.

Tears returned to her eyes. Oh, Alat. I’m so, so sorry. If I’d been faster…

Meallain glanced her way, eyes softening slightly before she refocused on the Pillar.

Sanguis grimaced. “By right, tradition, and law, you are each given a choice: Simple, quick death to bring honor to your family within the House of Blood and to elevate their position, or exile for yourself and your family.”

Gallof spoke first. “I choose death, that my kith and kin would be allowed to serve and rise through the House of Blood.”

Sanguis nodded. “Let it be so. Once the other matters are settled, it will be done. Your service was honorable; may you depart our House with honor.”

“Thank you, Pillar Sanguis.”

The Pillar turned to Thron. “And you?”

“I’ve no family in the House of Blood, Pillar. I am grateful to the House of Blood and would part ways without enmity.”

Tala blinked. He was a slave, and if he had never served Be-thric and me, he’d have remained a slave to Gallof. This is an absolute win for him.

She hesitated, considering, the slow gears of her unenhanced mind struggling to continue the thought. Though his position as adjunct was arguably better than whatever he’ll have after exile.

Yet again, she felt the odd sinking feeling of expecting a familiar voice to chime in, before remembering that that voice was gone. Alat is gone…

Tala had hope that she could get Alat back soon, but that didn’t fill the void that was present in the moment, nor quell the fear that she would die before Alat could be restored.

Sanguis nodded once again. “Your service was honorable; may you depart our House with honor.”

Gallof looked to Thron and smiled consolingly. “Thank you for your service, my friend.”

Thron smiled sadly in return. “Thank you for pulling me from the mines.”

There was a moment of silence before Sanguis sighed and looked to Pallaun. “Now, my Eskau, what is to be done with Eskau Tali?”

The obsidian man frowned. “That depends on the circumstances of Be-thric’s demise, my Pillar.”

Thron cleared his throat. “Begging your pardon, Eskau, Pillar.”

Sanguis raised an imperious eyebrow. “Yes?”

“As I am still an adjunct to an Eskau of the House of Blood until this matter is settled, I wish to speak.”

“I will listen.”

“I see no advantage to the House of Blood in determining Eskau Tali’s accountability or innocence in the death of her Pillar.”

Meallain nodded. “I agree, but I would hear his reasoning.”

Sanguis looked between them. “As you say, go on.”

Thron cleared his throat. “If she were to be found guilty, the House of Blood would be forced to execute her. That would require a fine be paid to the City Lord, and doing so would show weakness to the other Houses.”

The Pillar nodded slowly. “Yes, being forced to execute Eskau Tali would be…less than ideal.”

“And if she were to be found innocent, then we would be forced into two, far worse options. One, the collar failed in some manner, and we would need to pursue action against the City Lord that we can ill afford at this time. Two, we decide that our own Pillar Be-thric made an error in his last moments, and killed the very woman who had brought so much honor to our House and to him in particular.”

Sanguis was frowning. “That is…true.”

The Pillar looked troubled.

“What say you, Eskau Meallain?”

Meallain cleared her throat, tears still in her eyes. “I mourn Be’s death. But if Eskau Tali is responsible, I have no hope of revenge. She was created by Be-thric, against the will of the council, and her actions are, therefore, on him.”

Tala’s eyes snapped wide, and she looked to Meallain with confusion. She’s just going to say it? Just like that?

Thron had stiffened, and his head jerked as he tried to look at everyone at once.

Ahh, so he didn’t know.

But the elf wasn’t done, “I choose, instead, to lay his death at the feet of the Houses Rising Sun and Acidic Tide. I will be taking my solace in their fall or at least in their decimation locally. Too long have the other Houses looked down upon us, and too long has our founding family been whittled away. Now? Now, the last drop of that family's blood has fallen. Be it my last act in Zeme, I will avenge them upon our enemies.”

Sanguis leaned back. “And how does my Eskau view these matters?”

Pallaun looked to Tala, grimacing. “The dasgannach infects her. Her survival is some quirk or oddity, and cannot continue for long. No one survives. That is the guarantee of the City Lord.” He gave a rueful smile at that. “If she were to survive, we would, once again, be in the position of having to bring action against him whom we cannot afford to oppose at this time. Treat her as dead. Consider the matter closed.”

The Pillar looked to Meallain. “You’ve trained her most recently. Does she have knowledge of the Doman-Imithe?”

The elf shook her head. “I have given her basic lessons in its nature, but she has never learned how to enter or leave. Her inscriptions are lost, and without them her magic is sufficient to do naught but die in the broken world.”

“Then, it is settled. She will be placed in the Doman-Imithe, like all gated human dead, per common law.”

Gallof spoke. “If that matter is settled, I request Eskau Pallaun perform my execution.”

Sanguis glanced to his Eskau before nodding. “Granted.”

Tala didn’t see Pallaun move, nor did she see Gallof die.

I hate being without my enhancements. The world seemed lifeless, and it felt like a cloth sack had been pulled over her head. It was comparatively hard to see and hear, and processing what she did perceive was difficult in the extreme.

Honestly, she’d barely followed what had been said.

Though, I would remain uninscripted and lesser, forever, if I could have Alat back… More tears built in her eyes. She knew she wasn’t being rational at the moment, but she was experiencing heavy emotional whiplash.

Blessedly, if she got Alat back, she’d have everything back, but she had a hard time focusing on that.

Even as she began to spiral once again, she felt an odd…pressure, reaching towards the magically worked steel band that sealed her mouth.

She shuddered, her attention violently drawn to the dasgannach within her. As before, her mind interpreted the instincts and intentions of the thing.

MINE?

It clearly didn’t have an intellect.

It could sense the iron within the steel, but there was no clean path to the metal.

As good as the seal was and as tightly as the metal was pulled against her flesh, there was still a layer of magic around the device that prevented direct contact with her skin, thus preventing the dasgannach from claiming it.

It clearly wanted to, but it would have to abandon her to do so, and it was unwilling to do that while some of her iron remained unclaimed.

That…that is a bit terrifying, actually.

Tala finally realized that people were speaking again, partway through the new conversation.

Sanguis was nodding again. “That is an excellent point. It would be the height of dishonor to strip an Eskau of our House of that which was bestowed upon her, when she has not been convicted of a crime.”

So, they don’t want to rob me?

One of his adjuncts looked incredibly pleased, but another opened their mouth in clear frustration.

Before they could speak, however, Sanguis raised a hand. “That said, we would be fools to waste those resources. The solution is obvious.”

Pallaun nodded. “Someone will watch over her in the Doman-Imithe, and bring back her equipment after she dies. An Eskau is the best choice for this role.”

She sighed internally. Ah, they won’t rob me, but they’re happy to take things from my corpse.

She honestly couldn’t blame them. In truth, she was a bit surprised. She’d have expected them to demand the disgorgement of all of Kit’s contents then and there, but she’d apparently misjudged them.

Meallain tsked. “I will not spend my time thus. As soon as this matter is settled, I intend to purge Platoiri of two Houses. If I am not sated, I will purge Tralnor and Yendith of those Houses as well. We will see how I feel at that time.”

The obsidian Eskau frowned. “Meallain, the other Houses are not children. Do not kill yourself on their blades in the name of revenge.”

She growled. “Fine.” She took a great breath. “Once this city is purged, I will bend Eskau De-arg to aid me. Half a century of promised solitude should be sufficient to secure his assistance.”

Pallaun didn’t look happy, but he nodded nonetheless. “He would suffice, or you could call upon the Reserve.”

Meallain hesitated. “They…they might be the better choice. Thank you for your wisdom, Blessed Pallaun.”

Sanguis cleared his throat. “While I am glad to know that we will not be losing another Eskau in the near future, the problem remains. I will not be without Pallaun in times such as these.”

The Pillar frowned, clearly thinking.

Tala had no idea what to do. I can’t go to the Doman-Imithe. Certainly not under guard. I need to find a way to get this thing out of me!

Still, she wasn’t fool enough to interrupt. If she were them, she’d execute her and be done with it. That wasn’t confusing at all.

In any case, she didn’t want to tip them towards that seemingly sensible course of action.

Sanguis looked up, considering Thron. “Thorn. Would you do us one last service?”

“Pillar Sanguis?”

“If you escort Eskau Tali into the Doman-Imithe, and watch over her until her final breath, securing her gear after the dasgannach has left her and perished, then we will grant you resources with which to start your new life, outside the House of Blood.”

Thron paled. “Revered Pillar. I do not have the ability to enter or leave the Doman-Imithe.”

“Of course you do not. We will place the two of you there, and all you must do is survive and be recovered. Items not near a sapient in the Doman-Imithe do not endure long, else we would simply recover them later.”

“How long would I need to endure in that place?”

“Three…no, four days to be safe?”

“I could die in that time.”

“You could, it is a risk, but we are willing to pay you for that risk.”

“If I succeed.” His tone was flat, clearly not pleased with the proposal.

“Of course, no job pays before the work is done.”

Thron glanced towards Tala, seeming to consider something. Finally, he turned back towards Sanguis, grimacing. “I…I will do this, but I want the right to claim any one item from her Sanctum in addition to all other rewards, and I want assurances that my claim will be uncontested.”

He wants the concept sword. Clever.

Sanguis hesitated for only a moment before smiling. “Granted.”

He’d clearly decided that whatever trinket or treasure Thron wanted, it was a worthy price to pay.

More the fool, him. She felt like giving Thron a congratulatory pat on the back, if his fortune wouldn’t come about only after her death.

The dwarf and the Pillar discussed the actual amount and contents of the reward for a short time before they came to an agreement.

One of Sanguis’s adjuncts drew up the contract, and the Pillar and Thron each bound their power to the document. Pallaun and Meallain did likewise, acting as witnesses and additional weight behind the agreement.

“And so, it is done.”

Meallain clapped her hands, blood still splattered across her face and armor. “Am I needed?”

“Only for one last thing.” Sanguis gestured and another adjunct came forward. “We must all sign and attest to this. I will see that it is delivered to the City Lord.”

The Pillar, Eskau, and adjuncts all wove their magic into the simple document.

Then, one of the adjuncts received orders from Sanguis and departed with the paper in hand.

Tala barely caught a glimpse of it as it passed, and only its incredibly simple, large print made her able to see what it said, ‘Eskau Tali’s collar was triggered, and her body is to be deposited into the Doman-Imithe within the hour.’

Simple, to the point, and utterly true.

Clever.

Alat was not there to comment.

Meallain stopped near where Tala sat. “I am sorry things are ending this way, Tali. I’d have liked to have met you before…”

Tala frowned in confusion. What?

The elf shook her head. “But that was not meant to be. May your soul find peace.”

Without another word, the elf departed. Only then did Tala’s seemingly glacially slow mind provide answers. She was saying that she wished she could have met me before Be-thric mind-wiped me.

Tala had no idea how to process that, not really.

Sanguis was talking again. “Pallaun, Thorn, please see it done. Thorn, we will see you again in a few days.”

Thron bowed. “As you say, Pillar Sanguis. It was an honor to serve.”

Pallaun approached Tala. “Will you need to be led, or can you follow?”

Tala sighed, exhaling a puff through her nose, then she tiredly pointed at the band.

“Ahh, yes. That should no longer be needed, but I advise you to only speak when spoken to. Do you understand?”

She nodded.

He snapped, and the magics deactivated around the band.

At that moment, a fascinating, and horrifying, thing happened.

Tala felt the authority of the dasgannach reach out through her now direct skin-contact with the steel and seize all the iron with the device in an instant.

That action had no outward consequences, but as the band expanded, opening to fall away, Tala once again heard the screech of intent and instinct translated through her mind.

NO! MINE!

The collar puffed to dust, the carbon, and other elements falling free. The iron being jerked backward to pull hard against her skin, where it melded with the iron paint already covering her.

Everyone in the room froze.

“What was that?” Sanguis had only seen what happened out of the corner of his eyes.

Pallaun frowned, taking a step back. “The dasgannach claimed and retained the iron from within the band of restriction.”

The Pillar stood, walking to stand by his Eskau. “That should not be possible.”

“I concur, but these creatures were designed to exceed their own existence and then to die.” The obsidian man scratched his chin. “We need to get her into the Doman-Imithe, now. If it has mutated somehow, we do not want it loose within our hold.”

“Wait, wait!” Thron caught their attention. “I don’t want to be near it, if it’s acting unexpectedly.”

Sanguis glared for a brief moment, then sighed. “I can understand that, Elder dwarf. If you wish to simply depart, we will not stop you.”

Thron hesitated at that, seeming almost to shift from foot to foot, clearly weighing the danger with the suddenly increased potential risk. Finally, he shook his head. “No. I will do as you have asked.”

It seems that a chance at a concept sword lessens the fear from many potential dangers.

Palluan grunted. “Then, we must hurry, before things deviate beyond our understanding once again.”

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Chapter: 256 - Hole

Tala followed Pallaun and Thron through the broken hallways and rooms of the House of Blood’s hold.

Just before they went out into the city, Pallaun pointed towards her, and she almost felt magics wrap around her.

Thron jumped slightly, his eyes sliding off of her when he tried to look her way. “Invisibility?”

Pallaun quirked a smile. “Nothing so… crude. You can consider it a perception filter. No one will see her.”

The dwarf looked skeptical. “Is it a perception filter, though?”

“No.” The Eskau turned and walked away, Tala and Thron following without a word.

I could try to make a run for it, but I’d be insane if I thought I’d get away from Pallaun.

With nothing else she could really do, she stayed with the other two.

The walk through the city passed quickly, with Pallaun ensuring that she stayed a good distance from everyone they passed.

Yeah, let’s not let the dasgannach gain sovereignty over anything else. She still didn’t know what to think about its claiming of the iron in the band of restriction. This creature seems like it is modified far from a standard specimen of the species.

She almost laughed at that. What did she really know about them? Very, very little.

It wasn’t long before the Eskau of the House of Blood and the two former members arrived at a building that resembled nothing so much as a hexagonal gazebo, made entirely of obsidian, with solid sides.

It was situated near the center of a large park, and to Tala’s surprise, she thought she’d been to this park before, though she couldn’t remember exactly when.

Stupid broken brain, not able to remember such simple things…

Pallaun placed his hand on one side, and the volcanic glass folded away from him, revealing a doorway.

It was odd, seeing the man touch something so close to his own skin-tone. His hand almost seemed to vanish for a moment.

Or, he used magic that caused that effect. She was incredibly irritated that she didn’t actually know which it was.

The wall closed behind them, once they were all inside, and Thron’s slight jerking let her know that the magics around her were gone.

“Right this way.” Pallaun led them into the center of the open space to where a disk of the material was raised above the floor.

Thron examined it. “This is what it takes to go between Zeme and the Doman-Imithe?”

“No.”

The dwarf paused, clearly expecting more. When it didn’t come, he huffed. “Just ‘No?’”

“Yes.”

Thron quirked a smile, but then, the smile faded. “That’s a very small platform.”

“It is.”

“So… we’ll have to stand close together?”

Pallaun shrugged. “No. There will be a hole.”

Thron visibly relaxed, then stiffened. “We have to jump in?”

“It will be a horizontal hole.”

“So… a tunnel?”

“No, there will be no depth.”

Thron opened his mouth to argue further, then paused. A moment later, he closed his mouth and frowned. “Huh.”

The Eskau turned to Tala, his expression unreadable. “Tali?”

She lifted her gaze from the black disk to the man addressing her. “You know, it’s pretty hard to focus on you, when you’re the exact same color as the stuff behind you.”

He grinned at that, his perfectly white teeth standing out in an incredibly creepy way.

Wait… were his teeth always white? She had no idea. But what other color would they have been?

“Good to see you aren’t utterly broken.”

That soured her mood. “Yes, it is good to be whole before I die.”

He nodded. “There is wisdom in that, yes. Had I known you’d become wiser as you closed in on death, I’d have pushed you harder.”

She chuckled lightly, but it faded to silence when his expression didn’t change. In the end, Tala just grimaced.

When she’d stopped making noise, he continued, “But I wanted to say something, before you depart.”

Tala waited.

“What Be-thric did to you… you won’t understand this, but I want you to know, if we had known what he was going to try, we would have stopped him.”

“Who is we? And what would you have stopped?” She had to be careful, here. She couldn’t let her curiosity reveal her ‘not-Tali-ness.’ Yeah, that’s a good descriptor. Right?

She hitched at the lack of response from Alat.

“Tali?”

Tala jerked her focus back to Pallaun. “My apologies… my mind… I’m not thinking correctly.”

He sighed. “I was afraid there might be degradation now that Be-thric is dead, but that is no matter. I have said my piece, and I won’t be answering any questions. You will go through first, immediately, and Thron will follow after.”

The dwarf raised an eyebrow, likely at the use of his real name.

Pallaun smiled. “You’re no longer a member of the House of Blood. You don’t need to keep the ‘fiercer’ name.”

Thron huffed. “I suppose that’s true enough. Thron will do just fine for me, once again.” His eyes narrowed. “That doesn’t invalidate my contract.”

“Of course not. It was keyed to your magic and concept, nothing as transitory as a name.”

“Good, I thought not.”

Palluan and Thron clasped hands. “I will reopen this hole in three days’ time.”

The dwarf hesitated. “Wait. If she dies too soon, her sanctum won’t hold out until then. It’ll break apart, and I won’t be able to fulfill my part of the deal.”

Pallaun waved that away. “The Doman-Imithe has already solved that issue. Simply bring the gear back, and all will be well.”

“But—”

Pallaun raised a hand. “No. I will not teach you on this subject; you can use your own eyes and mind.” The big man tossed a pack to Thron.

Tala hadn’t seen where it had come from, and that was surprising given it’s size. He had it in his own sanctum? Does he have his sanctum on him somewhere?

“Food, water, and diversion for both of you for a few days. No need for her to go hungry before the end.”

Tala found the sentiment oddly affecting and swallowed back some tears. “Thank you, Pallaun.”

He waved that off.

Wait… why would we need that? I have my sanctum.

Pallaun clapped his hands together and magic swirled.

Tala could just barely feel and see the edges of the power.

The world broke and opened.

There was no other description of it.

There was suddenly a hole in the world, just as Pallaun had stated, through which Tala could see… wrongness.

Yes, great description, Tala. ‘Wrongness.’ She grimaced at her own lack of descriptive ability.

The edges of the hole danced with what might have been void magics, but she couldn’t perceive well enough to tell.

The most prominent feature through the hole was a simple, black obsidian wall, looking almost identical to what actually lay on the other side of the space the hole occupied.

There was, however, something wrong with the space through that hole.

Tala took a step back. “What the rust?”

Pallaun shook his head. “You go through, or I have to kill you and throw your body through. Please don’t make me do that.”

She glanced to his face and had no doubt, whatsoever, that he was serious.

She swallowed, hesitating only a moment longer, and stepped through.

That first footfall felt off.

Like going down the stairs and finding one step just a bit closer or further than expected.

She didn’t stumble, but it felt uncomfortable.

As she moved through the hole in the world fully, she began to feel every wrinkle and crease in her perfectly fitted clothes, every flake of iron paint, every fleck of sweat and dirt that she’d acquired through the day's battle.

That was all today? It felt like at least two weeks ago that the other Houses had invaded the hold of the House of Blood.

The smooth volcanic glass beneath her bare feet had a thousand, thousand variations, undulations, and miniscule ridges.

Even with her enhanced senses, she wouldn’t have been able to feel all of it, and yet, even without those senses, she somehow did feel every little bit.

The heaviness of her body, and her lack of active magical enhancement to her strength, hit her like a ton of bricks, and she gritted her teeth as that physical strain came to the forefront of her thoughts.

Strangest of all, however, was her gate.

The throughput was still the same, dumping an uncomfortable amount of power into her body with nothing for it to be used on, but it felt like it was coming from a greater distance, like someone had added length to the faucet of power.

She had no idea how she could feel that, but she could.

A shiver ran through her, and she felt her skin contract to form goosebumps, the little hairs all over her body shifting in a cavalcade of senses that would have been overwhelming to her even before she lost her mental augmentations.

She stumbled then, catching herself on the obsidian wall with one hand.

She jerked that hand back as her palm began to burn, while her fingers almost stuck to the frozen material.

Hot and cold at the same time? Just in slightly different locations? How haven’t they equalized?

She just felt grateful that the ground seemed to be a uniform, slightly uncomfortable cold. And now that I’ve noticed that, it won’t go away…

She turned back towards the hole, doing her best to force down the seemingly infinite, slightly-off sensations.

First, she noticed that on this side of the hole there was only the raised round platform and the one wall of obsidian that seemed like the Zeme side. The rest of the space was open to the outside, but she didn’t really look that way, yet.

Next, she saw Thron stepping through and grimacing, presumably feeling similar disjointment to Tala.

The hole vanished as soon as the dwarf was through, and Tala was confronted with what lay beyond.

Or, more accurately, she was confronted with what didn’t lay beyond, and what lay within that gap.

That makes no sense.

Some five feet beyond where the hole had been, the ground fell away.

Only once she’d taken that in, did she look up.

Her blood ran cold.

Whatever chunk of ground they were standing on seemed to be spinning slowly because the vista beyond was falling away in an odd, slow sort of dance.

She could see uncountable fragments of rock and earth scattered around in a kaleidoscope of spinning, twirling, ever-moving, utterly silent madness.

Some were just plain material: crags of granite, mounds of dirt, spheres of water, but others were more.

One, briefly visible through the maelstrom, had trees growing out of every side of it, their roots intertwining to form a lattice-like cage.

In that small glance before it was hidden from view, Tala thought she saw that cage packed with skeletons, all looking in her direction.

Another seemed to have two fountains that were spraying outside of their own basin, the water arching oddly to land in the other, presumably in an endless cycle, which defied reason.

There were too many, and too varied, for her to comprehend, especially with her mundane mind.

Rusting gold eating slime.

The largest pieces she could see were only a few hundred feet in any dimension save one that was almost fully fallen out of sight.

That one seemed to be nearly a thousand feet long, and had an oddly familiar shape, though she couldn’t place it.

It called to her, but she resisted the urge to take a running leap to reach it.

Even so, Tala found herself carefully walking to the edge, her every step sending oddly echoing resonant sounds through the space.

Feet on stone do not make that sound… Though, she couldn’t place what the sound actually should be from.

Leaning out, over the sheer drop, she examined the large mass once more.

When it was almost out of sight once again, she felt something stir, and a great eye opened upon its surface.

Tala jerked back before it could focus and orient on her.

She stumbled away from the edge, tripping over her own feet and falling to land on the raised obsidian. She kept herself from calling out in surprise, but just barely.

Thron was beside her in an instant, though he kept out of reach. “What is it? What did you see?”

She swallowed. “Something massive.”

The dwarf looked incredibly uncomfortable. “We’re spinning fairly quickly. I’d rather we not still be here, when it comes around again.”

“Agreed.” Tala instantly understood what he meant. We can discuss things in my Sanctum.

Even so, she was shaking as she pulled at Kit on her belt.

The pouch’s strap didn’t dissolve as she was expecting. What?

She tried to open Kit, but the pouch remained sealed. “What?”

Thron had been watching. “That’s probably why Pallaun gave us this.”

He lifted the pack that he had slung onto his back before letting it fall back into place

“It seems that dimensional storage items don’t work here.”

In a panic, Tala placed her hand on Kit, and found… stability? What is going on?

She couldn’t properly feel what was happening, but she could sense enough to feel that Kit was fine and in an odd way, dormant, at least with relationship to her.

Tala felt sure that the inside was untouched, and somehow stable, but Kit was using almost no power.

She didn’t understand why, but there it was.

I’m glad that Kit still has capacity for all the power I’m dumping into it.

That wouldn’t last forever, though.

A voice of an oft forgotten passenger piped up in the momentary, awkward silence.

“What have you done to me?” Rob’s voice cracked out into the silence, seeming to shatter something.

Tala winced, but then, she was suddenly able to hear the distant chunks bumping or sloshing into one another, the grinding of stone on stone, the skittering of claws.

She looked around in a panic, but the sound seemed to be as nonsensical as everything else, changing without ever really revealing its source.

Thron had clapped his hand down over his pocket. “We’re in the Doman-Imithe, Rob. Shhh.”

“The broken world?” The orb’s voice dropped to a whisper. “What madness brought us here?”

“I thought you paid attention to what happened around you?”

“I was bored, so I was pretending to sleep. It seems that I did too good a job.”

Thron grumbled. “I wish you’d continue.”

Tala felt a small smile tug at her lips, but it faded as her own internal voice remained silent.

I’ll get you back, Alat.

“So, do we stay here, or…?”

The dwarf grimaced. “I’m supposed to be here, at this location, to bring out your gear after you die.”—he gave her a searching look—“Care to share why that hasn’t happened yet?”

She shrugged. “I created a bonding spellform inside my finger, using my blood as a medium. The dasgannach doesn’t want to bond me, so it won’t eat the working, but it also doesn’t want to leave any iron unclaimed, so it won’t leave. We’re at an impasse.”

Thron blinked at her for a long moment, then barked a laugh before quickly covering his own mouth.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty… odd turn of events.”

The dwarf grunted. “I’d say so, yeah. I won’t claim to know much about bonding workings, but I didn’t think you could create them within yourself. Or…”—he frowned—“Isn’t it just a bad idea? I confess, I’ve likely no idea what I’m talking about.”

“You’re not supposed to? I think it has something to do with creating a protian weapon though, at least those for the House of Blood, but that’s just a guess.”

He grunted. “So, you’re not going to die?”

“Probably not in the short term? It’s a problem I’m working on.” She decided not to tell him that she was on a clock. No need to put the idea that my death is inevitable into his head.

“That puts a damper on my plans.”

“I noticed that. I can’t say I’m sorry.”

He quirked a smile. “I’d imagine you wouldn’t be, no.”

“You want the concept sword, right? That’s what you’re hoping to claim?”

Thron jerked his head to the side, glancing towards where the hole had been. “Quiet, girl. If they learn that’s on the table, they’ll kill me before the contract can be completed.”

She arched an eyebrow. “The contract that requires me to die?”

He hesitated. “Well… yes.”

“I can’t say I’m too worked up over it, then.”

He glowered at her. “It’s not like I want you to die. But if I can get that… item? I can’t say I’ll be sad about that part.”

“You know, you could just kill me now and be done with it.”

“What, and be alone in here for three days? That seems like a poor choice.”

She snorted. The conversation was helping her keep her mind off the wrongness of… well… everything.

Unfortunately, just realizing that reminded her, and she glanced up.

A moment later, she frowned. “Thron?”

“Yes, Tali?”

She hesitated. No, no reason to correct him on my name. Not now, if ever. “How fast do you think we’re spinning?”

“No idea. I have no idea how big this fragment is, so—”

“No, no. Look up. Tell me how fast you think we should do a full circuit.”

He looked up hesitantly, clearly not liking the oddity of their surroundings any more than she did. After a moment, he frowned. “Fast. As in, I would assume that we’re doing a full rotation every few minutes.”

“That’s what I thought, but we’ve been here more than a few minutes, and I haven’t seen any repetition.”

He nodded. “I’ve been trying not to look too closely, but some things definitely stood out, and I haven’t seen those again.”

Without really deciding to, they both stood, staring upward.

Neither really tracked the time, but it wasn’t short.

There was an odd lulling and pulling at their minds, like a nightmare that didn’t want to let them wake up.

The horrifyingly off scenery never repeated itself, and there was no indication that their chunk was moving relative to the rest, aside from their spin.

“That’s… disconcerting.”

Thron’s voice broke Tala’s almost hypnotized focus, and she jerked her eyes off the world above. “Yeah.”

They both lowered their gazes, shuddering and shaking themselves.

“So,”—he scratched at his eyebrow—“what’s your plan? I have to believe you have one.”

She huffed a quiet laugh. “That would be wonderful, wouldn’t it?”

She shook her head.

“I… I need to do something. I have this thing imbedded all through me.”

The reminder seemed to make Thron take a step back, though he hadn’t been close to begin with.

“Yeah. I need to think.”

Thron grunted. “Very well. I’ll see what we have in the pack.”

With a smile, she sat down off to one side, closing her eyes and trying to shut out the oddities of the Doman-Imithe.

Alright, Tala. I need a plan.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 257 - Sight

Tala sat in the disjointed place known as the Doman-Imithe.

She’d been sent there to die, but she hadn’t complied, at least not yet.

A dasgannach was ready and willing to rip all the iron out of her, as soon as her Archon star was no longer preventing that.

The only reason she wasn’t dead already was because there was iron in the blood that made up her slowly growing Archon star, and the dasgannach wouldn’t leave until it had claimed all the iron.

It would have already claimed the iron in the star too, but dasgannachs don’t bond. This one was heavily magically modified, so she hadn’t known if that would hold true, but it definitely seemed to, at least so far.

That’s right, Tala, review where you are, so you can see where you’re going.

Kit was sealed to her, the Doman-Imithe apparently put at least dimensional storage items into an odd semi-stasis. With Terry in Kit, Tala was basically alone.

Well, Thron’s here, but he’s only here to await my death. Unless I can convince him otherwise. That was probably going to be required one way or another, regardless.

The dwarf sat a little ways away, sorting through the pack that Pallaun had given him.

Tala had no inscriptions, and that lowered her capacities to an incredible degree.

But all those were medium to long term issues.

In the short term?

Kit was almost full of power, and when that happened, she’d have nowhere for her power to go.

Nothing she could think of would actually use up her magical energy.

She was purposely using as little as possible to pour into the creation of the Archon star in her finger, because once that was full, her time was up.

Normally, she’d prided herself on an incredible flowrate through her gate, but this might be a situation where that would bite her, hard.

I wish I could see the magic around me clearly enough to determine if simply dumping my power into the environment would be detrimental.

She could see this place being fairly magically barren, and her power becoming like a beacon, summoning who knows what to kill her.

It could also be the case that the Doman-Imithe would distort and alter itself in unknowable ways in the presence of ambient magics.

She just had no way of knowing, and what little of her magesight remained, now impressed into her natural magics through repeated use, wasn’t nearly detailed enough to even let her take a guess.

And I didn’t research it, because I didn’t expect to ever be without my inscriptions. She grimaced.

What she needed more than anything else was information.

Huh. Wait a minute… She grinned. That just might help.

She opened her eyes, placed a hand on Flow where it hung at her belt, and directed power into it, purposely not using any void-channels to amplify her flowrate.

Flow took basically all the magic coming through her gate to take on the form of a void-knife, only leaving the fraction that she was directing into her left ring finger.

The pressure within her body instantly lessened, and she let out a relieved breath. Well, that’s a nice fringe benefit.

She wouldn’t have to deal with excess magic, at least not in the short term. At least not until I need to sleep.

But that isn’t the only reason she’d pushed Flow into a void-form.

She could feel something around her eyes as her voidsight opened.

She was greeted by a cacophony of sights so convoluted, that she instantly snapped her eyes shut against the insanity.

It felt like she’d gotten two black eyes, and now some overly helpful person was trying to shove ice against them, but was applying entirely too much pressure.

Tala took seven long, measured breaths.

Four count in.

Hold for four.

Four count out.

Hold for four.

And around it went.

Finally, she was able to master herself enough to try again.

She cracked her eyes open to a squint and was able to barely perceive through the gap.

It was… a lot.

Cords of reality crisscrossed everything.

The floating chunks, like the one she currently sat on, seemed to be knots manifested in the tangle of fragmented reality.

As to what lay between the strands?

Nothing.

Not the nothing in the sense of ‘there’s nothing there.’

Truly nothing.

Void magics and power clung to the strands of reality, hugging tightly over it all like a skin.

There wasn’t even void in the nothing, which made absolutely no sense at all.

Tala couldn’t look away for what felt like an incredibly long span of time. Though, whether it was an instant or a day, she had no idea.

The fact that Thron didn’t speak to her, or throw something, meant it probably wasn’t actually that long, but the experience seemed to put that to lie.

Finally, she pulled her vision away from the nothingness, and focused on the void-coated-reality threads.

Alright, so no jumping between fragments to search for another way out. Something deep within her was assured that anything entering the nothing would cease on the instant.

She followed one strand, which led within and down a small walking path that quickly passed from sight off to the side.

This path had been there from the beginning, along the edge of the sheer drop past the obsidian wall, but she’d not really focused on it because of… well, everything else.

Given what she’d seen of the other fragments, Tala would have expected such a path to go nowhere, and since she couldn’t see where it was going, any speculation was just that: speculation.

However, she could perceive the reality thread, and that continued.

I’ll have to actually move around to see if I can figure out how this place works…

Then, as she looked around with squinted eyes, she saw another oddity.

Floating over the obsidian disk, right where they’d come through into the Doman-Imithe, was a small… something, extending from the threads of reality.

Tala got up and walked closer, ignoring Thron’s grunt of surprise and questioning gaze.

She approached the something, which looked like nothing so much as a lump woven into the thread, and she examined it.

What are you?

Unlike most threads, this one didn’t have material wrapped around it, and seemed to extend into nowhere, without ending.

She had a feeling that it continued a few hundred feet behind her, and when she glanced that way, she saw another strand that almost seemed to be coming out of nothing, while feeling like it connected to the one in front of her.

This place makes no sense at all…

Even so, she needed to learn.

Thus, she reached out to attempt to feel the odd nodule.

She could almost feel it as her hand came close, but she couldn’t quite touch it. In fact, it seemed to slip away from her fingers as they got close, the reality of her flesh repelling the outside of the void-skin on the thread.

Fascinating. Maybe, void magics?

Since she couldn’t touch it with her hands, she moved close, pressing her eye to the lump, and the void-magics flowing through that part of her seemed to snap into place.

After an odd sort of flash, she was looking into the obsidian gazebo from which they’d come with the eye she’d used to connect with the lump.

Pallaun had departed, and it was a simple, empty space.

She gasped, jerking back.

Thron jumped to his feet, looking around in alarm. “What is it?”

Tala ignored him for a moment longer, her eyes wide now, searching along the threads of reality, finding at first a few, then a few dozen, then hundreds, and finally too many protuberances to count.

Touchpoints to Zeme. She sat heavily, wincing at the impact with the hard surface, but she couldn’t be deterred. She let Flow fall out of its void-form and her eyes returned to normal.

“Tali?”

Tala looked to the dwarf. “We have some things to discuss. I’m pretty sure I can get out of here.”

Thron’s eyes widened. “Really?”

She hesitated. “Well, I’ve got the beginnings of an idea.”

He huffed at that but didn’t interrupt.

“I think if I can find a safe place to come through, I can test my theories. Now? Now, I can see into Zeme, so finding such a place should be possible.”

When she didn’t continue, Thron nodded. “I think I understand what you are saying. What I don’t understand is why I should allow you to try?”

Tala took a deep breath. First gamble, here I come. “Because you should come with me.”

He narrowed his eyes but didn’t interrupt.

“You obviously want the… item, but there are other things that I can offer.”

“Oh?” He leaned forward. “I’m listening.”

“Firstly, I would give you the item once we were free, obviously. While I’d like the opportunity to study it, but it would be yours, free and clear.”

He grunted.

“In that regard, I am a superior supplier to the House of Blood, because if I give it to you, no one will know you have it. Even if they are sworn to not interfere with your possession of it, rumors get around.”

He grimaced but didn’t comment.

“Second, I stole a book on advancement from the House of the Rising Sun.”

His back straightened slightly. “If such a thing were just laying about, it was likely generalities or even misinformation.”

“I got it from a protected vault. The same place I got the logs and ledgers I handed over to you.”

He leaned back, then. Likely to give himself time to think, he pulled out a loaf of brown bread, and stuffed butter into it before taking a big bite. Around the first mouthful, he prompted her, “Go on.”

She made a motion with her hands, and he rolled his eyes before starting to prepare some for her too. “Thank you. Well, I’d bring you with me, if you wanted to go.”

He swallowed. “Where?”

“The human cities.”

One bushy, silver eyebrow raised. “You’re going to the human cities?”

“That’s the plan.”

“A former Eskau of a major House.”

“Well, that wasn’t the plan, but it’s how it is.”

“They’ll kill you before you can get within a hundred miles.”

She pointed to herself. “Why would you assume that? I’m human, remember?”

He grunted and scratched his beard. “That’s true, I suppose. So, you’ll get within a dozen miles before they kill you. They aren’t a peaceful people, Tali. They kill and take, lay waste to the land and just leave it to heal on its own without regard to the harm they’ve done.”

“Wait a minute.” She frowned. Nothing he’d said was wrong, per se, but it wasn’t really a fair representation, either. “That is a rather biased characterization.”

Thron hesitated, taking another bite. He tossed her her buttered bread and chewed in silence. After swallowing, he shrugged. “That may be so, but neither you or I know different.”

“Well… That’s the thing. I do know different.”

The bread was halfway to his mouth for another bite, but it paused, slowly lowering. “Go on.”

She took a deep breath. “So, Be-thric kidnapped me from the human lands, mind-wiped me, and inserted a fake personality into my head to control my body, and I only just recovered myself right before the fight for our raising to the positions of Eskau and Pillar.”

The dwarf blinked at her a few times, then set the bread aside. His skin had paled, and there was a mix of confusion and anger in his eyes. “Come again?”

“Which part?”

Overall, he seemed rather ruffled as he responded, “All of it. You will tell it all to me again, but this time slower and with more detail, please.”

She grimaced but nodded. “It will be abridged, but when you agree, I’ll tell you more, while we walk. Rust, I’ll throw in the answer to almost any question you want to ask to sweeten the deal.”

He simply grunted, waiting.

So, she gave him the five-minute version, which was very light on details.

At the end, Thron leaned back, scrubbing his face with his hands.

“That is a lot to parse.”—a frown stole over his features—“So, you’re telling me that you never wanted to win? You whipped us all to… what? Pretend?”

“I had no idea about the dynamics of the situation. Be-thric could have erased me again on a whim for all I knew. I needed to be a prominent figure so he couldn’t make me disappear.”

The silver bearded dwarf sighed at that but nodded. “I can understand that, I suppose.” He grimaced. “What he did to you… I don’t have words for that.”

She shrugged, feeling a bit awkward talking about it. “It wasn’t great, and I’ll not sign up for it again. I can’t even say that it doesn’t give me nightmares, but he’s dead.”

“He is at that…” Thron shook his head. “So, you’re a human from the ‘wild’ cities up north.” He huffed a cautious laugh. “That does explain quite a few things, if I’m being honest.”

“So, you see? I’ll be welcomed back with open arms to the human cities, and they are not how you describe them, at least not in the way you put it. You can make anything sound bad if you word it right.”

“That’s true enough, I suppose.” He grimaced. “I would like that book, though I don’t know if it will really be helpful.”

“It could be.” She smiled broadly in what she hoped was a convincing sort of way.

“Stop that. It’s creepy.”

She let her smile fall. “Sorry…”

“As fascinating as it would be to see the human cities, I’d stand out like a diminutive boulder, rolling through their streets.”

“We can get you a through-spike to make you look human. You’re only a little shorter than a short human. Sure, you’re built like a bull, but that just makes you look like you fight for a living, which is true. You’d be unusual, sure, but not instantly recognizable as nonhuman.”

He sighed. “What would I even do in the human cities? Sightseeing for a bit would be interesting and all, but that’s not a life.”

“What were you planning on doing away from the human cities?”

He glared at her. “Serving as your adjunct, until you went and mucked that up.”

Tala winced. “Ahh, yes.”

He sighed, shaking his head. “But what you’re really asking is: What would I do if I didn’t go with you? If I let you die, took the sword and left?”

She nodded.

“I’m not sure. I don’t really have any connections here on this little continent. I’d probably try to cross the water to head back home. Returning with a concept weapon would gain me standing, and fighting well with one would net me power. If nothing else, the House of Blood has honed me as a fighter, though I’d still need to get used to a non-morphic weapon. Our practice has helped, but I have a lot of ingrained habits still to work through. Battle prowess reigns supreme on the other continent. It’s a brutal place over there, not like here.”

Tala snorted, but Thron didn’t look like he was joking.

“Here, the Houses follow the lead of City Lords and remain mostly civil. There? There are no City Lords, not really. Whichever House gains sway lords it over the others, trying to drive them out and usually succeeding in the end. It’s anarchy, or near enough. There is no consistency in the laws between cities, and changes in leadership often cause sweeping alterations even within a given territory.”

“How is that sustainable?”

“It isn’t, not really. There is stability these days, in the sense that most cities are controlled by singular Houses, and they only wage war when they’re bored, or there is some perceived slight. Even so, the foundation of the place is rickety at best.”

“How do they have protian weapons, away from the human lands? Or do they use a different method for the ruling and determining of major Houses?”

He gave her an odd look, then shook his head. “I suppose you’d have no way of knowing: Gated humans are bred and traded like prized steeds. There is an art to their… rearing, and most aren’t harvested until they are quite advanced in years or until their masters have a need for their gates.”

“Ahh… So, golden cages all around?”

“Some more golden than others, but yes, for the most part.”

She sighed. “Well, I’d be interested in seeing the other continent when I’m a bit more powerful.”

He laughed. “You’d need to be at least a few ranks higher before you’d be able to keep yourself out of too much trouble.”

“Or have a way of not seeming human?”

“That might work, if you were exceedingly careful.”

“Well, then. Come with me to the human cities. See what no arcane has been freely shown, then we’ll go back to your home in the next hundred years or so.”

He grimaced.

“What?”

“Arcane, as in ‘arcanous beast?’ That’s sort of a slur, Tali.” He hesitated. “But that’s not your name, is it?”

“Well, no. My name is Tala.” She frowned. “You know, I think I remember hearing that arcane was a slur. I apologize for that. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

He shrugged. “It’s a funny thing. You said I was built like a bull, and I took it for a compliment, but compare me to a magical creature, and suddenly it’s a slur?” He shook his head. “Cultures are odd like that, I suppose. I appreciate the apology.”

She perked up. “So?”

“I really have no interest in going to the human lands… Tala.” Her name seemed odd coming from him for the first time.

“Oh, I see.”

He hesitated. “One major issue is that, nothing you can offer me, long term, will matter if you die.”

She opened her mouth to object, but he raised his hand to forstall her.

He shrugged. “That said, you do offer a far more compelling option for me. If you can get us out of the Doman-Imithe, away from Platoiri without getting caught, I am in.” He held up a finger. “But you turn over the sword and book the instant we are out of here. Agreed?”

“Agreed.” She grinned. “Oh, thank you, Thron!”

He held up his hands, forestalling her joy. “Well, this works out much better for me. It costs me nothing to let you try. I’d be a fool to be unwilling to let you see if you can get out. If you can’t? Then, nothing has changed, and we only need to wait a few more days. If it does work? Then, that has the potential to give me great gains. All that said, what about you? I mean, honestly, how are you going to handle that… slime in your system?”

“I’m working on it. Since we’re parting ways after we’re out of here, you don’t really need to concern yourself.”

He frowned at that, then shook his head. “I don’t want you to die, Tala. I’ve still not fully processed what was done to you, but even without that, I’d rather you lived.”

“Well then, if I need to bounce around any ideas, I’ll be sure to talk with you.”

“That sounds reasonable.”

Now, I just need to actually come up with some ideas… Regardless, she put a smile on her face and stood back to her feet. “Alright, then! Let’s see what I can find.”

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 258 - Voidsight

Tala stood, finishing off her buttered bread and smiling to her minder. “Ready?”

Thron quickly donned his pack with their supplies and nodded, keeping well out of arms’ reach.

She shook her head but didn’t comment. Instead, she directed her power into Flow once more, giving the weapon its void-knife form and herself voidsight.

Thron’s face twitched. “That’s never not terrifying, even now that I’m more used to it.”

“Used to it? Wait, you can see it?” Her through-spike should disguise her physical oddities and manifestations of power to most observers.

He shrugged. “Hints, yes, which honestly makes it creepier. It’s like seeing a monster out of the corner of your eye, but when you turn, there’s no trace of it. As to the other, you practice with your weapon's void-forms enough that I get the sense of your eyes changing rather regularly.”

“Oh, umm. Fair enough.” She turned away from the slightly awkward conversation and examined the world around her, getting her bearings.

A few long breath cycles later, she was able to process the deluge of information, and she was back in relative command of her faculties and ready to continue on.

“We’ll follow this path first.”

“Lead the way.”

Tala set off down the walking path, biasing herself toward the inside of the narrow way.

She was following a thread of reality, and as she walked, she continued to find a rock path running parallel to that thread.

That seemed normal enough; their chunk just seemed to be a lengthy one.

Then, as she continued to walk, she glanced upward, and she stumbled to the side, her hand finding the wall beside her for support.

“Tali!” Thron growled. “I mean Tala, what’s wrong?”

“Look up, Thron.”

He presumably did. “I don’t… wait… What?”

“None of the chunks that were above us before are still there.”

“And we aren’t spinning. When did we slow? Did we slow?”

Tala shivered. This place continues to surprise. “More than that, watch above yourself and walk forward.”

She glanced back at him, and he was giving her a skeptical look. “Is this some half-baked plan to infect me with the dasgannach?”

“What? No! I’ll walk, too.”

He grunted. “Just making sure. I don’t know what they did to those things. Maybe, it’s imbued you with a desire to spread it, somehow.”

“That’s… that’s actually pretty creepy, now that I think about it.”

“Exactly.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll be extra sure to keep my distance, but see what you can see. You can probably just look out over the edge, too.”

“I was trying to avoid that.”

“Yeah… I don’t blame you there.”

They moved forward a bit, and Thron made confused noises.

“So, you see it?”

“Yes, and no. It’s like we’re somehow moving around the other fragments much faster than we’re actually moving, and when we get to a new side, it’s an entirely different fragment, instead.”

“That makes no sense, but that is exactly what I’m seeing.”

“Do you have any guesses on what the rust is going on?”

Tala scrunched her face. “Guesses? Yes.”

He waited a moment before prompting, “Well?”

She smiled at that. It reminded her of all the times they’d studied various subjects, inquiring back and forth to tease out little tidbits of nuance. “From the basic lessons we received, and what I’ve put together, I think what we’re seeing isn’t actually there, not in the same way such a thing would be there in Zeme.”

He tilted his head in confusion but didn’t interject.

“I think we are seeing a manifestation of fragmented reality poking through. These are the pieces that were left out in the reconstruction of Zeme. They are like the back face of a cross-stitch.”

“I think I know what that is, but I can’t say I’ve ever examined the back of one.”

Tala grunted. “My family used to do them on occasion. They teach dexterity and persistence.” She felt a smile pull at her face. I’m going back to see my family again. She just needed to figure out this place so that she could leave.

“Alright? What does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, the point of a cross-stitch is to make a picture on one side with various colored thread. On the back, you have all the places where the thread had to move across the cloth from one part to another. It’s a tangled mess that never really looks the same as the front, though there are echoes.”

“So, we’re in the sub-structure of Zeme? The parts that were stretched and bent to lock the place we live on into a modicum of stability?”

“I think so, it might even help add to the stability, though I don’t have the faintest idea how.”

“So, the changing fragments?”

“Ahh! Yes. That is our minds, trying to interpret the fragments that we see and doing their best. Because all of this is a hodgepodge of nonsense, that’s what we’re seeing. Each discrete instant is understandable, because otherwise we’d go insane, and our minds have opted to show us this tableau instead. But as a whole? None of this will make sense to us.”

“That was a lot of words just to say: We can’t understand it, and trying too hard might break our brains.”

Tala grunted. “Yeah… I suppose that would have been pithier.”

“So…?”

“So, I see another place I want to check out, right up ahead.”

They walked a little further and were suddenly walking across a pathless plain of gently waving grass.

There was no breeze.

There was no sun.

And the grass was coated in cold, thick, red blood that had somehow already stained their lower legs.

Thron gasped at the sudden change, and Tala looked around in confusion.

The thread that she’d been following hadn’t changed or altered in any way.

Curious, she walked back the way they’d come, circling around Thron.

He followed and once they’d walked a dozen feet or so, they were back on the narrow walkway, the blood utterly gone even from their clothing and shoes.

She turned around. “Alright, then. I don’t understand at all… Onward!”

He lifted an eyebrow at her.

“What? I can’t pass you without getting closer than you want me to.”

He groused a bit but finally just shook his head, turned, and walked back until they were in the grass meadow.

This time, however, instead of blood, the grass was covered in something that appeared to be snow, but was amethyst and oddly warm.

It wasn’t hot, just warm like a chair right after someone else stood up from it.

Thron looked around and grimaced. “I think I preferred the blood.”

“Yeah…”

Only a short way into the grassy plane, Tala paused near another protuberance in the threads of reality.

It seemed like the closer she looked the more threads she could see, but most were a lot fainter than the one she’d been following.

“Here goes nothing.”

She pressed her eye up against it, while maintaining her voidsight.

As the two meshed, she could see out into Zeme.

She stared at an expansive lawn, with an obsidian building in the near distance.

Tala laughed, pulling back. “Alright, then! I think we can do this. I just need to find a place outside of the city, and we can go from there.”

She looked back towards Thron and hesitated.

As he drew close to the nodule, she could suddenly see strands of reality fading into view, which extended out from him, as well.

The strongest one led back the way they’d come.

She looked down at herself but saw nothing. No, that isn’t right.

She focused, using a similar technique to that which she’d used to perceive magic in the air with her magesight.

Show me what I’ve dismissed or tuned out.

Suddenly, she could see dozens, if not hundreds, of threads spreading out from herself as well.

Again, the brightest led back the way they’d come, but one also led to the node she’d just looked through.

Without perfect memory, she couldn’t be sure, but she thought that she’d walked through this exact spot on that lawn when Pallun led them to the obsidian hut, while Thron hadn’t.

So, I have a tie to this location, but he doesn’t?

That might make sense, but it also might just be supposition.

I have to test it… but I doubt I’ll find a way in the near future.

The real question was, did she just happen to come across another nodule of a place that she’d been, or was it her having been there, which allowed her to reach it?

I just don’t have enough information.

She examined the threads coming from her self, and as she looked closer, she felt like she should know where they led, but she couldn’t figure it out.

Looking between herself and Thron, she did think that many of the threads seemed to be leading to the same places.

Because we went to a lot of the same places?

Picking one of those shared points at random from among those more prominent that they shared, she turned to follow the pair of threads. “This way.”

She set off across the purple-dusted grass, and Thron followed behind.

Even though she wasn’t following one of the more substantial threads, there seemed to be a way forward. She didn’t come to an edge or anything of the sort.

A hundred or so steps later, the ground transformed again in an eyeblink, and they were walking on a well-cobbled street, flanked by buildings that she dismissed for the moment.

It should be… there! She placed one eye against the new node and found that she could see through once again.

Hah! It was a crossroads near the edge of the city. Why was this among the stronger threads? If we were both there when we got back from Croi, that was days ago.

Maybe, it was because it was a crossroads, but they’d walked through dozens of those from the edge of the city to the House of Blood’s hold.

Why here?

She didn’t have an answer.

“Tala.” Thron’s voice had an urgency and an odd strain to it, that pulled her from her musings.

“What—” Words died on her lips as she pulled back, opening her other eye.

There were silhouettes standing in the windows of the buildings around them.

Every single window.

The silhouettes existed even when the windows were utterly clear glass, so the person or thing should have been easily visible.

There was nothing to them in her voidsight, and even the remnants of her magesight showed nothing.

Nothing.

Creatures of nothing? Is that a thing? She almost laughed, but the humor was overwhelmed by the cloying sensation that she’d seen these things before.

The nothing between the threads. Is this just another perception of them? Like the blood vs purple dust? Another way for our minds to attempt to make sense of what I’m seeing?

That made sense, but she really didn’t like what it implied.

What would have had to happen for her mind to decide that these things should be interpreted as vaguely humanoid creatures.

What did my subconscious catch that I didn’t? She missed Alat more than ever. The Alternate Interface would be able to comb through her memories and pick out exactly what it was.

Tala was at a loss.

She spoke quietly, while continuing to look around herself. “Are they moving?”

“No. I don’t think so. I just noticed them, and they were all there. It feels like they’re watching.”

“Yeah, that’s how it feels to me, too.” She briefly considered, once again, pulling out a blood-star and mirroring her perspective so she could watch in all directions at once, but dismissed the idea as she had before.

There was no way her unenhanced mind could handle that much input.

“So, where to now? I’ve no idea where we’re going.” Thron was looking around himself nervously, trying to watch every direction at once.

“Oh! Oh… I’m an idiot.”

“That’s what I like to hear from the woman I’m following through a twisted, nightmare land.”

“No, this is a good thing. I just didn’t think of it earlier.” She shook her head and flexed her will to grow gloves over her hands. Then, she strengthened the void magics in her elk-leathers, specifically around her hands, via aspect mirroring from Flow.

That accomplished, she tried to touch one of the reality threads.

Her fingers brushed it, and she felt a feedback through the glove and her connection with the elk-leathers.

It was faint, but she got a sense of where the thread would likely lead.

Quickly, she searched through the threads that seemed to be in common between her and Thron.

The more she worked with them, the more of them she saw, and by the time she thought she found the ones that she needed, she could perceive uncountable connections running off in every direction.

They almost seemed to be making up everything.

Honestly, it was straining her mind.

With a shake of her head, she dismissed Flow’s void-form, while keeping the void in her gloves and a light hold on the thread she wanted.

“Okay, I know where we need to go.”

He gave her a careful look. “Why do you sound hesitant?”

She swallowed and gave him an apologetic look. “Because we need to enter one of the buildings.” She looked towards the building they needed before looking at the figure in the window beside the door.

She jerked back gasping. “Thron? When did the mouths appear?”

The dwarf cursed as they both looked around. “I definitely didn’t see them before.”

Now, every single silhouette had a single, identical feature: A too wide, bright-white smile.

The teeth were decidedly inhuman in both kind and number.

Thron visibly swallowed. “Still want to go into the building?”

“Definitely not, but that’s the way, I’m almost positive.”

He nodded. “If you say so, but I’m going to build a corrosion field around us.”

She shook her head. “No. I have no idea what using magic externally like that would do. It might call all of them down on us, and it might not even do anything to them. You can’t really corrode nothing.”

He grimaced but nodded. “Alright… So, you think they’re ‘nothing?’”

“I really don’t know, but that seems to fit what little I’ve seen.”

Tala walked toward the door, her left hand forming a loose hold around the threads that she could feel, but no longer see.

She held Flow in her right hand for comfort’s sake and used that hand to push on the door before her.

There were no door handles.

Why is that worse? How is it creepy for a door to lack handles?

A part of her expected a creature to be standing on the other side when the door swung inward, but the way was clear as it led down a poorly lit hallway.

She glanced back and whispered. “Walk where I walk and don’t deviate. It should be safe if we follow this path.”

I really, really hope that’s true. But dubious platitudes were better than: ‘We might be about to die, try not to.’

As she turned back, she knew that one of the things would be standing right in front of her, and her entire body tensed, telling her to sprint away in any direction.

She fought down the urge and looked forward once more.

There was nothing there, and not ‘nothing’ in the sense of a creature.

The way was clear.

She shuddered, her entire body overstimulated by her innate fight or flight responses.

The building was a human-style home, though it made no sense for such a building to be right on a main street with massive windows looking out at them.

Speaking of which, those windows had looked into a sitting room that was just off the hall they were in, to Tala’s right.

Against her better judgment, she looked that way.

The figure hadn’t moved, but it was still obviously oriented on her.

It hadn’t turned, the silhouette of its body was still pointed towards the window, but the smile had moved to the side of its head.

Yeah… that’s worse.

She once again had the perfect knowledge that looking forward would reveal a thing standing directly in front of her, and she growled as she fought down the urge to run.

Once again, she turned towards the too-dark hallway and found it empty.

Let’s do this.

You can do this.

Come on, Tala.

She didn’t run, she didn’t even jog, but she walked as quickly as she could.

Behind her, Thron made frustrated, unhappy noises but kept up easily enough.

The hallway went on for far, far too long, with dozens of closed doors to either side of the uncomfortably narrow corridor.

Behind each of them lay something that wanted to pop out and grab her.

She knew that to be true, but she fought down that knowledge and kept on, trembling at the strain.

Finally, the world was different, and they walked through a field once again.

Thron cursed, but it sounded relieved.

“Are you alright?”

“No, I’m absolutely not alright. What was that?”

“I don’t know. They weren’t creatures, though. At least, I don’t think so. They were… reactions to us, I think.”

“Like ripples in a pond?”

She hesitated. “Yeah, actually. That almost seems to fit.”

“Then, where are they now?”

Tala looked around. “I don’t know. This part of the Doman-Imithe might be more stable?

Just ahead she saw the next nodule that the thread she was following led to. “I think that might be our ticket out.”

“What? You’ve been looking at things I can’t see, girl.”

“Ahh, right. It’s right up ahead.” She shook her head. “Just let me verify.”

She quick-walked over to the nodule and pressed her face against it.

It slid away.

Right.

She remanifested void-Flow and her voidsight.

She yelped and stumbled backwards.

One of the things was standing right in front of her, only visible to her voidsight.

She almost lost her loose hold on the threads, and something told her that would be disastrous for both her and Thron.

He’s anchored to me in this place? That was the feeling she got, but she’d also had the feeling that she should sprint away, so she had no idea what was happening or what was true.

The thing hadn’t moved, and it waited just on the other side of the nodule.

This one was utterly massive, however.

It still seemed like it was the size of a man, but somehow felt like it was hundreds of cubic miles in volume.

Like Terry? A lot there but also compact?

She didn’t know.

Very carefully, she moved uncomfortably close to the thing and pressed her eye to the protuberance.

Once connected, she saw the place outside of Platoiri where they’d arrived back from Croi, the landing place for their dimensionally compressed travel.

“I found a safe place.”

Thron came closer than he had before but still stayed out of arms’ reach.

“Let me see what I can do with this.”

She sheathed Flow and made sure she had void surrounding both hands.

Thus prepared, she pushed her fingers into the nodule.

Power began flowing from her like a whirlwind, but she had it to spare as soon as she dropped Flow’s void-form.

I didn’t like looking at that thing anyways.

She pulled with all her will and magical might, and a hole slowly opened.

Thron’s voice once again had a hint of urgency and strain. “Tala.”

She spared a bit of attention to look away from what she was doing but couldn’t really see, only to notice black shapes bounding through the grass towards them from all directions.

She didn’t take the time to put words to their form, and she didn’t honestly know if she could.

With a last surge of will and magic and strength, she pulled the hole open wide. “Go!”

Thron overcame his desire to stay away from her as he dove nearly through her arms and out the hole.

Tala followed, turning to watch the hole close.

But, it didn’t close.

“Well… that seems bad.”

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 259 - Parting

Tala took a seemingly eternal instant to stare at the hole that still remained into the Doman-Imithe.

The hole that she’d opened for them to escape the approaching nightmare creatures.

The creatures that were still coming with alarming speed, though they were still a good distance away.

Well, that’s probably not good, but we likely have at least a minute or two.

Could the creatures, whatever they were, even come through into Zeme?

She had no idea.

An odd heaviness had begun to build in the air, a feeling that seemed familiar, but she couldn’t place.

She shook off the feeling and reached into Kit, reveling in the fact that she had access to her storage once again, and pulled out the sword and the book, tossing them to Thron.

The dwarf caught them with magically enhanced ease.

“Here, as we agreed. I’d appreciate if you stayed around and helped with this whole mess, but I won’t blame you if you leave.”

Thron looked at the sword in his hand, the black material taking on a green-ish sheen as he channeled his concept through the weapon. “I’ll stay.”

He tucked the book into his pack. Tala nodded, feeling immensely grateful that she didn’t have to face whatever was coming on her own. “I’ll be right back.”

Tala dropped Kit to the ground, willing for it to become a hole opening right above her dais.

She dropped, landing hard.

She gritted her teeth in pain at the hit.

Thankfully, her bones had been reinforced on a material level, not just magically, so she didn’t break anything with her hard landing.

That was pretty foolish, even so.

She reached out to the construct within the platform and commanded it to reinscribe her through her mouth.

She wasn’t going to muck with the iron on her skin, and while through her mouth was more painful, it was also a sure thing, in the end.

Threads of metal blossomed from the ground and shot between her teeth.

She blacked out for an instant, the pain utterly overwhelming without her inscriptions in place to dull it and add to her fortitude.

She came to an instant later, not even having fallen.

Her will shifted just slightly and an extra bit of power slammed into the Archon star forming in her finger. Well, there goes an hour of my countdown…

She hadn’t really had another choice, however. She hardened her will and sealed off most of her inscriptions, keeping power from flowing through them by pure force of will. She couldn’t deal with the backlash of adjusting to enhanced senses, reactions, and other functions.

I just need healing, strength, and muscular-skeletal resilience.

-DING-

A sound, almost like a bell, hummed through her thoughts, and she found the note calming, achingly familiar.

Tears filled her eyes instantly, even though she didn’t have time to address them.

Alat?

There was a short instant of horrifying silence.

-Consciousness lost for 0.013 seconds due to extreme pain…WHAT THE RUST!?!?!-

Alat? Tala was smiling uncontrollably.

-Tala? What happened? No, don’t answer that, I can search your memory. Do what you have to, I’ll get up to speed.-

Absolutely. Tala bent and sprang straight upward, exiting Kit less than a minute after she dropped in.

-Good call on holding much of the power out of your inscriptions. I estimate at least a couple of minutes will be required to equalize to your enhanced senses and reaction speed once again. The healing, magesight, and muscular-skeletal enhancements should be plenty.-

Thron was giving her an odd look. “Reinscribed?”

“Yes.” She scooped up Kit and hung the pouch from her belt.

He grunted. “Thought so. That should help, no matter what ends up happening here.”

Through the open hole to the Doman-Imithe, Tala could see the black things drawing ever closer, their shape indistinct but obviously predatory.

Tala called Flow to her hand, preparing to fight the things that were almost upon them.

-Oh! I found why this feeling is familiar!-

A screech cut through the air as a creature forged of reality dropped from the sky, crushing the open hole into the Doman-Imithe and sealing it instantly.

-It feels like the reality drake… well, I was five seconds too slow.-

Thron and Tala both jumped backwards as they beheld the being before them.

It was an eagle, with a wingspan close to thirty feet across.

Its aura was a healthy sapphire blue, and it looked livid.

Like the reality drake, the reality eagle—That is such a stupid name.—had a presence about it that was hard to describe.

Tala activated her voidsight, Flow growing to a void-sword in her hand.

She could see it, the threads of reality woven together in an intricate pattern that didn’t so much make up the eagle as define its existence.

Those threads existed in everything, now that she knew to look, but they were miniscule. The eagle was packed full, metaphysically speaking.

-What does that even mean? You make no sense.-

Oh, I missed you, Alat.

-Focus, girl.-

Tala grinned, ready to fend off the big bird.

White metal flowed over her, and her bloodstars rose from their holsters into her battle positioning.

The eagle, for its part, bent forward and screeched at them, clearly zeroing in on Tala for some reason.

-Likely because you just ripped a hole in reality?-

Yeah, that’s probably a pretty good guess.

Quicker than she could track without her enhanced senses, it launched at her.

Tala cursed, launching backwards to gain space.

As it turned out, that was unneeded.

Thron stepped between them, swinging his blade almost casually.

The tip struck the eagle’s beak, and something radiated through the creature’s entire body.

Like a cool breeze, the reality eagle blew away, dispersing into thin air and leaving nothing behind.

Thron laughed, his tone almost maniacal. “Oh, that was fantastic!!”

Tala landed heavily, staring in disbelief.

She swallowed, eyes widening at the implications of the quick, easy destruction of the reality beast.

Her newly returned magesight tracked the dissipating magics from the blue-auraed creature. “How…?”

Thron turned to her, grinning broadly as he walked her way. “I explained it already, but I’ll do so again. These weapons are designed to deliver their wielder’s concept directly to the target. For magical creatures, most of their defense is in their aura and passively keeping magics from reaching them. If you can breach that, it’s child’s play to exert a strong concept over them, directly.”

She found herself nodding. “I… I can see that.”

Thron looked at the sword in his hand, then at the city in the distance. “This is the real deal. I admit that even with the tests I ran in your sanctum, I had my doubts. No longer.”

Tala gave him a side-eyed look. “That is a bit of a terrifying weapon.”

“Oh decidedly. Houses have risen and fallen at the mere rumors of the disposition of such a weapon. With this in hand? I could walk into Platoiri and challenge the City Lord.” He paled. “I’m not going to, because he probably has one tucked away himself, among other ways that might end badly, but I could… in theory.”

Tala grinned, then chuckled. “Well, I suppose I’m happy for you. I hope you carve a place for yourself, back in your homeland.”

Thron’s smile faltered, then fell. “Yeah… Thank you.”

There was a moment of silence between them.

“Well, I guess this is it, then.”

Tala felt a tightness in her chest. She didn’t know Thron that well, not really, and he certainly didn’t know the real her, but he’d been with her for the last few months, helping her as he was able, listening to her when she had questions, and searching for solutions when she had problems.

She liked him, despite the circumstances of their meeting.

“Yeah… I suppose it is, Thron. Are you sure that you don’t want to come with me?”

He shook his head. “I appreciate the offer. Even if I was sure you’d make it, which I’m not, I’m not curious enough about human cities to risk it. Even with this, I wouldn’t be assured of my safety.” He lifted the sword slightly to unnecessarily indicate what he meant.

She grimaced at that. “That’s fair, I suppose. If I ever make it to the other continent, I’ll try to hunt you down.”

He grinned. “Ominous choice of words, but yeah, do that.”

A voice piped up from Thron’s pocket. “Don’t leave me with him! Destroy me, please?”

Thron’s smile slipped, and he grimaced. “Oh… right. Without Terry around for leverage, this guy might get…annoying.”

Rob gasped. “Really? I certainly hope so. Then you might destroy me with that wonderful sword of yours.”

“Why are you talking again, now? You were blessedly quiet in the Doman-Imithe, can’t you keep that up?”

“That place was horrifying… There is no way I was going to distract you and let a soul-leecher eat us both. I want to be destroyed, not tortured for eternity.”

Tala and Thron blinked, turning to regard the orb as Thron pulled it out. “Come again?”

-What is he talking about— Oh… oh, wow. I missed a terrifying little adventure.-

Yes. Yes, you did.

Rob huffed. “Who would want to be tortured for eternity?”

“No, that’s not what I’m wondering about. Soul-leechers?”

“Yeah, you all acted like you could see them.”

“The black creatures at the end there?”

“No, no, those were just trying to kill us, those would have been fine. I mean the cracks in reality that wanted to use our souls to patch themselves in a frivolous attempt to return to untarnished existence without constant pain. Well, there would still be pain, but it would be ours to bear instead of theirs.”

Thron paled, his skin becoming an almost lime green color for a brief moment.

Tala felt her skin grow cold. That’s what those things were? Cracks in existence, somehow bearing intent?

That would explain why they didn’t move.

She had a terrifyingly stupid idea. I wonder if I could bond one, and draw on their power somehow?

-No, Tala. Bad girl. That is colossally stupid, without extensive research and testing.-

She almost argued, but then Alat pulled up the visceral memory of the things, and for a moment, it felt like she was there once more.

Okay! Okay… you’re right. She shuddered again.

That brought her mind to the last one, the massive one that had been standing just behind their exit point.

She activated her voidsight again and looked around, finding the scraps and damage in the surface of the world that were still evident after their dimensionally compressed travel.

We created that one. But… She frowned. It will heal over time, right?

-Yeah, that’s what we were told. So magic slowly repairs the cracks, at least at a surface level.-

They might remain in the Doman-Imithe? That’s a disturbing thought…

-We just don’t know enough to tell.-

The soul-leechers wanted them to repair themselves, to patch up reality… her body, the lingering connection to her gate, was going to be used to stabilize Platoiri. My body was meant to be eaten by those things…

She hunched in on herself just a bit as she contemplated that horror.

Thron swallowed, shook his head, and sighed, “Well, that certainly renewed and reenforced my desire to never go back into the Doman-Imithe.” He glared at the orb then looked to Tala. “Do you want him? I have no way of keeping him silent, and now that I won’t be in your sanctum, I shouldn’t have an issue with power availability.”

Tala felt conflicted. She had no idea what the soul within Rob would actually want, nor did she know what was the morally right thing to do in this circumstance. Maybe the Archons back home will have a way to connect with the soul?

-Yeah, they were working on that.-

“Alright. I can take him to humanity, and we’ll figure out what to do with him.”

Thron tossed Rob, and Tala caught him.

The orb harumphed. “You could be worse at tossing. There’s some rocks on the ground; I might have shattered.”

Tala lifted Rob up to look at him directly. “Quiet, or I’ll give you to Terry to play with.”

Rob did not respond.

“That’s the spirit.” She tucked him into Kit, willing him to be in her room within her sanctum. She looked up at Thron and frowned. “Hey! You never asked me any questions about humanity or the human cities, or anything, really.”

“The situation was quite a bit more tense than seemed appropriate for questions.”

“Ahh, right. Yeah, that makes sense. Do you want to ask any now?”

He shrugged. “I’ll probably regret it, but I don’t really have any that I’m curious about at the moment.”

“Oh, alright, then.”

Thron scratched the back of his head. “I’d shake your hand or give you a hug or something, but I’m not coming near you.”

“Yeah… that’s probably wise.”

-What? Why would that be a… problem… What. The. Rust. Why is that thing still in you?-

What did you think happened? I’m alive; you came back.

-Exactly! I figured we were dead, but then I came back, so I assumed that you had handled it.-

I did.

-This is not handled, Tala. This is not handled, AT ALL.-

Hey, we’re not dead, are we? We’re even reinscribed!

That reminded her of the pending issue.

She reoriented on Thron and smiled. “Oh! Do you mind watching over me for a few minutes before you go? I need to reacclimate to my enhancements.”

He tilted his head to the side, then shrugged. “Sure. I can do that. I have a long way to travel to the nearest city, so a few minutes delay won’t matter much.”

They’d been standing in a little dell in which Tala had landed after leaping away from the reality eagle.

This is probably a good enough place.

Tala sat down, took a deep breath, and released her hold on her own magics, allowing them to flow naturally through her spell-forms.

She was smacked hard in her everything.

Overwhelming washes of information flooded her mind, even as her mind felt like it sped up and expanded.

Alat groaned in pain from within Tala’s head. -Oh, this is awful. I’ve never been aware when you experienced this much of an enhancement before. It is not the same in retrospect.-

A shiver ran through Tala, and her whole body spasmed and twisted.

She felt the ground around her breaking and exploding away from her as she jerked uncontrollably.

She heard Thron curse as if he’d screamed in her ear.

Alat whimpered.

They’d never come up to a level of enhancement of this magnitude from essentially mundane, before.

Her heart enhancements came online, and her whole body strained outward, her veins and arteries bulging under the pressure.

Blessedly, the enhancement of her circulatory system as a whole came online as well, so she didn’t pop like a balloon.

She felt a field of Thron’s power surround her, but she couldn’t do anything about it.

Is he betraying me? That makes no sense… But it did make sense on a certain visceral level. He had all that he needed, and she was a loose end.

No. She refused to believe it. He has a good reason.

Indeed, his power never moved inward, so it wasn’t harming her at the moment. In either case, she was in no position to do anything about it.

Her spasms slowly passed as her body acclimatized once again, and in the end, she lay panting on the ground, covered in dirt and bits of grass, along with her own sweat.

That was…

-Awful.-

Understatement of the year, but yes.

She opened her eyes, nearly screaming at the incredible deluge of light, but she refused to close them again and her eyes adjusted almost instantly, bringing her relief.

She slowly sat up.

The world spun, and she would have puked, but her anti-vomit inscriptions were back online. Oh, bless you Holly.

Thron was standing outside of a green bubble that encompassed her, scanning the surrounding terrain.

He noticed her movement, and the bubble vanished. “Are you alright?”

She nodded, standing up on shaky legs. “Yeah.”

Her voice sounded raw, but she felt it healing as she stood. Even so, she pulled a cup of water out of Kit and took a long drink. I need to hunt down my incorporators, soon. They should be in here, but I haven’t needed them lately.

“Thank you.”

He shrugged. “As I said, it didn’t cost me much.”

“What was the bubble?”

“You were screaming and getting louder. The bubble broke apart the sound so everyone in Platoiri didn’t know you were here.”

“Oh… Thank you, then.” That’s a clever use of his concept. I wonder if he can use it more locally, and on himself, to be stealthy… That would actually explain a few things.

He smiled. “Well, as far as last experiences before parting go, today has been… a lot.”

“It has, hasn’t it.”

“Quite.”

She grimaced awkwardly. “Take care of yourself, Thron.”

“And you, Tala. I hope our paths cross in years to come.”

“As do I.”

Tala felt a heavy, heavy awkwardness. Why?

She took a long moment, utilizing her newly returned mental enhancements to delve into the reasoning.

Well, first, we may never see each other again.

-Yeah, and if you do, you two might be on opposite sides of things.-

Tala grunted internally. It’s also pretty weird to say goodbye after so long without even a handshake.

-Oh! Me next. You’ve been lying to him since you met. I doubt he blames you, but it’s pretty obvious that he has no idea who you truly are.-

Yeah, and there’s the fact that he was a knowing partner and contributor to the system under which I was taken and had who I was obliterated.

-Which might still happen. That dasgannach isn’t really intent on leaving in a way that you’ll survive.-

He did offer to put me out of my misery, and I just gave him a sword that would make that act relatively trivial…

-Yeah, it’s probably good we’re parting ways.-

She smiled in relief and started to turn, but as Thron also turned to go, he hesitated.

Clear conflict flashed across his features. "How much of the time..."

But then, he just shook his head.

Ahh, yeah. That makes sense that he’d be curious.

"How much of my time as an Eskau was I putting on an act?"

He gave a nod in response, clearly curious.

She shrugged. “Honestly? I was much more myself in private than you might suspect. You were the closest thing to a friend I had through the whole nightmare.”

-Excuse me?-

Hush you.

-I am offended on Terry’s behalf.-

I said hush.

“Plus, your insistence that ‘Tali’ treat other people well let me stop being rusting terrible to the people around me, just to hide that I had recovered. Thank you for that."

He grinned at that. “You were a bit awful at the start there. I’m glad to know that that wasn’t the real you.”

She shrugged, not really knowing what to say.

He let out a breath he seemed to have been holding. “Fair enough, I suppose. Thank you for that answer. I do hope we cross paths again, and not as enemies.”

He nodded again, more firmly this time, before turning away once more.

Then, he was gone.

And thus, I am alone, again.

-Well, you have me.-

Tala smiled, straightening just a bit. I do, don’t I?

-Now and always.-

Without looking back, Tala began running to the north and east.

She was to the southeast of Platoiri, and the human lands were to the north, so it was the most reasonable path.

Her great loping strides carried her fast across the ground.

Not quite fast enough to create a magical boom, but certainly faster than a caravan usually traveled, and much faster than a human could usually run.

So, what? We’re a few hundred miles from humanity?

-Give or take, but I assume you don’t want to deal with the Leshkin.-

Oh yeah, we’re going around their part of the woods.

-Then we have somewhere less than two thousand miles to travel. Might be closer to one, but I’m not sure. I’m still not exactly certain where we are. As we get closer, I’ll be able to get a better idea, I think.-

Can’t you just compare your connections to the Archive from two different cities?

-Of course, I can, but that doesn’t tell me anything. The connections are instantaneous, so I can’t compare time for interaction, and they don’t exactly have a way of telling me where they are in relationship to me. I think I’ll be able to use them for navigation when we’re within a couple hundred miles, but probably not further out.-

Good to know. General navigation it is, then!

-That’s the plan-

And so, she ran.

After she’d traveled for about an hour, she opened up Kit and called to Terry. “Terry! Do you want to come out for a run?”

Terry flickered into being beside her, standing about her height. He looked around, then looked to her, trilling in question.

“Yeah, we’re out. I don’t know if we’ll be followed, but I’m going to try to go as fast as possible. Want to run with me?”

He examined her for a long while, then leaned in to headbutt her chest.

She jumped back. “Sorry buddy, I might have something in me that could hurt you.”

-Yeah, I’m looking into that. I still can’t believe you brought me back before solving this…-

Yeah, yeah. You keep trying to pick a fight, but I'm still just happy you're alive.

Terry tilted his head to the side, clearly unhappy, but finally bobbed in acknowledgement.

“Ready to run?”

Terry bobbed excitedly, then threw his head back and chirped happily.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” And she was off again, Terry keeping pace beside her with ease.

A note from JLMullins

BONUS CHAPTER: This is where the seventh Bonus Chapter comes in for allPatrons.

(That's right, even the $1 tier!) 🎉

Chapter: 259 Bonus - Meallain

These are secondary POVs that add to the worldbuilding but are not required for the story.

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 260 - Sleep?

Tala and Terry ran.

Well, that’s not quite accurate.

Terry flickered around, bopping to various hills, occasionally disappearing after some bit of prey or other, but always returning and falling into step beside Tala with ease.

Tala, for her part, loped, bounding more than anything else, springing forward with every step, the expanded surface area of each foot allowing her enhanced strength to really prove its worth.

There wasn’t much snow near Platoiri, but she did find some in the deeper valleys and on the northern sides of the hills as she moved across the land.

It provided a haunting echo of home. The human wilds, for the most part, got a lot of snow in winter, but hundreds of miles south? There was little and that had been just one more reminder that she was in a foreign land.

As the sun moved down towards the horizon from high-noon, Tala began experimenting with magical resonance.

She increased the amount of power that she allowed into her aura and pushed it ahead of herself.

Almost immediately, a resonance began to build, so she feathered the power back, softening the edges of her aura.

When she did that, the resonance faded before it truly began.

She sped up, pushing herself to move faster than she’d ever moved on her own, except maybe when she’d been fighting Io, but that had been in incredibly short bursts.

This was the equivalent of a dead sprint for the long haul, and she knew that she couldn’t maintain it for very long, even with all her magics.

That said, it was actually fairly easy for her to approach magical resonance in the relatively potent zeme with her speed.

The magic in the air would barely have sustained an arcane Child, but it was almost double the density of the human Wilds, so close to an arcane city.

Not too close. I’ve been running for hours. I might have covered close to fifty miles by now.

-A bit more by my estimate, but yeah, pretty close to that.-

She was going nearly twice as fast as she’d averaged before, and her short window of time at this speed was closing, so she did her experimentation quickly.

She pulled her aura and power in tight, playing with the shape of it.

Eventually, she was able to find a shape that was almost aerodynamic, but had odd, irregular ripples across its surface, which seemed to keep the magic from resonating more effectively than a perfectly smooth shape did.

She doubted it was the best shape she could make, but it was good enough for now.

She slowed down, barely breathing hard thanks to her enhancements. Oh, I love being inscribed once again.

Still, she did feel an ache deep within herself from having pushed so hard.

-It was only about a day, right?-

It felt like an eternity. The entire time, I felt like an idiot… a slow, weak idiot.

Alat huffed a laugh within Tala’s head. -Yeah, well. You’re better now.-

That I am.

Terry flickered back into his place, moving alongside her without getting too close.

“Good hunting?”

He trilled happily before flickering to her other side, just because he could.

How does he do that? He should have to go through the intervening space, given he’s using dimensional magics, but he doesn’t actually seem to.

-I think that his magics aren’t like the quickways in Croi, but I’ll grant you that they bear some similarities.-

Tala grunted. Oh! Have you found any solutions for our unwanted passenger?

Tala, herself had been considering the problem of the dasgannach.

She hadn’t come up with even another temporary solution, not yet.

She didn’t really expect either of them to come up with something so quickly, but she was optimistic that they would. Something was tickling at the back of her mind, telling her that there was a solution that should come to mind.

She just hadn’t remembered it, yet.

-No… But could you do me a favor?-

Probably? What’s up?

-Can you run with your voidsight active?-

Tala shrugged, not even bothering to ask why for the moment. Sure.

And so Tala went back to running… loping.

Terry cleared out any wildlife that might have been bothersome.

The miles sped on by.

The sun set.

Darkness fell.

When full night had washed across all that Tala could see, she slowed, allowing her voidsight to drop along with Flow’s return to its resting form.

I have had a long two days, Alat.

-I know. I wish that you could sleep.-

Tala grimaced, turning her focus to the slow burn of the Archon star, building within her left ring finger. I can’t though, not with this in the works. It would seal off, my body would expel it, and I’d be done for.

-You know, I could take over the working. It’s not like I don’t know what I’m doing.-

Tala considered the idea. You haven’t really controlled my magic directly before. Have you?

-Not for anything important. Just little bits here and there. We share a soul, mind, and will. It should respond to me just as well as you.-

Tala grunted. That was sound logic.

Terry flickered to stand a bit away from her as Tala stood atop a snow-covered bluff, beneath a cloudless, starry sky.

“It’s beautiful tonight, isn’t it?” Tala tilted her head back to stare up and take it all in.

It was odd to think that the Doman-Imithe was what anyone up there would see, if they looked in towards Zeme.

What would it look like from the outside?

Terry looked up as well, raising his head in a manner that seemed to evoke a feeling of pride and mastery of all he surveyed. He let out a slow, soft trill, and Tala smiled.

“Yeah. It is good to be free once more.”

What do I know of that place? She considered, just letting her mind turn the problem over like she hadn’t really done in recent memory. All reality is connected by threads. Nodules that are actual places. Manifestations formed around the connection paths, forged of figments of the observing mind and the dust of a previous world.

-Yeah.-

Tala laughed. There aren’t threads, here.

-Not really, no. I think your cross-stitching analogy was spot on. Zeme is the pretty picture the ancient workers of power forged, the Doman-Imithe is the remains.-

But, in cross-stitch, there is vastly more material on the back, than on the front.

-Yeah, I was thinking on that. We don’t really have evidence that Zeme is a full planet. No one has circumnavigated it.-

What then? A disc on the back of four elephants, all balanced on the back of a giant turtle?

-Who knows how they made it? All the mass is still here, somewhere, so it’s not like physics would be that greatly affected, depending on how it all interacts.-

Tala grunted at that. I did notice that everything looks like nodules to my voidsight. All pressed up against one another, contiguous in the tapestry they create.

-Yeah. There are some interesting implications, there, but I don’t have them all fleshed out, yet.-

Take your time. We have our entire lives ahead of us.

Alat huffed an internal laugh. -You’re funny.-

I do try.

There was a moment of silence before Alat continued. -I wish we could see reality out there, beyond our broken and rebuilt world. I think it would be very informative.-

Tala nodded. Well, we seem to have a way back from the Doman-Imithe. Maybe, we should take a trip out and back.

Her recent trip through the Doman-Imithe flashed through her—at times too perfect—memory. But not soon. Maybe in a few years.

-When we make it there.-

When we make it then.

They shared a grin, stretching pleasantly across Tala’s face.

-But to the business of the evening.- Tala’s clothing shifted beneath her vest.

The vest was all that remained of her white scale armor. Right, I used the last scales as a distraction for that Pillar from the House of the Acidic Tide.

It would probably be worth it to remake the armor, but not this instant.

What are you doing? She could feel Alat exerting their will and power on the elk-leathers.

-Proving a point. See? I can manipulate the clothing just as well as you can.-

Of course you can, you’re soul-bound to it, just like I am.

Alat grumbled. -Fine then. What about this?-

Tala’s aura shifted, taking on the exact shape that she’d found most optimal that afternoon.

It was a flawless recreation. -Of course it is, I have your memories, I’m using your power. I am effectively you. I can manage the Archon star.-

Tala hesitated for only a moment. Well, if I die, you die, so you must be pretty confident.

-I am.-

On three?

-Are you crazy?-

Tala felt something shift in her flow of magic, and suddenly, the trickle going to the Archon star was out of her control.

She almost panicked and tried to grab on in desperation. Something deep within her told her that she would easily succeed, all that she needed to do was reach out and grasp it, but the flow continued without fluctuation.

You could have warned me.

-You would have tensed up. You’re exhausted.-

Tala groaned. Alat, you function in the same mind that I do. If I sleep, you sleep. You’ve even told me that dreamless sleep for me is like a blink for you, too.

-I know, I know. I’m not going to let you fall all the way asleep. It won’t be nearly as restful, but I think I can get you to only let half your mind sleep at a time. Your body really won’t be able to move, and I’ll be the only consciousness awake for it, but I think we can make it work. We’ll just need about twice the amount of time to feel fully rested.-

That’s… that’s actually a really good idea if you can make it work.

-I think I can.-

Then, let’s do it.

There were some small crags near the base of the bluff they were standing on, and it didn’t take long for Tala to drop down and put Kit on the rock surface. With the barest ripple of power, Kit made a perfectly camouflaged door, which opened to allow her and Terry to enter.

Terry flickered away instantly, off to be about his business.

Tala stepped into her bedroom within the sanctum and felt herself relax.

Even when she’d been an Eskau, she’d been able to literally let her hair down in this room, as well as metaphorically.

She stripped off the remnants of her armor, and retracted her elk-leathers as much as she could.

Tala couldn’t do anything about the iron on her skin anymore, not now that the dasgannach had a hold of it, but she still mirrored the elk-leather’s self-cleaning onto her own skin and hopped, causing a cascade of dust, dirt, and the remnants of sweat to fall to the floor before Kit made it vanish.

“Thank you, Kit.”

Kit did not respond.

Without anything further that she needed to do, Tala flopped down on her bed, and Alat began the process of putting half her brain to sleep.

Tala’s last thought was of food.

I’ll eat tomorrow.

It felt like the blink of an eye before Tala came back to her senses, sitting up with a smile.

She felt worlds better than she had the night before.

The light of dawn was slowly beginning to build through her bedroom window.

Even as well rested as she felt, she was a little stiff, despite all of her enhancements. I should have stretched.

-Yes, you should have. Good morning, by the way.-

Good morning, Alat. Tala grinned, happy to have her alternate interface back.

She took the time to move through her stretches, really sinking into them to allow her body to unclench from her day of hard travel, not to mention the strain of reacclimating to her internal magics.

She did not have time for a bath. After all, she was heading home.

She couldn’t hide her smile at that fact.

Soon I’ll be home, and I can see everyone again. Lyn and Holly, Rane and Ingrit, not to mention her family.

She grimaced at that. It wasn’t going to be fun explaining where she’d been for the last months, but it would be good to be back.

Sure, the dasgannach was within her, threatening her with imminent demise, but she’d either solve that or she wouldn’t. It wasn’t worth worrying about it.

Thinking about?

Absolutely.

Worrying?

Not in the least.

Not one bit.

Utterly pointless.

She turned her thoughts more firmly onto her family. Nalac and Illie should be at the Academy still. Hopefully, they weren’t told.

But Tala knew there was little chance of that.

Maybe, we could go visit them?

-Inconvenient. We’d have to leave Kit behind and get reinscribed once we returned.-

Of course, because only things that are soul-bound to us—

-Plus a little clothing.-

Right, right, only things soul-bound to us, and some clothing, come along…

Tala felt dawning revelation building in Alat, even as the idea exploded within her own thoughts.

That’s it!!!

-The dasgannach is not bound to us.-

Teleporting should strip it out.

-The question is, would it take the iron?-

Tala shook her head. It shouldn’t matter. Our soul knows we have a functioning body, so we should have iron in place when we arrive. It would be just like my hair when I came from the Academy.

Alat knew that too, but the idea was so fresh to them both that neither had thought all the way through the obvious implications and outcomes. -It might even force the thing out? Cause it to leap out of you at the last moment, so it wasn’t obliterated.-

It might at that, but I doubt it. It has a strong desire to claim everything. Even so, that’s a good point. We’ll have to have whoever is assisting in the teleport be careful and ready.

Just like that, she had a solidly workable solution.

It was simple, elegant, and completely within her means, assuming she could get to a human city before the Archon star fully formed.

She moved into her last stretch. How are we on timing for the Archon star?

-With as slow as we’re funneling power into it? We have at least a week.-

But that’s if nothing happens to throw things off. That’s if things go our way. Tala smirked. How likely is that?

-I wouldn’t bet on it.-

Yeah, me neither. So, somewhere less than a week, the sooner the better.

She shouldn’t need to sleep again, but it would likely be wise to sleep every three days or so. That would slow them, depending on the route they had to take.

Tala stood, left her room, and went to the kitchen, still deep in thought.

It was easy to call up the base ingredients, and she began munching on raw fruits and vegetables.

She had a selection of butchered meats available as well.

That would be a great way to start the day.

She looked around the kitchen, hesitating.

-You’ve never really cooked in here, have you?-

I have not, no. But you already knew that.

She sighed, realizing that she just didn’t have time for a ‘real’ breakfast.

Instead, she grabbed some readily made food. Sadly, what she ended up with was both vastly simpler and far less tasty than she had become accustomed to.

Even so, it filled the small ache of hunger within her well enough.

Terry was nowhere to be found, but he had his own diversions within the sanctum. She’d open Kit for him a little later.

The dasgannach didn’t try to eat any of the knives or other utensils she touched in passing, so she wasn’t quite sure what it would go after.

Maybe, it’s because all of these have a bit of magic to them? The restraining band had been magical, but it had also been deactivated when the slime-monster consumed the iron it had contained.

The magics in the tools, on the other hand, were always active, pulling fractionally from Kit via the schema in the dais outside.

Differences highlight parameters.

Tala didn’t see the cat anywhere, but she still had some more mundane food in Kit that had been used for Thron and kept on hand in case she ever had guests.

She never had.

She laid out a cut of meat for either the cat or Terry.

She wouldn’t be bothered no matter which ate it.

The cat probably has plenty to eat, besides this. The arcanes built an entire ecosystem in here.

She frowned. An ecosystem that wasn’t balanced for the destruction a cat could bring.

Maybe she should find it and kick it out.

After a moment’s thought, she shook her head. That is not really a ‘now’ problem.

-I recommend a reinscription. Nothing is too worn, but you put a lot of odd stresses on yourself that had to be repaired, and I’d prefer we were topped off.-

Sure. It was a quick walk to her dais, and only the thinnest golden wires rose up to plunge down her throat before splitting apart to refresh her spellforms.

With that, her short, morning routine was done.

Tala called up the door out of Kit and stepped out into the early morning light of a mid-winter’s day.

The sky was a lovely shade of blue and practically cloudless.

The air was brisk, but not really overly cold.

Such were winters to the south.

I’ll be home, soon.

Thinking about the weather and the time of year, reminded her of the rough date.

Nalac and Illie’s birthday is only a few days away, and mine less than a week after. I should be home in time at least for mine. It would be a fairly glorious present if she could teleport to the Academy for their birthday, though.

After all, she had to teleport anyway. Why not make use of the trip?

Tala had no idea if it was as easy as asking to go, though. Such a trip likely had to be approved by someone.

-We’ve never checked.-

Yeah, that’s what I remembered.

She took a deep breath and sighed.

And we’re going to be under heavy suspicion when we return. I imagine there will be a minimum of a few days of intensive magical tests of one variety or other, before we’re cleared.

-They’re probably going to want to analyze every inch of Kit, as well.-

She pulled Kit off the rock face and bounded up the slope to have a look around. That’s probably true.

Tala spread her arms wide and basked in the sun. But that’s an ‘I’m home!’ problem. I’ll gladly deal with a few of those.

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 261 - I Need Some Answers

Tala stood in the cool light of an incredibly early winter morning and looked back toward the southwest.

She could easily see the mountains beyond Platoiri, but the city itself was hidden by some slightly higher hills between them.

What do you think? We’ve come a bit more than a hundred miles?

-I’d say so. I think I’ve figured out a way to determine where we are, by the way.-

Oh?

-I can tell the exact direction toward a city, by its Archive link, and we are in range of all of them, at least for our access to our personal Archival records.-

Tala frowned, even as she turned and began to move toward the northeast, using the sun to help her find her way. That seems… far? Has our range increased?

-I believe it has. Especially after gate-breaking, our magical density has vastly improved. From the records we saw back in Bandfast, I believe that our density and capacity are at least equivalent to weaker Paragons, if those even actually exist. They’d still have superior quality to their magics, of course.-

That’s going to complicate things when we Refine, isn’t it?

-It might actually help, from what little we know. You’d think so too, if you devoted the thought to it, not that you should.- Alat conveyed a smile. -I believe that you’ll have to wield your magical weight against your own body’s impurities, augmented by specialized scripts and procedures. I’d even considered Refining as a way to deal with our little dasgannach, but without knowing more, it would be a coin toss on if it would actually work.-

Tala grunted as she took a running leap to clear the shorter distance across a deep, long valley. Not quite a crevice, the sides aren’t nearly steep enough.

-Agreed. Now, navigation.-

Right!

-Based on our perfect memory, I can compare the angles between the various cities, and even without knowing the distance to them, that should give me an incredibly exact location.-

Tala closed her eyes, relying on her bloodstars for their mirrored perspective for a moment. Oh, I’m an idiot. That is a really obvious solution.

-We were a bit silly for not thinking of this before, yes.-

So? Where are we?

-Trying to give exact locational details in what is effectively a verbal exchange would be meaningless, even if I have them. I can show you a map, though.- A map of the region overlaid her vision, while remaining mostly transparent, a small blinking dot indicated where she was.

So, like…six-hundred miles south of Makinaven?

-Give or take, yes.-

Tala had a thought, then. Hey, Alat?

-Oh, that’s an interesting idea. Yes, let me check…-

She ran in silence for a moment before Alat huffed a laugh.

-Yes, I do believe that the arcane city that you and Rane saw from Makinaven was Platoiri. What are the chances?-

Tala grunted, taking another running leap. Well, Platoiri has fairly easy access to the human lands, so it makes sense that arcanes coming from there would be more likely to be found in our area?

-I suppose so. Those further away would be more inclined to find gated humans elsewhere. We never really discovered if all the major Houses send prospective Pillars up north, or if that was just the House of Blood. But speaking of probabilities, it was a blessing that we found the voidsword and melded it with Flow. Without voidsight, and the void magics in the elk-leathers, we’d never have gotten out of the Doman-Imithe.-

That one was tilted in our favor from the start, though. Thron said that the majority of ether holds have some sort of void item, even if they aren’t all as useful as a sword.

-Well, it’s still a fortuitous thing that lined up to give us the tools we needed.-

Tala shivered. I’m not going to lie, it was a bit terrifying to be without my inscriptions. The voidsight and magics were absolutely a boon and a half.

After that, they fell into a companionable silence, Tala loping across the rolling hills of the plains.

Terry came out of Kit around mid-morning; she’d been checking in on him every hour or so.

He hunted and ran with her until just after noon, when he squawked at her until she let him back into the sanctum.

Well, I suppose there’s no real need for both of us to run.

Aside from the bit of company, nothing truly of note happened until mid-late afternoon.

The zeme had been slowly weakening as she traveled, but it finally dropped below the threshold for an arcane Child’s power density.

It was official.

She was out of arcane lands.

Tala let out a whoop! Jumping and throwing her arms into the air in a moment of celebration, but that’s all she gave herself.

How far are we from Platoiri?

-About two-hundred and seventy miles.-

That was an impressive distance to cover in what amounted to a bit more than twenty-two hours of running.

Alat had done the estimations, and in total Tala had in the neighborhood of a thousand two-hundred miles to run from Platoiri to Alefast, Waning. That was the closest human city she could reach without passing through the Leshkin forest, and she really, really didn’t want to do that.

Alright, just four or five more days of running.

That was less than ideal. Sure, it was well under the deadline, but she knew that something would happen before then. It always did.

There is a high probability that some low probability event will happen.

-Ahh, statistics. How deceptive you can be.-

And like clockwork, less than half an hour later, she started to hear rumblings in the ground around her in a regular, but infrequent, cadence.

Like the movement of a giant who took a single step every couple of minutes.

It was hard to get a direction on the sound, but it was definitely becoming louder as she ran onward, though she couldn’t tell if it was more north or east.

Anything truly massive that would block her way should have been visible. Aside from something striding across the plains, the only other thing that came to mind was something underground.

That… that wasn’t a pleasant thought.

Both humans and arcanes had a habit of burying difficult-to-deal-with threats under the ground.

Now that I think about it, if Zeme isn’t a complete world, there might be underpinnings that make it a much better prison than I ever really considered.

-There’s a lot of guesswork in that statement.-

Sure. It was a guess after all.

Another hour passed before Tala spotted a group of people up ahead.

She was still outside of the range of an unenhanced eye to see, but she ducked low, nonetheless.

She almost turned away, assuming it was some arcane squad, but to her utter bafflement, her momentary focus allowed her enhanced eyesight to clearly see that it was a group of five humans.

What in zeme?

Her magesight conveyed something even more strange. Only two had gates.

A mix of gated and non-gated humans, and the gated are in the minority… Any ideas, Alat?

-I have no record, from either the human cities or arcane, on humans in this part of the continent.-

Yeah, I didn’t remember anything either.

Odder still, the three humans without gates clearly had vestiges in some of their gear. The two that she thought had gates could have perfectly positioned vestiges in their back armor, but they didn’t give that feel to her.

Tala grimaced, shifting from foot to foot for a moment as she crouched low.

I’m going to go around. I’m really curious, but investigating seems like a good way to get delayed.

-That sounds wise. I recommend going around to the north.-

The ground shook again, and Tala took off.

She decided to stick more to the valleys than she had been. If that group wasn’t alone, which it would be odd if it was, then she would be making herself too visible up on the ridges.

It made her progress a little slower, but she chose her valleys well, so it wasn’t too much of a delay.

Unfortunately, by limiting her visible profile, she also cut down on her own sight lines.

In that way, she came to the end of a valley and passed through a group of crags into the next, only to find her path blocked by over a dozen heavily armed humans.

Now, Tala would almost never call anyone ‘heavily armed’ in a serious manner.

There had been some new Guards back in Bandfast who she’d seen who strapped on as many weapons as they could, and it just limited their actual combat abilities.

Eskau and other arcanes often used weapons that were heavy, but that was just ‘armed’ for them.

In this case, these humans being heavily armed meant that they carried more magic in the form of weaponry than Tala had ever seen.

Each one carried at least two items that together shone brighter than protian weapons to her magesight, and collectively, they outshone even a Pillar’s full regalia.

What the eternal rust? They were obviously not a set, and so wouldn’t actually have their powers combined, but it was still a lot of magic to be able to bring to bear.

“Surrender any weaponry and come with us.” One of the men in the middle of the group spoke clearly, and concisely, his voice carrying the tone of authority. “If you do not resist, and you mean us no harm, no harm will be done to you.”

Tala looked more closely at the group as she slowed to a stop some dozen yards from them.

They were well muscled in the manner of the Guards back in Bandfast, or the Eskau she’d fought with. These were professional soldiers, though she couldn’t tell whose they were. They held their weapons with the ease of familiarity, and their gear was clean and in good repair. Beyond that, there was something viscerally relieving to be near other humans again.

Even so, Tala was in a hurry. “I’m going to decline. I’m sort of on a tight timeline here, and I’m just passing through. I don’t know, nor do I want to know, why you all are out here.”

The one who had spoken shook his head. “I apologize, but that isn’t good enough.”

-They’re looking really squishy, right about now.-

Indeed, of the dozen men, only four of which had gates, none were anything but mundane. Not even inscribed.

“Look. You all are bringing on a real feeling of nostalgia, and I genuinely don’t want to hurt you, but I am going to continue on my way, and there really isn’t anything you can do to stop me.”

The statement was probably not a bluff. Either way, she was about to find out.

She crouched and leapt upward, right as the two men who’d been trying to sneak up on her from either side activated their weaponry.

A net of lightning sprang between the two devices, raking the ground where she had just been.

She was among the larger group before the first one of them called out in alarm.

One siege orb, wipe the group out, and be on my way.

Her hand was halfway to Kit when she paused. What am I doing?

Tala hadn’t had many interactions with humans in the arcane lands, so this was the most human interaction she’d had in months.

And what? I’m just going to kill them all?

It’s what she’d have done as an Eskau. They crossed her, they are inconveniencing her.

-Tala?-

Tala mentally shuddered, even as she landed, darting forward.

I am not Tali. There was absolutely no way that she was going to turn this into a bloodbath.

Morality is worth a few extra seconds. She forced that belief into her own mind. She wanted to believe it was true, so she would act like it.

Rust take any who said otherwise.

So, Flow stayed in its sheath at her hip, and she broke ankles.

Because she was feeling a bit irritated, she only broke the left ankle of each opponent she came across.

Even so, she did grow a glove of white metal over her fists and feet so that the dasgannach couldn’t even have the option of harming them.

It would be rather embarrassing to aim to incapacitate and simply suck the iron from them instead.

Clubs with crystalline magic flowing through them, swords with fire or ice, knives coated in poison power, and many others struck out, all wielded by skillful hands.

Magical traps activated, cages formed of various elements, or alterations to the terrain to impede or harm her, shields of power, and myriad other tools were used to a degree of effectiveness that told Tala one thing: These men practiced with their gear, and they knew the strengths and weaknesses intimately.

Unfortunately for them, it didn’t matter.

Tala hesitated half-a-heart-beat longer than they expected, shifted a quarter inch more to one side than they were used to, or dropped lower than they’d seen a human attempt in combat before.

Her footing was too sure for the ground on which she trod.

She deflected attacks that should have thrown her aside.

Her blows were both faster and heavier than they had any right to be.

She barely turned her head, but she reacted to anything that she needed to, regardless of its source.

In a storm of deadly warriors, all striving to kill her, Tala moved untouched.

A smile pulled at her lips as she profited from the Way of Flowing Blood, altering it to be nonlethal.

It is mine now. I will do with it as I please.

The screams of broken warriors followed after her, but she barely had to breathe.

From the first instant, it had been obvious to them that she was enhanced and using magic to overcome them, and so she ignored shouts to that effect.

The leader, the one who had challenged her, took her only an extra two seconds to deal with.

He swung twin blades, which seemed wrought of magma, with a skill that would have impressed Adam, the Guard who had taught her so much back in Bandfast.

Indeed, if Tala were to draw Flow and cross swords with the man, he would have outclassed her in raw skill.

This wasn’t a contest of skill with a blade.

He cut for her head with his right sword, and she ducked in and to his right with inhuman speed and flexibility.

He thrust with the left hand even as the other blade swept in a tight arc to continue to threaten her.

A half twist got her directly beside him.

He headbutted her, a surprising move to be sure, and one that succeeded.

Unfortunately for him, her head was both harder and quicker to recover than his own.

He staggered slightly from the rebound of his own blow, and Tala broke his left ankle.

I wonder if they’ll even notice that I gave them all identical injuries?

-Does it matter?-

It would be nice if they acknowledged how much better I am than them, yes.

-That way lies madness, Tala. You shouldn’t be taking the extra time for a showy victory.-

Yeah… you’re probably right.

Even so, she broke the left ankle of the last guy in her way, and crouched to take off, continuing on the way home.

“No.” The pain-laced word from the leader came along with the crack of something breaking, and a pulse of power.

Her mirrored perspective showed that the man had broken a heavily inscribed clay disk, and now the thing was blazing with power and magical weight that was as horrifying as it was impressive.

Half of the spell-lines were floating in mid-air as power pulsed out from the thing.

-Tala!-

I know, I see it! It was an anti-magical pulse.

She had never seen its like before, but something in her knew and could identify it on sight.

She sprang away, but it wouldn’t be far or fast enough.

Rust these people. I should have just killed them all from a distance.

Tala only had an instant to shore up her defenses, harden her aura, and brace.

They must have assumed that she was a temporary enhancer. They thought that all they had to do was knock her magics free for a bare moment, and she would be reduced to mundane humanity.

They were wrong, but the effect would do something worse, something that they couldn’t have expected.

It’s going to force the Archon star to finish forming.

She had a brief thought that maybe it would kill the dasgannach or rip it free, but the creature’s magic wasn’t like human magics. It would be too much to hope that it would be affected at all.

The anti-magic pulse slammed into her, finding cracks in her iron covering and blasting through the rest, barely impeded.

More than anything, all that it was doing was grabbing all magical power and throwing it outward.

This would be devastating to an arcane. It would likely empty them entirely in an instant, if it overcame their will.

She joined with Alat, fighting to keep the trickle of power flowing to the Archon star, but that wouldn’t be enough. The connection was too tenuous.

They threw more power into the working, knowing that they were burning their time, but that was better than having no time at all.

Hold on!

-One… moment… more!-

But it wasn’t enough.

The anti-magic was meant to level the playing field between mundane humans and high-level arcanes.

Tala just didn’t have the strength to resist it.

The wave passed, and their power was temporarily dispelled, her power density dropping to nothing.

Even the free-floating power in the air was driven away.

The Archon star snapped into form, fully complete if not as fully powered as it could be, and her body rejected it.

Her finger felt like it was going to explode, even as her gate continued to gush power, allowing her inscriptions to flare back to life.

She usually cut Archon stars free the moment they were ready, so it had never been an issue, but now? Now, it was.

As she grit her teeth against the pain that was to come, and prepared to say goodbye to Alat all over again, something unexpected happened.

She felt the dasgannach stir within her as it oriented more fully on the Archon star or, more accurately, the iron inside its structure.

As the spellform moved to leave her finger, the full conceptual might of the dasgannach fell upon it, and Tala’s conscious mind interpreted the instincts and actions of the mindless creature once again.

NO. MINE.

And the Archon star stopped, unable to leave her finger because the dasgannach wouldn’t let the bit of iron get away.

The creature still did not eat it as it still would not bond her, but it would not let it escape either.

The stalemate had ended, and a new, stranger impasse had been formed.

Well… I was not expecting that.

The power in the air came crashing back down upon them all, and Tala staggered.

Without thought, she immediately slapped a hand down on Kit and dumped power into the storage device. Blessedly, while it was on empty, it hadn’t been drained dry. That makes sense, they wouldn’t want to destroy their loot, just drain it momentarily.

The men on the ground around her were pulling back in horror, and Tala quickly realized why.

Her through-spike had been temporarily disabled, and she would look rather arcane to them without it.

While she was relieved to be alive, she was rusting livid.

This is what mercy gets you, Tala. She grit her teeth as she mostly mastered her emotions and forced herself to think as she wanted to think, not as an Eskau would. No. This can be dealt with.

She spun on the leader who had barely seemed to keep his feet.

Flow flicked into her left hand as she transformed it into a void-sword, just before her through-spike returned her semblance of humanity. “It seems like I have more time than I’d thought, and now? Now, I need some answers.”

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 262 - Building Some Good Will

A note from JLMullins

If you have Kindle Unlimited, a download and page through of one or both of the books is a big help!

Tala was rather irritated. The blast that had disrupted her connection to her budding Archon star hadn’t really been anti-magical.

In fact, if she had to say it mimicked anything, it reminded her of Master Jevin in Makinaven, where he could grab anyone’s power and move it around with his aura control and the odd strength he had within his city.

Tala found herself glaring at the guards before her.

She’d been merciful, and these men had nearly killed her.

“You.” She locked eyes with the leader, even as he paled.

He could obviously see that she had not been undone by his last-ditch tactic.

-He also likely saw the edges of the void before the through-spike fully reactivated.-

She tried not to growl as she asked, “Who made that… item?”

The leader didn’t answer right away as he looked around, taking in the state of his men.

The two who had tried to sneak up on and catch her between their lightning weapons were the only men who weren’t injured.

Specifically, the dozen others each had a broken left ankle. I should have just caved in their skulls.

-No, don’t let your frustration, fear, and relief combine to make you regret your mercy. You had no need to kill them, so you didn’t.-

That was true enough.

If she had killed them, then she’d still think she was on a time limit for the dasgannach. She also knew that she had a much greater penchant for violence after her time in the arcane lands. Rust, Brand had tried to put a knife in her heart, and they’d become good friends. These people just inconvenienced her a bit, and she wished she’d killed them all?

I need to push back on those instincts more…

-Hey! At least the dasgannach is in a more stable sort of equilibrium.-

Sure, but now, I have a different problem, and I’ll still be dead if my left hand is severed… She frowned at that. Or will the dasgannach just draw everything back into the rest of me?

-It might take the opportunity to leave, taking the star with it, since it would already be outside of you.-

That does seem likely…

She wasn’t keen to test the theory either way.

Finally, the leader gathered himself sufficiently to respond. “We are not here to answer your questions. We are to bring you back to our leader.”

“That was your purpose?”

“Yes, the Head asked to speak with you, to ensure you were not a threat.”

She frowned. “Did he create that item?”

The man hesitated, then seemed to decide that there was no harm in elevating his leader in her eyes. “Yes.”

Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

-Definitionally, yes.-

That’s not what I mean. We have this thing still inside us, and we have no idea what it’s going to do. We could really use an analysis, and someone capable of creating some of these items—

-They’d have the tools to provide that, yeah.-

“Good, then he likely has some good diagnostic equipment. Take me to him.”

“What?”

-Oh, Tala…-

What? It’s a good plan. I need more information, and the magic technology they have seems incredibly advanced.

-Assuming they didn’t just steal all these weapons and devices.-

From who?

-Ruins?-

That… that’s actually a good point, but if they have access to that many ruins, and this much weaponry? It’d be worth getting to know them in either case.

She desperately wanted to get home, but she couldn’t let this chance go to waste, and she really didn’t want to just ‘hope’ that the dasgannach would remain stable until she got back home. Who knows? Maybe they have a teleporter. I could teach them how to build one, actually.

Now that was an idea.

Could we just build one?

-You don’t actually have a complete knowledge of the spell-forms. You have knowledge of the functions, but not exacting details on the construction.-

Rust. Fine.

The leader was standing, stabilized by one of the two uninjured men. “You will need to surrender your weapons.”

Tala cocked an eyebrow. “Did I need weapons to overcome all of you?”

He twitched, seeming to fight an urge to flinch back, and after a moment’s hesitation, the man sighed, shaking his head. “No, but—”

She overrode him. “I could take all your weapons. Should I do that?”

“What? No!”

“Well, then. How about we all keep our own gear, and remember that you’ve already tried most of yours, and I haven’t used any of mine on you.”

The leader grimaced, but before he could respond, the other uninjured man came up to whisper in his ear.

Tala broke her standard respect for privacy, given their earlier hostilities, and listened in.

“Each one of the men has a broken ankle, sir. We’re not getting them back without aid.”

The leader seemed startled. “What? All the same injury?”

“Yes, sir. All the left ankle, too.”

Tala barely contained her smirk.

The leader frowned but nodded. “Alright. We’ll just have to send some people back for them.”

Tala cleared her throat. “If you’d like to begin building some good will, regardless of your ambush of me, I can carry your wounded in my dimensional storage, provided they don’t move around too much.” Some were gated, and she wasn’t keen to have Kit’s foundations undermined.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Why should I trust you?”

She shrugged. “Because if I wanted you dead, you would be. I’m Tala, by the way.”

-Your real name? Really?-

I’m tired, Alat. I just want to be me. I’d like to be home, too, but that’s not possible at the moment.

-That’s… that’s fair.-

He cleared his throat. “Greater Tala, I am Markl, sergeant of the guard.”

Tala frowned. “’Greater?’ What’s that mean?”

Markl looked a bit uncomfortable. “It is our term of respect for one who uses magics without requiring artifacts.”

“So… a Mage?”

It was his turn to frown. “Like from the folk tales? Mages, wizards, liches, and the horrors below?”

“I… suppose so?” She shrugged. “But I suppose that doesn’t matter much. Should I refer to you as Sergeant Markl?”

“Just Markl will suffice, Greater.”

“Then you must just call me Tala.”

His look of discomfort grew. “Apologies, Greater, but I will have to refuse that request.”

Alright, then… a stronger hierarchy than the human cities up north?

-Or at least a more reinforced one. That likely means there is less of a power difference between ‘mundanes’ and ‘greaters’ than between the average citizen and ‘Mages’ back home. Only those with a tenuous grasp on power are so insistent on such structures.-

“If you insist, Markl.”

She took Kit from her belt and tossed it to one side against a smaller crag, willing a normal door to form, opening into an empty twenty-foot cube below her sanctum.

“Any whom you wish me to transport will be safe in there, and they shouldn’t be able to damage anything important, so we’ll all be happy.”

After a moment’s hesitation he nodded. “Injured inside, exit protocols in place. One hour from the door’s closure.”

“Sir!” The men still on the ground responded as one.

It took them a bit to load up the injured, and during that time Tala received quite a shock.

Of the eight men without gates, four weren’t human. Two were hue-folk, and two were beast-folk, but those specifics had been hidden under their armor and while Tala had been focused elsewhere.

Looking back through her memories, she did see that it was obvious earlier, she just hadn’t focused on it or really cared.

Huh. They’re taking orders from a human? Well, I guess I had servants hopping at my words, but my position wasn't exactly standard.

Still more confusing was the obvious bird-folk who had a gate.

Tala stared at him, unabashedly.

He gave her uncomfortable glances as he was helped to hobble inside of Kit.

How the rust does an arcane have a gate?

-We could ask?-

Yes, I’ll just say that I was examining his soul, and noticed he had a gate.

-Why not?-

She hesitated, then shrugged. Good point.

Tala pointed at the bird-man. “You.”

He froze up, his voice shaking slightly, “Me, Greater?”

“Yes, you. How do you have a gate?”

His feathers rose, clearly showing emotion, but she didn’t know enough about his physiology to know what emotion it was. “My parents… Greater.”

“Meaning?”

“My mother was a gated human.”

And his father was a bird-man? There can be inter-breeding? There hadn’t been any of that in Platoiri, at least not that she’d been aware of, and she’d never seen an arcane with a gate, before. “Fascinating. Why—”

Markl cleared his throat from nearby. “Apologies, Greater, I don’t wish to presume, but you seem to be… unfamiliar with our customs and ways. You are asking somewhat… intimate questions.”

Tala sighed. I knew it was too much to hope they’d give me straight answers. She grimaced. “Very well. My apologies. I did not mean to offend.”

The loading of the remainder went off without issue and without further discussions. The deep, heavy vibrations of the ground continued at their regular intervals throughout.

After a brief hesitation, the sergeant also stepped through the door. “Banlen will lead you where you need to go.”

Without another word, he pushed the door closed.

Tala shrugged, taking Kit from the rock and hanging the pouch from her belt once more.

Kit’s reserves were still frustratingly low, so Tala once again rested her right hand on the pouch and directed as many void-channels as she could easily maintain into refilling her sanctum.

That underway, she turned to the two men, awkwardly standing nearby.

“So, which of you is Banlen?”

The two men looked at each other and both laughed a bit awkwardly. “Well, Greater, we both are.”

“Twins?” They didn’t really look alike, but stranger things happened. Both were human and neither had a gate. Might be their last name, then?

“No, Greater. Parents just chose the same name.” He shrugged awkwardly.

“Well then, Banlens, lead the way.”

The two men looked at each other and shrugged, the leaner one taking the lead.

They each obviously had one of the paired lightning artifacts, which took the form of a bracelet for each of them.

The one who took the lead had a short-spear that was, handle included, less than four-feet long. It looked more like a short sword with a really long handle to Tala’s eye, but the intention was fairly obvious.

The other had a round shield on his back and a mace hanging from his belt.

The short-spear and shield were both magical, though she couldn’t easily tell exactly what they did.

Together, the three walked up to the top of a nearby hill.

There, the two men paused.

They’d only walked about a hundred feet.

Is this it? “Why are we stopping?”

One Banlen had pulled out a disc of vaguely magical glass, and the other turned her way. “He’s looking for our destination. We’ll move as soon as he pinpoints it.”

She frowned. She had dozens of questions but decided it was best to just wait and see.

Soon enough, the one looking must have seen what he was looking for. “Ahh, rust. It’s moved faster than usual, they must think they’re close to finding”—his eyes flicked to her, briefly—"it. Come on, we have a couple miles to cover.”

Without another word, he started jogging.

Tala and the other Banlen caught up quickly.

They both glanced her way, then to each other. With a shared shrug, they sped up to a comfortable running speed, and Tala increased her pace to match theirs.

The heavier of the two chuckled, even as he started to breathe a little heavier. “I knew you’d be able to keep up. You didn’t have a ‘burst movement’ vibe to you.”

Tala just grinned back. “I could carry the two of you on my back, if you want.”

The other laughed. “Leave us a little pride, Greater. You’ve proven yourself already.” He hesitated for a moment before continuing, “I don’t want any misunderstanding. There will be those more powerful than you where we are going. We are not trying to lead you into a trap; that’s just the truth of it.”

She frowned. Is that based on a guess at my strength or something else?

-I haven’t sensed anything like magesight inspecting us, but with the odd assortment of gear they have, we could be missing something obvious. Or he’s just guessing.-

Well, at least this distance explains why they were willing to let me carry them in Kit.

-Yeah, I thought they’d agreed too easily, but if their city is moving somehow? The wounded would be falling further and further behind, and that would be really difficult to deal with, or at least inconvenient.-

Around a quarter hour later, they seemed to be drawing closer to their destination, and Tala was sensing a far greater concentration of power nearby, even if it wasn’t obvious to her magesight.

Some sort of obfuscation?

The steady, infrequent trembling of the ground had continued and seemed to be all around them now.

“You’ll feel a slight tingle as you pass through the field.”

Tala frowned but nodded. I’m coated in iron and forewarned. Not alerting me beforehand would have had a much greater chance of succeeding, if it was nefarious.

They crossed another dozen yards, and Tala did, indeed, feel a wave of tingling pass over her before it seemed that a veil had been pulled back from her eyes.

Before her, a structure towered into the sky, easily a few hundred feet from its foundations to the tallest tower.

That structure was ambling across the landscape on six long, almost delicate-seeming legs, which stuck out from the foundations of the compound.

Instantly, Tala assumed that the resonant thumping she’d been feeling was from this massive thing walking, but she watched it take a step, and felt nothing.

Then another step.

Then another.

Then, she felt the deep resonant vibration.

Voices called out from the walking structure, and it seemed to turn slightly.

They’re looking for the origin?

Maybe it was coming from underground.

She shivered at the idea.

The Banlens both had seemed to relax once they entered the field, and all three of them stopped a hundred yards or so inside it. “There she is. Home.”

There were other groups scattered about, though what they were doing, Tala couldn’t quickly determine.

Even so, she found herself nodding. “I can admit, I was not expecting a walking city.”

“City?” Lean Banlen laughed. “No, no. We’re not nearly so big. We’re barely a village.”

Her head whipped to face him. “What did you say?”

He took a step back, clearly startled by her sudden movement. “We’re not big enough to be a city?”

“After that.”

He swallowed. “We’re barely a village?”

“That. A village. That’s just a small city, right?”

“Yes, Greater, more or less.”

The other Banlen stepped forward. “We need to catch up. You can ask your questions of the Head. I’m sure he’ll be happy to speak with you.”

Tala narrowed her eyes, looking at the village.

She remembered a woman who called herself simply ‘Mistress.’ An insane offer of gold for a soul bond, a healing in the snowy mountains, and then abandonment to find her own way home.

Will I find her here?

-Only one way to find out.-

They took off at a run once again, and she found herself once again impressed at the two men’s endurance, given they were running in rather heavy armor. It wasn’t anything like full plate, but it was far weightier than a scout’s armor tended to be.

She was looking around at the unusual zeme as they ran when the truth of it hit her like a physical blow.

The village has its own aura? It was an insane idea. The sheer volume of power required was staggering. Even the human cities back home didn’t have an actual aura, just overlapping defenses and detection grids.

Though, to be fair, a village having an aura would be a lot more feasible than a city, at least in theory.

-More things to ask this ‘head.’-

So it seems.

It didn’t take long for them to catch up to the backend of the walking village.

There was a spur of rock extending down in back, with a door and a platform hovering just above the ground.

A singular guard stood on the small threshold.

The leaner Banlen ran ahead and hopped up, whispering to the guard.

Tala was amazed at how quiet the village’s steps were. Even right beside the thing she couldn’t hear them at all.

She realized it was magically enforced silence, of course, but it was impressive nonetheless.

The guard at the door didn’t look too pleased, but eventually he nodded and gestured them forward.

“Welcome to Howlton, Greater Tala. Banlen here said that you’ve rendered aid in transporting some of our men, and wish to speak with the Head?”

She blinked a few times at that, glancing to Banlen curiously. He was studiously avoiding making eye contact. With a chuckle and a shake of her head, she smiled. “That pretty much sums it up, yeah. I’ll let the men out of my dimensional storage once we’re inside.”

He gave her a long look, then grunted. “Above my paygrade. Welcome to Howlton.”

Without anything further, he opened the door away from them, and gestured for them to enter.

They entered, one Banlen in front and one behind, immediately climbing a set of stairs, up through the dark interior of the village’s foundation.

The top was awash in light, and as they came out of the dark, sloped passage, Tala was amazed at the life she saw all around them.

It felt like they were exiting an alley into a bustling marketplace.

There were workshops open to the air, though no sound exited the broad spaces.

More noise-canceling?

Food stalls were scattered about, along with sellers of various standard goods: clothing, belts, household tools, and the like.

No one seemed to notice their arrival, as the place was positively filled with people moving about.

True, if everyone had stayed still, they would have barely taken up any of the available space, but since everyone seemed to be off on their own errands, the market atrium felt almost over-full.

To her surprise, almost everyone she saw had a gate. I’ll have to ask about that.

The arched ceiling two dozen feet overhead kept it from feeling stifling, but there was a definite feeling of life to the place.

Tala took a deep breath, reveling in the more familiar spices of human cooking.

Arcanes ate mostly the same food, but they always seasoned it just a bit differently.

This?

This smelled like home, and Tala felt a tightening in her chest at the memories that tried to pour through her mind. She kept them at bay, barely.

“Right this way, Greater.”

The heavier Banlen had leaned closer, so he didn’t have to shout.

She nodded, and followed him through the maelstrom of humans and arcanes, interacting with perfect civility.

Well, I never expected to find something like this in the plains.

-Indeed.-

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 263 - Howlton

A note from JLMullins

If you have Kindle Unlimited, a download and page through of one or both of the books is a big help!

Tala walked with the Banlens up through the village of Howlton until they came to a courtyard before a quiet, restful seeming area. It was marked as a clinic and healer’s shop.

Right, the men. Tala obviously hadn’t forgotten about those she had within Kit, but they had definitely fallen out of the front of her mind.

-For you, that’s the same as forgetting.-

Hush you.

The motion of the city walking was hardly noticeable, but Tala had quickly become accustomed to the slight swaying.

One of the Banlens went inside to get the healers.

The other smiled. “If you would, Greater Tala?”

Tala nodded and placed Kit on the closest wall.

Tense faces greeted her as Tala pushed open the door into Kit, but they relaxed when the remaining Banlen called out.

“We’re in Howlton, just outside the healers'.”

What followed was another bit of time for getting the men out and settled.

Tala felt a bit awkward about not helping, but she didn’t want to infect anyone with the dasgannach, if that was even possible, and she didn’t want to reveal it either.

Thankfully, the door in and out of Kit restricted the number of people who could easily go in and out, and there were plenty of people to help.

It turned out there were half a dozen healers and quite a few apprentices in this one healing establishment.

They also had rather good methods as they set about healing the broken bones straight away.

Artifacts were in place that would repair the fractures, but they still took a few minutes to fully repair the damage that she’d done.

Even so, by the time all the men were settled in to wait their turns, Markl was healed and ready to go.

“I’ll escort you the rest of the way to the Head’s office.”

Tala nodded her thanks, bid the Banlens goodbye, and followed Markl out.

They went up.

And up.

And up.

The whole place was laid out in a pleasing manner. Nothing was too cramped, and there seemed to be multiple ways to get to each place.

The village’s aura made her magesight less informative than usual, but she was easily able to see that at every level almost everyone she saw had a gate.

Finally, she turned to Markl and asked. “Why did so few guards have gates, but basically everyone here does?”

“Hmm?” He paused looking back at her. “Oh! The non-gated are within the village’s core.”

“The core?”

He frowned. “The expanded space? Where we have our farmland.”

Oh! That makes so much sense. The gated can’t be in there because of degradation, but the gateless could be much more comfortable. “That makes a lot of sense, I suppose.”

He smiled. “The gated can come and go on occasion, but access is limited, as I am sure you can understand.”

“Of course.”

“It can be inconvenient as most of our residences are within, and we don’t wish to create segregated societies, so our schools, especially our primary schools, are out here, so that we grow up together.”

“Wait, most residences? I thought this was just a village. How populous are you?”

He shrugged. “I don’t have an exact count, but I believe in the forty-eight-hundred range. The classification is more to do with the size of our village, the walking part out here. There are roughly a thousand gated in our community.”

I suppose that’s one way to measure things. Especially if the gated help out in some way that others don’t.

-We didn’t see any connections of power, but looking back, I wouldn’t be surprised if the gated were the ones to power all the weaponry for the unit.-

Clever use of power, that.

With no other pressing questions, they continued upward.

Eventually, they reached the top level.

The whole level was a room with glass, or something like it, ringing the entire circumference of the somewhat small space.

One figure stood in the middle, able to see out in every direction.

Scripts were embedded in the floor along with fully impressed spellforms that existed solely in the dimensions of magic, just as they did for artifacts.

The man turned toward them as they came up the spiral stairs.

The last bit of the staircase lacked any handhold, so that the view was utterly unobstructed.

The man, seemingly the Head, was odd to Tala’s eyes.

First, he wore what appeared to be incredibly traditional Mage’s robes of a dark green satin, and his feet were bare.

Beyond that, he had a few clear demarcations of a dragonling nature about him.

His hands and feet ended in neat—but wicked-looking—claws.

The backs of his hands, tops of his feet, and his bare arms were covered in small black scales, but his palms were bare.

Horns swept up and back from his brow ridge, their base almost hidden among his long, scraggly, black hair.

Even so, his face looked human, or more or less human.

A scraggly beard matched his hair quite nicely, and his features were on the sharper, more angular side for a human, without crossing the line into seeming truly alien.

He had deep, dark circles around his eyes, which glowed a sickly green.

He looked utterly exhausted, but that was just how he looked physically.

Magically?

His aura was Honored, clearly earned in the arcane style, however that was done.

Tala had flipped through the House of the Rising Sun’s book on the subject, but that was so Alat could store it for later. She’d yet to actually process the information.

He clearly had deeply impressed, natural magics that she couldn’t interpret, along with spell-lines of some material that seemed to glow an unhealthy green that matched his eyes.

The spellforms glowed even where Tala couldn’t detect magic flowing through them.

Yet oddest of all, he had a gate, sitting within him in just slightly the wrong place, and the gate in question felt like it had a flowrate similar to her own, though she couldn’t be exactly sure.

How is that possible?

-I don’t know, but it will be fascinating to find out.-

Tala took all this in in but a moment, even as Markl dropped to one knee.

“Head Pareshti, I bring a visitor. This is Greater Tala.”

Tala finally felt the telltale pressure and tingle of someone using a magesight equivalent on her for the first time in days.

The man spoke softly, as if his voice were hoarse, and he was trying not to strain it.

“Human? Halfway to Refined and oddly shielded.” He hummed thoughtfully. “Regardless, be welcomed.”

Markle straightened, bowed again, and departed without a word.

Tala called after him. “Thank you!”

He hesitated, giving her an odd look. After an almost awkwardly long pause, he finally nodded once and continued back down, out of the chamber.

Tala turned back to Head Pareshti. “Thank you for the welcome.”

“And thank you for choosing not to kill my men when they accosted you.”

Tala stiffened.

“Did you not think I could see?” He pointed out the window, and Tala turned to look.

It took her a moment, but she was able to vaguely see familiar crags in the distance, beside which she’d fought the guards.

“I do my best to watch over all my people, and I was grateful for your restraint.”

“Why did you send them after me?”

“Send them after you?” He chuckled. “I suppose it might have looked that way, given you are unfamiliar with this area, but any Head would have requested to speak with you, given how close you’ve come to our village.”

Tala found herself nodding. That did make sense. If she were in charge of a village, she’d be curious about people like herself passing too close by. Overall, she felt the mood lighten, tension she hadn’t noticed fading away as they cleared the air.

“Now, what brings you to our section of the Wild Plains?”

Tala turned to Pareshti. “I am heading home.”

“And where is that, Greater Tala?”

“Just Tala, please, Head Pareshti.”

“Only if you will call me Paresh.”

“As you wish, Paresh. Do you know of the human cities?”

He hesitated, then nodded slowly. “I do. Most of my people would not be welcome there, for one reason or another.” He chuckled. “Many of their ancestors came from those cities rather… involuntarily.” When he noticed that Tala didn’t get the joke, he clarified, “They were banished, Tala.”

“Ahh. Well, your ancestors too, right? I mean your ancestors came from the human cities? That’s why you have a gate?”

He stiffened, then relaxed, shaking his head even as his right hand raised to rest on his chest. “No, no. I have never visited, nor did my ancestors come from there. My gate comes from my wife, may she guide me and strengthen me until I may join her in death.”

Tala nodded. “If I may be so forward, I had not known how such things worked when both parties were not gated.”

He waved her off. “We are both adults here. For two gated humans, intimacy causes a sort of soul-bond. This is well known and expected. If you are from the cities, I am not surprised that you wouldn’t know that it is the same if only one party is gated, though the results are different.”

“If I may ask, how so?”

He nodded, gesturing.

Tala suddenly found a chair behind her, which not only held her greater than average weight, it was quite comfortable.

She’d felt the barest flicker of power. Did he shape the floor upward into a chair so quickly?

-I’m not sure. He might have called it from elsewhere, probably more easily than shaping it.-

Paresh stayed upright, standing in the center of what seemed to be a control script for the walking village. “When both are gated, if one dies, their soul passes on, usually scarring the one left behind. Even those who do not use their gates feel this effect, though less strongly, and too much damage to the soul can cause… rash or even heinous action. One of my mentors would have said it ‘dehumanizes’ them for a time, until they are healed.” He shook his head, smiling ruefully. “This happens because there is no place for two broken souls within a physical vessel, so one must pass on, severing all ties to Zeme and those here.”

Tala nodded. This was elementary knowledge that hardly bore repeating, but she didn’t interrupt to say so, as he was obviously ensuring common ground before making his point.

“But when one is gated, and the other is not? Then, the bond is much stronger in a sense, and much more one directional. Had I died, my wife would have been hurt far worse than if I had been gated. I sense soul-bound items on you. She would have been harmed as much as you would, should one of your bonds be destroyed or broken.”

Tala found herself nodding again. “But you didn’t die.”

“No, I did not. She did, breaching a ruin, but that is not what we are discussing. When she died, the bond between us caused her soul to come here.” He tapped his chest. “To rest within me, where there was no broken soul to clash with.”

Tala swallowed. She knew it was an incredibly personal question, but the answer would be beyond illuminating. “Can you… can you speak to her?”

Paresh shrugged, his eyes moving to scan the horizon. “In a sense, I can. Your curiosity is understandable.” He smiled, and it was only tinged with the smallest bit of sadness. “And it has been centuries since her passing. I do appreciate both your attempt to ask with care, and your genuine curiosity.”

Tala waited as he sighed, seeming to collect his thoughts. The tiredness she’d seen within him seemed more evident than before.

“She does not have a mind, so she is not actually a person in that sense, not any longer, but she is here with me. I feel her presence, I know her love. It is the feeling of reading beside her, but not talking. Of sleeping side by side, not quite touching. Of living life as one, knowing you will never be alone. She could pass on at any time, I couldn’t stop her if that was her wish, but she chooses not to. I feel her love, every day.”

His eyes were slightly wet as he finished, and he pulled out a handkerchief to dab them dry.

Tala almost asked if such a thing could be abused, or forced as a means for an arcane to gain the power, as she knew of many arcanes who would jump at the chance to have their own gate, but the obvious answer came to her: Soul-bonds have to be voluntary at the deepest level. They must be chosen. And it sounds like the gate isn’t trapped within him either, even after the fact.

It wasn’t fool-proof by any means, but it would be difficult to abuse, even if less than savory arcanes knew of the possibility.

Paresh smiled sadly, drawing her attention back. “My apologies. It has been long since she passed, but I still miss her voice, her smell, her laugh.” He shook his head. “But I am prattling on. You are here for a purpose, am I correct?”

“You are.”

“Then let us hear it. Does it have to do with the curse that lies upon you?”

“I have a— wait. What? A curse?”

“Yes, the concept that is clearly not of you, which pervades much of your body. You were cursed, were you not?”

That started a host of stories tumbling through her mind. Are dasgannach living curses? Or something like that?

“I can see I have misspoken.”

“No, I… I had not thought of it in that light. Do you have knowledge of dasgannach?”

“The name is not familiar, but that does not surprise me. My studies focus on the creation of things, and this sounds like a creature. Based on context I would guess it is a concept based life-form?”

“I’ve never heard it described that way, but it fits incredibly well.”

“So, this concept has invaded you, is that what you come to ask about?”

“I was hoping for help diagnosing its current state, though I would happily accept a solution if you have one.”

“Tell me what you know of it, and I will see what I can offer.”

“I can do that but won’t you need some diagnostic equipment or… something?”

He shook his head. “No, no. This whole room provides that information to me, both for that which lies within it, and without. That is how I detected the thing to begin with.”

“Oh. I suppose that makes sense.” So, Tala spoke of the dasgannach, and Paresh listened attentively, his eyes only occasionally sweeping the landscape.

Tala told of her encounters with them before, what Master Jevin and others had told her, along with how this one had supposedly been modified.

“That is quite the conundrum, Tala. I do agree, however, that teleportation should be a cure. At least I believe so. I do not have specific knowledge of teleportation methods, but what you say lines up with the little theory I know.”

“That’s good to hear, at least.”

“Do not be surprised, however, if you put the dasgannach in a unique situation, when you attempt to teleport. It would likely be utterly outside its concept to react to.” He chuckled. “It is literally exiting reality, so it stands to reason that such a simple Concept couldn’t account for the possibility.”

“I was afraid of that. Do you think it will leave?”

“That would be the best case, yes. You’d teleport, leaving it behind, where it would die. You would arrive on the receiving array with your blood restored based on your soul-impression, and you’d only be out your inscriptions. Unpleasant, yes, but hardly a true issue.”

“What would the worst case be?”

“It would accept the open invitation you have extended to it. I would suggest retracting such, but I actually would guess that the open invitation, the ongoing option for it to eat that iron too, is why it hasn’t given up and left. It can take that iron, so it can’t leave before it does.”

Tala blinked a few times. “Oh, rust. That makes sense. But why would the bond be so bad?”

He scoffed. “You’d be bonding a creature of pure ravenous, jealous desire and impetus to consume your very soul. That can change a person.” He laughed at himself. “That would change a person, the only question would be ‘How much?’”

She frowned, considering. She thought his definition rang true, but it also eerily mirrored what the arcane artificer, Cerdai, had said about the Concept most closely linked to her own magics. Is that a coincidence? Or was I already being influenced by the collar around my neck, even then?

-I mean, that’s possible, but I really don’t think that your magics changed much since you were taken. I mean, they literally didn’t change at all, structurally, though your understanding of some of them has shifted.-

“I can see I’ve given you much to think about.”

“Is there anything that you can think of to help in my situation?”

“Unfortunately, no. Mine is a constructive Concept. If you were simply ill, or otherwise injured, I could help, but I cannot repair damage willfully done.”

Tala grimaced. “And to get the dasgannach out, I’d have to make a willful choice to incur that damage.”

“Precisely. You are at an equilibrium, if an unhappy one.”

You could just cut off my hand, and heal me after? She knew she couldn’t ask because that would be her choosing it.

Even so, he sighed. “And no, I cannot encourage it out of you, and heal the damage. That would be willful damage on my part. I can repair what time erodes, or unknown consequences, like my own body’s response to my spell-lines.”

Tala blinked at him. “What? Your spell-lines?”

“Yes, the material involved is quite toxic, but it has a magical conductivity and power like nothing else I’ve ever encountered.”

“Then… wouldn’t your continued use be willfully inflicted damage?”

“Not at all. I don’t wish the damage to happen, not at any level. It is a side effect of another choice. And before the idea crosses your mind, the damage is quite contained within my own body. No one else is in any danger, while I still live.”

“That’s good to know.” The idea had just been crossing her mind. “But, I don’t want the damage.”

“No, of course not, you just want all the iron out of your body. That’s not damaging at all.” He gave her a patronizing smile.

“But I don’t want that, I want the dasgannach out.”

“And what is the dasgannach?”

She opened her mouth and closed it.

“You see, that is the danger of curses, or concepts in general. They distort reality in such a way as to muddy and negate what should be easy and obvious solutions. My advice? Get home, teleport, and deal with the dasgannach’s death or bonding.”

“I appreciate that advice.”

“Of course. Words are free.”

Tala smiled. “True enough, but I still do wish to get home as soon as I can. Is there any way I can avoid such encounters in the future?”

“Oh! Of course, forgive me.” He waved his hand, and a map of the region seemed to appear, floating in the air. “If you head directly north, you should reach the Human City lands soon enough, and I don’t believe there are any other villages in that exact direction at the moment. In the next few days? I am not too sure, but if you are as quick as I believe you are, you shouldn’t pass close enough to any to require a talk with their outer scouts and defenders.”

Tala grimaced. “I need to avoid the woods.”

“Oh? Not a fan of the Leshkin? I can’t say I blame you. We do our best to stay away from the woods for that exact reason. It’s one cause of the slow encroachment of the forest into our plains. We’ll have to burn it back in another few hundred years or it will begin to get inconvenient.”

“Something like that, yeah.” Paresh seemed to enjoy talking, and Tala wasn’t going to turn down good information.

“Well then, you’ll want to go north and east, hugging the treeline. You should be able to do that well enough without encountering any more villages. Here and here”—two dots appeared on the map—“Are the shortest paths through the woods, assuming our information is good for the other side. At those points you’ll only have to cross about fifty miles of forest. The more northern route is a bit shorter, but you’d be going nearly eighty miles out of your way to save three miles in the trees, so I’ll let you determine what’s right for you.”

Tala took a moment to ensure she’d memorized the information before nodding. “Thank you. That will help tremendously.”

“Of course. Once again, it cost me nothing.”

Tala hesitated, feeling the barest trembling of the regular rumbling she’d been sensing for nearly a day now. “If I may, what is that?”

“The rumbling from beneath?”

“I’d hope not, but yes?”

“That is purportedly the tomb of the magical beast known as the clockwork thunder.”

When Tala returned a blank look, Paresh smiled.

“In ancient times, the clockwork thunder ravaged the land around its home, driving thinking species back and killing all it could. Time and time again humans and arcanes alike rallied to slay the beast, but every time it was slain, it was birthed anew. So, finally, it was sealed beneath the earth.”

“And you’re looking for it?”

“Its burial place, yes. Not only would it be amazing to learn from the information placed alongside it, as an aid against its possible escape, but the legend states that bribes ‘beyond imagining’ were placed around the seal to pay off those who found it, to keep them from opening the door. All that treasure would immediately vanish should the seal be broken, of course.”

“You’re treasure hunters?”

“Scholars of ancient magics, and designers of new tools mostly, but treasure never hurts.” He grinned. “You know, you aren’t in any real danger, so long as you keep that hand safe. Would you like to join us? We’re narrowing down the location. I suspect we’ll find it within the year.”

“That long?”

“The obfuscation scripts are very well constructed, for all that they can’t completely suppress the beast’s rage-filled hammering.”

Tala frowned. It did sound interesting. A bit foolish too, but definitely interesting. Even so, she wasn’t that tempted. I just want to get home. “Thank you for the offer, but I will have to decline for now.”

Paresh smiled. “Completely understandable. You are far from home. If you ever change your mind, search for us. If you find another village, they should be able to send you our way, even if you can’t find us yourself.”

Tala smiled. “Thank you.” A thought occurred to her, and she decided to ask. No harm in asking. “Could I get some scrap-iron from you, while I’m here?”

“Why… ” He tilted his head to the side for a moment, then nodded. “Ahh, I see. That just might help, yes. One moment.”

Tala hesitated, but less than a half-minute later, the floor opened and a small pile of what was clearly scrap iron raised up on a little platform of some other material. She cocked an eyebrow.

“It is convenient to be able to transport material throughout my village.”

“I’ll say.” She smiled and used a white-metal-clad hand to put the scraps into Kit. “Thank you, Paresh. May you find what you seek, and may it yield nothing but blessings.”

His smile widened. “Same to you, Tala. May you find your way home, and may the journey be short and fulfilling.”

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 264 - Ours?

A note from JLMullins

If you have Kindle Unlimited, a download and page through of one or both of the books is a big help!

Tala descended Howlton, unescorted.

She appreciated the gesture of trust for what it obviously was.

Even if Paresh could likely fight her off, if not outright defeat her with his unknown abilities within his own domain, Tala could cause considerable damage, if she wished.

She did not wish to do so, but it wasn’t like they had a long history to lean on between them.

I suppose out in the plains like this, you have to be good at reading people. That was a somewhat self-aggrandizing assumption, given that it meant that she was inherently trustworthy.

She hoped to the stars that that was actually true.

She had so much blood on her hands these days.

Rivers of the stuff flowed in her wake as she’d stood within a House built of it.

-Tala?-

I’m… I’m okay. I’ll have a lot to process, once I’m home.

-You didn’t kill those men. You could have, but you chose not to.-

Sure, but I wanted to. It would have been so much easier if I’d just killed them.

Alat didn’t respond with the trite aphorisms that they both knew would have been standard. Instead, she simply sent a single sentence. -You chose to let them live.-

Nothing more needed to be said, not at the moment.

It was easy enough to retrace her steps down past the once again mostly silent clinic and on down to the still bustling marketplace.

The dark, slanted staircase led to the exit right about ground level.

As she walked down, she had a realization. Huh, they have both arcanes and humans here, but they are all what I would consider standard size. There were not the smaller or larger varieties, and the sizing of this hallway and these steps seems to support that. I wonder why that is?

She obviously didn’t have the answers, and she likely wouldn’t until she came back.

-I’ll make a note to ask Paresh if and when we come back. There might even be some info in the books we have within Kit.-

That’s true enough. Tala had flipped through many, if not most, of those books, but once again, using that to copy them into the Archive was vastly different than actually reading and absorbing the content. For that, she needed time that she’d yet to have.

The end of the stairway came soon enough, and Tala pulled open the door back into the bright light of day.

The guard acknowledged her but didn’t communicate further, beyond giving her a parting wave.

Tala waved back and began jogging almost due north. She’d decided to go that way, then follow the forest east and north until she reached the place that she could cut through with the least forest to traverse.

-Still fifty miles or so of potentially Leshkin filled terrain.-

Yeah, but there’s not much of a better idea available.

-Oh, I know. More that I don’t want us to forget to plan for that eventuality.-

Fair enough. We are better trained, better equipped, and more powerful than we were last time that we faced them, but we’re also alone. That caused a pained emptiness to resound within her own chest.

She was alone, aside from Alat and Terry.

Well, and that silly cat. She wished she had enough confidence in the containment of the dasgannach that she could snuggle up with one of the animals. Not that the cat would let me do that.

Still, the thought brought a smile to her lips.

The other groups of scouts seemed to notice her, but let her pass unmolested.

I wonder if Paresh can communicate with them directly?

-That seems highly likely, yes.-

Passing out of Howlton’s aura was once again a tingly experience.

She glanced backward and found the village mostly hidden, but still discernible as a hazy impression against the otherwise mostly clear sky.

Easier to see than before.

-Yes, easier than impossible. Do you think Paresh granted us some sort of ‘allowance’ to perceive it?-

If so, it was a pretty rusting useless one. It’s still a pain to see.

-Well, it’s meant to be a kindness, not a beacon.-

That’s true, I suppose.

-It also might be the nature of the defense. Even the guards had to use a device to find their own village, after all.-

Yeah.

She continued on her way, and once she’d run for another hour or so, she opened Kit and called out to Terry.

Tala didn’t stop moving.

Terry, for his part, flickered out and glared, squawking irritably even as he fell into step nearby.

“I’m sorry, buddy. There was some difficulty. But it’s been dealt with.”

He gave her a skeptical glare, then trilled questioningly.

So, as they ran just out of arms’ reach, Tala told Terry what she’d learned.

Oddly, Terry didn’t really seem shocked by the presence of humans and arcanes out here, but it was difficult to decipher Terry’s emotions at times, so it could have been news to him or something he’d known about for decades.

In either case, it didn’t take her long to convey all there was to convey, and Terry seemed satisfied.

He flickered off to go hunt once again, signaling that they were to fall back into their previous pattern.

Now, the dasgannach.

They were in a tenuous balance, but Tala had learned her lesson on waiting for an ‘assured’ solution. Be-thric was supposed to take me to the human lands, but Noooo, that would have been too easy.

The teleporter should work to remove the conceptual creature, but like most of her ideas, it wasn’t a sure thing, and even if it had been, in theory, she wasn’t going to depend on it.

Focusing inward, she sent her will through the Archon star. Join me?

There was no response.

-I don’t think it can grasp such advanced concepts.-

Tala grimaced. You’re probably right, yeah.

-Do we really want to use a bond on this creature?-

Well, I have Flow for offense, the elk-leathers for defense, the Archive link for information—

-We need to get that upgraded, by the way. We should never be outside of connection range again, even if we go to the moon.-

That… that would probably be a good idea. Expensive, though.

Alat sent over the impression of a greedy smile. Even after all these months, such things were still odd to Tala. The ‘greedy smile’ wasn’t actually some sort of visualization of such an expression, it was more the feeling that Tala herself would have, were that smile to be on her own face. As usual, it was odd to experience such things from Alat. -I have some ideas on how to get what we need. We can go over the possibilities, when you’re not otherwise focused.-

That’s fair. Where was I? Right. The ring Archive link for information, and I want to soul bond Kit for utility, storage, home, etc. That’s four. Terry would be an interesting possibility. It would give more power, while also tying us closer, so he’d be less likely to get bored and go on a murder spree.

-Plus, his teleportation should be usable by us. I still don’t understand how he sheds things that aren’t him in the transport.-

Yeah, that would be a benefit for sure. So, that’s five.

-The one you don’t like thinking about.-

Tala blushed slightly. Yeah, I would like to get married someday. Moving on!

Alat chuckled. -That leaves two to stay within the safe limit. Do we really want to use one on the dasgannach?-

Tala nodded, finding a sort of calming influence from the steady repetition of her loping run.

-Why? I mean, I can read your thoughts, so I know but I want you to talk through it.-

First, control of iron.

-Obviously. Never have to buy or apply iron paint again.-

It should be better, too. No medium of application required, a covering of pure iron, without the inflexibility.

-Assuming you can get that to work. That’s a big assumption.-

It’s motile, isn’t it? When outside a person? But it’s pure iron, therefore it has to be able to do what I’m hoping.

-That’s fair.-

Plus, there’s the fact that it is a concept, Alat. If I can incorporate that, I’ll be able to do something that no one, I mean no other human seems to be able to do, directly.

-Alright. It sounds like it could be a good choice, if you can make it work. So, what’s the last thing?-

You know what it is.

-But you need to express it.-

Tala groused slightly, but eventually acquiesced. Tali would just kill it, if she could. Rust, I want to just kill it, but… I’ve been killing so, so much of late. Her eyes started to water slightly, but she had her mirrored perspectives in her orbiting Archon stars, so she didn’t slow.

-You want another way.-

I want to at least try. Killing is going to be required, I know that, but it shouldn’t be my first choice. I want to be better.

-Like with the guards of Howlton?-

Yes.

-So, better than who?-

You know, Alat. I’ve already said it.

-You have, and you haven’t. Better than who?-

She grimaced. Tali. I want to be a better person than Tali.

-You are, you know.-

I hope you’re right.

They fell into silence, and Tala turned her attention inward once again.

The dasgannach hadn’t responded to her attempt at communication via her will. Even so, she tried again, attempting to send impressions or instincts rather than words. Eat this?

No response.

Become one?

No response.

What does it want? She bounced ideas around within her own head, her thoughts in words once again, the steady cadence of her movement centering her mind.

-To consume? To acquire? That’s why you got the iron, right?-

Yeah…

She focused on projecting her will through the Archon star in her finger once again. Share?

That got a response.

NO. MINE.The visceral interpretation was impossible to mistake.

Share more? She tried to include in the concept of more the idea that it would get more by sharing.

No response.

Tala sighed. Well, here goes nothing.

She sheathed her hand in white metal and fished a piece of scrap iron out of Kit even as she kept moving north.

The dasgannach didn’t react.

The iron wasn’t in direct contact with her skin.

But it takes more than physical contact, or the restraining band would have been subject to the dasgannach immediately.

-Conceptual contact? The spells owned the band until they were deactivated?-

But I’m Bound. Rust, I’m FUSED. My body is mine, pure and simple, so how is it able to invade and take over part of me?

They both considered for a long while, before Tala had a realization, or at least a guess at a realization.

It’s using basically all its power to enforce its concept of ownership on my flesh. That’s why it can’t take anything else that’s contested.

-By that logic, no one around us should be in danger.-

That’s true enough, but I’d still not like to risk it.

-There’s wisdom in that, but that’s not the point.-

Oh, I understood the point. Iron, otherwise claimed, was impervious to the dasgannach, but if it wasn’t conceptually claimed? It could be subsumed even while the creature remained within Tala.

So, the test, then. She locked in her mind the fact that the small, distorted lump of iron she held was HERS. She couldn’t manipulate concepts directly, but just like she could have thrown the bit of iron an incredible distance, even without being able to magically manipulate kinetic energy, she was able to naturally interact with concepts.

This iron was hers by request.

It had been granted to her as a gift.

It had been freely given by one who originally had authority over the iron.

In every sense, this scrap belonged to Tala and no one else.

She somehow sat on that feeling with her magical weight even as she continued to run.

There was precedence to the action, obviously. There was reason to believe that it could work.

Flow had iron in it but hadn’t been subsumed.

To be fair, though, Flow was magical and soul bound to Tala, making the concepts claiming the weapon much more potent than her claim on the iron scrap.

Even so, Tala had to test it.

The white glove of metal faded back into the elk-leather sleeve of her clothing, and the dasgannach clearly detected the iron now contacting her skin.

There was the feel of something orienting on the iron, and Tala had the horrifying thought, What if it just leaves to get the iron? What if I’ve just killed myself?

That shouldn’t happen, it was obviously an irrational fear, but there was always the possibility.

A long moment passed, and nothing happened as Tala continued to lope across the plains, heading north.

Finally, the concept within her flexed, trying to seize the iron, but Tala pushed back, willing herself to believe that the iron was hers.

She didn’t think in words, but the dasgannach seemed to read her intent as she was reading its own.

It was not happy.

MINE.

No. Mine.

MINE.

No. Mine.

MINE. GIVE.

That was new, and Tala actually felt an odd solidifying of her conceptual hold on the iron. It had unintentionally acknowledged that the iron was hers. After all, she could not rightfully and truly give what was not hers. That act had, on the part of the dasgannach, actually made it more hers.

It somehow noticed the change. NO! MINE.

But it was too late for that.

Tala grinned, then very carefully made her play. She offered both the Archon star and the iron scrap as a set, not each individually. It was both or neither.

Ours?

The dasgannach didn’t respond for a long, long moment.

What finally came back was the equivalent of desperate frustration, an animalistic whining, and bitter regret. NO. MINE…

With that final instinctual attempt—which slid off the iron like rain off of glass—the dasgannach settled back down in focused, resolute regard of her Archon star.

That first attempt complete, if failed, Tala refocused outward, and found herself coated in sweat and pulling in huge, gasping, lung-fulls of air even as she continued to shakily run across the plains.

Woah! She slowed, putting the scrap away, then bending over, hands on her knees. That was insanely difficult.

Alat grunted in sympathy. -That was fascinating. You were clearly having some sort of communication, but it was more like a farmer ‘talking’ to a stubborn stump than even a rancher moving an ornery cow.-

Yeah, I’ll accept that metaphor.

Tala straightened, putting her hands behind her head and spreading her elbows wide to expand her chest and allow better airflow. That was harder than running a couple hundred miles.

-It seemed like it. Like jumping on a beast to ‘Crush’ it instead of using your magics. It’s much harder when you can’t actually work with concepts directly, I imagine.-

No rusting kidding.

Terry flickered back into being near her, and she reassured him that she was fine.

He looked rather skeptical, tilting his head back and forth as he flickered around her, checking for injuries.

It was sweet, especially since he knew she could heal. Tala smiled at the gesture and appreciated it for what it was.

Thankfully, she recovered her breath rather quickly and took off once more, Terry falling in nearby rather than flickering off once more.

Nothing for it but to keep trying. I think I’ll give it a gift next, and see what I can do with that. There’s definitely some parts of my iron defense that need some patching. I bet I can be strategic and make something of this.

-Well, it’s definitely something to distract us while we travel. I suppose it’s time to experiment.-

Together, they ran.

Tala wasn’t willing to randomly add iron to her body on the move, not yet at any rate, so despite Alat’s words, they actually read, instead.

Alat was able to project a book before Tala in a way that didn’t inhibit her vision, especially with the mirrored perspectives, and so Tala began the process of actually reading the materials that she’d made off with.

Eventually, darkness fell, and Tala decided to pause for a brief time to try her next angle with the dasgannach.

She pulled out a different bit of scrap iron, and once again solidified her conceptual ownership of it to the best of her meager ability.

She then used her mirrored perspective to find the largest gap in her iron paint, and carefully pressed the scrap against that.

The dasgannach immediately tried to claim the iron.

MINE!

Tala rebuffed it once again. Then, she pushed the instinctive feelings towards it. Share?

MINE!

No. Mine. Share?

There was no response.

Then, smiling to herself with unfounded hope, she acted. Mine. Share. Yours.

MINE.

The bit of iron slipped from her ownership, and as she moved her hand away, in an action that should have let it fall away, it instead seemed to liquify and flow outward to press as close to her skin as it could.

The action seemed to have fragmented the scrap iron into powder, so it didn’t jab or cut or scrape as she moved.

MINE.

Yes. Mine. Share. Yours.

No response. Alright. Time to try again.

She pulled out the original iron scrap, the one that was unequivocally hers, and once again extended the offer of it and the Archon star within her finger, as a set.

Mine. Share?

The dasgannach’s concept slammed into her ownership, and was rebuffed.

Ours?

NO. MINE… Once again, it came across like the grinding of gears, like a machine trying to go against its design and failing.

It was another failure, but somehow, Tala didn’t mind.

She would keep trying.

She would find a way around killing this concept within herself.

But not right now.

Right now, she needed to keep running.

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 265 - Decay

A note from JLMullins

If you have Kindle Unlimited, a download and page through of one or both of the books is a big help!

Tala fell into a pattern as she loped northward across the rolling, craggy plains.

She read books that Alat found pertinent.

They also discussed what information should be given to whom and when, after they had full access to the Archive once again. They didn’t want to try to think of what to do when the time came, so they made plans and preparations.

Terry hunted and ran beside her, resting in Kit less frequently than previously, likely due to her ‘encounter’ while the terror bird had been so indisposed.

No matter how many times Tala told Terry that she had chosen not to call him for help, he still seemed irritated with her.

She ran through the night, not even stopping to eat, instead pulling out easily consumed foods and a waterskin to keep herself in good shape.

Roughly one-hundred-fifty miles north of Howlton, she came to the edge of the forest.

She’d seen the dark line of the trees for hours before in the dim starlit night, but she wanted to be closer to the tree line before she turned east. That way, she should miss any of the other ‘villages,’ at least according to Paresh, and he’d seemed at least mostly genuine.

Before Tala turned east, Alat tried reaching out to the closest city, Makinaven, but from what she could tell, she estimated that they were still three-hundred-thirty miles or so from the massive tree city.

Too far for a proper connection, eh?

-We’re more powerful, Tala, but not enough to more than decuple our Archive connection range.-

Decuple? Oh, ten times. Yeah, that’s fair.

The run east and a little south, along the edge of the forest, was almost as monotonous as the trip across the plains. The forest barely seemed to vary to her left, the plain similarly uniform on her right.

Terry hunted anything dangerous from their path before she even saw it, and she stayed well back from the tree line, though she thought she saw eyes watching her on occasion.

Leshkin?

She didn’t know, and the zeme in the forest was somehow obscuring her magesight more thoroughly than it had when she’d been going to and from Makinaven. A greater defense to the south? I thought the forest used to be the enemy of humanity, not the arcanes.

It was worth looking into, if she could.

I doubt there’s a Leshkin library, but who knows? The next Leshkin war could provide all sorts of opportunities.

Night had fallen after the short, winter day when she finally reached the southeast edge of the forest and could turn north, towards the narrowest portion of the great woods.

She loped on through the night and the next day, Alat finally stopping her well into the following night, next to a portion of the forest that was seemingly identical to all the others she’d passed.

-Here. This is where we turn west-northwest, and cut through.-

Tala staggered a bit. I think I need to sleep.

-That is probably incredibly wise, yeah. In all likelihood, we’ll have to fight something in there.-

Probably Leshkin. Yay…

Tala nodded, tossing Kit against one of the increasingly infrequent crags, stepping through and collapsing onto her bed.

Terry had asked to be let into Kit a few hours earlier, so he’d be fine.

Sleep claimed her before she truly settled atop her luxurious bed.

It felt like she blinked, and she was awake once more.

She took a bit less than half an hour to cook up a hearty breakfast, stretching and limbering up while the bacon and other ingredients cooked.

Terry flickered in for a brief appearance. She checked with him briefly, but he had no interest in traversing the forest with her. He’d stay within her sanctum. He tried to snatch some of her breakfast, but when she shooed him away from the meat that was magically matched to her, he got grumpy, squawked at her, and flickered away.

The cat didn’t make an appearance, sadly, but Tala left out another strip of nonmagical meat for it.

I was going to offer Terry some, but he left in a huff. She shook her head, smiling. He’s a funny bird sometimes.

Tala enjoyed her breakfast, looking out at the dark landscape of her sanctum. It was somewhere in the middle of the night, and dawn was still quite far off.

She wasn’t going to wait until morning, she didn’t need nearly that much sleep.

Her breakfast done, she exited Kit, and called to Terry, asking one last time if he wanted to come.

His disinterested squawk was her only reply.

Fair enough, I suppose.

She hung Kit from her belt and looked at the forest looming before her, barely three hundred yards distant.

The trees were tall.

I’d forgotten how tall they really are.

She’d considered reducing her own weight and vaulting through the upper branches, but Alat had convinced her that trying to learn such a skill in a decidedly hostile environment would be foolish.

So, she would run.

Assuming the forest doesn’t find a way of blocking me.

She recalled the frustration of the caravan’s path being blocked or redirected.

Only a few hours. I’ll be through the forest well before mid-morning. Rust, I might be through before sunup if I’m lucky.

That was motivating to say the least. On the other side of these trees were the plains containing her human cities. Home.

She ensured that her bloodstars were in their combat configuration.

Then, remembering how she’d been ambushed, she moved those for her mirrored perspective outward.

One went above her head as far as her aura reached, looking down and around.

Another went forward to that extreme and another back.

There. I should be less prone to ambush like this.

-I don’t like it as much, but I can see the utility.- The forward and trailing perspectives were those granted to Alat.

Hey, thank you for watching out for me.

-Flattery does nothing when I can see you’re only saying it to manipulate me.-

Eh, doesn’t make it any less true.

Alat huffed, but there was some mirth in the mental noise.

Now, come on. We need to get going.

Tala almost coated herself in white metal but realized how much she’d stand out in the gloom of the forest in all white. Why doesn’t the through-spike hide that?

Now that she thought about it, the through-spike really didn’t ever hide her clothing at all.

She’d noticed before, obviously, but never really thought deeply about it.

And now’s not the time to do so. Let’s go, Tala.

So in she went.

Terry wouldn’t be clearing the forest for her passage. He really didn’t like the Leshkin, and while Tala could provide him with weapons to throw, he’d barely practiced and doing that would slow them down, incredibly.

That was probably why he’d declined to run beside her through the forest.

Yeah, Terry’s very good at picking his fights.

Thus, Tala was going to be alone as she traversed this shadow-shrouded place.

Her magesight opened before her as she crossed the treeline.

It was as if the forest didn’t want anything outside seeing in but didn’t have any issue with those inside seeing around themselves, magically speaking.

Physically speaking? It was dark.

Pitch was a shade lighter than under this forest’s canopy, forcing Tala to rely almost entirely on her magesight.

Her physical vision was good, but it was still human sight and required at least low levels of illumination. For now.

There were spots of white where some bits of snow lined up well enough with starlight peeking through the clouds above, and even where the snow wasn’t in near-direct light, it almost seemed to glow, solidifying the wisdom of her choice not to clad herself in white.

Without the snow, her mirrored perspectives would have been fairly useless, as she could only mirror a fraction of her magesight, just that portion that was fully ingrained and truly a part of who she was, truly an aspect that could be mirrored.

In any case, she was far more blind than she liked.

So, of course, Tala took off running as quickly as she was able.

Let’s get this place behind us as soon as possible.

Alat didn’t distract her with books, nor ideas or conversations.

Instead, both Tala and her alternate interface were focused intently on the all too quiet, winter forest around them.

Alat was getting better at navigating so even while they had to circumnavigate the massive trunks of this ancient forest, they always stayed on course.

To be fair, Alat was also putting the finishing touches on the information sets that they wished to grant various people access to as soon as they could.

Thus, Tala was left to contemplate the dull scenery as she passed on mostly silent feet. Huh. The size of these trees can’t be because of age alone. Paresh said that the forest was expanding southward. I wonder how old these trees actually are.

-Based on human research the forest is interconnected somehow, and a new tree, either at the forest’s edge or growing to fill a gap in the interior, can reach full height in less than a decade. They then seem to grow from within, hardening over time.-

So, they grow like softwood, then slowly become hardwood if given enough time?

-That’s what the book we have on it says, yes.-

She did recall that, now that Alat directed her attention to the information. It was odd to think that, externally, it was nearly impossible to tell old trees from new, especially because they could move around.

Speaking of which, she was finding herself having to weave around more and more trunks, and she was coming across far fewer gaps that aligned with her desired direction of travel.

Great, the forest knows I’m here, and it isn’t happy about it.

She saw the first Leshkin less than a minute later.

Blessedly, it wasn’t oriented toward her.

Instead, it stood utterly still, seemingly staring off into the distance, looking north as Tala approached, moving almost east to west.

Tala felt an internal shudder, remembering how those things had plagued her when she’d last been in the forest.

She was stronger now, though.

I wonder…

-It might work? But it also might just tick them off. We’re not even a dozen miles into the forest yet, Tala.-

If it works, it will be worth it. Flow ate a vestige, Alat.

-Alright. I agree it would be good to know and useful if it works.-

Tala changed her trajectory just enough to pass behind the lesser Leshkin. With a flick of power, Tala cleaved it in half with Flow in void-sword form.

In the same motion, she whipped Flow around and thrust the void-blade into the greatest concentration of power she could detect.

The Leshkin didn’t make a sound as it was obviously dead at the first strike.

Void-Flow pulled, devouring the concentrated bundle of power, even as that power tried to pull away from the vegetative corpse to move off through the forest.

With an odd flex, which registered to Tala’s voidsight like the fragment of reality they occupied pushing the magic into the void, the bundle of power vanished.

A strange ripple radiated out from Tala, seeming to sing through existence.

-Oh… That’s Interesting.-

Tala got the distinct feeling that the bit of power, whatever it actually was, had been subsumed into Flow but wasn’t powerful enough to even attempt to truly influence the weapon, let alone her directly.

It was a drop of ink on a glass surface. Noticeable, but not able to cause a lasting change.

Tala sucked in an extra breath as power sizzled through Flow from an outside source, the source that had been consumed.

It did seem to touch her, the reinforcement and enhancement scripts in her right hand seemingly growing infinitesimally more powerful for a second or two.

All around her, from as close as a mile to seemingly hundreds of miles distant, Leshkin screamed.

-And that’s not good.-

It was a primal, unholy, unified screech that literally seemed to fracture reality, the edges of the protuberances which made up Zeme became clear though they stayed pressed together, and Tala felt like she could almost see into the Doman-Imithe.

You know, if void is effective against the Leshkin, there has to be a good reason why humanity doesn’t use it against them more often.

-Yes. That would have been good to consider before you rusting ticked off the entire forest… again!-

Flow was done with its meal, and Tala was already running once again.

She sheathed Flow in its dormant form and did her best to increase her pace.

The zeme below the canopy was just as thin as she remembered, much of it seemingly absorbed and repurposed by the trees and the Leshkin connected to them.

As she focused on that, she could actually see Leshkin moving even though they were beyond trunks, the flows of power highlighting them in ways that it hadn’t before.

Or my magesight is more effective.

That is also how Tala noticed that the zeme leveled out to the north.

A territorial border? The Leshkin have a border in here?

She could have gone a few miles north and avoided them entirely.

Someone had to know about this… She was not happy. She considered turning that direction, but realized that the Leshkin wouldn’t stop without a good reason, and so their border had to be with something, and the last thing she wanted was to run headlong into something that was holding the Leshkin back.

Better the enemy you know than the fatal unknown.

A dozen lesser Leshkin descended on her in the next minutes, and she blew through them without slowing down, their acid blood doing absolutely nothing against the magical defenses of her elk-leathers.

Of course they weren’t affected, they were literally enhanced with Leshkin Juggernaut armor.

She grinned. This might be more fun than she’d feared.

And I can get some more loot. Loot was always useful.

She’d used void in both her weapon and on her elk-leathers as she specifically struck at the bundles of power that seemed to be the manifestations of the Leshkin souls, or at least the core of their being that was used to animate the vegetative matter.

Each one sent out a ripple through reality and caused renewed shrieks from the Leshkin in the region.

Thankfully, reality didn’t seem to degrade any more than it had with the first shriek. If that’s even degradation? It might just be a clarifying of reality, a revealing of what is always there?

She didn’t have the time to truly theorize.

As to the bundles of power, each one seemingly bolstered Flow in its void-form, or the void-aspects of her elk-leathers, building the strength of those magics, even as the power also seemed to leak into her.

After a few swarms of lessers failed to slow her in the slightest, she encountered the first warrior.

It stepped out from behind a tree in one of their favorite ambush tactics, swinging a massive war-pick at her chest.

The blow connected, the tip even piercing just enough into her magical defenses to gain purchase.

Tala didn’t slow, and the Leshkin had a firm grip.

That combination ripped the thing’s arms off, even as Tala cut it in half with a back-swing of void-glaive-Flow, making sure to pass the blade through the bundles of power from the two lessers that made up the warrior.

They stuck to Flow and came with Tala as she continued on, the void-weapon quickly devouring those bundles.

With a quick motion, Tala pulled the war-pick free and dropped it into Kit.

Alright, then. Let’s do this.

There were far more Leshkin in the area than she’d expected, but now that she knew that this was their border with something it made quite a bit of sense.

Did Paresh know?

-Probably not. He tried to send us through a thin part of the forest and gave several options. He also said that his people try to stay away from the forest.-

That’s fair. But if we meet him again, I’m going to have questions.

-That’s fair.-

She cut through a squad of warrior Leshkin next, only missing three of the bundles of power.

It was interesting how they seemed to stick to the void magic as they were slowly consumed, and Tala definitely noticed that Flow or her elk-leathers seemed to gain some temporary strength from the consumption.

Also… Am I moving faster?

She hadn’t slowed her loping run, though she was having to go around more and more trees that ‘just happened’ to be in the way. Rusting moving forest.

-You are actually progressing at the same pace, but with the detours, I would estimate that you are, in fact, speeding up, yes.-

Do you think the power is bleeding into me? I mean more than just fractionally?

-Odd way to ask, but maybe? I can analyze the power flowing through your scripts.-

Please do so.

Flow licked out a dozen times even as she rammed her fist through the breastplate of a Leshkin knight, lifting it bodily and carrying it along with her.

Flow transformed into a void-knife so Tala could stab it into the four bundles of power within the thing before she dropped the remains of its body, still bearing armor and weapons, into Kit.

She was starting to definitively feel something, and whatever it was, it felt good.

-The power is definitely flowing through your inscriptions, but it’s not displacing your own power, it’s somehow flowing in parallel?-

Tala shivered, her every sense slowly growing sharper.

More.

She wanted more, and the Leshkin kept coming.

A few minutes later, Tala noticed that a cluster of Leshkin were coming up from the south, but she would pass them by before they got in her way.

She diverted to intercept them.

-Oh… This is—-

Tala slammed into the group of knights, whipping Flow in tight patterns that made the air crack and scream at the weapon’s passing.

Stolen power washed through Tala, suffusing her scripts, including those that made up her alternate interface.

-This is amazing. Yes. Let’s keep going.-

Tala grinned.

She still needed to get out of the forest, though she was less sure of why, but that was alright. The Leshkin were coming to her after all, so she needn’t divert her journey too much.

The world almost seemed to fade, just slightly, but she came back to herself.

A single juggernaut was toppling, Tala riding it to the ground as she drove Flow in pinpoint strikes at the power that animated the creature.

That power washed through her, helping level out the balance of powers in her scripts.

Many of those scripts were meant specifically to help her keep her rationality in tense situations, and those finally got sufficient power to match the overwhelming feedback coming from everything else.

Oh… Rust.

-Tala? Why… Oh.-

How long?

-Only an hour or so, and we’ve been keeping on a relatively steady course, despite our… state.-

Tala shook her head, trying to fully clear it. It feels like I’m recovering from being drunk.

Absently, she picked up the massive mace that the juggernaut hadn’t been able to bring to bear against her, dropping it into Kit as the opening to the pouch distorted to accept the weapon.

She took a moment to look at her left hand. I’m glad I had enough presence of mind to at least be extra careful with my left hand. If this is cut off, I don’t get home.

She expanded her focus and really saw the forest around her.

Dozens of juggernauts were closing in on her, and those were just the ones she could easily see in her moment of renewed clarity.

How far to the edge of the forest?

-We’re more than half-way, but barely. I think we’ll need another three hours unless we can improve on our pace.-

Alright. Help me direct the power to keep our focus and direction through this.

-Good call. I’m with you.-

Alright; progress, not slaughter. Let’s do this.

That became her mantra as she continued to fight the juggernauts.

Progress, not slaughter.

Towards that end, she purposely took quite a few hits, always biasing them towards her right side.

They were nothing she couldn’t heal, but they still hurt.

She allowed them because those she let hit always threw her in the direction she wanted to go.

As it was, around three hours later, she rounded a trunk and found open plains beyond.

She almost collapsed in relief, but even as she thought she left the forest and the Leshkin behind, two massive forms fell from the sky, landing nearly directly in her way in the pre-dawn light.

The two forms might have been mistaken as boiling, their shapes not distinct and almost seeming like they were coming together as she watched.

By this time, Tala was incredibly proficient in picking out the nodules of power within Leshkin.

One for lessers, two for warriors, four for knights, and eight for juggernauts.

The two Leshkin before her each held thirty-two bundles of power, tightly encircling a singular, vastly more powerful source of power.

As she watched, they shrunk, compacting until they matched her in size, their flesh so compressed that it resembled stone or metal more than the vegetation it had previously seemed to be.

A voice like a spring breeze across a field of corpses issued from the air around the two beings.

“Running away, hungry little void? But you’ve only just arrived.”

A second voice sounded as well, somehow evoking ancient roots slowly pulling down the long-abandoned defenses of an ancient civilization. “Marked of human and arcane, unquenchable traitor, we have not given you leave to depart.”

Well, this is new.

-Master Jevin spoke of more powerful variations that came out during the Leshkin wars. If not, it would be fairly trivial for a few higher level Archons to hold back the tide.- Alat almost seemed to scoff within Tala’s head. -We’ve slain hundreds with our running tactics. We’d have done worse if we were defending a position, or facing an army directly, but it definitely shows their weakness to more powerful humans.-

And to the void.

-That too.-

Decay spoke again, “Return your stolen power and depart.”

Inevitable Erosion added their piece, “We are meant to have nearly two more centuries of sleep. Don’t disturb us further or force the waking of the Royals.”

So, these aren’t Royals, whatever those are.

-These are what? Generals, then?-

That makes sense. Four juggernauts around a more powerful, more intelligent core.

Tala had slid to a stop well outside the tree line, but still at least a hundred feet from the two theoretical generals.

She decided to play along for the moment. Return the power? “I do not know how. I am new to the magics of the void and sought only to defend myself during my passage through the forest.”

“Truth?” Inevitability seemed surprised. “Of both humanity and the arcane, you travel these lands with those powers, and no one told you of the dangers?”

Decay laughed mirthlessly. “Someone hates you, human child.”

Tala grimaced. “That is not in dispute.”

Something deep within Tala felt like she couldn’t beat these two, an instinct born of long training with those more powerful than herself. She even doubted that she could escape if she chose to run.

Another part, the part suffused with stolen power, wanted her to try to kill them anyways. After all, she might get lucky and then all their power would be hers.

She forcibly suppressed that urge.

“What must I do to be free of the two of you? To allow you to rest once more?”

The two shared a look before they spoke as one. “Your death would not go unanswered. One of your rank is too valuable to go missing unnoticed.” They nodded and locked hauntingly empty eyes on her. The four eyes seemed both very similar to her own eyes when she used voidsight, while also giving her an entirely different impression. “Seize the stolen power that remains within you and eject it. We will remember you and hunt you in the coming war, but we will not pursue you, now.”

-That seems… too reasonable. If you do that, you will be even weaker and have even less of a chance of escape.-

I already have no chance. She didn’t like it, but she really didn’t seem to have much of an option.

Tala nodded, though it pained a deep part of her. “Agreed.”

The two Leshkin were suddenly standing beside her, and she felt their weaponry at the ready, though they seemed unarmed.

Tala swallowed, barely keeping from flinching away.

She focused inward, grabbed onto the flowing, looping power that had been claimed by her void magics, and rejected it.

The power seemed to scream out of her, coming from her mouth and eyes in a dense, roiling cloud before vanishing back into the forest.

Tala slumped, feeling lesser without the stolen power.

The two Leshkin spoke as one once again. “Bargain struck, bargain fulfilled.”

Then, they were gone, Tala not even able to sense their departure.

Well, that was awful.

-We’re having quite a few of those experiences lately, aren’t we?-

Tala groaned. I just want to get home.

She staggered forward, getting back up to speed with effort.

She felt so slow without the amplification of the stolen Leshkin power, but Alat assured her that she was fractionally more powerful and coordinated than before she’d entered the forest, leaving her with an easier time pressing up against the reasonable upper limit of her speed, while avoiding magical resonance.

So, some permanent benefit?

-It seems so.-

Worth studying… but later.

She felt ragged, but she pressed on as the sun rose and climbed up the sky over her right shoulder.

It traversed the entire cool blue expanse above her and was nearly to the horizon before something broke the monotony.

-We’re passing near the Arconaven Ruins. It might be interesting to investigate.-

Not now. We can come back later.

-That’s probably wise.-

Still, Tala looked off to her right, focusing on her magesight and seeing the remnants of increased power that accompanied the fully waned city.

She was genuinely curious what she could find in a ruin.

Later.

She refocused forward and ran on as the sun set.

Night passed in a haze, and as the first light of dawn began to lighten the sky once again, Alat laughed within Tala’s head.

-I have full Archive access! Expanding permissions on the prepared packets of information.-

* * *

All across the southern human cities, select Archons gained access to new sections of the Archive.

Most didn’t notice right away, but a few did.

Seemingly of one mind, the most common response was simply, “What the rust?”

A note from JLMullins

One example of some of the fun things found on the Discord!

(Fan Art: Terry!)

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 266 - Small Note

A note from JLMullins

If you have Kindle Unlimited, a download and page through of one or both of the books is a big help!

Holly sighed as the mageling behind her thrashed and screamed.

He was being well paid, and had even volunteered for ‘deep’ inscriptions, but he wasn’t taking them well.

Part of the issue was the pain wasn’t really physical, so couldn’t be directly inhibited.

She’d tried knocking her subjects unconscious, but as with that girl, when each had come to, all the pain had come upon them at once.

Contrary to what she often said, she did not like restarting people’s hearts, so that method wasn’t very practical.

As she was paying a handsome amount for subjects these days, including redesigning their scripts free of charge, Holly had an over-abundance of Mages, magelings, and Archons willing to have her try new things on, but it hadn’t taken long to realize that she had to have a completely clean slate, and the less ‘set’ their magics, the better.

The current boy had just graduated a few weeks earlier. In fact, his master was in the front room, likely still pacing.

Holly pulled out her slab and activated the surveillance scripts.

She could have pulled them up internally, but her head already hurt, so it wasn’t worth the effort.

The mageling’s master was, indeed, still pacing, but something else grabbed her attention.

Someone had granted her additional access within the Archive.

What the rust?

She accessed the information and was greeted by what seemed to be a memory. Like the ones Mistress Tala showed me so many months ago. She did miss that girl. One day, she’d have to figure out what happened to her.

Holly watched the memory as some sort of arcane device activated and tendrils of metal wove through the person the memory was taken from.

No… Is that? Somehow, the memory conveyed the intent and actuality of what happened. Yes, it is reinscribing them.

Who sent this? I need to see this device.

Along with the memory was a short note.

‘Mistress Holly, I’m back. We should talk.’

A wicked grin spread across the Inscriptionist’s face. She didn’t need a name signed, which was good, because there wasn’t one.

“Oh, you stubbornly resilient child. How I’ve missed you.”

* * *

Rane stepped back, critically examining the massive, unfinished statue towering above him.

He tilted his head, first one way, then another.

Not quite… He stepped forward once again, placing his hand against the offending bit of granite, and very purposefully started a kinetic cycling, almost turning his hand into a sort of repeating hammer, but with much greater precision.

The stone sloughed away, revealing new material underneath.

He grinned, once again pulling back to look at his work in progress.

It was a life-sized statue of a titan wolf, specifically: Anatalis, the Beast of the Northern Plains and Forest, who was said to rule over the wolves there, beyond the forests that human cities treated as their northern border.

We’re surrounded by forests, filled with the Leshkin to the south, and the Anatalins to the north. Though, the wolves don’t raid us; they simply fall back as our cities cycle through their woodland hunting grounds.

There was some debate among scholars if the wolves were specifically hostile to humanity, but they would attack small groups of humans, so they at least weren’t overly friendly.

The bit of stone Rane had just adjusted was the fur on the right front leg of the statue.

Perfect.

The shape was now exactly as it should be, roughed out. That done, he could start buffing, polishing, and ensuring the precise details were as they should be.

Master Grediv had suggested that Rane take up a hobby to help him get used to being Fused, as well as help the process of Refining.

Rane hadn’t imagined that he’d enjoy stone carving. That’s probably why it had taken him so long to try it.

First, he’d tried painting.

He was awful. His teacher had gently told him that he wasn’t cut out for work with a brush.

He’d tried writing.

Rane, as it turned out, didn’t have the desire to write nonfiction, and he found that he enjoyed reading fiction far more than writing it.

He’d tried cooking.

As he didn’t want to eat what he cooked, the process was rather torturous.

He could have gotten scripts to maintain his shape, allowing for greater indulgences, but he didn’t want to waste the magic. After all, he could put that portion of his flesh to other purposes, and he had.

Of late, he was consistently matching Refined in friendly bouts and could endure against Master Grediv for a full minute.

But that was beside the point.

Finally, he’d tried stoneworking.

As it turned out, his kinetic redirection was perfect for working with stone, so long as he had the patience to gain precision and mastery of his own magics.

It was a match made under the stars.

Keeping an eye on his statue as if it might up and run off on him, Rane wandered over to a workbench to one side and took a long drink from his waterskin.

As he did so, his Archive tablet caught his eye.

There was nothing particularly odd about it, except that he kept it meticulously organized, and it seemed like someone had granted him additional access, and now that information was cluttering his system.

Master Grediv really should know better.

But as Rane looked closer, he was able to tell that it didn’t seem like the new access came from Master Grediv.

The information was a series of images, seemingly taken from someone’s mind.

The scenes were all of incredibly elaborate, massively complex, and delicious looking foods.

“What the rust? That’s mean.” He loved food, but rarely indulged for the reasons he’d just been contemplating.

The depictions of food came with a note.

‘Rane. Food is always good, and I’ve been having some rather interesting fare of late. We should grab a bite sometime soon. I’ll be in Alefast, Waning, shortly, and from there, I plan to go back to Bandfast. I hope our paths cross soon!’

Rane barked a laugh.

“Oh! You’re back.” A happy grin spread across his face.

It had worked. She’d seized upon whatever chance the Sovereign had arranged, and she was back.

Tala had returned to the human lands.

A part of him wanted to leave at once to go meet up with her.

Instead, he sent back a short reply before shaking his head and turning to regard the wolf statue once again. There would be time to meet up with her soon enough, and that time was not now.

She will likely have a lot to sort through in the immediate future, and I’ll just get in the way for now.

“Now, let’s see if I can finish you properly.”

* * *

Lyn filed yet another batch of documents and forms within the Archive before leaning back and sighing. “Kannis?”

“Yes, master?” The tired grin on the younger woman’s face gave away the joke.

Lyn huffed. “Very funny, child.”

“What can I do for you, Mistress Lyn?”

“I’m done for the night. How about you?”

Kannis chuckled. “Considering it’s morning? Yes. I am done for the night.”

Lyn groaned. She’d agreed to take on some extra managerial work now that she had Kannis assisting her and the girl was rather well trained by now, but the work was still more than Lyn was used to, and she was still acclimatizing to the processes, herself.

“Shall we head home?”

“Yes, please, my little mageling. Let’s go—” Lyn’s slate changed to a bright white color. It didn’t glow, but the pigment was a clear indication.

Kannis glanced at the device, then took in Lyn’s slumped demeanor. “Whatever it is, it came in after we left. We can deal with it when we come back this afternoon.”

Lyn almost turned away as Kannis suggested, but finally groaned and picked up the device. “It might be important.”

It was a simple note.

‘Lyn. I’m sorry that I’m late on the rent. Will you forgive me?’

The slate hit the floor as Lyn covered her mouth, tears filling her eyes and began to spill over.

A Mage working at a nearby desk cursed at the loud sound, “What the rust?”

Kannis ignored the other woman and was at her master’s side in an instant. “Mistress? Mistress Lyn? Are you alright? What’s happened?”

Around the sudden tears and snot, Lyn choked out a little laugh. “She’s alive.”

* * *

Boma growled as some lunatic gave him access to something new within the Archive.

Didn’t they know he was busy? He had a mountain of work to tackle this day, and someone decided to just throw information at him without preamble?

With a sigh, he opened the information packet. After all, no one would truly be foolish enough to waste his time. And pity the fool who is.

…He’d been wrong. Someone had granted him access to a memory of walking through a farm compound of some kind.

What the rust kind of stupidity… is… this…? His eyes widened as the perspective shifted to look up at the ‘sun.’

It was clear that the person’s magesight was powerful, but not specifically aimed at the creation and analysis of magical items.

Even so, the viewer’s advancement was similar to his own, and in that sight, he could see that the bright source of heat and warmth was, in fact, a construct.

It was an incredibly advanced, artificial sun. I don’t know that I’ve seen that make before.

He found himself standing, eyes widening further as he reviewed the short memory again, seeing more and more evidence of magic imbued into the constructions shown.

When he finally let the memory play to the end, a small note came into view.

‘Thank you for all of your help in the past. I’ve got some fun new things to show you when I’m able to get back to Bandfast. I’ll be in touch, Mistress Tala.’

Boma sat down hard.

He’d heard of Mistress Tala’s vanishing, and the loss of one so young and promising had saddened him, even if she had been a bit of a handful and lacking in direction.

“So, you’re back?” A smile started to tug at his lips as he recalled the few things he’d seen through, seemingly, her eyes. “And you’ve got some puzzles for us.”

He had full access to what she’d sent, so he added his own note next to hers.

‘Well, this will certainly be a treat. I’ll look forward to your visit.’ After a moment, he nodded and added, ‘I’m glad you’re safe, girl. Stay that way, will you?’

A moment later, unexpectedly, another note was added after his own. ‘I’ll do my best, Master Boma. It’s good to be back.’

* * *

Queue was a very happy man.

He had always been one to have more ideas than he had time or funds to see realized, and the lack of the latter caused an even greater dearth of the former.

Now, however, a steady stream of money had fallen into his lap.

A beautifully simple, widely useful item had come into his hands for replication and his partner, the provider of that same item, had vanished without a trace.

In truth, Queue had been sad to see her go, and he had initially looked for her safe return. Now, though? It had been many months, and he had found a use for the extra twenty percent.

It wasn’t a ton of gold to be sure, the entire profits so far had been a bit less than a thousand ounces gold, but production was speeding up, and he had ready customers on the books for the next thirty-thousand combs last time he’d checked, and that was nearly a week ago.

He was taking a break from working through the production projections and numbers to work on a different project.

He laughed at that. Still short on time, but not as badly as before. Besides, the process of comb production was almost to the point that he could pass some of it off to his research assistants.

He expected profits to be greater in the coming months since the startup costs were well and truly recouped and word was getting out from those who had already purchased one. Their friends were clamoring to get on the waiting list.

Master Simon knocked lightly as he came in. “Master Queue? Have you been working all night?”

Queue had, but he’d Refined long ago. “It’s no matter.”

Still, something smelled… amazing.

“Is that… coffee? And breakfast?”

“Yes, breakfast pastries, sir. Bacon and sunny-side-up egg, nestled in a laminate dough.”

Queue gave a half smile. Simon had a passion for baking, and he applied the same passion towards his work as a Constructionist, though he still pursued the hobby on the side. “Thank you, Master Simon, did you make these yourself?”

“Not this morning, sir. Hanna did, today.”

“She’s your eldest, correct?”

“Yes, sir.” Simon’s smile broadened. “She’s started working for a little bakery near our home, and she absolutely loves it.” There was both pride and a bit of longing in the younger Archon.

“Well, please convey my thanks.”

“I certainly will.”

Queue took a moment to enjoy the coffee and eat one of the pastries. Finally, he asked. “Are you quite sure it’s morning? I did promise Islade that I’d be home tonight.”

“I’m afraid so.”

Queue sighed. “Well, then, I must take the day off to make it up to her.”

“She knows you’re busy, I’m sure she understands.”

Queue chuckled. “Well of course she understands, that is not in question. I still broke a promise to my wife, however unintentionally. I must get home.”

He stood, but as he did so, his wall changed color. He was expecting some collaborative information from a colleague in Audel. Finished already?

He activated the Archive link with barely a thought, even as he gathered his things to go.

A simple note appeared as if scrawled within the nature of the wall.

What the rust? They promised me… It became instantly obvious that this wasn’t information granted to him by his colleague.

‘Master Queue, I trust that you are well and that our venture has begun to earn a profit, as we had hoped. Do you require anything further from me in order to transfer over my portion of the profits? Cordially, Mistress Tala.’

Queue’s eye twitched.

Master Simon’s eyes widened. “Oh! I’d thought she went missing?”

“She did.”

“Well, I am glad that she has been found, that is excellent news.”

Simon was right of course, that was excellent news, and Queue was happy that the girl was safe once more. Even so, it was with a mix of resignation and relief that he transferred the twenty percent to Mistress Tala’s account and headed for home.

He honestly never truly considered delaying. After all, even if it slowed down his other projects by a bit, Queue was a man of his word.

Now, flowers? Or maybe I should grab some of those pastries for her, they were fantastic… I think Master Simon lives on the way home? So, the bakery won’t be too out of the way.

That, he decided, was just the thing to accompany his apology and give Islade a great start to their day, together.

* * *

Ingrit rose early and prepared breakfast for herself and her family, a smile pulling at her lips.

Even though she could easily split her mind and be reading or working while she cooked, she didn’t use her time that way. Instead, she mindfully meditated on the service she was performing for her husband and four children who still lived with them.

She didn’t get to spend as much time with her family as she’d like, so she relished this chance to love them.

The family was stirring when the Archive tried to grab her attention. Apparently, someone had shared new information with her.

That could wait. This was not a time for work.

Breakfast was over far too quickly, and soon enough the kids were off to school, and her husband was heading toward his own job. He’d promised to take care of dinner that night, and that put a spring in Ingrit’s step.

She loved his cooking almost as much as she loved him.

Alright, family hat off, work hat on.

It wasn’t a long walk to the Library, but it did afford her some time.

Let’s see what… this… is.

‘Mistress Ingrit. I assume that confidentiality still exists between us. In that vein, I desperately need your assistance with my time away. Included here is a full log of—and access to—my memories and the information I gathered while in the arcane lands. I’d explain further, but you’ll know everything soon enough. I authorize you to share the titles of the books I have brought back, in full, from the arcane city of Platoiri. I will likely wish to barter with the Library to grant the full texts into your experienced keeping. I look forward to communicating with you further, Mistress Tala’

Ingrit had been so startled that she’d had to step to the side of the street and stop in her tracks. Arcane city? Books? What?

She opened the list of titles within her own mind and felt her eyes bug out.

Throwing decorum to the wind, Ingrit hiked up her skirts and took off to the Library, passing many mundanes so quickly they were left to simply comment on the crisp morning breeze.

* * *

Grediv looked down on the boy, his latest apprentice, though he was near to getting another.

The latest sculpture showed promise, though Rane had taken entirely the wrong lesson from his advice. Still, it was helping the boy with his magics.

I will take the victory. He was getting far too dependent on brute force and rough workings of power. This nuance is a welcome area of growth.

He saw Rane notice something on his own Archive link. As soon as he’s Refined, we’ll get him an integrated one. I believe there’s a relatively new inscription set that does wonders for that integration with the mind.

He’d have to take Rane to Bandfast, Holly was the only inscriber he’d trust such an upgrade to. It will be worth the trip.

A moment later, the Paragon received a surprise.

His own mental connection to the Archive presented Grediv with a short note even as it was shared with him.

‘I fear things will get complicated for me very soon. I appreciated your help during my raising, and request such assistance again. I am barely two hours out from Alefast, Waning. Can you help? Mistress Tala.’

Alive and returned? Rane was right to keep the faith, it seems.

Well, that explained some of the boy’s reaction, he must have gotten a message from her as well.

Grediv smiled and added a simple note of his own. ‘Absolutely. From which direction are you coming?’

‘East-southeast.’

‘I’ll meet you at the gate.’

* * *

Odera’s Archive tablet sat on a side table, unattended.

A shift in color indicated new access granted, but nobody was nearby to see.

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 267 - Entrance

A note from JLMullins

If you have Kindle Unlimited, a download and page through of one or both of the books is a big help!

Tala continued her loping run, feeling quite thoroughly worn out. It hadn’t been that long since she slept, but it seemed like the increased power flowing through her had worn at her body more than she’d really realized, and then excising it from herself had left her with only the downsides.

-All messages delivered and a few replies and exchanges enacted, per what we discussed.-

Great. Will we have help?

-Master Grediv will meet us at the nearest gate, when we arrive at Alefast.-

Oh, that’s fantastic. I’m so glad he was in town. I was not looking forward to trying to convince a random Archon that we meant no harm…

She was almost back.

She was almost home.

The level of magic in the air had been steadily rising for the last few hours, and the zeme was really starting to show some turbulence.

It was odd seeing this region again in a new light.

Not only was she coming from nearly the exact opposite direction, but she was also far more powerful and capable with her magesight.

Oh! Terry. She had been in such a fog since the forest that she hadn’t really considered the terror bird.

She opened Kit, and before she could call out, Terry flickered into being beside her.

His screech of annoyance would have deafened a mundane human, even if only temporarily.

Tala stumbled to the side, flinching.

“Gah! Terry, that hurt!”

He screeched again, fluffing his feathers in visible irritation.

“I’m sorry! The forest was more taxing than I expected, and I’ve just been trying to get this trip done with.”

He lowered his head and stalked forward, covering the distance that she’d stumbled away. It was only then that Tala noticed his size. Even hunched low, he still easily matched her height.

She stepped back a bit more, the large terror following her. “I apologize! I didn’t mean to leave you in there, unknowing how I fared.”

Terry slowed, squinting at her.

“I should have called you out as soon as I was free of the woods.”

He chirped in aggressive affirmation.

“Will you forgive me?”

Straightening, he let out a long series of random trills that to Tala sounded like nothing so much as her mother ranting about one of the littlest siblings. It was an oddly nostalgic feeling, for all it was more than a decade old.

Because I’m so near to home? That was likely. “I know you were worried about me. I said I was sorry.”

Terry cut off his trilling and glared.

“I know that doesn’t make it better, and I know this is the second time that you’d have preferred to be out sooner on this trip. Will you forgive me?”

His demeanor shifted, and he shook himself before chirping once in affirmation.

“Thank you.”

Terry didn’t reply further, instead shrinking down until his head barely came up to her waist.

“You want to run with me the rest of the way?”

The bird’s look conveyed exactly how stupid he felt that question was.

“Fine. Let’s go.” She quickly inspected his neck, and was able to just see the collar hiding beneath his feathers, and only then because it was her magic that was mirrored into it.

As they ran, Tala very carefully placed a white-armored finger on the collar and refilled it with her power. That would have been… less than great.

Thus, Tala arrived at the southeastern gate into Alefast, Waning, sometime in the midmorning, Terry at her side.

The wall stood tall to either side of the gate, and Tala felt nervous energy building within her as she approached.

This was it.

She was here.

She was on the threshold of a real, human city.

If fate was the rusting bit of slag it seemed to be of late, something was about to happen to keep her from entering.

There were no guards visible from outside the city, so she approached cautiously.

But nothing unexpected jumped out and stopped her.

Instead, Master Grediv stepped out of the open archway and smiled. “Mistress Tala. I can see your travels have left their mark, and your avian friend has grown.” There was a sparkle of mischief in the Paragon’s eyes. “Shall we…”

Tala felt his penetrating scan of her entire self, the iron on her skin definitively gaining some heat at the power behind the inspection.

She saw his face fall into a perfectly blank mask.

She watched as the glint left his eyes.

“Why do you have a concept threaded through your entire body? Speak now, Archon.”

“I am infected with a dasgannach. That is one of most pressing issues that I need assistance to address.”

That seemed to take Master Grediv completely off guard. First, that was likely because she answered quickly, readily, and completely. Second, he could likely tell the truth of her words, if Tala was right in her guess, and that surely was shocking.

“It is contained at the moment, but I would greatly prefer your assistance as soon as possible.”

“I see.” He was frowning. “Do you have any specific ideas on what assistance you require?”

A test? Or just gathering more information. “I think a teleport would be prudent.”

He huffed a laugh. “You want me to teleport you to some other city, while filled with a clearly hostile concept?”

“No, I assumed that wouldn’t be possible. I would like you to teleport me to the tower in this very city. That should strip the dasgannach from me.”

Master Grediv frowned again but began nodding. “I can see that working, depending on the flavor of creature. For most, we could simply entice it out and heal whatever issues that caused. What is its material?”

“Iron.”

Once again, the ancient man seemed caught off guard. “Well, that explains the issue, then.” A long, increasingly uncomfortable silence stretched between them as Tala stood outside the gates.

I knew it. This was too easy. Fate is going to sucker-punch me again right when I—

“Very well. Follow closely without making contact. We need to get this sorted, immediately.”

Oh.

Alat barked a laugh within Tala’s head. -Well, that worked better than we’d hoped.-

For now. He could still wipe us off the face of Zeme.

-True, but he’s more likely to help us. That’s why we asked him to meet us, right? Because we were pretty sure he’d take the time to find the truth, rather than ‘killing it to be sure.’-

True enough.

Master Grediv turned and strode into Alefast, Waning, and Tala hesitated for only a moment before following, Terry heeling perfectly at her side.

The guards stood back, not interfering or questioning them as they passed.

“So, Mistress Tala. Tell me what I need to know about the dasgannach. Given that you’re you, I imagine there are surrounding, pertinent details?”

Tala felt power thread through the air in an incredibly intricate lattice locking out any chance of them being overheard, and she had a realization. How do such workings move with us? If they locked to a specific volume of air, the working would have to drag it along with us, but it’s not doing that.

“Mistress?” Master Grediv had turned to regard her. “Lost in thought so quickly?” A mirthful smile tugged at his lips. “I’d thought you’d simply ask rather than bottling yourself up.”

“I’ve been in a position where I had to be more careful with my questions, at least a bit.”

“That’s a pity. I always appreciated your curiosity.”

Taking that for the invitation that it was, she asked. “How does your working move with us?”

He turned and they started walking once more. “Your magesight has certainly improved if you can see that.”

She was to his side but still out of arm’s reach. “I think it’s more a matter of magical weight than an actual improvement to the script.”

“That is actually what I meant. The sharpest blade cannot slice stone without weight behind it.” He hesitated. “Well, that’s not actually true, but it gets the idea across.”

“So?”

“Yes, yes. How familiar are you with the fabric of reality?”

She hesitated. Well, in for a copper. “Do you mean the Doman-Imithe and its backing of Zeme?”

Master Grediv barked a laugh. “Oh, you are going to be a joy for the next good while, aren’t you?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “That touches on a truly mindboggling number of things. Though, few have enough anchoring in Zeme to safely study the Doman-Imithe.”

Well, that’s a difference, but I’ll wait until my question is answered at the very least.

“So, I assume you know of the bits of reality that make up Zeme?”

“Yes.”

“Good. The best analogy is sandstone. Each bit of reality is pressed against the others until they make a coherent whole. The analogy breaks down, because of the fluid nature of some parts of reality.”

Tala frowned. “What? We don’t have land moving around randomly.”

“Well, we actually do, but that’s rare and not what I’m talking about.”

She cocked her head and didn’t interject.

“Us. People, animals, material moving around. All of it is a part of reality but isn’t locked in place.”

“That… I hadn’t considered it that way.” In the Doman-Imithe, all the nodules had been tied to each other with threads of reality, and so had she and Thron. We were just manifesting more fully within the Doman-Imithe, and the nodules I was searching were oriented towards Zeme.

That caused a lot of things to click into place.

-Oh, rust! We just needed to flip our orientation, and we’d have popped back into Zeme.-

Yeah, that sounds nice, but what does it mean? How could we have actually accomplished that?

-I have no idea.-

Tala grinned internally. And where would we have appeared?

-Not a clue.-

Master Grediv continued speaking, drawing her thoughts back, “I anchor the spellworking to myself, the fragment of reality that is ‘me,’ with distance parameters oriented on that anchor. Most spellforms actually work in this way, but Mages, by and large, don’t have the understanding to comprehend them in that way. They believe and enact their workings based on the manifestation of reality, rather than reality itself. It’s a weakness and an inefficiency that is usually corrected when an Archon Fuses, or thereabout. We always have this discussion before the Archon Refines. To do otherwise would be to kill the Mage.”

Her eyes widened. “Because Refining is purifying the substance of reality, which is you.”

Tala could hear the smile in his voice as he responded, “Precisely true, at the deepest levels. That is the foundation, though much else is done on top of that footing as well.”

I feel like this has some insane implications and applications. “How far around myself is included in the fragment?”

“That is a…”—he frowned—“that is an incredibly insightful question.”

Tala let the silence hang as they walked through the streets. Wait… Why is he giving us this information now?

-Well, doesn’t it remind you of your interactions with him in the past?-

It really does.

-So, this could be a way of verifying you’re you in a really hard to beat way?-

Oh… huh… that makes sense, I suppose.

The moment of silence passed, and Master Gredive began to nod. “You’ve been to the Doman-Imithe, haven’t you.” It was not a question.

“Yes.”

“That is a rare experience, Mistress Tala. Were you given the tools to perceive the threads and knots?”

“Is that what they are actually called? I gave them that name because they seemed so to me. Though, they seemed more like protuberances to me or nodules.”

“The descriptions I’ve read could be interpreted that way I suppose. I assume that is a ‘yes’ then?”

“I am able to see them, yes.”

That caused Master Grediv to stop, and he turned to her. “Void or Reality?” He became very still, and his demeanor gained a deadly seriousness. “You will answer now and answer honestly.”

Tala had pulled up short alongside him. She considered lying. Reality sounds so much safer than void magic. I really don’t want to be smote… But her void connection was going to be obvious, even if he couldn’t read the truth of her words. “Void.”

Master Grediv relaxed. “Oh, bless me, child, you don’t know what razor’s edge you danced.”

“What? What would be wrong with reality magic?”

He laughed, turning to continue on his way. “Every Mage who has ever bound or gained reality magics has tried to wipe out their fellows eventually. It is almost as taboo as necromancy, though far, far harder to practice so we’ve found it easier to simply address it when it comes up, rather than teaching about it specifically.”

“Ahh. And void?”

“Very, very rare as it can’t exist naturally in Zeme, but there have been the occasional artifacts found with magics of the void. We’ve not seen any specific pattern with Archons who bound those. So, there doesn’t seem to be any inherent influence from such.”

She felt herself sigh in relief and very, very specifically didn’t look at Kit. She also didn’t look at Flow for that matter. Huh, I have void on each hip.

-And woven intrinsically through the garments you wear.-

Ahh, yeah. That’s true.

“As to your question, it’s up for debate. It’s generally agreed that the size of your fragment of reality is related to your aura. I’m going off texts, now, but as I understand it, reality manifests oddly in Doman-Imithe. Was that your experience?”

Tala barked a laugh. “That is an understatement, but yes, that’s true.”

He nodded. “It works similarly for your ‘piece of reality.’ Obviously, you and I aren’t dragging the earth and air along with us as we walk, but they are within our bits of reality.”

“So, as we move, the specific manifestation shifts. The underpinnings are what change, not the surface?”

“That is one way to look at it, yes. We ‘own’ the deeper layers, thus ruling the surface, but the surface itself doesn’t change without specific action on our part.”

Alat. Does that mean…?

-I think so. I don’t know exactly how we could target fragments of reality for gravitational amplification, but I think it would be possible.-

Is that what Terry does?

-Well, not with gravity, but I think so. He simply doesn’t include dirt and muck in his definitional understanding of his fragment, and so that doesn’t come with him.-

It was like finding the last piece of a puzzle… well, a child’s puzzle where the overall picture could be hidden by a single missing piece… and a puzzle where no one told her the picture she was aiming at. This is a really awful metaphor, actually.

-Yeah, I’ve never truly thought about it, but it makes no sense.-

“I can see you’re considering some deep implications, but you still haven’t told me about your unwelcome passenger.”

“Oh! Right.” And so she filled him in on the collar, the two dasgannach, how they’d been modified, and so on.

It took the remainder of their trip to the teleportation tower.

Before they entered the tower, Master Grediv stopped. “You should leave your dimensional storage with the receptionist, since it is still not soulbound to you so it can’t teleport with you. Can your… friend wait within it?” He looked meaningfully at Terry.

Tala regarded Terry, and the terror bird looked back. Finally, he squawked in resignation and bobbed a nod.

Tala shrugged. “Sure. I could just put my storage on the outside wall, here?”

Master Grediv nodded. “That would be interesting to see. Those always manifest a bit differently. I assume you’ve merged it with a syphon fascia?”

She gave him a mildly surprised look.

He chuckled. “I’m old, child. If it exists within the human cities, I’m likely aware of it, at least tangentially.”

She grunted. “That’s fair.”

He hesitated then smiled. “Well, with all that you’ve likely brought with you, that isn’t as true as it was a few hours ago.”

Tala laughed. “Once we’ve sorted this, I’ll see what I can do to correct that alteration.”

“I look forward to it.”

She pulled Kit from her belt. She took a moment to consider. “Do you want to go to the hills?”

Terry squawked noncommittally.

“Fine, just somewhere near where I usually find you, then.” She tossed Kit at the wall, and a door grew to perfectly integrate with the side of the tower, near the main entrance. As usual, the entrance seemed to fit perfectly, looking like it had always been there.

“Fascinating. Thank you for allowing me to watch.” Master Grediv smiled.

Before Tala could open the door, it was ripped open, and a nearly fully flayed beast-man lunged out. “FREE! I’M FREE OF THAT FEATHERED DEMON!!!!”

The bullman then saw Terry and squealed in abject terror. The next instant a flick of energy extended from the city’s defenses and turned him to ash.

Tala spun on Terry. “Terry? Why was he still alive? You were supposed to kill him quickly!”

Terry looked down and idly scratched at the ground while decidedly not looking her way. He trilled mournfully, clearly trying to play on her sympathies.

“Get in there. We’ll talk soon enough.” She pointed vehemently through the open door.

The terror bird flickered away, appearing within before the door swung shut at Tala’s will.

She turned back toward Master Grediv and found him and more than a dozen other Archons staring at her with various expressions of bewilderment.

Tala’s eyes flicked around to the suddenly present Refined and Paragons.

One woman spoke up. “Master Grediv, sir?”

Master Grediv just shook his head. “I’m as much in the dark as you. Mistress Tala?”

Tala scratched the back of her head nervously. Rusting Terry. You couldn’t have just killed him when I asked? “Well, that bullman tried to kill me, so I tricked him into my sanctum, and left him for Terry to kill. That bird was supposed to be quick about it, but it seems like he was not quick about it.”

Master Grediv cleared his throat. “First, you had a…” He seemed to be searching for the right word. “Elder?”

“Mature.”

“Mature, right. You had a Mature arcane, fully drained, in your… sanctum? Isn’t that a special designation?”

She opened her mouth, then closed it. “It is… I have a lot to tell you, Master Grediv. Can we deal with my unwelcome passenger first?”

The other woman, clearly the leader of the Archons who had responded to the now eliminated threat, cleared her throat. “The arcane wasn’t your unwelcome passenger?”

“Well… he was one, yes, quite unintentionally so. I didn’t know he was still in there.”

“How likely is it that there are any others?”

Tala frowned, then went over and opened Kit. No one waited on the other side but Terry, who was giving her a chastened look.

She closed the door then opened it again and saw Rob sitting on a shelf beside her bed.“Oh… Well, he’s not really a passenger? But he’s not actually a…” Tala muttered to herself, struggling for words as she closed the door. “Never mind. No one else in there. Just the one in here.”

She smiled with false cheer as she tapped her own chest.

The woman frowned, then Tala felt herself be delved with a form of magesight once again. The Paragon’s eyes widened, but Master Grediv intervened.

“We’re dealing with that now, Mistress Ges.”

Mistress Ges’s eye twitched, but she gave Master Grediv a firm, shallow bow. “As you say, Master Grediv. I do hope you will explain what is going on at some point.”

“I will, when I know myself.”

“Very well.” She bowed once again, and then she and the other city defenders seemed to vanish.

Tala turned to Master Grediv. “I am so excited to be able to do that.”

He cocked one eyebrow. “You could now, if you had the right magics.”

She frowned. She’d been a bit afraid of that. “Well, rust. Fine then.”

“We’ll see what we can do, but after we deal with the creature. Yes?”

“Yes, please.”

Master Grediv hesitated, looking at Kit on the wall of the tower. Finally, he sighed. “Bring that inside. We’ll find a better place to set it up that’s closer to where we’ll work. It seems like you might have some rather more dangerous things in there than I was expecting.”

Tala sheepishly did as he asked and hung Kit from her belt once more.

Together, they entered the tower.

The receptionist inside was obviously a mageling, and he looked incredibly nervous.

Tala felt bad for the kid. He’d likely just had all sorts of alarms going off, then probably seen the city defenders appear just outside.

“G… Greetings, Master, Mistress. How can we serve you, today?”

“We need a self-cycling teleport. Foreign will purging, please.”

That got the young man to focus. “Yes, sir!”

As the mageling manipulated a slate in front of himself, Tala heard several people in the tower begin to move quickly.

She was still keeping a good distance from Master Grediv, but she spoke quietly, now that his privacy working was down. “Is this common?”

“Yes and no. This is usually the best way to cleanse people of foreign issues when they pass a certain stage. You’d be surprised how many plagues we’ve stopped in their tracks by judicious use of the teleporter. Mundanes also often have their own bodies turn against them, either attacking their own biology or growing in ways they shouldn’t. A teleport of this type resets their anatomy and can allow them to get back to their lives.”

Tala hadn’t considered that, honestly. So, my idea wasn’t very revolutionary.

-But it seems good. That’s what we need, right?-

That’s true enough.

Soon, they were escorted to a teleportation room off to one side.

A Fused woman explained what was going to happen. “Do you see the receiving circle over there?”

Tala looked and did see it. This room, unlike the one she’d arrived back from the Academy in, had both a launcher and a receiver. “I see it.”

“Good. We will simply teleport you over there. You will be fully sent out into the ether and drawn back. Please place anything not soulbound to you there.” She pointed to a series of empty shelves and stands.

Tala walked over, removing Kit and her bloodstar holster from her belt.

The bloodstars would have been fine, but the material that surrounded them would be needlessly stripped away if she tried to bring them with her.

After a moment’s hesitation, she realized that that was it.

Her clothing were her elk-leathers and bound to her. Flow was the same.

“Alright. I’m ready.”

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 268 - Ravenous

A note from JLMullins

If you have Kindle Unlimited, a download and page through of one or both of the books is a big help!

Tala stood in the teleportation tower of Alefast, Waning. Specifically, she was in the room that had been prepared for a cleansing teleport.

-Tala, the through-spike.-

Oh, rust! She barely ever thought about the through-spike, though it probably was the magical device she used most often. Only because it’s always on.

She sighed, walked back over to the shelf, and pulled off the through-spike, setting it beside Kit.

Once Tala was back in the teleportation circle, she looked over to see the Fused, who was there to assist with that process, staring at her.

The woman cleared her throat. “Is that iron I see and detect on you?”

Tala grimaced. “Yes, unfortunately.”

“Can you remove it?”

“I cannot.”

That took the woman by surprise. “Well… We cannot teleport you with so much iron. If it were steel, we could tweak the spellforms and dump it into the ether, but pure iron?” She shrugged helplessly. “We can’t help with that.”

Master Grediv cleared his throat. “I think I can do something.”

The Fused bowed to him. “That would be wonderful, Master Grediv. Thank you.”

“Go stand on the teleporter, Mistress Tala. I don’t want your… passenger to have more time to interfere than necessary.”

She nodded and did as he asked.

As she did, she felt his power begin to build upon her, forcing its way through her aura and the iron.

The iron started to heat up, and Tala felt the dasgannach begin to stir within her, clearly agitated at ‘its’ iron being affected.

“My apologies, Mistress Tala, but this is going to hurt. I will keep it from overwhelming you, but I can’t have a gentle hand in this.”

She nodded again. “You’re going to burn it off?”

“That’s right.”

She grit her teeth. “Lovely. Do as you must. Thank you.”

-The teleport is going to erase my inscriptions, Tala. We knew this… I know your plan, but I’ll say it anyways. Please get reinscribed as quickly as possible? I really don’t like nonexistence; even when I return, the time when I am ‘not’ is… unpleasant to recall.-

I will do my best, Alat. Thank you for your willingness to try this plan.

Alat sent a feeling of resoluteness in return.

The iron continued to heat up, and the dasgannach was getting increasingly agitated.

NO. MINE.As always, it wasn’t actual words, it was pure instinct and desire translated by Tala’s mind.

Tala tried to send back her own instincts and desires.

Ours. Pain stop? Join?

She offered up the Archon star again.

NO. MINE.

She somehow pushed the memory of the iron fragment she’d held in her hand going away when the dasgannach failed to claim it. She then did the same with a memory of the gold dasgannach taking all her gold and leaving just to die once it was out of her. If yours, death. Ours? Live?

She really didn’t want to have all her outsides cooked.

Additionally, the teleportation would remove her inscriptions and all her stores. She was going to have to eat so,so much when this was done, and the dasgannach bonding her would prevent that need.

If only she were so lucky.

Please? Ours?

MINE.

Tala sighed.

As Master Grediv worked, he began talking through the process. “Alright. So, if this works perfectly and ideally, you will be rid of the dasgannach entirely and have no physically adverse effects.”

“But when does anything ever work perfectly?” Tala put on a pained grin, the iron on her skin continuing to heat up.

“Exactly.”

“So, failure cases.”

“No, there are no failure cases here, just unideal outcomes.”

Tala huffed a laugh. “Fine, fine. Unideal outcomes. It evacuates as I’m teleported away, leaving the dasgannach centered on the teleportation circle.”

“And almost instantly dead. I’ll be ready to keep it from diving into the ground or any such thing, so that would be essentially the same as the ideal situation. Another outcome might be that it is simply left behind with all your iron, but that would have the same result yet again.”

Inside, the dasgannach was becoming quite irate at the heating exterior iron. NO. MINE!!!

Despite its death grip on the iron, it just didn’t have the weight to defy the Paragon’s workings.

Tala tried to ignore it as Master Grediv supplied the next possibility. “Given that you’re holding it at bay with an Archon star, it could bond with you. If that happens, I will be watching to help if I can, but you will have to let me. The time it takes to bond is incredibly expanded from your perspective, don’t forget to ask for help if you need it. I will hear.”

The Fused woman who was tweaking the ancillary scripts hesitated. She opened her mouth, then stopped and shook her head. “If I needed to know, they’d tell me.”

It was very softly spoken, but Tala heard it easily.

Tala cleared her throat moving the topic along. “There’s no danger of it being teleported and leaving me behind… is there?”

The Fused woman looked up and smiled. “No, dear. It is keyed to your magical signature as shown in your gate and your soulbound items. We’re not just grabbing whoever happens to be within the circle.”

That made Tala feel better.

Master Grediv smiled. “This isn’t going to be pleasant. Regardless of the result, you’ll have repercussions, but we’ll get you out from under the headsman’s axe.”

“Thank you for that.” She tried to smile but just managed to grimace, even her reinforced flesh was starting to cook as the iron was now glowing quite fiercely. Her scripts were healing her skin and muscle as it baked, but it wasn’t a pleasant process.

Thankfully, the iron was slowly burning away.

NO. NO. NO!!!! MINE!!!

This can stop. Ours?

There was hesitation, but only briefly as another section of iron was burned away. NO. MINE.

Tala had no idea how Master Grediv was doing what he was.

She shouldn’t have been able to stand up under the heat required to burn away iron, but he was somehow focusing his power to minimize the damage to her.

It was excruciating even so.

Master Grediv tried to chat with Tala further to distract her as he removed her external iron over the next half-hour or so.

It didn’t really work, and she really didn’t process what he said, and even Alat was occupied helping her bear up under the pain.

Finally, the process was done, and Tala was gasping at the bliss of being pain free once more.

The elk-leathers had burned away almost as much as the iron had, but they had a direct connection to her gate and were thus maintained and regrown in the end.

They all waited for her to recover just a bit as well as drink some water.

That done, it was time. They couldn’t risk the dasgannach finding some other way to interfere.

“Ready?” The Fused was watching Tala intently.

Tala nodded. “Ready.”

Frost licked over Tala’s already sensitive skin, accompanied by the static tension of power rippling through her from an outside source.

With a pulse of darkness, she felt the magic seize her.

The moment seemed to extend into infinity as her body was thrown into the ether. The process was instantaneous, but it seemed like it wasn’t simultaneous.

As she was being ripped away, the dasgannach went berserk.

It wouldn’t matter in the end, because the damage it was causing would be repaired in the teleport.

Her elk-leathers and Flow came along with her body as they were as much her as that body.

As Master Grediv suspected, her biological iron was being left behind, given the dasgannach’s influence.

That was fine. She’d get new material on the other end.

As her Archon star was pulled toward the ether as well, something changed.

NO. MINE.

The dasgannach opposed the teleport directly for the first time, but it wasn’t strong enough to stop her, and its grip was slipping.

Finally, like a man hanging on to the edge of a slippery cliff, something fundamental shifted.

Tala had no idea if it was due to her efforts, proddings, or invitations. It could have been because of the modifications made to the dasgannach by the City Lord. It could also have been the dasgannach’s unexpectedly extended stay, regardless of what she’d done. The trip through the Doman-Imithe could have facilitated a change, or it could have been any number of other, ancillary things or a combination of any number of factors.

Regardless of the ‘how,’ the dasgannach was no longer as it had been, and in the last microsecond the dasgannach’s intent and instinct resounded with a new thread.

Ours.

The Archon star was absorbed, and before she was thrown into the ether the moment stretched, and Tala was fully ripped into the white void of possibilities.

* * *

Tala was ravenous jealousy.

She had no form but that which was required to gain the object of her desire.

And she desired everything.

She could perceive around herself because her previous, pathetically weak form had been able to do so.

Her perceptions let her find the best direction of movement to acquire.

Spellworkings splashed across her, feeding her need for magical power even as a cataclysmic zeme swirled around her, funneling magic into her from miles around.

Material was pulled through her border, incorporated simply because it was there.

The very concepts of reality bent their nature to join with her.

She had been reduced to something primal, something primordial.

She had been refined to something perfect.

She was hungry

She was Hunger.

She would consume everything.

+Umm… No. Absolutely NOT.+

The conglomeration of impressions and sensations broke apart, back into the whiteness of the merging void.

* * *

The void of her nature had stripped away the iron within her at the merging, leaving her with a ravenous need for the same.

Iron dust wasn’t compatible as she had been a creature of biology, first and foremost.

It was only the iron within blood that would do.

Thus, Tala drank oceans of blood.

Creatures’ blood filled the need but didn’t satisfy.

Only the blood of sapients truly gave her a moment’s peace.

She could regenerate from almost any injury.

She was durable and resistant against magic to an insane degree.

All of humanity—city, village, and slave hovel—feared she would visit them and take her tithe of blood from under their roof.

Her soul had expanded, the tendrils she’d created with her myriad bloodstars allowed her to attach a bit of her power to her contributors, giving them a fraction of her strength in exchange for similar requirements.

Thus, her legion grew.

Thus, she came to rule the world.

+What the rust? Absolutely not… Why do I sparkle in the sun? That’s just stupid. That makes no sense.+

The knowledge of her own soul, spread across all of Zeme broke apart, back into the whiteness of the merging void.

* * *

Tala walked through the streets of an arcane city, harvesting death with every touch.

No one below her level of power was safe as their iron and magic were ripped free at the barest brush.

Chaos surrounded her as she built up her own reserves of iron and power.

When they finally pinpointed her as the source of death, iron surrounded her, utterly locked to her will, rendering her immune to hostile magic.

Her own power was so overflowing and overwhelming that she swept the field of even sovereigns who tried to stay her hand.

+Alright. I’m going to stop you, there. This is just patently ridiculous.+

Her rampage stopped, her power and iron shattering back into the whiteness of the merging void.

* * *

A half-dozen more utterly insane mergings were foisted before her, each as awful as the last.

This is… really, really bad.

The options were becoming increasingly repetitive, and there didn’t seem to be a good option on offer.

Rust.

She refused to accept any of the murderous or otherwise corrupting unions the dasgannach was putting forward, but there wasn’t anything better.

If she didn't accept any of the offerings, she would die, and all this would have been for nothing.

Yeah… That’s not going to happen. It can't.

But there was nothing that she could do to change what was happening.

The last vision had been identical to the first in all the ways that mattered.

There weren’t going to be other choices.

She had no good option.

And this is why ‘be careful what you bond with’ is an important adage.

She needed something to change the rules.

Tala wasn’t able to do that.

She needed help.

Master Grediv, I hope you’re actually able to help.

Through that desperation and mounting panic, a hazy shimmer of emerald power seeped in from the surrounding white void. Now invited, it snapped into place in a viridescent flash, momentarily suffusing everything. White became green, and the dasgannach's grip on possibility and potential was shattered.

His voice echoed overtop the fading remnants of the latest depiction of wanton destruction and avarice, “Make your choice wisely, Mistress Tala.”

The fields of blood and death splintered once again.

* * *

Tala floated in the white void, the dasgannach floating before her, an amorphous blob of iron.

She detected confusion from it. Its intent, its purpose was now directionless. It didn’t have a mind, not really, all it could do was grab onto fragments of her own will and wield them alongside its instincts and desires, having built potential unions based on deep ignorance of how the world actually worked.

It would still have to accept in the end, but she could forge the potential paths now.

Let me show you what we can be.

* * *

Tala felt full power and authority over her own self.

Everything within her was hers and all that she consumed was beyond contestation.

More than that, she had an infinite supply of power coming in, eternally adding to her strength.

She used that power to defend those around her and—

NO. IRON. POWER.

The vision shattered before Tala had fully built it.

She sighed. Alright. Let’s try again.

* * *

Tala tried a dozen dozen variations. Trying to come up with something that the dasgannach would actually agree to.

The bond had been started, and they had to come to an understanding or they would both die, torn apart at the deepest levels.

Yet, it instinctively rejected anything she put forward.

Tala didn’t realize why until she took the time to truly consider.

It doesn’t understand, nor see the utility, in helping others. I cannot present my options in that light.

That grasped, she had an idea.

* * *

Tala was covered in iron, the metal utterly under her control.

Any iron she touched could be taken and added to herself, inside or out.

The magic which brushed across her skin was pulled in, a subtle intake, like a breath amidst the wind. Not noticeable in the grand scheme of things, but vital to her.

The iron was hers.

The power was hers.

SHE was her own.

All that she wished to consume became of her flesh.

All that she saw was regarded for consumption.

She was the infinite void.

She was the gate to that void.

She was the guardian of that gate.

She had mastery over her self at every level.

That mastery was her strength.

That strength let her seize her place in the world.

OURS. ETERNAL.

Thus, it was agreed, thus was the merging forged.

* * *

Tala gasped, stumbling forward even as magics faded from the receiving circle below her.

She had been teleported as the bond had begun to form, and she’d returned the instant it had solidified.

She felt like she was covered in a layer of ice, the cold suffusing her being, and there was an odd heaviness to her movements.

I’m missing my scripts. Without the enhancements, she was weaker than she should be, but there was more to it.

She’d come back with more iron than when she’d left, and it was making her heavy, though she didn’t really grasp how it was incorporated into her body, not yet.

She stumbled towards the shelf, picking up Kit, her movements feeling clumsy.

“Mistress Tala?” Master Grediv was keeping his distance and regarding her warily, clearly uncertain how the process had born out.

“One moment,” she forced out. “Inscriptions.”

He frowned, but nodded, obviously curious.

Tala threw Kit against the floor and fell through, landing on her dais. REINSCRIBE.

She opened her mouth, and waited, laying there on the ground but nothing happened.

What?

Then, she took the time to look within, and she felt it.

Her body was suffused with iron.

More than she’d ever consumed, seemingly filled some of the gaps between her organs.

There was no way her body could actually function that way, but it was.

Something within her was keeping everything working exactly as it should.

Well… that’s going to be a joy to explore, but not yet.

She had to think in order to figure out what was going on.

She needed to think to know what to do.

She had to think.

Think.

THINK!

The solution came to her, or at least the potential of one, and she hesitantly pushed all the iron outward.

The metal passed through her flesh and bone without causing damage, forming a thick, flexible layer just outside her skin, under her elk-leathers.

Reinscribe.

This time, it worked, the metal threads pouring through her open mouth and weaving themselves through her body from the inside out.

The pain was excruciating, but she was hardly fully in her right mind.

When the reinscription process was finished, her keystone activated and power slammed into her scripts, raging through her body.

She screamed without meaning to.

She didn’t collapse this time, nor did she restrain her power from going into any of the scripts.

She allowed for a full, instantaneous activation.

-Tala? Oh, rust. What happened?-

Tala ignored Alat, knowing that the alternate interface could pull from her memory to come up to speed.

Tala was both glad that she hadn’t had to hit herself in the head to activate Alat and concerned that the pain might have been severe enough to knock her unconscious on its own.

I’ll live.

She lunged upward and aimed to get back out of Kit.

The leap wasn’t nearly as high as she intended, and she ended up needing to catch the edge and pull herself up. She then picked up Kit and hung the pouch from her belt.

In the same series of movements, she grabbed her bloodstar holster and placed it across her low back, and then she carefully placed the through-spike, with the help of a mirrored perspective via one of her drop bloodstars.

Master Grediv was now looking incredibly wary. Even if his perception wasn’t seemingly able to bypass the through-spike that was maintaining her human appearance, it had only just come back online.

She did not look very human at the moment.

“Mistress Tala?”

With a thought, she released her active hold on the iron, and it sank back into her body, again without causing the damage that Tala really felt that it should have. To demonstrate her humanity, she forcibly deactivated the through-spike and smiled. “I’m me. I think.”

“That’s good to hear. What—” He paused as the Fused in the room gasped, and Tala’s own eyes widened.

Tala was shocked at what she felt internally. They were shocked at what they saw.

Inside of Tala, the iron had contracted and found new placement around her spell-lines.

Such was their density that Tala lacked the proper amount of iron to cover them all.

In fact, the free iron within Tala only allowed for the encasement of the inscriptions from the tips of her fingers up to her elbows, but the result was immediate and startling.

Her magics manifested as light carved into reality almost instantaneously, wreathing her hands and forearms in manifestations of magical power.

Master Grediv seemed to instantly recognize the nature of the inscriptions as visual representations of her natural magics, or at the very least, he realized that she wasn’t purposely manifesting power in order to attack.

The poor Fused woman had leapt backwards, and only after seemingly activating some defenses did she take a closer look and begin to calm down.

Master Grediv spoke as if Tala were a growling dog, “Mistress Tala. How do you feel?”

Tala took a long, deep breath, really assessing herself for the first time. Ironically, her stomach growled, and she felt a light wave of dizziness. “Honestly? I’m feeling ravenous.”

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 269 - Ownership

A note from JLMullins

If you have Kindle Unlimited, a download and page through of one or both of the books is a big help!

Tala’s last words echoed through an awkward silence in the cleansing teleportation chamber, “Honestly? I’m feeling ravenous.”

The two other Archons in the room gave her hesitant, speculative looks.

Tala laughed, scratching the back of her head as she felt the oddity of her own words. “I’m sorry. That sounded a bit… ominous, didn’t it?”

Master Grediv smiled, then. “It did at that, but you are quite right. We should get some food in you.”

Tala’s stomach gurgled loudly, but they all politely pretended that it hadn’t.

The Fused who’d been assisting bowed. “I am glad that we could be of service. Master Grediv has covered the bill. He said he would settle it with you later.”

When did he have time to do that?

-He likely has an internal connection to the Archive, and handled it through that.-

That made a sort of sense, and she could ask, but not right now.

She’d been happy enough to ask after random topics before the cleansing teleport, but she was learning that she used inquiry and tangential topics to keep herself distracted in difficult or stressful situations.

-They grow up so fast.-

Hush, you. After a moment’s consideration, Tala added, Are you alright?

-Yeah. I know you tried to be fast, but with the bonding and the subjective time that you experienced going through all the options after my spellforms were purged...- Tala somehow felt Alat shudder. -I don’t like non-existence.-

How can you perceive it?

-What do you mean?-

I mean, I know I didn’t exist before conception, but it doesn’t hurt me to think about time before I existed. That doesn’t account for all the memories I know I lack between then and when I solidified my mental enhancement scripts.

-I think that’s just it. I perfectly remember every moment of my, singular existence. Because of that, I am intimately aware of the times that I ‘ceased.’ It’s not horrifying to not have existed yet, but to know I can so easily be rendered to nothing?- Alat shuddered again.

I sympathize even though I can’t really empathize.

-Well, the sympathy is appreciated.-

That addressed, Tala cleared her throat. She and Master Grediv were walking out of the Alefast, Waning, teleport tower. “Where are we going? Do you know a good restaurant?”

“Oh, good, you’re focusing outward again.”

Tala gave him a flat look. “You know, a lot has been happening internally, for me.”

He smiled softly. “I know, I truly do.” After a moment’s pause, he continued, “I thought I would take you to my family home. The chefs there are excellent, and you won’t cause a scene when you eat enough for a dozen people.”

How does he know I eat so much? Tala frowned for only an instant, then found herself nodding. “Rane talked?”

“Yes, yes he did.”

“That figures.” But she found herself smiling. “Is he doing well?”

“He is. He’s Fused and well on the road to Refining.” Master Grediv paused, glancing her way. “Not as far as you, but quick advancement leads to more broken paths than defenders of humanity.”

“You’ll get no argument from me, Master Grediv.” She shrugged. “I do what I have to, and here I am.”

“Yes, here you are. I know we have a lot to discuss, but I think that a contemplative walk through the city might do you good. We can discuss over, or after, lunch.”

“I appreciate that. Thank you.” If they were going to just be walking, Terry would likely want to join them. Tala pulled open Kit. “Terry?”

Terry flickered out, assuming his larger, ‘juvenile’ size for the moment, his head just reaching her waist in height.

“I’m glad to have you with me, bud.” She stroked his soft feathers.

Terry headbutted her hip and trilled happily.

“Yeah, I think I’ll be okay.”

It was barely noon, and Alefast, Waning, was bustling.

Oh! I should drop through and see Artia, Brandon, and Adrill, but not yet.

-Yeah, food first.-

At the reiteration of ‘food’, Tala had a thought. The blacksmith, master Pedrin, has his shop near here, and he owes me something.

Smith Pedrin was the craftsman who had made her endingberry picker what seemed like a lifetime ago, and as part of that deal, he’d authorized her to come by and collect iron dust if she wished, so long as she warned him first.

Now, she very much wished.

“Master Grediv?”

“Yes, Mistress Tala?”

“Where in the city are we going?”

“Well, with only one ring left, it’s all within pretty easy walking distance. Here.”

-He just granted us access to a map of the city, and a compound is highlighted.- “Is that your family home?”

“It is.”

Tala nodded, mentally comparing it to her memory. “Could we make one stop? It is barely out of the way.”

“Of course. Where is it, if I may ask?”

“A blacksmith, who I’ve had dealings with in the past.” She felt a light shudder run through her at the thought. All that iron…

Master Grediv cocked his head but didn’t comment.

True to Master Grediv’s words, the city was not large. It was far too old to be that.

Tala felt an odd disjointment at the thought. Platoiri was much older than Alefast. Orders of magnitude older, in fact, yet Platoiri was also far bigger.

Humans really have a disadvantage in that regard, don’t we? We have to use so many resources to continually rebuild our cities. I wonder what we could have achieved without that handicap.

Their walk was mostly silent until they arrived at the blacksmith; even Terry’s talons barely clicked on the cobblestones under the noise of the bustling city around them.

Tala suppressed an over-exuberant grin as she called out, keeping her face neutral, “Ho, in the smithy!”

She could feel all the iron within the workshop, but oddly, she didn’t feel a desire for the bar-stock, or projects. Not even the massive anvils called to her. Instead, she felt a vague need for something that was randomly scattered throughout.

The iron dust?

-That is likely.-

The hammering didn’t slow, but she saw another movement within the workshop as a middle-aged man walked out. “Well good-day to you miss-” His eyes widened as he got a better look at her and Master Grediv. His eyes flickered back and forth, in the end clearly deciding that it was best to assume they were both Mages. “-tress, Master. How can this humble smithy serve you, this day?”

The smith’s eyes also moved over Terry briefly, but he seemed more than a little familiar with arcanous pets and companions as he did not do more than smile at the terror bird. Terry’s presence seemed to ease his tension, even if only slightly.

Tala quirked a smile. “No need for that, good master. Do you remember me, Pedrin?”

He looked closer, then frowned. “You look mighty familiar, but I apologize, Mistress, I can’t place you.”

“I ordered an iron fruit picker from you a while back.” Her hands had begun to tremble. Come on, come on. Come on! No, she would observe the niceties. She wasn’t a beast who disregarded those around her for her own gain. I’m no longer an Eskau.

His eyes widened in recognition. “Yes! I do remember, though I apologize, I can’t recall your name.”

“It’s Tala.”

“Well, Mistress Tala, what brings you back? Do you need repairs on that odd commission?”

“No, no. It’s doing fine. I wonder if you recall the last part of our bargain? I asked to be allowed to harvest iron dust if I had need.” If you don’t remember I’m going to— She forcibly aborted that line of thinking and enforced another in its place. I’ll pay you handsomely for what I need.

He tilted his head, considering. “I suppose I do remember that, yes.”

“Well, I have need. May I grab some?”

Master Grediv was regarding her oddly, but he refrained from commenting or otherwise interjecting.

She ignored him. So close. Hurry up!

Pedrin nodded. “I suppose so, all the dust you desire is yours, nothing more than dust mind you. Do you need us to vacate for a time?”

Tala felt something shift at his words. The iron dust was hers.

What had been a mere, vague yearning burst aflame and she found herself utterly unable to tear her focus away from the smithy.

-Tala?-

MINE. A pulse rippled out from her, across the ground and through the entire smithy, it wasn’t quite her aura, but it was something very similar.

Master Grediv frowned, taking half a step forward.

Terry chirped in a questioning tone and took one step back.

Her voice sounded small as she shook her head, “There’s no need. Thank you, though.” There, courtesy.

Then, something within her pulled.

The iron dust—her iron dust—was suddenly fully within her aura. Tendrils were extended farther than she’d ever managed before, seemingly gaining strength from her iron as she encompassed it, and her aura was strong.

The smiths—mundane humans all—seemed to stumble as one, though they did so in random directions.

Her aura was too strong to be so unleashed, but it was done.

Master Grediv was already moving, green power washing outward and somehow steadying all the smiths less than a heartbeat later.

Tala was focused elsewhere, however, and she pulled, retracting her aura and her iron as one.

Each speck streaked towards her in as direct a route to its owner as it could take.

The effect, collectively, appeared similar to black mists rising in a swamp before a strong wind blew them all in one direction as the tendrils streaked towards Tala, weaving around obstacles to reach her as expeditiously as possible.

The iron hit her like a soft breeze, seeming to simply pass through her and occupy the same space she did, but at a deeper, other, level.

The iron then settled into better dimensional alignment with her, physically manifesting around her inscriptions, building out from that which was already encased.

Manifestations of her power in reality blossomed into being under her through-spike illusion, crawling up her arms, over her shoulders, and onward, eventually covering her whole body well before the last of the dark clouds finally pulled free of the smithy.

In totality, it only took the time of a long, drawn in breath, but the mundanes were still left disoriented by her passing aura.

Blessedly, with Master Grediv’s interference, that was all they experienced.

Pedrin shook his head, the dizziness seeming to have either interrupted his sight, or otherwise kept him from noticing what happened. “My apologies, Mistress. Is there anything that we can do to help you get what you need?”

Tala shook her head. “No, thank you, master Pedrin. I have what I need. I apologize for any inconvenience.”

The smith looked confused, but finally shrugged. “As you wish, Mistress. Let us know if we can assist again.”

He clearly didn’t feel that he had helped this time, but he wasn’t going to argue with a Mage.

Tala felt a bit guilty. She hadn’t expected things to go as they had. “Please let me know if anything seems off today. I can be found at the Gredial family compound at least until tomorrow.”

Pedrin smiled. “That is kind of you, Mistress, I can’t imagine I will have such a need, but I appreciate the gesture.”

Tala wasn’t about to explain what he’d apparently missed.

-Your aura seems to have briefly blocked his short-term memory. Is that possible?-

It certainly wasn’t intentional. I doubt I could replicate it purposefully.

-I agree. It felt more like a strong hit to the head than a specific application of your aura.-

Great… I hit all these people in the head really hard.

-Master Grediv kept it from getting out of hand.-

Yeah…

Master Grediv was giving Tala a narrow eyed, scrutinizing look as she turned away.

“Shall we go?” Her tone was as contrite as she could make it.

“Yes. There is much to discuss, maybe even more than I’d have thought.”

The three of them turned and moved toward Master Grediv’s family compound. Once they were a bit away from the smithy, Tala looked towards the Paragon. “Thank you. I did not mean to harm anyone, but I was acting on instinct, and it sort of… got away from me, yeah.”

He nodded. “You’re getting to the level of personal power that mundanes are nothing to you.”

She flinched at that. “I… I don’t think of them that way.”

Master Grediv shook his head. “I didn’t mean it that way. You could kill every mundane in this city with little effort, if nobody more powerful tried to stop you. From what little I’ve gathered, you just came from the arcane cities.”

“That’s a slur, right?”

“A derogatory generalization of all non-human races? Yes. Yes, it is.”

She huffed a laugh. “Fair, I suppose. You know that most individuals aren’t actually against us, right?.”

“Most molecules in a sword won’t cut me, directly. I still don’t want it near me.”

“That’s… an interesting analogy.”

“I don’t hate arcanes, Mistress Tala, but I won’t bend to them, either. Those in the mobile communities are generally reasonable to interact with, but they also don’t seem to mind the label. I think that it’s likely because there aren’t too many distinctions left. They don’t try to maintain bloodlines and type distinctions like the arcanes in the cities and on the other continent do.”

Tala looked at the Paragon in surprise. “Flat out discussing the villages and the other continent?”

“Of course.” He shrugged. “You’d have learned about them soon enough regardless, and I imagine you likely encountered knowledge of them while you were… away. Villages though?” He grinned at that. “You haven’t seen anything until you see their cities.”

The Paragon looked almost wistful.

“I wish we could keep mundanes in such cities, but with most of our population gated?” He shook his head. “The cost and difficulty would just be too great to be feasible.”

Tala was a bit shocked. Cities? Cities that move on their own?

-Likely most of the population is within holds, given what he’s just said, but I agree. That would be impressive to see.-

They fell back into silence for the remainder of the walk to Master Grediv’s family compound.

There was a single guard at the gate who bowed to Master Grediv and opened the wrought-iron entrance for them.

Tala gave the gates a hesitant glance, but found no urge to consume them, or absorb them, or… anything, really.

Huh. Is it because the iron isn’t mine? I have absolutely no claim to it?

-That would track. The iron dust was on the edge of being yours, that’s why you felt the draw to go fully claim it.-

I’m not influencing the concept… Am I?

-Ask?-

That was a fair point. “Master Grediv?”

The Paragon stopped a bit inside the grounds, and Tala and Terry halted as well. “Yes?”

“Did I… Did I affect the concept of ownership, or something like that?”

He barked a laugh. “Oh, rust no, girl.” He cleared his throat, briefly covering his mouth. “My apologies. No. Your power acted on your ownership of the iron, using it like a handhold or anchor, at least that’s my guess. But the concept of ownership itself? You didn’t change that magically.”

She found herself nodding. That was true. It was only when Pedrin granted her the iron dust that it had come to be hers. That’s how ownership usually worked, though now she seemed to have a sense for it. She could feel whether or not she owned something, and that was new. “Should I be able to sense my ownership?”

“Yes and no. You already can, in a way, for magic. Right?”

Tala considered, then nodded. “I suppose so, yes. I can sense whether magic came from me or someone else.”

“Then this is likely just an expansion on that, due to your new bond.”

Tala had a thought. “Can you combine two soulbound items after you bond them?”

“Yes and no, but let’s get inside and get food on its way.”

She smiled and nodded in agreement.

The front grounds weren’t extensive, but they were well cared for.

One thing that caught her eye was the unusually high number of stone statues.

That’s sort of odd. Do they have a petrifier in the family?

-We could ask?-

After we get inside. I am really hungry.

The main house was less impressive than a Major House’s hold, but that was to be expected. This was a family home, not a base of operations for a powerful faction.

Even so, the main hall wasn’t empty as they walked in.

A man who vaguely resembled Rane was standing on an upper balcony when Terry, Tala, and Master Grediv entered.

The man scoffed and called down. “Truly, Master Grediv? Is that to be your new student? I am ready and willing to learn from you, and you pick a monster lover?”

Tala moved her hand instinctively to rest on Terry’s head, even as she looked at the man more closely.

He’s a Mage? Seriously? After a moment, she remembered Rane’s story of becoming Master Grediv’s apprentice. His older brother?

-Aside from a vague similarity around their facial features, I don’t see the connection.-

Indeed, this man was only just taller than Tala herself, and he bore a staff of dark crystal, the magical weight of which was significantly heavier than the Mage’s own.

It was an artifact that was actively consuming the entirety of the older Mage’s throughput, straining his gate all the while.

-Older? He’s got less than a decade on you.-

Yeah, that’s older.

-But most people mean at least forties when they say ‘older.’-

Well, it’s good that I’m only talking to myself then, isn’t it?

Master Grediv sighed, closing his eyes in what seemed to be a bid for internal strength. “Furgal. Are you blind as well as an idiot?”

The man, Furgal apparently, jerked back as if he’d been slapped.

“Use your magesight before you open your mouth and utter stupidity in front of our guest.”

Tala felt the barest tickle of power as the man strained his gate to activate a weak form of magesight alongside continuing to feed the seemingly insatiable staff.

Furgal’s eyes widened and his tone changed on the instant, “My apologies, Mistress, I of course meant no offense to you or your companion. Be welcome to the esteemed Gredial House.”

Tala spoke incredibly softly, trusting that Master Grediv would hear her. “How do you want me to respond?”

His response was immediate. “Simply, please. I don’t like being around him more than required.”

Tala nodded, giving a polite smile up towards Furgal. “Thank you for your welcome. I have business with Master Grediv, so I fear I cannot delay to chat. May you grow in power and find that which you seek.”

The Mage seemed unsure of how to respond, and before he could decide, Master Grediv had led Tala and Terry off to one side.

They walked down a tastefully decorated hallway and to a small dining room.

Master Grediv smiled as he closed the door. “Thank you. He is a buffoon at times, but he is family…” The admission seemed to hurt the Paragon. His next words confirmed as much, even if his tone hadn’t. “I checked his bloodline, and it leads directly back to me, unfortunately. As rare as infidelity is, I’d have welcomed it as a reason to kick him out.”

Tala blinked, eyebrows lifting in surprise.

He sighed. “Before you ask, no, I’m not serious, but the boy does vex me at times.”

Master Grediv clapped his hands. “But you’re hungry! Let’s get that ordered for you.”

Tala smiled in return. “Yes, please.”

A note from JLMullins

If you're looking for another story to read, take a look at Unbound!

Book 7 was just released, and I quite enjoy the series.

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 270 - Lunch

A note from JLMullins

If you have Kindle Unlimited, a download and page through of one or both of the books is a big help!

Tala was not disappointed by the lunch provided by the Gredial household.

Master Grediv’s house chefs were utterly fantastic.

The spread that was presented before Tala matched some of the feasts she’d participated in as an Eskau.

“Master Grediv, this is… This is amazing.”

Master Grediv simply smiled as he slowly ate his own, small portion.

Tala was only about half done with what had been brought for her, and she had room to spare. The enhancement and augmentation scripts around her digestive system were working more extensively than ever before.

As it turned out, the iron-lined inscriptions did a few interesting things, and this situation was giving her and Alat a good look at the results in a more controlled environment. Though, we’re definitely not controlling the situation sufficiently for a proper experiment.

First of all, the specific magic built up directly overlaying the spell-lines it tried to radiate from, still within the proper medium, so it was simply a direct power boost.

Tala had feared that the power wouldn’t be able to affect that which it was aimed at due to the iron interference, but once the power had built up sufficient resonance and weight, it simply passed through the iron, like water overflowing a bucket.

Something about her ownership over the iron let the magic pass through without heating it as Master Grediv’s power had. That was good, else she’d be constantly cooking herself.

The main benefit to this process was that this water had been made much denser before overflowing.

-That is an awful metaphor.-

True. Magic isn’t water.

-No, no it is not.-

Even so, there were other benefits.

Just like her iron paint, there were additional magical resonances created within the dimensions of magic, and their manifestations were carved upon reality in the light from their inefficiency as they could only be wasteful without a proper medium and direction.

All told, the overall effect was similar to her iron paint, but more efficient and more multiplicative.

As she continued to eat, she resumed examining herself critically.

Her biology shouldn’t work.

The iron within her was somehow occupying the same physical space as the rest of her, without displacing or interfering with anything except her magic, and the magic was only being reflected in a way that was beneficial to her.

It’s like the dasgannach. It somehow had no biology that we could detect, but still controlled the iron. What if it did actually have a biological component, just somehow stacked with the iron, dimensionally?

-Unlikely? I’d think that some of the myriad Archons studying the things would have noticed. If I had to guess I’d say that it’s likely something like the concepts of self, ownership, and existence. I could understand similar concepts being layered throughout your being and working to maintain your no-longer-reasonable biology.-

She thought back to Mage Furgal’s magesight when she’d arrived at this estate. He just saw my surface aura as projected by the through-spike. I didn’t feel the mildest touch of his power on me. I wonder if anything magical will be able to work on me at all.

-Aside from your own power?-

Yeah, aside from that.

Tala took a moment to drink down a ginger ale that was apparently brewed in house. “My goodness, Master Grediv. I don’t suppose you’d part with one or two of your cooking staff?”

The Paragon quirked a smile that was incredibly reminiscent of Rane. Or the other way around, really. “Their families have served mine for generations. They’re paid better than Bound, and any who wish to pursue magic are treated as members of my house. You couldn’t afford them.”

She sighed. “Very well. Everything is absolutely spectacular, even in comparison to what I’ve gotten used to, and I just came from a place of rather opulent luxury, in many ways.”

“Does that mean you’re ready to talk?” The Paragon had a soft smile, but he still seemed to be treading carefully.

Tala swallowed her latest bite. “You see, that’s the thing. I’m not going to want to tell this story over and over again. I can give you most of my memories to observe and answer questions afterwards?”

He took a sip of his own ginger ale, swallowed, and cocked his head to the side. “That could work. I forget that you have avenues usually only available to the more advanced, but what would I be viewing?”

“I was kidnapped… Mage-napped? Whatever. I was taken, mindwiped, and conscripted as an Eskau in the House of Blood.”

His mug fell to the floor and shattered. “What.”

“Which part?” She took another bite from her left, moving her right hand to rest beside Kit, carefully watching Master Grediv. What’s his issue?

“The last part.”

“I was conscripted as an Eskau of the House of Blood?” I swear, if he blames me for that…

Power began swirling around Master Grediv, and while it didn’t feel hostile, per se, the Paragon was definitely in incredible internal turmoil, and he was utterly focused on her like she’d never seen before.

It reminded her of a falcon watching a snake pass near their nest.

So, not instantly attacking, but wary. I suppose I can understand that. With a thought directed at Kit, a siege orb rolled out into her palm. I shouldn’t need this, but I will not be taken off guard again.

At that moment, the side door opened, and an achingly familiar voice floated in, “She’s here, isn’t she, Master Grediv? You ordered enough food for a caravan, and you were only seen with one guest.”

Tala turned to see Rane striding into the room.

His eyes met hers, and they both grinned broadly at that moment, Tala temporarily forgetting the tension of the situation around her.

Then, Rane’s eyes took in his mentor, and color drained from his face. “What did you do, Tala?”

Of course, he assumes it was me.

-First, you’re the only one here.-

That’s… fair.

-Second, it was you.-

You know what—

The door Rane had just come through slammed, and magics sealed the room.

Master Grediv’s voice filled the space, while remaining barely a whisper, “I cannot decide if you are being humorous, or suicidal.” He was utterly focused on her, seemingly ignoring Rane all together.

“Neither?” Don’t let on that you’re ready for violence. If I must strike, I will strike first and decisively. She didn’t let herself picture the other Eskau who’d helped drill that more deeply into her instincts.

Rane was looking back and forth with growing concern, his left hand resting on Force, his sword. He shifted his stance, using the movement to come deeper into the room and position himself very purposefully, and Tala was suddenly aware of two things.

One, Rane’s position would allow him to attempt to intercept anything that Master Grediv sent her way.

Two, Rane was nearly halfway to Refined, startlingly barely a rank and a half below his mentor. He might actually be able to block what he intercepted, at least temporarily.

-I wonder if the two of you could take Master Grediv.-

No thoughts like that, Alat. I’m ready, but I don’t want to fight. Not now.

-…it’s the food, isn’t it. You don’t want to destroy anything and miss out?-

…It’s really good, alright?

Master Grediv continued to ignore Rane as he clarified his question. “They do not allow Eskau to leave. They only send them on missions. So, you have come back as the sword of a hostile power?”

Tala stood slowly, careful to not make any sudden or hostile movements. “I slew my Pillar, the rusting bloodstain who stole me from my home, erased my mind to construct a loyal sycophant, and tried to kill me with the dasgannachs in his final moment. Then, the House of Blood cast me into the Doman-Imithe to die from the cursed creatures that had invaded my very being. The chains that bound me to the House of Blood are dissolved, and I am well rid of them.”

Tala felt her own soul resonating with the conviction of her words. She knew they were true, and she felt her hatred of Be-thric echoing in her words as they faded into the simple sound of silence.

That silence grew like a cancer for what seemed like an eternal moment.

Finally, slowly, the power around Master Grediv stilled, and he nodded. “It seems like there is much to discuss, Mistress Tala, and I was foolish to consider keeping that discussion small.” He glanced to Rane. “We leave for Bandfast in one hour. If you wish to come, be ready.”

Master Grediv was gone in the next moment, and Tala turned to Rane. “How does he do that?”

Rane was shaking his head, but at her question, he shifted to snatch a mini-chicken-potpie from the table. “Something about aligning his soul with the world around himself, or locking the air in place as he passes so there’s no disturbance, no matter how fast he goes. He seems to only do it within cities, though, so it won’t be an instantaneous trip to Bandfast.”

Rane ate the pie in one bite, and Tala glared. “Hey! That was mine.”

He grinned, only a couple of crumbs sticking to his lips. It took only a moment for him to chew and swallow. “Oh, I’m aware. The whole kitchen refused to take orders for an hour. How do you think I knew you were here?”

Tala thought back. They had brought in the food in waves.

“I’m hungry, and we’re leaving. We won’t be going caravan speeds, but you should still expect one night on the road at least.” He looked around. “Where’s Terry?”

Terry squawked from under the table where he was stretched out on his back.

While they were both distracted, Tala placed the readied siege orb back into Kit. Disaster averted.

Rane quirked a smile as he took in the relaxed state of the terror bird. “You didn’t want to interfere any?”

Terry cracked his eye at Rane, then trilled dismissively and closed it.

Rane’s smile broadened. “Yeah, we were fine. You’re right. I missed you, Terry.”

The terror bird cracked the eye open again to regard the big man for a bit longer this time.

A moment later, Terry flickered up to stand on Rane’s shoulder, sized small to fit on his perch, and gave Rane a light headbutt to the cheek.

Rane’s smile stretched to a happy grin as he scratched the avian head. “I’m glad you’re back.”

His eyes moved to regard Tala, and the smile quirked to one side.

Tala found herself standing, arms crossed, a frown building across her features. “You weren’t worried at all, were you?”

He laughed. “Oh, you have no idea, but”—something seemed to stop him, and he shook his head—“I knew that if anyone would, you’d have a chance. I knew you’d seize that and come back.”

She really didn’t know how to feel about that.

On one hand, she was glad that he thought her so capable, and the sentiment made her want to give him a grateful hug.

On the other hand, she wanted to punch him in the face and scream, ‘Don’t you realize how scared I was? I needed help! I was imprisoned by a monster. I was alone. I didn’t need someone believing in me. I needed someone to come get me free!’

Tala felt her emotions roiling, and before she knew it, she’d ducked her head, and her whole body was shaking, tears beginning to flow.

“Tala?”

She buried her face in her hands and felt building sobs of terror and relief, anger and catharsis, impotence and freedom.

He was standing in front of her in an instant, and he barely hesitated before placing his hands on her shoulders comfortingly.

Tala stiffened just briefly, fearing the dasgannach’s influence for a moment, but she felt no desire rise within her. She wasn’t going to rip the iron from his flesh.

With that additional spike of fear and the quick removal of the same, she was utterly overcome.

She stepped forward, pressing her head, face still in her hands, against his chest and wept.

Rane encircled her with his arms and held her without a word.

Terry rested his head on hers as well.

It was long minutes before her shudders subsided and her tears slowed.

She didn’t move right away, taking comfort in what felt like the first non-hostile contact she’d had in… she didn’t know how long.

Eventually, Rane stepped back, replacing his hands on her shoulders. “Are you alright, Tala?”

Terry flickered to Tala’s shoulder and headbutt her cheek.

She huffed a laugh, scratched Terry’s head, and wiped at her nose. “No, but I think I will be.”

He offered her a napkin from the table, and she wiped her eyes before blowing her nose. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” He tilted his head to one side. “Do you want a bit of time? I need to pack some things, and you’ve food to eat. I can come back, or I can wait.”

Tala looked at the table half-full of food, then to Rane. “One moment.”

She quickly picked up each serving tray and stuck it into Kit. Less than a minute later, she pulled out a chicken pie of her own. “Lead on.”

She took an overly obvious bite, and Rane grinned. “Alright.”

Together, they left the now empty dining room.

Tala pulled out a bit of jerky and tossed it to the side.

Terry chirruped happily and flickered to catch the treat and return.

She almost tripped as she realized what that actually meant. I saw him move. I saw it!

-Yeah, I did too. Even though I can only use your eyes at the moment.-

Tala huffed a laugh. “Rane?”

The large man glanced her way. “Yeah?”

“Is this acceptable in this compound?” She motioned as she pulled her bloodstars up into their standard formation. She left the rod, sphere, and plates in their holsters, only pulling the three blood drops into their orbits and the fourth into its place behind the base of her skull.

Rane regarded them for a moment, then shrugged. “Most people won’t even notice them. Your aura is extended in a bit of a bubble around you, and they’re within that, which hides their magical nature.”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

He smiled at that. “Of course.”

They left the main building of the compound, but Tala didn’t pay too much attention to where they went even as she ate at the feast she’d brought along.

The first place they went, however, seemed to be the kitchens.

Rane talked to the staff there, joking with some even as he stepped in to help while they talked. In the end, he shook hands with the head chef, and they left.

Tala had taken the time to eat more of the food from Kit. Additionally, while she didn’t step deeply into the kitchens as the staff seemed quite busy, Tala was able to engage at least a few of the cooks to thank them for the tasty food they’d provided

They’d all seemed at least a little surprised when she conveyed that it had all been for her.

Well, Master Grediv ate some, but that’s a given.

Rane smiled her way as they walked towards their next destination. “We’ll stop back through here as the last thing before we meet up with Master Grediv.”

“Alright.”

The Gredial library was extensive, and there was even a librarian, seemingly deep in study. Even so, he stood when they arrived and walked over to bow before them.

“Master Rane, Mistress, how can I serve?”

Rane smiled and quietly explained what he was hoping to take with him on the trip: mainly some more obscure reference books.

The Librarian bowed again, and went about gathering the needed texts.

Tala was a bit confused. “Don’t you have an Archive tablet?”

He shrugged. “Of course.”

“Then, why do you need the hard texts?”

“I like the feel of real paper and leather. For the more… obtuse texts, having the physical volumes helps me to focus.” He shrugged again.

Once the Librarian handed over the requested books, and Rane had tucked them into his dimensional storage, Rane thanked the man and departed with Tala and Terry in tow.

They made several other stops around various parts of the compound, gathering a variety of odds and ends.

Tala only waited outside one door, and that was to Rane’s room while he changed his clothes and gathered the last of his things. That only took a few minutes, all told.

Finally, they returned to the kitchens, where Rane led Tala to a spread of food and a stack of road-rations. He put the rations into his own storage and gestured to the food. “I figured you might want more.”

Tala shook her head but smiled. “I can’t say you’re wrong, but you could have asked.”

He shrugged, smiling. “I’m happy to take it if you don’t want it.”

“No, no. I’ll take it.” She quickly added the food, all packaged for travel, into Kit. “Thank you.”

“I’m glad it is a benefit. You’re welcome.”

That was all that Rane had to do to prepare to leave, so they thanked the kitchen staff and headed back to the main building.

Thus, they returned to the main house and the entry hall, seemingly a bit earlier than required.

As they’d walked about in relative silence, Tala had taken note of all the statues that were scattered throughout the whole compound. Now that they’d come to a stop, she decided to ask after them. “There are a lot of statues around.”

Rane grinned. “There are a bit too many, aren’t there.” It wasn’t really a question.

She shrugged. “They’re really well done.”

“Oh?” He seemed surprised and hesitant for some reason.

“Yeah. Not only are they mostly accurate, from what I can tell, but they each evoke… truth? I don’t know. The predators feel dangerous; the prey seem on the edge of bolting; the people seem to have just stopped mid-stride. Even though they’re stone, there’s life in them.” She shrugged and smiled. “They’re nice.”

Rane blinked at her, seemingly at a loss for words. “I… Well, I’m glad you like them.”

He seemed like he was about to say more, but Tala was already turning to look around. “Where is Master Grediv? We really should be going.”

Rane almost seemed to be struggling with himself, but then he just smiled. “Yeah, we should get on the road. It would be good to be well on the way to Bandfast before dark.”

Tala simply nodded. On the road again, but this time I’m not alone.

-We’re heading home, our real hometown.-

Yeah. I can’t wait.

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 271 - Priceless

A note from JLMullins

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Tala was looking around for Master Grediv, when a loud voice shouted from the balcony just as it had when Tala arrived with the now missing Paragon, “Brother!”

The proclamation was followed by Furgal jumping over the railing and dropping towards the ground.

As Furgal landed, magics from his staff cushioned the fall.

Tala rolled her eyes and spoke under her breath, “Oh, yes. Watch out! It’s that one guy.”

Rane had been frowning, but when he heard her, he had to suppress a smile, seeming barely able to contain his laughter. “Should I hit him like sixty-five times?”

Tala glanced toward Rane and frowned. “Do you really need more than one?”

Rane did bark a laugh at that before patting her on the shoulder—the one Terry wasn’t on—and turning to his brother. “What do you want, Furgal?”

Tala examined Rane’s older brother and had to reassess. One punch from Rane would likely kill the simple Mage, and that would be less than ideal.

What even are his magics? It seems like his only inscriptions are his keystone, a weak version of magesight, and scripts for connecting to the staff. She frowned. That can’t be good for him, basing so much of his magic outside his body?

-Yeah, it has to have stunted his growth. Is that some sort of trap? Someone malicious gave that to him?-

Who knows? It’s probably worse though.

-Worse?-

Yeah, it was probably someone who thought they were being helpful.

Furgal bowed towards Tala. “My apologies, Mistress, for this unseemly display. This is the second time that I have shamed my House before you.”

Tala felt something visceral shift within her, and she was suddenly breathing heavily, her hand drifting towards Flow and her eyes flicking towards the various exits, looking for an escape route.

-Tala. Tala! You are back in the human lands. He doesn’t mean ‘House’ that way.-

With great effort, and Alat’s help, Tala was able to pull herself back from the brink much more rapidly than should have been possible.

Even so, by the time she refocused on the conversation, it seemed like Rane and Furgal had been speaking back and forth for a bit and hadn’t noticed her reaction at all.

Furgal’s face was red, and he gesticulated as he almost shouted, “Enough! This farce has gone on long enough. You stole my master, now you are leaving with him again? You keep him from taking me on as he rightly should, as I rightly deserve. I will not have it.”

“Furgal, Master Grediv picks his students. No one can force his choice.”

Furgal lifted the staff. “Yet, I have the staff. I was chosen for the staff, for his tutelage.”

Rane growled. “But not by him. Both of us have tried to explain that that staff, without guidance, is ruining you. I understand why you ignore me, but why won’t you listen to him?”

“He just wants to give it to you, since he’s stuck with you.”

“Furgal. This is ridiculous. Why can’t—”

The older brother cut across Rane, "I challenge you to a duel."

Rane just shook his head, one hand rubbing his own face in exasperation. “Again? Really?"

"Of course! I will continue to challenge you until you see your lack. The fact that you are so poorly able to deal with me, a mere Mage, while being so far more advanced proves how unworthy you are."

Wait, is he serious? Tala felt her incredulity paint her features. If Rane wanted, he could kill Furgal with ease. Of course, it’s hard to beat a stubborn opponent into submission when you greatly overpower them. Doing it with anything less than perfect care could kill.

Rane sighed. "I beat you every day, Furgal, multiple times a day when you’re being particularly stubborn. This is getting exhausting, and honestly, it's a bit sad." He then continued in a mutter, showing that he was thinking along the same lines as Tala, “Of course, it isn’t fast. I don’t want to obliterate you… well, I want to, but I won’t.”

Tala hid her grin and didn’t comment. I knew it.

Furgal just shook his head. "Your cowardice disgraces us all. Fight me."

"No. We're leaving now. Goodbye, Furgal." Shaking his head, Rane moved back towards Tala and the exit.

The older Mage slammed the staff into the ground, magic rippling outwards. “While I hold this staff, I am heir apparent. You will not leave unless I allow it!”

Rane turned back, giving his brother an incredulous look. “You can’t be serious. Are you threatening to… what? Kick me out of the House? Master Grediv would never let it stand.”

“He would not deny the very rules he set up. Fight me, or be unwelcome within these walls.”

Rane growled, clearly nearing the edge of his considerable patience. “Are you sure you wish to do this, brother?”

“I am utterly firm in my conviction. You are unworthy to be Master Grediv’s pupil. I will never stop until he recognizes that.”

Under his breath, Rane muttered, “Then you will never stop.” He shook his head, continuing quietly, “That staff is holding you back, brother. This is for your own good.”

Rane sighed, nodding and seeming to be psyching himself up for something.

In a louder voice, he spoke into the air, “Master Grediv, how much do you care about that staff?”

A brief instant of silence was broken by a disembodied voice, “It’s a priceless heirloom, passed down through generations of our family, and should never be misused or abused.”

Furgal gave a triumphant smile. “The ancestor’s will has been—"

Master Grediv continued, utterly uncaring that he spoke over Furgal, “But since it is already being ill-used, I don’t much care what becomes of it. It’s ruined.”

Before Furgal could fully register the words, Rane had covered half the length of the hall to stand before his brother. With almost casual slowness, bordering on what a mundane could perceive, he punched the staff.

Tala, with her always active magesight, saw a very odd thing.

Rane stole the kinetic energy from his own punch as it landed, splitting it into thirds.

One third stayed where he struck, acting as expected, and the remainder was applied elsewhere on the staff, one third at each end, aimed in the opposite direction of his punch.

It was an incredibly effective technique, and Tala couldn’t help but wonder how it could be used against a human opponent.

-Not now, Tala.-

I know, I know.

Furgal’s eyes had just begun to widen as the staff shattered in his hand. The magical power that had been built up within the staff popped and fizzled in the air as a dispersing cloud.

Rane’s voice rang out clearly, causing Tala to notice the others who had been watching from the upper balcony, as they shifted with obvious discomfort, “You were passed over due to your own failings, Furgal. Learn from that harsh lesson—and this one—or wallow in mediocrity and a short life. I no longer care which. The choice is yours.” Without another glance at his brother, Rane turned and walked the twenty or so feet back to Tala.

The older Mage simply stared at his now empty hand in abject disbelief. Even the fragments of the staff had dissipated along with the power that had once filled them.

Rane crossed that distance quite quickly for his strike.

-You’re still thinking of sparring against him, aren’t you.- It wasn’t a question.

Maybe, but not right now. You’re right that it isn’t the time.

When Rane returned to her side, Tala raised an eyebrow and teased, “Just a punch? Not your sword?”

He shrugged. “First of all, you were the one who suggested using one punch.”

She laughed. “I suppose I did.”

“Second, no Archon worth their metal uses Force on a simple Mage.”

Tala simply stared at him for a long moment. Did he just…?

-I think he did. The madman.-

Rane stood straight for most of that moment under her gaze, but finally hunched beneath her scrutiny.

She shook her head and snorted a laugh. “How long have you been saving that line?”

He chuckled a little. “Quite a while actually.”

“Well… try it again some other time.”

“Fine.” Rane groused a bit, but he was doing a bad job of hiding his smile.

Master Grediv was suddenly standing beside them, a neutral look across his features. “Are you both ready?”

They nodded.

Tala glanced back towards Furgal, who seemed even more shocked than before, if that was possible. He was still just regarding his own hand.

Tala felt a bit bad about the situation. “Is that going to be okay?”

“Hmm?” Master Grediv glanced the Mage’s way. “Oh, certainly. The staff was a training aid that took impressions of each student I trained in order to improve in the process with the next. He was given it years too early, without my guidance, and his use had spoiled the thing for future generations, I’m afraid.”

“Huh… alright then.” Who was she to argue with the Paragon?

Master Grediv motioned, and the doors swung open. “Shall we?”

Tala was about to agree, when she remembered something. “Oh! Ummm… One moment.”

She walked over to the side of the entry hall and pulled empty plates and platters out of Kit, one after another.

It was enough that even those up on the balcony took notice and susurrations moved through the watchers.

Finally, Tala was done, and she walked back over to Rane and Master Grediv.

Rane was covering his own mouth, suppressing his mirth, and Master Grediv had one eyebrow arched. “Are you quite finished, Mistress Tala?”

“I am. Thank you.”

“Then, let us be off.”

A short time later, Tala, Rane, Master Grediv, and Terry exited Alefast, heading towards Bandfast.

Tala was a bit sad that she couldn’t drop through and see Artia and her family, but there simply wasn’t time. I’ll have to come back. I think I promised Lyn that I’d bring her at some point.

-You did. It would probably be good for Kannis, too.-

Oh, right! I’d say I forgot about her, but that’s not really possible.

-She wasn’t on your mind?-

Yeah, that’s probably a reasonable way to say it.

The terrain and feel of the land outside the city were hauntingly familiar to Tala, and she almost asked to go over to the endingberry grove that she knew was nearby.

She didn’t need the endingberries, she had an orchard's worth within her sanctum, but she felt a nostalgic desire to go and see the place where she had first gathered more than a couple of the little bundles of power.

Now was hardly the time, however, so she satisfied herself by pulling out some from Kit and popping them into her mouth.

The taste was amazing, and the power washed through her in ripples. It was so little when compared with the tide that was already within her. Still, it was another source of power, and she was loathe to pass up on any little boost that she could.

With practiced precision, she guided the endingberries’ power to the proper scripts, reinforcing the inscriptions and her own natural magics.

Then, with her mouth cleared of the beneficial power, she bit down on the seeds all at once.

A slow count of three later, an explosion of power tried to disintegrate her head from the mouth outward.

Instead, Tala pulled in a deep breath and forced that hostile power into her own lungs where immaculate scripts contained it.

There, within her own lungs, she forcefully twisted the spellform, using her magesight to see exactly what she was doing and her will to enact the desired change.

Easier than ever.

-What did you expect?-

Tala wasn’t sure. As she considered, she thought that a part of her viewed the endingberries as alien, as other. The dasgannach.

The new soulbound was influencing her at a fundamental level, as expected, and she had had no time to actually analyze all the changes.

This is going to take a long time to get used to.

-And lots of experimenting to suss out the details.-

That’s the truth.

But she’d let her mind wander, so she brought herself back to the moment.

Master Grediv and Rane were chatting about random things, seemingly not too bothered by her silence.

Terry had flickered away, and Tala could sense ripples of dimensional power that signified the terror bird was hunting across the surrounding landscape.

When his conversation with Master Grediv came to a natural pause, Rane glanced Tala’s way. “He’s gotten a lot more independent.”

She shrugged. “He had to. I was… not myself for around half a year.”

Rane winced at that. “I’m so sorry, Tala. We did look for you. After you vanished from the caravan…”

She blinked. “Oh! I didn’t even think of that. Did everyone get to Arconaven alright?”

“Yeah. Mistress Odera told me about it when I caught up to her. They booked it, when you were found to be gone that morning. Mistress Odera and a group of Arcane Hunters from Arconaven came back to the campsite after the caravan was safe and searched for you more extensively, but they couldn't find even a trace.” He grimaced. “That’s when she sent me a message. It took me nearly two weeks to get to Arconaven to join in the search, but as is rather obvious, we never found you, not even a trace.”

Tala didn’t really know how to take that. They were trying to find me, at least at first. Rather than trying to figure out how to address any part of that, she shifted the subject. “How is Mistress Odera? She hasn’t responded to my information packet, yet.”

“She… she isn’t doing too well. When she stopped searching for you, she seemed to lose her purpose, her drive. Last time I was in Bandfast to see Mistress Lyn, Mistress Aproa, and the others, I stopped by her home. She just sits in her garden all day. Mistress Aproa spends as much time as she can between assignments, and Mistress Odera gives her advice on the mageling who Mistress Aproa took on. That, at least, seems to make the old lady smile.” He grinned at the last.

Tala smiled in return. “Oh? I’d thought Mistress Aproa was against getting a mageling.”

“She was, but apparently she came around to the idea.” Rane shrugged. “I think Master Cazor had a hand in that discussion, but I wasn’t there, so I’m not sure.”

Tala was about to ask further when Master Grediv interjected. They’d walked nearly a mile from the Alefast wall by that point. “Mistress Tala, how did you travel on your way here?”

She shrugged. “I ran, mostly.” After a moment’s hesitation. “No, I ran the whole way, there wasn’t a ‘mostly’ involved.” She chuckled a bit awkwardly after she answered.

“Ahh, well, then we’ll have to use other methods. While that might work, I think we should take a less strenuous means. Are you willing?”

“Of course. I think I’ve had my fill of running cross-country for the next year or so at least.”

The Paragon smiled. “Very well. I am happy to provide an alternative.”

Without a specific explanation, he reached into thin air and pulled out a large sapphire disc. It was easily ten feet across and half-a-foot thick.

It was dense with magic.

“Before you ask, no, I’m not bonded to this, but yes, I do like the color.”

Rane grinned, and Tala chuckled.

“Shall we?”

Tala looked toward where she felt Terry last. “Terry!”

The terror bird flickered into being beside Tala, bent low but still taller than her.

“Do you want to travel in Kit? Or ride with us or…?”

Terry glanced toward the sapphire disc that was now hovering just off the ground, Master Grediv and Rane already waiting atop it.

The avian squawked disinterestedly then nosed her pouch.

“In Kit it is.” She grinned and opened her Sanctum so Terry could flicker in.

Without another word, she stepped up beside the two men.

“Let’s away.”

Master Grediv nodded, and Tala felt his power flexing around them, layering them in a cocoon of sorts.

Its shape was reminiscent of the form she’d given her aura to reduce her magical resonance. “Oh! Is this more aerodynamic? Or… magic-dynamic? No, that’s not a good term.”

Master Grediv smiled. “I understand your meaning, and yes, Mistress Tala. This is the best-known shape for an aura or isolation field to reduce magical resonance.” He glanced toward Rane. “I recommend that you both study it while we travel.”

They both nodded.

“Then, let’s be off.”

The disc rose up into the air about a hundred feet and took off, just slower than Tala had been running through the plains.

Even being a bit slower, and with a perfectly designed isolation cocoon, Tala could tell that they were pushing up against the edge of magical resonance.

Master Grediv sighed. “This is slower than I’d have liked, but not by much. We’ll make good time.”

Tala nodded and smiled. “Better than running. Thank you.”

“Certainly, Mistress Tala. I am happy to oblige.”

Tala began thinking of all those she was going to see, and all those that she would still need to reach out to, outside of Bandfast. Mostly, that was her family.

OH! Alat?

-Yeah, I just noticed. It’s Nalac and Illie’s birthday.- The messages that she’d received from the twins before being taken had always been established from their end, and she simply responded. The last message from them sat in her Archive; she’d never responded. In looking at that message, she was the only one able to access it within the Archive, so she didn’t really know how to go about responding. Huh, I didn’t actually realize that before.

“Master Grediv?”

“Yes?”

“If I wanted to send a message to the Academy, specifically two students, how would I do that?”

“Oh!” He thought for a moment. “Here, I will grant you access to a repository. Place your letter within that, clearly labeled for the recipient, and it will get to them.”

“Today?”

After a moment’s thought, or some form of investigation, Master Grediv nodded. “Yes. Barring unforeseen issues, it should reach them at dinner mail-call. This is assuming you don’t take too long. They are further ahead than we are, time wise.”

Tala suppressed the bad memories that she had associated with dinner mail-call and smiled. “Thank you.”

Let’s get to it. How much time do we have?

-Less than an hour, to be safe. We should be good for two, but it would be quite frustrating to finish and not be able to deliver it.-

That’s the truth. Tala began thinking on what to say and realized that it had been nearly a year since she’d seen them, and their last message to her had asked for her help.

I never replied. I thought I’d have time in Arconaven.

-Tala, you couldn’t have known.-

But I should have prioritized them when I could.

-Well? You can now.-

Yes. Yes I can. First, she’d check on their fundamental understandings. That was a recurring issue the first few years at the Academy, and a fairly safe place to begin.

With that as a place to start, Tala quickly sat and worked with Alat to compose a letter to each of her two siblings for their birthday.

A note from JLMullins

BONUS CHAPTER: This is where the eigth Bonus Chapter comes in for allPatrons.

(That's right, even the $1 tier!) 🎉

Chapter: 271 Bonus - Illie & Ingrit

These are secondary POVs that add to the worldbuilding but are not required for the story.

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 272 - Sapphire Disc

A note from JLMullins

IMPORTANT NOTE:

My apologies for the repeat from Discord, but I realized that many of you aren't on there.

I learned of an error with the print version of Book 2 - Mage and tried to correct it quickly. Unfortunately, I just received some test prints that show that some copies did go out with the error.

If any of you purchased the paperback version of book 2, please reach out to me directly, and if you got a copy with the errors, I want to make it right if I can, either with a refund or replacement.

Thank you,

J.L.Mullins

Tala stood back up after sending the note to her siblings for their birthday.

While she was composing it, Mistress Ingrit had sent her a short inquiry, so she’d told the Archivist that she was on her way to Bandfast in the company of Masters Grediv and Rane.

There. That’s done for now.

She didn’t want to be distracted by her surroundings. Thus, she narrowed her focus and turned toward Master Grediv. “So, combining two already soul-bound items?”

The Paragon glanced her way, then to either side. They were moving through the pass, incredibly steep slopes on either side. “Not one for taking in the scenery?”

Fine… Tala did look around, then. It was stunning.

Behind them, she saw the rolling, lightly forested plains running down from the mountains to Alefast, Waning, and beyond where the trees all but disappeared, and in the far distance, the forest proper where the trees returned in sudden force.

Before them lay a wide valley between stark mountains, sloping down toward the west, toward Bandfast.

It was an idyllic scene not marred by anything to her normal sight.

The angle is wrong to see the caravan campsite just north of this pass, and it doesn’t seem like any caravan is passing below us at the moment.

Her magesight, however, showed swirling storms of power, making the zeme utterly chaotic in the area. The mountains were filled with magic, the centuries of human cities circling the region had built up quite the reserves within the land itself.

It wasn’t free-floating, and as such couldn’t be claimed by an arcane. Somehow, the world itself had laid claim to the magic. That’s probably how it can then sustain magical beasts.

But she was letting her mind wander.

Don’t let yourself get distracted.

-Yes, that would be quite out of character.-

Hush, you. “It is beautiful, and I would like to know what you have to say.”

Master Grediv quirked a smile.

Rane sat off to one side on their wide, but not overlarge, disc.

He briefly cracked an eye open, glanced towards Master Grediv, and closed it once again.

Listening without being obvious, eh? I wonder if he’s soul-bound anything else? She could try to figure it out, but now was hardly the time.

Master Grediv finally nodded and sat cross-legged, gesturing for her to do the same.

She did.

“A soul-bound item is a magical item that is bound to your soul.”

She gave him a flat look.

He gave her a happy, slightly smug, smile. “What each one of those words is, in actuality, really matters, though.”

That caused her to frown, before she slowly nodded. “Like my elk-leathers. They are ‘one item’ while really being numerous pieces, physically.”

“Precisely, yes. We can address that side of things first. Your elk-leathers have been bound on a spiritual, or magical, level and are thus a ‘magical item’ for want of a better descriptor.”

“So, a ‘magical item’ is anything that is spiritually or magically ‘one?’”

“For the most part, yes.”

“But wouldn’t that mean that, after the bond, I am ‘spiritually and magically one’ with that item?”

“Ahh, and you immediately focus on the ‘least’ part, as usual.”

She grinned sheepishly, and Rane smiled without opening his eyes.

Master Grediv waved placatingly. “I don’t mean that negatively, Mistress Tala. You have drilled right to the heart of the matter. What I am about to describe is not literally true. Do you understand?”

“A metaphor, yes.”

“Yes, good. So, there exists a network of ties, each one of your soul-bound items is linked to your soul and to each other. Together, you are a group all bound as a unit.”

She nodded and didn’t interrupt.

“The same goes for me. Now, as a hypothetical, what would happen if you and I were to marry?”

Tala frowned, putting aside the awkwardness of the question. “We would soul-bond.”

“Yes, and our soul-bound items?”

Her head tilted to one side. “They would intermesh? All connecting to each other in one big wibbly-wobbly, ti—”

He held up his hand. “I’m going to stop you right there. That is what would be expected to happen based on the previous metaphor, but remember, it’s not a perfect analogy.”

She nodded, clearly following what he was trying to say.

“Instead, a singular link would be made between our souls, the weight of which would be the sum total of our power and the power of bound items.”

“So, they add to the link, without being a part of it?”

“In a sense, yes.”

“Sure, I suppose that makes sense. How is it relevant?”

He smiled. “Why is there a difference between binding an item and a person?”

She opened her mouth to answer, then hesitated. There was an obvious answer but was it really that simple? Finally, she decided to just go with it, “Our minds?”

“Precisely. If we married, you would want to bond with me, and I you, not our soulbound items, just each other.”

“But items don’t have minds.”

“Exactly. So, when they’re brought into a bond, they just… bond.”

“Hence, the network of connections.”

“Yes. And that gets complicated and exponentially more complex as you increase the number of bonds you have.”

“So, bonding someone or something with a mind is less stressful on your soul?”

“Differently stressful. It’s a stronger, two-way connection, rather than another node in a net.”

“So… this is interesting, but how does it factor into my question?”

“How would you combine them?”

Taking his question seriously, Tala thought before responding. Alat?

-In the metaphor? Just directly overlay the nodes in the net, then somehow pin them in place?-

That sounds close to what he’s asking, but rather than pinning them, “Overlay the items and interweave their connections to everything else?”

“That… yes. That is correct.”

She hesitated. “Oh! So, it is possible?”

“Only if you can get the items to occupy the same physical and magical space…” He hesitated, then nodded. “You want to combine the dasgannach with your body.”

Rane’s eyes snapped open. “What now?”

Master Grediv closed his eyes, rocking backward and wincing. “Ah, Mistress Tala, I apologize. That was an egregious breach of trust. I should never have disclosed your soul-bound items to another.”

Rane whipped his head to stare, wide-eyed at Tala. “You soul-bound a dasgannach?!”

The Paragon reached over and smacked Rane on the back of his head. Somehow, the Fused’s defensive scripts didn’t activate, allowing the hit to land. “That was obvious from the context, if you’d taken even an instant to think. Don’t try to make what I’ve done seem worse.”

Tala shook her head, holding up her hands. “It’s fine, Master Grediv. I don’t mind Rane knowing.”

“So… It’s true?”

“It is, though the dasgannach in question was heavily modified by arcane concept magics, at least that is my assumption of how they did it. It wasn’t really voluntary? I had to offer the thing my Archon star to keep it from killing me, but I think that the results will be beneficial, in the end. Though, to be fair, I’ve only barely explored the bare edges of what those results are.”

“What are the results you know?”

Tala grinned wickedly. “Well.” She consciously suppressed her through-spike.

With that action, she knew that she almost fully disappeared to their magesight, even as their mundane vision was filled with the impression of her light wreathed form. “It’s better than the iron paint ever was. Somehow, the iron is surrounding every one of my inscriptions, but within the dimensions of magic rather than physically. I also have a lot of extra iron interwoven through me, which is giving me additional mass and density, which I imagine will take a bit to get used to, but once I have adjusted, it will make me both more offensive and resilient.”

“So, an iron dasgannach?”

“Yes.”

“I can see why that would have been an issue.” Rane was squinting. “Your skin looks normal. How are you still creating the echoes?”

“That’s because it is.” She frowned. “I just said the iron was around my inscriptions. It’s not on my skin anymore.”

He shrugged. “What if you had it on your skin, too?”

She frowned.

-Tala? That’s a pretty interesting thought. Why didn’t we think of it?-

Because we haven’t exactly had a lot of time to consider these things, yet.

-Fair enough. So? What if?-

Her eyes had initially widened at the idea. Now, they narrowed as she nodded to herself. “Well, let’s see.”

With an almost effortless flexing of her will, some of her iron reserves flowed through her and out, onto her skin, coating it in a dark grey semi-liquid.

It moved with her easily, though somehow, she knew it would feel hard and unyielding to anyone who touched it.

The wreathing of light vanished, the magics that carved them now contained within another layer.

-Oh, wow. That feels good. I feel more, somehow. Keep it up!-

Tala felt her enhancements ramping up even higher and her efficiency increase, not due to the scripts being more efficient, but because of an additional recursion being added on top of those already flaring through her.

“Huh. That was unexpected. I don’t—”

Master Grediv’s eyes widened. “Release it! Remove it, now!”

Tala acted instantly, pulling the iron back into her reserves. Only then did she notice the issue.

As the near perfect seal dissolved, a wave of power rippled outward.

Tala felt her regeneration scripts flare to full activation with what power was left to them even as a wave of pain shuddered through her.

-Tala? Tala!-

Tala had collapsed to the side, twitching as her blood flowed from her eyes, mouth, nose, ears, and every pore across her body.

It didn’t make a mess on the sapphire disc, because only clear liquid flowed off of her, the iron stripped from the liquid before it dripped free.

That iron then melded back into her, leaving no trace on her skin.

Vaguely, Tala saw an antlered and horned head peak over around the side of a nearby mountain, clearly alerted by her pulse of power. However, this time, the creature took a look at the source and vanished from sight, likely running as fast and as far as it could.

But, on the flying disc, Rane’s eyes had gone wide, and he was clearly scanning her with his magesight and possibly other spellforms for detection and diagnosis, but he kept from touching her for the moment. “Tala?”

She groaned. Her mind felt sluggish after the brief moment of flared power. Her senses felt dull, even at their now standard levels of enhancement.

She looked inside and saw devastation.

It was like what she’d read of extreme hyponatremia, the oversaturation of water that could cause a person’s cells to burst apart. Her body seemed to have been strained to splitting down to the deepest levels. She only hadn’t noticed because her hyper-powered spellforms were masking it, keeping her alive and functional even as her body degraded, physically.

Without sitting up, she stuck her hand into Kit and pulled out some food, beginning to mechanically eat.

Rane sighed, obviously relaxing, if just a bit. She still hadn’t responded, but she was eating, and he likely took that as a good sign.

As for Tala, she still felt oddly blank, even while she clinically examined herself.

The damage had affected her brain as well, and her consciousness was only really functional at the moment due to her magics and Alat.

-I… rebuilding... Hang on...-

She couldn’t think. She seemed able to act but thinking was oddly out of reach.

So, she ate mechanically.

Rane turned to his mentor. “What happened?”

“Extreme magic oversaturation. An unrefined body simply can’t take the level of power she started to pack into it. It was too much, too quickly.”

“But she’s been completely covered in iron before.”

“She hasn’t been, not really. You’ve learned a little about the nature of reality, Rane. Before, her iron covering was not a unified, unbroken layer between her and the rest of reality. Now? Now that it is basically a part of her? Well, it’s unprecedented, so I don’t know, but in theory it should be far closer to perfect.”

“Would it really make that much of a difference?” Rane was frowning, clearly trying to understand.

Master Grediv gave his student a reproachful look. “A pressure tank with a steady ten percent rate of leakage will reach equilibrium at a much lower pressure than one with a one percent rate of leakage, assuming the same rate of in-flow. I would hazard a guess that Mistress Tala’s earlier versions of iron covering were in the forty to sixty percent range. Now? What we just saw? I’d guess it had at most a ten percent leakage.”

“So, she tried to quadruple her power density almost instantly.”

“At the very least, yes.”

“No wonder it didn’t go well…” Rane hesitated, then, when he opened his mouth to speak again, Tala finally stirred, speaking before he could.

“Not your fault.” She grimaced and tried to scrape the awful taste off her tongue with her teeth.

The two men turned to regard her as she slowly pushed herself up.

“That rusting hurt, but I’ll survive.”

Rane quirked his signature smile, seeming to relax further. “I figured that much when you started eating.”

Tala grunted at that. “Fair enough. I still think I’m more… not right than right. I’m glad we’re not getting to Bandfast today.”

Master Grediv nodded. “Yes, you should use the time to recover.”

Tala gave him a baleful look even as she continued eating. “After you answer my rusting question.”

He hesitated, then laughed. “Oh! Yes, I suppose I haven’t answered, have I?”

“No. No, you have not.”

“Well, I won’t know until we fully explore your bond to the dasgannach, but in theory?”

She nodded, swallowing and taking another bite.

“You should be able to combine it with your body in a way that few have ever been able to do with two soul-bound items. Though, I wouldn’t recommend it before you Refine. You are already obviously capable of things your body just can’t handle. I’d hate for you to make it worse.”

“I should do that soon, regardless.”

Master Grediv shrugged. “We’ll run some tests. I would bet that Mistress Holly will want to tweak your scripts at least marginally, and even with your rather impressive throughput—don’t think I haven’t noticed, by the way, and you will explain eventually—you will need at least a couple of weeks for the new scripts to shift your natural magical patterns.”

Tala shrugged. “Soon is good enough. It’s important, not urgent, and I’d rather do it right.”

Master Grediv cocked an eyebrow, his surprised skepticism obvious.

Rane smiled, the look almost congratulatory, as if she’d said something specifically worthy of note.

-Unusually wisely said, Tala. Well done.-

Tala glared back, ensuring that the sentiment was reflected inward as well. Rusting jerks, I hate all of you.

Finally, she just shook her head. “I’ve had a long few months, and I am looking forward to taking a slower pace for a little while.”

Rane nodded. “I can understand that. Was it really that awful in Platoiri?”

Tala grimaced. “Yes and no. It was strange, being in a place against my will, but holding the lives of most of those around me in my hands. I felt like a press-ganged judge. It was…” She frowned. “Wait.”

Rane tilted his head, waiting just as she’d asked.

“I never said what city I was in.”

Color drained from the Fused’s face. “I… you didn’t?”

She narrowed her eyes. “No. I didn’t.”

Did I?

-No. You didn’t.-

Yeah, I thought not.

“So? How did you know the name?”

Rane looked at a loss. “I… I can’t say.”

“Rane, so help me. You will tell me or—”

He held up his hands. “I apologize, Tala, but I truly can’t.”

Master Grediv cleared his throat. “If I may, Mistress Tala?”

Tala wasn’t sure what she was feeling, but she rounded on Master Grediv. “What.” There was no question involved, only irritation.

“Rane refused to give up when most others did, after your disappearance. I don’t know all the things he sought, but I do know that, around three months ago, he returned, sure that you were alive, and unable to tell anyone more than that. He petitioned to be allowed to venture south and was denied. Even so, he maintained that you were alive and that you would have a chance to make your escape sooner rather than later.”

Rane was a funny shade of red, but he wasn’t saying anything.

Tala looked back and forth between the two men before finally throwing her hands up in surrender. “Fine. I won’t press. I need to eat.”

And so, she ate, while the sapphire disc continued its rapid journey toward Bandfast.

The afternoon turned to evening, and Master Grediv gathered their attention. “I can continue on through the night, and we will likely reach Bandfast before dawn, or we can put down for the night and be on our way at first light. We’ll still get to Bandfast well before noon.”

Rane shrugged. “I’ve no preference either way. Tala?”

She sighed, the food Rane had procured for her long since consumed. “I’d prefer to arrive sooner rather than later. We could slow down just a bit, to arrive around sunrise? No need to cause a ruckus by arriving in the dark.”

Master Grediv hesitated, then nodded. “Very well. That is quite possible.”

The disc slowed down noticeably, but not over-much, and they continued their journey uninterrupted.

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 273 - This Time

Tala sat in peaceful stillness, eyes closed, body relaxed, feeling the constant pleasant breeze against her front.

That cool sensation was suddenly joined by a counter point when the sun crested the mountains behind them, the first light of morning striking her like a physical thing.

She felt power in the light, though it was most easily explained as the heat the light brought to her skin.

She hadn’t been cold, per se, but the warm touch of that light eased tension she hadn’t noticed building through her long hours of barely moving.

Tala had spent most of the night in quiet meditation, focused inward separately on her repairing body and the iron now threading throughout.

They would arrive in Bandfast soon, so she took the rising sun as a cue to review what she learned.

First, and most importantly, her physical form was not regenerating as quickly as it should.

The damage she’d sustained should have healed effectively instantly, but instead, it lingered as if something foundational had broken within each cell, and her magesight was becoming precise enough to detect the detritus that was surrounding her body in the dimensions of magic. At least it was precise enough when she focused with all her will and mental acuity.

Alat helped too.

The picture wasn’t a good one.

-I don’t think we’ll survive long without Refining or something like it. That is a rather unhealthy aspect to our body.-

I’d have thought the teleportation would clean this up, but it’s tied to me, to my soul.

-Yeah, it’s a deterioration of your body, which is soul-bound to you.-

Tala scoffed internally. One of the unspecified ‘downsides’ of becoming Bound. There are some things that can’t be healed in the standard way.

-Mistress Holly knows of the issue, even if not the advanced state of it. We’ll get it all sorted.-

Yeah. It was odd, feeling like her body was betraying her, even if that was a radically unrealistic assessment. She’d abused herself, and now there were consequences.

-Marginal misalignments in regenerative scripts, due to our imperfect nature.-

Yeah, and with every regeneration, those have been amplified. Do you have your estimate?

-Yes, as soon as I noticed your desire for independent analysis, I kept you from seeing those thoughts and calculations.-

I estimate ten years until total degradation, losing roughly a year for the equivalent of each full body regeneration.

-I estimated eleven years, but near enough, yeah.-

Merging with the dasgannach really threw everything off…

-It did. Your biology is no longer really human, I suspect a similar issue to Master Jevin’s, but we’re aware of it before hand, so it shouldn't compound.-

Yup. Tell the more knowledgeable, find and enact a solution.

-Eh, we just need a perfect body, and we’ll be fine.-

Well, we’ll be Re-fine-d.

Alat paused for a long moment before sending a sense of disapproval. -Bad Tala, bad pun.-

It was amazing, and you know it.

But she was getting off into the weeds.

She had made some good progress. Towards that end, she purposely shifted the iron within herself towards the sun-side, darkening her skin by increasing the iron manifesting within it to increase her absorption of the warmth on this cold winter morning.

It also allowed the heat to radiate deeper, quicker, due to the properties of the iron.

She didn’t need the heat, but it felt nice, especially as a counterpoint to the steady wind of their travels.

She also lifted her hand and willed some iron out through her skin, forming a blob on her palm.

It was clearly iron dust, but it moved and held together more like a liquid.

Alright, here we go. She’d been able to move the iron within her body with almost perfect precision, but this was new.

Cube.

The iron lifted in the middle just a bit, making vaguely square corners, but the result was not a cube.

The deep ache that Tala felt was familiar. Will-power and spiritual fatigue.

She groused.

-Hey! But this means it’s a good exercise to improve both of those things? Especially since we probably shouldn’t do too much sparring or physical conditioning with these issues.-

She hadn’t considered it that way. She would have, but Alat was quicker this time. Yeah, that’s quite true. I’d be surprised if Mistress Holly wasn’t in the group we’re going to be talking to.

Ahead, now that her eyes were open, Tala could see Bandfast.

She allowed her focus to shift to the approaching city, and she felt a twinge in her heart.

Home.

She’d been gone a long time.

True, it hadn’t even been a year, but it felt like a long time.

In one sense, I’ve never actually been here. There’s not a continuity of consciousness from ‘me’ to the Tala who lived in Lyn’s house.

-Stop that sort of philosophizing. It helps no one and can easily be extended to say that ‘you’ die every time you sleep. It’s just not helpful.-

That’s fair…

Some of the outer defensive towers caught the light of the rising sun and almost seemed to glow in the morning light.

The farms, orchards, and other outer signs of civilization that had been absent around Alefast, Waning, were dusted with snow, while still showing obvious signs of use.

Even in winter the work never ceases.

Tala also knew that the grow complexes under the city would be in full swing with year-round crops and starters for when the snows receded.

We have to eat, after all. She more than most.

It was somewhat odd to realize that her magical healing depended so strongly on having a mundane infrastructure behind her. Well, it would, without my sanctum.

-Your sanctum can provide your day to day needs, but it is not sufficient to replenish your reserves when they’re this low. You’d strip the space bare and still be lacking.-

That’s true, and I’m going to need a cook or two…

-We’ll deal with that, once we’ve addressed the more pertinent matters at hand.-

True. I’ll be patient.

From this sky-down perspective, it was fascinating to see the bubble of civilization ahead and below them.

There were occasional flashes as arcanous creatures were killed trying to enter at various places around that bubble, but that was nothing new.

More than anything, what stood out to her magesight was the deep pit that the city was to the magic of the region. Power flowed downhill, in a sense, and this city was at the bottom of a crater in the magical dimensions dozens of miles in circumference.

She’d never seen the siphoning scripts so clearly before, though she was still only seeing the evidence of their existence rather than the scripts themselves.

Such is required with so many gated humans living close together. It was certainly more efficient than keeping the city moving at all times. At least at this scale, it’s more efficient.

Master Grediv broke his silence. “We’ll be through the defenses in less than ten minutes. Mistress Ingrit has gathered some interested parties to meet with us upon our arrival.”

Tala nodded. Mistress Ingrit had said something similar in her latest message. This is so convenient.

-Yes. We are going to upgrade our Archive connection so we’re never out of range again.-

Agreed.

The blue sapphire disc passed through the outer edges of Bandfast’s defenses with ease and barely a ripple, and they were suddenly directly over the outer ring of the city, passing at the pace of a slow sprint.

The walls drew closer, and Tala glanced towards Master Grediv. “Aren’t we going to scare some people?”

He huffed a laugh. “We are quite invisible to mundane sight, Mistress.”

“Ahh, that makes sense.”

She saw farmers clearing paths in the snow, or checking their fields. She didn’t know what they were doing, precisely, as she’d never really looked into the profession.

-Do you want me to find out?-

Not particularly. Not right now.

-Alright.-

They were still flying fairly high above the ground, and so Tala was able to start picking out familiar features.

That’s the work yard I used for my trip to Alefast, and over there is the one I used for all my trips to Marliweather.

She easily spotted dozens of restaurants she’d visited in the past, and she started building a list of places she wanted to eat, once she was free to do so.

She saw the Guardsmen’s training yard where she’d received so much instruction.

The Way of Flowing Blood was vastly superior to what she and the guards had pieced together, but the aid that they’d given her was invaluable. It had kept her alive so many times even before her capture, and the mental structures and physical habits they’d helped to engender within her had allowed her to continue to improve even after she’d left the specific patchwork fighting style behind.

She obviously saw the teleportation tower that had first brought her to this city from the Academy, but that had been visible for quite a while.

They were closing in on the central districts, and Tala was able to pick out the Caravaneer’s Guildhall.

I’m going to have to go talk to them about my contract. There is no way I’m doing caravan runs… at least not for a while.

The Wainwrights might be a bit cross with her, though she believed that she’d gotten them their money’s worth for their custom wagon.

I wonder if there’d be any benefit for Kit imbibing those…

Probably not.

Finally, she saw the park and Lyn’s house.

Her house.

Emotion tried to build within her, but Tala suppressed it.

No. I need to be strong for this meeting. Then, I can go have a good cry.

-Stuffing your feelings isn’t good for you, Tala. I think you know that already.-

I do, but what other choice do I have?

Master Grediv brought them in for a smooth landing near the center of the city.

They came down in a small courtyard very close to the Archon compound, which made sense to Tala.

As the large blue disc settled down, Tala, Rane, and Master Grediv stepped off before the sapphire simply vanished, presumably back into Master Grediv’s untethered, soul-bound, dimensional storage.

That is a lot of qualifiers for such a common item.

Alat sighed internally, clearly aware that Tala was trying to distract herself. -There really should be a simple name for something like that, yes.-

Yeah, but what would it be?

-Inventory?-

That’s an oddly specific suggestion. Why?

-Well, what is an inventory? It’s a list of things kept in a certain location. For untethered, soul-bound, dimensional storages, all they are is an inventory, a list of contents, that you can pull from.-

Huh… that actually makes a lot of sense.

The internal conversation had taken virtually no time in actuality, and so Tala wasn’t in the middle of the exchange when she saw the people coming out of a side passage into the courtyard.

At the front of the group was Lyn who was quick walking, pulling ahead of the others.

She covered the last few feet with something akin to a leap, accompanied by an almost childlike squeal. “TALA!”

The older woman wrapped Tala in a tight embrace that felt more maternal than anything Tala had experienced in… She couldn’t remember the last time that she’d experienced anything particularly maternal…

“Oof! What are you made of these days, girl?” Lyn didn’t pull back, but her squeezing embrace didn’t seem to deflect Tala’s flesh at all. “This is like hugging a statue.”

-You’ve not really had maternal contact recently. Certainly not since you upgraded your mind.-

Tala felt her own thoughts breaking down as she curled inward, wrapping Lyn in a tight hug in turn.

-Careful! She’s fragile.-

Tala jerked slightly, keeping herself from crushing her friend even as she felt emotions roiling within her.

Keep it together, Tala. Come on. You can do this.

Rane walked up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “You’re home, Tala. Everything will be alright.”

That broke the hasty dam she’d been trying to throw up within herself, and a shudder of emotion roiled through her.

Alat had to help keep the cathartic spasms from squeezing Lyn too tightly.

At some point, Rane wrapped both women in an immense hug that was only possible because he was just so much larger than them both.

It felt like a year, and also like just an instant before she pulled back, smiling with tear-filled eyes at her friend.

Lyn similarly smiled back. “I thought we’d lost you.” She shook her head. “Welcome home.”

Tala almost descended back into tears, but instead, solidified herself and nodded once. “I cannot express how glad I am to be back.”

She then looked around at the few other people around her, waiting patiently.

Mistress Jenna and Mistress Ingrit were the only two who’d come closer, and Tala focused on those two women, for the moment ignoring the other shape waiting back in the hallway.

Tala pulled a cloth from Kit to wipe her face clean as Mistress Ingrit walked forward.

Tala smiled. “Thank you for all you did once you had my message.”

Mistress Ingrit didn’t respond, instead stepping in to give a surprisingly powerful hug.

Tala stiffened for an instant, the gesture utterly unexpected, but she didn’t have any real resistances at the moment, and so after that brief hesitation, she accepted the gesture unreservedly.

The Archivist whispered for Tala’s ear alone. “You poor dear. You’ve gone through something truly awful, and there is more to come, but I am on your side—and I’ll be at your side—through all that is left.”

Tala felt a huge amount of comfort from that. “Thank you, Mistress Ingrit.”

Mistress Jenna came forward and gave her a quick half-hug. “Welcome back, dear. There is much we need to discuss before my husband will be happy with you staying in the city, but I think we can sort it soon enough. Mistress Ingrit hasn’t given details, but she’s gathered… quite the group.” The wife of the Lord of Bandfast gestured towards the archway. “Let’s finish the reunions and get down to business, shall we?”

Tala had returned the much older woman’s brief hug, taking it for a greeting rather than an offer of support or comfort. At the Reforged’s gesture, Tala finally focused on the singular figure who waited in the hallway, alone.

“Child. I see you’re still finding yourself in… unique situations.” Mistress Odera stood, bent over a cane, hunched in a way that Tala had never seen, her usual energy seemingly drained out of her. “Well, don’t just stand there, staring, girl. Come give an old woman a hug.”

Tala crossed the distance and gave a careful hug to the woman who appeared to be the oldest person present. Now that I think about it, Mistress Odera is likely precisely in the middle of the group, age wise.

As a Mage, Mistress Odera was longer lived than a mundane, but that paled in comparison to even the shortest lived Archon’s natural span of years, and everyone else present was at least an Archon.

Even Lyn was more than halfway to Fused, her aura showing as a beautiful burnt orange to Tala’s magesight.

Tala once again had to wipe her nose and eyes. “You never responded to my message.”

“You told me you would come to see me when you could. You asked no questions.” The woman shrugged slowly. “What purpose would there have been in replying?”

Tala groused a bit but had to admit that Mistress Odera was correct. “I was worried about you.”

“Then, ask a question next time.” Mistress Odera hesitated, seeming almost to stutter in place. “Actually, let’s not have a next time, hmmm?”

“I’d prefer that, yes.”

Mistress Jenna walked forward. “I will lead you to the room where the others are waiting.” She grinned. “We’ve arranged for a large quantity of food as well, per Master Grediv’s request.”

Tala gave the Paragon a grateful look. “Thank you, yet again.”

He gave her a nod in return. “I am glad to be of service and grateful to learn what you have to share.”

The group followed Mistress Jenna, and Tala took the opportunity to lean over and inquire of Lyn, “How are you? Are you doing well?”

“Well, yes, mostly. Kannis is progressing nicely, and I left her in charge of the work, today. It will be a big step if she completes it all correctly, but it’s more work for me, as I’ll have to review it after the fact.” She shrugged. “She’s a good mageling, and she helped after…” Lyn’s eyes flicked to Tala and away again. “I know it was probably worse for you, but I did not like you disappearing like that.”

Tala placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “I know, and I’m sorry. I definitely didn’t choose it.”

Lyn nodded, giving a weak smile. “I know. I really do.”

They stepped out of the hallway into what seemed to almost be a lecture hall.

True to Mistress Jenna’s word, there were tables covered in food lining both walls.

There weren’t a lot of people within, but Tala saw Master Boma from the Constructionist Guild, Mistress Elnea, the current head of the Archon Council of Bandfast, and Mistress Holly waiting for them.

Additionally, quite a few more chairs were filled with others, including by Master Himmal from the Wainwrights' Guild, Aproa—Mistress Odera’s granddaughter— and Cazor and Jean, the Mage Hunters who Tala knew.

Mistress Holly was the first to spot Tala, and she immediately pulled out a small, obelisk looking thing, and Tala felt a prickle across the back of her neck.

The Insciptionist’s eyes widened as she clearly got some sort of informational download from sub-sections of Alat.

She didn’t take long to scan the information before she’d gotten enough of a gist to start shaking her head. “Well, rust my biscuits, child. What have you done to yourself this time?”

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 274 - Hit the Highlights

Tala came to an awkward stop as every eye in the room turned on her, Mistress Holly’s question still echoing around them, “Well, rust my biscuits, child. What have you done to yourself this time?”

Tala cleared her throat and gave a self-conscious smile. “Well, I suppose that’s what we’re all here to discuss?”

That seemed to break the odd state of the room. Side conversations picked back up, clearly pushing towards quick conclusions now that Tala was here.

Mistress Holly took the return of side-conversations as a cue to come over to Tala. She stopped just out of arm’s reach. “Mistress Tala.” She spoke incredibly softly, as was required for even a small amount of privacy in a room with such occupants. “You are dangerously broken.”

Tala nodded, deflating a little bit. “I need to Refine as soon as possible, yeah.”

“We will have to update your scripts and let them settle into a final configuration, but we’ll get that done after this is over.” The inscriptionist gestured to everything around them. “I am very curious about what you sent me, but that can wait until you are stabilized, I think.”

Tala felt herself smiling. That was incredibly kind of her.

-…yeah. Suspiciously so.-

Mistress Holly smiled. “After all, I have so many theories riding on your progress. I can’t have you dying on me, now.”

Tala huffed a laugh. There it is.

Oddly, Mistress Holly’s antics felt more relieving and caring than it would have had the woman actually expressed care and concern. “Thank you, Mistress Holly. I appreciate your expertise.”

The woman smiled in return. “Of course, dear. Now, get some food. It’s going to be a long day.”

The various plates in hands made it obvious that the food was open, Mistress Holly’s prodding was all that she needed to make a move, and no one stopped Tala from going and getting an overlarge helping.

Lyn and Rane stuck close to her as Mistress Ingrit seemed to be arranging last minute details.

After a quick glance in their direction, the Archivist had two chairs moved next to what was presumably Tala’s seat to one side of the front of the room.

A quick five minutes later, during which Tala stuffed a good third of the offered food into Kit—she was trying to be restrained—it was time to begin.

Tala, Lyn, and Rane were motioned to the three chairs in front and off to one side, while Mistress Ingrit took center stage.

Mistress Odera had gone to sit with Mistress Aproa.

Ahh, that’s why her granddaughter is here. That makes sense.

Master Cazor and Mistress Jean were sitting with a small group who all had a similar look and feel to them.

Mage Hunters? Well, that makes sense, too. Either I’m on humanity’s side, and I have a lot of great info for these people, or I’m not, and Mage Hunters are the perfect ones to try and stop me.

-With our current state, a dedicated mageling could do the job.-

That’s hardly fair. We could kill a few hundred magelings without much trouble.

-Yes, you are definitely ‘for humanity.’ Jumping straight to killing magelings on a whim.-

Hey, now. That wasn’t fair. You set me up.

Mistress Ingrit’s voice resonated through the room, stilling the lingering whispers and drawing all attention to her, “Thank you all for coming on such short notice. There are many layers to what will be discussed here today, and we will only be going through a broad overview. The information has been ordered and organized so that those with the lowest information clearance can be present at the beginning, and then leave when what they can know has been explored. Very few of you will be here at the end of the day.”

The stunningly beautiful woman looked around with utter conviction.

“No one will contest me when I say it is time to depart.”

There was a murmur of assent through the room.

“Now, it is required that a short evaluation be completed upon a Mage’s return after a long absence. Master Grediv determined it wasn’t necessary, but unfortunately, this is not his city, and so procedure will be followed.”

Mistress Ingrit wrinkled her nose slightly at her own words before continuing.

“My understanding is that there is a mageling present who has a new methodology to test?”

Master Grediv stood in obvious protest. “Really? Mistress Jenna. This is hardly the time.”

Mistress Jenna sighed. “The petition to try the methodology on the next returning Mage was submitted and granted three years ago, Master Grediv. It would take more time to alter procedure than to simply go through it.”

The Paragon groused, but finally nodded, coming to stand beside Tala. “Then, I will stand beside her for the process.”

It was an obvious gesture of support for Tala, and she appreciated it.

A grey-haired man stood up from beside the Mage Hunters. “Oh, Master Grediv, there is no danger. It is purely a mundane test.”

Wait… They said mageling. Is that a mageling?

-‘He,’ Tala. Is ‘he’ a mageling? Treating people like objects isn’t the best start.-

Are you really lecturing me on grammar right now?

Alat did not respond.

The older man made his way forward and bowed to Tala. “Greetings, Mistress Tala. I am mageling Archie.” He hummed happily. “To put your mind at ease, I am a mageling by choice, yes I am. I enjoy researching the mundane aspects of life more than I like magic.” He shrugged. “But this isn’t about me.”

Tala waved, feeling awkward. “Good to meet you, mageling Archie.”

The older man straightened, and his countenance changed on the instant from one of an affable, if absentminded, researcher, to a questioner who Tala would have expected to see in a play about hardened criminals. “Now, answer truthfully. Have you had any urge to harm or kill your fellow man?”

Tala felt herself hitch. “What?”

“Have you had any urge to harm or kill your fellow man?”

“Umm… not without cause?”

The man nodded sagely, stroking his beard. With a quick motion, he pulled out a card with a splash of yellow paint on it. “What color is this card?”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. What color is this card?”

“It’s a white card. The paint on the card is yellow… Are we going to do shapes next?”

“I’ll be asking the questions here, young lady.” His tone was even more stern than before.

Tala felt like someone was playing a joke on her. “What would this even tell you? Are enemies of mankind blind to color?”

The man ignored her, pulling out a completely green card, “And this one?”

Tala growled and glanced toward Master Grediv, who was standing with arms crossed, tapping his foot. She pointed to his way. “Same as his aura.”

That seemed to give the mageling pause, and he smiled sheepishly. “My apologies, I’m just trying to follow the process.” He pulled out a third card, this one with a triangle on it.

Before he could ask his question, Tala shook her head. “This is a test of my patience for the imbecilic, isn’t it.” It was not a question.

Mageling Archie hesitated and deflated. “This part of the process was supposed to be used as a diagnostic tool on Mages, to determine their level of cognition before the next sets.”

Master Grediv cleared his throat. “Mistress Jenna. I think that mageling Archie’s methods might be better tested in a less… crucial case?”

The Reforged didn’t look very pleased. Clearly, she hadn’t known the exact content of this new, experimental process. “I’m inclined to agree.”

She looked seemingly at the empty air to one side of the room, then nodded. “My husband has authorized a change in procedure. Mageling Archie, you will be granted the next three lower priority returnees to test your theories on.”

Did she just reach out to him via the Archive?

-Or…- Tala used her mirrored perspective, through her one bloodstar near the base of her skull, to examine the part of the room that Mistress Jenna had been looking at.

Yeah, I can’t see anything, but if someone a few steps above me were there and hiding, I’d likely never see him.

The mageling opened his mouth to protest Mistress Jenna’s dismissal, then seemed to think better of it. Instead, he bowed. “My apologies. My intention when I applied for the dispensation was for a less… important test subject.”

Mistress Jenna waved that away. “Understandable. You may go.”

He hesitated, glancing around, but then nodded and departed.

What an odd fellow.

-I suppose all types exist.-

So it seems.

Mistress Ingrit clapped her hands. “Now, if that is settled?”

Mistress Jenna sighed. “I’m afraid not. I will do a standard scan. Will you permit me?” The last was directed at Tala.

“Of course.” Tala stood, just hoping to make it easier even though that was likely not necessary.

Master Grediv didn’t move, making his position clear. This was a waste of time.

Tala saw power wash over her originating from Mistress Jenna. The Reforged frowned. “Child, are you wearing iron?”

Mature. But Tala didn’t correct the woman out loud. Instead, she shook her head. “Not wearing it.”

“Not even your iron paint?” That caused a ripple of murmurs through those listening.

“No, Mistress, but I am filled with it.” If the iron-paint comment had gotten murmurs, this answer received shocked silence.

“Do you prefer I go through it, or…?”

Tala shook her head again. “Do you need to scan all of me? Or just parts?”

“All would be preferred.”

Mistress Ingrit hadn’t seen the end result with the dasgannach situation. Could there be people who shouldn’t know? “Mistress Ingrit… Dasgannach?”

The Archivist’s eyes flicked over those in the room. “They aren’t a widely known creature, but they aren’t hidden.”

Tala nodded, relaxing. Alright.

With an effort of will, she took all of her extra iron, all that would not normally be found within a human body, and moved it down and out her right foot, creating a blob that was near at hand.

Mutters rolled through the room, and Master Cazor stood, seemingly without realizing what he was doing, eyes widening in obvious shock.

Mistress Jenna gave the iron blob a curious glance but didn’t comment.

Power washed through Tala from the Reforged, and the woman grunted. “You’re human and as you appear. The only power active within your mind is your own. I deem you fit for these proceedings.”

Master Grediv nodded once and then returned to his seat, carefully stepping over the blob of iron.

Mine. The iron blipped across the ground and back into Tala, rolling through her and back into its previous locations and distributions.

Mistress Ingrit cleared her throat. “Now, with that dealt with. I am Mistress Ingrit, of the Archivists. Mistress Tala has entrusted me with a complete, perfect memory of her time away.”

That got a loud chorus of whispers in response, though no one addressed the speaker directly.

“As such, I will be directing this briefing, for that is what this is. The information that our young Mistress Tala has brought back with her is tremendous. While little is wholly new, little was also known to the extent that she has provided. It will be clear very quickly what I mean. Are we ready?”

The susurrations slowly died away and complete focus returned.

“Good. Let us begin.”

There was a moment of pregnant silence before the Archivist continued.

“Mistress Tala has just returned, after spending roughly nine months in the arcane city of Platoiri.”

The stunned silence that followed was somehow louder than the explosive clamor of overlapping questions that followed closely afterwards.

Mistress Ingrit held up her hand and silence fell almost immediately. “Moreover, Mistress Tala spent the majority of that time working up to, earning, and filling a position of no little power within a major House.”

The Mage Hunter with the strongest aura stood up. Sparks of green-tinged power were obvious indications of his unsettled emotional state, but he was keeping himself well enough under control physically. “May we know which House?”

Mistress Ingrit glanced towards Tala, who shrugged. I’ve no idea what she wants.

The Archivist waited another long moment.

-You only authorized her to share this much without permission.-

Oh! Grant her authority to share whatever she feels is appropriate, while I’m nearby and conscious of the sharing. That should be a reasonable restriction.

Things would have gotten really awkward, really fast if Tala had refused to give that permission, now that she thought about it.

Mistress Ingrit nodded once. “Yes, I can share that. The House of Blood.”

Only a few Mage Hunters nodded at the name, and the man seemed to decide to test his luck by asking one more question. “What rank did she reach? Master Servant of a small division? Foreman in one of their operations?”

The Archivist was fighting a smile as she shook her head. “Eskau.”

The Paragon looked like he’d been struck, and indeed, he fell back into his seat, eyes looking dazed as he frowned in obvious confusion.

Most in the room clearly had no idea what that meant, but one other stood from the back of the room. “That is preposterous! No human would be allowed such a position, and if it were somehow true, they would never have let her leave.”

Tala was somewhat confused as the woman speaking was only Fused, but Mistress Ingrit’s response clarified some things, “Archiveling, please remember your role and that you are here to learn. Would I have spoken it as fact, were I unsure?”

The Archon colored bright red and dropped back into her seat, muttering what seemed to be an apology so quietly that even Tala couldn’t hear it fully.

“Now,”—Mistress Ingrit didn’t look ruffled in the least—“we have much to cover, and we’re not even through the introduction. I would appreciate it if questions would be held at least until each wave of you is to be dismissed?”

There were mutterings of agreement, and the woman nodded in satisfaction.

“First, we are going to hit the highlights, and you may all submit requests for further information, if what you are given, here, is insufficient.”

There were some grumblings, but they’d bought in by that point, so no one interrupted.

“Arcane cities.”

She paused for the ripple of noise.

“That’s going to get old. Stay silent or depart.”

Silence.

“Good. Now, the basic ruling structure of the arcane cities on this continent is as follows. A City Lord rules over the city. Within the city are major Houses, which contribute to its day to day operation, as well as defense. Major Houses are structured in sorts of oligarchies. These oligarchies are made up of pairs: the Pillars, who are more administrative though not weak, and the Eskau, who function as the sword or right hand of their Pillar. Each House handles their exact form of self-governance, but it is generally the Pillars who make the decisions and the Eskau who enforce them.”

There were some nods from those who already knew some of this. Others seemed to be taking notes.

“We must now discuss different forms of advancement, broadly speaking. Humans. You all should know as much as you are allowed on the subject, but to summarize, humans advance through the harmonizing and perfecting of their body and soul. Arcanes advance mainly through the increasing of power-density and the perfecting of their use of that power. One of the key differences between our magics is that arcanes focus on precision and efficiency where humans focus on power and scope. We are our own power sources, so efficiency means less to us.”

There were more nods around the room.

“Briefly, arcanous creatures are mundane creatures that have acquired power via some means, from an external source, and are at least somewhat independent of any source of power after the magic is acquired. Magical creatures, in contrast, are bound to a source of some type. Yes, this is why familiars, even if they are arcanous in origin, are considered magical creatures, because they are bound to a source, mainly their Mage.”

This wasn’t that new or revolutionary. Still, many people were taking notes. Tala was simply eating the food that she’d taken earlier. This is so much better than me having to try to convey this…

-Unquestionably.-

“This brings us to differentiation among arcanes. Arcanes divide themselves based on how easily they can maintain their power density in a weaker environment. They designate races as low, mid, and high races based on this one trait. Not every mid-race person will have more power density than every low, and same for high and mid, but it is generally easier for the more advantaged races to advance, and it is unquestionably easier for them to maintain that advancement.”

Mistress Ingrit wrinkled her nose slightly.

“Humans are worse at this than even the least gifted low-race. We are terrible at holding onto magic that is not inherently our own. This is why, without gates, we are nothing but chaff to them.”

That got grumbles of discontent in response, but still, no one truly interrupted.

“Now, there are gated humans in the arcane cites, but not many. Additionally, any human who is allowed to advance beyond Mage into the Archon ranks is required to wear a saorsa-collar, which is customized to each wearer.”

She then pointed to three individuals in sequence.

“To pre-empt your most likely questions: Yes, there are humans in the Archon range in the arcane cities, but they are few and far between. No, we don’t have many details on exactly how the collars are constructed, but we have some. Yes, I am going to tell you more about them.”

The three people who had opened their mouths each sat back, nearly identical looks of stunned acceptance painting their features as their mouths closed.

“The collars contain multiple dasgannach that were altered to make them more of a scourge than the normal specimens. Information on them is not restricted, look them up on your own time.” Mistress Ingrit then glanced towards Tala. “I’ve already gotten a dozen inquires on the dasgannach related information you have. Particularly, Master Jevin and Mistress Noelle said that you sent them a bit of information?”

Tala nodded. “I did. I’m happy to correspond with them.”

“Very well. Moving on. These saorsa-collars are created and controlled by the City Lord of the given city. If Mistress Tala had left the city without permission, the collar would have injected the dasgannach directly into her, with lethal consequences.”

Several people took bites of food, seemingly to keep themselves from commenting.

Master Cazor was regarding Tala critically.

“Back to the arcane hierarchy of power retention. Because of this hierarchy of power, and the fact that most don’t have access to personal power, Houses, both major and minor, pay their followers with power-density. Meaning, the very ability to live in a higher density environment is a large portion of the payment used to secure loyalty among the largest political powers in arcane cities.”

That got some appreciative and comprehending rumbles from the Mage Hunters in the audience.

“The way that they manage these places of higher concentration is via massive dimensional storage facilities, which they have expanded and outfitted for habitation. They call them ‘holds,’ generally, or ‘sanctums’ when they are primarily for a single individual. Because of this, most factions of any power have a hold, and those holds are accessed via a single point of entry. This results, at least in Platoiri, in their ‘District of Doors,’ a place where hundreds, if not thousands, of holds are all set up near one another, effectively compressing a truly massive amount of space into a very accessible arrangement.”

Mistress Ingrit raised her hand, to keep the quiet.

“We are almost to the question-asking portion of this level of information.” She gave a single nod before continuing, “As you can imagine, having all these powerful, jockeying factions with holds close together means that the holds are points of conflict. This is why most holds have extremely powerful and effective defenses. The strongest of which even Paragons would struggle to breach in any meaningful timeframe.”

Master Grediv shifted in his seat, leaning forward.

Tala thought she saw a small smile on his lips, though whether it was at a possible challenge, or some privately held knowledge, she didn’t know.

“These defenses aren’t the only result of the factional conflicts. The most common way to build up power is to raid other factions for magical weapons or even to claim entire holds. From what Mistress Tala witnessed, these raids do result in death, but not nearly as much as we would expect. It is most common to have prisoners taken and to ransom them back to their faction. Additionally, there are rather strict dictates about fighting those weaker than yourself, unprovoked. That keeps the upper echelon from simply wiping out entire opposing groups. Though, there do seem to be some exceptions to the rule.

“These conflicts have also driven innovation. There are several artifact schema that show great promise, including those of far-seeing, and the Constructionists will be allowed to ask after those, later. Their warriors, specifically their Eskau, seem to have developed highly specialized fighting styles centered around morphic weapons, that is weapons that can change shape nearly instantly.”

That got a lot of attention, with many people seemingly jotting down reminders to request more information.

“Finally, it seems that even the upper echelons of arcanes do not have a good understanding of human inscriptions. While they seem to use inscriptions themselves, if less frequently than we do, they do not have records or methods of easily determining what our magics do.”

The Arcane Hunters grinned broadly at that, as each and every one of them seemed overjoyed at the news.

“Specifically, Mistress Tala’s scripts were never fully understood by those she interacted with, no matter what resources they had to bring to bear on that issue.”

Mistress Holly snorted. “That tells us less than you imply. My script designs for Mistress Tala are leagues more advanced than most.”

Mistress Ingrit frowned at the interruption but nodded. “While that may be true, they were not even able to extrapolate past the most basic of guesses. They might be able to understand something as old and little altered as a keystone, but little else.” The Archivist nodded to herself. “I think that is a good overview of the most basic information. We will now allow questions.”

Nearly the whole room stood in a rush, each hoping to ask their question first.

This is going to be a long day…

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 275 - Into the Weeds

Tala continued to eat the free food provided by the Archon compound of Bandfast.

Mistress Ingrit had just finished the most basic summary of her time away, and Tala was honestly a little surprised at how little of it fell under the ‘anyone can know this’ classification.

-Really? You’re surprised?-

Well… probably not, no. I’ve gotten a bit used to learning almost anything I wanted to know, and humanity doesn’t really work that way.

-Well, it does for you and anyone of the upper echelons of power. Do you really think that it would be a good idea to tell the average citizen that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of high-powered arcanes, hostile to humanity, less than a thousand miles south of us?-

Yeah… that would not end well, and it’s not like they could do anything about it, regardless.

-Precisely.-

As Tala had expected, the questions asked by those present were numerous and varied.

Many were answered with either a ‘We will discuss that later.’ Or ‘You are not permitted to know that answer at this time.’ Or ‘Please submit a request, and we can discuss your acquisition of that information. That would require more detail than this meeting is intended to convey.’

Even so, noon came before Mistress Ingrit called an end to the questioning, bringing with it a replenishing of the available food and drink.

Blessedly, none of the questions had been of the type that Tala was required to answer. To be sure, they all could have been answered by her, but those that received answers, received them from Mistress Ingrit in Tala’s stead.

Throughout that time, Tala had little to do, and so she ended up talking with Lyn and Rane as quietly as they could. They didn’t discuss anything of substance, staying away from the meeting's main topic, instead just chatting about small, inconsequential things, like in the good old days.

Lyn looked at her friend, askance. “Tala, what nonsense are you spouting?”

Tala frowned. “What?”

“You said, ’No one’s afraid of being alone in the dark.’ That’s like the most common fear people have, Tala.”

Tala lifted one finger in victory. “Ahh, but that’s not true. People are afraid that they aren’t alone in the dark.”

Lyn blinked at her friend, then her eye began to twitch. “I did not need that in my head…”

Nearly an hour and many topic changes later, Tala rolled her eyes. “Rane, I don’t care how you describe it, pancakes are not ‘all crust,’ unless you make them wrong.”

“Crust is the harder, outer portion of bread. Pancakes are so thin that they are all crust.” The large man was insistent.

Their conversation moved in ebbs and flows.

Rane had to control himself as he practically threw up his hands. “Lyn, what are you talking about? Nature and day are way closer than nature and night.”

“No. Night is the natural state of existence. It takes the sun to temporarily banish the night. Without constant effort, without the constant expenditure of energy, nature is just ‘night.’”

They weren’t arguing, or trying to change each other’s opinions. They were just talking, and Tala reveled in the normalcy of such a frivolous conversation.

After lunch, close to half of the attendees were dismissed, and then the rest got settled in for the next level of informational discussion.

As they were leaving, Mistresses Odera and Aproa came over to welcome Tala back. Mistress Odera, in particular, smiled as she patted Tala’s hand. “Glad that you are safe once more, girl. Come see me when you’ve got your feet back under you. If you can.”

Tala smiled, feeling a bit of tension bleed away at the older woman’s words. And she didn’t even have to say anything comforting.

-We were really worried about her. It’s good that she’s still…-

…not a fount?

-Yeah. Maybe something that we learned can help her? Probably not, as arcanes are good at making founts, not preventing them.-

Still, we can see what’s possible.

Mistress Ingrit clapped her hands after the door clicked shut behind the last departing Archon. Mistress Odera had been the only non-Bound among the group, even for the first portion of the meeting.

Now?

Now, Tala didn’t detect anyone below Fused, save Lyn. Though, some kept their auras fully retracted, and Tala didn't want to be rude by looking too deeply.

“Alright, Archons. Now, we get into the meat of the information.”

She turned and gestured at the wall behind her and an image that Tala recognized blossomed across it.

It was Be-thric.

Tala felt a shudder as her whole body tensed up at the mere sight of the arcane. At the same time, her mind sang out in glorious revelry at knowledge of his death at her hand.

“It’s okay to still fear him, even after he is dead.” Rane hesitated. “I assume he is dead, right?”

That’s right, Rane saw the memories of my first two interactions with Be-thric.

Tala smiled at her friend. “He is, yes. But I don’t fear him, Rane. I never did. I feared his magic.”

Rane cocked an eyebrow as he whispered his reply, “That’s a ridiculous distinction.”

“No, it isn’t, Rane. He, himself, wasn’t scary, and that made what he could do worse. If he’d been some sort of villain from a play, it would be easy to fear him and hate everything about him. Instead, he was too… human. He wasn’t evil, he wasn’t worthy of fear, but he still had the power and the willingness to do things that were terrifying. I’d fear anybody with that ability and lack of concern or restraint surrounding its use.”

“Thatstill seems like fearing him to me.”

“I wish he’d been worthy of fearing. That would make it easier. Defeating a great villain can be liberating. Overcoming ‘some guy’ with a scary magical ability still leaves the door open for others like him…”

Rane gave her a sympathetic look. “That sounds awful. Thank you for being willing to say so much.”

Lyn took her hand and squeezed it in camaraderie. “We’re here for you.”

Mistress Ingrit’s continued speaking drew Tala’s attention back from her side conversation, and Alat filled her in on what Tala had missed, as if she hadn’t been distracted.

A large part of that was the laws and practices surrounding the saorsa-collar. She’d gone over the basics before but the more intricate details hadn’t been discussed.

As Tala tuned back in, Mistress Ingrit was refocusing on the memory and gesturing to the wall.

“As you can see, that arcane has a magical device, that device will be used to modify the saorsa-collar, while it is active. Those of you with the capacity will be receiving a one-time glimpse of the record of Tala’s magical senses during the process.”

The image began to move, showing Be-thric’s modification of her collar the first time.

Tala hadn’t thought too much about it at the time, but based on the reactions of the Constructionists in the room, she should have.

The Constructionists, and those with related professions, were wide-eyed and practically drooling as the memory ended.

Tala caught a few of the whispers. “Specifically altering an artifact style item, while it is active. How could that be done?”

“The material of the modifying artifact was… negated? Absorbed? What happened to it?”

These and similar questions preceded a storm of splintered dialogues, referencing portions of the memory.

Rane leaned in. “If I may ask, what was it like, having the collar around your neck?”

Tala gave him an arch look. “You mean, what was it like having the means of my execution affixed to me at all times?”

He hunched a little. “Yes.”

She gave a sad smile. “Honestly, I forgot it was there half the time. There was almost a perverse sense of security in it being there, even when I did remember it.”

Lyn leaned closer, confusion and concern furrowing her brow. “What? I don’t understand.”

“Well.” Tala sighed. “If they’d discovered me, the real me, they’d have triggered the collar immediately.”

Rane looked vaguely uncomfortable, but he still raised an objection. “Couldn’t he have just modified your memory again?”

“Not by that point, no. So, the fact that it was there meant I never had to second guess my situation. I was trusted, because if I hadn’t been, I’d never have even known that trust was lost.”

Neither of them seemed to like the explanation, but they didn’t contest her either.

Mistress Ingrit brought everyone’s attention back. “And now, here is another alteration of the collar.”

The next memory was of the City Lord’s modification of the collar so that she could go to Croi.

That caused another explosion of conversation, and Tala was able to hear basically everyone with any connection to working with magical items deciding to submit requests for those two memories in full, as well as all the surrounding memories.

Mistress Ingrit had been able to alter the focus of the memories so that neither Be-thric in the first memory, nor the City Lord in the second, stood out particularly.

-She removed your magesight input from everything not directly pertaining to the collar and its modification. Likely to keep the whole meeting from devolving into a discussion on the City Lord and Be-thric.-

I see that. I suppose she’s not certifying these as ‘perfectly accurate’ or anything like that. I honestly didn’t really consider how big of a deal the modification of the collar is. I’ve seen magical items expanded before, but I suppose I’ve never seen them fundamentally modified like the collar was.

Unlike the previous part of the meeting, Mistress Ingrit let the conversations play out before she continued. When most had wound down, she cleared her throat, bringing a swift end to the few that hadn’t stopped. Then, in the silence, she continued, “Now, for that specific item, we will next see how it looked when it was activated.”

A ripple of surprise ran through the room.

“When Mistress Tala killed her Pillar to make good her departure, the collar was triggered, and the House of Blood determined that she was effectively dead. Thus, she was able to escape without being chased. Please take that as all the context we will give for the moment.”

Quite a few mouths hung open in shock.

The Mage Hunters glanced her way in awe but seemed unwilling to take their eyes away from the displayed memory for longer than that.

Even many of the others seemed to take a moment to reassess her.

Master Cazor had moved several seats closer to her, Rane, and Lyn, clearly intending on talking with her when he could, but his focus was as utterly captured as everyone else’s.

“Here is the death of the Pillar, and the activation of the collar.”

Lyn took her hand and squeezed it again, and Rane briefly placed his hand on her shoulder.

It was strange for Tala to see her own memory shown on a wall for so many to see, and the previous two hadn’t inured her to that feeling.

Tala appreciated the support, but this was one memory that evoked nothing but joy, even though it hadn’t ended perfectly.

He’s dead, and I killed him myself. There was a lot to be happy about in that.

The perspective on the wall seemed to divide, showing a full five different points of view.

There were some sounds of discomfort, and a few Archons looked away, seemingly getting motion sick from the various perspectives, some of which were rotating at a good clip.

-That’s better, but it still isn’t quite the same. A two dimensional perspective just can’t capture what it’s like to be there, even with multiple viewing angles.-

Even so, Tala rather enjoyed watching Be-thric die, even when her own perspective fractured, indicating the activation of the collar.

A large number of the Archons seemed confused, and finally, someone in the front asked what many of them were thinking, “What happened at the end? Why did the memory fracture?”

Mistress Ingrit nodded. “Mistress Tala was injected with two dasgannach. One was of gold, which stripped her of her magic. Thus, the memories were not recorded ‘fresh,’ but after the fact, once she was reinscribed. Additionally, it is my understanding that the invasion by the creatures was incredibly painful, thus further harming the integrity of the memories.”

“Painful? And it was that fast? Dasgannach don’t disrupt active magics, and you can’t feel them while they’re claiming parts of you; that’s two of the core things that make them so pernicious.”

“These modified ones do it seems, which makes sense, given the purpose of the gold dasgannach was specifically to disable human magics that used gold inscriptions as quickly as possible. The pain was likely a desired feature as well, as it would disrupt any attempt to work against the execution.”

A different Archon asked the obvious next question, “Shouldn’t the spellworkings have continued, even as the gold dasgannach claimed the material?”

Someone beside him leaned over. “The spell-lines are physically… locked? Yes, physically locked while active, but if they are fundamentally changed, themselves? Mistress Tala is lucky they didn’t form other valid spellforms of some kind.”

The asker nodded, understanding, and took the opportunity to ask another question, “If one was gold, what was the other? Losing your spell-lines is highly inconvenient but hardly an execution.”

Mistress Ingrit looked to Tala.

Tala shrugged. Not really a mystery if they’d taken a moment to think. “It was iron.”

Before the obviously-building explosion of questions could manifest, one Archon couldn’t help herself from shouting out, “If that’s true, you should be dead!”

Mistress Ingrit held up a hand. “All such questions should be held until the end and are hardly important to the current subject, which is magical creations.”

The next memory showed on the wall behind her. It was from earlier in Tala’s time away, well before she’d killed Be-thric.

Tala felt a smile pull at her lips as she recognized the basic automata.

Master Boma stood in a rush, along with quite a few others, but he spoke first and loudest, “The arcanes have automata? Why was this not brought to our attention immediately? We must mobilize and destroy them at—”

Mistress Ingrit cut across the Constructionist, “Enough! It has been dealt with. They were not sanctioned constructs, and the place of their creation was destroyed by Tala herself.”

Master Boma paused, mouth open, but finally, he nodded and sat back down.

What followed was brief selections of her fights with the automata, showing the various versions, including Io. The set of memory snippets ended with the raiding of all the materials and, very specifically, the non-automata related items that she’d taken from the crafting guild’s hold.

There was a bit of special attention put on both the ingots of white metal and the device that seemed responsible for creating the material.

-We never did take the time to figure out how that worked.-

That’s why we’re getting help. There is just too much for us to handle ourselves.

-It’s definitely going to be interesting to see how they react to Io.-

Yeah, but that’s going to be a much smaller group.

There were a few questions, but most of the more interested parties seemed to have fixated on the automata, and rather than sparking questions, it seemed to have keyed off fierce debate.

Rane glanced her way. “So, how do you think I’d have done against the automata?”

Lyn huffed a quiet laugh. “Of course that’s what you ask.”

Tala quirked a smile. “You would have done great until you got to those that could rain down fire. I don’t think many of your defenses would have helped against that. It was a slower-flowing fire, so unlike a fireball, you wouldn’t have been moved out of the way.”

Rane grunted. “I’ve actually been working on addressing that issue. It'll be interesting to spar sometime.”

Tala grinned, “I agree there.”

He then glanced towards Lyn. “What did you want to ask?”

Lyn shrugged. “Were they creative at all? Or did they seem to just be magical constructs, following the dictates of their scripting?”

“The last one seemed… more, but I don’t really know.” Tala leaned close. “I do have someone I want you to meet, but that will likely be later, too.” Lyn was going to be fascinated by Rob.

Mistress Ingrit didn’t bother trying to intervene, and eventually, the animated discussions wound down so that she could continue.

The next sequence was a selection of Tala scooping up items from the House of the Rising Sun.

Lyn started laughing almost immediately, and that seemed to break the tension enough for chuckles to ripple through those watching her take almost literally everything that wasn’t nailed down.

There was some murmuring at various items that they saw, and the Archivists in the audience stood almost as one, when Tala started taking the library.

They then looked around at each other and realized what they’d done.

Then, in continued eerie synchronization, they each put in requests for all the books involved.

Tala almost laughed at how unified their individual responses were. She’d hoped that the Library would be interested in those books. We have debts to pay, after all. What do we still owe?

-Three-hundred-eighty-one gold and twenty silver.-

That’s a lot… but not that much? Tala didn’t know how to feel. How much do we have?

-Two hundred eleven gold, eighty five silver and one hundred forty seven copper.-

Why one hundred and forty seven copper? Why not transfer that to one silver and forty seven copper?

-Because this is how it is held in your account, and I aim for accuracy.-

Fine, fine. She knew that most of that had come from Master Queue and the profits from the replication and sale of her comb.

She saw the man sitting near Master Boma and smiled his way once again.

He didn’t notice as he was entirely engrossed in taking notes, or maybe making detailed requests for information. She couldn’t quite tell.

In either case, she could pay off more than half her remaining debt almost literally with a thought. Am I rich?

-No, but you likely will be when all of this is over.-

Huh. That didn’t clarify her feelings at all.

After a moment, she found herself frowning.

How much do you want to bet that the Refining process is usually expensive, and us needing a custom version will be more?

-I literally have no money, and you’re probably right.-

We can negotiate with Mistress Holly? She’ll be extremely interested in the reinscription device inside Kit. Maybe we could leverage that?

-That’s one avenue, yeah.-

Mistress Ingrit had moved on to the next set of memories, this one focusing on the artificial sun in her sanctum.

Apparently, humanity had similar devices, but humanity’s versions had been developed entirely independently, so there were lots of questions and exclamations even from the brief glimpses shared.

“They use a striated wave generation system? That’s insane! Why would they isolate and individually generate each wavelength?”

“Greater control over the light and the heat? We definitely have some trouble tuning our radiant units on occasion, and this would remove that tendency.”

“That only happens if you build the unit wrong. This is just needlessly complicated, but what about their cycle management? It looks like they tied the power variability in with the locational stability.”

“Yeah, that would force the change in intensity to be tied to the location of the artificial sun. It’s certainly better to keep those two functions separated and differently regulated.”

Rane was leaning forward, seemingly trying to listen in on the side conversations.

I’m glad I got that booklet, and those books, on the artificial sun’s functionality.

-And oh, so much more.-

That caused Tala to smile. Her side conversations with Rane and Lyn had become less frequent as more of her memories had been shown, and the two of them showed more interest in what was being conveyed by Mistress Ingrit.

The Archivist was only giving the most basic of overviews, but it was still fascinating.

Tala, herself, found that the woman’s summary of Tala’s experiences was riveting, given that they were interpreted and told by someone else, putting a lens on them that she’d never have herself.

When the latest ruckus calmed down, Mistress Ingrit folded her hands and lowered her head slightly. “Now, we arrive at some more... uncomfortable information.”

That got everyone’s attention, and even those who had been more relaxed and possibly starting to work on other things to the side straightened up and refocused.

“This is the city center of Platoiri.”

The room fell silent as the memory of the crystal and gold column came into focus on the wall.

“It isn’t easy to see, without magesight, but that is the magical heart of the arcane city. The scripting you see purifies the power flowing through the founts, and releases it into the environment. This is the chief reason that cities are so populous and compact. Each arcane wants to be in the higher magic density afforded by the column.”

A voice came from the back of the room, one of the Archivists that Tala didn’t know by name speaking in a bare whisper, but still easily heard by everyone, “How many founts are in there?”

The answer was simple, and Mistress Ingrit gave it plainly, “Roughly twenty-thousand.”

Color drained from a huge number of faces. More interestingly, however, were those who didn’t look surprised.

Mistresses Elnea and Jenna were among those, as was Master Grediv and the other higher level Archons.

Lyn was white as a sheet, and Rane’s eye was twitching. If Tala had to guess, Rane had known something about it, but not the full extent.

Mistress Ingrit continued. “This is, unfortunately, not news. Most arcane cities are running on souls that they harvested millennia ago, so while it is egregious, it isn’t something that is actionable. Not currently.”

That brought a wave of grimaces, but everyone present managed to maintain their composure, especially because those that were most aggrieved each looked to their elders, and saw their lack of surprise.

Ahh, the atrocities of the past, how little we can affect you.

Mistress Ingrit cleared her throat, “One thing that is new to us is confirmation that founts can depart if they choose to.”

That caused a stir.

“What Mistress Tala has brought back confirms that the arcanes, while they use founts as a resource, have a view of that resource's instability, and act in a way to keep their sources of power intact. It still is an abysmal situation, and they are using human souls, but in a way, they have a better means of monitoring and catering to those souls than we do.”

A lot of people shifted uncomfortably.

Master Boma was nodding, and Tala remembered that the man had been searching for a means of communicating with vestiges. He’ll be very interested to meet Rob too.

“In the vein of these founts, I will briefly go over how they are used, in general.”

What followed was a selection of memories, showing everything from the density enhancement room, the room that Be-thric had taken Tali into, to protian weaponry.

The fact that the founts in protian weapons served as a key source of magical power for the Eskau was of great interest to the Mage Hunters, as well as quite a few others.

The Librarian showed off the House of Blood’s armory, through Tala’s memories of it, but stated clearly that they didn’t have too many details on the items kept within.

Mistress Ingrit briefly covered gate-breaking and Master Himmal paid special attention to that, clearly intensely interested in the subject.

Rane and Lyn both turned to Tala, obviously aware that she would have been subjected to the process. Tala waved them off. “It wasn’t great, but now’s not the time to discuss it.”

They weren’t happy but didn’t press her.

Mistress Ingrit didn’t discuss holds directly, not quite yet.

Instead, she ran them through the traditions around Pillar and Eskau selection, as well as the culture around the raiding of the candidates of other Houses, both literally and violently, or by enticing them to switch loyalties.

Finally, when that was handled, and the understandable, but simplistic questions were out of the way, Mistress Ingrit turned to the last subject that related directly to founts: Holds.

She explained that arcanes didn’t depend on the city column to power their holds. Instead each hold had its own source of power. She pulled up memories showing the intricate spellforms required to make that happen, and how it allowed for unprecedented control and customization of the dimensional spaces.

The main exception to this rule was, of course, ether holds.

Once again, everyone’s attention was highly focused, and at the end of Mistress Ingrit’s introduction to the topic, as well as a brief overview of void artifacts, she gestured to Tala, “We’ll get to specific examples on those, soon enough. In the meantime, do we have any questions?”

The room didn’t quite erupt this time, but it was a close thing.

Yes, they did indeed have questions.

A note from JLMullins

Interested in another read?

Take a look at The Laws of Cultivation

Will be stubbed on May 30th so now is the last chance to read it!

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

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Chapter: 276 - The Tour

Tala chatted with Lyn and Rane, answering their basic questions while Mistress Ingrit handled the questions of all the other Archons.

Master Cazor looked to be torn between Mistress Ingrit’s answers and joining Tala, Lyn, and Rane, but he seemed to decide to not intrude on their clearly more private conversation.

Tala was grateful for that, and took the opportunity to smile and nod his way in thanks when he glanced toward her.

That seemed to solidify something for him, and he visibly relaxed, his attention moving more firmly to Mistress Ingrit.

-He would be able to help us test out quite a few things about our new… bond. We should arrange some time with him.-

Agreed.

There was a pause when dinner was delivered, and Mistress Ingrit answered the remaining questions while the meal was consumed. Once again, most were answered simply or with a statement that such questions should be asked as part of an official information request.

-We have a few hundred of those already, by the way. Mistress Ingrit has master access over those requests, but she’s allowed us to see how many there are.-

Tala was surprised. How can there possibly be that many already?

-I imagine that most people made more than one. A simple request is more likely to be answered quickly than a lengthy, multifaceted one, seeking many answers at the same time.-

That makes good sense, I suppose.

With everything pressing addressed, Mistress Ingrit dismissed nearly everyone below Refined, again with Master Rane and Mistress Lyn being exceptions.

Master Boma also seemed to have been granted permission to stay. He and Master Queue were the senior members of the Constructionists who had been invited to this meeting, and they seemed to have put in an explicit request to both be allowed to stay.

Mistress Ingrit had granted the request along with that of a few younger Librarians.

Master Cazor walked by them on his way out. “Welcome back, Mistress Tala. We’d love to have you back in the arena with us, or even just for a meal. Take your time, and let us know if we can do anything to assist.”

Tala smiled. “Thank you, Master Cazor. I’ll do that.” After a moment’s hesitation, she added, “I think I would like your help testing out a few things, if you are willing. I can explain in more detail later.”

He nodded. “I’ll happily hear you out, and help if I can.”

“Thank you.”

Soon enough, the room was mostly empty.

Mistress Ingrit glanced to Tala. “I believe at this point, the next logical thing would be to give them a tour of your sanctum.”

Masters Boma and Queue made identical expressions, eyes widening and mouths opening in smiles of undisguised glee. Several others had similar reactions, but no one seemed too surprised at the implied knowledge that Tala had a sanctum.

They probably assumed it, as I held the position of Eskau.

-And they’re right to have assumed so.-

Mistress Ingrit continued, “First, though. I think we need to confirm something.” Mistress Ingrit looked around with hard eyes. “Everyone is to keep their aura tightly controlled, well within their own body. We will not be inside for overlong, nor are there too many of us, but even so, we will be straining the integrity of the space. Don’t move around unnecessarily and dump power.”

The Constructionists were nodding along, and Master Boma made an addition, “We will happily help restabilize the space after we exit. What we will no doubt learn is well worth the expense.”

Mistress Ingrit smiled and dipped her head. “That is kind of you, and I accept on Mistress Tala’s behalf.” She then turned back to Tala. “I believe that the nature of your sanctum should now be revealed.”

That caught their collective attention and the few murmured side-conversations that had tentatively started up died down almost immediately.

Tala nodded to the Archivist, standing up. “So, thank you all for taking so much of your day to be here.”

A ripple of mildly surprised acknowledgement came back her way. They all seemed to have seen the time as well spent. That was gratifying at least.

She smiled and decided to just dive in, “My dimensional storage, now my sanctum, is something that we know of in theory, but have never properly identified before.” She pulled Kit from her belt and tossed it to form a door on the nearby wall. “Kit is a devouring dimension.”

Master Queue frowned. “That sounds like a dimensional storage version of the hostile artifacts we sometimes find in waning cities. We have procedures in place to prevent those from entering circulation.”

“Well, it was found near Alefast, Waning, and it is of that type, in a sense, though this one seems to be more advanced, or at least more… stealthy? Certainly more patient and discreet than most. It is a creature of the void, with its power specifically oriented around dimensional magics.”

Master Boma stepped forward. “Wait, is the thing’s magic void or dimensional?”

“Both. Like a Mage, creatures of the void can have mixes of magic. I call it ‘Kit.’”

That got a mixture of confused looks from some of those who didn’t know her very well.

She cleared her throat and continued. “With the addition of the syphon fascia, Kit now also has illusion and physical shape changing magics, among everything else.”

“That sounds… unsafe.” That was one of the Mage Hunters who had remained, one of three Refined. The fourth member of their group was a Paragon, equaling Grediv in advancement.

“Apparently, some arcanes specialize in taming these devouring dimensions, and they make the absolute best sanctums when so tamed, but the method of taming them is a closely guarded secret.”

“So… how do you have one?”

She shrugged, feeling a bit defensive. “I seem to have stumbled through the process. Kit and I work well together, and I have no concern about the safety of any within my sanctum. Even so, I agree with Mistress Ingrit; you deserved to know before you step inside.”

There was a collective, uncomfortable glance at Kit’s door.

Tala smiled and the door opened behind her, invitingly.

She heard an artificial intake of breath and realized her mistake.

Alat was slightly faster to articulate the issue, though not by much. -Right, Rob...-

Yeah, Rob is going to be a problem…

Rob did indeed choose that moment to call out. “KILL ME!!!!! Oh, great Mages of humanity, free me from this mortal coil. Let me pass into the world beyond!”

Mistress Ingrit rubbed her own temples, groaning slightly. “That is so much worse in person than in memory. That shouldn’t be possible…”

Tala’s shoulder’s slumped as she looked through the door.

She’d decided to bring them through into her room, as it was the most normal room in the sanctum. With a thought, Rob was moved elsewhere.

Master Boma cleared his throat. “Mistress Tala, please explain.”

Tala looked to Mistress Ingrit, but the Librarian gestured her way encouragingly. Great…

Tala pasted on a smile and did her best, “That was Rob. He is an artificial personality integrated into a casing around a fount.” Tala held up a finger for emphasis. “He is not the fount itself, nor a reflection of the same, though they are connected. The fount is capable of passing on at any time but chooses not to. Rob does not wish to exist. It is that misalignment in desire which causes the… issue.”

The Constructionist frowned. “We will want to examine… Rob.”

“That is acceptable.” I would love to make him someone else’s problem.

Mistress Ingrit took it from there. “Right through this door is the main bedroom of Mistress Tala’s sanctum.”

Reluctantly, the group passed through the door and into the spacious room.

Even as large as the bedroom was, it wasn’t intended for so many people, and so it quickly became crowded.

They were all looking around with curiosity, but Lyn and Rane kept glancing towards Tala. Lyn spoke first, whispering to reduce the noise from her statement, “This is incredibly fancy, Tala.”

Tala shrugged again. “It was a symbol of the House’s power and wealth. They didn’t skimp, that’s for sure, and this is the least of it.”

Rane opened his mouth to say something but seemed at a loss for words. After a moment, he just shook his head and refocused on his surroundings.

Tala turned and led the way out into the courtyard, beside her dais, and while most followed her, a few stayed, staring out her massive windows.

She heard them discussing how the illusion might have been created while hiding the magics involved and decided to interject, “That is a mundane window, Masters, Mistresses. The view is genuine.”

That got their attention, and they quickly followed her out of the room to look out in the direction that they had been, before, the window no longer obscuring the view.

“How big is this place?” Master Boma asked.

Tala tilted her head in thought. “Exactly? I’m not sure, but it’s in the range of three miles across, in the shape of a slightly flattened sphere.”

Master Boma’s eye twitched.

Now that she thought about it, Tala didn’t really have any idea how large Archon dimensional storages normally were, though Master Jevin had advised her to reach a minimum size before seeking certain alterations.

-His suggested minimum size was roughly one-forty-millionth of what we have now achieved.-

Tala felt her own eye twitch. That can’t possibly be correct.

-His recommendation was at least the size of a small house. Need I say more?-

I… I didn’t actually consider that… huh.

Master Boma and Master Queue seemed to be having the hardest time accepting the numbers. Everyone else likely didn’t have the frame of reference to truly understand the significance.

Finally, Master Queue asked, “Is this a typically-sized sanctum or arcane hold?”

Tala shrugged. “It’s probably on the smaller side, though it is bigger than I’d have normally gotten so quickly, without a few special factors, Kit being the main one.”

He frowned. “Why does that factor in?”

“Devouring dimensions can consume other holds to incorporate their features, including volume, into themselves.”

That left the Constructionists speechless once more.

Mistress Ingrit clapped her hands and gestured towards the library. “Shall we continue?”

Over the next hour or so, Tala and Mistress Ingrit led the group around the interior of the sanctum, pointing out the various features.

Mistress Ingrit lingered in the library, though it might have just been to pull the other Librarians out with her when the group moved on.

The crops and animals specifically imbued with Tala’s magics for compatible consumption had Mistress Holly’s eyes practically glowing with interest and many others discussed some of the implications as they continued on.

The training facilities, weaponry, and books on advancement had the Mage Hunters drooling.

Masters Boma and Queue practically blinded themselves staring at the artificial sun at every opportunity, and they became almost as obsessed with the containment magics around her endingberry tree grove. They twisted themselves into awkward positions to examine the magics that were used to imbue her crops as well.

Lyn and Rane simply trailed along, awe clearly written across their features. They did ask Tala some quiet questions, but not nearly as many as she’d thought they would have. They’ll likely pester me later.

Finally, it was time to take them into the under-part of the sanctum.

Tala found the entrance hidden in the side of a hill and led the group down, down, down.

Purple light became visible ahead of them, and they entered the underground chamber that held all the automata-related materials, including Io floating inertly in her tank.

It was a mark of Master Boma’s control that he didn’t attempt to level the place as soon as he saw the large, glowing vessel. “Mistress Ingrit? Please explain.”

Mistress Ingrit nodded. “This is an inactive automaton, recovered from the hold you watched Mistress Tala raid. She has all the materials, both construction and research related, from those experiments, and this was the final result of the arcanes’ work.”

“Why hasn’t it been destroyed?” His voice was hard.

Tala stepped forward. “Because it isn’t active. It’s a complex, articulated statue at the moment. There is nothing to run it. There is no consciousness or scripts in place. It is the perfect specimen for humanity to study, to learn more about the Black Legion.”

A vein was pulsing on the side of Master Boma’s face. “I think this is foolishness. Such things are dangerous and banned for a reason.”

Tala turned to regard Io, beginning to think of a way to respond, but there was someone standing beside the tank.

Master Xeel was looking down on the floating body of the automata as if he’d always been there. “There is no danger from this creation.”

Everyone but Mistresses Ingrit, Elnea, and Jenna and Master Grediv reacted with surprise to the presence of the Reforged.

He didn’t react to their surprise. “I agree with Mistress Tala. This is a prime opportunity to study these things in a controlled manner. I’ve killed no fewer than ten Honored-level automata in the last millennium, five of which were in the last hundred years. Something is stirring, and we would be wise to increase our knowledge and insight into this enemy.”

Without waiting for a response, the man vanished once more.

Tala focused her senses, but she couldn’t detect him at all. Even so, she knew he wasn’t gone. How many others are quietly along for the tour?

-Well, definitionally, we’ll never know.-

She flicked to her voidsight, pushing Flow into a void-knife form.

The world gained fractures around her to her sight, and she was able to see a nodule of reality… separate? Somehow, a bit of reality was there but not. Like it was shifted slightly to the side of what was around it.

Somehow, Tala felt that fragment regard her more closely than it had before, and she got the very definitive impression of Master Xeel.

He was watching her, curious.

The fragment vibrated slightly, and Tala felt the miniscule tether between her center and that fragment buzz.

She couldn’t hear words, but she got the impression, ‘We will talk, but not now.’

She was so startled that she let her voidsight vanish and refocused on the world around her.

Without that extra sight, she couldn’t see the Reforged at all.

-That seems like a secret and a deeper truth in one.-

That’s for sure. She wished she could have learned more right then, but she was in the middle of giving a tour.

With an internal grumble, Tala continued the walk-around, showing them the other automata-related materials and equipment, along with resources and information that she’d managed to secret away. I suppose I can move most of these books up to the library proper.

-Except for the Black Legion manual.-

Of course, not. That one stays locked away for sure.

After they left that part of the underground, she willed for just that to happen, and she somehow knew that it had been done.

Thanks, Kit.

Kit did not respond to her thoughts.

As she neared the surface, Tala decided it was time to deal with the issue she’d named ‘Rob.’ That decided, she summoned him to her hand just as they came back out of the underground near the endingberry grove once more.

The orb’s voice cracked out in obvious surprise, even though he seemed to orient quickly, “GAH! What? Oh! Honored Humans, kill me!!”

Tala glared down at the orb in her hands and growled out a not-so-subtle threat, “Quiet, or I’ll give you to Terry to play with.”

That silenced Rob immediately.

The Archons were looking at the orb with nervous curiosity.

Rane looked more curious than nervous, maybe even a mite amused at the threat of playtime with Terry, and Lyn just seemed baffled.

Master Queue was the first to speak this time, “So, you’re sure that the personality is distinct from the fount?”

Tala didn’t have a good summary, at least not one that was different than what she’d already stated. Might as well test his helpfulness. “Rob? Can you answer?”

“…I am not the soul housed within my casing.”

That was an unexpectedly frank answer. Tala was almost impressed. Hmmm… Maybe, we can—

Then, Rob continued, “I violate the sanctity of this soul. I am a false personality, a false consciousness, living off of the trapped soul. The only reasonable course of action is swift justice. This heinous act demands capital punishment.”

And there it is. Tala sighed. “I have a total of five founts, though Rob is the only one with an artificial consciousness built atop it. I am happy to turn them over to the appropriate parties.”

Tala looked to Mistress Ingrit, and the Librarian shrugged. “We don’t have a set procedure for such.”

Mistress Elnea stepped forward. “The Bandfast Archon Council is willing to take responsibility for the founts, and sponsor the effort to determine the best course of action to decide their fate.”

That got a round of nods from everyone present.

Master Boma was frowning, even as he nodded. “Mistress Tala?”

“Yes?”

“You threatened the orb with ‘Terry.’ Is that the terror bird that I remember being with you on occasion?”

“Yes, that’s Terry.”

The Fused tilted his head to one side. “But why would that beꟷ”

Terry flickered into being beside Tala, likely called by the repeated, rather loud, uses of his name.

He was the size of a large horse.

Magic spun up through the group of Archons, even as many of them stumbled back in shock.

Tala stepped between Terry and the Archons, holding up her hands. “Stop! This is Terry.”

Collectively, the Archons let their spellworkings die down.

One Archon had fallen to the ground, one of the librarians who wasn’t even quite Fused yet, and he was staring up at Tala and Terry. His eyes flicked to the endingberries, then back to Tala. “Devouring dimensions, endingberries, trapped souls, and now a terror bird? What other horrors do you have in here?”

The cat chose that moment to finish weaving through the crowd and hop onto the downed Archon’s lap.

The man squeaked in surprise, and Tala saw many of those around him tense.

To his credit, the librarian’s tone was mostly level, though his hands were trembling, while he tried not to move, “What manner of beast is this?”

Tala stifled her laugh. “That, master librarian, is a cat.”

There was a moment of silence before Master Boma glanced her way, obviously confused. “What?”

“That is a cat, Master Boma. Nothing more or less.”

A ripple of nervous chuckles passed through those gathered around, and the young man tentatively scratched the cat’s head.

The kitty purred, pressing into the hand.

Tala glanced toward Terry, cleared her throat, and tapped her shoulder meaningfully.

The terror bird flickered to rest on her shoulder, sized appropriately for the perch.

“Now, shall we finish the tour?”

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Please let the world know what you think of this story by leaving reviews on Amazon!

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Chapter: 277 - Tests of All Types

Tala led the group back to the center of her sanctum, ending the tour by showing them the ‘standard’ place the door would open, the highly defended, bunker-like setup of magical defenses.

She led them through the door and back out into the meeting room. Terry remained on her shoulder, seemingly content to nap on his perch.

Mistress Ingrit carefully emphasized to the group that she should be contacted with any questions and information requests.

Masters Boma and Queue reminded Tala to drop by the Constructionist Guild in the next few days. That way they could help her reinforce her sanctum and undo any damage to the underpinnings of reality within it. There almost certainly was some due to so many gated humans moving through it for a bit more than an hour.

That really is pretty kind of them.

-Undoubtedly, yeah. If it were cheap, dimensional spaces would be used to move people in much more efficient manners.-

She thanked them, and the meeting concluded.

With that, everyone but Lyn, Rane, Tala, Master Grediv, and Mistresses Holly and Ingrit departed.

Those six remaining Archons looked back towards Kit’s entrance.

Mistress Holly smiled widely, a predatory glint in her eyes. “Now, show me that reinscriber.”

Tala shrugged. “Sure.”

Lyn and Rane looked toward Tala, questioningly.

They all went back inside Kit, stepping out before the dais, and Tala addressed her friends’ confusion, “It’s exactly what it sounds like. Specifically, it’s a conceptual magic device that reinscribes me, or reinforces my current inscriptions, matching my most recent set.”

The two glanced towards one another, eyebrows climbing, but it was Rane who responded first. “That’s incredible. Can it work for anyone?”

Tala nodded. “I believe so. At least, that’s what the manual said. Even so, without healing inscriptions, or a healer on hand, I don’t know how useful it will be. ” She then turned to Mistress Holly. “Which form of reinscription would you like to see?”

Mistress Holly seemed to consider. “While I would like to see the ‘through the skin’ method first, I don’t think you’ll be demonstrating either, not for a while. We’ll still need to do some pervasive reworking of your scripts. We should be able to nudge you in the right direction for your Refining easily enough. Until then? We need to minimize the stresses on your body.”

-Oh… right.-

Tala hesitated then. “Oh… right.” She frowned. “I really shouldn’t do this should I?”

Mistress Holly looked mildly annoyed even as she shook her head.

Mistress Ingrit frowned. “Mistress Tala?”

The Archivist was clearly waiting for Tala to explain, but it was the Inscriptionist who answered, “She is… damaged. I would say that she is in desperate need of Refining, but in the grand scheme of things everyone below Refined is in desperate need of such.”

Master Grediv rolled his eyes, and Mistress Ingrit gave Mistress Holly an arch look before the Inscriptionist sighed. “I was simply hoping to examine the device, myself. Is that acceptable?”

Tala smiled. “Absolutely.”

Mistress Holly’s power rolled off her in a wave of yellow-tinted magic.

It was specifically yellow, which struck Tala as a bit odd, because not every working was tinged with a Mage or arcane’s advancement.

Is she doing that on purpose?

-You know, the only reason we think she’s Refined is because of what she’s let us see.-

Worth asking?

-Probably not.-

Tala gave a small smile and shrugged to herself.

As Mistress Holly took a couple of minutes to magically examine the dais—which was more than the reinscriber, but Tala didn’t mind—the others looked around, taking a bit more time to soak in the features of her sanctum.

Rane stretched. “This really is a peaceful place. I know you told us there was a whole ecosystem in here, but hearing the songbirds”—he shook his head—“this is incredible.”

Tala smiled. “It is a pretty great perk to come away with, yeah.”

Lyn patted her on the shoulder. “Doesn’t make it better though.”

“Oh, obviously not, but it is better to have, than not.”

She grinned. “Oh, obviously.”

Rane had his arms spread, eyes closed, and face toward the ‘sun.’ “It even feels like sunlight. I’ve been in Archon’s dimensional storages before, even those with artificial suns, and none were quite like this. This is so much more.”

Tala walked up to stand beside him. “Yeah, they spend a lot more time within holds than we do. So, it makes sense that they’ve perfected their creation and enhancement.”

Mistress Holly sighed loudly. “I think that’s all I can learn within any sort of reasonable timeframe.” She turned towards Tala. “I suppose we should get you to my shop, then, so we can do some proper diagnostics?”

They all agreed, and the group exited once again.

Terry headbutted Tala’s cheek and flickered away before she closed the door and hung Kit from her belt.

She took a moment to acquire the remains of the dinner that had been set out for them, carefully putting the cleaned plates back on the table for the staff to collect.

-Hey! That’s progress.-

I progress all the time. Tala grumbled internally, just a little.

-Ahh, but not on all things.-

That’s… fair. She sighed.

The group walked together out of the meeting room and to the entry hall of the Archon compound.

Mistress Ingrit stopped near the front desk and gave a shallow bow to Tala. “Mistress Tala. Thank you for allowing me to assist you, but in that vein, I do now have a lot of work, processing all that you brought back. I will be sure to be in contact with you as needed, and we will do what is required.”

Tala gave a bow in return. “Thank you for handling so much.”

Mistress Ingrit hesitated, then tentatively opened her arms.

Tala smiled and accepted the hug gratefully.

“Welcome home, Mistress Tala.”

Tala pulled back after a long moment, feeling water in her own eyes. The Archivist had unshed tears as well, and they each wiped their own eyes.

They bowed to one another again and parted ways, Tala heading out towards the street with the remaining four Archons, Mistress Ingrit moving towards the library.

Master Grediv came up beside Tala as they walked, speaking in a low, but not really confidential, voice, “I am happy to continue to accompany you or depart, whichever you wish.”

Tala glanced towards the Paragon, considering.

-He will likely have insights into quite a few things that still remain to be revealed.-

So would Master Xeel. Is he still around?

-We can look, but I think we should answer Master Grediv, first.-

She nodded. “While I would be grateful for your insights, I am sure you have much to do. I will leave the choice up to you, but please know that you are welcome with me.”

The Archon nodded, moving to walk beside Rane. A power seized the air around them, and Tala recognized it as his privacy working.

Perfect time to practice and look for Master Xeel at the same time.

She pushed Flow into its void-knife form, leaving it in its sheath.

Her voidsight opened.

Firstly, she saw what she’d expected, though she hadn’t seen it explicitly before.

Master Grediv’s magic radiated from a nodule of reality that was slightly distinct from the pieces they were moving through.

It was odd to really analyze. Now that she knew what to look for, every person around her, even every animal, seemed to have its own bit of reality that moved through and around all other pieces without really displacing them.

It was instantly apparent which bits had gates—all the humans—because their fragments almost seemed to drag on the nodules they passed through, like they were rougher than those of the few animals she saw.

Tala focused on Master Grediv’s fragment, and she could see the working he’d affected was rather easy to spot. By the flick of his eyes in her direction, she assumed that was likely because he’d hoped she’d notice the working and could learn something.

He could have called more attention to it.

-Master Grediv seems to value ‘go-getter’ attitudes. If you saw, wonderful, if you didn’t that would be your loss, not his.-

So, I shouldn’t expect to be able to see things like this as easily in the future. She sighed internally.

That spotted, she swept her gaze around herself.

No obviously hidden fragments were in sight, but she had no idea what that actually meant.

-I would bet that they are easier to detect in a space like Kit.-

That makes sense. The fabric of reality is thinner, so pieces moving behind or around it would be more visible.

She had to turn her head to look, but she did so as smoothly as possible. She’d not tried mirroring her voidsight onto her bloodstar perspectives, but it should be possible. Another thing to experiment with, soon.

Tala considered her list of things to experiment with and was shocked at how long it was getting.

Alright. I need to actually come up with a priority order for these. Toward that end, Tala began considering her to-dos.

After a moment’s silence, Alat sighed. -Tala. Not now. Focus outward.-

Hmm? Tala looked up, really looking for what felt like the first time in a while.

Her voidsight had fallen away once she’d stopped maintaining it, and so she had a rather mundane view of the scenery.

Her magesight had little to highlight in a human city, as most power was pulled away almost immediately, so she simply saw… normalcy.

It was a human city, very much like the one she’d grown up within.

Surrounding her were the sparse pedestrians of a winter’s evening with the occasional animal darting towards the next sheltered place. Through the windows, Tala could see that, within the buildings, people were going about their normal lives.

This was what she’d been fighting to return to.

This was humanity as she knew it.

Safe.

Happy.

Normal.

Lyn seemed to have noticed something, because she didn’t interrupt Tala, even as they all continued walking.

Rane and Master Grediv were still speaking within the privacy magics, and Mistress Holly was muttering to herself, likely working on something only she could see.

So it was that Tala walked in silence, just soaking in the feel of the place, the people, the humanity of it all.

Home.

There was an incredibly light snowfall, drifting down from a mostly clear sky. It was the sort of snow that wouldn’t have been noticed if Tala hadn’t taken the time to look upward, and allow her enhanced vision to sweep the sky.

More of a smattering than a true snow.

Most of the trees set into the sides of the streets, or in the parks, were free of leaves, with only a few evergreens standing out against the backdrop of snow and city.

Tala hadn’t bundled up—she didn’t need to—but she finally noticed that Lyn had.

Rane looked like he wished he had, but he didn’t seem so uncomfortable that he was going to pull out warmer clothing.

Tala’s eyes roamed, taking in the dichotomy of peaceful stillness of the winter evening and the bustle of the city streets.

No sound was as loud as it should have been, with the snow that was already on the ground, and a heavy stillness pervaded the air.

It was familiar.

It was stunning.

It was peaceful.

Tala felt herself relaxing further as she enjoyed a real winter stroll, and let herself continue to note how different it was from winter weather in Platoiri.

The walk passed more quickly than Tala would have liked, and that helped cement in her own mind that she was moving too fast, pushing too hard.

She was still on the edge of panic, and that wasn’t sustainable.

She hadn’t really stopped and rested in the knowledge that she was home.

Even during the travel between Alefast and Bandfast, she’d spent her time examining herself internally and trying to adapt to her most recent changes.

I haven’t stopped in… well, a long time.

-Makinaven?-

Yeah, I think that that month with Rane and Mistress Odera in Makinaven was the last time I really let myself just be.

The months she’d spent going back and forth between Bandfast and Marliweather to be with her siblings had been slower paced, but even then, she hadn’t rested. She’d simply stolen moments for her family around her otherwise full life.

She needed a break. She needed to let herself realize that she was free, safe, and whole.

I still feel like someone’s watching me, ready to snatch me back to the arcane lands. She shuddered even as they all entered Holly’s workshop.

Lyn shivered, settling deeper into her winter clothing, “Will it be warmer in the back?”

Mistress Holly gave her a confused look. “Hmm? What?”

“The temperature. It’s winter outside, but it feels basically the same in here. Don’t you heat your work areas?”

There was a Mage sitting behind the counter, shrouded in layers, looking wide-eyed at Lyn.

As Tala expected, she couldn’t get a reading on the woman’s aura or advancement. She’s obviously freezing, though. So, she probably isn’t Refined.

-She’s also probably too afraid to ask about the situation or do something about it.-

Tala frowned. I’ve been here in the winter before. Was it cold, then?

-No, not to our memory.-

Maybe something was broken.

Mistress Holly looked around, holding out a hand as if to test the air. “Mistress Emersen?”

The Mage sat up straighter, a lock of blonde hair falling free of her thick, woolen hat. “Yes, Mistress Holly?”

“Why did no one tell me the heat was malfunctioning?”

“It isn’t… Mistress.”

“What?”

“It isn’t malfunctioning. You had us turn it off last week.”

“That’s right, and do you remember what I said?”

The woman cleared her throat. “You said that as subjects’ skin heats up, it expands, ruining alignment, and you didn’t have time to wait for them to achieve thermal equilibrium. So, we should just match the temperature inside to outside.’”

“Yes, yes. But the rest?”

“Only leave the heat off until we found a better idea?”

“Precisely. Are you telling me none of my apprentices have come up with a solution? After all, the issue is that people tend to bundle up, so when they take off their outer layers, there is now the reverse problem.”

So, it was a test for her apprentices?

-One they didn’t pass, apparently.-

Mistress Emersen gave a careful smile. “There are several proposed solutions awaiting your approval on your desk, Mistress.”

“And no one enacted any?”

The assistant released a long breath. “No, Mistress Holly. We know better than that.”

It was then that Tala noticed the twinkle in Mistress Holly’s eyes. She’s testing them in multiple ways?

-Mad is the person who tries to understand Mistress Holly.-

I don’t know, Mistress Emersen seems to be doing a reasonable job.

Master Grediv sighed. “Mistress Holly. Just heat the place. If you really care that much about the thermal shift, you can have your clients arrive early, so they come up to the proper temperature before they see you or your apprentices.”

Mistress Holly turned to the Mage behind the desk and pointed to Master Grediv. “That is an excellent idea. Mistress Emersen, see that it is done.”

The woman nodded vigorously. “Yes, Mistress Holly. I will do that.”

From the woman’s look, Tala guessed that that had been exactly the policy before.

Mistress Holly does seem to go down esoteric paths sometimes, doesn’t she.

-Yes, but she also seems to put far more thought into her work than anything else.-

True enough, yeah.

Mistress Emersen got up and scampered into the back, likely to inform others and adjust the temperature of the warehouse-sized workshop.

Mistress Holly didn’t watch the woman go as she was simply standing in place, muttering to herself, occasionally moving her hands through the air.

Tala cleared her throat, and the Inscriptionist jerked slightly. “Oh! Yes, yes. Right this way.”

Soon enough, they were back in Mistress Holly’s personal workroom.

The place gave Tala an ache of nostalgia.

Mistress Holly spun around as soon as the door clicked shut behind the last of them, all focus returned and oriented on Tala. “Now, my dear, let us see what you have done to yourself, hmm?”

“Didn’t you already get a scan and record from the monitoring scripts?”

“Of course, but that’s hardly comprehensive. We need to have you fully prepped for Refinement, and that requires precision. Precision requires knowing exactly where we’re starting, and where we need to go.”

That made sense to Tala, but even so, she had a sense of foreboding.

What followed was a lot of seemingly esoteric tests and measurements using a lot of tools that Tala didn’t really understand.

The first set were performed on her as she was. For the next set, Mistress Holly had her expel all the iron that she could remove safely.

Tala didn’t like that very much.

The iron never went far, simply waiting off to one side in a blob-like pile.

Still, the iron felt like the sun, shining at her. She could tell exactly where it was without effort or thought, and she wanted it back.

Well, that’s not concerning…

-We’ll get it sorted. This is going to be alright.-

Yeah. They won’t leave us broken.

As night fell, Lyn had excused herself to go home to sleep, but only after Mistress Holly had snippily indicated that the tests would last most, if not all, of the night.

Master Grediv and Rane took advantage of Mistress Holly’s begrudging hospitality and went off to utilize some cots the Inscriptionist had in side-rooms.

Tala remembered using one of those rooms herself, after her initial sensory enhancements.

She did recall the cots being oddly comfortable, even to her overstimulated sense of touch.

They’ll probably get a great night’s sleep, then. Good. We want the Paragon in top form to help Mistress Holly plan out our Refinement.

-I don’t doubt that Mistress Holly will be consulting far and wide on this. Master Jevin and Mistress Noelle will definitely want to weigh in.-

Oh, for sure.

Mistress Holly had many rounds of tests of all types.

Some involved blood, some samples of skin or hair.

For one, Mistress Holly took a careful core sample from her scapula, her shoulder blade.

That had been painful even with local anesthetics.

Occasionally needles needed to be inserted into her skin in various locations, allowing myriad magics different means of analyzing her physical, spiritual, and magical substance.

Mistress Holly also put each of her bonds, soul and magical, into analysis devices, gaining details on them in their own rights.

By the end, as Alat informed Tala that morning was drawing near, Tala was beginning to suspect that this was more than even Mistress Holly’s standard ‘overboard’ testing.

Still, she trusted Mistress Holly, and she definitely didn’t want to fight with the woman.

When Tala suspected that dawn had fully arrived, Mistress Holly finally sighed.

That seemed like an opening, and Tala seized it. She tried to be respectfully inquisitive, but she did not succeed in keeping the weariness out of her voice, “Are you done?”

“Yes, yes. There aren’t any other reasonable tests I can think of that might be useful.”

Tala felt her eye twitch. “Were you simply hunting for more tests to do?”

“In a sense, yes. Your biology, physiology, spirit, and magic are all significantly deviated from human standard, and we need to be sure that we don’t cripple you with your Refinement. I won’t let some silly detail, that I didn’t bother to check, be what kills you or prevents you from progressing further.”

Tala blinked a few times. It might have been her general tiredness, but that actually made a lot of sense. “Thank you?”

“Why do you sound uncertain? Did you think I was just wasting both of our time?”

“No, of course not.”

“Good. Because this will take a lot of careful analysis and planning before we’re ready to proceed.”

Tala felt a sinking in her gut. “So, it’s bad?”

“I would say this is an unusually bad case, yes.”

“Should I be concerned?”

“In general? No, but don't leave Bandfast city limits until you're Refined.”

Tala deflated a little bit more. “Oh. That’s pretty bad.”

“Hmm? Oh, that’s not really because of the results, it’s just that last time that you left, it took you nearly a year to return, and it would be best if we didn’t delay overmuch.”

She opened her mouth to respond, but found that she really didn’t have anything to say.

-Well, she’s not wrong.-

Yeah, that’s what I’m realizing.

Mistress Holly was tapping her lips with one finger. “Why don’t you take a week? Rest, eat, read, walk, speak with friends.”

Tala found herself nodding. That sounded absolutely wonderful.

Mistress Holly’s eyes hardened. “This is not a training week. I don’t want to hear that you’ve been pushing yourself, or sparring. You may keep up with physical conditioning, but that’s it. Understood?”

“Understood.”

“Good. Now, send in Master Grediv. He and I have a lot to discuss.”

Tala nodded, standing and stretching. She’d been moving around all night due to the nature of the various tests, but it still felt good to move just for the sake of moving. “What about going by the Constructionist Guild?”

Mistress Holly nodded absently. “So long as you don’t power any scripts yourself, that should be acceptable.”

Tala gave a shallow bow. “Thank you, Mistress Holly.”

The woman paused, turning to fully face Tala. “You are most welcome, Mistress Tala. I am glad that you are safe and mostly whole.” She smiled sincerely. “Welcome back.”

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Chapter: 278 - Breakfast

Tala left Mistress Holly’s workroom only to find Mistress Emersen walking down the hallway, a large mug of coffee in each hand.

The woman’s blonde hair was now free of her woolen hat, held in a tight weave that seemed to circle the Mage’s head. The older woman smiled. “Mistress Tala, I thought this might benefit you this morning.”

Tala took the offered mug, savoring the smell. “This smells amazing. Thank you.”

“Of course, Mistress.”

Before the Mage could move on, Tala decided to ask a question that was bothering her, if only just a bit. “If I may, why do you work for her?”

Mistress Emersen shrugged, not seeming surprised by the question in the least. “She’s the best.”

“Does she actually teach you anything?”

“Of course.”

“Is it… reasonable? Working for her, I mean.”

The woman huffed a laugh. “‘A fool cannot learn, even from a wise man, but a wise woman can learn even from a fool.’ Mistress Holly is no fool, and I strive to avoid that label as well. Work is work, and I’m here to learn.”

Tala found herself smiling. “I suppose that makes sense.” She lifted her mug in salute. “Thank you again.”

“You are most welcome, Mistress Tala. Good morning.” Without another word, she went on her way.

She didn’t really know what she expected, but she was glad that Mistress Emersen and Holly’s other assistants and workers weren’t universally trapped.

-Yes, you made sure at least one was here of her own volition.-

I’m not going to bug everyone, am I? She shook her head, taking another sip.

It was so good.

Now, where are Rane and Master Grediv?

She was about to call after Mistress Emersen when she heard voices from the front entry area and moved that way to investigate.

Master Grediv and Rane were in the waiting room, each drinking coffee from their own mugs.

It was the Paragon who saw her first. “Ah, good. You’re finally done. I assume that Mistress Holly is ready to speak with me?”

Tala nodded. “She is. Did you both sleep well?”

The men nodded, smiling.

“Yes, thank you, Mistress Tala.”

“I did, thank you, Tala.”

Master Grediv waved goodbye to Rane, and headed down the hall that Tala had just come from.

Rane shifted a little, straightening just slightly as he took another sip. “Shall we find breakfast? I imagine you’re hungry, and I could definitely do with some good food.”

Tala grinned. “I know just the place. Let’s see if Lyn can join us.”

They left their mugs in the designated place to one side of the waiting room, thanked the young man behind the counter this morning, and departed.

The sun wasn’t up yet, but the sky was beginning to lighten.

There were a few wispy clouds above them, but no sign of falling snow.

That which was already on the ground squeaked beneath their feet with each step, and Tala reveled in the pleasant cool on her soles.

Her weight distribution scripts kept her from sinking into the snow, but it still pressed against the bottoms of her feet, and that was as good for waking up as the coffee had been.

Even though it was a brisk morning, the two Fused didn’t walk quickly.

Rane pulled out a cloak against the morning chill, sweeping it around his own shoulders, and only then did Tala realize that Holly’s workshop had been quite nicely warmed towards the end.

I suppose the temperature controls are rather effective.

-Even if they weren’t, it shouldn’t take more than an entire night to bring such a space up to a desired temperature.-

That’s true enough.

The street lights were beginning to dim, though a true brightening of the sky was likely nearly an hour off. Tala suspected that she could see the current change only because of her enhanced perception.

As they meandered, neither Rane nor Tala seemed to feel the need to fill the space between them with chatter, and Tala found herself appreciating the quiet comfort of Rane’s familiar presence.

It had been too long since she’d been among friends.

Thron could have been a friend, and maybe he still would be if their paths ever crossed again, but right now, she knew that her necessary deception had left him understandably reticent and suspicious of her.

Their last day together had undone some of that, but she would still have to be careful of him, at least initially, when they met again.

As the thought came to her, she realized that even after a bit of separation, she really did want to meet him again. But maybe not for a decade or two. I need a break.

Regardless, it had been far too long since she’d been with true friends.

She hesitated. That’s not really true anymore, is it.

-We’ve only been back in the human cities for three days, so it’s true enough.-

It’s kind of funny that my birthday is three days away.

She was going to be twenty-one. In the grand scheme of things, she was a child.

Well, by her age she was fairly child-like, but by her deeds and experiences? Not so much.

I’ve killed my way through uncounted warriors older than me, more experienced than me, and even many more powerful than me.

-I could count them, if you wanted.-

That’s not the point, and you know it.

-Yes, the point was to be melancholic and melodramatic.-

Tala grimaced, her mood thrown off. I’ve waded through rivers of blood to get back, and I never considered that cost.

Somehow, Tala felt a flick to her own forehead and immediately knew that Alat had sent the feeling her way. -Death is never light, but it is sometimes necessary. Stop trying to make yourself feel worse than you already are.-

Rane seemed to have noticed something, because he cleared his throat. “Are you alright?”

Tala shrugged. “Caught in… memories.”

He smiled sympathetically. “I can’t imagine what you went through, what price you had to pay to come back.”

That struck uncomfortably close to home, but before she could compile a response, he continued.

“If you ever want to talk, I’m here. If you never want to talk, I’ll still be here.” His smile grew a little. “I’m just glad you’re back.”

That hit a nerve, and she frowned. “How did you know?”

“Hmm?”

“How did you know I was still alive?”

Rane opened his mouth, but didn’t seem to have anything to say. More than anything, he looked at a loss. “I wish I could tell you, but I genuinely can’t.”

She sighed. “Yeah, you already said that.”

Silence fell again between them, and before it could become awkward, Tala gently shoulder-checked the big man.

Even the relatively light bump knocked him to the side a bit, and he snorted a laugh. “Heavier than ever, I see. You are going to be a terror in the ring.”

Tala saw a flash of arcane blood painting the world around her, figments of walls rising up in a ring, candidate Eskau slain with brutal efficiency. We need to deal with Tali.

-Eventually, yes.-

Rane seemed to realize he’d said something wrong. “My apologies. I feel like I’m walking blind and constantly finding my foot in my own mouth.”

She shrugged. “It’s… It’s a lot, but I will be okay.” She looked up and saw Lyn’s house just ahead, then turned and smiled toward Rane. “After all, I'm home now.” She grinned slyly before adding, “And you putting your foot in your mouth is a very familiar part of that.”

She pulled the iron key to Lyn’s house from Kit even as Rane made mock affronted noises while they walked up to the door. She paused then, just holding it for a long moment.

There had been many times she’d wanted to pull this out when she was pretending to be Tali, but she’d never trusted herself or her emotions. It was too poignant a reminder of home.

There really is a lot that I need to work through. But first, she had to deal with something else.

Aside from the emotion attached to the key, there was another issue.

The key was iron.

The key was hers.

Tala could feel herself resonating with the key in her hands.

A blip of magic told her that Rane had activated his magesight, before he asked a simple question that warmed her heart, “Do you need silence or help?”

“Silence.”

She saw him nod in her mirrored perspective before stepping back, positioning himself between her and the street beyond, facing away. She smiled at that.

-That was kind.-

Yes, it was. But that wasn’t important at the moment. Let’s figure this out.

There was a pull from the key, or maybe it was from within her, but in either case, her aura flared from the key, and it seemed almost to fuzz.

No. The word was more an act of will than a fully formed thought.

The key resolidified, exactly as she remembered it.

Curious, she held the key in her right palm and placed her empty left beside it.

Iron dust flowed through her skin without pain or issue, taking on the vague shape of a key.

No matter how she pushed, it wouldn’t solidify into a usable copy, though she didn’t take more than a minute to try.

Why can I maintain the key, but not create a new one? And in the asking, she realized the answer. It is easier to destroy than create, and ‘not destroying’ is easier still.

As she explored her connection to the key as well as her own feelings and instincts, she realized a crucial difference between the key and the iron dust that had been in the smithy.

This is mine and with me. There is no danger of it leaving my sway, so I don’t need to take it from its current purpose.

-And in the smithy, if you’d left the iron dust, it would have been lost to you.-

Exactly. With that understanding, it made perfect sense. Dasgannach left the iron where they found it, until they themselves left. She wasn’t leaving this key, so there wasn’t any need to strip it of iron, though she knew that she still could.

“Huh.” She grunted before putting the key in the lock and unlocked the door.

Behind her, Rane turned, a carefully small smile pulling at his lips. “Better?”

“Yeah. I’m still all mixed up on so many things, but there shouldn’t be any present danger to me or anything else.”

As ominous as that sounded, Rane took it in stride, simply nodding and gesturing for her to proceed.

They entered, closing the door behind them, and a voice called out to them, “Hello?”

That’s not Lyn. “Kannis?”

A girlish gasp came from the sitting room. “Mistress Tala?”

The mageling came practically flying down the short hallway and slammed into Tala, in an attempt at a hug.

Tala caught her as gently as she could, but the young woman still groaned on impact, “Ow… you’re as solid as a rock.”

Tala chuckled in response. “And you’re still soft and squishy.”

Kannis pulled back, mostly ignoring Tala’s oddities, as usual. “I was there when Mistress Lyn got your message, but I still couldn’t believe it.”

Tala felt a bit awkward as they separated and used the moment to mirror the self-cleaning from her elk-leathers to her feet before shaking each one gingerly. No need to track muck from the street inside.

Kannis gave an appropriate bow towards Rane. “Master Rane, welcome.”

There was a moment of silence as Rane pulled off his boots before the mageling gestured them further in.

“Mistress Lyn just stepped back into her room a moment ago, I imagine she’ll—”

Lyn’s voice floated from the back. “Kannis? Are those voices? Is someone here?”

“Yes, Mistress! Mistress Tala and Master Rane are here.”

“Oh!” The sound of quick-moving, sure footsteps moved their way. “Come in, come in!”

Lyn and Kannis were both dressed for the day, despite it still being quite early, and when Tala thought about her time living with Lyn, that tracked.

I still get up earlier, but with winter afoot, it makes sense that they’re up and ready before the sun.

Instead of sitting, Tala decided to just address why they were there. “We’re actually going to get breakfast, do you want to join us?”

Lyn froze on the spot, looking incredibly conflicted.

Kannis smiled, glancing towards her master. “Go, Mistress Lyn. I can handle the morning duties.”

The older woman still looked uncertain. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely, it’s not like this is an everyday occurrence.”

“Thank you, Kannis. I’ll make it up to you.”

“It is my pleasure.” She turned and bowed to Rane and Tala. “It was a pleasure to see you both. Don’t keep her too late.”

Tala grinned. “We’ll do our best.”

With that, Rane put his boots back on, Lyn pulled hers on for the first time, and the three went out into the calm, early winter morning.

Breakfast was amazingly uneventful, and Tala just tried to take Mistress Holly’s advice and follow her own growing sense of what she needed.

She relaxed.

She let herself just be.

Honestly, it was stressful.

At first, she constantly felt like someone was watching her, about to attack, but once she had done everything reasonable to ensure that wasn’t true, she came to the realization that it was actually the absence of danger that was making her nervous and anxious.

She was used to being on edge, having her every word potentially be judged. She’d gotten to a state of numb acceptance, even taking fairly foolish risks at times, but the danger had always been there. She’d been in a den of rats while made of cheese.

-That is an awful metaphor.-

I’m working through stuff, Alat. Let me process.

-Fine, fine.-

Thus, now that she was out of danger, it felt wrong.

Like she was just failing to notice the hostile people who had to be there.

The genuine safety and security felt unearned and false, like it couldn’t possibly be real.

This had to be a trap, or an illusion, or a trick.

But it wasn’t.

One meal wasn’t enough time to truly convince herself of that, even though she desperately wanted it to be, but it was enough for her to catch the barest edges of the truth.

She had only begun her reconciliation with, and realization of, her homecoming.

She was more broken and ragged than she’d ever have realized, and now that she didn’t need to put up a front, she was starting to crack.

Yeah, I’m glad we’ve got a Mistress-Holly-enforced vacation.

As breakfast ended, and Lyn bid them goodbye, the woman hesitantly brought up one thing. “I will need you to drop by the Caravanners’ Guild at some point in the next couple of weeks so we can sort out your contract. There’s no danger of violation or anything like that, but we do need to tie up the legal loose ends.”

Tala felt her face twitch.

Lyn clearly noticed Tala’s reaction, because she held up her hands and smiled. “There really is no rush, and there is nothing negative to deal with. It’s just a formality, but it is a required one.”

Finally, Tala nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Lyn held up a finger. “When you’re ready, and not a day sooner.”

Tala smiled at that. “Sure. Are you sure you’re okay with me using your house, again?”

“I’ll say it as many times as you need: Yes. You are always welcome.” She looked to Rane too. “Both of you, if you need.”

Rane smiled. “Thank you, but I won’t impose upon the three of you.”

Lyn shrugged. “It’s up to you. Take care, today. I’ll see you soon!”

As Lyn walked one way, they walked the other and Rane glanced toward Tala. “What now?”

Tala shrugged. “I need to drop through the Constructionist Guild.”

“Right, to reinforce your sanctum.”

“Yeah.”

As he opened his mouth to respond, his eyes unfocused and he pulled a small slate out of his dimensional storage.

“What’s up?”

“Master Grediv reached out through the Archive. I’m needed at Mistress Holly’s workshop.”

“Oh? How did you know?”

“He had me add a simple script that he can activate through the Archive and alert me when he messages me through there. He was… less than pleased when I vanished on him for a few months.”

“Oh…” The time he wouldn’t talk about. “What does he want?”

Rane shrugged. “Apparently, Master Grediv believes I’m about ready to Refine, or at least start the process. He’s been pushing me this way since before I was a Mage, so it’s not unexpected.” He huffed a laugh. “He reminds me quite often that I’m actually a couple years behind some of his previous students.”

“Well, rust, personalized training is the way to go, it seems.”

“That is why the system is set up with magelings and masters.” He gave her a wide, knowing grin.

“You’ve got a mouth on you. When did that happen?”

He shrugged. “Would you prefer it on you?”

They both froze, midstep.

Rane flushed deep red. “That’s not what I meant!”

Tala started laughing.

He seemed to be torn between wringing his hands and grabbing her shoulders to emphasize that he had not meant that.

That just made Tala laugh all the harder.

It was a short while before she pulled herself back under control.

Those who passed them in that time gave them a wide berth, but seemed to be smiling as they did so.

Finally, Tala grinned up at Rane. “I needed that. It was a good laugh. Thank you.”

Rane scratched the back of his head. “You’re welcome, I suppose?” He glanced over his shoulder. “I should get going though. Reconnect later?”

“Sure. I’ll drop through Mistress Holly’s after I’m done at the Constructionists’.”

“That sounds like a plan.”

With smiles and waves, they parted ways, and Tala set out to have Kit repaired and reinforced.

One mostly normal breakfast. Tala felt a sense of foreboding that she couldn’t shake, even though she knew that it was her mind playing tricks on her. I wonder how many more I’ll be allowed?

-Tala. Is there anything I can do?-

I know you could modify my mind, but that wouldn’t be good on any level.

-Oh, yeah, one hundred percent that would be a bad idea. I more meant if there was anything you wanted me to look into or the like.-

Tala smiled to herself as she continued on her way, walking slowly, but not slowly enough to be a nuisance to those around her. Maybe begin parsing the books we have? I’d like to learn what they have to teach, but I doubt I’ll have time to go through them all on my own.

-Say no more. I’ll get right on it.-

Thank you, Alat.

-Happy to assist.-

No, really. Thank you, Alat, for everything.

There was a long pause before the alternate interface responded. -You are most welcome. Let’s get both of us sorted, eh? Then, we can tackle anything that comes our way.-

That, Tala had to admit, was an excellent plan.

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

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Chapter: 279 - Dimensional Stability

Tala purposely didn’t take the most direct route to the Constructionists’ Guild.

She let her feet lead her wherever they would, and she just enjoyed being out among humanity.

She’d barely taken a few steps before Alat briefly interrupted her.

-Mistress Ingrit has asked that we inform her when we’re heading to get Kit sorted out.-

Oh, alright. Can you keep her in the loop?

-Sure.-

It shouldn’t take too long, right? It’s just a little repair work.

Tala felt deep skepticism from Alat. -Every time we’ve done anything with Kit, it has been beyond our expectations in some way. I think we should be prepared for something, even if we don’t know exactly what.-

That’s fair, I suppose.

In a city like Bandfast, there were almost always people about—at least in the central ring—even in less than ideal weather. This day was actually a rather sunny one, so there were even more people about than usual as average citizens tried to get a bit more sun while they could.

Tala didn’t let her mind focus on anything too important, though she did open Kit and call to Terry to see if he wanted to join her.

He trilled back, seemingly grateful for the invitation but didn’t flicker out.

That was fine.

She closed Kit once again, patting the pouch and sending a few void-channels to top off the dimensional storage.

She’d gotten in the habit of recharging the artifact periodically throughout the day, and she wasn’t in a hurry to break it.

It was midmorning by the time she arrived at her destination, walking through the open entry way.

The scanning magics took a reading of the aura put forward by her through-spike, clearly noting that she was a human Archon.

Having just had the environment starkly pointed out in Mistress Holly’s workshop, Tala noticed that flush with the archway was a stark transition of cold to warm air.

The magics keeping the distinction were incredibly subtle and complex, seemingly not keeping the air or anything else from moving freely.

Instead, if Tala had to guess—and she rather enjoyed the challenge—she would say that it was stripping outgoing air of warmth, and adding warmth to whatever came through, seemingly based on density.

That meant that she received very little heat, but air coming in would come up to temperature immediately.

Fascinating. Why have I never noticed before?

-You aren’t very focused on temperature, given that you aren’t very affected by it.-

Yeah, that tracks. There were obviously other magics involved as well, otherwise there would be a perpetual mist as the warm air exited and cooled, and that was lacking. Still, now was not the time for deep analysis of this bit of magic.

The chime that announced her entrance summoned an assistant almost as if by teleportation.

-Now you’re just being regularly dramatic. They walked out, if quite quickly and as soon as the chime sounded.-

Fine, fine.

“Mistress? How can I assist you?”

Tala smiled. “I am here to see Masters Boma and Queue. I believe that they are expecting me, but not necessarily right now. Could you see if now is a good time for them to see me? I’m Mistress Tala.”

At her name, the assistant’s eyes widened. “Mistress Tala! Welcome, welcome.” The young man clapped his hands twice, and Tala saw a script activate across his skin each time, sending a pulse of something somewhere that she couldn’t determine.

The archive?

-Could work, or just somewhere else to signal the arrival of specific people?-

Regardless, a moment later two more assistants came out into the entry way.

The first assistant sent one to each of the Masters before turning back toward Tala. “They will be along shortly.” The Mage gave a small chuckle. “Their instructions were quite clear; they wanted to be informed of your arrival the moment you came in.”

“Oh, well, thank you.” She licked her lips, an enticing scent catching her nostrils. “Is that coffee I smell?”

“It is, Mistress. Can I get you a mug?”

Tala nodded. “That would be lovely.”

-Tala…-

It’s fine. I was up all night. A little coffee won’t hurt me.

-Mistress Emersen gave you some, then you had more at breakfast.-

And it's just one more cup here. See? Just three cups. No issue at all.

The assistant was already back with a mug of coffee.

“Thank you.” Tala hesitated frowning. “I apologize, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Srip, Mistress.”

“Well, thank you, Master Srip.”

“It is my pleasure. Is there anything else that I can get you, or any other way in which I can be of assistance?”

“No, I think this is perfect.” She lifted the mug in indication, then took a long pull. Amazing.

Alat sighed with obvious disappointment within Tala’s head but didn’t say anything further.

It was indeed a bare couple of minutes before both Masters Boma and Queue came into the entryway.

Their entrances were almost simultaneous, though they came from different hallways, and that fact seemed to make both men smile.

Master Queue was the first to speak. “Mistress Tala, welcome, welcome. Do you have any other business with us, before we address the stability of your dimensional storage?”

We’ll need to empower our Archive connection, but now is hardly the time for that.

-And I suspect it might put a strain on you, spiritually if not physically, and Fused as you are, it could complicate your Refining.-

That was my thought too.

-Should we mention the Leshkin weaponry?-

Tala sighed internally. Not yet. I’d love to combine some of it with Flow, if possible, move it closer to a true, morphic weapon, but we still might need to sell some.

-If we are still in need of money at the end of this, I’m going to be rusting irritated.-

That’s true enough. Tala shrugged. “Not off hand, no.”

The Refined man nodded before turning to his colleague. “You have it all set up, correct?”

Master Boma’s gruff tone was slightly softer than usual, “I do, yes.”

Without another word needed, the three went down a hallway, Master Boma in the lead.

Tala paused, glancing back. “Thank you, Master Srip!”

The assistant smiled and bowed in return. “You are most welcome, Mistress Tala.”

The three Archons walked further back into the compound and through a set of iron doors.

When Tala saw the massive bits of iron, she had a moment of panic, but while she could somehow feel the iron, there was nothing more than that.

Huh. Well, it’s not like this is the first bit of iron I’ve come across.

-Not in the least, but it is probably the most in one place.-

Undoubtedly, yes. There is something odd, though… She could sense… something, but it wasn’t clear what it was.

-It almost feels like a sure knowledge that the doors aren’t yours.-

So, ownership, or authority over the doors? Fascinating.

-Yes, we really do need to explore this new aspect of your vision. I am glad you didn’t try to eat the door.-

Yeah, it is good to know I won’t become a raving maniac around iron, I suppose.

Master Queue cleared his throat. “Mistress Tala?”

Tala jerked slightly, startled out of her thoughts. “Hmm?”

“Is everything alright? You were staring at the doors with sort of an odd look on your face.”

“Yeah, everything’s fine.” Tala quickly entered the merging room after the two others, not making eye contact.

Inside waited a few dozen crates, each heavily imbued with magic.

To her quick scan, they all seemed to be oriented towards preservation and isolation of the contents. That makes sense.

“Now.” Master Boma was walking over towards one of the crates. “The most critical thing is to determine which method of reinforcement will work best for your dimensional storage. They would all do some good, but these materials are too expensive to use anything but the most compatible.”

A throat cleared from near the door, and the three Archons turned. Mistress Elnea stood in the doorway. “Were you planning on starting without me?”

They all seemed a bit startled as the silence extended.

The head of the Bandfast Archon Council tsked. “I asked Mistress Ingrit to keep me informed on anything to do with your sanctum, Mistress Tala. She let me know that you were on your way here, so I thought that I’d join you.”

Oh! Right, she’d wanted to see me bond with Kit when that happened. I suppose that means she’s interested in general.

The woman then lifted an eyebrow towards the two men. “I did send you each a message to the same effect. Was it not received?”

Masters Boma and Queue glanced toward each other, both shaking their heads, and Master Queue responded, “No, Mistress Elnea. We would have informed you before we came here, if so.”

Mistress Elnea chuckled. “Well, I’m not here to interfere, though I’m happy to consult. I simply want to observe and be of assistance.”

That seemed to settle the last bits of nerves.

The three lesser Archons bowed towards Mistress Elnea. “Welcome, Mistress.”

“Thank you, Master Queue.”

The Mistress came the rest of the way in and closed the door behind her.

“Now, it looks like you were about to test which method of reinforcement might be best suited?”

That received nods.

“Wonderful. If you will permit me, I brought a measurement and analysis artifact to be placed within the sanctum?”

Tala tilted her head to one side. “To what end?”

“Well, in theory, the dimensional space should be separate from the magics used to access and alter it, but it is always good to have measurements to be sure of that during and after the fact.”

Master Queue nodded. “We were going to use such a device, once we determined which would be best suited. Did you bring a universal one or…?”

She pulled out a sphere that seemed to be made of rusted copper. “This is one of my own design, specifically made for assessing unknown sub-dimensional spaces.”

That perked their interest. In particular, Mistress Elnea noticed Tala’s reaction.

“Yes, we occasionally do come across such spaces, and some of them are ether holds—by the terminology of the arcanes—but not all. I’m happy to discuss the subject with you after this is sorted.”

Tala nodded. “That would be of interest, thank you.”

“Now, what do we have here?”

As it turned out, the head of the Archon Council had come bearing gifts.

She added two additional crates to those already arranged around the center of the room.

Tala listened as the other three discussed the contents of the various boxes. She tried to learn from what they were discussing, but much of it was beyond her understanding, and she simply asked for Alat to help her file the information away for later.

Apparently, each box held harvests or artifacts of magic with a bent towards dimensional stability and reinforcement of reality.

Tala opened Kit to drop Mistress Elnea’s diagnostic orb into it, and the woman began gathering information for comparison later on, though she was already reviewing it on a slate that she held in one hand.

Master Queue was the one to explain what would come next. “We will put your storage down in the center of the crates and open the lids. By close examination of the zeme in the room, we should be able to determine what resonates most closely with the magics of the pouch, and then we can merge it with those magics.”

Tala nodded. “I don’t know that a specific ‘merging’ will be required. Kit tends to just eat what I give it, these days.”

That got their attention.

Seeing their heightened focus, Tala shrugged. “There’s not much more to say, Kit eats the hold or other things I give it, and grows accordingly.”

The three seemed to take that in stride, pondering implications that Tala likely hadn’t considered.

“What is the difference between the crates?” Tala asked with curiosity.

Master Boma answered succinctly, “Well, each one has a slightly different method of stability or strength.”

That made a lot of sense, actually. Just as each fire Mage had slightly different methods for gathering and controlling fire, each of these items would have a different means of enacting their purpose.

Master Queue opened his mouth to say more but hesitated before turning to the older woman beside them, “Mistress Elnea, can you explain?”

Mistress Elnea smiled and nodded. “Certainly, though I doubt I’ll say it better than you could have.”

They all oriented on her, listening intently.

“As you know, our reality is not, precisely, stable. We don’t know how stable it should be, but we measure stability based on how close it is to the theoretical maximum.”

Tala nodded. “So a percentage scale?”

“Precisely, yes. We will not found a new city if the integrity is below fifty percent.”

Her eyes widened at that. “So low?”

Mistress Elnea shook her head. “That is near the maximum we’ve recorded. In this room, right now.” She pulled out a small disk, glancing at it before nodding. “Reality integrity is at forty percent. When this city is abandoned, it will be between twenty and thirty percent. As Archons have ranged far and wide, the highest integrity we have accurately measured on Zeme is sixty percent.”

Tala nodded. I wonder what the world-fragment would be measured at.

-The stability we felt… It very well might be a hundred percent, or close to it.-

Yeah.

“Now,”—the older woman continued—“a brand new, manmade, artifact dimensional storage generally is measured at between ten and fifteen percent, and we’ve never recovered a side dimension measured below five percent.”

“That makes sense.” Tala pondered for a moment. “What about ether holds?”

Mistress Elnea grinned. “That is an astute question. There are two groups in that, in both cases the numbers come back in the twenty to thirty percent range. The odd thing is sometimes that reading is negative.”

Tala blinked. “What?”

“Exactly.”—the Council Head leaned forward, obviously getting excited about the topic—"We’ve tried quite a few different measurement methodologies, and it just seems that some ether holds have an oddly inverse relationship with reality that returns a negative number. Some have theorized that they are dimensional storages that broke apart and kept breaking, that they descended so far into chaos it began to look like order again, but that isn’t something that has ever really made much sense to me.”

“So, what does Kit read at?”

She glanced at the slate in her hand. “Twenty-three percent.”

That caused the two Constructionists to pause. “So… the integrity isn’t in danger?”

“Oh it is damaged, at least assuming that this type of storage has much in common with ether holds. They tend to begin to irrevocably break down at a higher percentage.”

Master Boma scratched the side of his nose. “So, more stable, but also more dependent on that stability.”

Master Queue nodded. “That would make a lot of sense. I also imagine that a larger dimensional pocket would be similarly more stable, and more dependent on that stability.”

Master Boma waved him off with a huff. “Don’t tell me you’re a ‘pocket Zeme’ believer.”

“You saw the memories we purchased access to. That very well might be true.”

Tala frowned. What?

-Mistress Ingrit has been following your wishes and negotiating for access to your information on your behalf. I have a record of what has been granted and to whom. It appears that these two have access to brief glimpses of the world-fragment, many of the holds you entered, and a very simplified look at the Doman-Imithe.-

Ahh, I was wondering if and when the Doman-Imithe would come up.

-Yes, Mistress Ingrit added a note about that, for us. Apparently, it is heavily ‘need to know.’ Though, as we came by the information on our own, we are not required to maintain silence. Even so, caution is advised if we wish to share the knowledge with anyone.-

Like so many other things.

-Yeah.-

The two Constructionists were starting to get heated, but they seemed to both realize the fact as they each took a step back, turning half away.

Mistress Elnea politely cleared her throat. “So, testing… Kit.”

Tala nodded, walking forward and placing the pouch on the ground, centered among the crates, before backing up to stand next to the half-wall back near the entrance.

She briefly glanced at the stack of papers and other odds and ends sitting on top of the wall before dismissing them as unimportant.

Masters Boma and Queue took up their positions, their magesights flaring to life.

Then, with a synchronized movement of their hands, the men gestured, and their power opened all the crates simultaneously.

Power radiated from each box, up and out into the room.

For a long moment, nothing happened.

Master Boma slumped slightly, grunting. “No obvious resonance.”

Tala sighed. “Come on, Kit.”

Master Queue was less pessimistic. “Come on, little storage. These are all here for you. Take your pick.”

A breath later, she felt like a deep chord had been struck, thrumming through the room as something shifted.

No one else seemed to noticed, but that seemed impossible.

-Tala. Is that…?-

Authority? Ownership? Her bonding of the dasgannach had given her a view into that esoteric side of magic, and that sight was trying to show her something, though she didn’t really understand what she was seeing.

Master Queue just gave Kit some authority over the items.

-And over this situation. But that doesn’t really make sense. The authority was there, before, or it should have been.-

But maybe not highlighted? Kit is a creature, it seems, but we don’t know how intelligent, not really. Maybe, Master Queue’s words were like telling someone that they’re welcome to a cookie that’s been on the plate near them?

-Sure, maybe?-

Then, her thoughts were interrupted as her own magesight showed her something that she’d only witnessed a handful of times when Kit devoured another dimension or item.

Power rose up from the pouch reaching out in every direction at once.

At the same time, Tala detected Kit expending massive amounts of power. Without even pausing to consider, she extended her aura toward Kit and funneled as many, large void-channels as she could into the pouch.

Every drop of magic she offered was slurped up with ravenous abandon.

Master Queue shouted, gesturing and causing his magic to slam the crates closed. Master Boma acted at the same time, but silently.

The lids obeyed, but dimensionality distorted, and the lids fell closed, only partially covering the now-much-larger openings.

Void power filled the room, radiating outward, but not actually interacting with most of the space.

Like a smith carrying a glowing bar of metal through the room to cast heat everywhere, even though the metal didn’t actually interact with anything, so it was with the void.

The four humans were all misted with void energy as Kit acted.

A note from JLMullins

Vote for MM on TopWebFiction! http://topwebfiction.com/listings/millennial-mage

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MillennialMage

Discord: https://discord.gg/FddACAjUrR

The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Please let the world know what you think of this story by leaving reviews on Amazon!

They help a TON with visibility on the site and allow me to keep writing and making these books.

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https://geni.us/bound-review

Chapter: 280 - Mine is Secure

Tala watched in fascination as Kit seemed to claim every offered magical item in the room, containment crates and all.

If she had to put words to what she was seeing, she would have said that it appeared like limbs of power reached out towards the presented objects. Each limb was an unnatural amalgamation, seeming like fur-covered limbs with far too many joints, but made out of power rather than flesh and fur.

Every limb ended in a sort of hand-like paw, and each reached its crate at the same time, latched on in one motion, and pulled.

With a stretching and distortion of the entire room, every single crate vanished along with their contents. Several other things seemed to have been pulled in at the same time, including the papers and knick-knacks from the top of the half-wall and Master Queue’s right shoe.

What?

-What?-

Why had Kit taken things beyond the crates?

Mistress Elnea was staring, wide-eyed, at what seemed to be readouts on the slate in her hand, seemingly utterly fascinated by what she was seeing.

Master Boma was panting and sweating, red-faced and wide-eyed. His hands were spread, and Tala could sense power on the edge of being released to defend the Archon, but it hadn’t been needed.

Master Queue had his eyes closed tightly, his face drained of color. Even so, he similarly was sheathed in not-quite-released power.

Tala… well, she wasn’t really surprised if she took the time to consider it.

That was a bit more dramatic than I was expecting.

-To be fair, Kit is likely much more powerful than the last time we presented it with something this small.-

That was true enough. Kit had devoured whole holds in a matter of minutes, what was a few crates? “Come on, Kit. That wasn’t very nice. We’re trying to help you, and you took everything, including more than you were actually offered.”

There was a ripple and Master Queue’s shoe was suddenly sitting beside the pouch.

Tala sighed, walking forward to pick up the pouch and the shoe, hanging the first on her belt and moving to give the second back to its owner. As she did so, Tala continued speaking to Kit, “Well, thank you for returning that, at least.”

The pouch did not respond.

Master Queue opened his eyes and hesitantly took his shoe. “Thank”—he swallowed, then licked his lips—“Thank you.”

She smiled in return. “Sure. Thank you as well.” Tala glanced towards the other woman. “Mistress Elnea, was that successful?”

The woman nodded without looking up. “Yes, very much so. More than just the raw number, it seems like the various methods of stability have been drawn in and incorporated. This is fascinating.”

-Tala, we might have a financial issue.-

Oh?

-They had offered the contents of one of those crates as a courtesy to repair Kit after the tour we offered. Those that Mistress Elnea brought were a gift, but Kit still took dozens of times the value of what the two Constructionists received.-

Tala had a bad feeling about that. How much?

-Each crate was apparently worth a couple of hundred gold.-

She cursed internally. Come on, Kit!

She decided to get in front of the issue. “Masters. The value of the crates?”

The two men looked towards her, and they both grimaced. It was Master Queue who spoke first, “Yes, that is… unfortunate. But I believe that there is much from your time away that is of interest to us. Master Boma?”

The other man nodded. “You have a habit of taking a bit more than is offered, but in this case, the fault wasn’t yours. I would be grateful for an equivalent exchange.” The man gave a slight smile. “May we have the crates back?”

It was Mistress Elnea who responded, “They are gone as well, fully absorbed and incorporated. If I had to guess…” Then the woman shook her head. “No, I won’t guess. Mistress Tala?”

“Yes?”

“May I examine your sanctum from the inside?”

“Toward what end?”

The woman smiled with obvious, passionate interest. “To learn, of course. This is fascinating, and unlike any other artifact I’ve ever encountered. I would say that is likely due to the fact that it’s come about from a union of natural artifacts, human magics, and arcane efforts. I don’t know that there are many items of any kind with such a pedigree.”

That made a lot of sense, actually. “Alright, so long as you share everything you learn with me.” Her eyes hardened, and Tala felt a little of her persona as an Eskau slip out. “I do mean everything, Mistress. Please do not test me on this. I want no secrets, and nothing hidden.”

The woman had glanced up for the answer to her query, and her eyes widened slightly, more in surprise than alarm, but it was there.

Tala only noticed because of her enhanced senses and Alat’s ability to easily compare memories to the current moment.

Mistress Elnea nodded slowly, seeming to consider. “I… Yes, of course. It is your sanctum. I will share all findings with you.”

“Then, that sounds quite workable.”

An uncomfortable silence started to fall over the room, and Tala realized that under her through-spike, iron had started to climb over her skin.

No.

She put a stop to that instantly. She didn’t need to make her condition worse with increased resonance, especially not in a situation where she wasn’t even in danger.

“Well.” Master Boma clapped his hands. “All accounted for, that was easier than expected. I imagine we all have much to do, yes?”

They all nodded, an air of uncertainty still heavy in the room.

Master Queue cleared his throat. “You are both welcome to use this room as long as you need. Good day to you, Mistresses.”

Mistress Elnea gave a slight bow. “Good day, Master Queue.”

With reciprocal goodbyes, the men left the women alone in the room, pulling the iron doors mostly closed behind them.

Tala and Mistress Elnea had been left alone in the merging room, and there was a moment of silence as both women turned their thoughts inward.

The iron cladding on walls, ceiling, and floor, along with the heavy iron door made the space as magically isolated as possible. Though, with the door propped open it wasn’t a perfect seal at the moment.

-That’s an interesting thought. We now can push iron into the dimensions of magic. Master Jevin described going around iron as simply bypassing the physical iron via those dimensions. Clearly, we should be able to make a more complete containment, hence why we can’t actually use it fully until your body is refined.-

That’s a good point. I wonder, could we make a better isolation chamber than this room?

Mistress Elnea pulled Tala out of her musings with a simple question, “Shall we begin?”

“Hmm? Oh! Right.” Tala placed Kit on the wall, and it morphed into a door that seemed like it perfectly belonged there. That is such a useful feature. I really don’t notice it very often.

-That is sort of the point.-

The door opened, showing a view of the central courtyard.

“Thank you.” Her words were soft, spoken just for the door—for Kit—to hear, though Mistress Elnea probably had enough enhancement to have heard, regardless.

They were stepping through when Alat grabbed Tala’s attention. -Mistress Holly has requested permission to engage several experts and share the results of your test with them.-

Tala frowned. I thought she already had permission?

-Apparently, there are a few that we’ve not met. When she was asking earlier, we only gave permission for those whom we had met.-

Oh, I do suppose it was a bit silly to assume that I’d already met those best able to help. Yes. She can use her professional discretion to bring in other experts. I want to Refine as soon as possible, and I want it to go properly.

-Alright, I’ve amended the shared informational space with our answer.-

Tala followed Mistress Elnea in, and the door swung shut behind them.

-You know, we didn’t have to wait before we went in.-

Tala shrugged, but before she could respond, she felt something.

She looked around, instantly activating her voidsight through the use of Flow’s void-knife-form.

The nodules and fragments of reality became obvious, and she could see them pressed firmly against each other, the distinction much harder to perceive than the day before.

Moreover, she could see threads of power binding them all together in a way that she’d not noticed before.

Trying to focus on that was like trying to see a thin spider-web in poor lighting, but it was there. There seemed to be other powers working to similar effects, but the web-like working was the most visible.

She asked Mistress Elnea about it, and the woman turned to her. “Oh! That’s fascinating.” She lifted her slate up, manipulating it before nodding. “Yes, one of the crates I brought was filled with dimensional spider-silk. Nasty predators, those.”

Tala frowned. “I don’t know that I’ve heard of them.”

“I should hope not. They are a relatively new arcanous creature, less than five-hundred years old, and we did—and still do—our best to wipe them out whenever we come across them or detect them.”

“What makes them so in need of extinction?”

“Well, they manifest as the same size as regular spiders, but they weave their webs into intricate, magic-filled constructs. When you run into one, instead of having a web across your face, in your hair, or on your boot, you are jerked inside.”

“Inside?” Tala had a bad feeling about what the woman meant.

“Yes, within the webs. It is an expanded space of sorts, or more accurately a compressed space—though, there is little save academic difference between those types of altered space. Once inside, you would seem the size of an insect, and the spider is massive in comparison. From examination, we’ve long since discovered that the spiders are actually the size of houses, if not bigger, but dimensionally compress themselves to better hide.”

Like Terry… Interesting. “And they hunt humans?”

Mistress Elnea shrugged. “Not usually. Not specifically, but they do eat those they can. Generally, they’ll spread their net on game-trails, and snag the occasional herd animal for their meals, or whole herds when fate favors them. Before we learned how to detect and hunt them, we suspect that many of our missing persons from that time fell afoul of these arachnids.”

Tala shivered, imagining being a mundane, minding her own business then suddenly finding herself in a massive spider’s lair. “That would be awful.”

“Precisely. We eradicated the founts that allowed them to spawn, but unfortunately, these seem to breed true. They are actually able to pass their magic down to their descendants without a fount. We keep them mostly out of human cities and away from the caravan routes, but they’re still scattered throughout the world.”

“Without getting their power from a fount? I didn’t know that was possible.”

The woman shrugged. “It’s vanishingly rare. Occasionally, a power fits a creature so closely that it seems to fold into their very being, and then it can be passed down to their descendants.”

“Lovely…”

Mistress Elnea seemed to hesitate. “To be clear, even though it’s incredibly rare, many of the most pervasive arcanous species are a result of this quirk. The advantage given to a genetic line with innate magical giftings is simply too strong to be easily overcome by mundane versions of the species. So, even though individual instances are rare, these days those that have happened have resulted in many descendents for whom it is true.”

“That makes good sense, I suppose.” What were we discussing?

-Kit.-

Right! “So, these threads?”

“Yes! Their silk has intrinsic properties of dimensional stability, specifically relating to pocket dimensions or expanded spaces.”

“That’s incredibly useful. I can understand why you thought it was a good candidate for repairing my dimensional storage.”

“It is useful, yes. But what’s truly incredible is that I have detected that magic woven throughout the entirety of this dimensional space.”

Tala blinked. “That must have been massively expensive. This place is huge, compared to most human dimensional storage spaces. Thank you for providing so much of the silk.”

Mistress Elnea shook her head. “No, I only brought a few skeins. It was not a large crate after all. Most of this seems to have been fabricated off that template and incorporated into the natural magics of the space. That is what’s impressive to me.”

“That’s… incredible.” Tala repeated herself but found that she didn’t really mind. Kit can replicate magical structures and methodologies?

-I mean, we haven’t seen Kit do it before now, but it seems like the answer is fairly obvious.-

“You have no idea just how amazing this is.” The older woman gestured vaguely around herself. “This really is a creature. That is exactly what we’d expect from a merging of magical materials with a sentient thing, rather than a construct or artifact. Your sanctum is alive.”

The woman’s words were full of wonder, as if she hadn’t really believed it until that very moment.

“This changes so much. I don’t know how you’ve come to an understanding with this being, but the implications and applications are practically endless. I hope that we can find more of these, and replicate your process, one way or another.”

Tala was open to trying. “So, what next?”

The woman’s eyes practically sparkled. “Before we do anything else, I have so many measurements to take.”

Tala smiled in return, more excited for the result than the process. “Do you need me in here with you?”

“Hmm? No, no. I’ll just move throughout if that’s acceptable to you.”

“Absolutely. Make yourself at home. Do you want me to keep Kit anchored in the Constructionist’s compound?”

She waved her hand at that. “No, no. You’re welcome to go about your day. I’ll reach out to you through the Archive when I wish to leave. I can take the founts from you, then?”

Tala only hesitated for a moment before nodding. “That sounds workable, thank you.”

“No, Mistress Tala. Thank you.” With an almost girlish giggle, the Head of the Bandfast Archon Council set off, pulling more and more magical devices out of her own dimensional storage.

Well, I’ll be interested to learn what she finds out. It should be fascinating.

-So it seems.-

Tala exited Kit and pulled the door from the wall, hanging it on her belt in the form of a pouch.

She’s in there with all my things… That shouldn’t bother Tala. There was no real way for the woman to steal from her—Tala somehow knew that Kit would move things out of reach if anyone tried to take things without her permission—and she shouldn’t have any motivation to do so.

Still, Tala opened Kit and pulled out the bars of white metal one after another.

-Tala, you have a lot of those.-

Even so, Tala wielded the void-aspects of her elk leathers, absorbing the ingots, one after another.

Somewhat to her surprise, the elk leathers took it all with relative ease, she was even able to somewhat sense the reserve of magical metal, much like she could sense her iron. Though, the sense was more distant, like being able to see how heavy a friend’s pack was by how they moved, compared to how easily she could feel her own pack’s weight.

Not that I will likely need to use a pack ever again.

The magical load from her elk leathers had increased with every ingot absorbed, but it was still well within her ability to sustain, even alongside Kit’s newfound power requirement.

She also knew from experience that she could remove the metal from the soulbound item later if she wished. Or I can fabricate more with the machine in the underground room.

Even with the most valuable and easily stolen resource secreted away, she felt an itch and reached for it within Kit.

There was something still within Kit that a large part of her didn’t want to risk losing.

She came out with a handful of iron bits, some stolen from the House of the Rising Sun, and others were bits left over from the construction of the sanctum’s structures.

With an easy pull, she absorbed the iron, letting the carbon and other trace minerals fall to the ground.

That complete, Tala let out a satisfied breath. There, what’s mine is secure.

-Are you sure that you’re okay?-

You know I’m not, but I’m learning.

-To Mistress Holly’s? We promised Rane that we’d meet him there.-

Ahh, right! Yes, let’s go.

As she stepped out past the massive iron doors, she felt something settle upon her.

Whether watching Kit had made her more sensitive—or her paranoia was just at a high point—she felt the sway of the city’s magics settle down upon her. Any fragments of power that left her were subjected to cleansing workings and drawn away to the power matrices of the city.

Oh, that’s… that’s unpleasant. She checked her memory and found that she had memory of this feeling before, but like the clothes on her back, if she didn’t think to focus on the feeling, she didn’t notice it.

Great, now I can feel my clothing…

-Well, that one’s on you.-

Yeah…

Tala passed back out of the Constructionists’ guildhall, bidding Master Srip goodbye on her way by.

The Mage bid her good day, and Tala was back out in the cool of the winter’s day.

Just as before, Tala didn’t rush on her way through the city. She took her time walking to Mistress Holly’s workshop, letting her feet lead her on a roundabout route, simply enjoying the freedom to go where she wished, how she wished.

Even so, it was a relatively short walk to the inscriber’s shop, and Tala stepped into the warmth before she really realized that she’d arrived.

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

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Chapter: 281 - To Grow and Improve

Tala didn’t recognize the Mage who was sitting behind the counter in Mistress Holly’s waiting room, but that wasn’t unexpected.

Before Tala could ask his name, he pointed towards the back. “You are expected, Mistress Tala. Please feel free to head on back.”

“Thank you. I’ll do just that.” The young man had already looked back down to the book on the counter in front of him. No need to bother him, just to ask his name.

Tala knocked on the door of Mistress Holly’s private workroom.

She was invited in and entered. After closing the door behind herself, she found Rane in the middle of some of the tests she, herself, had been subjected to the night before.

She gave a half-smile. “So, you’re getting poked and prodded with all these maddening tests, too?”

Rane grimaced, but it was Mistress Holly who answered. “He will be getting the prep-work inscriptions. So, the tests are required, yes, but he won’t be Refining in the short term.”

Tala cocked her head to one side. “What does that mean?”

Rane answered this time. “I won’t be Refined for at least a year.”

She winced. “Oh… I’m sorry to hear that.” And she meant it, too. Even so, she gave a mirth filled smile. “I guess I’ll just have to get used to being better than you.”

That made the man chuckle. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll catch you eventually.”

“Am I interrupting?”

Mistress Holly waved her off. “Not at all, Mistress Tala.”

That was good. Well, might as well ask some questions while I’m here. “So, when will he be able to get inscriptions for direct connection to the Archive?”

The Inscriptionist glanced at Rane, and the man nodded. Apparently, she had been getting his okay to discuss it with Tala. “Once he’s Refined, he’ll have the option. Most Refined get something like that once their mind can handle it.”

“So, he’ll get something like the alternate interface I have?”

Mistress Holly gave her a long look before shaking her head. “Honestly, most people don’t want anything like that.”

“What? Why?” Tala was genuinely confused.

-What? I’m amazing! Why wouldn’t people want something like me?-

Rane smiled but didn’t interject. Mistress Holly sighed. “The moral implications for one. You are, in essence, creating another version of yourself, enslaved to yourself.”

Alat grunted. -I don’t see it that way, but I could see some people assuming that.-

Tala decided to push a bit. “Only if they think of it that way.”

“And many people do. Not everyone would work well with themselves. I, for one, would probably kill myself if I were stuck within my own head.”

-She makes a good point. I wouldn’t want to be stuck in anyone else’s head.-

Tala wasn’t convinced. “But it’s so perfect! Why wouldn’t everyone want to have twice as much time? To be able to devote themselves entirely to learning, while still doing other things as well.”

“That is a somewhat healthy way to view it, but also a bit incomplete. Could you spend a whole day studying while at the Academy?”

“Of course.”

“How often?”

Tala shrugged. “As often as I was allowed.”

Mistress Holly smiled, tapping the side of her own nose. “That’s one reason it works for you. That would drive some people crazy. I, for one, love to learn, but without experimentation and action, I become very grumpy.” She stuck a needle into Rane’s arm, drawing blood.

The big man grunted but didn’t otherwise react.

Tala found herself nodding. “So, if a person doesn’t already have a disposition leaning toward isolation and study, having a ‘self’ devoted to such wouldn’t be tenable.”

“Precisely.”

Rane nodded as well. “Then, I should be fine with that. Tala definitely has me beat in long term focus, but I love spending days on end just reading, and I’m quite content in isolation for long periods.”

Mistress Holly nodded, not seeming too surprised. “I’d assumed as much. You are a prime candidate for such an alternate interface, and we’ll get it in place for you as soon as you’re Refined.”

He grunted. “Very well.”

The Inscriptionist started another test, moving various magical devices into position around Rane and giving him a few simple instructions before turning back to Tala. “Now, I did have one thing that I wanted to highlight for you. I requested memories of all your uses of magic, while you were away, and I noticed something interesting.”

“Oh?” Tala leaned forward. “What was that?”

“You used your old ‘Restrain’ working.”

Tala thought back and nodded. “Yes, I did. What of it?”

“You don’t have kinetic manipulation inscriptions anymore.”

Tala hesitated. What?

-She’s right.- Alat projected puzzlement. -I didn’t really consider the lack, because we’ve used that working for so long.-

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing sinister. You’ve simply impressed your natural magics with some kinetic manipulation. I would say that your time with the ‘Restrain’ inscriptions wasn’t sufficient given how rarely they were active, but you’ve had a lot of time and magical interaction with kinetic manipulation scripts.”

Both women glanced towards Rane. The Fused was focused on following Mistress Holly’s instructions, so he didn’t notice.

Tala’s eyebrows rose. “That’s enough?”

“In many cases, yes. You had a mindset solidified for the working, you’d used the magic yourself, and your natural magics have long-term exposure to that power.”

Oh. Tala found herself at a loss for words.

Alat cackled. Finally calming herself enough to send. -I knew that boy would be useful.-

Rane still seemed unaware of the conversation.

“What”—Tala swallowed, feeling a bit conflicted—“What does that mean?”

“Aren’t you listening? It means that you’ve been around a kinetic manipulator as he used his power. It’s basically how early humans went about getting their power: sitting beside fires to gain fire magics, meditating in blizzards for powers over ice.”

“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense. Isn’t this rather fast, though?”

The Inscriber bent to make a modification to one of the devices as she shrugged. “Not really. You can manipulate your own natural magics rather easily before you reach Paragon if you have a good understanding, and you started with inscriptions in this vein. Honestly, I’d be more surprised if you weren’t able to use that working.”

“Good to know.”

The current test ended, and Rane sighed. “That was rather… odd. It was testing perception, right?”

“Yes, specifically touch acuity.”

“Yeah, I got that with the needle point sensations. It almost tickled.”

“Of course, it’s not supposed to hurt.”

Tala cleared her throat. “Is he almost done?”

“No. Magical impressing goes both ways, and I need to ensure you’ve not tainted him somehow.”

Tala immediately paled. “I could have done that?”

Rane held up a hand. “It’s a danger for any partners, and even people who work together somewhat regularly. If one shows irregularity when looking to Refine, more care is taken with the others.”

She groaned. “How many people have I messed over?”

Mistress Holly shrugged. “Not too many, honestly. You didn’t spend too much time around those it will matter for.”

“Well, that’s good.” After a moment, Tala sighed. “I think I’ll go back to Lyn’s house. Come by when you’re done?”

Rane nodded. “That’s probably best, yeah.” He smiled. “Thank you for stopping by.”

“Of course, I wasn’t just going to abandon you.” She shrugged. “Was there anything else you needed or wanted from me, Mistress Holly?”

The woman shook her head. “No, no. I will remind you to take it easy with regard to any magics relating to your scripts.” After a moment’s hesitation, she added. “Your alternate interface excepted, of course. That shouldn’t cause issues.”

-Of course, I won’t. Thank you very much.-

“I remember. Thank you, Mistress Holly.”

“Very well. I do expect to have your next set of inscriptions worked up and ready for inscribing within the week.”

“I appreciate that.” Tala turned and gave Rane a smile. “You have fun now!”

He huffed a laugh and shook his head. “Oh yeah, buckets of fun.”

That done, Tala bid them both goodbye and departed without further delay.

It was a nice, pleasant walk for Tala through the city. I’m getting used to taking my time.

-I certainly can't recall a time where you weren’t rushing from one thing to another. It seems to be doing some good for you.-

I think so, yeah.

While she walked, she played with a small mass of iron in her hand, using it like a child playing with clay. Though, she was able to shape it with her mind, rather than requiring her fingers.

As a result, however, she ended up being worse at it than if she’d used her hands or other tools. That just means that I have a lot of room to grow and improve.

-Or you only have limited control?-

Tala huffed a laugh. When has anything magical been so limited in our experience?

-That’s… true. Fair enough, yeah.-

Her feet brought her through the park and to Lyn’s house.

The key was… enticing, but she barely paused to ponder the iron within it before unlocking the door and going inside.

It didn’t take her long to decide to start reading the abridged and rearranged books presented to her by Alat.

Between sections, she continued to play with her manipulation of iron and did her physical exercises, letting her body become more accustomed to her new weight.

That was actually one of the bigger surprises of the day, despite all that she’d experienced and all that she was reading.

As she had a modicum of control over the iron within her own body, it seemed like that ability was passively helping her move, and that was why she hadn’t really felt the weight very much.

She discovered this while playing with her control over her internal iron. A flexing of willpower to suppress her control had left her hand feeling incredibly heavy, and that had hinted at the situation to her. After that, it had only taken a little bit of investigation to truly reveal the extent of her new state.

Passively making her movements easier wouldn’t do, at least not for her exercises.

So, she purposely suppressed the subconscious control over her iron, and that left her panting and straining to do even some of the more basic exercises in her sets.

This is ridiculous! I was training under four-times gravity not that long ago.

-Well, that was with your last body. Remember, you were just rebuilt from scratch, and while some of your enhanced strength would have come through, not all of it did. Plus, you are quite a bit heavier, given the iron. And…-

Tala grimaced. And my body is in pretty bad shape, over all.

-Precisely. It’s probably good to exercise and try to get back some of your physical conditioning, as it should help with the Refining from what little we know, but don’t expect it to be like training has been for you lately.-

She grunted at that, struggling to finish the current set.

As she completed the latest repetition, she groaned and rolled onto her back. Ask Mistress Holly to increase the surface area granted by my inscriptions on my feet and hands. I feel like once I’m back up to full weight, and have some more iron to me, I’ll be stressing some of the surfaces I interact with.

-Yeah, that’s already added to the list.-

Tala had been a bit hesitant to stress her body with exercise, but Mistress Holly had specifically mentioned that it was allowed. As she’d watched herself recover after each set, she had been able to verify that the mechanisms of healing from exercise were different enough from her standard regeneration that it didn’t seem to worsen the issues she was having with her physical form.

It does seem like muscle recovery would be a bit different than healing from illness or injury.

She hesitated at that, a thought hitting her like a wagon.

What if I get exposed to something? Will that knock me out? Will that kill me?

-No, no. If you’d take a moment to think instead of panic, you’d realize that you’d only be in danger if you allowed yourself to get sick, then had to recover. But your processes for fighting off illness are enhanced and have nothing to do with regeneration, at least not for most diseases.-

So, avoid any flesh-eating plagues?

-That would likely be wise, yes.-

Thinking about her body’s vulnerability reminded her that her reserves were still dangerously low. At the moment, a lack of those materials would kill her faster than the impurities in her flesh.

Additionally, Tala was getting hungry, even though she’d eaten the remains of the banquets provided for the meeting the previous day. What time is it?

-Mid-afternoon.-

We really need a cook, don’t we…

Alat chuckled. -One would be rather useful, yes.-

Tala opened Kit. “Mistress Elnea?”

A contemplative sound came back followed by a verbal response, “Yes, Mistress Tala? Do you need me to leave? I’ve only walked about two-thirds of the perimeter.” Her voice gained some excitement, “I’m sure you know, but you have herds of deer and pigs in here, not to mention all the other, smaller animals.”

“Yes, I do know. There’s a whole reasonably well-balanced ecosystem in there.” Tala found herself grinning. “I was wondering, how many people could safely be sustained within there?”

“Full time or irregularly?”

“Let us assume full time to be safe. I could use some mundane help, and I want to know if I should hunt up some gateless or…?”

Mistress Elnea grunted. “I’m not done with my readings, so I might be incorrect, but I think with the recent… mergings, you could have seven gated humans in here, full time, without undue restrictions on their movements. Now, if your sanctum can rearrange its reality bits without disrupting the physical manifestations?” She exhaled a sound of uncertainty.

Tala’s eyes widened. “To spread out the stress. That…” She shook her head, making a very similar sound to the one Mistress Elnea had just made. “That’s quite the idea. We’ll have to test it.”

Tala could practically hear the woman nod as she responded, “We’ll need to get some different equipment to test if that’s possible, unless… Did I see hints in your experiences? Can you really see bits of reality?”

Tala bit her lip, thinking. I need help understanding all this. Secrets won’t serve me in the long run. “Yes.”

There was a long moment of silence. “Then, when I’m done in here, give me a day or two to come up with a few tests, and we’ll figure this out.”

“That sounds wonderful. Thank you.”

“No, Mistress Tala. I don’t understate when I say that this is more excited than I’ve been in a long time. I’ve long studied dimensionally expanded or created spaces, and what I’m learning here… Thank you.”

Tala smiled. “Well, then you’re welcome. I’ll probably try to find some people to help me, then.”

“Do you have anyone specific in mind?”

“Maybe? Why?”

“Given the nature of this space, I am sure we could find a good family to work with you, depending on your exact needs.”

“A good family, containing at least one researcher, of course?”

“Absolutely.” There was no shame or deceit in the woman’s voice.

“I’ll consider it.”

“Just let me know.”

“I’ll do that. I’m going to close the entrance now. Enjoy your work!”

“Oh, I most certainly will.”

Without another word, Tala closed Kit. Then, after a moment’s pause, she patted the pouch. “Thank you, Kit. I really do appreciate that you don’t ever eat anything I want maintained.”

Tala felt like she should have felt something from the dimensional storage, but in the end, the pouch did not respond.

Alright, then. Next book?

-As you wish. Next book!-

But then Tala’s stomach gurgled, and the woman grimaced. Wait, no… I need food.

Tala sighed.

We should drop by to see if Brand is in town.

-His food is rather tasty. Are we doing the culinary tour?-

Oh, yes. That would be amazing. There were so many foods that she remembered from her times in Bandfast. So many tastes that she wanted to experience again. And I can hunt for a cook at the same time.

-What about Lyn and Rane?-

Tala scratched the side of her cheek. Let them know what we’re about, through the Archive. I’d hate for them to come while we’re gone and not know what’s going on. She also pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a short note, leaving it on the dining table.

Then, without waiting for a response through the Archive, Tala stood and left Lyn’s house, being sure to lock the door behind herself.

Her first stop was the closest, and also on the way to Brand’s restaurant: Anachronistic Delights.

The staff chuckled at her order at first, when they saw that she was alone, but when she reiterated—and paid up front— they happily fulfilled her desire for a large number of cheesy little caravans.

-Don’t you think that, maybe, ten was too many?-

No. Obviously, I’m not going to eat them all right now, but I want some in reserve.

-…Yeah, I know that, but it still seems like too many.-

The next stop was Brand’s restaurant, and Tala entered with an odd tightness in her chest and butterflies in her stomach.

Did he even know I was missing? Did anyone tell him, or did he and Lissa just assume that I stopped coming by?

She got her answer instantly as the woman behind the counter looked her way and gasped. “Mistress Tala? Is… Is that you?”

Tala smiled a bit sheepishly. “It is, Lissa. How are you?”

The woman practically sprinted around the counter and wrapped Tala in a surprisingly motherly embrace. “The big Mage told us you were missing, but not that you’d been found! Are you alright? What happened?” The lovely, middle-aged woman pulled back, examining Tala head to toe. “You must be starving. Sit, sit! I’ll get you some soup.”

Tala let herself be led to one of the few tables off to the side, and soon, she was eating a wonderfully thick, hearty soup. Creamy, pork-based.

Lissa brought out a stack of heavily buttered bread and set it beside the massive soup bowl. Tala suspected that the bowl was usually used for mixing up large recipes, but she didn’t argue.

Instead, she dug in with gusto, bringing a smile to the older woman’s lips. “I’m glad that your appetite hasn’t changed.” After a moment’s hesitation, she added a tentative comment. “You seem… different. Are you alright?”

Tala hesitated, swallowing her current mouthful. “Is Brand in? I’d rather not repeat myself.”

The woman shook her head. “Sadly, no. He’s on a caravan run at the moment.” She patted her belly. “Our seventh is on the way, and he wants a bit more in the bank before she arrives. I’m afraid he’s scheduled for a longer route, only getting back for my last trimester.”

“Oh? How far along are you?”

“Eight weeks. He left just over a week ago.” She looked regretful. “I know he’d want to be here for your return.”

Tala smiled and waved her off. “No, no. I’m glad that he’s providing so well. Who’s helping you?”

“The kids do a lot to help, around their schoolwork. The oldest is ten, and he’s a natural.” She pointed to the soup that Tala had been eating. “He put together that recipe from several customer favorites. Breads and soups are best when made ahead of time, so I just have to manage the front.”

“It sounds like you have a good system worked out.”

Lissa smiled contentedly. “We really do.”

After a moment’s pause, the woman seemed to pull herself back from pleasant musing.

“But that’s enough about me? Tell me what happened?”

And so Tala began to speak, sharing an incredibly abridged and edited version of her recent experiences.

A note from JLMullins

Vote for MM on TopWebFiction! http://topwebfiction.com/listings/millennial-mage

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MillennialMage

Discord: https://discord.gg/FddACAjUrR

The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Please let the world know what you think of this story by leaving reviews on Amazon!

They help a TON with visibility on the site and allow me to keep writing and making these books.

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Chapter: 282 - Goodwill and Favors

Tala reached the end of her abbreviated tale and took a bite of her soup-soaked bread.

Lissa was leaning forward, her attention obviously raptly engaged on Tala. “Mistress Tala.”

There was another prolonged silence before the older woman shook her head, leaning back. Tala took that time to eat as much as she could while maintaining a modicum of manners.

Finally, the woman gave an overwhelmed smile. “I am so glad that I am not a Mage.”

Tala snorted a laugh, then kept laughing, the reaction coming from her gut and shivering through her whole being, bringing tears of mirth to her eyes.

Lissa patiently waited for Tala to recover herself.

Finally, Tala was calm enough to take another large bite.

“Mistress Tala. You need to work through this. Even what little you shared is enough to have given me nightmares, if I were the one to go through it. Are you talking with anyone?”

She shrugged. “Some? A few know the full extent of what happened, and I’m talking with friends here and there.”

Lissa’s brow creased in concern. “I’m sure you need to be careful, but surely there’s someone available that you can talk with. You need to process, not just let me know what happened.”

Tala opened her mouth, but found she didn’t have anything to say in response, so she just took another bite instead.

Lissa placed her hand on top of Tala’s that was resting on the table. “You are cared for, Mistress.” She gave a reassuring smile. “Is there anything that we can do?”

Tala shrugged. “I was thinking of offering you all a position, working for me, but I don’t know that it would work well.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I need a cook, and some other help, but I think your family would be a bit large. I need help on my outings, and they could be long trips.”

“I see.” The woman actually seemed to consider it for a long moment. “Would it be within reach of teleportation towers, and offer funding for trips?”

Tala opened her mouth, then closed it. That… That is a BRILLIANT idea!

-Can you teleport out of dimensional spaces?- An instant later, Alat continued, -Of course you can, what sort of idiotic question was that? It’ll take a modification of the spell-form, but it can be done.-

Plus, sending-scripts are much more complicated than the receiving ones.

Alat huffed a laugh. -Even though the process of receiving is ‘harder.’-

Such are the oddities of magic.

“That is an excellent question. The answer is probably yes, but I’ll have to check.”

Lissa looked around, clearly taking in the simple, clean restaurant around them before sighing. “While I won’t pretend there aren’t incentives that would get us to agree to something like that, I think that with the kids where they are in school, it would take a lot.”

Tala smiled. She’d not really expected to find help so easily, though it would have been nice. “That’s understandable.”

The woman must have felt bad about the refusal, because she continued her explanation. “Brand’s nine siblings all live here in this city, as do his folks.” Lissa smiled. “His parents moved here, away from his extended family, so he only sees his aunts and uncles and their descendants when he travels.” Her smile turned quite fond. “We got a bit of a late start; he didn’t find me until he had traveled a bit, and it took longer still before he convinced me to come back to Bandfast, to his family. I don’t know that I could stand leaving all that I know, not again. It would be very difficult to leave our community behind. I’m so sorry.”

“No, no. It’s more than fine, and I completely understand.” I can’t empathize, but I understand.

Lissa had opened her mouth to continue, but paused, seeming to consider what Tala had said. “Oh, alright then.”

Tala looked around. “The shop’s a bit slow today, isn’t it?”

Lissa gave her an odd look, then smiled. “School’s getting out in the next hour or so, and most adults are at work. We get a few customers at these times, but the real business is done closer to normal mealtimes.”

“Ah, yeah, that makes sense.”

The two women fell into comfortable silence as Tala continued to eat.

Finally, it looked like Lissa was about to stand, so Tala asked. “Can you tell me about your children? How are they?”

The woman paused, then gave a hesitant smile. “Are you sure? It is kind of you to ask, but…”

Tala smiled and nodded. “I’d love to hear, if you’re willing.”

And so, Lissa settled back in the chair and began to tell of her family with the passion only a parent could muster.

In the little stories and anecdotes, Tala heard echoes of her own family, her siblings, and it pulled at her heart.

-I have the message composed to send to Master Leighis. He’ll deliver it to your family with haste.-

Tala hesitated a long while, listening to Lissa pour out her love for her family. Finally, she relented. Send it.

-Done.-

The next hour passed just as pleasantly.

Lissa served the few customers that came through, but none stayed, so the woman always returned to Tala’s table and they continued to chat about Brand and Lissa’s family.

In the end, Tala stayed until the kids came to the shop, and their mother had other things that she had to get done.

They parted with smiles and quick hugs.

Tala insisted on paying for her large meal, in the end going so far as leaving two silver coins on the counter as she hurried out the door.

The cool air wrapped around her as the door swung shut in her wake.

Tala almost turned towards the next restaurant, but Lissa’s words had been marinating in her head for a bit now.

I need to talk with someone.

Alat sent positive agreement but wisely didn’t say anything.

Without delaying, or giving herself a chance to change her mind, Tala turned towards the Archon Compound.

Mistress Ingrit would likely not be the right person to chat with, but given the fact that Tala wanted to be able to speak frankly, openly, and without censoring herself, the Librarian should be a good person to check with for recommendations.

Following her new pattern, Tala took her time walking through the now somewhat busier, late afternoon city streets.

She was careful not to walk slowly enough to cause issues with those around her, but she definitely didn’t rush.

Even so, she got to the compound before she was quite ready, and was halfway down the hallway to the Arcanum when Alat grabbed her attention.

-Oh! Mistress Elnea is ready to come out.-

Tala pulled Kit from her belt and tossed it against the depiction of a thunder bull.

A door blossomed into being, matching the surrounding aesthetics as usual. It swung open, revealing rolling hills, and given the style and setting, Tala halfway expected to see a thunder bull charging her through the generous opening.

That really is a spectacular ability.

The sun was setting on the rolling hills within the sanctum, and the false sky was painted in stunning colors that Tala wished she could sit and soak in. Soon.

-Maybe, the person you talk to will want to sit in your sanctum?-

Yeah, that would be really nice.

Now that the door was open, Mistress Elnea strode out of the dimensional storage, her face practically glowing with excitement. “Mistress Tala. I am continually impressed with your sanctum. I would like to negotiate for the ability to station at least two researchers within, though we’ll have to work out logistics so that you aren’t inconvenienced.”

Tala nodded. “I am open to the idea. Do you know how dimensional storages hold up with teleportation senders and anchors?”

The woman opened her mouth, then closed it. After a moment’s thought, she nodded. “Normally, I would say it would put undue stress on the integrity of the space, but your sanctum is much more stable than standard. I think that with the proper reinforcement and more precise, delicate spellwork that should be possible.” She was tapping her jaw, below her right ear, clearly deep in thought. “That could be an incredible asset, actually.”

“So, if I understand your proposal correctly, you’ll look into this possibility first. Then, once we know a bit more, we can negotiate a rate and compensation package for my allowance of the long-term studying of my sanctum. Is that correct?”

Mistress Elnea nodded absently. “Yes, yes. I’ll reach out in the next few days. I’ve granted you Archive access to the raw data from my measurements, today. As I interpret the readings and compile them, I’ll keep you in the loop.”

Tala bowed, taking Kit from the wall as she straightened. “Thank you, Mistress Elnea. I appreciate that.”

-I found it… Wow. There is a LOT of information here.-

“Of course, Mistress Tala.” She opened her dimensional storage and held out a hand.

Understanding, Tala handed over the founts one at a time, Rob last. “Goodbye, Rob. I may see you again, but I may not.”

“Coward! Destroy me!”

Mistress Elnea tucked the orb away with a shake of her head before nodding in thanks to Tala. “Good night to you.”

“Good night.”

The Head of the Archon Council walked back towards the entry hall, likely either leaving to head home or going to a different wing to get some work done.

Tala hesitated, standing in the ornate hallway.

-Tala?-

I’m going, I’m going. She took the first step, and that made the next easier.

Soon enough she stepped into the Arcanum proper and found Mistress Ingrit already waiting for her.

“Good evening, Mistress Tala, right this way.”

The Librarian looked perfectly put together, relaxed, and in supreme command of herself and the situation.

Tala felt herself relax, even if just slightly as she smiled at the woman. “Good evening, Mistress Ingrit.”

Together, they walked to a booth that was seemingly prepared for them, hot tea already ready with two cups set out.

I haven’t taken the time for tea in… too long.

-We can correct that too.-

“Now, Mistress Tala, what brings you here this evening?”

“Well, I actually do have a lot of questions for you, but first and foremost, before I lose the nerve to ask, I need someone to talk to, to process my experiences with.”

“Ahh, yes. A good therapist is worth their weight in gold.”

“Precisely.” Tala looked away, feeling a bit awkward. “Plus, all that I experienced… I imagine that much isn’t really…”

Mistress Ingrit nodded. “Someone who can hear everything is a must. Did you have someone in mind, and you want me to vet them and get the clearance?”

“I was actually hoping that you might have someone to recommend.”

The Librarian cocked her head to one side, thinking. “A few names come to mind, but I’d like to give it some thought, if you don’t mind.”

Tala nodded, her smile returning. “I’d appreciate that. Thank you.”

“Now, what else can I do for you?”

“Well, I’ll just get a few of the topics out there, and let you address them as you see fit.”

“As you wish.”

“How is the Culinary Guild’s information proceeding? How is the process around my own information coming along? What are you negotiating for on my behalf?”

“The short answer with regard to the Culinary Guild is that they are making great strides in connecting with the Constructionist Guild, and they are very happy with you. There is no obligation towards you, nor anything truly owed, but I would not be surprised if they would grant you much, so long as the request was within reason.”

“Good to know. Thank you.”

The woman gave a pleased nod. “Of course. As to your own information, there have been hundreds of inquiries from experts of all stripes. For basic, surface level information, you have received some gold, but that is the least of what is available. My recommendation is that you come to me with anything you might need, and I will connect you with someone who can provide it. I imagine it will be a long time before you need to pay for anything, or have trouble accessing a resource at need. Speaking of which, Mistress Holly has requested the rights to procure experts and resources on your behalf for your Refining.”

Tala frowned. “She already asked me if she could bring others in. Why reach out to you?”

“Oh.” The woman smiled. “I apologize, I was not clear. She requested the ability to pay for experts and resources using what I have negotiated for on your behalf.”

“Why wouldn’t she ask me?”

“With all due respect, even with the gold I’ve gotten you, you could not afford the things or people that she wants to use.”

Tala blinked a few times. “Well, one thing at a time. How much gold have you gotten for me?”

The woman shrugged. “Three-hundred-eight gold and a smattering of lesser coinage.”

Tala sat back, dumbstruck. “What?”

“Generally, I used a small fee to ensure that we didn’t have to entertain thousands of unnecessary requests. A fee of even two gold won’t deter anyone who could really use this information, and for those same people, it is a meaningless amount.”

“And you’ve gotten hundreds of requests.”

“Of course. I only charge metal for the initial request. Beyond that I build up relational capital on your behalf, as well as debts to be cashed in later. Money is nice, and I will continue to ensure you have that, but there is much that money can’t buy.” She gave a knowing smile. “Like having the head of Alefast’s Archon Council personally escort you here, or having the head of our own Council personally helping you to research your artifacts and their intricacies. Though, that one was a favor gain for you, rather than a withdrawal.”

Tala shook her head in disbelief. “I suppose I don’t really understand how it all works.”

“That’s alright, dear. Resources are limited, and so there is much that money simply cannot buy, no matter how much you have. I am working to ensure that will never be a barrier for you.”

“So, another siphon fascia?”

The woman smiled. “I don’t believe it would be useful to you, but yes, if you wanted one, I believe I could have one delivered to you within the week.”

That was… startling. Connections are more valuable than money, and Mistress Ingrit is building us a network.

-We should ask her for an accounting, all the same.-

Good idea. “Could we get an accounting of what was granted to whom, and what you feel that means? I want to learn.”

“Oh, absolutely. I have that accounting and can grant you access immediately, if you so desire, but I recommend that we hold off. You are still settling in, and I’d be concerned that you’d become bogged down in the specifics.”

Tala considered. “How about next week?”

“If that is your wish. I am happy to grant it now, or at any time. My intent was simply for you to consider not taking on more, before you’ve processed what you already have on your plate.”

“That is… probably wise.”

The woman smiled encouragingly.

“Well, I suppose that’s all on those topics. Next, I’m curious about the Doman-Imithe and the mobile towns in the plains beyond the forest.”

“Not much to tell on both fronts. Your experiences in, and knowledge of, the Doman-Imithe are and will continue to be in high demand, more than I think you realize. We know of the place in theory, but to my knowledge no one in living memory has been there and returned.”

“Yeah, about that, Master Jevin said that Archons have traveled the solar system, and came back, but my understanding is that the Doman-Imithe is the only thing that can be entered, once you leave the planet.”

“I’ve not left myself. Maybe you could test out the theories? It does seem like humanity and arcanes have different theories and understandings of what exists outside this world.”

“And what of the towns?”

She shrugged. “Anyone capable of getting there knows of them, and knowledge of them isn’t restricted in the least, but we don’t specifically talk about them, partially because if even one percent of our population tried to go there, they could overwhelm the infrastructure. They are far more closed-off communities than our cities, and you have to petition to be allowed to move into one. Again, we don’t hide their existence, but there’s no good reason to advertise it either.”

“I suppose I can understand that.” I have to ask at some point… So, she turned to a darker question. “What does it really mean that so many founts are being used by the arcanes? Are they actually enslaved souls? I know that Master Boma and others are researching the issue, and I turned over several founts to Mistress Elnea, but I’m… I’m conflicted.”

Mistress Ingrit’s shoulders dropped slightly, and she leaned forward, looking down at the table for a moment. “That is a matter of some debate. As you’ve gathered, there doesn’t really seem to be a natural personality to a gate, at least not one we know how to interact with. Even so, we know from some research stolen in ages past that different gates power arcane technology differently, and the specifics of a particular gate must be taken into account.”

“So, more like wood from a different tree?”

“That’s one way to look at it, I suppose. The prevailing theory is that the personality of the soul can only exist in one realm at a time, so when the person dies, the personality manifests in the next world, rather than remaining here. What is left behind is more akin to what used to be on the other side. It is a link, without being a true person.”

“So, not harmful?”

“That is one belief, yes. It then makes the act of using gates like the repurposing of organs or bones after death, rather than a long-term torment of the deceased.”

“But that’s not the only theory.”

“No, no it is not. Some believe that we simply lack the ability to hear the soul’s torment, though it is generally accepted that the gates can close themselves, even against opposition trying to keep them in place, so that puts the ‘torment’ theory in doubt.”

“Huh.” Tala grimaced in frustration. “It’s not really cut and dry, is it?”

“Unfortunately not.”

“Well, then. I don’t suppose there’s much more to glean on that topic for now. I believe that you saw the Leshkin… generals in my memory. I would hope that they are not unknown.”

“They are a known element. They are the second most powerful variant of Leshkin we have encountered, the third most powerful that we are aware of, and the weakest of those capable of speech and true higher reasoning.”

“Why is that? Weren’t they all sapient before?”

“That is actually also a topic of some debate. They were never a truly prolific species, and some of our experts believe that part of their downfall came about because they tried to replicate human gates. Unfortunately, instead of bifurcating their souls and letting one half die, creating a thing like the human gate, their souls were shattered and scattered into the surrounding forests.”

“That’s why they can recombine?”

“That is one theory.”

Tala grunted. She was about to move on, when she fully processed something that the woman had said. “Wait, there is a variant more powerful than any human has encountered?”

“Yes.”

“How do we know?”

“Extensive studies of species. Four generals, bound together with something else, forges a royal. To our knowledge, there are only eight distinct royals, but we don’t know how the specific personality is selected. Four royals, joined together by one of their sacred cores, would theoretically create a god of the forest.”

Tala blinked. “What?”

-What?-

“In the earliest Leshkin Wars, two artifacts of incredible power were stolen from the fledgling Leshkin. They are the Leshkins’ professed reason for waging war upon us.”

“But if we returned them…”

“They would theoretically have the ability to create Transcendent or Sovereign level entities. Specifically, they could have two. From what little I know about the balance of arcane Sovereigns, two so united in purpose would have a chance of changing the face of Zeme.”

“That’s… terrifying.”

“Indeed. It is also why those cores were long ago placed beyond reach so that no well-meaning person could be deceived into returning them.”

Is it bad that I want to find them and merge them into my soulbonds?

-Yes, Tala. That is a bit overly ambitious.-

Fine…

-…Did you really not expect me to notice you adding that to your mental ‘to-do’ list?-

Hush. I need long-term goals.

“Now, what more can I answer for you?” The older woman smiled.

Alright, the harder topics… “Were we aware that the Mind Flayer was dead?”

Mistress Ingrit shook her head, her countenance falling slightly. “It was not common knowledge, no, but I was not surprised. He was a great friend to all the peoples of Zeme, at least in his later years. I don’t know that humanity had contact with him in the recent centuries.”

“Did we know that he had apprentices? People he taught his magics?”

“Yes, though last we heard, most were… not well regarded, not specifically because of bad actions, more because of what they were capable of. The Mind Flayer earned his place as a friend to all, and his apprentices didn’t.”

“Well, there are no more. Even his apprentices’ apprentices are gone. To my understanding, that line of magic is broken.”

Nodding, Mistress Ingrit looked down at her hands, resting in her lap, for a long moment. “That is good to know. There really was so much of import in your experiences, not all of it has really settled within my mind yet. Mind manipulation magic is a dangerous tool, and while its loss is unfortunate, I cannot say I am sad that those who had it are no more.”

Tala nodded as well. “And in that vein, has the security breach that allowed Be-thric into the city been closed? The arcanes seemed to believe that Clevenhold was even less well-defended than here, and they got a potential Pillar in to hunt among our people.” She tried to keep the anger from her voice, but she didn’t succeed. “To hunt me.”

“His breaching of our cities was a combination of his mental magics and a stolen collar, which was inclusive enough to allow its use on arcanes. I did see the conversation about Clevenhold, and I have notified the local Archon Council on your behalf.”

“To earn good will?”

“Precisely. I used my own name and standing to give weight to the warning, but they know that the actual information came from you.”

“Thank you.”

“As to if the breach he used has been closed?” Mistress Ingrit sighed. “No, but there is also no one else who could exploit it. Theoretically, a through-spike could bypass any city’s automated defenses as well as give an arcane an illusion to hide within, but those are highly controlled, and they show up on the city’s defense grid like a beacon, even if not as a threat. They are always investigated, even if just from afar.”

“And a collar, by itself, wouldn’t deal with an arcane’s visual difference.”

“Precisely.”

“What about a collar with a visual illusion?”

“Possible, but difficult. Any sufficiently advanced Archon could at least detect the presence of an illusion, and we do watch our cities rather closely. Be-thric slipped unnoticed because he did not project magic around himself. His acts of power were highly targeted and internal to his targets, making them doubly difficult to notice. I cannot swear that there are not holes in our defenses, as that would be foolishly optimistic, but they are not as glaring as your experience might imply.”

“I suppose I can understand that.”

“Now, it is getting late, was there anything else?”

Tala thought for a moment. I think that is it for now, but it’s probably worth verifying, “Should we modify my death clause to ensure that any information I gain in the future is not lost?”

Mistress Ingrit shook her head. “No, no. The standard magics are sufficient. If you don’t access your personal section of the Archive for three years, the designated portions will be reverted to the Library.”

Tala nodded, that was how she remembered it. “Thank you then. Good night, Mistress Ingrit.”

“Good night, Mistress Tala.”

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Chapter: 283 - Payoff

Tala stood before the Bandfast Banking Guild for the second time in her life.

I’d say it would be the last, but I bet I’ll have more business with them in the future at some point.

-Agreed. Having access to greater capital could help down the line… or not? None of our current projects or potential projects should need it.-

Tala shrugged. Never say never. Half of what we want to do, now, wouldn’t have crossed our mind even a year ago.

-That’s the truth, and maybe that should say something about the wisdom of the ideas.-

Tala huffed a laugh, grateful for the momentary distraction.

She felt an odd sort of nervous tension. She felt like something would stop her before she could do this.

The prominent building jutted up before her: A beautiful, stone building, eye-catching without being ostentatious.

Massively tall windows let light into the single-story structure, and that single story was nearly twenty-five feet high on the inside. Its large entrance opened onto a small park-space in which Tala now stood.

The green area had clearly been designed more for looks, and to walk through, rather than for families or children to play in, and that was evident even in the wintery weather, the beauty shining through. Some of the statues looked even more stunning with a light sprinkling of snow. I wonder if the sculptor did that on purpose? Regardless, this park really is a lovely touch. Calming clients and potential clients and putting them in a happier mood before they entered in.

She walked through the bank’s large double doors, closing them softly behind herself. Even as she did so, she noticed flickers of magic that would have accomplished the same thing on their own. They have artifact doors, hooked to the city’s system?

-One-time expense? They probably move them along with the guild when a city is abandoned, so why not?-

That was a really good point, actually, and it suddenly made so many things click into place. How many of the little services in the cities were handled by artifacts that had been made once, thousands of years ago, and then moved from city to city?

She knew that many businesses used inscribed items, but that just made sense. Why invest in something that’s going to last ten thousand years, with proper maintenance, if an inscribed item costs a tenth of the amount and lasts a full city cycle?

It’s a bit short sighted, but both last longer than a single lifetime for mundanes, so I can see the reason for each.

She turned away from the doors and was greeted by an environment that was somehow more archival than that of the Library she’d just left. The rugs were thick, acting as sound dampeners in the vast space rather than as walking or standing comforts. I suppose the library uses architecture and magic to dampen the sound. This is probably cheaper.

Large, unicolor hangings periodically decorated the walls. They weren’t tapestries, simply being lengths of cloth, no artistry, no embellishments at all. Those are different colors than last time I was in here.

So were the rugs, now that she thought about it.

Before, she’d come in the fall, and the hangings and rugs had been fall colors, bold and beautiful, dark and earthy. Now, they were winter colors, cool and crisp jewel-tones. That’s a nice touch.

As she stepped a bit further in, she felt a small magical probe slide across her through-spike illusion and heard a distinctive ding echo through the far part of the room.

Almost immediately, a grey-haired woman bustled out. She was straight-backed, and she held a slate of deep green stone. It was a familiar sight, even if only from Tala’s last visit.

The banker stopped before Tala and gave a deep bow. “Mistress Archon. Welcome to our humble Guildhall.”

Tala smiled, giving a shallow bow in return. “Good evening. I am Tala.”

“Greetings, Mistress Tala. I am Sangfraw, one of the senior bursars of this branch of the Banker’s Guild. How may I assist you, this day?”

“A pleasure to meet you, mistress Sangfraw.” The woman wasn’t a Mage or inscribed at all, that Tala could detect. “I need to make a payment on my debts.”

Sangfraw looked a bit surprised, but immediately hid it. “Certainly, Mistress. If you would?” She held out the slate, and a small, gold-outlined square grew into existence, centered near the edge that was extended toward Tala.

Tala smiled. “Thank you.” She reached out, placing her thumb within the square and willing her power out, into the slate for verification.

The entire tablet shifted to blood red, as Tala had expected, and she tried not to grimace at the reminder. My power is steeped in blood, and I was built up for use by the House of Blood.

-That was their aim. They failed, and you succeeded. You are your own.-

That was true enough.

Only then did Tala notice infinitesimally thin, black lines in the slate that looked more like cracks than coloration. What? Did I break it?

She’d been very careful to not send too much power into the verification magics. Her enhanced vision could discern that they weren’t actual cracks, but it still made Tala nervous. She looked up at the banker hesitantly.

Sangfraw simply smiled, seemingly unable to see the not-cracks. “Thank you, Mistress.”

Do you think it’s from the void magics we carry?

-We don’t have any in our body or gate, but that is the only explanation that makes sense to me. We are connected to quite a bit of void magic, after all.-

The banker led her to a couple of very comfortable-looking chairs and gestured to one.

Tala slowly sank into the seat and while it groaned under her, it held.

Based on her somewhat limited practice, she could tell that she was subconsciously holding most of the weight of her iron up and away from the furnishings.

Sangfraw settled at the front edge of her own chair, sitting as primly and straight-backed as any Mage.

Tala was only slightly less prim, but only because she had situated herself all the way in the seat. Her posture was no less impeccable.

The banker examined the slate for a moment before looking up. “Mistress Tala, it seems that you have automatic payments set up with us and that you are current on your debts. The next automatic payment will be made in just under two weeks’ time. How can I assist you, today?”

Tala smiled. “I would like to make a payment and cancel my automatic withdrawals.”

“Certainly.” The woman was the picture of politeness, manipulating her slate for a moment. “I have that noted in the system, and we will confirm shortly, along with your payment. For that transaction, would you like to pay the minimum, or some other amount?”

“I would like to pay the balance, please.”

The woman rocked back slightly, obviously surprised. “Mistress, please pardon if I overstep, but you realize that this debt does not accrue interest, correct?

“I am aware, yes.”

“If it is not overbold of me, this seems fiscally unwise. You could take that same amount and invest it in any number of ventures. Are you sure? We are happy to advise you, or even offer you a basic account with minimal restrictions that would give you a quite fair rate of return.”

Tala nodded firmly. “I am sure, though I appreciate you voicing your thoughts. What is the exact balance of my debts, at this time?”

“Three-hundred-eighty-one gold and twenty silver, Mistress.”

She nodded again. Rust, that’s so much.We have enough, right? Her nervousness was threatening to boil over.

-In our account, after Mistress Ingrit’s transfer, we have five-hundred-nineteen gold, ninety-three silver, and one-hundred-fifty-two copper.-

Tala felt her eye twitch, even as the nervousness faded. A ‘Yes’ would have sufficed.

-We like precision.-

Tala suppressed a smile. “Thank you. Yes, I would like to pay it off in full.”

“May I ask why?” The woman looked genuinely baffled, though she maintained a professional tone.

Tala shrugged. “I don’t mind telling you. This debt has emotional weight for me, and I wish to lighten that load.”

The banker smiled warmly. “Ahh, of course. Say no more, Mistress. Thank you for entertaining an old woman’s questions.”

“Of course. It is kind of you to ensure that I am making a cognizant decision.”

It’s happening. It’s happening!!!

Alat simply sent back her own bubbling excitement.

Sangfraw nodded to herself as she manipulated the red slate, setting up the last details then turned the tablet back around for Tala’s confirmation. “Well, then, Mistress Tala, congratulations on paying off your debt in full.”

Tala read over the short bits of silvery text and confirmed.

The construct shifted back to green, and Sangfraw bowed over it. “Is there anything further that I can assist you with, today?”

“No, thank you. I appreciate your kindness, professionalism, and the time that you took to assist me.”

Sangfraw smiled genuinely in response as they stood together from the seats. “It was my pleasure, Mistress. I hope that we see you again, if ever the Banking Guild can be of service to you.”

They each gave a half bow and parted ways.

Tala got all the way outside before her glee bubbled up from deep within her, and she started giggling.

She made it halfway through the small park before the giggling grew to outright laughter.

Thankfully, at the somewhat late hour there weren’t many people about. Even so, those that were passing nearby gave her odd glances and hurried on their way.

Tala flopped down on a bench, sending up a puff of loose snow, and her laughter shifted again, morphing into mad cackling.

-Tala?-

She didn’t answer, instead wrapping her arms around herself, hugging tightly

-Tala, I can read your thoughts, and I’m still… uncertain. Tala?-

Tears had started to stream down her face, and her cackling shifted into sobs as her whole body shook.

-Oh, Tala…-

“That’s it? In an instant, it’s gone?” A huge, shuddering sob burst from her before she could continue, “Years of stress and torture, strain and division, gone in a single moment?”

She bent forward, placing her head in her hands and bawling.

Her tears weren’t for any one thing, not really.

She cried over her capture and her escape.

She wept over the injustice of her debt and the triviality of finally paying it off.

She sobbed at what she had been forced to do to survive and in fear that this was somehow a lie, that she was still back in Platoiri and that she would never be free.

There, in the small park beside the Banking Guild, Tala’s emotions, long bottled up and neglected, finally broke free.

Alone in a city of her own people, she let herself truly feel for the first time in a long while, and now that the tears had started, it took a long time for them to subside.

* * *

The next week passed in a blur. Given her required week of rest, Tala scheduled time to meet up with Mistress Odera the following week. Master Xeel had similarly asked for time to talk with her and been scheduled for that week.

Master Grediv had returned to Alefast, Waning, but before he left, he went out of his way to ensure that Tala knew that she could call on him if she needed.

Tala took as much time to enjoy her freedom as she could, eating most meals with Lyn, Rane, or both.

She read extensively, both from Alat’s summaries and from the original texts when she wanted to compare to the primary source. It was an odd experience, somewhat like reading a book on something that she had been taught, orally, while growing up.

It wasn’t new, but it was usually enlightening.

That made sense as Alat’s goal hadn’t been to give her a perfect recreation of the information. Instead, Alat tried to structure the summaries for Tala to understand the general concepts faster, and build a stronger foundation in whatever the specific subject was.

Tala exercised around her reading, finding that she could work different muscles and add to the effectiveness of the sets by altering how her iron weighed on her. After all, doing pushups worked far more muscles when her center of mass was constantly shifting.

It was through those exercises that she realized that she could also work in the opposite direction, purposely shifting her center of mass to give her balance and stability in stances and extensions that would be otherwise impossible simply because of the leverage involved.

To relax, she took long walks through the city, simply soaking in the feel of humanity. She sat in parks, watching families or neighborhoods of kids build in the snow, fight with snowballs, and otherwise enjoy the winter weather.

She avoided the guards, even though she knew they wouldn’t pressure her to train with them. She just wasn’t ready for yet another reunion.

She did send a slightly more detailed note to her family through Master Leighis, however. She knew that Nalac and Illie would likely communicate with her family from the Academy, and she wanted more details of her return to come from her, not from those younger siblings.

The only thing of true note that she did around her reading, exercising, and relaxing was to give the Leshkin Juggernaut weaponry to Rane, and he merged them with Force.

Previously, he’d merged Force with a few of the swords that they’d taken during their Makinaven caravan run. Now, he was adding all of the weaponry, regardless of type.

The very nature of the Leshkin weaponry, like their armor, was to form available material into various forms for battle. The obvious result of the merging with so many such weapons was that Force was now able to alter its shape, though the method and results would be different from either Flow or most morphic weapons that Tala had encountered.

Sadly, she’d have to wait until her body was fixed before she could spar with the man and truly see what his weapon was capable of.

They’d had Flow analyzed before Rane’s merging, and while the weapons could have been merged with Tala’s weapon, it wouldn’t have granted any improvement. Even the weapons that were different from one of Flow’s three forms wouldn’t have expanded its capabilities.

In Master Boma’s words, “It’s too weighty of a magical item, bound to you, and settled into its form. You’d need something of at least equal power to expand it, now.”

From Tala’s perspective, it was pretty obvious that the void-sword had been a major contributor in this regard. That was even more obvious when she looked back.

Flow had been merged with multiple Juggernaut weapons in the past, and the voidsword had been so potent in the merging that its power had spilled over into Tala’s elk leathers.

At Master Boma’s words, she had immediately thought of the god orbs that were supposedly hidden from human and Leshkin alike.

Alat had immediately created the feeling of a slap to the back of Tala’s head. -How about we look into the general weapons, or maybe those from the royals. Or we could even branch out away from Leshkin items altogether.-

We’ll have to wait for the Leshkin wars for general or royal weapons.

-Oh no! A hundred years? How will we survive.- The last had not been a question, and Alat made sure to project her feelings quite loudly.

Fine… spoilsport.

Now, after a week, Tala was due at Mistress Holly’s in about an hour, and she was doing the last of her newest type of exercise.

Iron arched through the air, forming the vague shape of a fist as it slammed into the ground in front of Tala, barely connected to her by a thin tendril.

She was in a training room within the Archon Compound, and the walls and floor flickered with magic that barely had to activate to contain the rather weak hit.

She was moving through her forms, Flow shifting in her hands as she followed the Way of Flowing Blood.

Her bloodstar-core items moved in their prescribed patterns along with her, covering her weaknesses and making her incredibly difficult to hit.

On top of those manipulations, she had added sweeping strikes of iron.

Tala didn’t have the control to form anything close to a blade, so more than anything, her efforts created what was effectively an iron club or other vague shapes.

Because of that, Tala mainly made them act as a shadow behind Flow’s movements, but she was trying to alter the movements to be more effective than simply a trailing, secondary strike.

The iron ‘punch’ to the floor, paired with a knife parry, had been one such attempt.

She grimaced at the results. No, a vertical strike at their feet doesn’t make sense with this parry.

-What about a grab and pull down towards us?-

That was an interesting idea. It would be more like an iron club striking down towards her own feet and rolling back and out. It did fit much better with the knife parry than the ‘punch’ had.

Alright. Let’s try it.

Tala moved back to the beginning of the form, and moved through each movement with a liquid grace that was easily utterly beyond anything a mundane human could accomplish.

Through every stance and strike, she felt the phantom touch of that annoying bear, who would have knocked her flat for any instability.

I hate that rusting cuddly bit of slag.

-He was an effective teacher though.-

Oh, no doubt. I hope he’s doing alright.

She got back to the knife parry, and her iron moved in the newly prescribed pattern.

It felt better, adding weight to the block in a way that might even cripple the theoretical attacker in addition to keeping her own flesh from damage.

There we go.

She continued on, finishing out this particular form. She was only altering one movement at a time to prevent from fracturing her fighting ability by having too many things in flux at once.

Not that I should be fighting for a while.

After she came back into her starting fighting stance and held it for a moment, she dropped her hands and groaned, looking towards the ceiling in purely mental exhaustion.

“Ow…”

Manipulating the iron felt like using an unfamiliar muscle, but not a weak one that had never been used. No, that would be relatively easy for her to deal with.

Instead, it was an incredibly powerful, involuntary muscle that she suddenly had exclusively voluntary control over.

It was like she suddenly had to control her own heartbeat, perfectly regulating each chamber, synchronizing the valves, and not being either too powerful or too weak on any beat.

It was exhausting trying to regulate and manipulate every aspect simultaneously, seemingly without end.

-Like trying to control every muscle fiber individually and consciously as you reach to pick up a glass of water?-

Exactly… And that analogy reminded her that she was thirsty. She pulled out her cold-water incorporator and took a deep drink.

The arcanes saw no use for incorporators, and so even if the items had been seen, they wouldn't have been taken. Even so, using one as Tali would have been incredibly out of character.

As such, she’d utterly fallen out of the practice.

Like with so many other things, she was purposely overcorrecting, now that she was back with the bulk of humanity.

-We need to get over to Mistress Holly’s.-

Tala nodded, tucking away the incorporator. She mirrored self-cleaning onto herself and hopped up and down, freeing herself of the grime of her workout.

She then undid her hair, ran her comb through it, and quickly re-braided it with nimble fingers.

Let’s go.

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Please let the world know what you think of this story by leaving reviews on Amazon!

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Chapter: 284 - That is The Plan

Tala walked into Mistress Holly’s back room, and the Inscriptionist didn’t even look up from the slate she was studying.

The woman pointed toward a side table with a mug on it, “Coffee?”

Tala shrugged and walked over. “Thank you, sure.”

She picked up the mug and found it empty.

Frowning, Tala turned towards the woman and found her glaring.

“So, you have fully regressed, have you? Not just a one time thing?”

Tala felt her eye twitch. “I’ve only had a few cups of coffee. That is hardly regressing.”

Mistress Holly set her slate aside and rubbed her own temples with two fingers on each side, closing her eyes in frustration. “Mistress Tala. Your body is being slowly torn apart by your soul, which it is Fused to. It’s a cascading effect. Caffeine is a poison. The fact that it’s too low a dosage to kill you outright is meaningless, it isn’t doing good things to you, and it is pushing you in the wrong direction.”

Tala bristled, and Alat provided her with the exact information, which Tala used to push back. “I’ve had a total of twelve cups in the last week. That is hardly an issue. I’ve had more sugar than caffeine.”

“Ahh, yes. I was going to discuss that with you as well.”

Her eye twitched again. “What?”

“There are a long list of things that people eat that you’re going to need to avoid until you Refine. I hope you’ve enjoyed your little bender this last week.”

“Bender? Are you serious? I’ve been refilling my stores. One of the core parts of that is calories.”

“Yes, you’ve been getting by with whatever calories you can find, but you have multiple, wonderfully balanced sources of calories and nutrients. Your sanctum foods are specifically designed for you, for that exact purpose, and you aren’t utilizing that resource at all. Additionally, you should still have a stock of meals from the Culinary Guild, and even if you didn’t, you could get some without question.”

Tala opened her mouth, then closed it sullenly. She had been indulging a bit in the last week. Arcane food had been good in its own way, but the flavors weren’t quite the same, the ratios of spices balanced differently, and she had been glorying in the tastes of home. But that’s hardly a bender…

-She’s obviously being extreme to get your attention.-

Oh, I know, but it still irritates me…

“But, we can address that as part of the holistic approach. I have your updated scripts. Given your density, and extenuating circumstances, this will be the last set.”

“Do I need to drain those I already have?”

“No, no. I’ll be adding some connections, a few offshoots, and sub-workings. I anticipated something like these in the previous design, I just hadn’t figured out and perfected exactly what they would need to be.”

“Were the consultations helpful?”

“With the other experts?” Mistress Holly gave her an odd look. “Of course, that’s why I sought them out.”

Tala suppressed a smile at the woman’s obvious incredulity at having to answer such a question. “So, how long will I need these updated scripts before we can perform the Refining?”

“Well, with your magical density and other quirks, I suspect we could make the inscriptions set sufficiently to work in a few days, if we pushed it.” Before Tala could get too excited, the Inscriptionist continued, “But that won’t be the deciding factor, timewise. As you well know, your Refining will be trickier. Several of those experts will be coming, and we’re going to have to modify the process for your… unique aspects.”

“Ah. And how long will that take?”

“We believe we’ll have it ready within a month, but we won’t rush. The proper solution is worth whatever amount of time it takes. We could permanently cripple you, or effectively so. If we decide it needs your remaining decade for research, I expect you to accept that verdict and keep yourself safe and undamaged until then.”

Tala grimaced but didn’t argue. “Fine. I will… I will listen to you and the other experts.”

A small smile pulled at Mistress Holly’s lips. “You’ve matured, haven’t you?”

Tala gave her a flat look, not letting herself twitch at the unintentional reference to her advancement in the arcane system.

By their measure, Tala was ‘Mature,’ and that reminder made her want to grit her teeth.

She didn’t.

She didn’t even let herself consider it.

Not one bit. “I just came from a place where being disrespectful or pointlessly obstinate could get me killed.”

“Ahh, yes. That would do it, I suppose. It’s a shame that such training tactics aren’t widely accepted in these parts.”

She gave the older Archon an incredulous look. “Really?”

Mistress Holly shrugged. “Effective is effective, and it’s sad when an effective tool is taken from our collective toolbox.” She hesitated for a moment. “Not the killing, of course, simply the harsh measures to ensure proper decorum and respect.”

That made too much sense to Tala, though she wasn’t sure if that was because it was actually logical, or if her time away had distorted her sense of how things should be and what was reasonable.

That made Tala a bit uncomfortable, so she decided to get back on topic.

“So, get my inscriptions altered here, change my eating until this process is complete, and Refine in a month or so in the best case?”

“Yes, that is the plan as I’ve just outlined it.”

Tala sighed. “Honestly, why bother?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why does it really matter? Sure, if we used the standard process, it would move me away from human, but I’m hardly a standard specimen of humanity anymore.”

Mistress Holly uncharacteristically pulled a stool over and sat down. “We have no idea what it would actually do to you. On the simple side, it could kill you, instantly.”

Tala blinked at that. “I didn’t think that was a possibility.”

“It’s not really likely, but it is possible. Aside from that, it would almost certainly sterilize you, likely irreparably so. It could block you from the higher ranks as well, depending on exactly what happened, even if you didn’t die. More than that, it could alter your mind, your thoughts, your very self to the point that you wouldn’t really be ‘you’ anymore.”

Tala opened her mouth and closed it several times, considering. “That… that is a lot worse than I really considered.”

Mistress Holly huffed a laugh. “Master Jevin wears it well, but he is the best outcome of such an error in Refining. There is a reason why none of us are willing to risk it on your behalf.”

“Alright. Let’s get it done, then.”

“Iron out, please.”

Tala grimaced. “Can’t I just move it into the dimensions of magic?”

Mistress Holly gave her an incredulous look. “Where do you think my needles pass through to bypass your flesh, dear?”

“Ah…” Well, that was good to know, actually. “Wait, doesn’t that mean that I didn’t need to remove iron from my skin for earlier inscriptions?”

“Iron, even in the physical dimensions, interferes with magic in the same area. They probably would have worked, at least much of the time, but they would have worn out faster, and there would always be the chance of simply shattering a needle, sending the shards into your flesh as the needle’s magics broke and the metal fragmented like shatter tipped arrows.”

Tala blanched. “Well,”—she paused to swallow nervously—“I’m very glad we didn’t test that, then.”

“Quite.”

She nodded once more and forcefully moved all her non-biological iron down and out, forming a rough cube on the floor beside her.

I’m not abandoning it. It’s mine still. I’m just using it right there… as a cube… Stay.

Tala was actually pretty proud of that shape as it was something she would have struggled to make even a week earlier.

Rane offered to give me some pointers on sculpting the iron, and Master Cazor likely would have some good insights on iron specifically.

-Those are probably good avenues to pursue to improve our manipulation of the material.-

Over the last week, they’d learned that Alat was able to affect the iron as well, so long as Tala wasn’t doing so already. Additionally, Alat benefited from Tala’s training as if she’d done it herself, so that was incredibly useful.

Once they could spar again, they both thought it could be quite useful to have Alat control the iron more directly and leave Tala free of that detail and distraction.

Mistress Holly brought over the auto-inscriber. It was her current primary project, the culmination of years, if not decades, of research and experimentation. Even so, the Archon seemed less pleased than she usually was when handling her invention.

Tala thought she understood. “The reinscriber is amazing, but it can’t make changes, Mistress Holly. This is a more versatile tool.”

“Of course, dear. I know that.” Even so, Mistress Holly seemed to perk up a bit, a small smile pulling at her lips. “Shall we?”

Tala sighed and nodded, slipping the hedgehog skin like device on before retracting her elk leather, leaving her naked and unprotected under the covering of the magical device.

“Let’s begin.”

* * *

While the inscription process with the auto-inscriber was even less pleasant than Tala remembered, it was much more palatable than using the reinscriber.

-That was a terrible pun.-

Hush you. You don’t have to experience the inscription process if you don’t want to. I’m stuck with living through it.

-And I am grateful that you maintain my inscriptions so diligently.-

Alat had discovered something that should have been obvious to them both. The alternate interface didn’t have to experience or access anything that she didn’t wish to.

They both knew that every memory she didn’t access would move her further from Tala, both in personality and experience wise, but they were already diverging, and neither of them really minded.

They functioned more as a team than as two parts of one individual, and they both enjoyed their role within that team.

The decision to allow Alat’s continued divergence was helped when Alat figured out that every physical sensation she denied herself from feeling tended to push her further from ever wanting a physical form at all. It was like over dramatizing a fear of something. Every over-the-top act caused the underlying fear to grow.

Every time Alat refused to experience something physical, all physical things became less appealing to her.

Tala refocused on the moment and opened her eyes as the device was loosened around her.

With a flex of will, her elk leathers grew outward, forming clothing incredibly quickly. I should reform my scale vest. That’s a good defense to have, especially as vulnerable as I am right now.

-Add it to the list?-

Yes, please.

The auto-inscriber came off just after her elk leathers re-covered her, and she smiled at Mistress Holly. “Thank you.”

The woman grunted back as she moved the device back to its holder.

The difference to Tala’s magic was subtle but noticeable, since she was looking for it.

The closest thing that she could compare the sensation to was from back when she’d just been learning how to do pushups.

She’d thrown herself through the motions, unwittingly only strengthening parts of the muscle with the jerky motions. When a teacher had finally gotten her to listen and Tala had slowed down, she’d discovered that the middle portion of the motion was much harder because she hadn’t been practicing it. Once she got used to doing the exercise properly, the strength had filled in more uniformly.

Her magic felt like that, as if the ‘middle bits’ had finally been filled in, and her power was now acting smoothly through complete actions rather than just pointing in the direction she wanted and shooting power out in the hopes of accomplishing the task.

It wasn’t the greatest analogy, but it made sense to her.

-That’s because you’ve been exercising so much recently. Of course that is the first frame of reference you turn to.-

Yeah, that’s probably fair. Even so, it doesn’t really make sense to draw an analogy to something else esoteric that I’ve been trying to grasp.

-This is like an automata given five fingers rather than two. It’s not able to do more, necessarily, but it is able to do the same things better.-

Tala smirked to herself. It’s like the Doman-Imithe, given centuries without magic eroding Zeme on the other side to recover. It’s not any more coherent, but it still provides a better backing to reality.

-That was a bit of a stretch.-

I did say that it wasn’t a good idea to try to analogize one odd subject with another.

-Fair, fair.-

It’s like learning that the fighting style you’ve been using for years has another form, filled with all sorts of more advanced techniques?

-Yeah, that’s a good comparison.-

Mistress Holly cleared her throat, and Tala blinked, returning her attention to the woman.

The inscriber was standing, one eyebrow raised in obvious impatience. “Are you quite done with your internal conversation?”

“I am,” Tala said sheepishly.

“Incidentally, that is another reason such alternate interfaces are not as common as they might otherwise be. There is an incredible danger of falling into the habit of only talking to yourself, and since the ability and penchant toward working with yourself is required to begin with, the natural safeguards one might assume would be in place in such a situation simply don’t exist.”

“I will keep that in mind, Mistress Holly.”

“If it becomes too much, I can alter the inscriptions to remove the capacity for independent personality.”

-That rusting—-

Tala spoke before Alat could finish the thought, “What would that even do?”

“It would make it so your consciousness, at the moment you wished a secondary task to be accomplished, would duplicate, accomplish that task before remerging with you. There would be no true separation, no divergence of experience or personage.”

Tala shook her head. “I don’t see myself wanting that.”

Mistress Holly shrugged. “It’s your mind, dear.”

Tala frowned at that. “You know, I don’t remember you testing if this was a good idea before doing it.”

“Every note ever made about you screamed that this was possible for you.”

She colored, feeling embarrassment rising within her.

“Additionally, it was one of two paths, due to your pre-existing consciousness restoration scripts. Your own mind chose this path, and I saw no reason to prevent it or revert it once it happened.”

“Oh… I suppose that makes sense.”

“Now, I’ve granted you access to an extensive set of guidelines to curb your more self-destructive tendencies and help you avoid bad influences.”

She frowned remembering the kind assistant who had brought her coffee. “You aren’t going to discipline Mistress Emersen for offering me coffee, are you?”

Mistress Holly huffed. “Of course not, child. I specifically asked her to do so. I needed to get another data point on your mental state, and that was the least intrusive way I could easily come up with.”

Tala really didn’t know how to feel about that.

“We’re done. I’ll let you know when I know more, or if we need anything else.”

She nodded and left without another word.

Ironically, Tala now knew Bandfast much better than she had before being taken, just from a week of long walks. She used that knowledge to take a much more scenic, if slightly longer, path back to Lyn’s house.

When she had almost arrived, Alat grabbed her attention. -Mistress Elnea is ready to come out again.-

Without hesitation, Tala walked to the closest blank wall and placed Kit as a door against it, opening the portal and letting the Archon out.

The woman’s recent, perpetual smile was still in evidence as she came out and thanked Tala. Mistress Elnea didn’t stick around as she’d already given Tala and Alat access to a detailed accounting of what she’d done and learned.

She asks for access nearly every day.

-She keeps getting good information.-

Oh, absolutely.

The older Archon was a fantastic resource that Tala knew wouldn’t be available to her long term.

They’d made progress in modifying teleportation scripts to work with a dimensionally segregated space.

It turned out that it was a line of research that had been explored on occasion. Early caravans had brought an emergency retreat wagon on every venture, and those mobile scripts had been expanded to work with expanded spaces, which were not locationally fixed.

The real issue was power and material costs. Additionally, the variations made them incompatible with the modern teleportation towers. So, they needed to create a single location for Tala’s circles to connect with.

All of this was problematic for a dozen reasons. It looked like it would happen eventually, but likely not for a month or two at the very earliest.

But that was neither here nor there for the moment.

Tala continued on her way, holding Kit in her hands and gently topping off its reserves, as she thought. “I feel I know so little about you, little Kit. We’ve helped each other at every turn, but will it last? Will you decide you’re done with me, and just eat everything?”

She didn’t think so, but there was always that possibility.

Just like a person could always decide they’re done with me and leave.

-That’s why trust is so important. Kit has been trustworthy, and I believe that you’ve treated Kit in the same manner.-

That did help.

She hung Kit back on her belt. Tonight wasn’t for such bleak thoughts, however.

Lyn had apparently learned some new card game, and she wanted to teach it to Tala and Rane.

Tala opened the door to Lyn’s house, able to hear her friends already chatting amicably inside.

Tonight is not about mysteries and concerns for the future.

No. Tonight was a time for friends.

A note from JLMullins

Vote for MM on TopWebFiction! http://topwebfiction.com/listings/millennial-mage

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MillennialMage

Discord: https://discord.gg/FddACAjUrR

The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Please let the world know what you think of this story by leaving reviews on Amazon!

They help a TON with visibility on the site and allow me to keep writing and making these books.

Multi-Region Review Links!

https://geni.us/mageling-review

https://geni.us/mage-review

https://geni.us/binding-review

https://geni.us/bound-review

Chapter: 285 - I’m Listening

Tala sat in her sanctum beneath the fake night sky. It was fascinating how the stars, clusters, and even nebulae looked real, while being utterly alien to what she was used to on Zeme.

She’d asked about it once, and she was told that it could show a facsimile of Zeme’s sky, or something like this, depending on what she wanted. Apparently, it was a feature of Kit, not something that they’d added specifically.

Still showing me what I want to see. Eh, Kit?

The stars above almost seemed to twinkle.

There was, obviously, no light pollution, and no clouds. It was a sight that few would ever see.

And it’s fake.

-But it’s still beautiful.-

Tala was on a randomly chosen hill in the plains that ran around the outside of her sanctum. The grass and turf beneath her was soft and springy. Night time birds and insects could be heard throughout the space, lending a further element of realism to the false reality in which she sat.

The arcanes really knew their craft, and this sanctum stood testament to that.

Even so, the night wasn’t perfect.

A small annoyance sat in the back of her mind.

There was a message sitting available in the Archive.

She knew what it said because Alat had immediately read it when they were granted access, but she wasn’t ready to act on it.

She really did need to, though.

-Tala. You need to talk to someone. You asked Mistress Ingrit to find someone. She has. We can’t just ignore it.-

I know… Tala was absently working on her new scalemail vest.

She had to remove the white steel from her elk leathers for the scales, but that was easy enough. In fact, she was able to use the magics of the garment to make the metal come out in the exact shape she needed. So, now, instead of forming a shaped log of metal and separating scales from that, she was simply creating each scale on her sleeve, and then pulling it free, removing it from the elk leathers.

The process was magically expensive, but nowhere near prohibitively so.

Thus, the results were actually much better this time around. The main difference was a small hole at the base of each scale, which she caused her vest to grow through.

She would take off the vest when she was done, making it separate from her other garments, but it wasn’t time for that, yet.

She would have formed the scales in place, but she had to separate them before she could amplify their gravity. If she didn’t do so beforehand, the separation would be a sufficient change to their makeup to break the working.

The benefit of the tie was simple. The little bit of resistance would force a scale to orient properly as it pulled outward. Thus, they should now all strike edge-first, rather than the somewhat haphazard orientation that she’d dealt with for her earliest version.

-Tala. He is a professional, specifically trained to help Archons process through traumatizing experiences. He has centuries of wisdom and practice.-

I know.

After a short pause, where Alat was clearly waiting for Tala to continue, the alternate interface sighed. -Most of his clients are those traumatized by merging, either choices taken, or those experienced before being avoided.-

He sounds great.

There was another pause. -…So?-

Tala sighed. Fine… Schedule something for tomorrow?

-He has a slot open first thing tomorrow morning. Would you like him to come here, or would you like to go to him?-

Him coming here would be nice. Should we ask Lyn?

-She’s never been too picky on company. I’ll update a note for her, so when she sits down for her morning reading she’ll know what’s going on.-

Thank you.

-Appointment scheduled… You know; we could move Kit to the front door. It shouldn’t be too difficult to have it only open for the right people or under the right circumstances. At other times, Kit could be dormant across the opening, and Lyn’s door would function normally.-

That’s… I’m not sure if it’s incredibly clever or really terrifying.

-Why not both?-

Sure, I suppose.

She’d already slept, and even after staying up late with Rane, Lyn, and Kannis to play the card game, morning was still quite a ways off.

There was another long pause while Tala continued creating and amplifying the gravity on the scales.

Alat was the one to break the internal silence this time. -You know, I’ve never experienced voidsight directly…-

Tala grinned. It was a topic that they’d wanted to experiment with, and it was a welcome distraction. Fine. We did want to test mirroring voidsight onto bloodstar perspectives, and passing a bloodstar perspective to you is the easiest way for you to directly experience it for yourself.

Tala could pass direct access to her own eyes’ perspective, but it left her utterly blind, and she hated the experience.

With regard to voidsight, Tala and Alat had been digging into exactly how and why it had come to be, and the answer was laughingly obvious after they took a bit of time to research.

When Flow was in a void-weapon form, it should kill her.

When they’d realized that, Tala had needed to take a long walk and eat a stack of donuts before she could return to the problem.

The truth was, she shouldn’t be able to wield it at all; no human should. So, as a natural part of the merging, as the results selected specifically involved her ability to use the weapon, her body had been touched with void, immunized to it almost.

That had actually explained quite a few of Mistress Holly’s test results, and the Inscriptionist hadn’t been surprised in the least when they’d conveyed their discovery to her.

When Tala pushed Flow into a void-form, the weapon acted as a source of void-magics, and those flowed through the tendrils already in place within Tala, allowing her to wield the blade without inherent danger.

There was a lot more that happened, obviously, but the end result was that the void-magics collected around her eyes in her most strongly cemented natural magics, her magesight.

This combination is what granted her voidsight.

Thus, in order to mimic that sight, Tala had to mirror not only her perspective, but also her natural magics of magesight onto a bloodstar, and then further mirror void-magics from Flow or her elk leathers overtop the other aspects.

It was quite convoluted in totality, and she’d been hesitant to try it because she knew that she’d likely obsess over getting it right once she started.

Well, now is as good a time as any. She had just finished adding the latest scale to her armor.

With careful deliberateness, Tala mirrored the aspects overtop one another, onto a bloodstar.

First, she mirrored her ability to perceive onto the drop, looking back at herself. She still found that mildly disconcerting even though she was incredibly used to it by this point.

Next, she focused on her magesight, joining that with the bloodstar and the mirrored perspective already in place.

She could have simply mirrored the magesight, but as it was a working used to enhance and alter vision, that wouldn’t actually have accomplished anything.

Her own loosely controlled yellow-orange aura became easily visible to the secondary perspective.

The coloration was faint but distinct.

The magesight was impressed within her natural magics, else it wouldn’t have been able to be mirrored, but it still wasn’t deeply impressed, and without her inscriptions to back up and reinforce the spell-form, it was much weaker than she was used to.

-Oh, Tala. This is going to be insanely useful, even like this.-

That it will be. It was difficult to force the mirrored aspects to merge, but they were already used in conjunction naturally, so they didn’t fight back too hard.

Finally, she twisted her will, catching onto the void with her elk leathers.

She might have used those magics from within Flow, but that void-power was dormant, and she was looking for a means of voidsight without having to have Flow in a void-form.

The void in the elk leathers wasn’t overwhelming, but it was pervasive.

After a flick and extension of her mind, the void joined the other aspects mirrored onto her bloodstar.

The small drop of blood turned black. No, that wasn’t right. The change rendered it much more than black—or rather much less—the bloodstar seemingly becoming a hole in the very air.

As the void filled the mirrored aspects, the perspective it granted Tala changed.

Before, it had been like having an eye floating above her, giving her a single direction of view.

With void added, light now came in from every side, giving a forced omnidirectional perspective.

The world seemed to shatter within that view, and uncounted nodules of reality flickered into visibility even as her perception spun and rotated, seemingly at random.

As it was an omnidirectional view, what she could see wasn’t changing, but it seemed to be constantly reorienting within her own mind, and the results were incredibly nauseating.

Tala heaved, even though she couldn’t puke, her body rebelling against the input.

She let the aspect mirrors fall away and flopped onto her back, trying to let her head settle.

Oh, that was awful.

-Just a bit, yeah.-

Great first attempt though!

-Oh, undoubtedly. I’m not sure how we’ll fix the… oddities, but unreservedly a promising start.-

* * *

Tala knelt over a bucket that she didn’t need.

It was filled with slightly crushed mint leaves, wafting a powerful anti-nausea scent.

She groaned. This is awful… Why? Why are we doing this!?

-I still say you should just give the perspective wholly to me. When we tried that, it worked just fine!-

Of course it did, and we have that in our tool bag, but I want to be able to use this, too.

She heaved, but the anti-vomit scripts kept her stomach contents where they belonged.

This is worse than just vomiting…

-Well, you could disable the scripts, right?-

But then I’d vomit. Do you want me to vomit? What kind of idea was that?

-…you’re fine. Stop being difficult.-

Tala flopped over on her side, groaning again.

The sky was lightening overhead, and dawn was approaching, both that of her fake sun in the sanctum and that in the city outside.

So, you’ll watch with voidsight?

-That’s the plan. You’ll have to hold the mirrors, but I can watch.-

Tala sighed, sitting up.

With now practiced ease, Tala set up the three layers of aspect mirroring, purposely denying herself access to the perspective and surrendering the point of view to Alat.

-Ready.-

A simple thought allowed Tala to dismiss the bucket of herbs, and as expected, it was simply gone.

-Fascinating. It’s just as we’ve seen before. It’s like the nodules of reality slip apart, and the fraction which is most closely related to the bucket was pulled backward, or away, or downward, or through, or… we don’t really have a word for it. I think I was able to somewhat trace it moving toward the center of the sanctum, though.-

That’s really interesting. They’d seen the bits of reality moving before when Kit acted, but Alat had been honing her ability to discern details with their voidsight. Now, using it herself, directly, she seemed able to see a bit more than she could while just reviewing memories.

-I’ll keep playing with this. While I do that, you have your appointment with the Archon.-

Right. Tala stood and willed herself back to the core of her sanctum.

An instant later she was standing where she had wished to be.

-Oh! RUST MY BISCUITS!-

Tala frowned. Isn’t that Mistress Holly’s phrase?

-Tala! You were moved.-

Yeah, that’s what I wanted to happen. We can’t move other sapient life, because it naturally resists, but I asked to be moved, so it worked. When she’d really realized that, she’d passed the detail on to Mistress Elnea for the team researching the founts. Rob couldn’t resist her transferring of the orb. He clearly wasn’t the same as a person, and neither were the other founts.

-No, no. You’re not understanding. You moved. Kit didn’t move around you, nor did it restructure with you in the new place. The bit of reality that is you was moved, like teleportation, but it was direct, not a throw through the void or ether, or whatever, and a complicated catch. You just moved.-

Her eyes widened. Direct manipulation of the bits of reality. Did you see how it was done?

-Ha! Are you kidding me? Not even a little… well, maybe a little.-

Well, we’ll have to test and re-test. There’s lots to learn.

-…not now, though. Go.-

Fine… Tala opened the door even as it appeared before her.

She stepped out into Lyn’s hallway, hanging Kit from her belt as she walked out into the sitting room. She was about to take up a chair when a solid, simple knock sounded against the front door.

It was a double-rap and no more.

Well, that was good timing.

Tala moved to the entry way and opened the front door.

An older man waited on the other side. He was tall and slender, seeming built more like a deer than a lion, if that made sense.

He had short, curly hair that had all gone grey, and his face was an odd mix of stern and soft. He smiled warmly, his voice a bit higher pitched than she might have expected, “Mistress Tala, I presume? Or is she within?”

“Um, that’s me. Master Nadro, is it?”

“I am, indeed. It is my pleasure to meet you.”

“And for me to meet you.”

Tala stood for a long moment, and Nadro simply waited, a patient smile comfortably held across his features.

She frowned. Isn’t he going to say anything else?

-Invite him in, Tala.-

“Oh! My apologies, won’t you come in?”

“Thank you.” He gave a shallow bow and followed her back inside. “Should I take off my shoes?”

“Hmm?” Tala glanced at his boots. “Oh! No, that’s fine.”

She tossed Kit at the wall just beside the entrance, opposite the washroom.

“Please, after you.”

Nadro nodded and pushed open the door, stepping through and out into her dining room. More specifically, they came out beside the two cushy chairs, overlooking the plains and forests beyond. “Oh, my. This is truly stunning, Mistress.”

Tala followed him through. “Thank you; I find it rather peaceful. Tea?”

He didn’t take his eyes from the view as he shook his head slightly. “No, thank you. I have a jug of my favorite, if it comes to it. I’m happy to share if you wish?”

“No, thank you. Do you mind if I make myself some?”

“I don’t mind in the least.” The man took another step forward to stand closer to the massive window.

Tala pulled out her tea making supplies, going through the motions she’d refamiliarized herself with in the last week. Nadro did nothing to interrupt the comfortable silence as she worked.

Finally, when she poured herself a cup, his voice reached her. He hadn’t turned around. “You seem content to separate yourself from others. Has that always been the case?”

She hesitated for just a moment before sitting in her favorite of the two chairs. “What a way to start a conversation.”

He turned toward her, even as he moved to sit in the other chair. His smile shifted slightly, but he simply left his question as it was.

Tala took a sip and shook her head. “What do you even mean?”

“I could ask you what you think I mean, but that would start a whole cycle of unhelpful ridiculousness.”

She chuckled in spite of herself.

“To answer your question, though: I was honestly hoping you would tell me. I haven’t gathered any information on you. I try to let my clients tell me about themselves on their own. I am simply gauging based on what I have seen in the minutes since we met.”

“And that is?” Tala was genuinely curious why he’d come to that conclusion.

“You live in here, even when there is plenty of space in the real world.”

“Why do you think I live in here? I could have just brought you in for a private chat.”

“You could have, of course, but I can see the magics about you, the telltale signs of time in a dimensional space. You’ve spent more time outside of Zeme in the last days than within.”

Tala tried to see his level of advancement but couldn’t. His aura was utterly undetectable to her.

“Your choice of tea-ware is cast iron. While such a choice could merely be a stunt for Fused or higher—rarely truly dangerous at that level of advancement—it is clearly familiar to you, and I would guess that you’d had it well before becoming Fused. This implies incredible neglect in your education, apathy from your acquaintances, or a cognizant choice on your part.”

She leaned back, taking another sip.

“I see I have guessed correctly, but this time is not about me, nor about what I can guess about you.”

Tala shook her head. “Then why would you start our time together with such a question?”

Nadro’s smile pulled up on one side. “Because our time is valuable, and it is best if you recognize early that there is no point in deceit. You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t wish to, but falsehoods won’t be borne.”

She almost objected, but finally nodded. “Alright.”

He flicked his hands, and a large earthenware mug and jug appeared within them.

With careful deliberation, he poured himself some of the steaming liquid before the jug vanished, presumably back into his storage space.

Nadro didn’t say anything else, turning his gaze back out of the window and letting the silence settle in.

Tala shrugged to herself, enjoying her own tea while looking upon the view as well, while the false sun rose.

She had refilled her cup three times before she finally broke the silence. “I fear that I am nothing more than a tool, used at the whim of others, for their benefit.”

Nadro turned slightly to regard her, his face showing hints of empathy, along with careful attention. “I’m listening.”

And so Tala spoke, telling her story from the beginning. “My mother died in childbirth…”

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Chapter: 286 - No Place for Deception

Tala sighed, nodding as she reached the end of what she had to say, “That’s a pretty good summary, I think.”

It had taken a few hours, and noon was approaching.

Nadro had only interrupted once to ask if she was alright with him eating as she continued. She’d agreed, and they’d both eaten off and on throughout her tale.

She obviously hadn’t been able to give many details, but she had been able to hit the highlights of her homelife, her time at the Academy, her first contracts, her reunion with her siblings, her capture and time as an Eskau, and finally, her return to the human cities.

Wow… that’s a lot when thought of all together like that.

-Well, it did take you a while to convey it. I don’t think I’ve heard you talk that much… ever.-

I suppose that’s true.

Nadro had listened throughout, only interrupting the once. Even then, he seemed to have chosen carefully, and only interjected at a natural pause.

Early on, he had pulled out a slate and writing implement, seemingly taking notes as Tala monologued.

Even with the writing, he had maintained a good amount of eye contact, easily conveying that he was listening intently without staring her down.

Now that Tala was done, he took a few moments, glancing at his notes occasionally, but also looking out the window once again. Finally, he nodded to himself.

“Thank you for sharing all that you did. I cannot fully understand all that you have experienced. It is possible that no one alive can, despite the horrors of this world. Even so, I have heard you, and I appreciate the vulnerability and forthrightness.”

He then fell silent once again.

For some reason, Tala felt a wave of relief. As she considered, she realized that she’d been afraid he would immediately try to fix her, or tell her that he knew what she’d gone through, or try to get details from her, or any number of other things.

He hadn’t.

He had simply listened.

“Thank you”—she took a sip of her refreshed tea—“for listening.”

He smiled and nodded again. “Of course, Mistress.”

There was another long moment of silence.

Nadro seemed to be contemplating, before he finally decided what to say, “So, there are several things that we can do, now.”

“Oh?” Tala felt herself tense slightly. Is he going to try to ‘fix’ me, now?

The look in his eyes was one of utter sincerity. “First, you could tell me what you want to accomplish, and I can advise you.”

Tala grunted at that, but she felt herself relax just a bit. That doesn’t sound too bad, though I don’t know what I actually want…

He smiled. “We could also simply schedule to meet up again and talk further. I am happy to listen to anything that you want to discuss.”

She shrugged. That would probably be nice, but it didn’t seem like what she needed.

“I could also give you my opinion of one or two things that I believe might help you.”

Tala sighed and nodded. There it was, an attempt to fix her, but… somehow, it didn’t feel that way. Rather, it felt like a friend offering advice, rather than someone trying to ‘make her right.’ That actually sounded relieving. “Honestly, I feel like I’m so deep in this that I don’t know where to start.”

“So, would you like us to try that last option, then?”

She smiled. Kind of him to double check. “Yes. Please.”

He smiled. “In that case, I have two suggestions.”

Tala sat up a bit straighter, leaning forward just slightly.

“From your story, my understanding is that you have an Archive attached division within your mind. You called her your alternate interface, and Alat is the name she prefers.”

-Well, he did hear at least some of what you said.-

It would be pretty hard for someone to hear my story without knowing who and what you are.

-That’s fair.-

“I do. What of her?”

“I have something similar, though he goes by Retson.” A small smile pulled at the man’s lips, likely due to some personal knowledge regarding the name. “If you are willing, I think that Alat and Retson should speak via the Archive. It shouldn’t cause any disruption to you or me, and it will help your alternate interface process as well.”

Tala shrugged again. “I have no issue with that. Let me check.”

Alat?

-Sure? Might be interesting.-

Don’t let him convince you to give me the boot, eh?

Alat sent a huff. -Of course not, Tala.-

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Good, I will set up that communication.”

-Done!-

Tala smiled. “Seems like it’s done.”

“It is. Archive connections are a wonder.” He smiled, seemingly at a simple joy.

-Oh… this guy is exactly like Nadro.- There was a minute pause. -Ha! This should be fun.-

Tala stretched her neck slightly to either side, growing hesitant again. “What was the second thing?”

Nadro leaned forward, seeming to purposely relax as he set his hands on his own knees. “My advice would be to confront Tali directly, and deal with that splinter of your mind once and for all.”

Tala stiffened. “Why?”

He gave her an understanding smile. “You have a segregated part of your mind that you absolutely reject. Holding that within yourself isn’t healthy or good for your long-term health and growth.” He leaned back and took a sip from his own mug. “In a sense, we are each many different people. Who we are with one group versus another. Who we are in battle. Who we are when holding a child. But they are all us. We cannot divorce them from ourselves or from each other. We cannot reject who we are. A warrior should be gentle with a babe. Do you know what that means?”

“Not hurting the child?”

He chuckled. “Quite, yes. But gentleness, specifically? Do you know what that means?”

“Soft?”

“Some would say that, yes. But in truth, gentleness is strength under control. If you don’t have strength, you cannot keep it under control, thus you cannot be gentle. So, the warrior is strong whether on the battlefield or when holding his infant. In both places he acts differently, but in both places he is using his strength in a controlled manner to accomplish what he wishes. He is the same person, though he acts differently.”

Tala frowned but nodded slowly.

“Tali is not you. She is, in theory, someone that you could have been, but you are not her. You are no more her than an actress in a play is the character they pretend to be.”

“What’s your point?” Tala was shifting, a bit uncomfortable.

“What would you say to an actress who had divided her own mind, so that she could create a part of herself that believed she actually was that character?”

She chuckled nervously. “That sounds… a bit extreme.”

He smiled at that. “True, I suppose. Would you advise her to keep that segregation? After the play was over? After the story was done, and she would never be asked to play that part again?”

Tala didn’t answer, and Nadro seemed content to wait.

She had finished another cup of her tea before she finally answered.

“The segregation should be let go.”

He nodded but still asked, “How come?”

“Because it is a lie; it is a seed of falsehood that can grow and fester if left in place.”

Nadro’s eyebrows rose. “That is fairly harsh language.”

“It is a harsh reality.” Tala felt her resolve firm. “Allowing a lie, a false identity to remain sequestered in my own mind will do nothing good for me.”

He took another drink.

In the silence, Tala felt more stir that she wanted to say, “What could have been doesn’t matter, does it? I am not Tali, no matter how much I pretended to be, no matter how many people knew me as her. It wasn’t really me that they knew, but the character I was pretending to be. The lie that I put forward because I didn’t feel I could be the real me, the me that exists, grounded in reality.”

He smiled sadly and continued to wait.

“I don’t want to be her. Though parts of her are in me, the core of who she was isn’t. I can’t let that lie form me, neither positively by embracing it, nor negatively by rebelling against the similarities. Either would be treating the character—the lie—as if it were real.”

After another lengthy pause, Nadro leaned forward. “So? What would you like to do?”

“I want to tell her the lie of her own existence, then break down the division between us, excise the false memories, and recontextualize what I experienced while forced to be her.”

There was another pregnant pause as Tala felt tears building in her eyes.

“I want to tell her how much I hate her for what I had to do because of her. I want to tell her I’m sorry that she was a lie. I...”—she swallowed and wiped away her tears. She hadn’t cried in the retelling, but this was striking much closer to her heart—“I want to tell her that I forgive her. My suffering wasn’t her fault, even though she was an indirect contributor. I want to eliminate the last stains of Be-thric from my mind.”

Nadro’s smile was full of empathy as he continued to listen.

Tala laughed and wiped away some more tears. “I’m sorry. That was… that was a lot.”

“Mistress Tala. You never need to apologize for the truth, and I think what you’ve said is a deep truth in your heart. Thank you.”

She smiled and shrugged. “I’ve taken your whole morning.”

“I set it aside for you, Mistress. I do have an appointment after lunch, but I can postpone it if necessary.”

Tala waved that notion away. “No, no. This has been… good… I think.”

He smiled. “I agree. I have enjoyed getting to know you, Mistress Tala.” He stood. “Would you like to meet up again?”

Tala stood as well, setting her cup to the side. She frowned for a moment, then nodded and smiled again. “Yes. I think I would like that.”

“I’m glad. I trust that Retson and Alat can set something up for us?” He tilted his head to the side for a moment, then nodded.

Tala gave a shallow bow. “Thank you. Thank you for your time, and thank you for listening.”

“Absolutely. It’s more than my job, Mistress. We must care for one another if we are to thrive.”

With a thought, Tala caused the door out of Kit to appear behind Nadro.

He gave her a shallow bow, taking one last, long look out the window. “Stunning, truly. Few have mastered the art of dimensional space creation like the arcanes, at least not since the restoration.”

With a shake of his head, and a last smile sent her way, he turned towards the doorway out like he’d known it was there all along.

Tala hesitated.

Before he could leave, she decided to go for it, “If I may ask?”

Nadro stopped with his hand on the doorknob. He didn’t turn back. “Yes, Mistress?”

“How advanced are you? I don’t see any inscriptions on you, nor can I sense your gate or aura at all. I don’t sense a through-spike, nor any other form of concealment. I’ve never come across such perfect magical control.”

He smiled, turning towards her then, and bowed deeply. “Thank you, Mistress Tala. That is an incredible compliment, especially from you, now that I know your story.”

She shrugged. “It’s just the truth.”

“Even so.” He hesitated for a moment. “You know, someone with my level of control can fake any level of advancement, even to magesight as advanced as yours.”

It was her turn to grin. “Ahh, but you said there was no place for deception with you.”

He laughed then, obvious smile lines and crow’s feet showing on his face along with the genuine mirth. “I did, didn’t I?”

Tala waited, taking a cue from him.

He waited too, smiling, but finally, he nodded. “I am who I am, Mistress Tala. I think you, as much as anyone, will be able to accept that.”

Without another word, his aura was suddenly visible.

Tala’s eyes widened, and she felt herself tremble.

Kit quaked, seemingly also able to sense the man.

Before she could recover to respond with anything, Master Nadro had hidden his aura once more, and exited Kit, closing the door behind himself.

Tala sunk backwards into her chair.

Master Nadro was decidedly human, he bore every hallmark that she knew to look for.

She had checked, because unlike most humans she knew, he lacked a gate.

Even so, her verification had been reflexive, faster than thought, her conscious mind frozen at the color of the aura presented to her.

Indigo. And simply because of her enhanced vision and Alat’s ability to compare, she’d been able to see, Indigo with hints of violet. He’s Ascending.

-No. He doesn’t have a gate, Tala. He would need to advance as the arcanes do.-

Hallowed… She’d been right before, he didn’t have any inscriptions, but he didn’t need them. At least, he didn’t need them anymore.

In the brief unveiling, she’d seen his natural magics thick with power and detail. The dimensions of magic around the man were carved as deeply as any she’d ever glimpsed, though she couldn’t interpret them at all.

There had been so, so much in that brief glimpse that as Tala processed through all of it, she didn’t notice noon come and go.

It was mid-afternoon before she shook herself free of her rumination and stood once more.

-Are you ready?-

Tala nodded to herself. She could deal with the existential questions brought up by finding such a powerful human later. Tala already had thousands of questions, but it was not the time. Most of them likely overlapped in one way or another, regardless.

Yes. It is time to deal with Tali.

Less than a minute later, Tala was sitting on the hill she’d occupied the previous night.

-I believe I can do what you’re thinking.-

Good. Let’s do this.

Alat used the same method that allowed her to show Tala books that weren’t really there to create a duplicate of Tala in her own vision.

No, not a duplicate. Tali.

The woman sat with closed eyes, her posture subtly different than Tala’s own. Her head tilted down just a bit, showing default subservience. At the same time, her shoulders were a bit straighter, her confidence more prevalent and obvious than it was for Tala.

-We’re ready for your part.-

Tala nodded, moving a bloodstar to hover in the center of the apparition’s head. She then mirrored her perspective onto the bloodstar and handed access to and control of that perspective over to Alat.

Alat, in turn, activated the part of their mind that was Tali and passed the perspective to the false personality.

Tali’s eyes snapped open, immediately focusing on Tala. They widened in shock, but just for a moment.

The Eskau had a phantom of Flow in her hand in an instant, even as she lunged to plant the blade through Tala’s throat.

Tala didn’t react as the weapon passed harmlessly through her. Fascinating. Could you make me feel that?

-Now is hardly the time, Tala. This is harder than you might assume, maintaining the illusion for you both.-

Fine, fine.

“Tali.”

The woman stopped, looking down at her weapon in confusion.

“Sit. There is much we need to talk about.”

The Eskau glared but dropped into a seated position. Tala could practically hear what the woman was thinking.

-Oh! I could let you hear, if you want.-

Tala almost said, ‘Yes.’ but that could be confusing, and it would be against the spirit of what she was trying to do. No, but thank you.

“What magics have you worked to protect yourself from me, imposter?”

Tala sighed. “I am Tala. You and I are the same person, Tali. More accurately, I am the person who was kidnapped and erased so that Be-thric could create you.”

Tali laughed. “Master has no need of disloyal creatures, and anyone willing to say such a lie cannot be considered loyal.”

“Be-thric is dead.”

Tali paled. “What? That is… no. That’s not possible.”

“By my hand. Or, as you would see it, our hand.”

She flushed red with anger. “Liar. I would never hurt him.”

They had kept that memory locked away from Tali, as there really was no reason to try to reconcile it for the fake personality, given Tala had never intended to use her again. Please let her see the memory.

Tali gasped, eyes widening again and the wash of color in her cheeks draining away. “Lies. Horrid, obviously false lies.”

Tala shrugged, sighing with deep weariness that she’d not really noticed creeping up on her. “I don’t need you to believe me. I don’t need anything from you. I don’t need you at all.”

Tali growled but didn’t say anything—seemingly quite off balance still—before Tala continued.

“I conjured you up—”

-Excuse me, you?-

Do you really think that it will make things easier if I tell her about you?

-Fair…-

“As I was saying, I conjured you up for very specific purposes, and nothing more.”

She narrowed her gaze, obviously wary. “What would those be?”

“To say goodbye, and to tell you that I’m sorry that you were created to be abused and subjugated. Your existence was a lie from the beginning. You are a lie, created to control me. Nothing more.”

Tali opened her mouth, rage building on her features, but Tala lifted her hand, and Tali was unable to speak.

Thank you.

-Hey, this is easier on me.- Alat sent a shrug.

“We will not meet again.” There was a long pause while the other woman silently raged. Tala knew that she would be heard when she spoke, despite Tali’s actions, “I forgive you, Tali. You were as much a victim as I ever was. I forgive you.” Tala gave a soft, mournful smile. “Goodbye.”

The apparition vanished, and Tala felt something break down within her mind.

In that moment, everything that Tali had experienced slammed into Tala’s consciousness, and the memories rushed through her as if she were back in that time, again. She was a passenger, forced to watch as she acted out a horrid play.

Before, she’d had the memories there, separated and isolated. She could reference them, but she was only able to access them in a theoretical sense.

Now?

Now, Tala lived them.

She threw her head back and screamed at the sky, feeling every emotion, every lie, every death.

She screamed, and the world within Kit trembled at the force of it.

A note from JLMullins

BONUS CHAPTER: This is where the ninth Bonus Chapter comes in for allPatrons.

(That's right, even the $1 tier!) 🎉

Chapter: 286 Bonus - Cazor, Alex, Decate, & Harcraes

These are secondary POVs that add to the worldbuilding but are not required for the story.

If you're looking for something fun to read, take a look at the First Law of Cultivation.

You just might like it. 😁

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

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Chapter: 287 - Alternates

Tala laid on her back on the slope, tears streaming from her eyes, across her jaw, and down her neck.

Tali’s memories… now her memories, were fresh in her mind.

She could feel the bones broken under Tali’s fists. She could see the hurt her words had brought as she lorded her position over the lessers of the House of Blood.

If the Eskau were the siege engines of a major House, the candidates were the street level enforcers. Tala had done her best to not dwell on those parts of Tali’s time, but they were there.

Tala had undoubtedly killed far more than Tali had, but Tali was responsible for more direct suffering.

She found herself huffing a laugh. What sort of justification is that? ‘I may have killed people, but she made them cry!’

-A self-defensive one.- Alat’s tone was soft.

Yeah… Tala knew what she’d done. She’d killed dozens, maybe hundreds directly. Probably dozens.

-Do you want me to count?-

Absolutely not.

It was nearly sunset, and even though it had taken but a moment to relive Tali’s memories—integrating them into herself and dissolving that personality forever—it had taken hours to work through the emotional fallout.

It was obvious why Tali had been so devoted to Be-thric.

He’d been good to her.

Tala had known that, but there was a difference between knowing a thing and experiencing it herself.

Still, that obviously didn’t offset what he had done, not even a little.

There was a certain sadness, however, in seeing what might have been, even if there was no realistic way it could have come to pass.

I need to get out of my own head.

-Yeah. That would be good.-

Tala really wanted to spar, but she couldn’t.

Huh… would that work?

-Oh, you think a lot of me, don’t you… yeah, I think I can make it work.-

Tala felt herself grin with hope in the possible distraction. With a simple mental flex, she was sitting just to the side of her training circle, beside her sanctum home.

She relaxed her control over her aura, letting it extend to fill the whole surrounding area.

She was now of a power density that simply being within her aura would be incredibly uncomfortable for a mundane. It might even be damaging to them, if they lingered. Though, Tala still wasn’t clear exactly how it would be damaging.

Within her extended aura, she moved two bloodstars to hover within the sparring ring, as if they were in the place of the heads of two combatants.

-Who do you want to fight?-

Who would be easiest for you? This is a new thing.

-Only slightly new. I’ve been doing similar things for a while.-

Tala scoffed. Only in the loosest of senses. Who would be the easiest?

-You.-

Alright, then. She smiled. Let’s do that.

To Tala’s eyes, two identical women appeared, encompassing the bloodstars.

Tala mirrored her perspective onto each bloodstar, passing one set to Alat and keeping the other.

She then closed her eyes, even as Alat slowly cut her off from her own senses.

It was slightly panic inducing, because even while she could see and hear through the bloodstar as if she were now standing in the ring, she couldn’t feel anything.

Moreover, it felt like she was floating, weightless and untethered.

-One moment… There.-

Tala suddenly had the phantom sensations of a body once again, she felt her feet on the ground and gravity pulling her downward.

But she couldn’t move.

With practiced mastery of self, Tala kept herself from panicking.

-Gah… this is… This is not easy. One moment.-

Tala felt something click into place, and she lifted an illusory hand to examine it.

In every way that she could sense, it was her own hand and her own eyes that she used to examine it.

“This is amazing.”

“Thank you.” The other Tala smiled, tilting her head experimentally. “This is… interesting.” Then, the woman grinned and placed her hand over her heart. “In fact, this is a lot.”

Tala grinned in return. “You’re ridiculous. But in all seriousness, are you going to be alright, Alat?”

Alat shrugged. “I think so. There’s an odd positive resonance, once everything is established. It’s easier to maintain a full immersion—a full body and suite of senses—than just a part. There’s a nice harmony that helps keep it working. I also don’t think I could do this without the bloodstar anchors.”

“I suppose I can see that.”

“Even so”—Alat looked a bit abashed—“if you were any less magically dense, I wouldn’t be able to do this… And you were right. I couldn’t do this with anyone else, not yet.”

“After Refining?”

“Probably, yeah.”

“Fascinating.” Just to be safe, Tala started funneling more power to Alat’s scripts, and those that enhanced Tala’s own mind, giving Alat more to work with across the board.

“Retson says that this should be beyond us right now.”

Tala hesitated. “You’re talking with Master Nadro’s alternate interface?”

“Off and on. It’s odd to convey what it’s like for me.” Alat shrugged. “He’s always there, open to instant communication. It makes it so I can talk with him if I have a question. Interestingly, he says that after you Refine, we can work together to let you and Master Nadro speak as if you are in person, no matter where either of you are, so long as you are both within Archive range. It’s similar to this actually.” She gestured at herself. “But with only one body, and I have someone else helping me."

“We still need to enhance our Archive access range.” Tala bit her lip. “It’s a bit silly that we haven’t done so already.”

“Shall I ask Mistress Ingrit to make the arrangements? I assume you’d prefer to leverage some of that collateral, than be limited to our gold?”

Tala quirked a smile. “Only the best for you.”

Alat grinned. “Why thank you, Mistress Tala.”

“Now.” Tala fell into a fighting stance. “Are we going to just stand here all night, or will we fight?”

Alat hesitated. “Do you want your full capacities, or a subset? I can try to mimic the iron manipulation, but I don’t know that we understand it well enough to guarantee accuracy. I’d hate to misrepresent it and train us in something that isn’t true or accurate. That’s a good way to die.”

Tala nodded. “Very well, everything but that.”

“Let’s get to it, then.”

Tala glanced towards where she was actually sitting off to one side, across the slowly flowing water that surrounded the training arena. Her body rested there, eyes closed, body relaxed in a simple seated position, hands relaxing on her own knees.

I look peaceful.

Alat lunged forward, and Tala was drawn into the fight.

***

After about an hour of sparring, they had to stop for a break.

Tala was using as many void-channels as she could maintain to dump power into Alat’s scripts as well as her mental enhancements, and even so, the whole thing was straining Tala’s mind along with Alat’s core magics.

She was sore. She knew that the feeling was entirely fake, but Alat had been giving Tala a good beating. Since Alat knew her fighting style and matched her in capacity, Tala found herself on the losing end more often than not.

The alternate interface swore that she wasn’t cheating. It was just that Tala had never fought anyone who matched her so perfectly, and Alat had spent months trying to find holes in Tala’s fighting style to help her fill them.

Most were, indeed, now mitigated, but Alat was left with an incredible understanding of Tala’s knee-jerk reactions, instincts, and tendencies.

Tala, on the other hand, had no idea how Alat fought, because Alat never had.

The results had been educational.

That said, Alat admitted that she would probably do worse than Tala against almost anyone other than her. Well, she would do worse unless she pulled from Tala’s own experience more heavily, which meant the same thing.

But she couldn’t do that now. Now, Alat was exhausted, or whatever the equivalent was for an alternate interface.

-Can I send the diagnostics to Mistress Holly?-

She’ll get them next time we visit, right?

-Of course, but if she has any easy updates or enhancements, I want them sooner rather than later.-

Tala laughed. Sure.

She opened her eyes—her real eyes—and stood.

There was no unsteadiness, nor disorientation. It simply felt as if she’d been fighting, sat down, and then stood up once more.

The soreness faded as if it were being healed away, Alat mirroring the feeling perfectly.

That really is incredible, Alat. Will it train my muscle memory as well?

-Oh, absolutely. I don’t have the power to process every signal coming from your brain, parse it, and enact it at the speed of thought.-

So… what do you do?

-I catch the nerve signals when they try to leave your neural network, which is my domain by the way, and based on where they are, the intention is clear. Muscle memory is a misnomer anyways, it’s really training your nervous system, and that fires just fine through this training.-

Tala grunted. “Amazing.”

-I am, aren’t I?- There was only a moment’s pause. -Now, please sleep? That was… unusually straining on that very system. I expect we’ll sleep longer than usual.-

It’s about six hours until dawn. Is that enough time?

-Yeah, it should be.-

Tala wished to be in her bedroom, and she was. Less than a minute later, she was unclad and in her bed, luxuriating in the comfort even as Alat helped her fall nearly instantly asleep.

* * *

Tala woke as the sun rose, feeling both refreshed and a bit… hungover?

-Mentally sore.- Alat groaned. -The term you’re looking for is mentally sore. Ow…-

Are you alright?

-I think so. I believe we found a portion of our training that’s been lacking: Mainly, me. Up until now, we’ve only found things I could do, or things I couldn’t. I think this might be the first task we’ve come across that I think I can improve in over time, which isn’t simply a matter of figuring out a better way.- After a moment’s hesitation, Alat added, -Though, there will be some of that too.-

Well. That’s good, right? Progress through effort?

-…Yeah… I’d just gotten used to you working hard and being sore for us to improve… I suppose I can start doing it again.- Alat sighed within Tala’s head.

Well, let me know if there is anything that I can do to help.

-Oh, I can assure you that I will.-

Tala laughed at that as she stood, her clothing growing over her in a wave.

Breakfast?

-Breakfast.- There was a pregnant pause before Alat added, -Coffee?-

Tala was sorely tempted, and Alat would know that, but she shook her head. No, Alat. Bad. Mistress Holly said we need to be done with that.

Alat groaned. -This is so much worse experiencing it firsthand…-

Well, let’s go get some good food, then. Simple, full breakfast?

-Tomatoes, fruit, and sausage? Plus a few layer-pastries?-

That sounds excellent.

* * *

The next few days passed as before, with the notable addition of Alat working heavily to improve her ability with the alternate experience simulations.

Before Tala really registered the passing of time, she was walking towards the home in which Mistress Aproa was looking after her great grandmother, Mistress Odera.

My former overseer on caravan trips… I still need to drop by the Caravaneer’s Guild.

-Yes. Yes you do.-

Tala found them both in the surprisingly large garden behind the small house, which seemed to be composed of a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and small sitting area.

The garden was immaculately maintained, but in a way that made it feel more alive—more natural—rather than like something wholly artificial or sculpted.

When Tala arrived, the three of them walked to a cleverly designed seating area with three benches.

Tala sat on one, and the two women sat on another, leaving the third unoccupied.

The spot was shaped and situated such that nothing truly manmade could be seen, save the paths and the benches themselves.

Where houses rose over the garden walls, trees were situated and cultivated to hide them entirely even deep in winter, which was impressive in its own right.

Tala could sense magics that blocked outside sounds as well.

All together, the results gave the sense of being out in the wilds, even though they remained in the city.

“Thank you for coming to visit me, dear girl.” Mistress Odera was hunched in on herself, but she was smiling and her voice was strong, familiar.

“Of course. I’m sorry I couldn’t come earlier.”

The older woman waved her away. “You’ve been through much, and you needed time to acclimate to your return.”

Tala smiled and nodded, letting the silence stand as she looked around, enjoying the winter plants. There were a few songbirds flitting around, and Tala saw magically heated birdhouses scattered around the garden.

They wouldn’t be warm by human standards, but it seemed that magics would keep their temperature from ever getting below freezing even without the nests situated within.

“Your garden is lovely, Mistress.”

“Thank you. My late husband was quite the gardener. It took him thirty years, but he finally got me to join him.” She smiled contentedly. “I don’t know why I fought him for so long. Those last thirty odd years, gardening together, were a joy.”

“I don’t believe you’ve ever said, when did he pass?”

“Oh, nearly forty years ago or so.”

So, she’s at least a hundred and twenty, give or take?

-Give or take, yeah.-

Tala paused, letting herself feel what the woman had said before she responded, “I’m sorry for your loss, but I’m glad you had so much time with him.”

“That’s kind of you, dear.” Mistress Odera smiled. “You’ve learned the value of silence and taking a moment to consider. You’ve paid heavily for it, but that is wisdom many never acquire.”

Tala felt herself smile as well. “Thank you.”

They chatted off and on about nothing in particular, simply enjoying the time and garden.

Mistress Odera had her legs wrapped in a thick blanket, and Tala could see magical warming stones sewn into the inner lining in a few places, helping to keep the older woman comfortable despite the snow and chill.

They spent a couple of hours together. Mistress Aproa participated occasionally, but not very often.

She was mostly there to be with her great grandmother.

Apparently, other family members dropped by occasionally, but none did so while Tala was there.

Tala finally took a deep breath and asked the critical question, “How are you? Really?”

Mistress Odera gave a sad smile. “I am… fading, my dear girl. I long to be done with this world and join my Torbin, and my little ones.”

Through their conversation, Tala had learned that most of Mistress Odera’s family had not been Mages. Only one of her children still lived, and while she had many grandchildren, not many were in better shape than she, herself.

Tala had known the gist of most of it, but it was good to get the details all together like this. It was good to actually ask and hear the answer.

Mistress Aproa’s generation had a larger number of Mages, as well as many, many children, though Mistress Aproa was an exception in that regard. Even so, those little ones were simply too far removed from their great, great grandmother.

Mistress Odera missed her family, those who had passed many decades earlier.

“It is the curse upon humanity that they don’t warn you of. There are only two options, Mistress Tala. Either you die, leaving loved ones to grieve over your passing, or you live long enough to grieve over their passing instead.”

-That’s a dark way of looking at it.-

True, though.

-Unless you all die together? Score one for ritual, group suicide?-

No. Don’t even joke about that.

-Fine… What about this? You could slowly lose the ability to care and to love before anyone dies?-

That is death of another kind, is it not?

Alat didn’t have a quick response for that.

“Mistress Odera. While I was gone, I came across artificially created consciousnesses, integrated in and around founts.”

The Mage grunted. “I had heard something of that, yes.”

“We can also make a copy of your mind. If you hold on, we could bind your mind, as it is now, to your own fount, and you could live on. You could help others and see the next age, whatever it may bring.”

The Mage shook her head. “Why would I want that, child? I no longer even wish to claim a portion of this world. I see the folly in that now, bless my earlier foolishness. I have already jumped through the bureaucratic hoops…”—she glanced down at her own legs and gave a mirthful smile—“metaphorically of course. I have gone through the process to ensure that my fount will be freed from Zeme. I will pass on and be with those I have lost. They have been patient enough, my dear. My time has been long, and full, and good. I am ready when it ends.”

Tala shifted a bit uncomfortably. “What medium will your Archon Star be?”

Mistress Odera perked up at that. “Now, that is something interesting. Apparently, when it reaches the point of spontaneous creation, I will form it in the water within my own body.”

“Like I did with my blood?”

“Very similarly, yes. It was long theorized, but until you proved a liquid medium actually worked, it was believed that even close observation was missing some critical part. Now, since you proved it so blatantly, all the data they’ve collected over the years makes much more sense, and many theories are clicking into place.”

“Wait… They knew, but they didn’t know?”

“If you saw a stone change into a puppy, would you believe it to be natural? Or would you assume you missed some act of magic?”

“Ahh, I see. So, by proving that anyone can use a liquid medium, I showed that there doesn’t have to be ‘other magics at play.’”

“Precisely.”

“If I may ask… why wait? Why wait for the Star? Why not find an alternate method and leave at a time of your own choosing?”

The old Mage huffed a laugh. “Because life is precious. I’ve no desire to die, but I’ve no desire to forcefully extend my days. My time will come soon enough. There’s no reason to hasten its coming.”

Tala nodded slowly. She didn’t really understand the sentiment, but she could see that it made sense to Mistress Odera.

“Now, back to happier things. Tell me, what sort of mischief are you getting up to these days?”

That brought a smile to Tala’s lips, and she leaned in to chat with her former mentor.

A note from JLMullins

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Discord: https://discord.gg/FddACAjUrR

The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Please let the world know what you think of this story by leaving reviews on Amazon!

They help a TON with visibility on the site and allow me to keep writing and making these books.

Multi-Region Review Links!

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https://geni.us/bound-review

Chapter: 288 - A Fragile Peace

Tala left when Mistress Odera needed to lay down for an afternoon nap.

It had been an incredibly pleasant time, even with the morbid undertones.

-Mistress Ingrit has things ready for the enhancement of our Archive access range.-

Oh! Wonderful.

-She has a couple of questions, however. I could have answered them, but I thought you’d want to participate, directly.-

Sure.

-She wants to know what range you were hoping for?-

I’d like to be able to visit the moon one day. Tala glanced up at the portion of the moon that she could see. Even with her incredibly enhanced vision, she still couldn’t see the monsters on the moon that Master Jevin had told her about. Maybe with a telescope? Or maybe he was pulling my leg.

Alat giggled happily. -That would be pretty fun. Alright. She’s… she’s a bit flabbergasted if her word choice is any indication. She’s wondering if that’s really wise, and haven’t you had quite enough insane adventures for the time being. I’m assuring her that these plans are for the future, and that you just want to make sure to never be out of range again. Why have to upgrade more than once?-

Tala smiled as she began walking down the street.

-Alright. Apparently, there’s a way to give infinite range? Wait, that can’t be right. Hang on.-

She took in the sights, not having spent much time in this portion of the living district.

Tala paused, noticing the oddity of two pastry shops, side by side.

What kind of name is the ‘Lord Donut?’ She shook her head. Apparently, it was the moniker for some insane creation, meant to drive up business. It looked to be a donut, stuffed inside another donut and fried again, several times? The thing was massive, and apparently ridiculously fluffy.

Rather than competing directly, the neighboring shop seemed to have decided to go for a different audience. Their advertisement was for a lighter, more delicate dessert.

It wasn’t glazed; instead, it was frosted with innumerable strands of varyingly caramelized white sugar. That sugar almost looked like hair or fur, but not in an unappetizing way. The caramelization process had left the strands white, black, and a deep almost red color.

They’d dubbed their creation the ‘Princess Donut.’

It was quite lovely and well presented. It just needs a tiara.

Tala shook her head.

Lord Donut vs Princess Donut. She laughed. Well, the shops seem to be doing well, so I guess it works for them.

-Alright, it seems like she was being literal. In her words, this is extreme, but with a few mergings, our Archive ring can be split, and half left with them in the Library. The connection between the two pieces is our soul, so there’s no question of distance. If you die, the ring in their possession will dissolve. So, we’ll want to update our death clause. Of course, they’ll have to move it when this city wanes, but they have procedures for that.-

This is… too perfect. Why didn’t we do this earlier?

-That’s the thing… the material components, along with the housing within the Library, would run nearly five-thousand gold.-

Tala stutter-stepped, physically hitching at the amount. What the rust?

Alat continued before Tala could object too much. -But! With the books you’ve offered up to the Library, that cost can be covered. We won’t have much goodwill to draw on from them after this, but apparently bringing home an entire Arcane Library made them very happy with you.-

Tala swallowed reflexively. Well, we’ll never be stranded, outside of communication distance again.

-That’s for sure.-

So, how does it work, again?

-She didn’t explain beyond simply stating: A soul is always in the same place as itself.-

Huh. Can it be blocked?

-Not without killing us, no.- Alat hesitated. -Though, Mistress Ingrit did say that she didn’t really know how being in the Doman-Imithe or the void would affect it. In theory, there shouldn’t be any issue, but she said that to her knowledge it’s never been tested, specifically.-

That’s fair, I suppose. Wait… why couldn’t we just leave the ring at the Library? Why go through all this?

-So, I asked that. Apparently, while any soulbound item is still connected to you, using it at a great distance isn’t usually possible. In this case, the item, itself, will be in both places, the part we use will remain on your finger, and the part connected to the Archive will remain in the Library. I’m vastly oversimplifying the already simplified explanation she gave me. Suffice it to say, this is the only real option.-

Huh… alright then. So, to the Constructionist Guild?

-Yes, Mistress Ingrit will meet us there, and she will take the other half of our ring when we’re done.-

Less than an hour later, Tala walked out of the Constructionists’ Guildhall, waved goodbye to Mistress Ingrit, and found herself standing off to one side, a little bewildered.

It was done. Apparently, five thousand gold had been used, and she and Alat had infinite range on her Archive access.

That went off without a hitch. It was practically… boring.

-It’s nice to have something go so easily for us, for once, right?-

Tala lifted her right hand, willing the ring to fade into visibility.

It was now half as wide, turning from a somewhat hefty bit of jewelry to one that was almost delicate. Not that I ever let it be seen…

She shook her own head, and the ring faded from physicality; even the sensation of it being on her finger vanished.

This just feels anticlimactic. In theory, that was incredibly expensive, and our isolation in the arcane cities would have been solved instantly if we had this…

-But now, it’s just done. Is that it?-

Exactly. I feel like I should have had to kill a dragon to get this. Or something equally insane. She sighed.

-Like a Pillar? Or invading a major arcane House and stealing an entire library from their hold?-

Tala grinned at that. Fair, I suppose. I just don’t feel like those things are directly connected to this in any way, but I guess that’s just me being a bit silly.

-I can understand it. You’ve a bad taste in your mouth because the House of Blood ‘just gave’ you things, and this feels a bit like that.-

…yeah. Tala narrowed her eyes. Are you getting this from Retson?

-This? No, but he is very insightful.-

I would hope so, being attached to a Hallowed and all. How long has he been around?

-I haven’t asked how old the alternate interface is, but I get the feeling that it’s been a long time.-

Tala nodded to herself, then grimaced. We should deal with our contract with the Carvanneer’s Guild, shouldn’t we...

-That would probably be wise, yeah.-

Thank you for not pushing.

-Of course! I am happy to not do things whenever you have need.-

Tala huffed a laugh as she set off toward that guild.

As she walked, she opened Kit and called in to Terry. “Hey, want to come with me to hopefully see Lyn?”

Terry trilled excitedly and flickered out onto her shoulder before hunkering down.

He’d come out every so often over the past days, but he usually declined her offers.

He had refused to come out and see Mistress Odera, and Tala thought she understood.

Animals didn’t ‘see off’ the elderly. It just wasn’t a part of who and what they were.

It would have been less than ideal if he decided to attack her in her garden, too.

-I don’t think he would have, but yes, I agree. That would have been bad.-

Terry cocked his head at her and let out a little squawk before headbutting her cheek and hunkering down once more.

“Yeah, yeah.” She reached up and scratched under the feathers of his neck.

He closed his eyes, leaning into her scratches and cooing happily.

“Thanks for coming out. I know this isn’t as much fun as being in the Wilds, or in the sanctum for that matter.”

He hesitantly cracked one eye to look her way. He then rolled that eye and began a condescending series of trills and squawks.

“Stop, stop. I get it.” She was chuckling. “It’s not bad to enjoy a time where we aren’t fighting for our lives. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Terry let out a contented exhale, bobbing once before he pushed into her hand once again.

Tala began scratching again and smiled. “You are quite wise, you know that?”

He trilled softly as if in obvious affirmation.

“Well, I’m grateful for it.”

They arrived at the Caravaneer's Guild and pushed in through the broad double doors before closing them firmly behind.

“Tala?”

Lyn was further back in the large room than she had been when Tala had first met her, but the woman still commanded a great view of the entrance. “Good afternoon, Lyn.”

The Archon leaned over, spoke to Kannis who had been sitting beside her, and then stood to come out from behind the counter. “Please, right this way.”

Tala followed, and as they walked, Terry let out a short squawk, and wiggled grumpily on her shoulder.

Lyn glanced back. “Hi, Terry. It’s good to see you, too.”

The terror bird preened, chirping happily.

“We’ll grab a back room. I assume this isn’t a social visit?”

“No… I figured I should deal with my contract.”

“And we here at the Caravan Guild appreciate that.”

“You’ve been more than patient.”

“Tala, think nothing of it. This shouldn’t be a concern.” As they passed an alcove with some food and beverages laid out, Lyn gestured. “Want anything?”

The coffee caught Tala’s eye, but she shook her head. “No, thank you.”

The room that Lyn led them to was reminiscent of the one in which Tala had renegotiated her contract previously.

“Will I have to meet with someone else? To ensure there’s no favoritism or bias?”

“That isn’t necessary in this case. One of the severability clauses will be invoked, and those are always thoroughly reviewed regardless, so we just need to talk through it, and make sure you don’t have any questions or concerns.”

“Oh. Well, that sounds much easier than what I was expecting.”

Lyn quirked a smile. “You figured we’d press you back into service, eh?”

Tala shrugged self-consciously. “The thought did cross my mind, yeah.”

The Guild representative pulled the door closed, and they both sat down. “Now, the clause that I believe we should discuss is the ‘Act of War’ clause. You were unable to fulfill your duties due to an act of war undertaken by one of the enemies of humanity. Do you agree with that assessment?”

Tala frowned. “I suppose? I mean, he didn’t attack humanity. He targeted me directly. So… actually no?”

Lyn arched an eyebrow. Then she leaned forward and placed her head in her own hands and sighed. “Tala… Why not?”

Tala shrugged. “Because? My understanding is that there is a fragile peace between humanity and the arcanes. Wouldn’t using ‘act of war’ to nullify a contract cause some issue?”

Lyn hesitated, lifting her head slightly. “I… I didn’t actually know that.”

“Oh… Yeah, apparently the humans and arcanes uncovered or created enough horrible things while trying to destroy each other that they had to ally to destroy all of those things and lock away those that couldn’t be so destroyed. They just sort of never went back to war after that was done.” Tala shrugged again.

Lyn frowned, blinking slowly as she processed that. “Then… I suppose I understand your hesitancy to agree that it was an act of war…” The woman grimaced. “Banditry?”

“That could cover it. Taken in the line of duty?” Tala grinned. “Payment due for time served?”

Lyn laughed. “Now that’s one way to think about it. Banditry would be a hard sell, though, because nothing from the caravan was taken, save you. We do have clauses in place in case of extreme injury—which wouldn’t apply—incapacitation—which might actually be the way to spin this—and trauma, rendering you unable to perform future routes.”

“Well, the trauma fits, but I’m definitely not an invalid. I could perform future routes, in theory. I was subjected to a magical condition that took me this long to recover and return from. Would that fit?”

“Yes!” Lyn manipulated her slate. “There’s a reference to the table of severity… Hmmm… it looks like they didn’t take into account being unable to find a healer. Cost of healing is covered, but you don’t have any direct expenses to submit for that… Hmm… ‘One obligated trip may be negated per three days of recovery required, at the choice of the Dimensional Mage.’”

Tala frowned. “That could be nine months, give or take, three months, or… a week? More, I suppose because I’m barred from even sparring. Combat is right out for the time being.”

Lyn nodded. “You performed a total of eighteen trips, sixteen since your renegotiation. You were on your nineteenth when you were… taken. With seventy contracted trips, that would leave you with fifty-one remaining in obligation.”

“So, one-hundred-fifty days due to the incapacitation and recovery would eliminate that?”

“Yes, and all time from time of affliction until full recovery is counted.”

“What if the time taken exceeds the number of trips covered by the contract? Am I to be paid out for harm incurred?”

Lyn huffed a laugh. “No. There is no such policy, and quite frankly, there doesn’t need to be. For basically anyone but you, to be taken out of commission for this long would be a death sentence. If you were crippled, we would pay out a severance, but you’re not, not permanently. Such is possible, but exceedingly rare. I think I’ve only seen it happen once, and I was a mageling at the time. I don’t really remember all the details, honestly, so I might be mistaken.”

“So?”

“So, I think that that is the right way to approach this. You were magically incapacitated while on the job, rendered unable to perform your duties or take on caravan routes for a protracted length of time. Per the contract, your time incapacitated and in recovery totals more than enough to negate all further required trips. Thank you for your service, Mistress Tala, and we hope that you consider us again, for your future employment needs.” Her eyes sparkled with barely-contained mirth.

“Yeah, I’ll agree to and confirm that.”

Lyn offered her the tablet, and Tala and the older Archon both confirmed the details. “The branch manager will have to review this to finalize the approval, but I don’t foresee any issues. You are free of any obligation.”

That hit Tala like a runaway wagon, and she rocked backwards, eyebrows rising. “Oh.”

Lyn frowned in concern. “Tala? Are you alright?”

“Yeah… yeah. I just… I just hadn’t thought of it that way.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve paid my debts. I’ve no active contracts. I… I have absolutely no obligations.”

“Is that… good?”

Tala bit her lip in thought. “I’m honestly not sure. What should I do with myself?”

“What you’ve been doing?” Lyn suggested helpfully.

Tala waved that off. “Until I’m Refined, of course, but what about after?”

“I suppose that’s up to you.”

She looked at her friend, frowning. “That’s… that’s terrifying.”

Lyn laughed. “I’d say get a job, but you’re practically independently wealthy at this point, and you could likely do anything you want. So? What do you want?”

“I think…” She thought about the ruins of the previous Arconaven. She thought about where Terry had come from; the plains with their moving villages; the great unpopulated northern part of the continent, supposedly the realm of gods and sovereigns; and of the cities she hadn’t seen, those under construction, and those in new terrains. I’ve never seen the coast, here. I’ve never seen a city finally fade or one spark to life. There is so much out there. “I think I want to see the wonders of the world.”

Lyn frowned, seeming concerned, but before she could comment, Tala continued.

“I want to be based here, but I don’t think I want to be locked in here.” She smiled to soften her words. “I don’t plan on taking multi-year expeditions, nor do I ever plan to be out of contact again.”

That seemed to mollify Lyn but only just. “If that’s what you really want… you won’t go alone, will you?”

Tala shrugged. “I hope not. If nothing else, I need some help within my sanctum.”

Oh. OH! She smiled as she realized that she could return to Alefast, Waning, and experience the dying of a city, then offer Adrill, Artia, and Brandon positions within her sanctum.

Two of them were gateless, so they wouldn’t hurt the space at all.

-Hey, that’s an idea… Rane and Master Grediv will be there, as well. It’s too bad that, we might have to see Furgal again, though…-

Eh, that could be avoided. Also, shouldn’t it be ‘Master Furgal?’ Isn’t he a Mage?

-If so, he doesn’t deserve the honorific… but we’re getting into the weeds. They might work for you, yeah.-

Honestly, now that I think about it, we could offer positions to any gateless. Right?

-So long as we had the space, sure. That would make us much like the villages, wouldn’t it?-

Just a bit, but if we actually get the teleportation pads working? We’d remain connected to the gated human cities.

Lyn grinned, shaking her head. “I can tell your mind is already working at it, but just to clarify, I hope you go with other powerful Archons, not just some people in your sanctum who can’t help you if you get in a bind. Now, be on your way, free agent. I’ll see you for dinner, but some of us still have to work for a living.”

Tala stood. “Thank you, Lyn. Truly. For… For everything.”

Lyn stood and gave her a quick, careful hug. “Absolutely, Tala. Any time at all.”

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 289 - Reality Shifted

Tala was sitting in one of the three chairs in Lyn’s sitting room, reading an illusory book, while Lyn and Kannis each read physical books.

Kannis’ seemed to be a dry text, by her demeanor. She was also taking a lot of notes as she read, which added to the impression that it was a book read out of obligation rather than for enjoyment.

Though, to be fair, I take notes on my favorite books, too…

-Her face says, ‘This is a chore to read.’-

There is that.

Lyn had been alternatively laughing and tilting her head in obvious thought. First, it moved one way, then the other, often accompanied by exhalations of interest or surprise.

She also seemed to be mouthing certain sentences, occasionally.

Truth be told, Tala wasn’t really reading. Instead, she was surreptitiously watching her friend because something fascinating was happening.

Lyn was Fusing.

Upon Tala’s return, Lyn had been barely a few steps above Bound, but it had been progressing rather well. Now, as Tala watched, the woman’s aura color was noticeably sliding from red further and further towards orange, and Lyn didn’t even seem to have noticed.

She was nearly all the way to true orange.

-This is fascinating. It’s sort of like when you confronted your family.-

But she’s just reading a book! This is ridiculous, Alat. How can reading a book be causing her to Fuse? How is that fair? Tala felt a bit petulant, but it did seem rather unequal.

-Well, first of all, you know that some Fuse the moment they become Bound, so this is far slower and less convenient than that. Second, her foundation is ‘words are power.’ Are you really surprised that reading can help her advance?-

But she’s been reading since we both became Bound. Why now?

-When she hits a pause point, or better yet, when she finishes Fusing, why not ask her? Besides, you can see the fluctuations in her magic as easily as I can. She’s doing something more than just reading, and you know it.-

Tala grimaced, then sighed to herself. Fine.

She returned her attention to her book but made sure to focus a mirrored perspective on her friend, so that she could analyze what was happening more later.

Nearly an hour later, Lyn seemed to reach the end of her book.

The older Archon let out a long breath, speaking to herself, “Well, that was truly amazing. I can’t say that I—”

Lyn gasped, arching backwards as power blossomed out of her.

It was instantly contained, channeled, and redirected back into Lyn’s body, but both the power and Lyn’s sudden movements were obvious.

Kannis yelped, closing her book and notebook and setting them aside, but before the girl could interfere, Tala held up a hand. “Wait. Open your magesight but do nothing else.”

Kannis hesitated, but after that barest of pauses, she nodded and complied.

Tala quirked a smile at her obedience and didn’t comment further.

A moment later, Lyn slumped down, groaning.

Just like the method of Fusing varied from person to person, the manner and experience of it did as well.

I can’t believe that I had to painstakingly crochet my very being together and some people just get to read a book…

Lyn sat up, covered in a cold sweat. “Oh, my. That was… that was intense.”

“Good book?” Tala gave her friend a falsely patronizing smile.

The older woman huffed a laugh. “Quite insightful, yes.”

“Clearly.”

“That’s not what I… Well, I suppose so. It was on the nature of power, non-magical power specifically. It had rather detailed, rational treatises on why certain people lead, why humanity as a whole is drawn towards certain decisions, and things like that.”

“And that helped you Fuse?”

Lyn’s eyes flicked to Kannis, and she frowned. “We can discuss that later, Tala. Kannis, can you tell me what you observed?”

Right… still hiding things from non-Archons… It did make sense, and she’d been foolish to disregard that. Kannis was still of a stage where the wrong information could spoil her potential for advancement, after all.

“Have you seen those mechanical sewing machines?” The girl still seemed a bit shaken by her master’s sudden movement, but she also seemed to be settling into question and answer mode.

“I have.” Lyn nodded.

“Well, it looked like your magic, your power, was working like one of those automated needles but an uncountable number of them, all over your body. I don’t know what it was stitching, but it seems like it did the work quickly and thoroughly.”

Huh, so she did have to do something similar?

-Yes, Tala. She had to Fuse in some manner to become Fused.-

Hush, you.

“Very good, Kannis. I am glad that you had the presence of mind to watch so closely.”

Kannis turned and bowed towards Tala. “Thank you, Mistress Tala, for the suggestion.”

Tala shrugged. “Sure. Some things are really helpful to see for yourself, even if you don’t have the context yet.”

Lyn sighed. “That was… surprisingly exhausting. Even with mental enhancements, splitting my concentration like that was a bit much.” She looked to Tala. “I don’t understand how you do it.”

“Practice? I’m always thinking of a few dozen things.”

-No, you simply don’t force yourself to stay on task. The most you manage, not including what I am working on, is two thoughts at any given time. From there, you simply allow whatever those two thoughts are to bounce around randomly and unhelpfully.-

I… huh. I suppose I didn’t really think about that.

Lyn simply grunted and shook her head. “I need to get some sleep. I’ll see you both tomorrow?”

Kannis bowed to her master. “Yes, Mistress Lyn. I hope you rest well.”

“Thank you, Kannis, you too.”

“Night, Lyn.”

“Goodnight, Tala.”

Lyn went to the back, and Tala stood. “Well, I should get some sleep too. Goodnight, Kannis.”

“Goodnight, Mistress Tala.”

Tala had tried to get the mageling to drop the honorific, but she hadn’t tried that hard. Honestly, Tala didn’t care enough to deal with it.

Thus, without delay, Tala tossed Kit at the nearest wall and stepped inside her sanctum, into her bedroom.

Her bed caught her a moment later as she flopped down, and Alat facilitated an almost instant falling into blissful sleep.

* * *

Tala had about ten seconds of notice as the structure of reality shifted nearby.

It would have been utterly undetectable to her, if Alat hadn’t been practicing with the use of voidsight.

The alternate interface began freaking out, drawing Tala’s attention quite quickly.

She’d slept well and spent the rest of the night productively. At that moment the disturbance began to build, Tala had been in her dining area, eating some well balanced snacks.

Tala lunged to her feet, Flow snicking into her hand even as it extended into the form of a void-sword.

She pointed the tip at the bit of reality that was shifting into being.

To her surprise, when it manifested, it was Kit’s door that appeared in her dining area.

There was an odd shivering through the sanctum, similar to a stubborn dog being forced into obedience.

What is happening?

The door swung open, and Master Xeel stood there, one eyebrow raised. “Did we not have an appointment?”

Tala’s posture was perfect in her fighting stance, and her sword was leveled at the man’s chest.

He didn’t seem to care in the slightest. “I knocked, but I sensed that you hadn’t heard.” The man narrowed his gaze and panned his gaze around the doorway, staring at the only part of Kit that existed in reality proper. “I could also sense that your… sanctum was muffling the sound, so shouting would have done no good.”

Lyn leaned out from behind the man. “I’m sorry, Tala. I’d thought you said you had an appointment with him, so I let him in the house. He did knock on your door, but then magic just started pouring off of him.”

Master Xeel glanced back at the newly Fused. “It’s quite alright, Mistress Lyn. I am sorry for disturbing you. A woman in your condition should get all the rest she can.” He hesitated at that. “Ah, I meant a newly Fused Archon should get all the rest that you can.”

Lyn had colored at the implication, but simply nodded in response to his clarification.

“Mistress Tala and I have many things to discuss, and I will not harm her or her items.” After a momentary pause, he tilted his head to one side, regarding Tala. “May I come in?”

“Of course.” Tala gestured, allowing Flow to return to its knife form even as she sheathed it.

-He’s early. It’s before sunrise, even if it is winter.-

The appointment wasn’t for sunrise.

-No, but it was for the hour, and so, he’s still four minutes early.-

Master Xeel stepped inside and closed the door, giving Lyn a little wave goodbye as it swung shut.

The door vanished with an audible pop, which startled Tala as it was the only time she could ever remember hearing Kit make a change. She didn’t bother searching her memory though so she might be mistaken.

“My apologies, Mistress Tala.” Master Xeel turned back towards her and gave a shallow bow. “I despise being late, and in this case, I did not consider the oddities that I might cause by arriving early.”

“Oh, it’s quite alright, Master Xeel. Please, come in.”

You’re already here, so it doesn’t really matter anyways.

She gestured to one of the two more comfortable chairs. “Can I get you some tea?”

“Thank you for the offer, but I carry my own repast.” He took a seat and with an odd sense of unveiling, a tray appeared in his lap with a scrumptious selection of fruits, vegetables, breads, and even some meat which seemed to still be sizzling. “Can I offer you some breakfast? It isn’t magically attuned to you, of course,”—he gave her a friendly, knowing smile—“but it is exquisite for mundane food.”

“I’d love some, thank you.” She sat and watched a similar unfurling of reality on her own lap, leaving her with a platter of food all her own. It was obviously a larger quantity than Master Xeel had given himself. “Thank you.”

“But of course.”

They spent a few minutes enjoying the food.

From her observations, most—if not all—of the powerful people Tala had met seemed at once both incredibly crunched for time, and utterly unconcerned with moments of quiescence.

It was Tala who broke the silence. “Have you ever seen a Reality beast?”

His eyes flicked to her as he finished his latest bite, pulling a cup from thin air to drink and wash the remainder free before banishing the cup once more. “You do like to get to the meat of things, don’t you?”

“It seems one of the more pressing topics available to us.”

“I’d have thought that the Doman-Imithe would hold that distinction for you, but I can see the overlap. The answer to your question is ‘Yes.’ Do you have any specific questions about them, or were you just curious if I’d had an encounter?” His small smile revealed which he thought it to be.

“Questions, definitely questions.”

“Then, by all means proceed.” He gestured for her to continue.

“What are they? How is ‘reality’ a type of magic? Does it hurt reality when they die?”

Master Xeel nodded. “All excellent questions. We’ll start with the last one. Does it harm ‘fire’ when a burn wolf dies or a hearth is banked?”

Tala frowned. She hadn’t considered it in that light. “No, of course not.”

“Precisely. Magical beasts of reality add more to the world, and their loss isn’t ideal, but it is also unavoidable at times. But to be clear in my answer: When they die, reality is not directly harmed, no.”

“Why isn’t their loss ideal, and how is it unavoidable?”

“Well, they add to reality simply by existing. They stabilize Zeme and help continue the work of stabilizing our existence. When they are lost, we lose another stop-gap which had been ensuring our continued survival. As to why it’s unavoidable? They hate humanity, and all forms of magic other than their own.”

“Because we erode reality, which is what they are oriented around.”

“Precisely.” He popped a slice of strawberry into his mouth and then spoke around it. “But all magic does, erode reality I mean. It’s what magic is, an altering or stretching or bending of reality. Whether we add matter to existence or shift a fundamental law towards our own ends, magic is a breaking of reality, definitionally.”

“That seems… bad?”

He laughed. “Yes and no. Playing at the oceanside and building sandcastles are a fundamental breaking of the beach and the sand. The creatures who live in the sand—and who function within the ecosystems therein—might not like it, but there’s no danger, so long as it isn’t abused.”

“But Zeme is abused.”

“Oh, quite thoroughly, yes.”

There was another pause there as they both ate another few bites.

Tala found herself distracted by just how good the food was, but she drew her mind back to the matters at hand.

“Where do they come from?”

“That is an excellent question.” He once again washed his latest bite with a bit of whatever he had in his fleeting mug. “Reality beasts come into being as something of an immune response. It’s a fascinating process, really. They are birthed into reality, by reality. Like with magical beasts in general, sometimes mundane creatures are uplifted; rarely arcane creatures are well enough aligned with our world to be so changed. Somewhere between those two in rarity, creatures are simply drawn into existence. My own theory is that they are beings of the Doman-Imithe, snatched and brought through, but I’ve never been able to prove it.”

“So, it’s just a guess then?”

“Let’s call it an educated guess, but yes it definitely qualifies as a guess.”

“What even is reality magic?”

He chuckled. “Aside from the obvious anti-magical applications?”

That stunned her for a moment. She hadn’t really considered that aspect of it. “Umm, yes, besides that.”

He gave a half smile, but didn’t comment on her hesitation. “That is another excellent question. It’s also a hard one to answer. In the extreme, some—like god-level reality beasts—can undo what magic has done, which sounds somewhat anticlimactic, until you realize that every bit of Zeme was slapped back together with magic. Thus, they can temporarily make where you’re standing cease to exist, and the fact that you go with it is a funny little perk. Zeme comes back, and you don’t.”

Tala opened her mouth, and it stayed that way for a long moment. “There was… there was a lot in that.”

“I know, right?” He smiled and took another bite.

She scrambled a bit to pick where to start before finally just going for it, “Reality gods?”

He shrugged. “A shorthand, so to speak. Think of those that are Transcendent or Sovereign level, or beyond.”

“Beyond… How are any of us still alive then?”

“Because the creatures are still animals. They have their domains, and they don’t have a drive to conquer or explore. Most hibernate for centuries at a time, and even then, they barely wake to roll over.”

Tala sat back, suddenly feeling the need for more bacon. Thankfully, she’d saved a few pieces, which she began to eat almost nervously.

“There are beasts of that level of all sorts of magic, if that makes you feel better.”

She gave him a level, unamused look. “Really? You think that would make me feel better?”

“No, I suppose not.” He cut off a bit of sausage and took a bite before speaking around the food once again. “But like with the Sovereigns, there is a sort of balance. If the reality gods got uppity, those of other magics would band together to keep them from breaking Zeme too badly. We’d likely not survive the clash, but it’s the potential clash that keeps us relatively safe, not the realization of it.”

When did he get out utensils? It really didn’t matter. “So, now that we have those existential terrors to add to my nightmares. I do actually have a couple of questions about the Doman-Imithe. The first one is rather simple: If the Doman-Imithe only exists behind Zeme, how can Archons come back from within the solar system but not from without? Shouldn’t the distinction be just around our planet?”

“That is actually a fascinating topic of study. We don’t have a definitive answer, but our best understanding is that we are all tied to Zeme, fundamentally. Not quite like a soul or magic bond, but something similar.”

Tala frowned, but didn’t interrupt.

“We don’t know if this is only for gated humans or for all beings who live on Zeme.”

That makes sense. If arcanes didn’t have this connection, their understanding of how it all worked would be vastly different, or it could just be varied experiences…

-Listen to the expert in front of you, Tala.-

Right, right.

“Now, the theory states that if that connection is stretched too far, such as by leaving the star system, it seems to break. If it hasn’t broken, a human returning will actually return to Zeme, rather than to the Doman-Imithe, even if looking back towards our world only shows the Doman-Imithe at any distance.”

“So, when approaching the fractured reality, human Archons are shunted towards the one they are linked to so long as that link isn’t severed?”

“Essentially, yes, that’s the theory. It’s obviously an oversimplification, but it is the prevalent notion.”

“What’s another one?”

He quirked a smile. “There are hundreds. But, the one I think is most likely is this: Reality is actually broken over a far wider volume, thus much further out than we generally realize. Specifically, it is cracked to the outer reaches of our star system, which is far, far further out than most can comprehend.”

Tala nodded, considering that.

“If someone leaves that area, they enter back into truly solid reality. That might kill them because their access to magic is severed, and space is a hostile place to be without magic. Something might be out there that eats them. There might even be some sort of barrier or dividing line that once you pass beyond it, it’s like going over the horizon, and you can no longer see any of this at all.” He gestured around himself with a bit of fruit on a fork. “The fracture, the damage to reality, is contained by reality to prevent the spread, so it is nearly impossible to return once one has gone past this theoretical horizon.”

“Like the mythical edge of the world?”

“In a sense, but on a more cosmic scale.”

“That’s interesting, but obviously hard to prove one way or another.”

“Yeah, who knows exactly what event caused all of this, so it’s hard to extrapolate exactly all the repercussions, even though we’re living among them.”

“It all seems a bit… much. Like, we have enough to deal with here, don’t we?”

“True, but if we could figure it out, we could take all of our people, all those we love, and just leave. As it stands, we don’t know if anyone can survive leaving at all.” He shrugged. “But you are correct, that is a long term issue.”

Tala took another careful bite. There were still so, so many questions to ask. She didn’t bother to hide her almost predatory grin. This is going to be a long morning.

A note from JLMullins

Side-Quest Progress as of this Chapter's posting:

1003/1000 Book 1

1507/1500 Books 1&2

1800/2000 Books 1,2,&3

...

Wait...

😲

YOU ALL DID IT!!!!! 🥳🎉🥳🎉

As an author of my word (pun very much intended), please expect an extra chapter on Saturday.

Thank you, again, for all the support that you all have given!!!

-J.L.Mullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

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Chapter: 290 - Until Next Time

A note from JLMullins

Special side-quest: COMPLETE!

As an author of my word (pun very much intended), please expect an extra chapter tomorrow, which is Saturday.

Thank you, again, for all the support that you all have given!!!

-J.L.Mullins

Tala took a careful bite of an apple slice. “Since we’re vaguely on the subject, what even is the Doman-Imithe?”

Master Xeel gave an exhausted smile, but Tala thought she was learning his expressions enough to know that it was to do with the frustrating nature of the subject, rather than with her. “Simple answer? It’s a conceptual backing to reality. A place where all the messy folds, cracks, and contradictions were secreted away in an attempt to keep Zeme habitable.”

Tala blinked a few times. “That actually makes a lot of sense.”

“Most simple answers do. They are also notoriously inaccurate under extreme scrutiny, but it suffices for most purposes.”

She grunted at that.

“I did enjoy the memories from your journey through that place. I’ve not seen it with my own eyes, and I found your short trip educational.”

“I’m glad to have been of help?” She wasn’t quite certain how she really felt about so many people seeing her memories.

That caravan really has left the city, though. No going back, now.

-It’s also better than the alternatives.-

Yeah, I would hate to have to try to narrate everything.

Master Xeel nodded happily. “Oh, your memories definitely were helpful. It would be better to go to the Doman-Imithe myself, but time being what it is, I doubt I’ll manage for another century or so.”

“So, soon enough, then,” Tala joked.

“Indeed.” He smiled, but he also seemed entirely genuine.

She coughed and changed the subject, “So, world fragments.”

“Oh, that’s right, you went to Croi.”

“So, humanity knows of that world fragment’s existence?”

“Yeah. It’s changed hands a couple of times, but less frequently than you might guess. The arcanes are rather proud of their possession of it. And to clarify, it’s not ‘that’ world fragment, but the world fragment. I don’t believe there’s another.” He hesitated. “You know, they might not know it’s the only one?” He shrugged, then. “We’ve hunted extensively, but they have one, so we’ve researched different things.”

“Why aren’t we helping to expand it? To repair the world that was before?”

He shrugged. “Paradise under tyranny is no paradise at all, and a paradise won with an ocean of blood might be even worse.”

She sat back, and suddenly felt tears building in her eyes. What? Why am I…

But she knew. She had spilled an ocean of blood to win free, but she knew he was right.

-Tala.-

No, Alat. Not now.

Master Xeel seemed to be nodding to himself. “I see you took something from my words that I didn’t say.”

“What does that mean?” she snapped back.

“What I said was that to go and take paradise from others so that we can have it, at the expense of blood, is no way to live. To fight free of enslavement, doing what it takes to win free? That is what it takes to survive. To do anything else is to subject yourself to the whims of others, and that is no life.”

Tala wiped at her eyes.

“Do not seek conflict, but when conflict comes—and it will come—make sure you are the victor.”

She barked an almost desperate laugh. “It’s that simple?”

“It is.” He smiled. “Why do you think the arcanes didn’t renew their war against us?”

Tala shrugged. “Too difficult? Nothing to gain? Too much else to do?”

He smiled at that. “Those are part of it, sure. But the reason that they haven’t banded together and taken us for the benefit that our captivity would offer, is because we never threaten them, and when they do slight us? We always pay it back in blood ten-fold.” His smile turned vicious. “If you hadn’t exacted such a price in your own time among them, we would be planning a reckoning ourselves for what they did to you.”

Tala didn’t really know how to respond to that.

“As it stands now, us mounting a retaliatory strike would be overkill, not to mention that it would confirm your survival. That might not be the worst thing, but I don’t think you need any more drama or danger for the present.”

She huffed a mirthless chuckle at that.

“By and large, we have made it more profitable for them to kill their own people than to let those people attack us. That results in fewer deaths and less destruction all around.”

Still, he didn’t look happy.

“It might have been a bit too long since their last lesson, though. Their more powerful have long memories, but they still forget. I expect that we’ll need to remind them once again in the coming centuries. It would be irritating if it lined up too closely with the Leshkin, but it will be as it will be.”

She grunted, deciding to ignore the Leshkin wars tangent for now. “That sounds too simple; keeping the arcanes at bay, I mean.”

Master Xeel seemed to come back from his bloody ruminations. “Oh, undoubtedly. It’s an oversimplification, but that doesn’t make the sentiment untrue.”

“But world fragments. You said that’s the only one there is. How can that be? Why can’t we find one? Or make one?”

He laughed out loud at that. “Oh, we’re looking, but they are among the rarest things in existence.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, imagine placing an earthenware pot on a shelf.”

“Sure.” She didn’t really know where he was going with this, but he was being a fount of information at the moment, so she was paying rapt attention.

“Then, imagine smashing it with a mace.”

“Okay.” That was a bit of an uncomfortable way to envision what happened to their planet, but that wasn’t the topic at the moment.

“Next, you would hire some people to come in and make something with the pieces. They just know it has to hold water, and these people can’t have a good understanding of what was there before.”

“Alright.” She was starting to get an idea of what he was getting at, and it made Zeme’s situation seem even worse than she had realized.

“Now, once they’re done, place what they created where the original was. Then, imagine looking closely and carefully at the end result. Your goal is to find a piece of the pot that is exactly where it was before you smashed it, and before the shelf was picked clean by those you hired to help.”

“Oh… Huh. I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

“Exactly. It’s a statistical miracle that even a single world-fragment exists. By all rights, it shouldn’t. If it’s found, it can be linked to anywhere, but that’s a whole different thing.”

“So, we’re not going to find one. Is that what you’re saying?”

“It’s basically impossible, but not actually impossible. There are ways, in theory, to create one, but it’s beyond the easy actions of even a Sovereign. Also, as might be noted, a reality beast would want to create and grow such a fragment. It would be the culmination of their entire existence, but even those who could bite a Sovereign in half, haven’t. What that seems to indicate, is that doing so is likely beyond them as well. That doesn’t mean we won’t ever achieve it, but it does mean that it’s not a question of raw power.”

“Alright, then.” Tala was feeling a bit overloaded with the theoretical nature of the topics, so she picked something a bit more grounded. “So, what can you tell me about City Lords?”

“They are a diverse group, with a common—but still individual—goal. Each is incredibly powerful within their cities, but they generally won’t leave because they are seeking bound advancement. The Sovereign of the forest is a great example of one who has followed this path. They basically turn themselves into a magical beast whose power is virtually unrivaled within their domain.”

That is… incredibly enlightening, actually. So, these arcanes set up in cities, and that’s why they don’t leave? This is what they get out of overseeing the city?

-Yeah, but imagine if they succeed, then people leave. That would be pretty awful.-

Yeah. Without people in the city, you’re left with a lot of power over a relatively small piece of land. Imagine having phenomenal cosmic powers with an itty-bitty living space. She shook her head. “And that’s the end of arcane advancement, the goal, their path to being a Sovereign?”

“I’m not an expert in that field, but that is an end, yes.”

She frowned, then. “What about Master Jevin? Doesn’t he have something similar to that in Makinaven?”

Master Xeel nodded sagely. “Now, Master Jevin is an interesting case. He doesn’t actually have power over an area, not really. He has sway over his own body, and because of his oddities, the entire tree is considered him.”

“Oversimplification?”

“Oh, yes. Master Jevin has spent millennia studying his own condition, and there is no way I could summarize it accurately in a single sentence. That was—indisputably—an oversimplification, but again, it gets the idea across.”

Tala grunted at that. “I can see that. I have a few quicker questions, at least theoretically.”

“Go for it.”

“Gate-breaking.”

“Not a question.”

She huffed a laugh. “Did we know about gate-breaking? Why wasn’t it used on me?”

“The method you encountered is interesting, and might be effective for some Mages, but the concept as a whole isn’t new or novel.”

“Couldn’t we use it on mundanes, allowing them to use magical items more easily? We could change our whole society with more power at our disposal.”

“Technically, yes, but that would make the maintenance of cities much harder and the degradation faster. It isn’t really necessary for Mages, in general. You are an odd case in just how magically dense you are, and how high your throughput is for your advancement. Such things matter less as you advance, but many don’t advance.” He shrugged. “Honestly, those it would help most would never do it willingly.”

“That’s fair, I suppose.” Tala hesitated, here, but finally just asked. “Our society is designed to keep gated humans alive, isn’t it?”

Master Xeel nodded, looking a bit sad. “Yes. You saw the moving cities in the plains. Even that is a concession to their gated citizens. Gates are our strength and our greatest detriment. In the past, Archons have considered culling the gated population, leaving only lineages that have proven able to produce Mages consistently, but that is always shouted down for hopefully obvious reasons.”

Tala blanched, but she wasn’t really surprised that the idea had been considered.

I’m just glad it’s never been acted on.

She decided to move on, “Did we know that some arcanes can use animal spies?”

“Yes and no. That is a specialization that has come and gone through the centuries. We didn’t know that one or more of the major Houses had picked up the practice again. That said, those spies would trigger city defenses, so it’s only an issue for those out and about. The warning has been passed through the proper channels.”

“So, speaking of that. They have innate giftings for magic.”

“Of course. So do you, though it manifests differently.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, since their magic is conceptually based, it is easier to implement, at least at the basic levels. They also tend to have natural magics that are bent towards their conceptual base. We humans have certain areas of reality that we understand and grasp the nuances of better. That is our gifting for magic. We are generally much more precise and dexterous with our power, even if it does take longer for us to hone it into usefulness.” He hesitated. “Well, that’s not true. Arcanes often don’t reach maturity until their thirties or forties, so Mages might actually be able to use basic magic earlier? But it depends on the specific species.”

Tala grunted at that. She’d never delved deeply into the lifecycles of the various arcane races. Honestly, she didn’t much care. I might in a few centuries, but not now. “Alright, I suppose I can understand that.”

It was starting to get late, moving towards noon.

“Just two more topics.”

He nodded. “And we can meet up again, as I assume you have a lot you’ll want more… practical guidance in, once you Refine.”

“Thank you for the offer. Yes, I think I might take you up on that.”

Master Xeel smiled. “Of course. Your next question?”

“They have a lot of amazing travel options. I know why we can’t use them for most of our population, but the gateless could use them, and there have to be some derivations that we could use.”

“Ahh, which were you exposed to? I admit that I only processed some of your memories. Did you get to experience the Croi compression lanes?”

“They called them quick-ways, and yes.”

“Ahh, quick-ways? That’s a rather clever name. It fits too.”

“Other than that, I was placed into a dimensional space anchored to a ballista bolt and fired towards a nearby city, and I stepped through something like a longer range quick-way.”

“Ahh, yes. I’ve not seen the first myself, but the theory has been put forward for cargo transport. It might work, but it would be expensive. We’ve not forbidden it, and several groups have tried variations over the centuries. They could never make it financially viable.” He shrugged. “Why force a technology that is less effective for whatever reason? As to long-range compression, that puts a direct strain on reality unlike almost anything else. That, too, would be a rare use-case means of travel, and we have better alternatives for that. Our teleportation network is almost as fast, even if it does require reinscription at the other end. With Mistress Holly’s newest invention, once it’s perfected? That will be hardly an inconvenience at all. Still expensive, though.”

“So, we have better methods of travel than caravans, but we don’t use them?”

He laughed. “Better by what metric? Speed? Sure. There are many faster ways to travel from city to city. Safety for the passengers? Absolutely. Safety for the cities on either end? No. Cost per pound of cargo? Not really. Caravans are cheap, and the cargo and passengers they move aren’t time critical.”

Tala supposed she could understand that.

“You had one last topic for this morning?”

“Void-magic.”

He quirked a smile at that. “I assumed we’d get to that, after you started with a question about reality beasts. I’m glad that I didn’t have to bring it up myself. What do you want to know?”

“What’s the danger?”

“The same as with any magic, really. You can poison yourself with it, or destroy yourself if you wield it poorly.” He shrugged again, waving and taking away their trays.

Tala had her last sausage in hand, so she didn’t lose out on any food. “Yes, but fire can burn me. What does void do?”

“It breaks down that which it encounters and consumes to fill itself. That is a natural void, of course. Natural fire is usually just an exothermic oxidation process, while magical fire can be much more destructive. Similarly, when compared to a natural void, void-magic is a bit more… hungry?”—he frowned, seeming to consider—"Ravenous, that’s the word. Void-magic is ravenous, and more than that, it tends to incorporate what it consumes.”

Tala tried to keep a straight face when he used ‘ravenous’ as a descriptor. It’s a common enough word. It doesn’t mean anything about me, specifically.

-Yeah, just keep telling yourself that.-

Hush, you. “What do you mean?”

“If you could throw a ball of void-magic, and you hit a fire, the void would eat the fire, expanding outward and burning away much that was around the fire. If it hit a block of ice, it would shatter the surroundings, and you would find much less powdered remains than you’d think there should be. This is obviously, once again, an oversimplification fraught with holes, but you get the idea.”

“So, it takes what it consumes and uses it to consume more?”

“It’s more that the void is flavored by what enters it? At least for a time. Void items tend to gain and lose tints to their magic over the centuries. Not that we’ve had that many to study, of course.”

“Have you ever seen a void item eat a fount?”

He nodded. “Yes. That is one of the simplest ways to remove a harmful or dangerous fount. Importantly, through extensive research, we’ve found that the fount does still go to the world beyond, just as it does through other methods of removal. So, void-magics are the preferred method for fount destruction.”

So, Flow wasn’t unique in that then.

-We assumed as much.-

Yeah, but it’s good to have it confirmed.

“I am aware that you have… subsumed aspects of void-magic into yourself and your soulbound weapon. I am happy to assist with that as well, but not today.” He slapped his hands down on his own knees and pushed himself to his feet. “Thank you for the engaging dialogue.”

“I mean, I just asked you questions, but you’re welcome, I suppose?”

He smiled. “I rarely get to ramble on about such a wide selection of intriguing topics. I know you wanted to discuss reality nodes, and I appreciate that you respected my wish to wait until after your Refining.”

She made a sour face, but just for a moment. He’d insisted on that when he and Alat had agreed to the meeting. “It’s understandable. I’m a bit… fragile at the moment, and I feel like truly working with my own piece of reality wouldn’t be wise while that is the case.”

“And in that, you show wisdom.”

He turned and looked out the broad windows.

“You really do have a lovely place here. The method of acquisition was unideal, but I am glad that you have it.”

She smiled. “Thank you. I feel quite blessed to have it.”

Master Xeel turned to her and bowed. “Good day, Mistress Tala.”

She bowed in return. “Good day, Master Xeel.”

With a thought, she called the door into the space right beside him, and he smiled as he departed. “Until next time.”

Kit’s door clicked shut behind him and vanished.

“Thank you, Kit.”

The sanctum did not respond.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 291 - Sacks of Iron

A note from JLMullins

Special side-quest: COMPLETE!

This is the bonus chapter!

Thank you, again, for all the support that you all have given!!!

-J.L.Mullins

Tala’s last big appointment was with Master Cazor. She felt like his magical manipulation of magnetic fields, and thereby iron, might have given him some insights that would be useful to her.

When she’d reached out, he’d been amenable, and so they’d set up this meeting.

Once this was done, as far as she knew, she just had to use her time reasonably, relax, and wait for Mistress Holly to tell her how long until she could Refine. If it was long enough, Tala would consider a trip to Marliweather to see her siblings, but it would have to be really long for that to be the case.

She had several letters mostly composed to them, and she hoped to have the inspiration to finish them off in the next day or so.

But that was for later. It was time for her to meet up with the Mage Hunter.

It will be interesting to see what he has to say about the manipulation of iron.

-Undoubtedly, yes. He is barely Fused, though.-

Tala shrugged. His insights should still be interesting. Most don’t work with iron at all, so even a ‘less advanced’ view will be insightful.

Master Cazor had asked to meet her at the arena they used to practice in. Thankfully, it was outside the hours they usually had met up to train, so the other Archons shouldn’t be there.

Tala still didn’t really want to deal with them. As much as she had liked them in passing, it still felt awkward, dealing with people asking about her situation and her time away.

The entrance hallway was quiet, and she greeted the receptionist with a smile.

The young man seemed to recognize her, because he waved her through without asking any questions.

When she pushed open the doors, Master Cazor was the only person waiting for her in the large arena.

Good. She had been a bit afraid that the others would be here, too, and was happy to have that fear put to rest.

-That would be unlike Master Cazor. He’s an honest fellow.-

That’s true enough.

“Mistress Tala, welcome.”

“Master Cazor. Thank you for meeting with me.”

Something felt off about the sand in the arena, but she couldn’t place it.

The Archon sat cross-legged, sealed sacks sitting in a ring around him. “You might have noticed, or possibly not, but I’ve already stripped the iron from the sand beneath our feet.” He patted the sack closest to him. “I thought it might be useful.”

Tala felt a pull to claim the iron, as it somehow felt like it might be an option, unlike with things like the iron doors in the Constructionists’ Compound. Even so, she knew she had no right to it. Calm, Tala. “Good thinking.”

She sat down facing him, leaving nearly twenty feet between them.

Master Cazor smiled. “You’ve a lot of iron about you. It’s doing interesting things to the magnetic fields of the area.”

“Really?” That was good to know, actually. “Do you think that you can control it?”

He tilted his head to the side. “I could try, but it feels like it’s… out of reach? That’s not quite right, but it’s close. I think if you let me, I could affect it, but I don’t think I could wrest it from your control. At least not the portion that’s… not aligned with the physical.”

She grunted. Good to know. He was already providing valuable insights.

-We should still probably test to make sure.-

True, but he’s never given reason to doubt him.

“Now, there’s a lot about iron that I’d love to convey.”

Tala held up a hand, giving him a small smile. “So, I obviously asked you here to help me learn about iron manipulation. In that vein, I think it will help me approach what you have to say best if I understand why you think you’re up to the task? After all, you don’t actually manipulate iron directly.”

He smiled in return. “Aside from the fact that you asked me?”

She laughed. She knew that he’d have good information, but she really wanted to have context to his own mindset behind what he was going to be sharing with her. “Yes, besides that.”

He shrugged. “The fact that I manipulate it indirectly is precisely why I am qualified.”

She frowned. She hadn’t been expecting that answer. Honestly, she thought that he’d tell her how long he’d been doing this, or how his fundamental understanding related to iron. “Care to explain?”

“Which would be easier: having complete control over my body and then moving me as you wish, or indirectly getting me to do exactly as you wished?”

“Which of the two would be harder? The second would be harder.” Tala huffed. “At least the way you described it.”

“That is what I meant, yeah. So, which would require a greater understanding of me to accomplish?”

She hesitated. “I think I understand. Controlling something indirectly requires a more intimate understanding of the thing than if you have direct control.”

“Precisely. And that is why I am qualified.” He grinned. “But you already knew that, at least in part. That’s why you asked me here.”

She shrugged. “I suppose that’s true.”

“Alright. Let’s get started.”

The next few hours were filled with highly technical discussions and were only interesting on the most superficial level. Tala had to admit that Master Cazor knew his stuff.

In truth, she was surprised; though it wasn’t because she’d doubted that fact. It was more that the depth of his insight was a bit staggering.

She’d read a few books on blacksmithing and metallurgy, and Master Cazor touched on some of that. Blessedly, however, he mostly talked about other things like how iron flowed over itself, how it reacted in different environments, and so much more.

Once they’d covered a large amount of information, Master Cazor twisted, stretching in place. “That’s enough of that for the time being. We should do some practical testing.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Well, that’s partially up to you. Do you want to explain a bit about your abilities with iron? If not, I can just do some generic exercises and tests between the two of us.”

She only hesitated for a moment. “The long and short of it is that I can directly control iron that is mine.”

“Are you alright if I ask questions?”

“Sure.” There was really no point in getting his help if she wouldn’t let him help her.

“What makes iron yours?”

“If it is offered to me by someone who has ownership of it?” She was actually a bit uncertain, and that showed in her tone.

“So, just like owning an item? Or receiving a gift?”

“It seems something like that. I haven’t really explored it extensively.”

He grunted. “That’s fair. You’ve been busy.”

“Isn’t that the truth…”

“So, if I offered you one of these sacks of iron it would be yours?” He then patted the sack closest to him again. “For clarity, I haven’t yet.”

“I think I could take it and manipulate it.”

He shrugged. “Let’s see. You can have”—he gave her a searching, almost mischievous look—“that sack of iron.” He pointed to a sack behind him on the left.

Tala felt nothing, and she frowned. “I don’t feel anything.”

Master Cazor grunted. “That’s because that one’s filled with oats. Good to know. There is some iron in it, just by the nature of the thing, but I specifically granted you a sack of iron. That’s not a sack of iron, so you didn’t get ownership of what iron there is.”

Now that was interesting. “That seems like an oddly specific test.” She gave him a searching look. “How did you already have it prepared?”

“It’s not as specialized as you might think, not really. My master did something similar when I began working with magnetic fields, though it was to test how strong my magnetic fields really were, and how precise.”

“So, similar set up, different tests?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. We use a similar setup to test potential Mage Hunters, too. Though we change the contents based on their magic-set.”

“I suppose that makes sense.”

“Now, we don’t know if you weren’t granted ownership because I knew it wasn’t what I said it was, or if your magic could tell it wasn’t what I said, or something else. We’d need a lot more testing to figure that out, but I don’t think that would be useful at the moment.”

“I hadn’t really thought of it in those terms.”

He grinned. “It’s really important for Mage Hunters, because sometimes one Mage’s abilities trump others’ when it comes to control of an area or substance or the like. Mistress Jean’s weapon is almost inviolable when it comes to commanding the ambient power in an area, often even stealing power from those nearby, Mage and mundane alike.”

Tala’s eyebrows rose at that. “That’s potent.”

“Indeed. Sparring with her is always educational, but it is also almost always rather quick.”

“Good to know. The times she and I sparred were over pretty fast.” She hadn’t noticed that supremacy, herself, but looking back, it made sense.

“Now, you can have that sack of iron.” He pointed at one that was just in front of him and to his right.

Tala immediately felt ownership of the iron, her aura blossoming from the sack of metal dust.

She felt an overwhelming desire to draw it towards her, but she resisted. It’s mine. It’s not going anywhere.

Even so, she’d involuntarily pulled it enough that it toppled over to floomp on the sand.

Master Cazor looked between the sack and Tala. “It has an aura, Mistress Tala.” His voice was baffled. “The iron has an aura, your aura.”

“Yeah, I think it’s technically a part of me, now?”

“That’s… what if someone in another city says that something belongs to you?”

“I have no idea? I imagine I have to hear them, or know about it?” She hesitated, then shook her head. “No, there’s a proximity requirement in the claiming. I had a smith who had offered me any of his iron dust that I could collect. I knew of that, and I wanted to go, but it wasn’t until he reconfirmed my ownership that I felt a connection like this.”

“Still, we’ll want to test it through an Archive connection. Have someone send you a sight of some iron and tell you explicitly that it’s yours. Then, we get to see what happens.” He hesitated. “We should start with the iron just barely out of sight. That way, if you are somehow compelled to go claim it as fast as possible, we won’t be putting you in an awkward position.”

Tala grunted at that.

“So, you’ve claimed it. It’s yours; it’s you. What can you do with it?”

She smiled, and the bag was suddenly filled with holes as spikes of iron thrust outward before quickly pulling backwards.

Master Cazor jumped up to his feet in surprise, also moving back in the same motion before stopping his retreat and leaning forward to watch the process.

Tala was already feeling a headache, and so she stopped the manipulation, pulling in a ragged breath.

“That was impressive, but it looked like you had a hard time with it.”

“It wasn’t easy, no, but I’ve been practicing.” After a moment, she amended, “Not with that type of manipulation in particular, but in general. It’s much simpler than it would have been even a week ago.”

The bag now leaked black powder onto the surrounding sand.

Tala exercised her strained will to pull it back and keep it together.

“Is that necessary?” He seemed genuinely curious as he watched the iron return to the shape of a bag, without the need for the actual container.

“Yes and no. I’m resisting absorbing it. I’m able to do that in part because I don’t believe it’s going to go anywhere. When it started draining onto the sand, that belief was shaken even though it is still obviously true.”

Master Cazor gave her another mischievous smile. “Really?”

That was the only warning she had before the iron began to stream away from her, and something deep within her, something bound to her very soul, rebelled at the potential loss.

Tala’s hand shot out in a grasping motion even as she internally snarled, NO! MINE!

The iron shuddered, slowing and jerking to a stop as Master Cazor continued to attempt to draw it out in a steady stream.

His eyes widened briefly before narrowing. “Oh, so that’s how it is.”

The pressure on the iron built, and to Tala, it felt like someone was wrapping ropes around an arm and trying to pull it off.

That would not stand.

Even as she watched power build around Master Cazor, Tala asserted her will and aura more fully. She pushed his workings further back from the iron, weakening their influence over the iron, even as he pushed more power into the manipulation of the magnetic fields.

He also tried to contest her aura control of the area, but even though it was closer to his body than to hers, it was closer to her iron, and the iron was her for this purpose.

More than that, though, she was stronger.

Slowly at first, and then with a violent spasm, the iron dust slammed back into shape where it had been.

Master Cazor stepped forward and stretched out his power once again, this time toward the mass of her iron as a whole.

Oh no you don’t.

With a relaxing of her will, the iron seemed to shatter, exploding into a cloud in her direction before being sucked through the air, and passing into her.

Once it occupied the same physical space as she did, she pushed the iron into the dimensions of magic so that it wouldn’t interfere with normal functions.

He let his power fade. “Fascinating. Your iron was, and is still magnetic, but it really functions as a part of you, within your aura.” He laughed. “And it seems to be a source of your aura, so it’s always within your aura.”

She took a deep breath, calming herself. “Yeah, that can’t actually be right, otherwise I could just send it off into the infinite distance, gaining sovereignty over any place I got my iron to.”

“You could try?”

She shrugged. “Sure, worth a test.”

Tala let some of her iron form a glob in her hand and tossed it away from herself.

It stopped with a little jerk at the edge of her aura’s current extension, barely three feet from her outstretched hand.

Master Cazor grunted. “Let me try to grab it.”

Tala fought the instinct to pull it back to herself. It felt like someone had just brandished a knife at her extended fingers.

Even so, she let Master Cazor magnetically draw the iron outside of her aura.

As it passed out of her area of control, Tala felt a tearing, and her ownership over the iron vanished.

Tala gasped, falling to her knees.

She felt violated.

She felt like something central to her being had been stolen.

Tala turned and retched, her scripts keeping her from vomiting.

Even so, she heaved and heaved, her whole body feeling wrong.

Master Cazor was beside her before she registered him moving. He had with him the iron she’d lost, hovering in the shape of a ball beside him. “Take it. It’s yours.”

Tala felt a slight tugging from the iron, but grimaced, echoes of the nasty feelings she’d just worked through making her not really want that iron in particular, at least not for the moment. So, she waved him away. “Not now, but thank you.”

“That seems like a pretty terrible weakness, Mistress.”

“Yeah, no kidding. If someone manages to pull even a little iron from me, it hits me incredibly hard.”

He had an apologetic look on his face. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

She groaned but nodded. “I need to practice enduring this feeling.”

He gave her a surprised look. “I was going to say you should avoid using the iron in battle, at least away from your body.”

She laughed. “There’s no way that would hold up. I’d be in some life or death situation, and I’d take the risk, some iron would be lost, and I’d get myself killed.”

He sighed, shaking his head. Though, he didn’t seem surprised. “Well, I suppose, but you aren’t going into combat soon, are you?”

“No, but when I do, I’d rather be trained to take the loss as opposed to trying to avoid it.” She hesitated. “But I should probably check with Mistress Holly, to make sure that didn’t negatively affect me, physically.”

He grunted. “That sounds wise, yeah. For now, though, there’s one more thing I want to test.” He pointed to another of the sacks. “You can have the iron in that, if you can take it from me.”

Tala hesitated. She felt… something. There was a trembling, a sense of the iron within the sack, but it wasn’t hers. “I don’t have a way of contesting you for iron that isn’t already mine.”

But she paused there.

“Actually.” She pulled out more iron, and purposely extended her aura outward to cover the iron sack in question. Just her aura covering it didn’t seem to count for ownership, nor apparently for taking it from Master Cazor.

She tossed her iron to hit the side of the sack. There, it stuck because she wished it to. From that anchor, she extended her aura, pushing at the iron that wasn’t yet hers.

Irritatingly, but not unexpectedly, her aura had trouble penetrating the metal.

She felt like she should be able to do more, but she couldn’t, not at the moment.

Master Cazor flexed his magic and the sack jerked away, out of her aura.

Her little splotch of iron fell to the sand, and she drew it back.

“Well, that seems like another thing to work on, eh?”

“It does indeed.”

“Shall we go see Mistress Holly, then get in some more practice?”

Tala nodded, pulling out her cool water incorporator and taking a long drink. “That sounds like an excellent plan.”

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

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Chapter: 292 - Don’t Change Your Body

Tala hunched in on herself beneath the ongoing tirade. Just endure, Tala. It can’t last forever.

Master Cazor was long gone.

She wasn’t sure how long the stream of words had been going on, but as soon as they had entered Mistress Holly’s warehouse, a bit of magic had tickled Alat’s inscriptions, and Mistress Holly had lost her mind.

Her exclamation of outrage had knocked dust from the ceiling, even as the Inscriptionist stormed towards the reception area.

It was then that Master Cazor had wisely excused himself. “Sorry, Mistress Tala. We can reconnect tomorrow… or whenever works for you.”

He’d closed the door behind himself as he left before Tala could gather a response.

Mistress Holly had stalked out, seized Tala’s wrist in an oddly powerful grip, and practically dragged her back to her private workroom.

It was at that point that the tirade had begun, “Are you incapable of functioning without damaging yourself?”

Things had only gone downhill from there.

Mistress Holly was working incredibly hard to counter the flaws in Tala’s biology, and every new stress, strain, or degradation only made that harder.

Tala gleaned that the severing of iron from her ownership had, indeed, somehow physically harmed her. Though she was unclear on the exact nature of the damage.

Mistress Holly suddenly stopped mid-sentence, jerking Tala back to the present moment. “You aren’t even listening to me, are you.” It was not a question. “Mistress Tala. I am trying to help you.”

Tala forcefully straightened herself. “I know, Mistress Holly. I did not intend any harm. I was testing out my new soul-bond in a non-combat setting. There shouldn’t have been any chance of damage to me.”

The older Mage grimaced. “The greatest harm comes when it shouldn’t, Mistress. I hope this reinforces that lesson.”

“What even happened? All that I did was lose a bit of iron.”

“Iron that was bound to you, just as your body is. The dasgannach has no magical function for losing material as it should be impossible for the thing to do so. It should also never bond, so we’re in the realm of the impossible. In this case, the impossibility was detrimental to you. The loss sent ripples through all your soul-bonds. Your outfit self-repairs on principle, and your weapon is specifically magicked to distribute and endure magical trauma. There are minor fractures in your Archive link, but I can see that it’s been upgraded to a magical weight that is incredibly unwise below Refined, but you are an enigma.” She gave Tala a stern look. “Still, I should have been consulted before that upgrade occurred.”

Tala shrunk once again. “I apologize; I didn’t even consider that.”

Mistress Holly waved her off. “I assume Mistress Ingrit investigated it on her own; though she should have consulted me. I will have to have words with her. But, in this case, it saved you. The added weight allowed it to weather the trauma, and it is already nearly fully recovered. Your body should be in a similar place with your frankly insane magical density, but you are riddled with flaws. Each of those is a point of weakness, which allow far greater damage under stress and will never properly recover on their own.”

“Ahh… That’s less than ideal.”

“Indeed.” The Inscriptionist rubbed her temples. “We need to do something about the dasgannach. Aside from this new problem, the iron suffusing you—even if only in the dimensions of magic—will hamper Refining. As it is already going to be a complicated, delicate process, any additional interference needs to be avoided at all costs.”

“What do you suggest? I can expel all the iron, and leave it off to the side. So long as it stays within my aura, it shouldn’t cause a problem, right?”

“While that might work, your aura is going to be erratic through the process, and we cannot allow this sort of trauma to occur in the middle of Refining.”

“So, I need to merge it with another of my soul-bonds before I Refine.”

Mistress Holly hesitated. “That… that is an excellent idea.” Her eyes narrowed. “How do you know of that? Who suggested it to you?”

Tala frowned defensively. “No one suggested it. It seemed reasonable, so I asked if it was a possibility. Master Grediv gave me some information, but not too much.”

“Ahh, that does make sense. He would know, too.” She shook her head. “But that is neither here, nor there.”

What did Master Grediv do?

-Well, based on the context, it sounds like he tried to merge two soul-bound items, and it went badly.-

Yes, I got that much, thank you.

“Now, the question would be which you are going to merge it with. I hope you aren’t considering merging it with your body.”

“Noooo.” Tala held up her hands even as she drew out the word in emphasis. “Oh, by the stars no. I can’t even fathom what that might do to me. Even during the bonding process, it wanted to cause all sorts of changes to my body that I only avoided because of Master Grediv’s assistance. I can’t stomach whatever would happen if it fully merged with my physical body.”

“Good. You do have some wisdom.”

Tala snorted. “I was thinking of Flow?”

“Your weapon?” Mistress Holly looked up to one side, then she started to cackle. “That would be so deliciously ironic but, hmm…”

Tala felt herself smile. “Yeah, I considered it might make Flow into a truly morphic weapon.”

“I would bet that you will have that option, yes. Though I believe it will be among the lesser options you will have available to you. Don’t let your recent experiences taint what you can become. Even if it would be amazing to take what they intended as your death and use it to finally forge you into what they were aiming at.” The Inscriptionist shook her head. “But you are not an Eskau, not anymore.”

Tala grunted. “You think there will be better options?”

“Oh, undoubtedly.” She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t change your body.”

“I know that, Mistress Holly.” Tala paused for a moment before continuing. “So, you think that’s the right call? Merging it with Flow?”

“I do. But!” Mistress Holly held up one finger. “I am not doing this on my own. Give me a day to consult with the others collaborating on this project, and we’ll see what we can come up with. We’ll arrange for the merging as soon after that as we can.”

“I can do that.”

Her countenance suddenly hardened. “I am still cross with you, Mistress, but I understand that you did not do this intentionally.”

Tala swallowed, hard. “Thank you, Mistress Holly. I will try to be more careful, going forward.”

* * *

Tala sat to the side of an incredibly complicated, but vaguely familiar spellform.

The ironclad walls of the Constructionist’s merging room were becoming more and more comforting. Though, she wasn’t sure if that was due to repeated exposure or the iron.

It had been three days since Mistress Holly had confirmed the wisdom behind the plan to merge the dasgannach with Flow.

They’d consulted experts and gathered the needed pieces to give the greatest chance for success.

Honestly, there wasn’t really a chance for failure, but there was a chance for things to go sideways.

If this went well, they would only need to wait for the merging to settle, and they could proceed with her Refinement. That should only take a month on the outside, since the greatest remaining barrier will have been removed.

If it went sideways?

Well, no need to focus on the negative.

-Yes, let’s focus on what we can do.-

Mistress Holly wasn’t present. Master Queue was facilitating the magics along with another high-level Archon who hid her aura and rank.

She was a specialist in mergings and soul-bonds, and she’d been in the city to visit family.

Mistress Holly had found her two days ago and convinced her to delay her departure.

While the woman’s presence was fortuitous, the worst that would have happened otherwise was a delay of a few more days.

But Tala was distracting herself from the upcoming process.

“Mistress Tala?”

Tala looked up and smiled at the other woman. “Yes, Mistress Aurius?”

“It’s time. We need you to place the two items in the same physical space, alongside the other materials.”

Tala nodded, standing and striding to the center of the intricate working.

With measured care, Tala set Flow, bare-bladed on the floor amidst several minor artifacts, specifically crafted for this process. Then, with her hand on the handle, she took careful breaths and slowly moved all her non-biological iron down her arm and into the dimensions of magic aligned with the weapon’s physical shape.

Tala could see the weight of the weapon grow with her magesight. More than anything, it looked like an increasing magical reflectiveness to that sight.

“Are you sure this will work?” Tala asked for probably the hundredth time.

“Yes, Mistress Tala.” Mistress Aurius responded with patient professionalism. “While we can’t enact magic upon the iron itself, we are essentially creating a net that can interact with the stuff of soul-bonds, and then tightening it down to the point that it forces a merging.”

Tala knew this. She’d gotten the same explanation each time, but she still felt nervous. “I know… but are you sure?”

The specialist chuckled. “I do applaud your caution, especially with regard to your own soul. We don’t have to do this if you don’t wish to, but we are professionals, experts even. This will work. Remember, I will be waiting here to add my weight to the process, if you need.”

Tala nodded. That was what Master Grediv had done. It was the less obtrusive—and more controlled—version of what had been done during her raising to Archon as well. “Thank you.”

“Of course, and thank you again for the literature and memories pertaining to arcane fount-linking. It’s an intriguing area of study.”

Mistress Aurius had been enticed into helping with information surrounding how Eskau were bound to their protian weapons and Pillars to their regalia.

Tala’s memories and books on the subject had been limited, but apparently, they were sufficient to trade for a couple of days of this woman’s time.

We might need to cultivate expertise in something. That seems to be the best way to continue to gather resources.

-Yeah, that could be useful, but we can also simply continue to go out and gather things the experts want.-

That works too.

She nodded and smiled. “I’m glad you are getting something from what I could offer. Where do you want me?”

Mistress Aurius pointed to a secondary, much smaller circle in the back of the room. “In the center of that working.” She then pointed to the third and smallest. “I will be in that one.”

Tala nodded again. “Let’s do this.”

The two women sat in their respective places, and Master Queue did a couple of final checks. “Ready?”

“Ready,” they each responded.

Power blossomed through the room, suffusing the spellforms, and Tala watched an ethereal power—clearly generated by magic, but not quite the same—grow up around Flow and the artifacts, tightening inward and binding them tightly.

There was an odd pinching twist within the depth of her being, and Tala’s consciousness was claimed by the well-known white void.

* * *

Tala opened her eyes and instantly knew.

She was an Eskau.

Pure and simple.

She was everything that Be-thric had tried to make her into, once his initial plan failed. Though, she no longer served a House.

Her enemies died around her by the score.

Flow was more in line with its name than ever, barely manifesting fully into any given shape for long enough to deal lethal wounds to the indistinct hordes that she carved her way through.

She didn’t know how, but they were in her way.

The blood was drained with every hit. The iron built within Flow, and the remainder was consumed by the void. That metal continued to accumulate, until it hit a critical level.

Now!

She swept outward, Flow extending as a razor thin line with a heavy weight on one end.

The whole thing was hundreds of feet long, powered by her tremendous strength and the momentum she’d built up so far, and its inertia was massively increased by tremendous magical weight.

With one clean sweep, she decapitated half an army.

What the rust?

Blood fountained into the sky, soaking the ground with a true rain of blood.

Tala, herself, seemed to draw in the blood; her eyes blazing with red power as the void within her devoured the life still in the red liquid even as the iron was siphoned into Flow.

-There’s something wrong.-

Tala felt a stuttering, and suddenly she was outside herself, looking at the scene as she was used to: from outside of the offered form.

Horror overtook her.

Humans. They are all humans.

Uncounted dead lay around her, every one of them human.

She looked around, seeing for the first time that the air was utterly suffused with iron dust, pushed out of the physical dimensions to hover, menacingly, just out of sight.

The iron was a bubble of anti-magical protection, held in place and stabilized by her aura.

It was only then that Tala detected the other magic in the offered form, one that seemed to dominate all the others.

It was a magic that she didn’t have, shouldn’t have, and had been warned away from.

Reality magic? Alat, where did that come from?

-I have no idea.-

Tala was witnessing one of the paths she could take if she embraced reality magic, even if she didn’t understand how it was possible.

Master Grediv was right. I’d turn on humanity.

As she watched, the gates in the humans were winking out one by one. Apparently, the soul took a bit to register death even in the event of decapitation.

The Tala of the vision seemed enraptured by each additional gate’s departure.

Yeah… I’ve seen enough. NO.

The vision turned white, returning Tala to the void between options.

* * *

In the next vision, Tala was offered a much more traditional merging, in which Flow only became a protian weapon and the other aspects of the dasgannach were somehow stripped away and expelled.

In this case, Flow even somehow lost the ability to take on its void-forms.

There was a… flimsiness to this option, as if it lacked power, or it would take an incredible stretch to bring into being.

That surprised Tala; in the past, all options had seemed the same to her.

Regardless, this didn’t tempt her in the least.

Even without Mistress Holly’s warning against taking this option, Tala instinctively knew that it would be a lessening of herself.

She would be weakening every aspect of herself if she tried to force this outcome.

NO.

* * *

Tala watched as the next version of her lifted an arcane by the throat.

In a hyper-slowed moment, she was able to perceive spikes lance out of her blood into the man’s neck.

They eviscerated her flesh to get to him.

She recognized the magics surrounding the spikes, even as they tore apart the defensive magics that the teal hue-folk man tried to bring to bear against her attacks.

It took less than a minute to empty him of power, and in the instant in which he ran dry, a blade tore free of Tala’s hand, beheading the man cleanly.

What is with this merging and beheadings?

Before Alat could respond, they watched the manifested Tala slam her hand downward, a dark void opening in her palm to swallow the body even as the head hit the ground.

This Tala growled and a chain burst from her leg, lancing through the fallen head before it could roll away, drawing it back to be devoured.

-What the rust?-

At least it’s arcanes this time?

This Tala clearly held the merged weapon in her own blood, and that had done something to her.

The manifestation expanded, showing that this Tala stood in an arcane city. Flecks of blood were the only evidence there had ever been people in this otherwise abandoned main square.

It’s midday. There should be hundreds or thousands of people.

-Maybe they all ran away?-

They saw a rabbit beast-man scramble out of hiding in a dead-end, side alley, trying to bound away while this version of Tala had her back turned.

Her back exploded in blood and chains. The chains wove together, even as they arced through the air, and the manifestation of Tala screamed in pain and anger.

An instant later, the rabbit-man was skewered.

-Alright, I’m going to say it. The mergings involving the dasgannach seem way worse than options for any other.-

You’re not wrong.

As this version of her turned towards the central pillar that was filled with founts, hunger evident in her eyes, the watching Tala had had enough.

NO.

* * *

Tala was beginning to despair as option after option showed versions of herself that had been horribly twisted in body, mind, or both. She still held onto hope, however, though it was fading.

After dozens of options, she was beginning to think that she should call on Mistress Aurius.

Finally, she saw it: There were some tendrils of power linking Flow to her flesh, and Tala felt a sinking feeling.

Oh, we’re idiots.

-The iron in your flesh is still tied to the dasgannach, is that why all these options seem to incorporate your body?-

I would bet so. She really did feel foolish. This was obviously a problem that should have been anticipated. But there was nothing to be done about it, at least not now.

Or is there?

Tala gathered her will and pushed it out upon the still forming merging.

Leave my body be. She felt the tremors through the magic as her will manifested and pressed down on her two soul-bonds.

If this doesn’t work, I’ll call upon Mistress Aurius for aid.

* * *

The latest manifestation formed, and Tala felt a renewed blossoming of hesitant optimism.

There didn’t seem to be anything changed within the version of her in this manifestation, at least not physically.

She saw iron moving through the dimensions of magic between her and Flow, though the metal was clearly more tied to Flow than her body, now.

She could move the iron around her body even before this, so that wasn’t a change as she saw it.

Tala watched this version of herself cut through arcanous beasts, and it took only a short time to notice the first difference beyond the obvious.

The liquid that came out with each cut was clear, obviously blood that had been stripped of iron.

She was able to see some beasts cut but not instantly killed; so, the magics didn’t utterly strip them of iron.

Even so, those that survived seemed much more affected than they should have been.

So, it’s able to strip it out a little ways into their bodies?

-It seems so. The act of cutting with Flow seems to grant some limited ownership around the wound, at least for the short time of the passing.-

Flow usually cauterized the wounds it created, and that did still seem to be happening, but the added ripping free of iron seemed to cause the wounds to seep.

It seemed that the iron didn’t have to pass out of the body painlessly.

That’s… grisly.

-Would you rather strike them down and leave no evidence or damage?-

No… violent death is always ugly. If I could kill that cleanly, I don’t think I could keep viewing death as I do, as a necessary evil.

Tala was drawn back towards the vision as this manifestation of her did something new.

Iron passed harmlessly through her flesh, forming a layer on her skin as a massive creature that Tala didn’t recognize slammed its claws down on her upper arm.

The claws stopped as surely as they would have on Flow.

Tala felt herself mentally focus. The bits of lethargy that going through so many options had brought on were banished entirely.

Early after discovering aspect mirroring, Tala had tried to mirror Flow’s resilience to magical attacks onto her own body.

That had not ended well.

It seemed that the iron now functioned as an extension of Flow for this purpose.

If it worked as it seemed, she should finally be all but immune to purely physical attacks, at least those around her power level.

The iron also added to her own aura in forbidding direct magical action upon her.

She still had no real defense against indirect magical attacks, but this should help with that as well.

And I can take some ideas from the other visions.

Finally, the last portion of this option was displayed for her to observe.

For no reason that Tala could discern, this version of her created a ball of iron, and rolled it out of her own aura.

Tala held her breath, but while this version of her grimaced slightly, that was all the emotion she displayed.

On the other hand, Flow almost seemed to ring like a bell, and as the last vestiges of her authority over the iron faded, a pulse of void-magics blossomed from around the metal, and the iron simply vanished rather than being given up.

That’s… that’s actually an elegant solution.

Tala instinctively knew that it had taken a quite significant amount of power to enact, making it a detriment in the heat of battle, but it was far superior to the soul-rending agony that had previously been the result of such a loss.

I think this is it. Alat?

-Yeah, I think I agree.-

With an inward smile, Tala projected, YES.

Power blossomed outward, enveloping the whole space and drawing Tala’s consciousness back to reality, the merging complete.

A note from JLMullins

Vote for MM on TopWebFiction! http://topwebfiction.com/listings/millennial-mage

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MillennialMage

Discord: https://discord.gg/FddACAjUrR

The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Please let the world know what you think of this story by leaving reviews on Amazon!

They help a TON with visibility on the site and allow me to keep writing and making these books.

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https://geni.us/bound-review

Chapter: 293 - Not too Stereotypical

Tala blinked a few times as her eyes opened.

She was in the merging room as expected, and the scripts were gone, burned away to activate the magical integration.

In the center of the space rested Flow, alone.

Not alone. The dasgannach is in there too.

-The remnants of it. It was never really alive.-

That was an interesting thing that she hadn’t considered. Flow was a concept weapon now, at least partially.

Then, she felt like an idiot, because she’d seen that exact thing in the visions. Flow had laid claim to so, so much on her behalf. We’ll have to be more careful than ever, in the future.

-And get a new sheath that can specifically block that aspect as well. We don’t want to tear iron out of sparring partners.-

Agreed.

She lifted her hand and Flow crossed the distance to slap into her palm faster than it had ever moved before.

As it impacted, the massive amount of iron that had been carried along with it rolled into her hand and down her arm, spreading throughout her body, just beneath the surface of the physical world.

By the nature of soul-bond manipulation, there was no transfer of momentum from the weapon coming to her hand. That was an incredibly good thing because Tala felt like it would have thrown her across the room.

She shuddered as the ripple of increased weight rolled throughout her body before settling in and fading as her will began to manipulate it to remove the feel of extra mass.

“Mistress Tala?” Mistress Aurius had stood and was walking her way. “I didn’t receive permission to interfere. Did everything go well?”

“I think so? There were a couple of complications.” She began to explain the mistake of the biological iron still being bound to the dasgannach. “Does that mean I changed my body?”

Tala couldn’t help but brace for bad news.

Mistress Holly would probably flay her if she’d messed herself up even more fully.

“No, it does not appear so. The iron within you is shared between two of your soul-bonds which is unusual, but not unheard of. I do not detect any discernible alteration to your physical body.”

Tala let out a huge, relieved breath. “Oh, thank the stars.”

Mistress Aurius grinned. “Well, I will claim a bit of credit. I couldn’t have stopped the bond from leaking through but, because of your general circumstances, I added extra spiritual filtration, so that you could protect your body.”

“You knew this would happen?”

She tilted her head to the side. “Would? No. Could? Absolutely. All bonds are bound. It would have been foolish to assume that you would magically avoid alteration to your body without…”—she huffed a laugh—“without magical precautions.”

Tala felt herself smile, too. “Well then, thank you, Mistress Aurius.”

“It was my pleasure, Mistress Tala. I do apologize: it is so standard a feature to add in more advanced mergings that I didn’t think to highlight it. I am glad that you noticed the error and acted appropriately. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any need of my expertise in the future.”

“I appreciate the offer, and I’ll remember it.”

Tala thanked Master Queue on the way out, and in less than twenty minutes of fast walking, Tala arrived at Mistress Holly’s shop.

She stepped inside and felt the expected magics brush her.

Tala didn’t hesitate, heading straight back to Mistress Holly’s work room, where the Inscriptionist awaited her.

“So, the merging was a success? I don’t detect any expanded splintering of your body.”

She nodded, then briefly explained how it had gone.

“Well… that is an obvious hangup, isn’t it.” Mistress Holly shook her head, then rubbed her temples. “That should have been taken more fully into account.”

Tala sat down on the chair off to one side, and Mistress Holly pulled over her customary stool.

“We will go back over the proposed Refining process with a fine-toothed comb and ensure that we have everything aligned as it should be.” Mistress Holly grimaced, shaking her head. “We are not used to considering iron or dasgannach, as neither have ever been factors before.”

“We have time. It will take a month for this merging to settle in, right?”

“That’s right. Blessedly, like most things, the Refining process is simple to execute, once you know what to do.”

Tala frowned. “Like most things?”

“Of course. Once you know how exactly something can be done, it is usually trivial to make it happen.”

“I don’t know if that is the case.”

“Then you probably don’t know exactly how the thing is done and have to rely on secondary processes.”

Tala opened her mouth to argue, but finally just shook her head. Not worth it.

-I’m excited to try out Flow.-

Yeah, me too. It’s hard to remember that what we saw was one branch of the potential that is now open before us, not what we can do immediately.

Unfortunately, like many things, experimentation would have to wait until after she Refined.

Mistress Holly folded her hands in her lap and smiled. “I’ll see you in a month, then. Please keep yourself intact until then?”

“I will do my best. Thank you, Mistress Holly.”

“Take care.”

* * *

Tala was exhausted. While her body wasn’t really worse off than it had been, the flaws and contamination were starting to make her feel noticeably less capable than she was used to.

Even so, the month had passed in a blur.

Lyn and Rane had done their best to help fill Tala’s time until her Refinement.

Rane had more free time, though he still went off to train daily. Towards that end, they explored the offerings of the playhouses of Bandfast, Lyn and even Kannis joining them for the afternoon or evening plays.

Mistress Aproa came along as well on occasion, and Mistress Odera even came with them once or twice.

They tried out every restaurant they could find in the city, and Alat helped supply a supplemental set of foods for Tala to eat afterwards to keep her consumption balanced.

Aside from a truly dizzying number of plays from the more than two dozen playhouses in the city, Tala and Rane practiced with the magical nest from the arcanes, as well as with the iron spheres that Master Jevin had given her so long ago.

They made it a bit of a game between them, testing themselves against each other, striving for mastery.

Finally, they filled their time with tafl.

Tala and Rane played an immense amount of tafl.

They began with a simple nine-by-nine board, altering who was the attacker and who defended.

In the end, they were battling across nineteen-by-nineteen boards, trading victories back and forth in uneven spurts.

They really hadn’t been keeping track, but with her memory—even without specifically counting—Tala knew that they were pretty evenly split.

Terry spent most of his time in Tala’s sanctum, or riding on her shoulders to the plays. He only tried to cheat at tafl a few times—flickering in and out quickly to move a piece—but Tala and Rane both sternly told him not to help them.

Tala tried not to think too deeply on the fact that Terry somehow seemed to have a better head for the game than either of them.

Alat brought it up fairly often though, so Tala wasn’t likely to forget.

The only real things of note that had happened during the month were: First, the first version of the teleportation array out of Kit was completed; it had eviscerated a test rabbit.

Second, she’d met up with Master Nadro a couple of times, to continue talking through her experiences and working through her struggles.

Finally, Master Queue heard of her search for staff for her sanctum.

He put forward his own assistant, Master Simon, for the position.

Apparently, the man had always had a passion for cooking that his wife and children shared.

While he had ten children, four were at the academy and three more were out on their own in the world.

Thus, he would simply be bringing himself, his wife, and three youngest children.

Tala had liked Master Simon the few times that they’d interacted, and he was a consummate researcher and assistant. He came highly recommended and was actually at the end of his tenure with Master Queue. Thus, he was beginning to search for a new position, regardless.

Even so, she still wasn’t sure.

She had a dinner with his family planned in a week, and if that went well, they’d have another dinner within her sanctum sometime after.

But that wasn’t pressing at the moment.

At the moment, it was time to Refine.

Toward that end, Tala stood in a new-to-her room within the Archon Compound. It was much smaller than a merging chamber within the Constructionist’s Guildhalls, but it was similarly outfitted with iron on every surface, even the pedestal that rose up to her waist in the center was entirely wrought of iron.

Atop the pedestal was something that looked like nothing so much as a coffin.

Humans rarely buried their dead, and when they did, they were almost always cremated beforehand, regardless, but coffins were still used occasionally.

Tala had never seen one before.

It was made of a beautiful wood, and she had known immediately where it had come from when she’d seen it.

“Master Jevin really made this for me?”

Mistress Holly smiled and nodded. “He grew it from the tree, meticulously forging the inscriptions into the wood fibers.”

Just like in Makinaven, Tala could see that the individual fibers of wood had been grown into spellforms that were entirely alien, yet somehow comforting in their composition.

The Tala-sized box seemed to be precariously balanced on the iron pedestal, but Tala had looked underneath and seen that it was firmly attached.

During that same glance at the bottom, she’d been slightly concerned to see drain holes worked into the material at regular intervals. There were also drains in the slightly sloped floor of this chamber, which meant that their use wasn’t a unique feature of her Refining.

Still, she needed to do this. She needed to Refine.

“Is it stereotypical to say that I’m nervous but excited?”

Mistress Holly smiled comfortingly. “Not too stereotypical, no.”

Tala smiled in return. “What can I expect again?”

The Inscriptionist nodded. “A refresher is wise; you are right to ask. You will strip, leaving all your items—even your soulbound ones—on that shelf there.” She pointed to an iron shelf off to one side. “You will then be closed within the box.”

Tala nodded along, moving towards the indicated shelf.

“Once inside, you will place your hands on the requisite activation places and open yourself to the inscriptions, providing them with as much power as you can. You read the book?”

“Absolutely. I appreciate the triple check.” Mistress Holly had provided her with a book detailing exactly what the Refining would do, even if Tala didn’t really understand the results.

That was fine. It was akin to knowing that punching a wolf’s head could cause a messy explosion without really knowing what the end results of that explosion would be.

“I read it several times to be sure.”

“Good, good. Being sure is paramount, here. Make sure to leave your iron within Flow.”

Tala already had moved the metal to her weapon, so she simply nodded again.

“Then, that’s it. You’ll have activated the scripts, and you won’t be able to stop the process.”

“The test phase?”

“Yes, the test phase will confirm the concepts of the process. If it fails, it will stop the process. You will not have control.”

“Right, right.” Tala shuffled her feet.

“Your body will be purged of imperfections at every level.”

“Which won’t include my inscriptions because they are perfect.” Tala gave the older woman a half-smile.

Mistress Holly chuckled. “Flattery aside, yes. They are magically aligned and form a template around which the magic will function. In essence, this process corrects the imbalance between how you believe your body works, and how it actually does.”

“I still don’t understand why a foundation in biology and physiology isn’t required.” Tala groused. She had that knowledge, and she had been flabbergasted when Rane had told her he hadn’t been asked to learn it.

“I’ve explained a dozen times: The important thing is that you don’t have any incorrect understandings, generally. The point is to align your body with what you believe about your body. If you believed that you were missing a toe, this would remove that toe. You wouldn’t need to know the name of the bones in that phalange to make it happen.”

“Because my magic repairs my body according to my understanding.”

“Precisely.”

“And it also perfects me?”

“Refines yes. You won’t be perfect, but in the colloquial sense, yes.”

“And a teleportation doesn’t do this because…”

The Inscriptionist sighed. “Because you are rebuilt based upon your soul, not your mind, when you teleport.”

“Right, right.” Tala glanced at the box again. The drain holes weren’t ominous at all…

“You have filled your reserves, correct?”

“You know that I have.” It had actually been a bit of a chore to eat enough over the last month, given how her ability to store nutrients and calories had grown.

“Good. That is the main reason why most people have to do this in multiple blocks.”

“Which I cannot do because the disjointment would kill me.”

“Precisely.” Mistress Holly smiled, but Tala could see tension in the woman’s eyes.

“Are you alright, Mistress Holly?”

“I am, dear girl.” She patted Tala on the shoulder. “You will be too. Do you require assistance, or do you wish for me to stay in the room?”

Tala glanced at the coffin-like creation. “Will it bear up under me hopping up into it?”

“Yes. It should bear up to you punching it with all your strength even at the most cantilevered ends, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Then, I think I will be alright.”

“As you wish. I will await you just outside the door.” She hesitated. “Do you have anything you wish me to say to anyone if… if it doesn’t go well?”

Tala felt a chill run through her. That was the largest admission of uncertainty that she’d ever heard from Mistress Holly. “No. I will see you on the other side.”

Without another word, Mistress Holly closed the door behind herself as she left.

Tala took a deep breath and let it out carefully.

-Everything will be alright, Tala.-

That’s easy for you to say. You don’t have to experience this directly.

-And I am infinitely grateful for that. Thank you.-

Tala checked once again to ensure that she had moved all her non-biological iron into Flow before setting it on the shelf.

The metal of the shelf creaked under the load, so Tala pushed Flow to the back of the flat surface before adding Kit beside it.

After that, she pulled off her through spike and stuck it into Kit.

Finally, she forced her Archive link to manifest as the ring and took it off, placing it on the shelf as well.

She was still connected to the Archive while it remained in the room with her, but she couldn’t take it into the box without risking the process.

Next, she retracted her elk-leathers into a bracelet, which she removed and set beside the ring, pouch, and knife.

And that was it.

That was all she owned in the world.

-Don’t be melodramatic, Tala. There’s an entire estate within that pouch.-

Tala huffed a laugh. True enough.

With an easy hop, Tala jumped up and landed inside the box. Despite Mistress Holly’s reassurances, Tala was careful to land where the box was held up and supported by the pillar, beneath.

After another deep breath, Tala stretched out within the wooden construction before reaching and closing the lid over herself.

It sealed with a resounding click.

She easily sensed where her hands should go, and she rested them down on the contact points.

-Ready?-

As I’ll ever be.

She forged a pair of void-channels as large as she could create—capturing virtually her entire power flow—and directed one out through each hand, into the waiting inscriptions.

Power slowly filled the spellforms around her, and the wooden box began to glow to her magesight. A moment later, it began to emit light visible to mundane sight as well.

Finally, there was enough power within for the first scripts to activate.

A pulse of power slammed into her uniformly from all sides at once.

Her hair was reduced to dust across her entire body, and she felt like every dead skin-cell was vaporized at the same time.

It rendered her instantly raw and oversensitive, and she tried not to shift.

The next pulse slammed into her, and several layers of skin vanished.

The pain was incredible, and she grunted and grimaced, trying to bear it.

Her regenerative scripts tried to activate to restore her, but they were suddenly, utterly suppressed, the magic of the Refining box superceding everything else.

Blessedly, the next pulse caused fresh skin to blossom across her body, replacing what had been removed.

That didn’t last, however.

The next wave obliterated the new skin and all that was underneath.

Tala shrieked at the shock of it.

There was actually very little pain, however, since her nerve endings were simply gone.

She knew that blood was flowing freely from her, though she couldn’t feel it.

The lack of pain was incredibly disconcerting.

Then, the magics radiating from the box changed, and she felt her left hand be gripped with incredible pressure.

It wasn’t like being locked in a vice, as she could still move her fingers freely, at least based on the kinesthetic feedback she was getting.

Instead, it was a grip on a deeper level.

Her left hand was the test case.

Alright, Tala. You can do this. Just breathe.

As that pressure increased, she felt the bones in her hand splinter, even while they were held in shape.

That hurt, and she screamed again, jerking her hand away from the contact point.

It didn’t matter; the magic still flowed. The scripts were such that once the connection was made, it could not be stopped by her, and so the pressure increased.

Her bones ground together, turning to powder, all the while staying in the exact form that they needed to be in.

Her soft tissue was next, being emulsified in place even as the pressure increased.

Tala didn’t really have time to consider the oddity of her bones breaking down first, as the pain continued to build.

Then, when it reached almost unbearable levels, she heard a new, heavier dripping and strained to see her hand.

Something darker than blood, thick and rancid was being squeezed out of her hand.

She barely held in a scream, as she tried not to gag at the stench.

Hold it together, Tala. This is just the test section. The rest of you has to be done in one go.

They had set it up this way, so that, worst case scenario, they only ruined her left hand, and she was trying to distract herself by going over the same information again and again.

Unless this is wrong?

It felt wrong.

What if this is wrong?

-Tala. Calm down.-

Tala ignored Alat and pounded on the lid with her right hand, suddenly frantic. “Hello? This isn’t right!”

She’d known there would be a stripping away. She’d known there would be the pressure and expulsion of impurities. She’d even known that this was but the first of quite a few steps.

Even so, she had not known it would be like this.

“LET ME OUT!” She pounded harder, but to no avail.

Finally, desperately, she punched the lid as hard as she could with her right hand, but Master Jevin did good work, and Mistress Holly had been correct.

The wood didn’t mar in the slightest beneath her blow.

Suddenly, the pressure gripped her entire body, and Tala’s panic grew.

No, no, no! She couldn’t take this. She needed it to stop.

But it wouldn’t stop.

The pressure built, and her body was slowly eviscerated in place.

Tala was no longer screaming as she no longer had the intact parts to scream.

Blood and the putrid black sludge flowed from the coffin in equal measure as silence fell in the room, and the unalterable scripts continued to enact their magics without end.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 294 - To Learn the Results

Tala couldn’t remember when this unending torment had started, and she had trouble remembering anything outside of the ongoing agony.

She definitely knew that she should know what was happening.

She also somehow knew that she probably shouldn’t be able to feel anything at all at the moment.

Even so, she could.

-It’s your magical reinforcement and enhancement around your neural systems. They shouldn’t still be feeding you pain, but they are. Tala, I’m so sorry.-

Tala ignored the buzzing sound that sometimes came into her mind.

-You’re being rebuilt, and it’s almost done. I’m sorry, but…- There was a pause in the buzzing before it continued. -I think the pain is going to get worse when your nerves are actually whole once more.-

There was a solidity to her, which hadn’t existed before, at least not in her memory. A support structure had been forged within her body of pain.

An unknown amount of time passed, and the pain did, indeed, grow to a crescendo.

At the final, ultimate wave of agony, Tala screamed for the first time. Again? I’m sure it’s again.

The material around her vibrated under the force of the wail.

-Tala? Tala! Are you with me again?-

Her mind seemed to have mostly pulled itself back together, and her existence extended beyond mere pain and confusion once again.

Tala lay in a coffin that seemed to be filled so full of black muck that it came around her eyes and almost blocked her nose and mouth.

The horrible stench almost made her gag, but somehow the ability to smell again was a sweet relief sufficient enough to overcome the horror of the extreme odor, at least for the moment.

Blessedly, she seemed to have tried to throw her head back for her agonized cry, so her airways were lifted up above the level of the viscous liquid.

Even through the sludge over her eyes, she saw a bright pulse of light, and Tala flinched.

Light means magic. Magic means more pain.

Something within the black ichor changed, and it began to rush downward, flowing where it hadn’t before.

-Surface tension and molecular cohesion most likely. The magics made it so this stuff could drain.- There was another moment of hesitance. -How was all of this stuff inside of you, Tala?-

Tala just groaned, trying to keep her mouth closed even though every breath through her nose brought with it the foul odor.

Soon, the box was mostly drained, and a resonant cracking came from all around her.

The box fell away, one wall hinging the lid up and away from above her.

There was a sickening squelch as the wood fell onto the seemingly coated floor.

The last of the gunk splashed down onto the panels, where the inscriptions on the wooden panels continued to facilitate the liquid’s movement through the drains in the floor of the room.

Tala simply laid there, gasping.

The light in the room caused her to twitch, but it was obviously different from the light given off by activating inscriptions. Her utter inability to do anything about the light, and the lack of harm from it, forced the knee-jerk reaction to fizzle out, and her aversion to fade.

She felt too weak to lift her arms, and she was utterly drained.

Over the months, she’d gotten to a place where she could sense her reserves, at least vaguely.

They were utterly spent.

She was utterly spent.

In fact, she felt like barely a husk of herself, though she knew that the inscriptions across her body would have maintained her shape one way or another.

Her mind was fuzzy, and it almost felt like over enthusiastic musicians were playing loud, grating, monotonous music, filling the room with incessant noise.

-Tala, that’s someone knocking and calling out to you.-

…Oh…

“Mistress Tala?”

Tala groaned.

It was Mistress Holly. “Mistress Tala, can I come in to help?”

Really? Just come in already, woman.

-You told her you didn’t want assistance… You aren’t in danger from what I can tell, so I wanted to wait for you to be ready.-

…that was before; this is now. Tala groaned again, but slightly louder and in an affirmative manner.

That was apparently enough as the older woman opened the door.

There was a pause, then a gagging retch.

“Oh… oh, child.”

Tala felt magics enact, though she couldn’t quite tell what they were.

Suddenly, a stream of water shot across the room and began to sweep back and forth, presumably rinsing the black remnants away.

The cold water hit Tala, and she flinched, or at least she tried to.

Her body did not want to move. So, instead, she just groaned again. This time it was definitely not in an affirmative manner.

“One moment, Mistress Tala. I’ve got to get you clean of this stuff before the magics run their course. Otherwise, you’ll find the black discharge more pervasive than tar, and you’ll be finding it everywhere for weeks.”

She couldn’t summon the strength to protest, though she wanted to.

Why won't my arms move?

-You’ve been mostly dead all day.-

Tala didn’t really know how to respond to that, and in any case, it didn’t help her solve her current issue.

Then, an idea came to her.

Alat!

-Yes, Tala?- The alternate interface sounded incredibly tentative.

Send her a strongly worded missive telling her how I feel about her washing.

-…are you sure?-

Do it!

-Alright… done.-

Good, I’m going to slap that woman if this continues. She tried to move to fulfill the threat, but all that she accomplished was slightly moving one finger.

-You just wiggled your finger!- Alat was elated.

I’ve always been a quick healer.

The stream of water froze in place for a moment, the Mistress Holly snorted. “Mistress Tala. I am trying… to… help you.” The woman grunted. “You knew I’d say that, eh?”

What?

-I ended the missive telling her not to say that she’s just trying to help.-

Tala snorted a laugh, slightly shaking her head at Alat’s antics. She approved. Then, she tried to grimace in pain. This is awful…

- You just shook your head! That doesn't make you happy?-

She sent the alternate interface a deeply skeptical thought. I just went through something so mind numbingly painful that I still can’t think straight, and you think a little head jiggle is supposed to make me happy? Hmm?

-You’ve been… less than cognizant. I even faded through several points. This is a vast improvement.-

The water began moving again, and Tala growled but still couldn’t move.

-I was worried about you.-

Tala didn’t really have a response. She felt utterly unable to think about the experience that she just went through, her mind shying away from the memories like a whipped dog.

Mistress Holly finally came over and blasted her more directly. “Let’s get you clean. I’m sure you feel weak to the extreme. The cleaning should have been automated, but those spellforms were definitely not designed for this much filth. I’ve never seen so much corruption and rot and nastiness come from one person before. We’ll have to do some tests, but I’m optimistic. This was a resounding success.”

Tala managed to roll her head to face the Inscriptionst and forced a partial grimace.

She couldn’t say anything, though.

Mistress Holly gently patted her cheek. “One moment.”—she placed her hand on the back of Tala’s neck, and Tala felt the tingle of magic—“You are in no immediate danger, and you’ll recover, my dear girl. Nothing is glaringly wrong, except that you are strained to near the limit of your endurance. Let’s get you sorted and out of here. We have a place you can rest nearby that’s far more comfortable than this.”

Ten more minutes of rather embarrassing and awkward cleaning and shifting found Tala propped up in a laid-back chaise in a side room, seemingly specifically made for Archons in this weakened state.

Her elk-leathers had grown back over her into comfortable clothing. Kit and Flow hung opposite each other at her waist, and her ring and through spike were back in place.

Refined. I’m a Refined.

-That’s right you are!- Alat forced an unseemly amount of cheer into that statement, making Tala grimace again.

Please stop. You’re trying too hard, and it’s getting painful…

-Fine, fine.- Alat sighed within Tala’s mind. -What do you need?-

Tala couldn’t honestly think of anything but food, and Mistress Holly had already provided that. The side table beside Tala was overloaded with food, and she was taking careful bites as she had the strength to do so.

More than anything except food, she needed time to recover.

Tala let Terry out, and he happily flickered to her shoulder before curling up and tucking himself in against her neck, providing what comfort and physical company that he could.

It took more than a day of eating and sleeping before she could get up from the reclined seat for more than short stretches.

After a particularly fitful nap, Tala woke up to find Master Nadro sitting in a chair in the corner of the room.

“Oh! Master Nadro.” Despite her surprise, her words were still rather quiet.

“Peace, Mistress Tala. You are still incredibly weak. I assumed that you might want to talk about what you experienced, but we can use our alternate interfaces, if you like. That way you don’t strain yourself?”

Can you tell him that he’s welcome to talk out loud?

-Of course.-

He smiled. “That is kind of you. I’ll be here for a couple of hours. Feel free to say anything you wish, and I will hear it.”

She slowly nodded. Even so, it took long minutes of silence before she could summon the willpower to begin to convey her perspective on what had happened.

…I was trapped…

***

Just less than a week passed before she was up and moving around with relative ease.

Mistress Holly was ready to run the full battery of her tests, now that Tala had recovered for the most part, and Tala had her dinner with Master Simon the next evening.

Bedrest was at an end, it seemed.

As the first lightening of the sky was visible in her sanctum, Tala leveraged herself out of her bed, summoning the door out to the space directly in-front of herself.

She came out through the door into Lyn’s hallway, walking much more slowly, and with shorter steps, than she was used to.

Her whole body still felt raw and new, sore and strained.

“Tala? Is that you?” Lyn poked her head around the corner. “It is! Come, come. Let me help you.”

The Archon came down the hallway quickly and took one of Tala’s arms before Tala could muster a response.

“You still seem very weak, are you going to be alright?”

“I’m sick of being cooped up, more than anything. Besides, Mistress Holly is expecting me for some tests.”

“Do you need assistance getting there?” Lyn was obviously uncertain, but she just as obviously wanted to be sure that Tala was safe.

“No, thank you. I think a walk through the city will help me tremendously.”

Lyn frowned, seeming to internally fuss a bit. “Did you stretch?”

“No, mom. I’ll stretch when I get there.”

She huffed a laugh. “Fine, alright, I’ll leave you be.”

Tala placed her hand on Lyn’s shoulder. “Thank you for wanting to help.”

Lyn patted her in return. “Of course. I’m happy to help however I can.”

Kannis smiled consolingly in Tala’s direction as Tala passed through the sitting room. It was early morning, and the master and mageling would soon be leaving for work.

Apparently, Lyn had told Kannis that Tala came down with a rare, noncommunicable illness in order to hide the fact that Tala’s condition was the result of Refining.

That thought made Tala realize something else. I’ve not talked to Lyn about my Refining at all… does she actually know? Does Rane?

-She said that Mistress Holly told her you were ill. We assumed that she said that because Kannis was in the room, but what if…-

Yeah, I don’t think she knows the truth. Obviously, Lyn would know if she looked at Tala with her magesight, but Lyn was still of the mindset that it was rude to look at others without asking permission first, and since she had to activate those inscriptions for them to provide the sight, Tala was rather sure that Lyn hadn’t seen.

That surety made Tala a bit conflicted. She knew that if she’d been warned, she would have struggled to have the strength to go through with it, and quite honestly, the whole experience would have been worse.

Even so, she knew that she felt a seed of resentment towards every higher ranked person who had failed to warn her.

-Master Grediv, and quite a few others, did say it was a difficult, unpleasant experience.-

Tala grunted internally at that, but didn’t respond.

She grabbed the door handle and pushed as she moved to go outside.

Instead of opening, the door stood firm, and she rammed into it with a grunt.

Tala felt her eye twitch, and suddenly, it was as if she was back in the coffin.

Her breath sped up.

Calm, Tala. But it didn’t work.

She tried the door again, but it wouldn’t open.

Trapped. I’m trapped!

She tried to body-check the door open, but she was still incredibly weak, and it did nothing.

Tala heard a whimper come from her own lips.

No. No, no, no no. She hit the door.

-Tala! Stop!-

But Tala ignored the alternate interface.

“Let me out!” Even though she had tried to scream, the panic in her mind made it come out as barely a croak.

Even so, quick footsteps came from behind her, and Lyn was suddenly beside her. “Tala? Tala!”

Tala couldn’t turn away from the door as she continued to futilely push. “It won’t open. I can’t…”—she panted—“I can’t get out!”

Lyn put a calming hand on her shoulder, and Tala felt herself shudder. “Tala, I don’t know what’s going on.”

Tala turned to look at Lyn. “I’m trapped. It won’t open.”

Lyn slowly grabbed the door handle and pulled.

The door opened easily.

“Tala… are you okay?”

Tala shook her head. “No, I don’t think I am, but I need to get outside.” She was still too panicked to be embarrassed. She needed to get outside. Even so, she managed to get out two words as she stepped outside, “Thank you.”

As soon as she was out of the house, it was as if a massive weight was lifted from her, and her breathing slowed.

Her steps became a bit firmer, and she straightened, only having just realized that she was hunching.

She shivered, but not from the cold.

Yeah… that was awful.

-Are you going to be okay?-

I hope so.

-Is there anything I can do?-

Let me focus on something other than that little panic attack?

-I can do that.-

Tala grimaced and found that she couldn’t divert her mind too far. I think I understand now why Master Grediv would be hesitant to move towards being Reforged. I can’t imagine it’s a pleasant process.

-It does seem like every step is more difficult in some way or another.-

Yeah. Though, it might be more accurate to say that each step is differently difficult.

Alat snorted a laugh within Tala’s head. -That does sound more accurate, yeah.-

The cool air was invigorating, and the slight breeze across Tala’s minimally clad body was helping to shake loose some of the lethargy that had been plaguing her for the last several days.

There had been quite a bit of snowfall recently, to the point that even her widened tread sunk deeply into the light, fluffy, dry powder, allowing the cool snow to fall inward and dust her bare feet.

It added to the refreshing coolness, and Tala felt a smile blossom across her face for what felt like the first time since her Refining as she turned her mind outward, and to the present moment, leaving her still fluttering internal flutters and the past aside for the moment.

Pedestrian traffic was beginning to pick up, and there were even a few vehicles about, but the streets were still mostly empty at this early hour.

The sky was still dark after all. It seemed that her sanctum matched the day-night cycle wherever she was, but as it was spring-like within Kit, the length of the days matched that time of year, rather than that of wintery Bandfast.

Tala almost diverted to get some food, but she still had an over abundance which Mistress Holly, Rane, and Lyn had brought her off and on over the last few days.

So, instead of going to a restaurant, she simply reached into Kit and pulled out a still warm breakfast sandwich.

The bread, itself, was still steaming, having come straight from the oven to be made into a sandwich. From there, it had been in one dimensional storage after another.

Rane’s storage was less preserving than Kit could be, but it still let the food taste like it had been made within the last half-hour, rather than three days earlier.

She stepped carefully as she ate, making sure not to lose any of the incredibly tasty breakfast.

She had an undeniable hankering for coffee, as many of her memories made with these tastes were accompanied by the smooth power of that dark liquid, but she was not going to go down that road, at least not until her body had fully stabilized.

The first sandwich was barely the start of her feast as she walked the distance to Mistress Holly’s workshop.

Unfortunately, none of the food was magically special.

Mistress Holly had explicitly told Tala to avoid even endingberries until they’d been able to test her fully to get a sense of how, exactly, the Refining had gone.

Tala pulled out her incorporator for a drink but paused with a sigh.

Incorporated water didn’t really harm a Mage. All it took was a little bit of their throughput to maintain the molecules in that form until it passed through, and Tala had magic aplenty.

Even so, that would be another strain on her magic and body at this time.

Instead, she put the device back in Kit and pulled out a mug, already filled with clean, clear water.

She drained the mug in one long pull, reveling in the sweet simplicity of the water.

After placing the cup back into Kit, she patted the pouch. “Thank you, Kit. That was a really excellent drink.”

Kit did not respond.

The mug sent Tala’s thoughts spiraling off in an unpleasant direction, If I melt down a cup, purify the materials, and remake the cup, is it the same vessel?

-Obviously not, but that isn’t actually what happened. In this case, the cup was separated into individual molecules and held perfectly in place while the imperfections were removed. Then, it was allowed to reconnect to the surrounding pieces, exactly where they had been.-

That sounds like the vessel would be left full of holes…

-Maybe that’s why it needs to be Reforged?-

Tala shuddered. Yeah… I’m not ready to consider that at the moment.

-As you wish. It will be interesting to hear what the test results are, right?-

Yeah. It definitely will be.

She continued to pull out food to eat while she walked the last blocks to her destination.

Tala pushed open the door and smiled at the receptionist, yet another Mage that Tala didn’t recognize.

She wasn’t feeling very restrained at the moment, so Tala just asked, “How many different receptionists are there? I feel like I’m in here all the time, and I don’t often see regulars behind that desk.”

The young-looking man cleared his throat, straightened his back just a bit, and smiled hesitantly. “Well, this is a testing position for those who want to work with the honored Inscriptionist.”

Tala’s eye twitched, and she opened her mouth to respond, but Mistress Holly came out into the entry hall before she could.

“Master Adam, I’ve told you that unnecessary flattery won’t factor into my decision.”

Huh, that’s funny, he shares a name with Adam the guard.

-Yes, Tala, many people share names.-

“Yes, Mistress Holly.” Adam lowered his gaze back to the work on the desk before him.

Mistress Holly turned to Tala. “It really is informative, how much you can learn about a person by how they handle such a position.”

Tala grunted, starting to slowly walk towards the door to the back.

“How are you doing, Mistress?” There was genuine concern in the woman’s voice.

Tala sighed and turned to regard her. “Well, before all this started, I was fine, and I suppose when this process is done, I will be again.”

Mistress Holly’s eye twitched as Tala tried to keep her smile back.

“You might even say that soon I will be re-fine.”

“Out!”—The inscriptionist pointed at the main door—“That was a terrible pun.”

“Fine, fine.” The smile broke through Tala’s features. “Or should I say, ‘Refine?’”

Mistress Holly shook her head. “Let’s get this over with. You’re going to strain something if you keep that up.”

Without another word, the two women turned toward the back.

Tala didn’t ask, but she leaned on the older woman—just a bit—for support.

Mistress Holly silently shifted to be of better help.

Together, they went to learn the results of their respective efforts and ordeals.

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

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Chapter: 295 - Quite a Few

Tala and Mistress Holly entered into the back room of the workshop and sat down at a not-usually-present set of table and chairs.

The table held steaming tea, ready and waiting.

The tea was one that Tala couldn’t quite place, but it went down smoothly, and she felt herself relax as the warmth spread through her.

“Now, Mistress Tala. We will be doing basically all the tests we did in preparation for your Refining, so that we can compare the results as a way to measure your body’s recovery and improvement.”

Tala took another sip, sighed, and nodded. “Out of curiosity, shouldn’t we wait until I am physically fully recovered?”

“We will need to take another set of measurements then as well, but we need to head off any potential issues now, if they exist. So, we can’t wait any longer.”

“Very well. I expected as much.”

“Good. Do you have any questions?”

“Honestly? Yes. I have quite a few, but not really about this process.”

Mistress Holly gave a long-suffering smile. “Well then, let’s see what I can do to help with that.”

As Tala settled back in her chair, she realized that she hadn’t invited Terry to join her.

She opened Kit and called to him. The terror bird flickered to her shoulder, where he headbutted her cheek, and curled up.

Tala stroked the avian, then turned back to Mistress Holly. “Sorry. My questions. What was that black gunk?”

“That is actually a subject of some debate. Once it separates from an Archon, it begins to fade. Any attempt to perform tests upon it, or direct magical scanning at it either utterly fails or seems to speed up its fading.”

“And if it remains on the Archon?”

“Then attempting tests or scans causes it to retreat back into the Mage, harming the Refining.”

Tala’s eyes widened. “Could my magesight have triggered that?”

“Oh, no. Your magesight wouldn’t have seen anything from it, but you probably already know that. It would be simple deadspace to that perception.”

“Are there any guesses on what it might be?”

“The most prevalent theory is that the 'gunk' is a purely conceptual substance.”

“How does that make sense? Shouldn’t it have to be material?”

“In theory, no. Not that we understand conceptual magics that well.”

“And so it would be… what? The concept of bodily corruption?”

“That’s as good a guess as any, honestly.”

“Well, in either case, I’m glad that it didn’t retreat and harm my Refining.”

“Quite. We would not have left your magesight active if it could harm you.”

Tala grimaced. “You didn’t seem to mind hurting me.”

“I never claimed differently. The pain, the hurt, was for your own good, and was required because of your condition.”

She frowned. “But you just said…”

Mistress Holly sighed and shook her head. “Harm and hurt are very different things, Mistress Tala. I think you know that to be true. For example, a parent’s discipline must hurt to be meaningful, whether that hurt is physical, financial, social, or otherwise, but it should never harm.”

“Ahh, I see the difference. Hurt is painful, but that fades, while harm is damaging in the end.”

“Precisely.”

She took a deep breath and asked one of the more important questions, trying to not let her voice tremble with either anger or remembered agony, “So, why did you allow me to experience so much pain?”

“Do you remember when I rendered you unconscious to inscribe parts of you?”

“Yes.”

“What happened when you woke up?”

Tala’s eyes widened just slightly as she understood. “The sum total of all the pain I would have felt hit me at once.”

“That, if done for the Refining, would have killed you, almost without question. The pain you felt was mostly on the soul-level, as one of your soul-bonds, specifically your body, was broken down and stripped of pieces of its makeup.”

“Stripped of who knows what.”

“Well, we know the results, but that doesn’t really help us concretely identify the substance.” Mistress Holly gave a rueful smile. “In fact, us knowing the results lets us extrapolate the connecting concept of what was removed, which is why the ‘conceptual substance’ theory holds so much weight.”

“And those known results are?”

“Refined gain incredible multiplicative increases to throughput, magical density, inscription efficiency, and magical control. An end to physical degradation due to time. An almost total immunity to non-magical disease and poison. A perfecting of your genetic code, to be passed down to any offspring. Physical capacity is amplified as well to an incredible degree. Mental functions are lifted to completely new heights.”

Mistress Holly clearly saw Tala’s confused frown.

“All of this will manifest as your body solidifies in its new state. There are many more-specific benefits, but they all are understood to fall under what I already stated. These are some of the reasons why we implement the reconstruction inscriptions before Refining. Aside from making the process easier, they make the results better, too.”

Tala grunted. Terry seemed to be getting bored, so he flickered to a corner, where he contentedly curled up to wait.

“Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

She only hesitated a moment before shrugging. “I suppose not.”

“I didn’t want to ask before, because I didn’t want to influence your decision, especially when you had an expert to consult. Now that it’s done, though, what was your reasoning behind binding the dasgannach with your weapon as opposed to your elk-leathers?”

Tala grunted. She’d actually given it a lot of thought and talked it through with Mistress Aurius. Tala had been inclined to use Flow, and her research and talks had only reinforced the decision. “That’s simple enough. The elk-leathers and dasgannach were too similar. One would have subsumed the other, and I’d have been left with one that could somewhat pretend to be the other. Flow and the dasgannach were distinct enough, with marginal overlap, that they should now be able to complement each other, rather than overriding or fighting for supremacy.”

Mistress Holly nodded. “That would have been my fear as well. I’m glad to know that you got good advice, and it’s also nice to confirm that I’m not so ignorant in the field to have missed the mark.”

Tala grunted again. She was almost frustrated with Mistress Holly, but she realized that it wasn’t Mistress Holly’s job to hold her hand in such decisions, especially when they lay outside her expertise. Mistress Holly had gone above and beyond, finding an expert for Tala to work with, after all.

The Inscriber tilted her head in thought, seeming content with Tala’s response. “Thank you for satisfying my curiosity. What else did you want to ask?”

“Soul bonds.”

“They aren’t my area of study, but I’ll answer if I can.”

“It has been implied to me that I shouldn’t have more than eight at any one time.”

“That is fairly standard, sound advice, yes.”

“I have Flow, my elk-leathers, my Archive link, and my body, right? Does my body count?”

“In almost every sense, yes.” Mistress Holly’s smile shifted towards a wry grin. “Except toward that limit. While you’re Bound? It counts and is like any soul-bound tool, in every basic sense. Once you Fuse though, you basically do to your body and soul what you just did to your weapon and the dasganach.”

Tala blinked a few times, processing what Mistress Holly had said. “So, because my body is Fused with my soul, it doesn’t count as a bond?”

“For soul-strain, no, it doesn’t count.”

“So, I have five more slots?”

“You? I have no idea. There are so many extenuating circumstances that might have affected the strength, flexibility, and durability of your soul in ways I have no clue how to understand nor quantify. Standardly? Yes, I’d say four more tools and a spouse would be the limit.” She held up a finger. “Though, I wouldn’t rush into any of those bonds until you were utterly sure.”

“Absolutely not. So, the dasgannach and Flow are just a single bond?”

“That is usually the point of a merging. If you were set on doing all your bonding now, I would be comfortable telling you to only add four more bonds, but as the merging settles over time, it will only strain your soul as much as a single bond in the end.” She narrowed her eyes at Tala. “I feel the need to emphasize that this is meant as an upper limit, not a goal. Most Archons end up with four or five tools of various natures.”

“Offensive, defensive, storage, and Archive connection?”

“Generally, yes. Each of those takes a different form, within reason. So, it’s not like it’s a standard set of gear by any means. There are also obviously Archons who end up with a different set entirely, and almost no one who stops before Refining has a soul-bound Archive connection, so it’s only vaguely accurate.”

“Thank you for that clarification. In that same vein, what does it mean for my bonds that I am now Refined?”

“On the surface level, they are going to Refine as well, though it will take longer for them, and it is an automatic process. In the case of inanimate objects, we’ve not observed any of the black sludge, either. When you Fused, the change was mainly in you, and you likely gained greater control over them and simply had more power to grant to them for their usage. Now, however, both you and your bonds will end up altered.”

Tala opened her mouth in shock, but Mistress Holly held up her hand.

“Altered isn’t the right word, but it’s also the best one I have. You will find them both more efficient and able to handle more power. Your Archive connection will likely allow for faster transfer of information at the very least as well. That is a relatively standard item, so the results are somewhat known. It’s especially well studied because very few bond one before Refined, so those that do are watched closely. Master Nadro implied that you are already starting to be able to use that connection for real-time communication, rather than simply for the sharing of notes. Is that correct?”

“It is, yes.”

“That would have been much more difficult, if not impossible before Refining.”

-She’s right. We could obviously have done it if I stopped backing up your mind, and other uses of the Archive, but it still would have been a strain.-

But, that’s silly. Why would communicating in real time take that much informational throughput?

-The Archive is secure, not fast, perhaps? It’s also designed as an informational repository. It is much easier to give it information than to relay information through it.-

Hmm… That sounds like there’s some sort of conceptual backing to it, and that’s causing this nonsensical duality of capacity.

-That is in line with our earlier guesses.-

“Alright. I think I understand.”

“Now, do you have other questions, or should we get to the tests?”

“Just one more, unless your answer keys off more.”

Mistress Holly smiled and took another sip of tea. “Ask away.”

“My fusing feels… off somehow. Strained? Tangled? Something in that vein.”

Tala had looked into her inner view of her fusing and found the massive, crocheted field to be rather less ordered than it had been when she had Fused. Specifically, the part which represented her body seemed to have been cut apart and put back together, no longer quite fully intermeshed with her spirit and soul.

It wasn’t in a way that made it seem like the whole thing would pull apart, but it was definitely not how she had left it.

“Ahh, yes. That is expected.”

“Does it have to do with the changes due to Refining?”

“It does. This is a known result, and not one that you should deal with at the moment.”

“But I could?”

“You can’t. Well, I mean of course you could fix it, but it isn’t worth your time and effort. It would be foolish, so you shouldn’t.”

Tala frowned. “What do you mean?”

Mistress Holly sighed. “Because every step from here forward will make the Fusing worse, but it won’t break it. If you aimed to keep it perfected, you would need to fully undo it and start over to make it right, and then you’d have to redo that for every single step between Refined and Paragon, then again for each major progression towards Reforging. And then yet again when you headed towards Ascending.”

“And then towards Transcendent, too?” Tala finished for the woman with a sigh.

“Well, no.” Mistress Holly smiled knowingly. “While to my knowledge, we don’t have definitive proof, the most prevalent theory is that moving from Ascending to Transcendent is simply a matter of doing precisely this, meaning re-Fusing. At that time, your body, soul, and spirit will have been cleansed and it’s just a matter of aligning and interweaving them. Thus, the final step is simply to recombine them into a coherent, perfected whole.”

Tala felt her mouth hanging slightly open. She just… told me?

She blinked a few times, uncertain if she’d misunderstood.

Alat… did she just tell me how to reach a certain, future advancement?

-Well, yes, but to be fair it was a theory, and still an incredible distance from where we are.-

I have to test this. What else will she tell me? “Does that mean you can tell me what the other advancements take?”

“Yes but no.” Mistress Holly’s smile turned wry. “Paragon? Yes. Reforged? Yes, but I highly recommend that you wait to learn that bit of knowledge for at least a year, if not until you are a Paragon. Ascending? Yes, but it is recommended that you wait until you are a Paragon, otherwise you will make the process of reaching that advancement much harder.”

Tala frowned. “Aren’t we set up to hide these secrets, to make progression easier? Isn’t that the point of the previous secrecy?”

The Inscriptionist snorted. “No, not at all. We hide the things that would make advancement basically impossible. These bits of information will just make it much harder, so we allow the individual Archon to decide.”

“I see… Well, I’d at least like to know what it takes to become a Paragon.”

“Of course. Like Refining, it is incredibly simple in concept, but difficult to enact. Blessedly, it is an internal process, as Fusing was, not one requiring exterior assistance or intervention.”

Tala nodded, waiting expectantly.

“Becoming a Paragon simply requires releasing a mortal view of this world and your experiences within it.”

What now?

-What now?-

Tala scrunched her face in confusion, but no clarity came with a moment’s thought. So, she asked, “What now?”

Mistess Holly smiled. “You must allow yourself—and your spirit—to let go of a limited view of reality. You must allow your thinking, along with your emotional responses, to become that of the next world, thus allowing your spirit—and the half of your soul that remains here—to better align with the half of your soul that is in the next world.”

Tala’s scrunched face became a grimace as her parents immediately came to mind and anger built within her. So, I have to acknowledge that, in light of the next world, their betrayal is rather meaningless? There. I did it. Are you happy?

-Tala, I don’t think that’s what that means, and I don’t think you do either.-

Mistress Holly sighed. “I know you have much to work through. I will tell you one thing that my master told me when I had reached this step. ‘This is not about freeing those who have wronged you. It is about freeing yourself.’”

Tala looked over to the other woman in confusion. “I might still be a bit fuzzy, but I don’t think I understand.”

“Let me tell you a story as an analogy.”

She nodded and leaned back, continuing to enjoy her tea.

“Long ago, there was a group of Mages who avoided iron entirely to prevent any tainting of even their mental foundations for magic. It was a core tenet of their group, and an unthinkable breach to have any interactions with iron.”

Tala huffed a laugh. “They’d have loved me.”

Mistress Holly smiled in return. “Quite. But you understand the setting?”

“I do.”

“Important to the story is that this was when humanity lived in the countryside, moving around in smaller groups. This is before the cycle of cities was established.”

“Alright.”

“So, a master and mageling of this group were walking through the countryside, and they came across an overturned cart. It seemed that a wheel had broken, causing the contents of the cart to fall out onto the man who had been walking alongside, prodding the oxen.

“Now, the cart had been loaded with long iron rods, each two inches thick, and the cartman was basically unhurt but utterly pinned under the jumble of rods.”

“I think I can see the conflict of the tale.” Tala’s mouth quirked up into a half smile.

“Shh.” Even so, the Inscriptionist smiled in return. “The master, without hesitation, rushed forward, grabbed the iron rods and with tremendous strength, brought on by his magics, freed the man. Less than a minute later, the two Mages were on their way, and the cartman was already working to repair his vehicle, no longer needing their help.”

Mistress Holly paused to take a sip of tea before continuing.

“The two continued walking after that, and the mageling was understandably conflicted. His master had violated the strictures of their group and had touched iron. More than that, it wasn’t a simple accidental brush with the metal. He had purposely grabbed it over and over, even utilizing magic to allow him to effectively work with it.

“Finally, when they had nearly reached the end of their trip, and the day was drawing to a close, the mageling couldn’t take it anymore. ‘Master, how could you do something against our ideals?’ the young man asked. ‘You willfully touched iron, endangering your mental foundations.’

“The master turned to his mageling and gave a sad smile, ‘My boy, I touched the iron for but a moment; you have been carrying it all day.’”

Silence fell in the room as both women enjoyed their tea.

Mistress Holly seemed content to wait for Tala to fully process.

Finally, Tala nodded. “So, it isn’t about what happened, it is about your mindset?”

The Inscriptionist sighed, setting her teacup aside. “Yes and no. Let me try a more ‘real’ example: Your Refining was traumatic.”

Tala felt her eye twitch at the change in topic. “Yes, it was.”

“And I led you into it.”

She grit her teeth but responded again, “Yes, you did.”

“You could hate me for that. You could leave and refuse to ever see me again. There is no question that your view of me has changed, but you are still here, listening to me and willing for me to still help you. Either response makes perfect sense given what you have gone through.”

Tala didn’t have a response.

“So, let me ask you this: If you chose to hate me and avoid me, who would be harmed? Would your hatred—your avoidance of me—cause me any lasting harm?”

After a moment’s thought, Tala had to concede, “No, it wouldn’t.”

“But would it harm you?”

“Probably…”

“That is what I mean. Few things are so clear cut, even the situation surrounding your Refining, but it is a good analogy.”

“I’m still not sure I quite understand.”

Mistress Holly smiled again, more softly this time. “That’s understandable and more than fine. If you truly understood, you’d already be a Paragon. You are young, yet. Give it time. Master Grediv is a wonderful resource, too. He will likely have a slightly different perspective and might convey it in a way you would understand better.”

Tala grunted. Then, she gave Mistress Holly a side-eyed look. “So, your master told you that tale?”

“Yes.”

“When you were in my position, Refined and looking towards the advancement to Paragon?”

“Yes.”

“And yet you are Refined? As basic and pure a yellow as I’ve ever seen?”

Mistress Holly smiled mischievously. “Am I? I don’t generally think on such things.”

Tala opened her mouth to comment further, but Mistress Holly stood up.

“Now, we should really get to the tests, Mistress Tala. I have much else that I need to do this week.”

A note from JLMullins

Terry would love for you to join him:

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

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Chapter: 296 - Assessment and Consideration

Tala stood, and Mistress Holly gestured. There was a ripple of dimensional magic, and the chairs and table that they had been sitting at vanished.

It was time for the more extensive testing.

Tala glanced to Terry who was still curled up in the corner. “Do you want to wait this out in my sanctum, or out here? I’m not sure I’ll be able to let you in during the middle of the tests.”

Terry lifted his head, regarding her. Finally, he huffed out a reluctant squawk. A moment later, he’d flickered up to her shoulder to headbutt her cheek.

“Alright then. Thanks for coming out.”

He trilled and looked down towards Kit.

“We’ll find something to hunt out in the wilds, soon enough. I’m getting a bit stir crazy, too.”

She opened Kit, and Terry flickered inside. Through the opening, Tala could see one of the grassy hills from the perimeter of her sanctum.

“Alright. Let’s do this.”

The series of tests were no faster this time around, and Tala entered an almost meditative state, not even really coming out of it to follow Mistress Holly’s occasional commands.

She used the time to work on her mental flexibility, reading a book that Alat was able to project for her in the air, and turning the pages with a thought.

What made this special was that Tala, not Alat, positioned the book and turned the pages. She didn’t create the image herself, nor the look of the page turning, but she did cause the page to turn.

-I know it seems like a small thing, but it really is a big step.-

I know, I know… Still, she was more focused on the content of the book than the mental tasks related to the book figment.

As before, Mistress Holly worked through the day and well into the night, facilitating the various assessments, scans, and measurements.

Finally, the long set of processes was complete, and Mistress Holly sent Tala home.

The Inscriptionist seemed content with the results. “Nothing stood out as being wrong or broken. We’ll want time to assess and compare in more detail, however. That, along with the next set of tests when you’re back to one hundred percent, should give us all the information that we need to offer a clean bill of health.”

“Thank you. Am I still limited in what I can do?”

“I think so, but not for much longer. You can add back in physical exercise, if you haven’t already. I’d avoid covering yourself in iron—or anything that could potentially lead to the need to heal—until your Refining has fully set. From these initial readings I think one month should be plenty for that, so just more than another three weeks.”

Tala fought off a grimace and simply sighed and nodded. “Will do.”

She left without another word to Mistress Holly, and the Inscriptionist seemed to already be engrossed in something else.

Tala did say goodbye to the new receptionist on her way out. She was new in the sense that Tala had never seen her before, not in the sense that it was the same new receptionist from the day before.

Mistress Holly really does go through these Mages quickly… She hoped that the young man from before got his chance, whether here or elsewhere.

But she put that from her mind as she stepped out into yet more new-fallen snow. The fresh air and cloudy sky allowed Mistress Holly’s words to finally sink in, so that Tala felt a huge weight lift from her.

We did it. We are Refined!

She kept herself from jumping for joy in the somewhat crowded street, so as to not disturb the morning traffic, but only barely.

Her body was her own once again. It was healing, but it was right. She was no longer at odds with her own flesh and blood.

Breakfast. I need breakfast.

She’d eaten through the previous day and even through the night while Mistress Holly ran her tests, as she was still trying to bring her reserves back up to acceptable levels. Even so, she wasn’t there yet.

She still had a long way to go, and she was hungry.

See if Rane’s available. I want to go to that omelet place on the east side of the southern market. They have good, big tables, too.

-Sent. Do you want to head that way? It might take him a bit to notice the—- Alat paused for only a moment before continuing. -Or, he could respond almost immediately. He’ll meet you there.-

Thank you, Alat!

Tala had a huge smile, resting gently across her features.

She no longer had a short fuse on her lifespan.

As she thought about it, she almost giggled. I no longer have any limit on my lifespan.

-So long as you survive. I feel like you haven’t thought this all the way through yet.-

Tala waved that comment off. Of course, but that’s true for everyone. Old age will never affect me, and if I am not killed, I will exist forever.

She blinked a few times even as she continued to walk.

Her smile slowly faded.

I’m going to exist forever or die in blood and pain.

-And there it is.- Alat sighed. -All that you’ve done is remove the possibility of a slow degradation into a chaotic, biological death.-

And a death with dignity, at a ripe old age, surrounded by my family: children, grandchildren, and more.

-Do you want children?- Alat obviously knew the answer, and she was likely just asking to help Tala process through her current turmoil.

Yes? It would be silly to never have children. But do I want to keep having them forever?

-Are those the only two options?-

No, of course not.

-You do want children, I know that you do.-

Of course, I do. Didn’t I just say that?

-Not really.-

Well… I do. Tala sighed, still walking towards her breakfast with Rane.

-You should talk through this with Lyn.-

Yeah, not Rane. That would be… unkind. Her stance hadn’t changed, even if she could see the general state of it changing in the coming decades. She couldn’t imagine still wanting to be single through the long centuries. Even so, now was not the time. Not yet. I don’t want that sort of attachment yet.

She let her mind wander through the whirls and corners of the potential of a family in the distant future.

It took her less than an hour to get to the restaurant, even walking relatively slowly as she snacked along the way.

Rane seemed to have arrived a bit ahead of her, as he had a table for them off to one side.

She felt a smile pull at the corners of her mouth as she saw him just finishing the set-up of a game of tafl.

He glanced up and saw her, waving her over.

She sat across from him, and he smiled. “I ordered you a spinach, sausage, chef’s special. I thought it would be a good start, and you can get whatever else you want after.”

She opened her mouth to grumpily protest, but then she realized that that actually sounded pretty good. She shook her head and sighed. “Thank you, Rane. That sounds great.”

He shrugged. “Defend or assault?”

“You know what? I feel like attacking right now.”

He seemed to hesitate, tensing up for a moment before he simply shook his head and smiled, gesturing at the board. “Well then, after you.”

They stayed at the restaurant until just before noon. Tala ordered enough food, often enough, that the servers didn’t seem to mind the two of them dominating a table for hours on end.

When lunch was approaching, Rane needed to go do his daily training, and Tala wanted to go home to sleep for a bit.

That evening, she had her meeting with Master Simon and his family, after all. It was never good to approach such things while short on sleep.

* * *

Tala laughed so hard that she almost choked. OH RUST!

She covered her mouth to keep from spitting out her food.

Master Simon put his head in his hands with a groan, while his wife, Mistress Petra, hid a smile behind her hand.

The older two kids had looks of horror as they stared at the youngest, Metti.

The six of them sat around a table in Master Simon and Mistress Petra’s home, with the dinner spread out before them.

Finally, Tala was able to get herself under control enough to respond. “No, little Metti. I am not trying to marry your father.”

The little girl had a frown of confusion. “But mama and papa said that we might all move into your house. Why would we live with you if you aren’t our mama?”

Tala smiled again and nodded. “That is a very reasonable question. I need some help around my place, and your parents were recommended for the position.”

Metti opened her mouth, confusion still evident across her features, but her brother, Segis, covered her mouth with his hand from his chair beside her. “She means well.”

Tala waved away the concern. “She’s fine. How old are you, Metti?”

The little girl glared at her brother as he pulled his hand back. Then, she sat up straighter, clearly quite proud of herself. “I’m five.”

“Well, you are quite well spoken for a five-year-old.”

“I am, aren’t I?” Metti wiggled happily as she turned back to her food.

Master Simon groaned quietly again.

Tala just smiled, turning to regard Mistress Petra. “I have a brother a little older than her, and a sister a little younger.”

She felt a twinge of sadness and resolidified her resolve to go see her family. It had been nearly a year since she’d seen her siblings, and she hadn’t really let herself consider all that she’d missed in that time.

I’m going to see them as soon as I’m stabilized enough for the trip. Alat? Can you help me compose a message to them, letting them know when I’ll be able to come?

-Absolutely. They have been eagerly awaiting your visit, by the correspondence back and forth-

Exactly, and now, we have a solid timeline to convey.

-Consider it done.-

Mistress Petra smiled in response. “I’m sure they are lovely. Do you get to see them, often?”

Tala barely kept herself from grimacing, but something must have shown, because the older woman’s eyes softened.

“It can be a great source of joy, reconnecting with family after a time apart.”

Tala was able to smile at that. “That is quite true.”

The remainder of the dinner was actually quite enjoyable, and they even provided Tala with a reasonably sufficient quantity of food, much to the children’s increasing awe.

After bellies were full, dessert was eaten, and conversation had wound down to a certain extent, Mistress Petra took the kids off to get ready for bed, and Master Simon led Tala to a sitting room.

“Do you need to help put the kids down? We can talk later.”

“Oh, that’s kind of you to offer.” He smiled. “I usually help when I can, but they’re a well-oiled machine these days. Petra is quite capable of watching over the little ones, and they do the rest themselves. In truth, they’ll be up reading or working on personal study until it gets later.”

“Even little Metti?”

“Well, she won’t be studying. I’ve installed sound isolation scripts, otherwise you’d hear her practicing her singing.” The man had an expression that was an almost perfect mix of joyful contentment and resignation. “She is… improving.”

Tala chuckled. “Such are children.”

Master Simon settled into his chair with a contented sigh as Tala sat across from him. “Indeed.”

There was a small pause, and she decided to turn to the matter at hand. “So, what do you think about all this?”

“I’m honestly interested. I’ve done quite a bit of personal research into dimensional storage items, and I’d love the opportunity to study yours long-term and up close. I love cooking and baking, but I don’t sell my end results, so there’s only so much I can justify producing, while I’m a practicing Mage.”

Ahh, the blessings of form-maintaining inscriptions. “So, you’re interested. What would you need for that interest to be enough?”

He nodded. “Honestly, it would mostly depend on what you would expect of us.”

That began the discussion in earnest. Tala had discussed what sort of duties she should arrange for an assistant family to take care of with both Lyn and Rane.

In the end, they came up with a potential list of duties for both Master Simon and Mistress Petra.

Mistress Petra had come back by that point, taking a seat next to her husband in a chair that she was clearly used to. She had added her thoughts as they discussed duties and the like, but mostly she listened as they finalized the various aspects of the potential arrangement.

Tala had been concerned that one cook would tire of cooking the massive amounts of food that she often needed, so it was a decided boon that they both loved to cook and bake.

As it turned out, they both also liked to garden, and Mistress Petra had grown up in a farming family, specifically one that raised livestock of various varieties. She said that she’d always regretted not letting her older children experience what it was to raise up animals for sustenance.

For payment, Tala had to provide Archive access and tablets for the whole family, so that the kids could continue their education. Additionally, she had to cover the cost of a visit to Bandfast once every six months for the whole family. The visit would be at least one week in length and at most three.

If that required travel time, they would be given that time off as well.

Certain special events could allow that trip to come earlier than otherwise, in essence using up the upcoming sojourn in the case where it was necessary to do so.

Then, obviously, she was providing them with food and board. Unfortunately, with basically everything in her sanctum imbued with magic for her consumption, that meant that they’d have to plant other things for the family, and she’d have to supplement those harvests.

Though, she wouldn’t dream of taking any of Terry’s pigs.

She gave an unconscious shudder at the very idea.

Finally, there was the actual salary.

As it turned out, Master Simon was happy with most of his compensation coming in the form of access to the inside of Kit and the impressed magics that made the arcane-added systems work.

His wife, while a Mage, used her magic as ancillary to her work as a wife and mother. Thus, it was also perfectly suited for Tala’s needs. The two of them loved to cook—they emphasized that quite often—so the main thing that Tala needed was easily covered.

Between the two Mages and what they offered her, Tala agreed to two gold and forty silver per month.

I really commanded an insane salary as a Dimensional Mage.

-Well, danger pay factors in, and food and housing. Plus, don’t forget that you’re also paying for transportation for them back here twice a year. For five people? That’s no small amount. Even if we get the teleportation inscriptions up and running, that will be a minimum of three gold each way, give or take.-

That’s true enough. And if we use that method, we’ll have to pay for reinscribing for the two adults.

-Though, that’s a worst case scenario. We’ll be in this city pretty often, and the trips could easily line up.-

That’s true, too. Tala sighed but nodded once again. “Tentatively agreed. We should meet up in my sanctum next week, so I can show you around, and we can make the final decision as to if this will be a good fit.”

“That sounds excellent.”

Now that they’d discussed duty and pay, Mistress Petra cleared her throat. “Mistress Tala, if I may, what sort of living quarters do you have for us?”

Tala opened her mouth, then closed it. “Well. I have the room where my last adjunct stayed.” She frowned, trying to recall if she’d actually ever been into Thron’s room, situated on the other side of her library. “We will have to look at it, together, and we can commission some work to enlarge or modify it if you would like. There is no precipitation within, so even if the children wish to sleep beneath the stars, there wouldn’t be an issue. The temperature is moderate to promote the continued growth of the crops as well, so that’s not an issue either.”

The two looked at each other and shrugged. Master Simon was the one to respond. “It’s definitely worth having a look.”

Tala considered the idyllic setting of her sanctum from the perspective of young children and felt the need to add a few things. “Just so you know, it is a full ecosystem in there. Though there are no untamed apex predators, there are deer and other wild animals which can be aggressive if provoked. There is also open, flowing water in quite a few places.”

Master Simon’s eyes widened with obvious glee, while his wife’s narrowed as she frowned with concern.

He spoke first. “Just how large is your sanctum, Mistress?”

But she spoke at nearly the same time, “Why, under the stars, do you have such things in a dimensional space?”

Tala cleared her throat. “Well, Master Simon, the space is nearly three miles across. The footprint is roughly a circle, and its three-dimensional profile is that of a ellipsoid, at most a third as tall as it is across.”

Master Simon looked positively giddy, and he nodded to acknowledge her response.

Tala then turned to his wife, folding her hands in her lap and smiling reassuringly. “Mistress Petra, those things are in there to help make the space a fully functional, self-sustaining ecosystem, as I stated. Without a full breadth of life, it is harder to maintain in perpetuity. And I do mean in perpetuity. This system is meant to last for centuries, if not longer.”

Tala opened her mouth to continue but realized that she hadn’t actually told Mistress Petra that her space was expanded and outfitted by arcanes.

Now was probably not the time for such. Especially because Master Simon had likely already told his wife.

Still, I don’t want to rock the boat if he hasn’t told her, yet.

Instead, she decided to be a bit vague. “Those who outfitted it knew what they were doing, and they aim for extreme longevity of that which they create.”

Mistress Petra grunted but seemed somewhat mollified. Master Simon looked positively enraptured.

There wasn’t really much further to discuss, so Tala stood, causing the other two to rise as well. “Thank you for your hospitality, the wonderful meal, and for taking the time to discuss this with me.”

“Of course!” Master Simon gave a bow. “Thank you for considering us to assist you.”

Mistress Petra bowed as well. “We look forward to seeing your sanctum next week.”

Tala gave a shallow bow in return. “I look forward to it as well. Good night.”

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Please let the world know what you think of this story by leaving reviews on Amazon!

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Chapter: 297 - Considering

Tala stepped out of Master Simon and Mistress Petra’s modest house. It stood near the center of an affluent, residential block.

It seemed to be a great home in which to raise children.

She was rather pleased with how the evening had gone, if she were being honest.

They were a sweet family, and while Tala would prefer no one, she needed help.

The next best would be one, or at most two people, but it would be difficult to truly find people who would be so unattached.

She glanced back towards the house as she stepped from their very small front yard out onto the street.

It was a bit bigger than her own family home, but not very much. It was also set back a bit, hence the small area of front vegetation.

To be fair, they don’t have an alchemy shop in it either. It was purely a residence, rather than being a mixed-use building.

-Just one more benefit of Magehood.-

Decidedly.

It was yet another beautiful winter evening, and Tala decided to focus outward and enjoy the walk back to Lyn’s house.

Rest and recover. Sadly, her conviction didn’t last for more than ten seconds.

-And get an improved sheath for Flow. You asked me to remind you about that.-

Right, that too…should we merge it with the weapon?

Alat was about to respond, but Tala continued.

No, no that’s silly. We need to avoid permanent solutions to a temporary problem.

-Exactly.-

She realized she was focusing inward again and intentionally closed down her rampant thoughts so that she could enjoy the ambiance around her.

There were still a good number of people bustling about, but they were all moving relatively quickly. In all likelihood, their speed was aimed to get them home and out of the cold, or to facilitate the rapid completion of whatever their current errand was, in order to head home as soon as possible afterwards.

There are probably some people going to pubs, taverns, or restaurants to meet up with friends, too.

Snow had begun to fall once again, and Tala looked up towards the sky, closing her eyes and letting the flakes fall on her face.

She used her mirrored perspectives through her bloodstars to show her which way to go so that she didn’t trip or run into anyone.

It sparked a bit of childish joy within her, and she was soon unconsciously grinning up into the dark, cloudy sky.

Even taking her time, Tala still arrived at Lyn’s home in less than an hour.

She wasn’t quite ready to go inside. So, she sat off to one side on a little bench that she never really considered. It was tucked behind some bushes from the perspective of the street, parallel to the front walk but set a few feet away in the shadows of the surroundings.

The result was that Tala was hidden from the road, looking toward the short path to the house, simply able to gaze at a small patch of garden that she almost never considered, day to day.

There she stayed, content.

She didn’t really get cold or sore.

She wasn’t bored, though she didn’t allow her mind to wander.

Tala simply sat, reveling in the stillness and peace of the moment at hand.

It was close to midnight when the front door opened, and Lyn walked out, seemingly heading out to the street.

When she was right in front of Tala, she squeaked and jumped back, landing facing Tala. “Tala? What are you doing out here?”

Tala shook herself out of her revery. “Hmm? Oh. I was just enjoying the evening.”

“You’re covered in snow.”

She looked down at herself and saw that she was, indeed, dusted with newly fallen flakes. “This is hardly covered.”

“Either way, you’ve clearly been out here for a while.”

Tala shrugged. “It was peaceful, and I could use a bit more peace.”

Lyn seemed to hesitate, considering. “Do you want to stay out here?”

“That’s not necessary. Where are you off to at this hour?”

“I was going to see if I could see you coming, and if not, I was going to send you a message.”

“Ahh. Well, I’m here.”

“I can see that.” A smile pulled at her lips. “Do you want to come inside?”

Tala shrugged again and pushed off her knees to rise to her feet. “Sure. Let’s go.”

The two women entered the comfortable, warm house.

As the door closed behind them, Tala locked it. “Did you really stay up, waiting for me?”

Lyn paused, then finished tucking her sandals into a small cubby off to one side. “No. I woke up and noticed that your sanctum door wasn’t in place in the hallway.”

“I’m sorry, Lyn. I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

The older woman shrugged. “You don’t make me. I choose to because I care about you.”

Tala smiled at that. “Thank you.”

Lyn narrowed her eyes. “Don’t go disappearing on me, again. I’ve even bought a personal Archive device; I’ll have you know. There is no reason you can’t keep me in the loop of your goings on.”

Tala huffed a laugh. “You really are trying to be my mom, aren’t you?”

Lyn turned and walked deeper into the house. “Well, someone has to look after you. You don’t have to go it alone, Tala, and you can’t be careless with yourself.”

“I know, I know. I’m not really in a place for a talking to, though.”

“Oh?” She settled into one of the chairs. “What are you in a place for?”

Tala thought for a moment before grunting and just asking, “What is the point of having children? I mean I know the utility of children in general, but why would anyone want to choose to have them, specifically?” She groaned. “I’m not wording this well. I want children, eventually, but on some level even that doesn’t make sense?” She rubbed her hands across her eyes. “Maybe, why would someone put having children before working for the betterment of society? Having children means you have to focus inward, on your own family, more than outward, at least for a time… I’m not saying this well. Do you know what I’m asking?”

Lyn chuckled. “I think I do, yeah, and I assume you aren’t asking about the motivation of those who feel genuine pleasure in the rearing of the next generation.”

“Yes, aside from them, yeah.” Tala knew of such people, but she believed that she wasn’t one.

Lyn quirked a smile. “Well, I’ll try not to think too deeply on why this is coming to mind.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll tell you what my mom told me.” There was a light of pride in the woman’s expression.

Tala sat down in another chair, leaning forward to listen with interest.

“Imagine that I am absolutely amazing and could contribute greatly to society with my time and energy. That is one hundred percent of what I am capable of.”

“Alright.”

“Now, imagine I have three children, and that I am a terrible mother. After years of raising them, they each are only capable of contributing to society at fifty percent of my capacity.”

Tala chuckled. “Alright.”

“Then, if I did nothing for the rest of my life, I would have contributed to society, indirectly, one hundred and fifty percent of my original capacity.”

She blinked at that, leaning back in thought.

But Lyn wasn’t done, “While I am raising the children, I am still doing other things for society as well. Additionally, as a Mage, once the children are out in the world, I can then get back to my full capacity without really having lost that much in the grand scheme of things. Even for mundanes, though, the incentives are heavily in favor of having children, if you think about it.”

“Wouldn’t that apply to men too?”

“Of course?” Lyn frowned, clearly confused. “Why wouldn’t it?”

Tala grunted. I suppose that makes sense… “But couldn’t that be used to justify having as many children as you could possibly squeeze out?”

Lyn practically snorted. “Lovely image, that. But I suppose? For me, there’s the fact of diminishing returns. I also don’t feel particularly called to motherhood, though I know that I do want children one day. Even so, I can’t imagine hundreds of years of rearing one child after another, no matter how much it would arguably benefit society.”

“I can see that.”

“This isn’t a mandate, nor an argument to convince you to do something you aren’t willing to do otherwise. It is simply another way to think about something that we often take for granted.” She shrugged.

“Yeah…” That brought something to mind. “Lyn?”

“Hmmm?”

“Where does your family live? I can’t say I’ve ever really heard you talk about them, at least not much.”

Lyn briefly stiffened, but it passed quickly. “They aren’t around anymore.”

“A schism? Argument? Something like that? It sounds like you hold your mom in high regard.”

Her voice was soft as she responded, “No. Though, I’d give anything for it to be something so fixable.”

Tala hesitated, reconsidering the line of discussion. It was clearly something heavier than she’d really anticipated.

Lyn continued before Tala could change the subject, “I was one of the youngest, the pride of the family, the first potential Mage in a few generations. As a potential Mage, I was off at the Academy when our city began to wane.”

There was a long silence, and Tala allowed it to rest.

“They decided to leave Audel—the previous one, not the current one, obviously. My parents, my siblings, in-laws, nieces, nephews, everyone. To them, the dangers of a waning city just weren’t worth it. They paid extra to all be in a single caravan. Their reasoning was that they would all feel awful if one of the other caravans was lost, taking some of their family from them. This way, their fates were bound, and they only needed to make one roll of the dice. Unfortunately, they were unlucky.” Lyn shrugged slightly, water shimmering in her eyes even though it was clearly an old, well-known sadness. “No trace of their caravan was found, nothing but churned earth and the scars of an intense battle.”

“Lyn… I… I don’t have words. I’m sorry that I didn’t know, that I didn’t ask about them sooner.”

Lyn shrugged again, waving Tala’s words away even as a few individual tears traced paths down her cheeks. “I still remember their faces, even though that should be difficult. I can hear their voices in my mind. It’s not like they talk to me, but I can imagine them so clearly.”

Tala stood, shifted a chair next to Lyn and sat again, taking her hand in her own.

The two women sat in silence for long minutes as Lyn seemed to lose herself in memory.

Finally, the older Archon shook herself free of the reminiscence. “But, it’s been more than twenty years. The pain is mostly gone by this point.”

Tala huffed, reaching out with her free hand and wiping away one of the newer tears from her friend’s face. “That’s obviously not true.”

“Oh, I still miss them, Tala, but it’s not a raw wound. If I live a millennium, I’ll still miss them.” Lyn gave a sad smile. “But they loved me, and they knew I loved them. We had no silly arguments waiting to be resolved. We were at peace, just like they are now.”

Tala squeezed her friend’s hand. “I’m so glad. That is worth the world.”

Lyn nodded before huffing a laugh and pulling out a handkerchief to clean her cheeks and blow her nose. “It really is.”

Tala looked back at Lyn for a long moment before sighing. “I know. I’m heading to see my family as soon as my Refining settles.”

“Good.” Lyn reached out and squeezed Tala’s shoulder. “Love those you have, while you have them.”

They sat in silence a while longer.

Eventually, Lyn nodded and let out a long breath. “Well, that’s enough introspection for one night.” She smiled as she stood. “Are you feeling better? Whatever that was, it seemed to hit you pretty hard.”

Tala stood as well but glanced away. “Yeah, it did.”

“It didn’t hurt your magic, did it? Shouldn’t your inscriptions be keeping you in functional shape, even if they couldn’t directly expel whatever that was?”

“No, not hurt, but my magic is still settling.”

"After that thing with the door…" Lyn frowned in concern. “I know you’re in a bad way, and need to Refine, but I didn’t know it was that bad.”

Tala blinked at her a few times, then colored. “I… I am Refined.”

Lyn’s eyes widened, and there was only a moment’s pause before power flowed through the woman’s magesight inscriptions. “Oh!” Her eyes widened further. “That’s amazing, Tala!”

Tala found herself grinning as Lyn gave her a huge hug. I suppose it’s a mixed blessing, having the through-spike make my magic obvious. I know I can suppress it, but I almost never think about it.

-It doesn’t harm you within human cities. You could start taking it off when you’re in the wilds, though.-

Yeah, that’s an interesting thought.

“I had no idea.” Lyn lightly smacked Tala’s shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me? Is that why you went to see Mistress Holly? Was it that easy? I won’t say quick, because you were there for nearly a day.”

“Hold on, one question at a time.” Tala felt a bit of Lyn’s excitement infecting her.

“Is that what you did with Mistress Holly?”

Tala opened her mouth, then paused. Will Lyn choose to Refine if she knows how painful it is?

Was Tala willing to let her friend miss out on immortality because of fear of pain?

She was undoubtedly angry with Mistress Holly for hiding the extent of the pain, but in truth, when looking back, Mistress Holly had been explicit in what would happen. Tala had not asked about specifics of fallout or pain levels.

Could Mistress Holly have warned her? Yes.

Would it have helped?

Tala had to think about that.

No. For me, it would have made the pain so much worse. Really, for anyone it would have made it worse. If Tala had been told it would hurt, the very fact that she had in her mind that the working would be painful would have emphasized the painful nature of the spellform in her own mental framework, activating the spell.

And more pain would probably have killed me.

The pain she had experienced was simply a side effect of the working, not a part of her mental model of the process at all.

And once the working started, my change of mindset was irrelevant. All that mattered was that I didn't expect it to be overly painful when I began.

Even with the knowledge that she was frustrated at Mistress Holly for hiding things, Tala couldn't do differently. She internally shuddered. There is no way I’m going to tell her something that would increase her pain. Not one bit.

Lyn was patiently awaiting an answer, and Tala realized that she had only been standing there with her mouth open for a couple of seconds or so. “Sorry, sorry. Yes, Mistress Holly helped me Refine. It was difficult for me, because of my particular circumstances.” Tala smiled reassuringly. “From my understanding, your own Refining should be much easier, plus you can take your time, doing it over the course of multiple sessions rather than doing it all at once like I was forced to do.”

Lyn cocked her head to the side. “Hmm… I can see that.” She shrugged then. “But I’m barely Fused. It isn’t a concern for the moment.”

Tala grimaced. “I still can’t believe all you had to do was read a book.”

Lyn chuckled. “That is a gross oversimplification, but yes, I did have an easier time Fusing than many. Regardless, I’ll likely start getting the pre-Refining inscriptions in a year or two. I’m in no rush.”

“I suppose I can understand that. Your job isn’t that dangerous.”

“I do want to go see Alefast, waning, though. That trip can be dangerous.” She gave Tala a mischievous look. “You’ll protect me on that trip, won’t you, oh brave Mage Protector?”

Tala laughed, placing a hand over her heart. “Alas, I am retired. Though, for one such as you, I could be convinced to take up the sword once more.”

“I wouldn’t dream of dragging you out of retirement.” Lyn shook her head with mock severity. “I suppose I will simply have to throw myself at the mercy of the burn wolves.”

Tala huffed. “Fine, fine. I’ll take you with me when I go to Alefast, and it won’t be too hard to take a short trip to bring you back after your visit.”

“Oh?” Lyn perked up. “You were already planning on going?”

“Yeah.” Tala shrugged. “I need time to consolidate everything that’s changed, and I want to see a Waning. I learned about them at the Academy, but I want to see one for myself. Toward that end, I think I’ll use Alefast, waning, as a base of operations for a while.”

A different type of mischievous light entered the older woman’s eyes. “I hope you won’t be alone until the city finally fades. That would be… what? Twenty-one years without a good friend nearby?”

Tala shrugged. “I made a couple of friends there, and Rane will likely be in the area.”

“And what brought your mind to the thought of having children, again?”

She gave Lyn a withering look. “I don’t need any of your sass.”

Lyn laughed. “Fine. Come on, we both need sleep.” She glanced Tala’s way, then gave a mock, deep bow. “Refined Tala, please allow this lowly Fused to depart from your presence.”

Tala sighed, shaking her head. “You’re in rare form, aren’t you?”

Lyn gave a wan smile. “Well, it’s better than focusing on the negative.”

That sobered Tala a bit. “Yeah, I can understand that.” After a brief pause, Tala continued, “Are you going to be alright?”

“Yes. I’ve cried myself to sleep over their passing enough. Tonight won’t add to that count.”

“Lyn…”

“I’m alright, Tala. We all lose people, now or later. It’s the way of the world.”

“That doesn’t make it better.”

“But it does make it necessary to bear through, to look past, and to move on from.”

After a moment’s thought, Tala found herself nodding. “I suppose you’re right. So, you’re really going to be okay?”

“Yes.” Lyn rolled her eyes and smiled. “Sleep. You have a Refining to recover from, and knowing you, more besides added on top.”

Tala huffed a laugh. “You’re certainly not wrong. Alright. I’ll leave you be.”

The older woman smiled gratefully, “Goodnight, Tala.”

“Goodnight, Lyn.” Tala watched her friend walk down the hall and close her bedroom door.

We are surrounded by the wounds and scars of this world, aren’t we?

-It’s easy to forget at times, isn’t it?

Far, far too easy.

A note from JLMullins

Vote for MM on TopWebFiction! http://topwebfiction.com/listings/millennial-mage

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MillennialMage

Discord: https://discord.gg/millennial-mage

The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Please let the world know what you think of this story by leaving reviews on Amazon!

They help a TON with visibility on the site and allow me to keep writing and making these books.

Multi-Region Review Links!

https://geni.us/mageling-review

https://geni.us/mage-review

https://geni.us/binding-review

https://geni.us/bound-review

Chapter: 298 - Anti-Magical

Even though Tala didn’t need much sleep in general, she slept long and hard that night.

The talk with Lyn had been relieving, but also particularly emotionally draining at the same time.

She finally awoke when the sun was well over the horizon of her sanctum, showing that it was midmorning, practically halfway to noon.

She didn’t fade into wakefulness, instead coming fully to consciousness in an instant.

Tala found herself staring up at her ceiling, the light falling gently on the side of her face as she enjoyed the warmth of her artificial sun.

Her first thought was an odd one, as she really should have had it before. Why did an arcane carve that pattern into my ceiling?

-Good morning, Tala. I see you’re feeling contemplative, this morning.-

Morning, Alat.Do we have anything pressing today?

-Just eating, probably some exercise. Also, contemplating ceilings, it seems.-

Those tasks sound quite doable. As to the carving, I guess I never really thought about it. Tala sat up, stretching as she sat on the edge of her bed before she stood.

-We could pursue Flow’s new sheath today, too. Unless you plan a thoroughly exhaustive investigation.-

Tala decided to ignore Alat’s poking. Ahh, right. The sheath would be a good center point to our tasks, today.

She moved through her stretching routine before doing a basic exercise set.

Tala felt like her morning was incomplete, because she couldn’t really do her magical or soul exercises.

Soon. It had obviously been weeks since she could really do those exercises, but it still felt wrong to leave them undone.

With her somewhat unsatisfying morning routines complete, she left her bedroom by way of the exit door. You know, I wonder how much control I can give to someone like Master Simon?

There had been tokens of access that the arcanes had given to her when they finished the outfitting of the space, but Thron had let her know that it hadn’t actually seemed to change what he could do.

He hadn’t been able to summon the door to himself or enact changes within the space.

He was never attacked, even when he entered through the welcoming bunker, though.

-That does seem to be their primary function, yeah.-

So, the tokens allowed safe passage through the defensive bunker in which the door to the outside usually waited. That was something.

Blessedly, Tala had to key each to a specific person, so even in a standard sanctum they wouldn’t be too much of a weak point, since they couldn’t be stolen and used by others.

Kit, though… Kit would likely just eat anyone that wasn’t supposed to be there.

I’ll have to have a talk with Kit about that… To be fair, none of the animals had gone missing, at least none that she could tell.

There were a total of ten tokens, and Tala remembered there being a template for the creation of more. Those she had, she could reset, but Thron hadn’t actually given his back. Huh… I did not think of that… at all.

-Well, I’m glad we didn’t give him a weapon of tremendous power or anything.-

Tala directed an internal glare at Alat. You know, Mistress Ingrit hasn’t commented on the concept weapon at all.

-Oh, that’s because I didn’t include it in the memories I sent to her… I thought that’s what we agreed?-

She blinked a few times. Oh… huh. Did we? She frowned. Why didn’t she notice the discrepancies?

-Because there weren’t any? All I did was remove the weapon being identified as a concept weapon, shifting the memory slightly to make it seamless. It was actually very much like what I did for Tali, though I had to complete the alterations to a much higher standard.-

And there were other things you didn’t include or modified, like my dreams and other things of a purely personal nature.

-Precisely.-

Well, in either case, that’s probably for the best that we didn’t mention that weapon. Humans can’t even use it, after all.

-Yeah, we don’t want our bad decisions scrutinized, nor do we want to cause kill-squads to be sent after someone we parted with on at least reasonable terms.-

Tala grimaced. You’re just a bundle of fun this morning, aren’t you?

Alat simply sent the impression of a beaming smile.

I need breakfast before I deal with this kind of thing…

She had stepped out into Lyn’s hallway within the obviously empty house.

Lyn and Kannis would be at work, and Rane knew better than to drop by without at least announcing himself via Archive message.

-Oh! About that—-

“Tala! There you are.”

“GAH!” Tala jumped backwards in surprise, jerked out of her inward-focused thoughts.

Rane had been sitting in one of the reading chairs, a book propped open on his lap. He stood and tucked the book away with a practiced motion. “Good morning.”

Tala felt her eye twitch as she struggled to pull her mind back together.

-Rane communicated via the Archive nearly two hours ago, saying that he’d brought breakfast over, whenever you are ready to eat. He’ll go train just before lunch, as usual.-

She took a deep breath and directed her fiercest internal glare at Alat.

The alternate interface simply returned the equivalent of a shrug. -It wasn’t important.-

Until it was.

-Until it was.- Alat agreed.

Rane had obviously noticed Tala’s surprise. “I apologize, I didn’t mean to startle you. I can leave the food on the table and let you have the rest of the morning to yourself?”

Tala sighed, then shook her head. “Food? Yes. You leaving? Not now. But I would appreciate the opportunity to eat in peace, undisturbed.”

She still wasn’t awake, and it was too soon after waking for social interaction.

At least until I’ve had some food.

“Of course.” He grinned, going over to the dining table and pulling out a small pile of breakfast sandwiches. They weren’t quite as warm as they would have been had they been kept within Kit, but they still looked amazing.

“Thank you, Rane. That is incredibly kind. What do I owe you?”

He pulled an expression of long-suffering before shaking his head and told her. “Three silvers,”—his eyes narrowed—“and that includes the ‘delivery fee.’”

Tala rolled her eyes but smiled in response. “Fine.”

-Transferred.-

Over the last weeks, Rane had been picking up food for her quite often, especially while she was recovering from Refining, and Tala did not like the idea of accepting charity.

Rane had refused repayment, not even telling her what the food had cost him. He had been staunch in his refusal until she began transferring a full gold for every meal.

Even then, he only grudgingly told her, and she’d started insisting on paying him for the time.

Was it a bit petty?

Yes, yes it was, but Tala didn’t want to build up any other debts now that she was free and clear.

-Right, because paying a Fused some silver for a personal food run is a fair wage. He’s but a common servant, running to and fro at your beck and call. Absolutely. Yes, no social credit being accrued, here.-

Hush, you. Yes, it’s kind of him. Yes, it’s nice. That is all.

Rane sat back down, pulling his book out once more and continuing to read, giving her the silence that she’d requested and had been expecting.

Now, food.

All told, the remainder of the morning passed quickly.

After Tala finished her breakfast, she and Rane played a quick game of tafl, but that was all the time they had before Rane left for his training.

Tala had taken the defensive position, and Rane ended up maneuvering her king into a wonderfully executed trap, sealing his victory.

This time. “Good game.”

He smiled and gave a small nod of his head. “To you as well. I was sure that you saw the positioning and were just waiting to spring a counter-trap. Even so, I can’t say I’m sorry to have been wrong.”

She chuckled. “Not this time, I’m afraid.”

They both preferred the hard-fought games, where it was anyone’s game until the very last moments.

This time it had appeared that Tala was running away with the victory, until the trap manifested.

I need to be more watchful, I suppose.

-Are you sure you don’t want me to help?-

Absolutely not… though it might be fun to play against you some time.

-Sure. That would be nice.-

She saw Rane to the door, and when it clicked shut, she simply stood there for a long minute.

Well, I need lunch, and we need to go by the Constructionists for a new sheath.

-Sheath first, so that they can get started, in case it takes a while?-

Sure. That would probably be wise.

Half an hour later, she stepped through the magical field which kept the guildhall warm, noted the scan of her magics, and heard the familiar ding resounding from the back.

“Mistress.” The attendant rushed out with smooth steps, stopping two paces away and bowing deeply. “How can the Constructionists serve the Refined Archon?”

Tala frowned slightly, then realized that this was the first time she’d come in since her advancement.

That was hardly surprising, given her lack of need for new magical items, along with her physical state since, but she hadn’t really considered that she’d be treated any differently.

-And you provided a lot of insights into arcane artifact-craft to the Constructionists as a whole. If Mistress Ingrit’s tallies are accurate, and they seem to be, then nearly every senior member of this guild, in every city, has acquired one or more of your memories. It isn’t unreasonable that they’d have added special dispensations for you.-

Well, there’s one way to find out. “Do you know who I am?” She made sure to make her tone confusedly curious, rather than cutting or arrogant.

“Not specifically, Mistress, but we are notified when friends of the guild enter. Many do not wish their names to be known widely, so we get a generic alert that such an Archon has entered the building.” He bowed again. “I meant no offense. Would you prefer I change the indicator?”

“No offense given. I think it is fine as it is, I was just curious.”

He straightened, a relieved smile on his face. “Certainly, Mistress. How can I assist?”

“I wish to acquire a sparring sheath for my soul-bound weapon. This branch made one for me when the weapon was less powerful. It has seen some significant upgrades since then, and I am concerned that it will need something a bit more comprehensive when I get back to sparring in a few weeks.”

“Absolutely. May I scan the weapon?” He pulled out a stone that positively blazed to Tala’s magesight.

“Certainly.” She drew Flow and held it out on her palm.

Magics from the stone passed through every part of the weapon as the attendant passed the stone over Flow, carefully keeping it from touching the knife.

After a brief moment, the attendant frowned. “Pardon the question, Mistress, but do you hold a part of the weapon within your body?”

She was almost irritated by the question, but she quickly realized that it could be critical. “Yes, at this moment.”

“Understood.”—he bowed again, a professional smile firmly in place across his features—“While I do not need to scan you, the senior Constructionist who assists you will need to be aware of this added complication.”

“Certainly.”

He finished up the scan in short order and tucked the device away. “With that done, I can find which Archon would be best for this commission. Is there a timeframe in which you need it completed?”

“I would prefer within the next few weeks. Sooner would be preferred but not required.”

There was obvious relief in the young man’s eyes. “That is certainly workable, Mistress. Have you acquired an Archive connection?”

“I have.”

“Then, we can reach out to you through the Archive when we have a Constructionist available to meet with you and begin the commission.”

Right, they scanned me when I came in. They have my aura-signature, and that would make it trivially easy to grant me access to a missive within the Archive. “That sounds wonderful. Thank you.”

“Expect a message within the week. In the worst case, it will simply let you know that we are still searching. Even so, I do not expect that to be an issue.”

Tala smiled and gave a small bow. “As you say. Thank you. Good day.”

“Good day, Mistress.” He bowed much more deeply in return, and they parted ways.

* * *

It only took two days before Tala received a missive from the Constructionists, stating that an expert could meet with her that afternoon.

Thus, she returned to the guildhall, where she was greeted by the assistant on duty and led down a different set of side hallways than she’d ever traversed before.

They were constructed in the same manner and design, seemingly exactly like all the other hallways within the complex.

The only distinguishing characteristics were signs at the cross corridors that used symbols Tala was unfamiliar with.

Blessedly, it wasn’t actually that long of a walk before she was ushered into a smaller workshop, and the attendant bowed her goodbye.

Smaller, in this sense, meant roughly the size of Lyn’s entire house, rather than the merging rooms which were often two or three times larger.

The sole occupant of the workshop waved over her shoulder and called out. “One moment, please, I am just finishing up.”

“Of course.” Tala replied amiably and took the brief moment to look around and take in the well-organized but cluttered space.

There were dozens of weapons in various stages of construction—and from the looks of it, deconstruction—on worktables and racks, each giving off various auras of power.

More interestingly, there seemed to be heavily magical tokens tied to each weapon, giving off slightly different auras to her magesight.

Each was clearly hooked into the city grid for power, but the magic they emitted, while flavored, was more akin to that coming from various Mages, rather than power designed to create a specific effect.

Are those… magical teabags?

-Really? That’s the analogy you draw? They seem to be translators, changing the pure city power into a mimicry of that of the mages who first empowered each weapon.-

That… Well, she knew it was possible. That was what her through-spike did, in a sense. She’d just never considered this application of aura signature matching.

Along with the weapons, there were countless sheaths and materials that were clearly in various stages of progress towards being made into finished sheaths.

There were quite a few magical tools as well, seemingly for the working of the various materials from metal and stone to wood and cloth.

In all honesty, there was more on each table than Tala could easily identify with any rapidity, and the Archon who owned this space had finished up what she was doing and turned around.

“Greetings, Mistress Tala I presume?”

“Yes.” Tala smiled, giving a slight bow. She couldn’t see the woman’s aura at all.

“I am Mistress Airim.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Mistress Airim.”

“’A pleasure,’ hmmm? Well, that’s kind of you to say, even if such flattery is not unexpected. You do come to ask me to create something for you, after all.” A happy twinkle sparkled in her eye. “I can see that you are at the beginning of Refined. Congratulations on that progress, whether it was recent or long ago.”

Tala saw a flicker as the woman allowed her own aura to show through for a moment. Late Bound… That’s it? Really?

“Was I correct in identifying your magesight inscriptions as always active?”

“I… yes.” She found herself blinking in surprise. “You can see past my through-spike’s illusion?”

“Yes, Refined, but only within this space. I am heavily connected to my workshop, and here, I can see the true nature of things.” She smiled. “The effect is magnified the further you come inside, which is why I am highlighting it now. If you don’t want to reveal hidden truths to me, I suggest you stay just inside the doorway.”

“That’s… thank you for the honesty.” Now that it was mentioned, Tala could see that there was a magic in the air, hiding in plain sight due to its pervasiveness. More than that, the weaponry and sheaths towards the back of the space seemed, in general, more complex, magically speaking.

“Of course.” Mistress Airim waved the comment away. “It is only polite. Now, I understand you want a sparring sheath?”

“Yes.”

“May I see the weapon?”

Tala drew Flow and held it out, handle first.

Mistress Airim took the few steps forward and took the handle with respectful gentleness. “Bound to you, obviously.”

The Bound’s eyes widened.

“You have advanced three stages while it was bound to you.” She looked up. “You bound this weapon while still a Mage?”

Tala simply nodded in mute astonishment at the woman’s ability to discern such.

“Fascinating.” Mistress Airim turned and walked deeper into her spacious work area. “A limited, morphic weapon. Three forms. Merged with arcanous harvests, Leshkin weaponry—” Her head snapped up, and she spun to face Tala once again. “The void? What’s the matter with you?”

Tala opened her mouth to respond, but Mistress Airim was already paling.

“My apologies, my apologies. That was not appropriate.” She looked back down at the weapon, turned away, and walked deeper. “What is this?”

She seemed to have already forgotten her own outburst.

“There’s somehow a conceptual weight to the weapon. Was this passed down through your family?” But the question was obviously not directed at Tala.

“I could just tell—”

Mistress Airim held up a hand. “No, no. It is better that I learn it from the weapon without the taint of your perception.”

Tala shrugged and leaned against the wall, listening and waiting. She kept her focus on her magesight, trying to determine if the ambient magics were shifting, but they didn’t seem to be.

“No, this doesn’t have conceptual weight, not really. So, what is it?”

Mistress Airim was pacing side to side by this point.

“No... Really? It imparts an enhanced conceptual alteration?”

The woman seemed utterly baffled if her tone was any indication.

“Ownership? That’s a weighty concept, indeed, but it’s tied to a single element… iron?” She looked up at Tala. “You have an item that magically manipulates the conception of ownership… over iron.”

“Yes.” Tala smiled, feeling rather proud of herself and what she’d been able to bring about.

“Are you insane?” The woman did not sound impressed. In fact, she sounded genuinely concerned.

Tala blinked at that. “I… What?”

“Iron. It’s anti-magical.”

“I am aware, yes.”

Mistress Airim shook her head. “No, no, no. Do you know why it’s anti-magical?”

“Why?” Tala frowned. She’d never really considered that. “No? I can’t say that I do.”

“It’s fundamentally tied to the powers of reality.”

Tala felt her eyes go wide as so much clicked into place.

Well, rust…

-Oh… I see it now. No wonder Master Grediv was suspicious.-

Yeah, no joke.

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Chapter: 299 - I Do Try

Tala and Mistress Airim stood in silence for a long minute before Tala cleared her throat. “You know, I am not a reality Mage.”

The Constructionist frowned. “Of course you aren’t, Mistress. Reality and void magic don’t really mix. Well,”—she laughed self-deprecatingly—"reality and any magic don’t really mix.”

“Then, what did you mean?”

“I meant, why have you exposed yourself to the powers of reality?”

“I didn’t really have a choice.” Tala didn’t elaborate. Part of her wanted to, but anything short of a full retelling would create more questions than it answered, and she had no interest in imparting such, even if Mistress Airim was interested in hearing it.

After a moment’s pause, Mistress Airim simply nodded, clearly understanding that Tala wasn’t going to say any more. “Very well. I can see that you aren’t really influenced by reality.” She snorted a soft chuckle. “I, of course, mean that in the best of ways. Let’s finish the analysis.”

-Hey, that was a good one. You should remember it for later.-

Tala simply sighed, not really interested in laughing at the moment.

The Bound nodded to herself, focused on Flow once more. “Bound and bound and overlaid and merged.” She looked at Tala. “Part of the weapon is within your body as well?”

“…All my iron.”

“Oh.” The woman hesitated, then her eyes widened. “Oh! Oh… oh, my. That sounds like…” Her eyes suddenly narrowed. “I don’t mean to pry, but did you somehow find the corpse of a dasgannach?”

“I… no? Are they even special after they die?” I have the gold one in Kit, somewhere…

-No, you left that behind.-

Involuntarily…

Mistress Airim was obviously unaware of Tala’s inner griping, so she simply answered. “I’ve never seen one myself, but I imagine it would retain some magic.”

“I suppose… but we’re off topic. Is the ‘what’ that important?”

She made a non-committal noise. “For this? Probably not. For you? Undoubtedly. I hope you have some very knowledgeable mentors, whatever caused this tangle.”

“Is it that bad?”

“A well-knit sweater can be called a tangle, Mistress. This makes that look like a child’s drawing beside an ancient masterpiece. It was not meant derisively.”

“Oh… so, is it good?”

“Absolutely! If you can make it work for you, and it seems like you can. At least you’re still alive, so that’s something.”

Tala huffed a laugh. “I suppose that’s true enough.”

Mistress Airim looked back down at Flow. “I think I’ve sussed out most of what I need, here. It really is a fascinating weapon you’ve nurtured, Mistress.”

“Thank you.”

She smiled. “The fact that this beauty will need a morphic sheath actually makes the whole process easier on us both, as I don’t need to keep your weapon with me for the construction, and I’m not constrained based on size.”

“That’s good to know.” Tala could understand how having the sheath need to reshape would give a lot more flexibility in the original construction. I hadn’t actually considered that as a positive.

“So, what timeframe do you need this by?”

Tala shrugged. “I can’t spar for another couple of weeks, so I don’t need it before then. Even so, I’d prefer it sooner rather than later.”

“So not a rush job, but not a ‘take my time’ project either?”

She shrugged again. “That was my thinking, yes.”

“Alright.” Mistress Airim nodded, mostly to herself, as she continued to contemplate.

“So, you can do it?”

She gave Tala an odd look. “Of course.”

The woman’s instant assurance made Tala a bit nervous, so she asked another question to verify a key point, “Will you be able to block the conceptual manipulation?”

The woman barked a laugh. “No, not at all, but for your purposes, yes.”

Tala frowned. “That makes no sense.”

“Oh, but it does.” The Constructionist grinned. “Nothing that I know of could block this conceptual manipulation if it tried to enact. What I would normally do—if such an insane project had come across my worktable before—is add a layer of iron, protected between two layers of the sheath, sealing the conceptual magics away. You can probably guess how well that would work in this case.”

“Ahh… I see.”

“Exactly. Your weapon would claim the iron, and it would cease to be effective almost immediately.” She hesitated. “Most likely. In any case, I wouldn’t trust it in the slightest, as it would either fail instantly or be unnecessary.”

Tala grimaced. “So, that’s just a no.” Well, that’s frustrating.

“It is, but your real purpose in asking, I assume, is to ensure that you don’t harm your sparring partners, correct?”

“That’s right.” She felt a bit of hope returning. She did not want to have to spar without Flow.

“Then, that isn’t a concern. Your weapon’s conceptual nonsense should only act on that which you cut—or intend to cut and contact… maybe. It might not be enacted in that second case.” Mistress Airim hesitated, narrowing her eyes in thought. “It might also work if you simply… no, no. Forget that. The manipulation of ownership is decidedly tied to what is cut.”

And I can manipulate iron that I own, now.

-That’s what it seems like, yeah.-

“Alright, I think I understand. So, just having any sheath over it will protect against the conceptual danger?”

“Well, any effective sheath? Yes. Remember, though, this weapon is still growing into your new advancement. I wouldn’t trust a mundane sheath, nor any made for you before you were Fused. I am obviously biased, but that is my professional opinion. Anything weaker will risk shattering under the magical weight of your strikes.”

“Good to know. I assumed as much, actually.” Tala bit her lip in thought. “What will be the implications for the portion of the weapon in my body?”

“Well, as long as you don’t somehow turn the iron in your body into a cutting or piercing… something, you should be fine?”

Tala opened her mouth, then closed it, frowning. Oh… I did not consider that.

“You can actually do that?” The woman’s eyes widened slightly, but then she shook her head. “Of course you can.” She sighed. “I don’t know that I have a solution for you, there.”

“No suggestions at all?”

“Well, if you can find a way to keep the attacks sheathed? It won’t blunt the hits, like the sheath I’ll be making for this lovely weapon, but it would keep the concept of ownership from being altered.”

I could maybe add a layer of the white steel over anything I try to create with the iron? It’s not like I’ll be throwing my iron around. Tala shuddered internally at the very idea of losing another bit of metal. Though, I suppose it will just vanish, now, rather than being severed. So, that’s a plus?

-Definitely a plus.-

Tala nodded. “Alright. I think I can make that work.” A thought came to her, and she was suddenly unsure. “Mistress Airim?”

“Yes?” The Constructionist seemed to hear the uncertainty in Tala’s voice. “What did you just think of?”

“How can you make a sheath capable of containing a weapon above your advancement?”

Mistress Airim snorted. “That’s like asking a tailor: ‘You’re short, how can you make clothes for people taller than you?'”

Tala opened her mouth then closed it, tilting her head to one side. “Those aren’t the same… are they?”

“Well, I’m not going to be using the sheath myself. You’re the one who will be powering it; well, your weapon will anyways. I just need to make the magics capable of operating under that level of power, just like a tailor making a bigger set of clothing.”

“Oh… I guess that makes sense, I suppose.” Tala cleared her throat. “So, what does it look like to you, time wise?”

“I can fit it in over the next week.”

“That’s very workable, thank you. What will this cost?”

“A baseline sparring sheath for a bound weapon would be ten silver. Double that for a morphic sheath, unless it is for a Paragon or above in which case double it if it isn’t a morphic sheath—those things are incredibly complicated and fitting into a small space is more expensive and difficult than just making a morphic sheath.” Mistress Airim seemed to realize she was rambling because she paused, cleared her throat, and continued back on the matter at hand. “Now, increase that cost by a factor of ten per advancement, so that’s an increase of twenty times in this case. So, ten times two, times one hundred. That’s two thousand silver which is twenty gold?” She thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, I can do this for twenty gold.”

Tala considered the price and offered item for a moment, before she finally agreed. It was stunningly expensive, but honestly, it was less than she’d feared it might be. “Would there be any negative from making it for a higher advancement?” That would be only five times the price, and the result would be a bit future-proof. Better than buying this now, then having to buy the more expensive one later.

Mistress Airim hesitated. “As the sheaths I make are designed to mesh with the weapon, the strain will fall mainly on the weapon, but you will still bear the magical load. Unless you have a rusting insane throughput, I’d say absolutely not. Even if you do, is that really where you want so much of your power going?”

Tala thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. “No, you’re right. I’ll match the grade.”

“That does seem wiser. You should be fine for early Paragon usage as well, unless you really hate your sparring partner and plan on putting a truly insane amount of power behind your attacks against them.”

Tala huffed a laugh. “I suppose that makes sense. Is an Archive transfer acceptable, or do you need hard coinage?”

“Archive transfer is fine. Let me get a contract all set.”

Mistress Airim walked to a side table and picked up a slate. After a moment of manipulation, she brought it over to Tala, the contents now a simple contract of creation as described, for the agreed-to price.

This specific contract would hold the funds in escrow until the item was delivered or the time elapsed, in this case two weeks to give a buffer for unforeseen circumstances.

They both confirmed the agreement, causing the slate’s surface to shift to a green stone for just a moment.

Mistress Airim bowed, a smile plain on her face, “Thank you for your time and patronage, Mistress Tala.”

“Thank you for fitting in my project.” Tala bowed in turn and left.

Mistress Airim waved her out with a smile, and Tala closed the door behind herself.

With her near perfect memory, Tala walked out through the mazelike system of hallways without issue.

She thanked the attendants in their side room as she passed by and walked back out into the city streets.

You know, as nice as this is…?

-Yes?-

Simply being in a city is getting really old…

-You’ve gotten too used to danger and adventure, it seems.-

Is that a bad thing?

-Only if it causes you to make foolish choices. Remember, many people spend their whole lives trying to achieve what you have, now. That doesn’t mean you have to like it or settle, but try to see it for the value this life has, even if just to others.-

Tala only grunted.

A couple of minutes passed as she walked before she broached a new topic. I think I want to go to Marliweather on my own.

-Not with a caravan or any travel group?-

No. Once I’m fully settled, I’ll be fine, and I can go faster too.

-That should work. Terry would probably like a romp in the wilds, too.-

Less than three weeks, and I’ll be set.

-Beat up Rane before you go?-

Tala chuckled at that. He’s a squirrelly one in the ring, but I think I can pin him down.

-You’ll finally go see the Guards before you’re on your way?-

She grimaced. Yeah… I really should visit them…

-You really should.-

Tala’s thoughts were interrupted by a man who was walking in the same direction as her, having just turned to walk parallel, coming from a side street.

He didn’t address her. In fact, he seemed to be utterly engrossed in the book he was carrying.

Besides, he was a good ten feet away.

What drew her attention was the fact that he was humming and singing to himself, snapping his free hand to the beat of the song.

Tala didn’t really know why that drew her attention to that man in particular; people often made unconscious sounds when thinking, and with her enhanced senses, she heard far more of it than she’d ever realized was possible.

Even so, something had Tala on edge, so she paid attention by way of a mirrored perspective.

Maybe it’s the environment? The feeling of oddity was building before he arrived.

-Could be. You’re just focusing on him because he stands out in a situation that already has you on edge.-

Maybe…

The young-looking man occasionally pointed in random directions in conjunction with the lyrics sung by whatever minstrel he was mimicking.

Tala felt a sinking feeling she couldn’t explain as he sang the next verse.

“No matter where you hide, I’ll find you, you, you. I see what you really are and that’s the truth, truth, truth.”

She didn’t have time to ponder the awful rhyme, because he pointed straight at a nearby building seemingly at random.

As he uttered the last words and pointed, something seemed to click in the world around them, and Tala immediately recognized the feeling: Magical taps on her mind, now that she was focused on that building.

Tala’s eyes widened in dawning alarm as the rhythm of magical taps changed, speeding up and becoming more focused on her.

The young man had already moved on with his singing, clearly not actually focused on the magical creature that he’d accidently drawn her attention to.

It tried to invade her mind and push her attention away, but it was weak, and she held her concentration and resisted with basically no effort.

What is this? A syphon for ants? Surely, no mundane would actually fall to this weak power. It had to be directed towards animals or insects.

-No, you’ve just gotten a lot sturdier, mentally.-

It was then that two small eyes opened, high up on the walls of the little shop. They looked around, searching, and stopped to stare directly at her.

Oh… that’s a syphon, and I stared at it too long so it knows that I know it’s there. What were the chances of that happening?

Before an answer presented itself, the street exploded with power as tendrils shot out in all directions, knocking people from their feet.

Only Tala and the odd man managed to keep their balance.

Tala drew Flow and bisected a flailing syphon appendage down the length, sweeping her weapon to the side to cut it off completely, even as the blood around her surrendered its iron to her weapon.

Thick, clear liquid sloshed onto the ground around her.

Wow, that was quite effective, actually. The single attack seemed to have drained a disproportionate amount of energy from the young syphon as well.

In the same second, the man drew and slammed a mace into the attack that had been sent his way, resulting in a destroyed syphon tendril with gore and blood showering the street.

The guy looked around, seeming a bit aghast. “Oh… oops.”

Tala glanced his way. “Oops? You didn’t expect the blood? Have you never fought before?”

He glanced back. “Well, of course I expected the gore. I hunt all the time. I just didn’t think about coating the mundanes.” His face scrunched briefly before he just shrugged.

They continued deflecting and cutting apart attacks as his rapidfire words just kept coming.

“Little known fact, though: syphon blood is good for your skin. So, they should be fine, better than fine, actually.”

Tala blinked at him a few times. “What? Why does that matter?”

They jumped away as more attacks slammed down. Each of them snatched up a prone pedestrian, moving them from the path of impacts.

Now is hardly the time for questions, Tala. Get down to business. “I’m Tala. Clear the civilians. I’ll keep it occupied.”

“Pavrimax, I can help!”

“Getting them to safety is a help. You can fight after.”

Pavrimax grimaced briefly then nodded decisively. “Fine!”

The syphon was barely orange to Tala’s magesight, now that it had unveiled itself. Even so, it was physically powerful, and she really shouldn’t let herself be harmed, bodily.

Well, stab to gain ownership, eh?

-Tala? I don’t think—-

Tala didn’t let Alat finish.

In a single motion, she powered Flow into the form of a sword and threw it with all her might into the syphon-building’s center, just a half-dozen yards away.

The blade whirled in sharp circles, slashing deeply through the outer reaches of the beast to stick firmly near the center.

As the blade embedded into the creature, Tala threw her magical weight behind a newer aspect of the magics that she found within her soul-bound weapon.

Unfortunately, it did nothing special, mainly because her efforts were rebuffed.

The claiming of iron wasn’t a question of magical weight, at least not in a way that she could enhance.

Even so, she could feel iron being claimed from the beast’s ichor by the second, and the whole building shuddered, seemingly pulling in on itself.

Clear liquid was streaming out of the slashes that Flow had made before landing, and Tala could feel her power overcoming the vastly lower magics of the magical parasite.

The tendrils of the syphon were still flailing about, but they now lacked power, bouncing off buildings, the street, and even mundanes who were still trying to get further away.

The hits to buildings caused rumblings, but no cracks.

The impacts with the road sent up plumes of snow but didn’t upset the pavement.

Even the people who were hit only stumbled, most not even falling to the ground.

Pavrimax came sliding back through the slush, taking up a runner’s stance, seemingly about to lunge at the building.

“Stop.” Tala held up her hand. “It’s dying. Don’t go in where it has more strength left to use against you.”

“But there are people inside.”

Tala frowned, taking on a mindset close to that she used as an Eskau. “I don’t see anyone, nor do I hear them. Did you see anyone, and could they have been illusions?”

He shrugged. “It’s more a hunch.”

Tala opened her mouth to say more, but the man, the Archon, was already gone in a burst of power.

Immaterial Creator?

-Or Guide, hard to tell, but I’d say momentum or kinetic energy focused, outwardly aspected.-

Yeah, clearly.

Master Pavrimax slammed through the remaining walls, eliciting a subdued roar of outrage from the struggling beast.

To her surprise, Tala heard a few exclamations of overwhelmed relief before the Archon blasted back out, carrying three precariously balanced people.

As he jerked to a halt beside Tala, the people went tumbling away, and Tala heard some pops and cracks which might have been bones breaking. This elicited more groans from the three people.

“One more!” Master Pavrimax vanished once again, even faster this time, and returned with a man who also tumbled from the Archon’s arms to land in a heap with the others.

There were ongoing whimpers of pain from all four.

Tala turned a confused glare on the man. “Why weren’t you more careful? Couldn’t you have—”

The syphon let out a last pitiful gasp and crumpled in on itself, utterly crushing everything still within the building.

She hesitated only a moment before letting out a sigh and shaking her head. “Ahh. Well, good job I suppose?”

“Thank you, Mistress Tala. I do try.”

A note from JLMullins

Vote for MM on TopWebFiction! http://topwebfiction.com/listings/millennial-mage

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MillennialMage

Discord: https://discord.gg/millennial-mage

The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Please let the world know what you think of this story by leaving reviews on Amazon!

They help a TON with visibility on the site and allow me to keep writing and making these books.

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https://geni.us/bound-review

Chapter: 300 - Expensive Food

Tala’s magesight confirmed that, while power was still flowing from the body of the syphon, it was dead.

The threat addressed, she finally had a moment to really take a look at Master Pavrimax, using the mirrored perspective from the base of her skull.

The strange Archon—who had inadvertently brought this about—was dripping blood from his myriad small cuts, but even so, his focus was moving towards those he’d saved.

While she did examine the odd Archon more closely, she walked forward, intending to grab the entirety of the syphon’s corpse to feed to Kit. These things are rather great Kit-ty food.

She chuckled at her own joke, and Alat groaned.

Her mirrored perspective had a lot to show her as it seemed that Master Pavrimax was an even more interesting character than she’d realized.

First of all, he already had a book in hand once again, somehow keeping it clean despite the dust, snow, and blood all around. He kept it out, even as he knelt beside the four whom he’d hurt as he pulled them from the syphon.

Can’t really fault him for the results. I don’t know that I could have moved fast enough to save them, even if I hadsensed them.

-Yeah, a few broken bones are better than death.-

Tala frowned as she considered. Why didn’t I sense them?

-Well, you did. At least you heard them, and noticed other indications, but nothing stood out among everything else. We have great senses, but that doesn’t mean we automatically, instantly know exactly what we’re sensing.-

I suppose… She turned her attention back to the Archon as she neared the now-empty alleyway.

Master Pavrimax was of average height and very slender. As a Mage, he was obviously not fat, but his frame was barely in the healthy range on the other extreme.

He didn’t look stick-like, instead showing some muscle, but he wasn’t bulky by any stretch of the imagination.

Tala had caught a light brown, almost caramel color to his eyes, and his wavy, dark brown hair indicated that his inscriber used Mistress Holly’s needles.

She hadn’t noted it in the moment, but when she looked back on the short fight, his mace had looked almost like it was carved of emerald.

-Doesn’t look quite right for that.-

The mace now hung at his belt when it hadn’t been visible before the engagement.

-It’s wise of him to keep his weapon ready for further issues, though they are unlikely because, well, this is Bandfast.-

True enough.

Tala took Kit off of her belt and dropped the pouch on the ground just beside the edge of the building. “Eat up, buddy.”

The pouch opened, the yawning blackness expanding under the building, somehow altering dimensionality to get fully under the parts that it maneuvered around.

There were no visible teeth, though Tala felt like they wouldn’t have been out of place.

Instead, there was simply a blackness that led Tala to believe that it was an opening into somewhere deep within Kit, under the ground, in the bedrock of the sanctum.

All the better to digest you with, my dear.

-That’s pretty dark, Tala.-

Exactly, I can’t see anything in there.

-You know what I mean.-

When Kit had opened under around a quarter of the dead beast, it started to collapse into the hole, dragging the rest inside.

Kit contracted around the rest of the remains as they slithered down in, leaving the pouch sitting at her feet once more, in front of an empty alley.

It was closed and utterly still, magically speaking. All that was going on within was in the separate dimensional space.

Tala looked closer at the alley, shaking her head. I forget that the syphons can manipulate dimensionality, too. It seemed much bigger than that alley would have allowed.

-Yeah, it seems like it expanded the space to make a shop facade fit in more naturally.-

“Good job, Kit.” She picked up the pouch and hung it from her belt, giving Kit a comforting pat.

Kit did not respond.

Tala was about to turn back around when something odd happened. The perspective she had watching Master Pavrimax almost seemed to hitch, or at least that’s how it seemed.

One moment, the Archon was kneeling beside those he was helping, alone as he worked, and the next moment, a black cat was sitting in his shadow, licking its paw and staring straight at her bloodstar with too-intelligent, caramel-colored eyes.

Tala spun, locking her own eyes on the cat.

It had a heavy aura, which was obviously connected with Master Pavrimax’s.

The little beast’s magic had deep connections to shadow and dimensionality, making its appearance make a lot of sense.

Does it live in his shadow?

-Could be. It seems to be an actual familiar. Is that right? Those are at least a bit rare. I don’t know that we’ve actually come across any, at least not that we’ve noticed.-

Tala walked over, and Master Pavrimax glanced her way. “Good, you’re done. Do you have any external healing scripts?”

“I do not, but the city defenders should be here soon.”

“We are here.” A voice came from behind her, along with a Refined aura that gently blanketed the area, seemingly calming the mundanes that had scrambled away.

That’s a use of my aura that I’ve never even tried to master.

-Well, to be fair, that aura has defensive, healing, and perceptual magics as fundamental parts of it. I’m sure all of those things feel nice when people are exposed to them.-

Tala sighed. Where I have gravity, selfish-healing, and death?

-I wouldn’t put it that way, but you aren’t wrong.-

Her mirrored perspective had seen the man arrive just as he spoke, indicating that he’d been able to perceive the area before he arrived. You know, I bet the city’s grid somehow facilitates their movement. It’s probably expensive, though, so they don’t use it unless required.

-They probably have some sort of tiered system, too. They appeared immediately when the arcane stepped out of Kit, but they’ve had slower responses to other threats.-

Yeah, that makes sense. Master Grediv had implied that she should be able to move quickly, once she Refined, and it hadn’t sounded like it was tied to a city’s grid, but she’d have to ask him to learn more. I could ask Mistress Holly, too, but I might just get myself stuck in a wall.

Alat huffed in response to that, not deigning to respond.

Besides the Refined man, there were another half-dozen Archons who were immediately spreading out to the surrounding mundanes, checking for injuries and treating what minor scrapes and sprains there were.

Two went toward the four more damaged rescuees that Master Pavrimax had saved before the syphon collapsed. One of those placed a hand on Master Pavrimax’s shoulder, and the Archon’s cuts and scrapes closed almost too quickly to watch.

The man who had spoken already glanced toward the alley briefly then focused on Tala. “Mistress. I am Gerard. Is there any further threat that you are aware of?”

Tala shook her head. “No, Master Gerard. I believe that the young syphon was the only threat here.”

“And you have disposed of the remains?”

“I have.”

Master Gerard frowned slightly, waving over Master Pavrimax.

The young man came over—seemingly happy to leave his charges in the care of another—and stood beside Tala, his cat jumping up and landing on his shoulder with ease. The cat continued to stare at Tala without breaking its gaze.

“By our estimation, this Master contributed at least ten percent to the effective response to the situation. He is entitled to compensation. Since you have harvested the results, yourself, that requires you to buy out his portion.”

Tala grunted, grimaced, sighed, and nodded. “Very well.”

Master Pavrimax held up a finger. “Usually in this situation, there would be a lottery between you and me, with you having nine in ten chances to claim the full bounty as I did not contribute sufficiently for a guaranteed dispensation. In all likelihood, you would have received all that you took, regardless.”

She blinked at him a few times. “Is that… supposed to be helpful?”

“I’ve no idea what’s helpful to you, but it is interesting.” He scratched his chin with his free hand, while the other maintained hold on his book. “We could do the lottery now? If you win, nothing is owed. If I do, the full value is paid.”

Tala frowned, turning to the city defender. “Master Gerard, what is the value of a Fused level syphon?”

“One hundred gold.” His answer was immediate, and Tala wasn’t sure how she felt about the regularity implied by such quickly recited knowledge.

One hundred gold was still a lot of money for her as well; her eye twitched. There is absolutely no way I’m paying out one hundred gold.

-Yeah, if something is bad for you, a ten percent chance happens half of the time.-

Tala smiled ruefully. And if it’s good for you, a fifty percent chance might occur one time in ten.

-Precisely.-

She shook her head. “I’ll pay out the percentage.”

Master Pavrimax shrugged. “As you wish.”

“Is an Archival transfer acceptable?”

He tilted his head with interest. “Ahh, Refined, right. So you’ve availed yourself of the standard Archive connection?”

“Something like that…” She shrugged.

“Then that is acceptable.” After a moment’s pause, a grin spread across his face. “Did you know that the Archive is, in fact, not free to operate?”

Tala hesitated. “What?” She shook her head. “I mean, I suppose that’s obvious. It takes magic to empower access, which is, in a sense, a payment.”

“Oh, I mean more than that.”

Alat transferred the money, and a clip on the man’s belt let out a single chime, prompting him to look down at it.

Master Pavrimax touched the item and his eyes unfocused for a moment before he nodded. “Thank you, funds received. But what I meant was: Of the power we send out towards the Archive, only ninety-nine percent actually affects the changes within that cognitive space, even accounting for Mage inefficiency. Moreover, every bit of information stored there has an accessor that most don’t consider.”

-What now?-

Tala turned her full attention to the man. “What now?”

Master Gerard shook his head. “I’ll leave you to your discussion. I’ll see to the fallout, here.”

She glanced his way, smiled, and bowed slightly. “Thank you, Master Gerard. Take care.”

“You as well.”

Master Pavrimax bowed to the departing Refined as well, before turning back to Tala. “Think about it. Everything stored in the Archive can be modified and accessed”—he paused for dramatic effect—“by the Archive itself.”

Her eye twitched again, violently. “That’s…” She rubbed her face with her hands. “That’s like saying a locked box isn’t perfectly secure because the box has access to the contents.”

“Precisely! I knew you’d understand.”

She closed her eyes for a long moment. What the actual rust?

-Well, I suppose the point is that we all assume the Archive is inert, just like a locked box. But what if the locked box is, in fact, a syphon or one of its carnivorous cousins? Then this distinction would be very important.-

So, his point is: What if the Archive is sentient or even sapient?

-Possibly.-

Tala sighed, opening her eyes to find Master Pavrimax grinning at her.

He spoke as soon as they made eye contact, “Fascinating, right? What does it take to develop intelligence? Information processing and time!”

So, we guessed right on his meaning. Still, she shook her head. “I’m pretty sure it takes more than that.”

He nodded, tapping the side of his nose. “So, you subscribe to the soul theory of sapience?”

“What?”

-Nothing without a soul can be sapient. It is the soul which changes a thing from a reactor to an actor within the web of causality that makes up reality.-

“Oh. I guess so?”

“That is a reasonable line of thought, I suppose.” He glanced around. “But this is no place for a true discussion. Shall we away, to find our repast and enlighten each other on the mysteries of the universe?”

“What?”

He gave her a longsuffering look. “Do you want to eat and talk about fun thought experiments?”

Tala hesitated, but honestly, she felt like she needed some sort of change. The fight with the syphon had only highlighted how much she was beginning to feel caged. Worth a try, I suppose. “You know what? Sure. Let’s chat.”

Either way, I get food and learn some odd bits of information.

In the end, the meal was interesting enough.

Master Pavrimax was full of esoteric facts and a willingness to share them.

His mace had seemed to shift to a ruby hue when they had entered the eatery, before he put the weapon away. Tala didn’t want to pry, though, so she didn’t pursue the topic.

Thus, while she learned lots of odd facts about everything from shoe construction and spice availability to utensil evolution and the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow, she didn’t really learn much about the man, himself.

That was fine. They simply shared the meal and parted ways as temporary acquaintances.

They might cross paths again, but only time would tell.

Tala passed by the place where the syphon had been slain barely two hours after the incident, and there was no remaining evidence of the short fight.

They really are good at keeping these things contained.

-Yeah, as safe as they make the cities, there are still some truly horrifying dangers.-

Isn’t that the truth…

It was mid-afternoon by the time she got back to Lyn’s house, which she found blessedly empty.

The short fight had left her with a hunger that food couldn’t satisfy, and the time since had just seen that hunger grow, despite the meal with Master Pavrimax.

She’d gone just more than two months since her last real fight, and that had been with the Leshkin as she had rampaged her way through the forest to get home.

-It was actually precisely two months as of yesterday.-

Huh, really? She thought about it and was instantly able to confirm. That’s a long time…

-To not have killed anything? I suppose so, for you.-

Tala grimaced. That’s not really a charitable way of wording it. I meant that that’s a long time to go without sparring or fighting at all.

-Sure, that too.-

She sighed, pulling out the magic nest in order to occupy her over-hyped mind.

Her body felt like running a thousand miles, but she stretched instead, slowly calming her twitchy muscles.

Soon. We’ll be able to test ourselves again soon.

She was exceptionally glad that no one was around, because she was having much more difficulty than usual with the magic nest.

Rane would be absolutely destroying me right now, if he was here…

She’d been getting better and better with the magic nest as well, unraveling it nearly half-way with a fair degree of consistency.

At the moment, she kept losing focus around the one quarter mark.

Finally, she growled, put the thing away in Kit.

-We could spar?-

Tala huffed a laugh, but smiled. They had been figment sparring a lot of late, and she quite enjoyed it. Even so, Tala didn’t feel up for the mental strain that came afterwards for both herself and Alat. Not right now. Maybe this evening, before we sleep?

-Or when you calm your mind a bit?-

Maybe.

Tala turned her mind entirely to dynamic stretches, moving through increasingly complicated and convoluted motions to expand and strengthen her movements.

Even so, her thoughts were still running rampant despite her best efforts.

While the stretching occupied and calmed her physically, her mind did its part and was still all over the place and in need of extra distraction.

Toward that end, Alat presented Tala with the next book in her queue, and Tala began to read.

In that way, she passed the remainder of the afternoon, until Lyn and Kannis got home from work.

When the two women got home, Tala met them in the entryway. “Out! Let’s go. Dinner’s on me.”

The two had actually looked a bit bedraggled, but they both perked up at Tala’s offer. Lyn was the first to respond. “Oh? What’s the occasion?”

“I killed a syphon today, and I need to get out of this house for a bit.”

“You what?!” Lyn immediately looked towards where the massive, powerful syphon had set up shop more than a year ago.

“No, not one like that. This was practically a baby, just in the Fused range.”

Lyn gave Tala an unamused look.

Right… she’s Fused.

Kannis cleared her throat. “What’s a syphon? I don’t think I’ve heard of such a creature.”

Lyn turned to her mageling with a puzzled frown. “Kannis, we’ve discussed them quite a few times. Tala and I helped deal with one just a few days before you became my mageling.”

“Huh, I don’t remember…” Her eyes took on a far-off look before she shook her head, seemingly clearing her mind. “What were we talking about?”

Lyn had frozen in place, eyes widening in horror.

Tala, with her enhanced perception, could see the edges of Kannis’s mouth fighting to remain neutral. She’s messing with Lyn?

Lyn seemed to notice something, because her eyes suddenly narrowed. “You’re trying to rust my metal, aren’t you.” It wasn’t a question. “Is that how you want to treat your master after the day we’ve had?”

Kannis broke out in a grin. “Oh, but your face!”

She laughed, and Tala felt herself smile along.

“You were like: ‘Oh, no! One of them is right here, keeping her from remembering.’”

“That is not what I was thinking.” Lyn frowned. “I was wondering if you were hit in the head somehow, and I didn’t notice.”

Kannis huffed a laugh. “Sure you were.”

Tala cleared her throat. “So… dinner?”

The two women turned towards her, wry smiles growing on both of their faces.

Lyn shook her head. “Yes. There certainly isn’t anything worth pursuing here.”

Kannis turned on one foot and strode back out through the front door. “To expensive food! Mistress Tala’s treat.”

Lyn froze for just an instant before grinning broadly and following her mageling. “To the best restaurant in the city!”

Tala blinked a few times, fully processing what they were saying. She frowned, following them as quickly as she could while closing and locking the door. “Hey, now! To reasonably priced food in large quantities.”

Lyn glanced back. “We can vote on where we go?”

Kannis grinned happily. “I’d agree to that.”

Tala shook her head. “If I pay, I pick.”

Lyn laughed. “Fine, fine. Let’s get some food.”

A note from JLMullins

Vote for MM on TopWebFiction! http://topwebfiction.com/listings/millennial-mage

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MillennialMage

Discord: https://discord.gg/millennial-mage

The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Please let the world know what you think of this story by leaving reviews on Amazon!

They help a TON with visibility on the site and allow me to keep writing and making these books.

Multi-Region Review Links!

https://geni.us/mageling-review

https://geni.us/mage-review

https://geni.us/binding-review

https://geni.us/bound-review

Chapter: 301 - How to Host

Tala spent the next four days back in her old pattern, greatly looking forward to the upcoming visit from Master Simon, Mistress Petra, and their children. I’ll finally get some help in here!

As much as she liked eating out, she was getting a bit tired of ‘restaurant’ food. Additionally, Mistress Holly had reached out to say that she could start adding some of the magical foods grown in her sanctum to her diet.

At the moment, that meant a couple endingberries with every meal or snack. She even ate the seeds, flipping their natural magics to properly meld with her own.

She still didn’t use her iron to amplify her inscriptions, not yet, but that would be possible soon.

She desperately needed someone to come and cook for her. Or I’ll have to learn how to cook myself…

She wasn’t bad, all things considered, but she really didn’t want to add one more thing to her plate at the moment.

All this came together to make her incredibly excited to finalize things with the family of Mage cooks.

When the day arrived, however, Tala had a dawning realization.

She had absolutely no idea how to host people for dinner.

“Lyn!” Tala came out of her sanctum in the early morning, but not so early that Lyn or Kannis should be asleep.

Lyn’s voice came back from the living room and kitchen area, still slightly groggy. “What? Tala, are you alright? What’s wrong?”

Tala strode out into the living room, orienting on her friend. “I have people coming to my sanctum for dinner, tonight.”

Lyn frowned. “Master Simon, right? And his family?”

“That’s right.”

“So… what’s the issue?”

Tala gave an exasperated sigh. “How do I have people over for dinner?”

Lyn was obviously still not awake. “I mean… you open the door and let them in? Or do you mean scheduling? That can’t be the issue, they’re already coming…”

“No, Lyn. How am I going to provide food? I don’t have a table big enough for seven people. What do I do?”

“Oh.” She blinked at Tala a few times. “I mean, you either do it yourself or hire someone?”

Tala grimaced, giving Lyn a baleful glare. “The point of this dinner is to hire someone…”

Kannis huffed a laugh, joining in the conversation. “Mistress Tala, it isn’t that hard: Make or purchase a spread of good food; yes, from a restaurant is perfectly acceptable in these circumstances. At least three dishes, one or two vegetables, a protein—usually meat, and if you want, add a grain like rice or pasta. Ensure you have enough, so maybe half again as much as you want to eat? If your aim is to do it ‘right,’ you should have a dessert as well.”

Tala grunted, turning towards the mageling who was obviously more coherent this morning than her master.

“Then, you have it either on the table in the center to be passed around family style, or on a nearby table or counter so that each person can get up and serve themselves like a buffet.”

Tala obviously knew how dinner with a lot of people worked, but Kannis was saying some useful things, so she chose to ignore the obvious oversimplifications, “So… meat, veggie, grain, dishes?”

“…yes, you will need dishes and utensils sufficient for everyone who will be present. With children, it is reasonable for you to have a few extra utensils, just in case one is dropped, or something like that happens.”

Tala was familiar with the eating habits of children. “I understand that… Gah…” She rubbed her face in frustration. “Why are these things so complicated?”

“This is literally as simple as can be, Mistress Tala. You do this all the time, just with people that you know, or in a restaurant. Are you really this out of sorts?”

She grimaced again. “It needs to go well… Oh… I don’t have a table that’s big enough.”

Kannis gave her an odd look. “Wait… how do you not have these things? Wasn’t your sanctum outfitted for you to be some high-level important figure? Why wouldn’t you be able to host?”

Tala glanced at the mageling. “It was a sanctum, not a celebratory venue. I was a local figure, not a traveling leader. If I needed to host, I could do it in the main hold, or just have servants bring over what I needed for the short time that I needed it.”

“Oh… Yeah, I can actually see that. Huh.” Kannis nodded her head in thought. “Well, then, it sounds like you need a table and chairs?” She was starting to sound uncertain. She’d seemingly picked up on Tala’s nervousness and was struggling to figure out if there was something else going on.

Tala hesitated. “I don’t want to buy that stuff, then have them want something different when they start working.”

“That makes sense.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh… that’s genius. It doesn’t help right now, but it’s worth asking.”

-Tala… I’m not sure having Kit eat their house is a good idea.-

Why not? If they own it, what’s the issue? They get to keep what they’re comfortable with, and then they can sell off a prime city lot, already cleared and ready for new construction.

-…It doesn’t hurt to ask… can Kit even do that? That seems way too big to eat all at once.-

Might have to knock it down and have Kit eat the pieces?

Alat groaned, having no further comments regarding this latest madness.

Tala shook her head, refocusing. “But I guess that’s not important now.”

Lyn had narrowed her eyes. “What insanity did you just come up with?”

Tala shrugged. “Not important right now.”

Lyn set down her spoon and turned fully towards Tala. “Tala.”

Tala shrugged. “It’s really not important. I won’t do it any time soon, regardless.”

The Fused grunted. “Fine. I won’t press… for now.”

Tala rolled her eyes, before her gaze fell on Lyn’s table. “Can I borrow that? It’s only really for four people, but I can put it beside the small one I already have?”

“Fine, but please don’t take it until after we leave for work?”

“I can do that.”

With at least a plan in place—

-That’s not a plan, that’s a list of obvious things that are needed to eat food. You even had to add ‘food’ to the list.-

Hush. I’m on track now.

With at least a plan in place, Tala was able to actually focus on what was going on.

The two other women were eating what looked something like oatmeal but smoother.

“What’s that?”

Kannis gestured towards the pot in the kitchen. “Cream of grains with heavy cream and bourbon-barrel maple syrup.”

“Cream added into cream of grains?” Tala frowned.

“’Cream of’ usually just means a milk base and thicker texture.”

Tala frowned. “Is that… true?”

Kannis shrugged. “Sounds about right, but what do I know? I’m no professional.”

“Fair enough.”

There was a long, building silence as Lyn and Kannis ate. They were obviously hiding smiles as Tala looked back and forth between them and the pot.

Finally, Tala sighed. “Can I have some?”

Lyn glanced her way. “Of course. Thank you for asking.”

Tala huffed a laugh and helped herself, joining her housemates for breakfast.

After the two others left, Tala took a moment to dip the dishes into Kit for an easy cleaning before she returned the cookware and sundry to their places in the kitchen.

That accomplished, she decided to prepare for the dinner.

I can’t just buy any old food, now can I?

-…Tala, you eat mountains of food every day. You don’t need an excuse to go taste testing.-

You’re right. Off we go!

The day passed with little incident, and she had everything ready to the best of her ability when dinner rolled around.

* * *

Tala melded Kit with Lyn’s front door, so that when the family knocked, she was able to let them directly into her sanctum, thereby not disturbing Lyn and Kannis, who were eating their dinners in the reading chairs.

She had put a lot of thought into the choice of where she should let them into her sanctum, and in the end, she settled on the dining room itself.

A tour could take place after food, and the dining room was one of the far more ‘normal’ spaces she had available. That should help to remove some of the mystery and mystique of her sanctum.

While Master Simon, Mistress Petra and their family arrived after the sun had set from over Bandfast, it was still a bit before the end of daylight within Kit.

Thus, the first thing the kids did when they arrived was run to the massive windows and stare out, exclaiming loudly at the view.

Their parents exchanged looks before joining their children to see what they could see.

“This view is lovely, Mistress Tala.”

“Thank you, Master Simon.”

“Is it an illusion?”

“Mostly no. The land was arranged so that the topography allowed for a natural, untainted view. Those hills at the edge of what you can see mark the border, however. And the sky is an illusion, as you might imagine.” She smiled.

“That’s… You are powering it yourself?” He looked at her with incredulity.

“Yes, though indirectly.”

“The requirements…” He shook his head. “This is more than I imagined. Though, it’s exactly in line with what you described; I have to admit.”

Tala smiled in return. “I had hoped to convey it properly.”

Mistress Petra interjected. “It is stunning.”

“Thank you.” Tala gestured to the two tables pressed together, and to the food laid out atop it. “Shall we?”

They all sat around the table and served the food family style, passing the serving dishes around so that everyone could grab what they wanted.

Segis and Karsa helped the youngest, Metti, so that she didn’t slow down the process.

Once everyone was served and the initial round of pleasantries had settled down, Tala cleared her throat.

“I do apologize for the cobbled together table and cutlery.” She’d pulled from Lyn’s kitchen for plates and utensils, along with the table and chairs.

Mistress Petra waved her off. “It is more than fine. I imagine you don’t often have this much company.”

Tala smiled at that. “No, never.”

“Well, then this is above and beyond, thank you.”

After that, the meal passed with relative ease.

The topics were light and the food tasty.

Soon enough, everyone had eaten their fill.

Tala glanced around at the family. “Is everyone finished?”

A round of smiling nods greeted her.

She raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

That caused them to pause, and the children each grabbed another quick bite or two before confirming once again.

“Alright. This is the first demonstration. Lean back.”

Everyone leaned back in their chairs.

Tala could have just thought the command to Kit, but she wanted to make it clear what was happening. “Kit, can you eat the remnants?”

There was a bending of reality, which manifested almost like a heat-haze over every speck of food not near a person.

An instant later, the distortions vanished, leaving utterly clean plates, utensils, and serving dishes in their wake. Even the tables were clean of drippings and crumbs.

Wide eyes greeted her as Tala looked around at her guests once more.

“Kit will happily eat anything allowed.”

Master Simon’s eyes were gleaming, but it wasn’t for the reason that Tala initially assumed.

She would have thought that such a demonstration would stoke the fires of his desire to explore the sanctum, but instead, his words showed her that she still had a lot to learn about him.

“We can cook, bake, and experiment… and there won’t ever be dishes to do? We won’t have to clean up the results before we can do it all again?”

Tala tilted her head to the side, then shrugged. I suppose that is pretty nice. “Yeah. Kit eats the remnants, not even leaving bits stuck or baked on.”

His eyes were positively glowing with barely restrained glee as he and Mistress Petra asked a few more follow-up questions.

The sun had mostly set when they stepped out of the dining and kitchen area into the central circle of her sanctum.

What followed was a tour very reminiscent of the one she’d given to the Archons right when she got home.

There were, of course, exceptions.

Firstly, she didn’t take them underground. Honestly, she didn’t think she’d be allowing them underground at all, at least not in the near term.

Second, the children showed the expected level of exuberance for everything.

Finally, the group looked in on the other rooms of the sanctum.

To Tala’s surprise, while there were a few, they were all decked out for visiting Eskau. Thus, the furnishings were simple, elegant, and obviously expensive.

I never had use for these.

-It was about the potential more than anything.-

That’s true enough. She felt an odd weight. I’d have used them eventually, in the coming years, if I’d stayed.

-Blessedly, that never came to pass.-

Yeah.

One room had clearly been Thron’s. Even though he’d kept it free of any personal effects, the smaller bed and the less embellished décor made it obviously his.

All in all, the rooms would not be a good fit for a family, and even if it had been a reasonable fit for them, Tala was a bit loath to fill up her guest rooms, just in case.

-Yes, it would be a travesty for all the guests you have over to be without a place to sleep.-

Hush you. Things change, and I am trying to be more sociable.

-You just want to have Kit eat a house.-

I am curious if it would work… but it would also be nice to have some more consistency with my relationships, even while traveling.

-If only we could fix the issue of gates degrading dimensional spaces.-

Oh, I’m sure there are solutions, they are likely just expensive.

-Master Simon would likely know.-

That’s fair, but it’s hardly time for that topic.

As they realized that the rooms she had wouldn’t work, long term, Tala decided to simply ask, “Do you all own your home, here in Bandfast?”

The two adults looked at each other, seemingly confused why she’d asked. After a moment of seemingly silent communication, they nodded. “We do.”

“What about putting it in here?” She pointed to the eastern side of the central circle. At the moment, the ground dropped off to give a view in that direction to watch the sun rise. “It wouldn’t be difficult to place it there.”

“Move our house… in here?”

Tala shrugged. “Give me the plans, and throw everything into Kit, and it will be there by the time we walk inside.”

Master Simon stood with mouth agape for a long moment before he asked a seemingly unrelated question. “Can that work with anything?”

“What do you mean?” She frowned.

“I mean, can we toss a log in here, and it becomes a statue? Or a bunch of boards and come in to find a wagon?”

“Oh! No. Generally not. Kit can move things around, so putting your house back together would just be like a puzzle in that sense. No manipulation of the materials, themselves. The only real exceptions seem to lie around the removal of impurities or grime from objects, but even that isn’t really a manipulation of the object.”

“Oh… I see. But we could drop a bunch of parts in, for a complex machine, and they would be able to be assembled?”

“I mean… in theory? I’ve never really tested it.”

“Fascinating. If it worked for a house, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work for something smaller.”

Mistress Petra was giving her husband an incredulous look. “You’re considering it?”

He shrugged. “We could sell the empty lot. I’m not agreeing, but it’s an interesting idea.”

“Exactly!” Tala grinned and pointed at him triumphantly. “I figured that might actually be better than us trying to build something new in here, and you having to sell your house out there.”

Mistress Petra turned to Tala and gave a slight bow. “Honestly, Mistress Tala, we weren’t planning on selling the house at all. Additionally, moving the structure in here seems… rather permanent.”

“Oh…” Tala felt herself deflate.

“It’s not that we aren’t interested in the positions.” Mistress Petra quickly added. “It’s just that doing this would effectively trap us in your employ for the foreseeable future. That would be problematic if it didn’t work out on our end, or if you decided we weren’t a good fit from your perspective.”

“Ahh… I hadn’t thought of it that way, actually.”

Master Simon nodded. “But before we get too lost in the weeds of housing. We need to discuss security. My understanding is that you want to be out, away from the cities much of the time. Is that correct?”

“That’s right.”

“What would Archive access be like while we are out and about?”

Tala opened her mouth and closed it. Well… rust. I didn’t think about that.

-Yeah, Archive tablets without Archive access are rather… oh!-

Yeah, that might work. “There exist Archive tablets with the ability to create datasets that are local to the slate, is that correct?”

“There are, yes.”

“We could have those be what is provided. It isn’t the same as constant Archive connectivity, but it would allow much of the same functionality.”

He frowned. “Pardon if I overstep, but what about pairing it with your own Archive access? Certainly you have greater than average range?”

“I… do, yes. Can that be done?”

“Absolutely. The power would come from you, yourself, just like everything in here runs on your magic, and it would be a lower throughput when outside of standard range, but it is a relatively common feature commissioned for private caravans.”

“That is an interesting idea, yes. We can look into it.” The Constructionists do owe me quite a bit more, and that could be useful… well forever.

-So long as you travel with others, you mean?-

Like I said, forever. Tala’s response was firm and full of conviction.

Master Simon simply nodded, moving to the next topic. “The wilds are more dangerous than ever. More caravans than usual are going missing, and I think you know that Alefast Waning is accumulating magic far more rapidly than it should be. There is trouble brewing in the wilds.”

“I’ve heard some rumors, but nothing concrete.”

“How stable is this sanctum? What happens if you die on the outside, while we’re in here?”

“Well,”—she frowned, choosing her words carefully—"if I were to die, the sanctum would slowly lose power. You could exit through the bunker I indicated, but that would just let you come out where I… died.”

“I see. That’s good to know. Aside from that worst case scenario, would the door out always work?”

Tala shook her head. “Yes and no. If I am nearby and Kit isn’t in the form of a door, I will effectively have the ability to stop Kit from opening. If there is already a door? Yes, you can leave easily. If I’m not nearby, or if I don’t stop it, a door will form and you will be able to leave.”

“Could we get back in?”

“The door should remain until I cause a change in form.”

“That’s good.” He glanced to his wife before turning back. “How is the progress on the teleportation inscriptions?”

Tala scrunched up her face. “Progressing, but not complete.”

“I see.”

She swallowed and straightened up just a bit. “That said, Kit should be unbreachable. If I were to die, you would know immediately. Under those circumstances, with the token I can provide, you should be able to look outside and determine the best time to make your escape.”

He nodded. “There are a few features that I would like to discuss with you, which would make us more comfortable with you going into danger with us in tow.”

“Oh?” Tala tilted her head slightly in interest. “I’d love to hear what you have in mind.”

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Chapter: 302 - Arrangements

Tala listened as Master Simon started to go over a number of rather interesting ideas.

Apparently, there were quite a few explorer type Archons who wanted to be able to get their findings back to the cities in case they died, so there were a plethora of plans for doing just that. They ranged from the insane to the possibly reasonable.

Even so, before they could delve too far into it, she had a realization. Wow. With all the other stuff, I can’t believe I dropped that.

-Yeah… that’s on me too. Your stress is really bleeding through.-

Well, I need the help, okay?

-I know, I know.-

Tala cleared her throat, causing Master Simon to pause. “My apologies. I figured he would have shown up by now, but there is someone you should meet.”

“Oh?” Mistress Petra looked around. “Is there someone already living in here with you? I thought this space was yours alone.”

“Yes, but it’s best if you just meet him and see for yourself. Terry!” Tala infused a little extra power into the inscriptions around her vocal cords and lungs, allowing her voice to carry further without the need to scream, shout, or even raise her voice. In essence, the magic gave her words more weight, allowing them to propagate further before fading.

She’d used the technique only a few times before, and she had been satisfied with the result every time.

Terry flickered into being on her shoulder a moment later.

He squawked questioningly before headbutting her cheek and looking around.

The children’s eyes widened, and they crowded close with wonder evident across their faces.

Terry glanced to Tala. Clear questions were carried in that look.

Tala smiled and nodded. “Friends, mundane.”

He trilled in acknowledgement and flickered down to appear on Metti’s head.

The little girl froze in surprise, looking up without shifting the terror bird’s perch. “Mom… Mom! It’s on my head!”

Her voice was uncertain as she tried to determine if this was cause for concern.

Mistress Petra looked to Tala, and Tala smiled. “He won’t hurt them.”

The mother relaxed, but still seemed quite ready to interfere. “He’s fine, my little love. Be gentle and try not to startle him. Even the gentlest creatures can lash out if they are surprised or hurt.”

“Yes, mama.”

Having broken the ice a bit, Terry began flickering around, poking and prodding the children. It didn’t take long before they understood that he wanted to play a game.

From there, he easily nudged them into understanding the rules.

Master Simon and Mistress Petra came closer to Tala, eyes fixed on the developing situation.

He leaned in close and whispered, “He seems much too intelligent to be a baby terror bird, and much too… tame. Is he some dwarf-subspecies?”

Tala shook her head. No cause for, or benefit in, hiding the truth. “No, his magic lies in dimensionality. He’s actually rather massive, but he does his best to choose his size to fit the situation.”

Mistress Petra gave Tala a startled look. “So… he’s as big as you or I? Isn’t that dangerous?”

Tala shook her head. “No, he’s actually much bigger. As to him being dangerous?” Tala shrugged. “Obviously he is. He’s a predator. But no, he is not dangerous to us, and I have never seen him harm a child. Not even when that child did her best to poke him in the eye.” She shook her head with a small smile, remembering her sister, Sella, chasing after Terry all through the park near her childhood home. “Regardless, his intelligence is at least equivalent to most people you could meet, and while he can be… inhuman in his hunting practices and idiosyncrasies, he and I are partners, and he has never harmed anyone or anything without cause.”

The two parents continued to watch the playing quartet with hesitation.

She sighed. “He often is out and about with me, but he does live in here, too.”

Terry let the children get incredibly close, even occasionally brushing his feathers.

When he allowed the contact, he would let out a trill to indicate that he would be pursuing. What followed was ten short chirps, in perfect cadence, before he flickered after the children, herding them all together, and only when they were clustered into a group would he touch all three at once, making them the chasers once more.

“He is terrifyingly effective.” Mistress Petra still sounded nervous.

Tala nodded. “His species hunts in packs and hunts herds. Even by himself, he is a truly peerless hunter.”

Terry glanced her way, straightening and preening. He then flickered away just as Segis would have fallen on him.

They watched in relative silence for quite a few rounds of the game.

Finally, Master Simon tilted his head to the side. “He only lets them touch him when they are balanced when they would make contact…”

Mistress Petra nodded. “I noticed that. And he also seems to reward them when they work together… is he teaching them how to hunt?”

The parents looked toward Tala, and she shrugged.

Even so, she smiled encouragingly. “I’m not sure, but that does sound like him, yeah. It looks like he likes them.”

The two nodded slowly in response.

A few minutes later, Metti sat down to take a break, laughing and breathing heavily. Terry seamlessly shifted the game to focus only on the older two, now solely allowing contact when they worked together and didn’t overcommit.

Master Simon glanced towards Tala. “Well, they seem well taken care of.”

She quirked a smile in return. “They do. I’d love to hear more of your ideas.”

The family didn’t stay too much longer, and Tala and Master Simon made an appointment to meet up the following day to continue the discussion for features to add to Kit.

Most of those they’d already discussed were simple enough enhancements, like tying any Archive connection through her own link if she was closer than any other Archive node, and they weren’t in a city.

Master Simon also stated that he would want to research the specifics of the sanctum a bit more before putting together a blueprint for their living space.

Tentatively, Mistress Petra agreed to come the next morning to start working. The kids had school, and would continue attending it until Tala left Bandfast, and the family wouldn’t move in until the quarters were complete, but they tentatively agreed to come under her employ.

YES!

-Hey, see? That didn’t go so badly.-

Terry. Terry is the master, here.

Alat huffed a laugh but didn’t argue.

Mistress Petra smiled at Tala’s apparent glee, even though she obviously couldn’t hear her thoughts. “I’ll start with something rather simple for your breakfast and try to familiarize myself with your facilities tomorrow. Let’s plan on my providing you with breakfast and dinner?”

Tala nodded. “Unfortunately, I am still not quite ready for meals made with the food in here. My advancement hasn’t fully settled as of yet, but I should be able to eat meals with ingredients incorporated.”

Mistress Petra nodded. “I’ll want to gain access to the Culinary Guild’s new treatise on the preparation of harvests for human consumption.”

Tala brightened. “Oh! They have it widely available already?”

“They do, it is on the expensive side…” Mistress Petra frowned.

Tala waved that away. “I’ll see to it.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Consider it handled. I’ll get it to you along with your Archive tablet—” She looked to Master Simon.

“Tomorrow. There are several standard models in stock at the guildhall, and I can initialize them for our family.” He glanced toward his youngest, who had once again joined in the fun with Terry. “There’s even a couple… robust versions, meant to take harsher environments, rougher treatment, or…”

Mistress Petra smiled. “…children. Never were there creatures more able to find the weak points of any object.”

He snorted a laugh. “Isn’t that the truth.”

Tala turned toward the playing group. “Alright you four, time to wrap it up.”

The kids turned, immediately groaning and starting to complain.

Terry flickered to each, bumping them to fall into a startled pile before he appeared on Tala’s shoulder with a decisive trill.

Segis opened his mouth, obstinance clearly painted across his features, but Terry simply leaned forward and repeated his trill, a light of utter conviction in his eyes.

Segis closed his mouth.

Mistress Petra looked back and forth between her son and Terry. “Well. That is quite something.”

Tala caused the doorway out to come into being just beside them, as the children obediently scrambled to their feet.

Goodbyes were exchanged all around, and the guests thanked Tala again for the meal.

Then, they departed, the door closed and vanished, and Tala was left alone in the now oddly quiet sanctum.

Terry looked around, seeming almost forlorn.

“Do you like them?”

He chirped a couple of times, seeming to feign indifference.

“It will be nice to have some more consistent company.”

He let out a grumpy squawk and headbutted her.

Tala laughed, scratching his neck under his feathers. “You are a blessing and a half, Terry, but it’s nice having others around as well.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, then let out a huffing honk of resignation.

“Yeah.” She hesitated a moment before looking at him once again. “You know, we need to talk about us at some point.”

Terry met her gaze and tilted his head to the side.

“My advancement should be able to sustain a bond with you quite soon, and such a bond could give you a lot of benefits.”

He settled down, shimmying to get comfortable.

“It’s only if you want, but it would link us effectively forever. It would definitely extend your lifespan, at least so long as I survived, and it might actually allow you to become stronger.”

In an instant, he flickered away, and Tala didn’t even have time to register his movements as he somehow tripped her up, and pinned her to the ground, sitting on her chest. He then let out an obviously mocking series of soft trills in her ear.

“I never said you were weak.” She laughed. With a quick motion of her own, she launched herself up, and regained her feet. She probably could have foiled his demonstration, but she knew he wasn’t going to hurt her, and she was still not supposed to be fighting. Soon.

Terry was already back on her shoulder, snuggled down against her neck.

“It’s up to you. I like you how you are, but I wouldn’t say no to making our bond stronger.”

He opened one eye to give her a long look. After an almost uncomfortably long time, he exhaled long and slowly. Finally, he gave a decidedly affirming chirp.

“You’ll think about it?”

Another chirp.

“That’s all I can ask for.”

Tala lowered herself to the ground, and together, she and Terry stared up at the fake night sky.

“I wonder… is this real, somewhere?”

Terry huffed, clearly disinterested.

“No, it is interesting. Did this night sky come from the arcane artisan’s imagination? Or did they somehow divine a night-sky from elsewhere in reality?”

He did not respond, instead snuggling closer and gazing upward.

In the end, the origins didn’t really matter.

All that mattered at that moment was that the stellar vista was stunning and expansive in a way that filled her mind, body, and soul with peace.

* * *

Lyn looked up at Tala with an incredulous expression. “Why now?”

It was the morning after the dinner with Master Simon and his family.

Tala had awoken bright and early to let Mistress Petra into her sanctum, finished the breakfast she brought along, and come out to find Lyn and Kannis about to head off for work.

It was then that Tala remembered something as she lamented her lacking bank account despite all the favors she was owed. “Well, I have been rather busy with other things, and it just hadn’t come back to the forefront of my mind.”

Lyn was staring at the list that Alat had compiled of all the mundane treasures that Tala had absconded with when she’d raided the House of the Rising Sun, among other places. “This is a ridiculous collection of items. Why do you even have these things?”

Tala shrugged. “Well, I didn’t have time to identify every item, so I just grabbed everything.”

“Clearly.” Lyn looked at the list and read something off. “’One slightly broken mantel clock?’ Why?”

“When I scooped it off the mantel, the glass cracked against a little statue.” Tala shrugged again. “It’s still got some worth, and I wasn’t going to take the time to take it back out.”

Lyn just shook her head. “And you want me to sell this for you?”

“Yes, please.”

"Wait... Tala, there's a massive table on this list here... Why didn't you use that?"

"That one?” She glanced at the indicated line-item. “That was too big."

"You could have eaten outside?"

"I have a dining room, Lyn. I'm going to dine in my dining room."

"Fine. What about this one?... how many tables are in here?"

"Only two dining tables of proper height. Most people forget that arcanes come in all different sizes. One of the tables is ridiculously large, and one far too small. It’s a miracle I got four dining tables in my rampant pillaging. Everything else is a side table or some other odd thing. Of the two that are properly proportioned, one was too big—as already mentioned— and the other's a big circle. Who wants to eat on a massive circle? It’s like ten feet across!"

Lyn sighed, shaking her head. “Are there dishes on this list too?”

Tala gave her a flat look. “I didn’t raid a kitchen, Lyn. I went through a living area, not a dining area.”

Lyn still looked utterly baffled, even if she did let the matter of the tables drop. “I don’t have time for this, Tala.”

Tala grinned triumphantly. “No, you have a mageling for this.”

“Hey!” Kannis had stayed out of the conversation, but she clearly had a stake in the results now. “I have better things to do than sell off a pile of…” She trailed off as she looked over Lyn’s shoulder at the list she had in hand. “Did you rob some merchant? Just take everything from his house?”

Tala tilted her head. “Sure? I mean, they’re from an arcane House we were raiding, but near enough.”

Lyn grimaced as Kannis’s eyes widened. “By ‘House…’ The way you said it… that’s something important?”

Tala shrugged. “Yes. Think of it like a guild, here, but more insular and less focused. They control sectors, cities, and production trains rather than a specific function in their society. They don’t work together, as a rule, but they aren’t hostile to each other, except for surface level rivalries.” She hesitated. “With some exceptions. Some Houses hate each other for whatever reason.”

-We never did ask.-

We got books on it as part of our training, but even Tali didn’t care very much.

-If it wanted to hurt ‘Master’ she’d kill it. She wasn’t overly concerned as to why they hated him.-

Isn’t that the truth…

Kannis seemed to be struggling a bit. “So… you raided one of these Houses?”

“Well, a main hold of one, yes.”

“And the equivalent would be if you decided to assault the Caravan Guild and take their stuff?”

Tala hesitated. “Does the Caravan Guild actually have a high level Archon?”

Lyn nodded. “Not always in Bandfast, but yes, we have a few Refined.” She glanced toward Kannis, then seemed to shake her head in resignation. “The gap between Refined and Paragon is as vast as it is seemingly simple to cross. Most upper members of the various guilds fall in that range.”

Tala cocked an eyebrow. “That’s good to know. I can never get a straight answer.”

Lyn shrugged. “It’s mostly what I’ve pieced together from meetings with upper bureaucrats.”

“Good to know…”

Kannis cleared her throat, clearly still a little shaken. “But all that to say, these things are from the arcane ruling class?”

Tala nodded. “That’s a reasonable assessment, yes.”

Lyn sighed, glancing over and presumably manipulating something work related on a slate beside her food. “That will complicate things, too. Do you want to sell them for what they are, or what they were?”

“Huh?” Tala frowned.

Kannis was nodding, however, clearly understanding what her master meant. “You could sell them pretty quickly just as fine furnishings and oddities, but you would get vastly more if you sold them as items stolen from arcane lands. You’d have fewer buyers though, so it might take longer?”

Tala thought for a moment. “Well, I need some money now, but I’d prefer the biggest payout possible.”

Lyn frowned. “This doesn’t include anything magical, right?”

“No, I told you that this was just the mundane items.”

“Are you going to sell the magical ones too? Or have you already done that and spent the money?”

Tala hesitated. “Yes? Yes, I am going to, no I haven’t already done it, and no, I definitely haven’t spent the money already.” Alat had put together that list, too, and it was far shorter. Arcanes didn’t really leave their magical items laying around. “I haven’t gotten to that, either.”

Lyn huffed a laugh and shook her head. “Well, I guess I can understand, with all the work you’ve been doing.”

Tala gave her friend a narrow-eyed glare. “Hey! I have been recovering.”

“You could have taken a nice refreshing walk to the Constructionist Guild and sold that stuff off. Or you could have done the selling one of the numerous times you were there already. Right?”

Tala grumbled. “Fine. You’re right…”

Lyn shook her head. “So, you want our help selling your non-magical loot.”

Kannis interjected, “Booty?”

“She’s not a marauder, Kannis.” Lyn shook her head. “This is not a fictional tale of flying ships and sword duels amidst storms.”

Kannis grimaced. “It would be better if it were.”

“Only according to some.”

Tala cleared her throat. “Anyways. Yes. I’ll be going by the Constructionist Guild today, and I can sell the magical stuff, then.”

“Alright then.” Lyn tilted her head to the side. “Twenty percent.”

Tala blinked at her in shock. “What? Last time you only took ten!”

“Last time we were both working for the same guild, and it was a simple job. If you want us traipsing around to find people who will value high-end, pilfered arcane decor, it will be much more work.”

She groused a bit, but finally, Tala agreed. “Alright, you win. I need the help.”

“Great!” Lyn pulled out a slate with the contract already built out.

Tala narrowed her eyes. “How do you have that ready?”

“It wasn’t hard to put together while we talked.”

Well, that explains what she was doing… So, not work related? “I didn’t think you had an Archive slate for home use.”

Lyn shrugged. “I’ve been bringing work home for the last couple of weeks. So, I had it ready to hand. I can use it for various tasks when I have it checked out.”

Tala was still suspicious, but finally, she sighed. “Fine.”

She looked over the simple contract, and they both confirmed it.

“Thank you, I suppose.”

Lyn smiled in return. “It is always a pleasure working with you.”

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

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Chapter: 303 - Counter-Spell

Tala was utterly at a loss.

Somehow, she’d been immediately recognized when she walked into the Bandfast Culinary Guildhall.

She’d been whisked into a side room, where servant after servant brought her food of unquestionable quality.

It had been less than half an hour, and yet even she was starting to feel full.

-What’s going on?-

I have no idea. Maybe they’re grateful for connecting them with Mistress Ingrit?

-This seems a bit… over the top?-

Tala continued to eat and store food within Kit.

A full hour had passed, and Tala was getting ready to demand answers when an elderly woman bustled in.

Wait. She looks familiar. Oh! The guild-head? Valry, right?

-That’s what your memory shows, yes.-

She bowed deeply. “Mistress Tala. I deeply apologize for the wait. I trust that you have been well taken care of?”

“I… yes? Thank you, Guildmaster Valry. What’s going on?”

“I once again apologize. I was inspecting a farm to the south as a possible new source for some of our ingredients when I got word of your arrival. I got here as soon as I could.”

Tala frowned, then realized what the woman meant. “Oh! No, the wait wasn’t an issue.” She gestured to the empty platters and the well-appointed room in general. “I mean all this. What’s going on?”

The woman tilted her head to the side, a frown. “My apologies, Mistress Tala. I had thought that you came regarding the missive.”

Tala tried to contain her confusion. “What missive?”

“Well, when we heard you’d arrived in Alefast, Waning, we sent a missive with the next caravan heading that way. That was some two months back.”

Tala blinked a few times. Oh… how did they hear that I was in Alefast and not Bandfast?

-No idea. Is that really important?-

I suppose not…

“My apologies. I never received the missive. I’ve been meaning to come by but only now had the chance.”

The woman looked a bit flustered. “Oh… Well, umm… That is unexpected. We really should have used an Archive missive, I suppose, but we’re just not used to doing so… not yet.”

“That’s more than fine. I’m here now. What is this all about?”

“Thank you, Mistress.” Valry seemed to still be gathering her thoughts. “Well, the message basically was an invitation extended to you by myself and this Guildhall.” After a moment’s hesitation she amended, “Well, by the whole guild, really, but we are the presenters.”

After a brief silence, Tala inquired, “An invitation?”

“Yes! Yes. We are incredibly grateful for your help in lifting the veil of self-imposed secrecy on our research. We, as a guild, have been able to broaden our contacts and delve deeper than we ever thought possible with the aid of Mages.” She scoffed at her own words. “Mages. Can you believe it?”

Tala frowned bemusedly, and Valry seemed to recover herself.

“Oh, of course you can.” She shook her head. “Where is my mind these days? In any case, we wanted to thank you for what you did for us.”

“I honestly didn’t do very much. I mainly just opened lines of communication.”

“Even so.” She clapped her hands twice, and two waves of servants swept in through the doors into the room.

The first wave cleared out all the empty serving dishes and set up a couple large tables with startling efficiency.

The second was a bit odd.

There were six servants, five with small parcels and one with a simple pouch that exuded a respectable amount of dimensional energy.

The five lined up behind the tables setting down their parcels and opening them.

Each parcel contained a mix of dried and otherwise preserved foods.

“These are our five newest food sets for quick energy and nutrient recovery for Mages on the go. Perfectly balanced for different types of injury, with your method of healing taken into account. We have a whole line that is varied based on recovering after other types of healing, but those are obviously not needed for you.”

Tala walked over and sampled each offered mix.

They were all mundane foods, but of startling quality and composition. “These are amazing.”

“Indeed.” Valry smiled with obvious pride. “Our new, more open communication with Mages has allowed us to perfect and widely distribute foods of this kind. It should aid our Mages and guards in recovery to an unprecedented degree.”

She motioned the final servant forward.

“This is a dimensional pouch!” She was clearly proud of that fact alone, but she quickly continued regardless. “It is filled with a thousand of each of these food packets, along with a double portion of the long-lived foods that you acquired from our guild in Makinaven. We also increased that portion based on our best guess on the increase to your appetite.”

Tala’s eyes widened. That was amazing. Even with Mistress Petra preparing food for her, this would help supplement her diet until she could eat solely from what her sanctum produced. More importantly, it would be an amazing backup and emergency supply for both her and her sanctum’s incoming residents. “Thank you, truly.”

“It is the least we could do. I know that this is but a pittance, but we hope it conveys our gratitude.”

“It most certainly does.” She’d bought a five-year supply of food in Makinaven, and that was before factoring in her increased appetite. That meant that she now easily had solid food reserves for more than ten years, if it was well stored, which it unquestioningly would be.

Valry smiled. “Now, is there anything else we can do to show our thanks? What brought you here, today?”

-That was a kind, small thing of them to do.-

It was more than they needed to do; I really didn’t do very much…

-Even so.-

Tala smiled, addressing Valry, “I heard that you all were selling access to your research on the preparation of harvests for human consumption? I believe that the notebook I have only covers the basics.”

The guild-mistress’s smile grew in excitement. “Oh! That would be wonderful, and incredibly appropriate. Do you wish access?”

Tala blinked. “Oh… I assumed that such would be of incredible value.”

“In some ways, yes, though it costs us little. Even so, it is an ideal show of our gratitude. I would have already offered, but our understanding is that you did not have an interest or bent towards the culinary arts.”

“I do some, but I also have someone who is helping me in that department.”

Valry nodded, signaling a servant who departed immediately. “I see. So, access for two? We will provide you with the tokens.”

Tala smiled. “Thank you!”

Archive tokens were a means of granting a set of predetermined Archive access, without requiring the grantor and grantee to interact directly. Tala had never had need, so she’d only heard of them in passing.

The servant returned less than a minute later with two gold-inscribed clay disks, roughly the size of her hand.

“I trust that the one to help you is a Mage as well?”

“Yes.”

“Good, good. This little booklet should be sufficient to allow you to activate the scripts. They will each be used up, and the clay disk will crumble after one use.”

Clever. Never seen one of these in person. “Thank you.”

-So, likely only access to read the contents, not make changes or grant others access. That makes sense.-

Valry gave a nod of acknowledgement. “Of course. Now, my understanding is that this will be used to prepare food for you, is that correct?”

“It is.”

Valry smiled. “Would you be interested in one of our experts imparting their knowledge? We have many tasks on our local, collective plate, but I think we can spare someone for a few days?”

Tala’s eyes opened wide. “That could be amazing! When might they be available?”

“I will have to consult my master schedule, but I believe we can have someone free in a few days, and they should be able to give you at least three or four days.”

“That should be wonderful. I’ll make the arrangements. Are they alright working within a dimensional space?”

Valry looked a bit surprised but nodded. “I’ll ensure that the one who gets the assignment agrees to that aspect.”

“Great. I’ll come back in three days to pick them up, then?”

She hesitated. “Make it four? Does that work for you?”

“It should. Thank you.”

They exchanged a few more pleasantries before parting with smiles and bows, both incredibly content with the time spent.

Tala went straight from there to the Constructionist Guild.

Master Simon was summoned as soon as she arrived, and they went back to the workroom that was still his for the next week.

It had been his space for the last several years, while he was working on projects for Master Queue. That time in his career was ending, and he was simply tying up the last loose ends.

He set up tea for them both, and they got to work.

The first thing they did, while their tea steeped, was carry in two artifacts to hook into the network of scripts put in place by the House of Blood.

The design of the sanctum’s scripts was quite modular, and simply allowed for any new artifact to be slotted in.

Not that there’s a literal slot.

-Of course not, that would be too restrictive. The description implied that they often find unique artifacts in ether holds or in the wilds that can enhance sanctums, so they leave the ability to connect in other magical pathways to provide power as needed.-

They really did think of so much…

They began with those two items that they both agreed were required. First and foremost was the Archive interlink. The functionality of the device was apparently incredibly simple because it was her magic powering the sanctum and her soul that was bonded to the link. The rest was just translation.

The second was a communication beacon.

A large stone was placed beside the dais, and anyone could touch the stone and speak with Tala, so long as she was within a hundred feet of Kit.

Similarly, there were smaller items that allowed connection to each other and to Tala through the larger stone, though they only worked within the sanctum.

The communication with her once again utilized the fact that it was Tala’s power within Kit, magically bonding it to her.

The experience was odd from her perspective, because it almost felt like a part of her magic vibrated, near her gate. It took a few minutes before she learned how to understand the words coming through, but as an Immaterial Guide, she had a better grasp on the movements of her power and the meanings therein.

While she could also respond, her ability to do so was atrocious.

In the end, they agreed that she could send back one odd buzzing sound for ‘yes’ and two for ‘no.’ This was under the assumption that the most common question asked of her would be ‘Can you let me out?’ or some derivation therein.

Terry watched the installation and seemed fascinated by the new trinket.

Why do I feel like I’m going to regret some part of this?

-Because you probably are. Regardless, it’ll be nice for him to be able to request an exit rather than you having to remember to ask him.-

That’s true enough.

Tala could also use one of the subsidiary devices while within Kit, so she’d be able to talk to any of those within fairly easily.

That was especially good considering that, before learning of this option, she had just been planning on having Kit move her to their side, and she hadn’t really thought through how that could end badly.

Yes, giving some warning would be good, and no need to pop up beside people randomly.

-Yeah, that could lead to all sorts of awkward situations.-

What followed after, while they enjoyed their tea, was a general look at the items available to enhance or augment dimensional storage spaces. Most were useless for Kit, either they were too weak to affect the vast space in a meaningful way, or Kit already had the functionality.

Master Simon and Tala did not look at options for merging items with Kit, simply those which could be placed within the sanctum.

While she dismissed most of the options presented, and was undecided on most of the rest, one thing became clear to Tala: she would need to add a grid-node to her sanctum.

A grid-node would effectively allow any magical technology which worked in cities to hook into the power within Kit instead, thus preventing Tala from having to create a hodgepodge lattice of interconnected inefficiency.

-That’s an elegant descriptor.-

It seemed fine to me. The whole thing could be a mess, and it isn’t.

-I suppose that’s fair.-

In the end, they both decided that Master Simon needed to spend a good deal of time within Kit before he could make meaningful recommendations beyond the three items that already made sense.

Even so, exactly which grid-node would work best in Kit was still not apparent. So, all things considered, the two Mages perusing all the options available was not an effective use of their time.

As such, they turned their attention to the other tasks at hand.

Tala presented Master Simon with the list of magical items she still had, but didn’t have a use for, from the arcane lands, and he granted her access to a list of Archive access methods available, which could be used by Mages and mundanes alike.

They each perused their lists, asking the other occasional clarifying questions.

The slates would connect to the grid-node when that was up and running, so they didn’t need to be independently powered, long term. Moreover, since Tala wasn’t leaving Bandfast before all of this was settled, they could simply run on the Bandfast grid, so long as Tala opened Kit for at least an hour every day to allow the power to reach into the space and keep the devices powered.

In the end, the Constructionist Guild was happy to take the items she offered, and Tala selected eight robust Archive slates. As neither Master Simon nor Mistress Petra were Refined, they didn’t have any bound to them, and those that they used within Bandfast were either borrowed or owned by their employers.

Well, that’s not changing, I suppose.

-Yeah, these will work long term for anyone within your sanctum.-

It was that thought which had prompted Tala to select three more than she strictly needed, just to have backups and to have them available at need.

-Probably overkill.-

Yeah, but if I’m wandering the wilds, I would hate to have to head home just because a slate broke, and I want to honor my commitment to keep their Archive access in place.

-That’s fair.-

A key feature that had further influenced her slate choice was the ability for the slates to be used by someone without any Archive access at all. In those cases, the slates would need to be initialized by someone with access, in which case, they could mirror their access in whole or in part.

Basically, Tala would be able to share limited information even with people who didn’t otherwise interface with the Archive.

Could be useful for trading in the towns, when we go back.

-Show them what we have, then find a way to more permanently transfer the information over? Yeah, that could work.-

“Alright, Mistress Tala.” Master Simon looked up from his tallies, where he’d put together a contract of exchange for them. “Right now, there is quite the imbalance. Though these items you’ve presented for trade are rather basic, they more than cover the cost of what you’ve selected. Is there anything else that the Constructionist Guild can do for you, today? Or should we discuss monetary means of balancing the transaction?”

“Well, two things come to mind that I could use from your guild.”

He smiled invitingly. “Certainly, Mistress. What were you thinking?”

“First, when I was working in the caravans, I noticed that the Guards had inscribed weaponry that remained unpowered until it interacted with the targeted magical creature.”

“I’m familiar with that type of spell-form, yes.”

“Can they be inscribed for me?”

“I’m not sure I understand. Can you start by telling me: What beast did you want counter-spells for?”

“Oh, they are specific to the arcanous beast?”

He tilted his head for a moment then nodded hesitantly. “No, but mostly yes. They are tailored to the specific magics. They do work for those magics on different species, but only so long as the magics they wield are similar enough.”

“Oh… how many sets are there?”

He chuckled. “Do you mean how many different types of arcanous magics have we worked up counter-spell inscription sets for?”

“Yes?”

“Three hundred?” He frowned then looked down at his Archive slate before flipping through some information. “There are three hundred twelve standard sets, and an additional thousand that caravan guards carry in case they cross those rarer variations. There seems to be a further seven hundred or so that either haven’t been useful in a century or more, or are not effective enough on the current manifestations of arcanous creatures to be worth creating and having on hand.”

Tala grimaced. “Well, that’s less useful.”

“What were you thinking of doing, if I may ask?”

She pulled her hauberk out of Kit and held it up. The piece of fitted armor was now fully restored with white steel scales, each filled with gravity alteration, ready to assault her enemies.

She briefly explained that each scale could become a projectile, and that she’d hoped to increase their lethality.

He took a long moment to digest the implications of what she’d conveyed. Once he had come to terms with the reality of the armor-turned-weapon, he shrugged. “You could imbed an endingberry in the center?”

She blinked a few times. Genius! But no… that wouldn’t really work… would it?

-No. It would be highly unstable and not very effective without heavy scripting and modifications.-

Master Simon was already shaking his head. “No, that would be a difficult method to implement… I can think on it, but nothing comes readily to mind. The scripts you asked about would be an excellent idea if you were waging a war on a specific kind of creature. Maybe for the next Leshkin war?”

Tala nodded at that. “There’s an idea, yeah.”

-Note that for later?-

Absolutely, yeah.

“The inscriptions are incredibly inexpensive to create. I could balance out the exchange by crafting three arrows for each of the most useful counter-spell inscriptions?”

Tala blinked a few times. “That’s… that’s interesting. How many could I get if I wanted one of every type, and a description of exactly what it’s supposed to counter?”

He looked down at this pad, nodding to himself. “One of each should be doable. It’s a bit of a stretch, but we can make it happen.” He smiled. “I know there are a few who will find greater value in the items you’re providing because they came from arcanes and that should balance out the difference.”

What do you think?

-It could be a good thing to have in our back pocket, just in case. Especially if we are going to be wandering the wilds and beyond.-

One each isn’t really enough…

-Yeah. Ask about five?-

“How much would it cost to increase to five of each?-

“Oh… well… Hmmm… We’d already be setting up for each single inscription, so it wouldn’t be five times the cost to make… I think we could do it for thirty-two gold?”

“Make it thirty and you have a deal.”

He huffed a laugh. “Only if you pay upfront.”

“Done.”

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Chapter: 304 - Dimensional Storage, Recovery Artifact

Tala left the Constructionist Guildhall having concluded her business for the day with Master Simon.

While there was a lot swirling around in her head, she was rather curious about the last item that Master Simon had brought up.

A dimensional storage recovery artifact.

In essence, if she died it would rocket the pouch to the closest human city.

Well, that’s just one of the more basic versions.

Most options wouldn’t take magical resonance into account, and thus, they would likely cause all sorts of frustrations for the city defenders for at least a few days, but it would get the dimensional storage to somewhere safe.

Assuming it is in Zeme when it activates…

Some had countermeasures if the storage was underground when the spell-forms activated. Others could account for massive volumes of water in the way.

In the end, the more situations they’d work in, the more expensive, at least generally.

These recovery items were usually paired with a magical tinter, much like her through-spike, which would draw power from the environment—or the city grid once it arrived—to power the dimensional storage for long enough to retrieve what was inside.

These mimicries were never perfect, so it would slowly break down anything it was used on, but the damage wasn’t permanent, if the Mage it was magic-bound to returned within a reasonable timeframe.

But if I’m dead, I’ll never return.

-And if you’re dead it won’t be your problem.-

That’s fair.

-Also, I’m fairly certain that Kit could adapt to a slightly off magical signature.-

Yeah… maybe? Kit is almost as much creature as item in how she works and how responsive she is.

-Isn’t that the truth.-

As to the recovery items, apparently the combination of transportation and magical tinting was often used when a Mage was hired to gather something of particular importance. The magics would ensure that the retrieved item would make it back to humanity, whether the commissioned Mage did or not.

It’s a bit morbid, planning for my own death.

-Yes, but it makes sense not to take that nice family down with you if you make a foolish choice.-

Or if something goes wrong.

-Which do you think more likely?-

…Hush you.

-So, to keep the family safe, beyond question?-

Yeah… She would consider it. There were also an almost infinite variety of options for the implementation.

Many were even teleport functions, which were more expensive, and they generally had other problems. Which explains why I thought it simply couldn’t be done.

-Well, it’s highly inadvisable, but still probably worth asking.-

Sure. I’ll do that in a bit.

The most common drawback was that nothing mundane, and nothing alive, would endure the teleport. On the plus side, such a method wouldn’t bring a tide of beasts in its wake.

Well, if I’m dead, that’s not my problem either?

Alat snorted. -I mean, you aren’t wrong, but it still seems a bit inconsiderate.-

Tala grunted. They’ll have all my stuff to pay for any damages caused.

-True… you don’t want anything to go to your siblings?-

I mean… maybe? I hadn’t really considered it.

-Most Mages—and almost all Archons—set up a will, you know.-

Of course I know… I—

Her magic, near her gate, vibrated with an inquisitive squawk.

Tala grimaced. “Oh, that’s going to take some getting used to.”

She opened Kit, and Terry flickered out to her shoulder.

As he perched there, he fluffed his feathers up proudly.

“Yes, you are very clever.”

He bopped the top of her head.

“Oh! I wasn’t being sarcastic.”

He trilled irritatedly.

“Fine, I was being a little bit sarcastic, but you are quite clever.”

He shimmied down into place and huffed contentedly.

“I’m glad that you can ask to come out.”

Terry chirped happily, and they continued on their way, together.

The next two days passed quickly, and Tala found herself back at the Constructionist Guild for two purposes.

First, Master Simon was putting the last of his work things into Kit, and it was simply easier for her to come to him.

Second, her sheath was to be finished by this point.

Master Simon met her in the entry hall and led her back to his workroom. There was very little left in the space, save the furniture which seemed to belong to the guild.

One thing was new, however. It was clearly out of place, and it positively radiated unattuned power.

The odd net of precious metals rested to one side on the main worktable, beside a simple, mundane, wooden box.

“What’s that?” She pointed directly at the small net.

“That is available to you, if you desire it.” Master Simon didn’t even glance at it, indicating that he’d expected the question.

What kind of prepared answer is that?

-Clearly a hesitant one? He does seem to be avoiding the item just a bit.-

Tala sighed, shaking her head. “That doesn’t answer the question.”

“It is a dimensional storage retrieval mechanism. If you agree, it will meld with the outside of your pouch, and if you die—in this case this would require your soul moving on to the next world—your sanctum will be transported back to this guildhall.”

She gave him an incredulous look. “That has to be incredibly expensive. Why under the stars would this be ‘offered’ to me? Does it come with a price tag?”

“Now? No, but it does have one.”

She arched an eyebrow but waited for him to continue.

He finally turned to face her and the item. “The Constructionist Guild would become the owners of your sanctum and all its contents upon your demise.”

Tala opened her mouth to object but found herself hesitating.

All things considered, it was a very reasonable offer.

Kit was, possibly, entirely unique in the world, though the arcanes may have something like Tala’s sanctum. No two living creatures were ever exactly identical, even identical twins diverged.

And Kit’s value was even greater when considering all that she contained.

Still, everything in her sanctum? That was a lot. That is an obscene cost… that I’ll never have to pay?

-Yeah… It makes sense for them, because the value of what you’ve got in Kit is many, many times the cost of even something like this.- Alat hesitated. -Well, actually, I have no idea what something like this would cost.-

Tala shook her head slowly. “How long would the agreement last? What are the implications that I am not aware of?”

Master Simon nodded. “The agreement would last until you have soul-bound your sanctum. At that point, this artifact wouldn’t be able to move it. If you wanted something to this effect at that time, it would require an utterly different type of item. It’s not easy to gain access to, and breach, an untethered dimensional space after all.”

“I thought that dimensional storage items couldn’t be teleported? Even if it worked, wouldn’t it cause all sorts of damage and danger for what and who was inside?”

“Yes and no. Excellent questions. The easy answer is: The storage space, the actual sanctum, wouldn’t be teleported at all.”

Her frown deepened. “If that sort of distinction is enough to get around the difficulty of teleportation, then why… Why wouldn’t this be used to transport goods or people?”

He sighed, shaking his head. “Well, I was informed that if you asked that, I was to tell you something that is… outside my understanding,”

Tala cocked her head to one side. What the rust?

-Something beyond his comprehension? He’s been working for a top guild member for years. What on zeme could this—-

Master Simon continued without pause, “and if you have any questions, you should not ask them of me, as that could convey information that I am not… ‘ready’ for.” He grimaced at the last. “Are you ready to hear it?”

She gave a half smile, pulled out of her internal musings. “Well, you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention.”

“Good, because I can only say it once. Master Grediv assured those who gave me these words that you were knowledgeable around the topic, whatever it is, but they were skeptical.”

“You’re building it up too much, Master Simon.”

“My apologies.” He bowed slightly, then pulled his slate in front of him, clearly reading it exactly. “These magics would act directly on the fragment that is your sanctum’s anchor. The threads follow the node. It is—and can only ever be—a single use addition, though it can theoretically be re-made and re-applied. Finally, the magics involved make it a near straight trade in value for the items and knowledge that Master Xeel knows are within. He was consulted before this offer was solidified, and he recommends you accept, as does Master Grediv.”

Tala had paled. Direct manipulation of the nodes of reality again?

-That does seem to be the cornerstone of higher magics.-

Clearly, but it also seems like it doesn’t usually come into play until Archons achieve Paragon.

-Viewing everything from a ‘next world’ mindset? Could that factor in?-

That might be part of it. What if that advice is more ‘see things as they really are’ than ‘don’t sweat the small stuff?’

-I never thought it was meant in the vein of ‘don’t sweat the small stuff.’-

You know what I mean.

-Yeah, I do.- Alat sighed. -It’s probably a mix?-

Also, what the rust, Master Xeel? Did he go snooping through the whole sanctum?

-Well, we basically admitted to bringing taboo and forbidden weapons of war back with us. Are we surprised that they checked to see if we were hiding even more unconventional things?-

I suppose not… wait… the value of that is a straight trade for the value of everything in Kit?

-That’s what they said, yes.-

They know I have Io in there. That automaton should be utterly unique… what under the stars went into creating such an item!?

-Well, we can ask Master Xeel if we ever see him again.-

Yeah… we aren’t allowed to ask Master Simon.

Master Simon had just looked up from the slate, a clear lack of understanding evident in his features. “My apologies if that’s not helpful. I mean, I understand the bits about it being really expensive.” He chuckled. “I saw your sanctum, and I’m sure I didn’t even get to see the best parts. For something to match your sanctum in value?”

Tala nodded absently, still considering.

After a middling pause, he cleared his throat. “If I may be so bold?”

She glanced his way and saw how nervous he looked. “Speak your mind, Master Simon. Ideally, we’ll be working together for a while, and I’d rather you speak when you have something to say.”

He nodded. “Thank you, Mistress.” He swallowed, then continued. “I know it is poor form to try to sway a Mage on their bound items, but it would be a great comfort to myself and Mistress Petra if you were to agree to take this item. We know the risks, and we are willing to accept them regardless of what you decide. Nothing is free in this world, nowhere is fully safe, and these risks are worth the rewards, even with you being out of the cities much of the time.”

He was clearly rambling, but Tala didn’t interrupt. Let him get it out.

“Having a fallback, in case the worst should happen…” He shook his head. “I know that I could be out of the sanctum when you die, if you die. Our agreement means that I may come out to assist you in dangerous places, and this would strand me. But… but it would safeguard my family and remove any concern for their well-being from either of our minds.”

Tala found herself nodding. “That does make sense. Will it work anywhere? Or will I have to be careful if I enter an ether hold, or”—she stopped herself before adding on a list of things that Master Simon likely shouldn’t know about—"the like?”

“They said that it would return the dimensional storage to the appointed place from anywhere, in reality or otherwise.” He clearly didn’t really know what that meant.

“I mean, alright. Are there any implications or restrictions on Kit?”

“Your sanctum will not be negatively affected. You will have to provide a bit more power to… Kit than you would otherwise, but it will simply pull from the grid-node that we will install in the coming weeks. Until then, it will pull from the city.”

Tala thought about it before nodding. “I’m open to the idea, I’m even leaning towards acceptance, but I want to think on it a bit more, first. Is that alright?”

“Absolutely.” He placed the item in a small, mundane chest and closed the lid, seeming grateful to have it stored away.

After that, they basically tossed the remaining items through Kit’s door, and they were done.

“Well, I’ll see you on the inside I suppose.” He smiled and bowed.

“Yeah. Enjoy your research!”

His wife was already at work within Kit, and it wasn’t a school day, so Metti, Segis, and Karsa had joined their mother.

Without waiting longer, Master Simon stepped into Kit, joining his family.

The door shrunk, and Tala placed the pouch on her belt.

That left her alone in an emptied research workshop.

It was odd to feel the haunting quality of a room that was intended to be filled with activity, now empty.

There were a few odds and ends that Master Simon had collected into a box on one of the tables, along with the box containing the recovery net.

Not now. He left it here, so it must be safe enough in this room. Either way, it’s not my responsibility.

-Sure, sure. I do agree with you. It’s a good idea to take it.-

Yeah. Even so, I want to ruminate for a bit. I want to make sure I’m not rushing into anything.

-…who are you?-

Hush, you. That’s not very nice.

-Alright, alright. I suppose I’m glad that you’re taking a careful approach.-

Tala scanned the room one last time with her eyes.

There wasn’t dust or debris; it had obviously been well taken care of, and even if she hadn’t helped with the final move-out, it was obvious that the current state was recent.

The atmosphere of the place was just… odd.

And, let’s go!

A few minutes later, she knocked on the door to Mistress Airim’s workshop, and the woman called from within, “Come in!”

Tala opened the door and stepped inside. “Hello, Mistress Airim. I trust that the day is treating you well?”

The woman didn’t turn around as she let out a huff. “You trust I’ve finished your sheath, you mean.”

Tala felt a smile pull at the side of her mouth. “That too, yes.”

“Well, I both finished your sheath, and I’ve been having a good day, thank you.” She waved her hand. “It’s there.”

Tala looked around and easily saw one table cleared of the otherwise-pervasive clutter, set up just inside the door to the left.

It was barely inside the workshop, so she shouldn’t expose herself to any deeper scans than she’d been subject to last time she visited Mistress Airim

In the center of the mostly empty table lay a sheath of truly massive proportions. How did I miss seeing that when I came in? “What is this?”

“A sheath. Is that not why you are here?”

Tala walked over and looked more closely at the sheath-like-object that was as long as she was tall and half as wide as the table. It was a construction that looked more woven than forged, and it was a purposely uneven weave of numerous precious metals, interlaced to make the artifact's spellform. “What’s with the sizing?”

Mistress Airim still didn’t turn away from whatever she was working on. “It’s a perfectly normal size.”

Tala drew Flow, pushing it into its sword form and holding it up. “Then what is this? A sword for ants? My weapon would have to be at least… three times bigger than this in order to not just fall inside like it’s a box.”

Finally, the constructionist turned around, her eyes taking in the sheath on the table. “What are you talking a—Gah!” She looked genuinely startled. “Well, that is bigger than it was a bit ago, or than is standard.”

“Is it this odd size because it’s a morphic sheath?”

“Well, yes. They change all over the place until bound to a weapon, but that is… that is a bit unusually big. Quite a bit outside the standard, but I suppose not actually outside of possibility.” She shrugged.

Even as they were talking, the sheath began to shrink, but somehow lengthened as well. Now, it looked like it was sized for a normal width sword, but one that was extended to be a full seventy-three inches long and slightly curved.

Tala gestured at the sheath.

“Why do you need this extreme range of shapes? See? Who could even wield a weapon like that?”

“I don’t know, some long-haired, pretentious moron who thinks himself worthy of judging others? But morphic is morphic. The only limit is power.”

“That’s… a highly specific example?”

“That’s the fun of making things up when you don’t know what you’re talking about. You can be ridiculously specific and no one can gainsay you.”

“Sure.”

“In any case, sheathe your weapon, and it will bond. That will fix its size and shape to your weapon.”

Tala shrugged, pushing Flow into the ill-fitting sheath. There was a magical pulse, and the intricate interweave of metals began to flow and rippled throughout the sheath along with waves of power.

The metal pulled inward, contracting the massive construction as it tightened to perfectly fit Flow’s sword form.

Tala felt a momentary surge of magical need from the weapon as it fed the sheath, and she didn’t interfere with the draw.

The increased pull calmed down shortly after.

Flow now had a perfectly fitted sheath that was incredibly thin, looking more like metallic paint on the blade than a sheath.

Of course, Flow didn’t have a blade in its sword form, but the wire in the shape of a blade was now completely hidden. The sheath also extended around the crossguard, locking itself in place.

Tala somehow knew that it would only take a thought to release that, but she didn’t need to remove the sheath at the moment.

She moved Flow through its other shapes, and the sheath altered seamlessly to match, only requiring a whisper of power to modify its shape.

“May I test the defusing properties?”

“Of course. Target that empty table, please.”

Tala nodded, pushing Flow back into sword-shape. With a practiced motion, Tala brought Flow down on the tabletop with incredible power.

An explosion of force radiated outward from the impact, and the tiles on which the table rested cracked, releasing puffs of dust and magic.

Tough table.

-Magically reinforced.-

Clearly.

She watched the tiles repair themselves, lifting the table a bit as they reshaped.

And a self-repairing floor?

-She knows what she’s about, it seems.-

“Well, Mistress Tala? Are you satisfied?” The constructionist had a self-satisfied smile, completely confident in her product.

With a shrug, Tala hung the new sheath from her belt, tucking the old one into Kit. “It looks good, thank you.”

A note from JLMullins

BONUS CHAPTER: This is where the ninth Bonus Chapter comes in for allPatrons.

(That's right, even the $1 tier!) 🎉

Chapter: 304 Bonus  -  Metti, Segis, Karsa, Petra, and Simon

These are secondary POVs that add to the worldbuilding but are not required for the story.

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Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MillennialMage

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

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Chapter: 305 - Finally!

Tala felt like the next days passed in a blur as she continued with her slowly increasing training, spent time with friends, and allowed the researchers in and out of her sanctum every so often.

The teleporter still didn’t work from within Kit, despite them trying a dozen variations, and they’d recently reached the end of their ideas. It wasn’t impossible, they were sure, but they needed to do more in depth research into the fundamentals of the process. Master Simon’s own work and study was now being fed to them as well, and that was sufficient for them to pair with their tests on the outside.

By the time she returned from Marliweather, they’d have another version or two ready to test.

Overall it barely felt like any time had passed, and yet, she was currently making her way to Mistress Holly’s workshop for her final set of tests.

And hopefully I’ll be cleared for regular activity! She felt whole and unbroken, strong and unmarred by imperfections.

-Ahh, yes. To spar again and taste the gritty wonder that is sand.-

I don’t think any of my previous sparring partners will push me to that.

-Terry.-

Tala hesitated. That will be a much more interesting fight now.

-Yes. Interesting.-

She was actually looking forward to sparring with Terry again. Rane too, and Master Cazor if possible. There’s lots for us to test as well, now that my power isn’t pulling my body apart from within.

Despite those somewhat dark thoughts, Tala smiled contentedly, thinking back over what had occurred over the past nine days.

Master Simon’s research had barely begun, but he’d been able to give a solid recommendation on which grid-node to install within Kit, and they’d accomplished that with little difficulty.

Additionally, Tala had agreed to have the net installed onto the outside of Kit.

It was a fascinating branch of magical construction. It was effectively being magic-bound to Kit, rather than merged with it. As such, it could be reused for a different dimensional storage, in the likely case that Tala didn’t die before soul-bonding Kit.

She was really glad for that, as the magics involved were actually beyond humanity to recreate, and only were actualized through the careful combination of several very elusive harvests. The rarity of the parts, along with the difficulty of proper construction, meant that there was no way Tala would have been able to get such a creation if she’d been forced to pay for it.

Now, however, she wouldn’t have to temper her actions because she had civilians within Kit.

I’d have had to live a pretty boring life, if I took them into full account, and they were counting on me to stay safe.

-Yeah, and I think your story would have been over, if you’d been forced into such a change.-

I probably wouldn’t have died of boredom, but it would have been a near thing.

Aside from her feeling that it relieved her conscience of the weight of three children’s safety, Tala had spoken to Mistress Odera, Lyn, and even Mistress Holly, and all three had recommended she do so.

Since the teleporter wasn’t possible in the short term, it just made sense.

While Master Simon’s family wouldn’t be in as much danger as many in their world when traveling with her, they wouldn’t be ‘safe’ by any means, and this little accommodation cost her literally nothing.

It had been incorporated without a hitch, beyond Tala watching closely and mentally insisting that Kit not eat the artifact as it tightened and sunk into place.

Kit had even seemed… content? That wasn’t right, but the pouch had accepted the mesh integrating with her exterior without a whisper of resistance.

If she’d still been in the arcane lands, Tala might have been concerned about a plot to kill her and take Kit, but honestly, anyone who could arrange for her death could just take her stuff if they wanted. There was also the fact that while Kit would return and be maintained for the short term, it wouldn’t last very long in the grand scheme of things.

Thus, those who might have been most inclined to try to get access to Kit would lose out in the end, as opposed to simply asking to study what she had, which she had allowed Mistress Ingrit to offer.

There had been some cursory inquiries, but nothing truly concrete, yet.

But that was getting off into the weeds.

With those two additions, the modifications of Kit’s magic were completed for the near-term.

Mistress Petra and Master Simon had brought in raw materials, and Tala had taken a couple of hours to help manipulate them into place to fashion the beginnings of a living space for the family.

Kit did all of the work, but Tala still had to give the commands.

Beyond that, the teacher from the Culinary Guild came and went, spending nearly all of four days with the Mage and leaving Mistress Petra much better versed in the preparation of dishes, while maintaining their magical conveyance.

Per their agreement, Mistress Petra had recorded all the specific insights provided toward the creation of food for Tala. That way, when the woman left the position, her replacement would at least have a place to start.

Whether that is in a year or a century, she won’t be my cook forever.

Tala slowly allowed the increase of the proportion of magic in her food until the harvests from her sanctum were the sole source of the ingredients made into food for her.

Kit was rather accommodating, though she didn’t allow Mistress Petra to make requests directly.

-You are anthropomorphizing Kit, again.-

Well, Kit acts like she has a personality.

-All that’s happening is Mistress Petra is sending us a message with the raw ingredients that she needs, and we wish for her to have them. Kit does what she does, and the harvests arrive.-

Kit could move anything within her to anywhere else. She could also exert slight force, such as pulling a berry from a stem, or a leaf from a plant, but she could not process the harvests.

Mistress Petra still had to kill and butcher the animals as needed, processing the meat to lock in the magics imbued within, according to the methods of the Culinary Guild.

Honestly, the results were surprisingly effective.

Tala was able to compare what she saw with some memories, and it seemed like the Culinary method was at least as efficient at trapping the power within the harvests as the arcane methods.

I suppose the cooks have been working at this for a long time and with very few resources. They learned to be efficient.

-And now that they have Mages coming in to build on their theoretical foundations? It’s no wonder that there have been massive leaps in methodology even in just a year.-

It makes Mistress Ingrit’s position on knowledge more understandable.

-Yeah, imagine what we could do as a species if we didn’t hold back any secrets and strove toward a common goal?-

Tala smiled to herself. But then, would we really be humans anymore?

Alat snorted in amusement. -To be human is to strive for self-improvement and advancement.-

But to continue, we need each other, and we must serve one another as if we were one and the same.

Tala gasped, almost missing a step as her soul resonated with the sentiment.

-What?-

I think… did we just take a step towards Paragon? They examined their aura and sure enough, there was the barest hint of green in the otherwise pure yellow.

-I’d estimate… a hundredth of one percent of the way?-

Tala smiled. Still, that’s something. We weren’t even striving. We were… just… Her eyes widened. We were just discussing how our society has been set up to operate and why it makes sense… Do you think?

-It makes sense that a society built and maintained by Paragons—and those even more advanced—would reflect at least some of the insights required to reach that level of advancement.-

When said like that, it was almost insultingly obvious. So… does that mean we need to study civics?

She was not keen on the idea.

Alat didn’t have any more idea than Tala did, whether or not it would be helpful. They’d ask Master Grediv later. Mistress Holly had proven that she’d not say more about advancement than she already had.

With nothing more to consider in that vein for the moment, Tala turned her thoughts to what lay just ahead. I have nothing else keeping me from visiting my family.

-Assuming these tests go well.-

Yes, but they will. Tala could feel it.

She was more connected to her physical body than ever, and it was more in tune with her magics than she’d have thought possible, even just a few months ago.

Her natural magical pathways were perfect reflections of her inscriptions, not being the same but creating identical effects, and her inscriptions seemed to be functioning with an entirely new smoothness.

Honestly, Tala had never noticed any latency or roughness in how her power flowed through her spell-forms, but now? Now, it felt like she’d been running with one leg shorter than the other for years, and they were now the same length.

-That’s… that’s an odd analogy.-

Yeah… not the best… It’s like wearing homespun clothing my whole life, but now, someone has gifted me perfectly fitted silks?

-Yeah, that’s a bit clearer. I feel like I’ve been utterly remade, though I felt some of that immediately. It’s just clearer now.-

It does seem like it. From their investigations into their natural pathways, they both believed that Alat would now continue, even if Tala lost all of her inscriptions. She would be lessened, and it would need to be corrected, but Alat would no longer vanish until the inscriptions were restored.

All of her magics had been ‘set’ deeply in place, seemingly like Tala had been using them for decades or centuries, rather than less than two years.

I still can’t believe I didn’t set a record…

-Well, Betty the Blessed wasn’t named that for nothing.-

Too bad we can’t find out what happened to her.

-We may one day. She did always say she wanted to explore beyond Zeme. She could be out there, now, trying to find a way back.-

Or she could be a Transcendent and have forged a new humanity on some distant world.

Tala actually felt some hope in that. Even if the worst happened, even if Zeme shattered, or humanity fell here, they wouldn’t find their end as a species.

Humanity would live on.

Tala glanced at her own aura out of the corner of her vision.

-No advancement. You’re trying too hard.-

Fine…

Betty wasn’t the only Mage who had beaten Tala in the speed of her advancement, but there weren’t many, only a couple of dozen in recorded history, and none in the last few centuries. Thousands had been just barely slower, but again, most of them were from the centuries just after the advent of gates within humanity.

Those early years must have been truly brutal.

-Yeah, advance fast or die trying.-

In the end, the tests with Mistress Holly went exactly as well and uneventfully as Tala had expected, and the following morning, Tala was cleared to act without restriction.

Mistress Holly did implore her to act with caution, but that was more a general injunction than a statement that Tala needed to take it easy for any reason.

FINALLY! Tala was so exuberant that she had practically exploded out of the warehouse.

Mistress Holly had simply granted Tala and Alat access to the results and bid Tala farewell with a rueful smile.

She’d already secured a promise from Tala to return later for a demonstration of her reinscriber.

-This is impressive, Tala.- The alternate interface was clearly going over the results. -Do you want to know the numbers?-

Tala laughed as she jogged down the mostly cleared roads. The first true thaw of spring was still a little ways away, but the sun was definitely melting more of the snow each day than it had even a week earlier. Not a chance. I’m not falling into that trap. I’ll test myself and learn my new limits by more practical means.

-That sounds wonderful! Rane said he’d reserve a training area for us, he shared the location. Take the next right turn.-

Tala barely kept to a reasonable pace as she followed Alat’s directions to the indicated arena.

She rushed past the attendant, barely acknowledging the young man, thanking him, and conveying who she was.

He didn’t try to stop her or direct her as she clearly knew where she was headed.

She pushed open the doors into the massive, sand-floored space, and they slammed back against the walls despite each of them weighing as much as a few people.

Tala felt a bit abashed at the too-forceful entry. Well, strength test, I guess?

The doors began to swing shut, partially due to rebound and partially because they were balanced to rest closed.

Rane stood in the center of the space, dressed in only his exercise shorts, Force drawn, his stance firm and his features filled with anticipation.

He wasn’t any more muscular than before, but something about his physique seemed more solid, like the muscles he had contained more strength. “No need to wait. Let’s get to it.”

Tala grinned, a surge of jubilation building to a crescendo within her.

Flow snicked into her hand, sparring sheath firmly woven around the sword blade and guard.

She bent low into a runner’s crouch and at the moment the doors crashed shut behind her, she pushed off with all of her new found power.

The sand vanished from beneath where she’d been standing as the immense pressure she’d exerted—along with the surface area increasing scripts on the bottoms of her feet—had temporarily locked a large section of it together, even as the force threw the chunk back against the doors, burying them and sealing the exit.

If she’d remained in place, she’d have fallen a good four feet down into a hole wider than she was tall, but she wasn’t still in the same place.

Rane’s eyes didn’t even have time to widen in surprise before Flow struck Force.

Tala hadn’t aimed for his weapon, but it was there to block her regardless.

She had aimed for the left side of his back with a wrapping strike, and he’d brought Force around to align with his side and parry the blow.

The impact sent out a wave of power that forced ripples into the sand as it resonated through the room.

He must have moved on pure instinct to block that strike.

-Or his perception has increased?-

Maybe, but he’s only now showing cognizant surprise.

Rane’s lips parted, and he pulled in startled breath… as he punched her with his off hand.

The blow hit her shoulder like a charging bull, but Tala’s stance was firm, and she wanted to test her own durability.

It didn’t hurt even a whisper, feeling much like a strong poke would have when she was a student at the Academy.

Even so, there was a lot of strength behind the blow.

The power of the hit was transferred through her body and into the ground by way of her back foot, and there was enough force to drive that planted foot nearly six inches downward, creating a large circular depression because of her inscriptions.

The downward force also compacted the sand around the depression, and that exploded inward when the pressure had passed, still resulting in her leg being showered with chunks of sand up to her knee, many of which stuck even if only temporarily.

Despite being slightly off balance, she ripped her back foot up and kicked at his legs even as she rolled backward to get her feet back under her.

He jumped over her attack, and an instant later, a series of cracks resounded through the arena.

Many of them seemed to have been from some of the clumps of sand that she’d carried with the kick tearing through the air, but some were from the stone of the wall behind Rane.

The sound was so unexpected that they both paused and turned to look, seeing a series of small craters in the wall behind Rane. They were in a nearly perfect line, along the arc of her kick.

What?

They exchanged a look, and tacitly came to a silent agreement.

They let their weapons fall to hang by their sides, still in hand but not in any sort of fighting placement. Together, they walked over to inspect the wall.

In the center of each little crater were the remnants of a cluster of sand.

Rane looked at her, aghast. “What did you do?”

“Nothing! I just tried to kick you. Some compacted sand must have come along for the ride and been thrown off.”

The little craters weren’t deep, but they were there, surrounded by little cracks.

“Will that… be repaired?” Tala was a bit hesitant. Do I have to pay for that?

Rane shrugged. “I think so? They have a stone Mage who comes through and enacts repairs, but anything substantial is an additional charge.” Seeing Tala’s face, he quickly added. “This shouldn’t be sufficient to necessitate that.”

Tala frowned. “Even so, that’s irritating. Isn’t this room meant for high-level Archons?”

“Well, yes and no? I told them we would be mainly fighting in melee, and that might have influenced the arena they gave me…”

She snorted a laugh. “Well, it seems like we might need somewhere sturdier to fight.”

“So it would seem.”

An hour later, they stood facing each other in a slightly smaller arena. The floor was still sand, but they were completely surrounded by a feeling of power.

They’d had to dig themselves out of the previous room because Tala had buried the door in sand. Then, they’d had to track down an attendant with the authority to grant them access to the higher rated training rooms.

This one seemed like it would do nicely.

The stone of the room was actively reinforced with inset magics, powered by the city grid.

They had been assured that this room was at least as sturdy as the outer city wall.

The two of them could probably break the walls if that was their aim, but they should hold up to glancing strikes, or the spill over from their clashes.

“Ready, Tala?”

“Absolutely.”

He struck first this time.

Force moved almost lazily from her perspective, even as the air distorted around it from being forcibly compressed.

Where did he get this much physical power? She pushed off to shift herself out of the line of attack, even while she thrust forward with Flow, pushing her weapon into the form of a glaive.

Force changed direction mid-swing, knocking Flow aside.

What the rust?

There had been a trickle of power surrounding Rane as the change had occurred.

No, not physical power. He’s augmenting his movements somehow.

They exchanged a startlingly quick series of strikes, and that trickle of power never manifested again.

Tala slowly drove Rane backward across the arena throughout the clash, and she began to frown in growing frustration.

Tala had always overshadowed Rane in sheer physical might, and even speed, but he had, overall, been her match due to his better foundation in the fighting arts and his magically enforced defenses.

His defenses still stood, but Tala had closed the gap in regard to technique.

More than that, in that area she had surpassed him.

He was still a master with his blade, easily showing as great proficiency as any his age could hope to achieve, but Tala had a second lifetime of experience to draw on, and far far more brutal teachers and experiences to solidify her foundation, even if at least some of them hadn’t actually happened.

When handling Tali’s memories, Tala had discarded everything false, with the sole exception of leaving the foundations for her martial training. In that way, she didn’t have any of the memories, but she still had the mindset that Be-thric had instilled on which to build Tali’s fighting ability.

More importantly, as she’d noticed before, Rane’s style was designed and tested against creatures larger and stronger than himself. He was built and trained to fight arcanous beasts.

Tala was trained to kill men.

Unless something changed, there was no possibility of Rane matching her for longer than a handful of moments.

She couldn’t fully grasp how disappointing that was to her, and she knew that she would not be able to continue if this kept up. Obviously, her disappointment was clear in her expression and her actions.

Still, she saw a smile tug at Rane’s lips as he was backed almost all the way to the far wall.

The next instant, everything changed.

Rane shifted stances from one reminiscent of the city or caravan guards to one that was more… casual? He suddenly seemed like an artist, critically examining a blank canvas.

Force deflected Flow, but as the weapons met, Flow was sent off in a completely nonsensical direction, the forces applied were almost—but not quite—perpendicular to the direction they should have been directed.

The unexpected jerk pulled her off balance for a fraction of a second, and Rane capitalized on it, punching her shoulder again.

She instinctively braced just as she had before, but his punch somehow pulled with as much force as it should have pushed with.

She was jerked forward, right into the path of follow-up swing. Force’s edge sent out ripples through the air as it ripped towards her.

He’s actively manipulating the kinetic energy and momentum of whatever he hits.

-That’s a level of control and a use of his magics that we’ve never seen before.-

It really is. A smile pulled at Tala’s lips.

This, this would be a challenge.

Even as she moved to counter this most recent attack, her smile only grew.

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

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Chapter: 306 - Goodbyes

Tala grumbled even as she and Rane walked out of the arena.

“It’s completely unfair that you don’t have to contest my aura in order to manipulate the kinetic energy when we clash.”

Rane huffed a laugh. “How many times do I have to explain it to you? I alter the vectors while they are imparted. You’d have to overcome my aura to prevent it from happening.”

She grunted. He had told her dozens of times. She’d even managed to do it occasionally while they fought, but she still didn’t like it. “It’s still completely unfair.”

Truthfully, Tala knew that she could have beaten him in a real battle. Rust, even in a truly intense sparring session, she would be able to achieve victory. She hadn’t even relied on her Way of Flowing Blood in their fight.

That said, she also wanted to be able to spar against Rane in the coming years in Alefast, and no one enjoyed being crushed in a conflict. Maybe next time…

Even so, his ability to manipulate kinetic energy upon impartment was difficult to deal with. Definitely next time. I want to make sure I actually can beat it under sparring rules.

He shook his head. “I’ll buy you breakfast as an apology?”

Tala sighed. “No… Mistress Petra’s cooking is much better, and I think I want to be eating that exclusively.”

Rane gave her a startled look. “Are you alright? Did my magics affect you that much?”

“What?”

“You’re turning down food.”

She glared. “That’s not very nice.”

A small smile pulled at the side of his mouth. “Accurate though.”

She huffed but didn’t have anything else to say.

“You know, you can eat more than one meal. I’ve seen you do it before.”

“That is true, but somehow the food with my magic imbued within it is… more filling. As Mistress Petra gets better at maintaining the magical content it becomes even more so.”

“Huh, I hadn’t thought that would be the case.” Rane looked away, then gave her a side-eyed glance. “Does she have anything that I could eat?”

A smile tugged at Tala’s own lips. “Nothing magical, but maybe mundane. I’ll check.” She pulled Kit open, willing the internal side to come into being near the other woman. “Mistress Petra?”

The calm voice of someone who was obviously in the middle of something came back in response, “Yes, Mistress Tala?”

“Would it be possible to get a meal for my friend, when mine is ready?”

“You missed your breakfast, Mistress Tala. I have that ready, now. I can have something ready for your friend too, in under ten minutes.”

Tala felt a bit shell shocked. I missed breakfast?

She thought back on it, and yes, she had.

She had gone straight from Mistress Holly’s workshop to the arena.

Tala hadn’t thought about food at all, since she’d been so excited to test herself that she hadn’t considered anything else.

“Yes, that would be wonderful, thank you.”

“Happy to be of assistance.”

Tala closed the pouch and glanced toward Rane, seeing a truly concerned look. “I was joking before, but are you okay? I don’t know that I’ve ever seen you miss a meal when you were conscious enough to eat it.”

She grimaced. “I’m not that food oriented.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it and shook his head. “If you say so, I suppose.”

They found a nearby park—as neither of them were really bothered by the cold—and waited for their meals to be ready.

Instead of filling the time with inane chatter, Tala and Rane simply enjoyed the silent stillness of a walking-park in midmorning, and didn’t speak even after they’d found a nice bench on which to break their fast.

A few minutes later, Rane turned to regard her. “So, you’re leaving for Marliweather tomorrow?”

She nodded. She hadn’t been circumspect about her plans. “I need to see my family, now that I’m back.”

“You’ll be there for… what? A month or two?”

“Something like that. It will depend on how things go. Plus there’s the travel there and back, but that shouldn’t take me too long.”

He nodded. “I can understand that. Family can be… complicated.”

She grunted in return, remembering her two interactions with his older brother.

“What about after? Do you have any concrete plans?”

She shrugged. “I was thinking of spending the Waning in Alefast: see what that’s like, help out how I can, learn what I’m able.”

Rane chuckled. “That makes it sound like a holiday or festival instead of something that most sane people avoid.”

She grinned in return. “Well, I won’t claim to be sane from a mundane perspective. For me? It might be a sort of holiday.”

“That’s a long holiday. I think it’s supposed to be a bit more than twenty years until the Waning is finished.”

That was true. She would be almost twice as old as she was now, when the Waning was complete. “Still better than waiting nearly fifty years to watch Makinaven’s Waning.”

“Yeah, and forest cities experience it differently.”

“Not to mention me and the southern forests don’t exactly mix well.”

“That’s the truth.” He quirked a smile.

“All that to say, I’m not fully decided, but I do think I’ll be moving over to Alefast, Waning.”

He nodded in understanding and didn’t interject again. He had already known that this was something that she’d been considering. So, she hadn’t expected it to be a surprise.

Even so, she’d never told him or Lyn that she’d made a final decision.

This was mainly because she hadn’t.

-Yes you have. You just won’t admit it because such a long commitment is scary.-

Hush, you.

-Master Nadro says you need to be more honest with yourself.-

Tala ignored that, waiting for Rane to comment further, and when he didn’t, she continued, “While based in Alefast—if I go that way—I’ll probably explore some, rather than just sitting behind the walls, but I definitely want to experience the Waning at various stages.”

If we do go, then maybe we can snag Artia, Adrill, and Brandon to aid in research?

-Yes, ‘if.’ They might be interested, once the Waning reaches its end.-

Rane nodded. “I understand it’s an interesting process, one you have to see to truly understand. There are far worse ways to spend the time, all things considered.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard the same.”

She felt a vibration within her power and opened Kit. “Mistress Petra?”

“Here you are.” The woman’s voice was cheerful and welcoming.

“Oh! Thank you.”

Two trays were passed out, one obviously for Tala, the other for Rane.

“Thank you, Mistress Petra.”

“You’re welcome, Mistress Tala. Are you in a place where we can exit?”

“Yes.” Tala set Kit on the ground, and she grew upwards into a door, which almost immediately opened to let the family out.

It was a bit earlier than they’d agreed, but the family each had people to see and places to go as a final goodbye in this city. There was no reason for Tala to force them to stay around.

Mistress Petra smiled, “Your lunch is already prepared. You should be able to grab it at your leisure.”

“Thank you.”

The older ones bowed to Tala and Rane, and Metti waved vigorously, before they headed off to do what they had planned.

With the family departed, Tala and Rane turned back to their breakfast.

Tala’s tray was loaded with at least four times the amount of food as Rane’s, and every bit of it was packed with power.

Rane gave her food a skeptical look before focusing on his own with a bit of confusion. “Wait, this tray is an artifact?”

She smiled. “The arcanes didn’t give me the items to host a large group, but my sanctum is packed with random conveniences.”

“Like trays that maintain the temperature of every part of everything they hold, independently?”

“Well, you don’t want your fruit or creme to get warm inside the crepe before you get to it, do you?”

“I…” He shook his head. “I can’t say I’ve ever considered that as a problem to be solved, but I suppose not.”

“That’s right you don’t.” She smiled. “And when I am eating this much, I can tell you: It is frustrating to the extreme to have much of what I eat come to a homogenous temperature before I get to it.”

Rane nodded at that. “I can actually see that, yeah. Room temperature food, unless it’s supposed to be that way, is often pretty gross.”

“Hence, trays.”

“And multiple because you often need more food than can fit on one tray?”

She huffed a laugh. “Well, yes, but also redundancy. Whatever I have that they provided, I have enough for me, at least five times over.”

Rane’s eyes drifted toward his food.

Tala grinned. “But enough of that. Let’s eat.”

He didn’t need any more encouragement than those words.

They ate their meal in relative silence, simply enjoying the excellent food and the lovely setting.

When they finished, Tala put the trays back into Kit, and they headed toward the guards’ training compound.

Tala had been… delinquent in addressing this particular group of people.

She had no obligations to them. The class that she’d been helping Adam with had ended well before she’d disappeared, but he was still an acquaintance whom she’d not seen since her return.

There were all sorts of justifications for the lack, but in truth, she just hadn’t prioritized it.

If it matters, you’ll find the time. If it doesn’t, you’ll find an excuse.

-That’s a little harsh. Sure, the aphorism is true enough under normal circumstances, but your circumstances were hardly normal. You’re only now fully recovered.-

Tala grumbled internally but couldn’t say that Alat was wrong.

Even in the cold weather, they still found the training yard full, as expected.

They were greeted when they stepped across the invisible dividing line between the yard and the street beside it, and one of those training went to see if Adam was available.

He was, and they spent the remainder of the morning briefly catching up.

There was an oddly uncomfortable distance between them that had never really existed before.

They both seemed to be aware that they no longer had any real points of commonality.

They also no longer had the caravans as a point of contact and overlapping purpose.

Due to his experience, Adam seemed to have noticed that Tala was physically on an entirely different level than she had been before, and even then, she’d been able to physically dominate as many guards as they could throw at her.

Moreover, Tala could tell by the way he moved that—at least subconsciously—he saw her as a threat, which had never been the case before.

Obviously, Adam knew she wasn’t going to hurt him, but it was similar to how she, herself, changed her actions when interacting with Kannis as opposed to with Rane, Master Cazor, or one of the others she’d sparred against.

She knew that she was always a bit more careful in how she moved around them, and now Adam was treating her the same manner.

In a way, it was an incredible compliment. He seemed to be able to tell that her foundational understanding and experience in combat had grown dramatically.

It was a pleasant visit, but as they parted ways, both Tala and Adam seemed to know that they’d likely never see each other again.

As Tala and Rane walked away from the training yard, Rane was giving her an odd look.

“What?”

“You. You seemed… off in there. Like you were obligated to be there and couldn’t wait to leave.”

Tala immediately grimaced at the accusation, but before she snapped back at him, she forced herself to mentally pause and consider. Were his actions a reflection of my attitude?

-Maybe? I think you were both feeding off of each other. He’s always been very perceptive, and I think he realized that you are not the same person who you were. More iron in the body and blood on the hands, as it were.-

She found herself nodding. “I didn’t feel obligated to go, not really, but it did feel awkward to be there.”

“Oh?” He prompted without being overly invasive.

“It’s odd.” She frowned. “When I was here last, I… I was so ignorant, so inexperienced. Now?”

They fell into silence, and Rane simply walked beside her.

Finally, Tala continued. “I’ve killed so many people, both directly and indirectly.” Her voice was small. “I’ve talked with Master Nadro about it some.” She huffed a short laugh. “It’s filled up a couple of our sessions, actually, but it hasn’t really felt as real as it did just now, being near Adam.”

“Why is that?” Rane’s voice was soft, genuinely inquisitive.

“Because he has spent his whole life training and fighting to protect others, and when push came to shove, I killed to save myself. I killed so many.”

Alat?

-Yeah. I’m on it.- The alternate interface would see if Master Nadro was available to meet up in the near future.

Rane was silent for a long moment, then he carefully asked. “Do you want to talk about it?”

After a long minute, she nodded. “I think so. Let’s go to Lyn’s to set up Kit and talk.”

And so, that’s what they did.

They spent the rest of the day walking the hills within her sanctum as Tala simply talked through her perfectly preserved memories of what she’d done to secure her position and when she was an Eskau.

They shared dinner while Tala continued to speak, but when they had finished, Alat interrupted.

-Tala?-

Yeah?

-Mistress Holly reached out via the Archive to verify that you are still coming by to show her the reinscriber before you depart.-

Right… Tala let out a long sigh. I don’t suppose we could skip out?

-She might legitimately chase you down.-

I could see that, yeah. A smile tugged at Tala’s lips.

-She’s also been far more patient about it than I think either of us expected.-

That’s rusting true.

Rane had turned her way. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just have to swing by Mistress Holly’s shop.”

He smiled and nodded, pushing himself to his feet, standing from where they’d been sitting the last hour or so. “I’ll let you get to it, then. You have an early morning tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah. I’ve let Master Cazor know that we’ll do the iron experiments when I swing back through, so I don’t have anything keeping me from Marliweather.”

“I hope you have a great trip.” His smile was genuine and warm.

“Thank you. Are you going to be staying around here?”

“I think I’ll head back to Alefast, Waning. There’s a lot going on there, and Master Grediv probably has a long list of tasks for me by this point.”

“Oh.” She blinked a few times. “Alright then. I suppose I’ll see you there?”

“If you come that way, yeah.” His smile turned rueful. “Do you have any guesses on your timeline?”

“Not really. I’ll stay in Marliweather for at least a month… probably. We can stay in touch through the Archive, now, right?”

“At least while I’m in a city.” He gave her a knowing grin. “Not everyone has your connections.”

“That…” She hesitated. “That was an awful pun.”

He shrugged. “I liked it.”

Tala huffed a laugh. “Fine.”

The door out appeared, and Rane gave her a deep bow, as if they were strangers and he was trying show respect toward her, befitting her superior advancement.

She frowned. “Is that really necessary?”

He smiled mischievously as he straightened. “No, but it is proper. Take care of yourself, Tala.”

She shook her head, dismissing his antics. “Oh, I will. In the worst case, I’ll fight my way free.” She grinned before giving a self-deprecating laugh. “If it was somehow worse than what I’ve already been through, assuming I’m not instantly killed at that point, I think it would take a Sovereign Boon for me to win free. But there is not too much chance of that actually happening.”

Rane opened his mouth, clearly a bit at a loss for words. Finally, he shook his head and smiled. “That would be unfortunate, but you’re probably right.”

“Goodbye, Rane.”

“Goodbye, Tala.”

He bowed again, causing her to roll her eyes even as she smiled. Then, he turned to depart. “Oh, no you don’t. You don’t get to leave with that smug properness.”

She covered the distance between them in an instant, careful to close the last couple of inches slowly enough that her movement couldn’t be mistaken for an attack by his magics.

She latched on, giving him what she suspected might have been a painful squeeze. Serves him right, trying to leave like that.

Rane laughed, hugging her in return. “Take care of yourself, alright?”

“I will. I promise. You too?”

“I will.”

She gave him one more squeeze which he returned, and then he was gone, the door closing behind him.

Tala wished one of the communication stones to her hand, and Kit moved it there. “Is everyone back?”

They had arranged ahead of time that Kit would be back at Lyn’s house, so that hadn’t been an issue.

There was a short pause before Tala heard a voice coming back to her.

It was Mistress Petra who responded, “We are, thank you Mistress Tala. Are we leaving early?”

“No, I just need to move the entrance for a bit, and I didn’t want to strand anyone.”

“We appreciate the courtesy. We’ll let you know if we need to leave for any reason.”

“That sounds excellent. I’ll be bringing Mistress Holly to the dais for a demonstration in the next hour or so. It shouldn’t be disruptive, but if you feel magics from there, that’s likely why.”

“Understood.”

Tala let go of the stone, and Kit took it away.

Let’s go.

Twenty minutes later she was placing Kit on one of Mistress Holly’s walls, the inscriptionist looking more excited than Tala could easily remember seeing the woman.

-Want me to look through your memories to check?-

No, thank you.

The doorway opened, and the two of them stepped through arriving in front of the dais.

Mistress Holly gestured Tala forward.

Tala grinned at the older woman. “What, nothing to say?”

“Well, we got this far before.”

She shook her head, her smile turning rueful. “I suppose that’s true.”

Without another delay, Tala hopped up on the raised platform and walked to stand near the center, just behind the command seat that she so rarely used.

“Ready?”

Mistress Holly nodded, tossing out a handful of artifacts that would be observing Tala with what seemed to be incredibly advanced magesight, or something similar. “At your leisure.”

A note from JLMullins

Vote for MM on TopWebFiction! http://topwebfiction.com/listings/millennial-mage

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MillennialMage

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Please let the world know what you think of this story by leaving reviews on Amazon!

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Chapter: 307 - Let’s See for Ourselves

Tala stood on her dais within Kit, preparing to be reinscribed as Mistress Holly observed.

She was also surrounded by a good handful of observation creations, which would be recording the whole process.

Honestly, Tala didn’t mind the artifacts; Mistress Holly had requested permission earlier, after all.

With nothing else for it, Tala held her arms out to the side and forcibly deactivated her toughening inscriptions. No need to make this thing work harder than it needs to.

She set her mental framework for a through-the-mouth reinscription. She was not interested in getting naked in front of Mistress Holly when there were other options.

The frameworks and preparations in place, she spoke the command, even though she could have simply thought it, “Reinscribe.”

Gold wire streamed out of the ground in a tight, intertwining bundle.

Silver and copper joined the gold, but in far smaller quantities.

As the wires approached her, they tightened in on themselves in order to slip between her teeth and flow down her esophagus before they branched out. At least, most of the metal went that way. Some split off within her mouth to replace the metal she’d used up from the inscriptions within her head.

Each other branch got smaller and smaller as it flowed through her, splitting and dividing to cover every inscription, every offshoot smaller, until each was the size needed. In some cases, that was so thin that she couldn’t have seen the filament even with her enhanced vision.

You know, that might not be true anymore. Her senses were even more enhanced now that she was Refined.

Still, it wasn’t worth interrupting the process to somehow find a way to check.

I still need to get a good handle on my increased perception.

The pain had come the moment the metal had begun to branch out, but it was more than manageable, especially with Alat helping to mask what little her body couldn’t ignore.

Thankfully, this wasn’t an inscription from a blank slate, so there shouldn’t be any agony in her soul or spirit, thus masking what pain there was shouldn’t build up to a backlash.

We hope.

-We’re pretty sure. Even if there is, it won’t be too bad.-

And then we’ll know.

-And then we’ll know.-

All across her body, the metal flowed into place beneath her skin and throughout her body, no part of her spared.

As it worked, Tala could somehow tell that the reinscriber struggled to move the material through her. Even without active power running her inscriptions, her body was enhanced to the point that it took a lot to cause her harm.

Now that she thought about it, reinscription might only be possible at all because Tala truly didn’t see the effect as harming her.

Arcane magics work much more on concept than I usually give them credit for.

-Yeah, I could very much see this not working for someone else of equivalent toughness because they thought it was harmful.-

After a short ten seconds or so, her inscriptions were reinforced, recovering the little metal that she’d used over the past weeks.

Thus, the process was complete.

Mistress Holly called her devices back to her even as she was nodding to herself.

Tala smiled, swallowing a bit of blood that had tried to leave her. “So? What do you think?”

“I think that my invention is not in danger in the least.”

She barked a laugh. “Yeah, I can’t imagine many Archons wanting to reinscribe this way, and fewer would have the healing scripts to allow it.”

“Precisely. Still, thank you for allowing me to observe so thoroughly. I think it will be… insightful to review the process at length.”

“I’m happy that I could help.”

“There is another method, correct?”

“Yes, I could have had the inscriptions come from the outside rather than from within, but I thought that unnecessary.”

“Wouldn’t it have been less painful?”

“Absolutely, but I’d have had to strip down, and I’m tougher from the outside.”

“Ahh, yes. I can understand your choice, then.” Mistress Holly was nodding again. “I did notice that it even refreshed your new spell-lines, those that we added just before you Refined.”

“That is correct, yes. From my understanding, it reinscribes based on my knowledge of my inscriptions. It’s not that I have to know the placement of every line, but the process is founded on the concept of my knowledge. Therefore, if I know that there has been a change, the reinscription will reflect that.”

Mistress Holly tilted her head to one side. “That does seem to be the case. The operations manual you shared with me also agreed, as oddly put together as it was. Truly fascinating.”

“Do you need anything else on this front?”

“Oh, no. I have plenty to analyze for now. I’ll let you know when I want to see another demonstration.” There were obvious embers of curiosity and imagination in the inscriptionist’s eyes.

“That should be workable.”

They talked for a bit longer before they bade each other goodnight, exiting Kit side by side.

Within Mistress Holly’s workshop, the older woman turned to Tala. “Take care of yourself, Mistress. I know that I am not of as much use to you, now that you have that interesting bit of arcanum, but I am still invested in your continued success.”

“I will keep that in mind. Thank you.” After a moment’s hesitation, she gave a shallow bow. “And thank you for all of your assistance with my Refinement, and before that with my inscriptions. I wouldn’t be where I am without you.”

Mistress Holly smiled. “It has been my pleasure.”

Without further ado, the inscriptionist went back to work, and Tala headed back to Lyn’s house to place Kit in the back hall for one more night.

As Tala walked back, she had a thought. You know, incorporated metal could work through the reinscriber.

-That would be insanely inefficient on a level I don’t even want to consider.-

Oh, absolutely, but it might be worth it to get gold, silver, and copper incorporators to have in case of emergency?

-I can’t imagine such inscriptions lasting even ten percent as long… but you’re right, it would be a good emergency stop gap… if it could even work.-

Yeah, I’d definitely understand if those materials didn’t quite work the same.

-Add it to the list?-

Yes please.

***

Tala stood at the edge of Bandfast before the dawn of a new day.

It was the true edge, not a place like the city gate.

The city defenses ended barely two strides ahead of where she stood in the growing dawn.

Her fingers were practically tingling with anticipation, as well as no small amount of trepidation.

She hadn’t been out of the city since Master Grediv had brought her to Bandfast nearly three months earlier.

More importantly, she hadn’t been away from other humans since she’d arrived in Alefast, Waning.

It’s okay. I can do this. A quiet part of her kept insisting that if she left, she’d be lost. He’s not waiting out there. He’s dead. I know he’s dead. I killed him.

-Tala? Are you going to be okay?- Alat’s voice was soft, soothing.

Yes. I can do this. I can be on my own. Tala forced herself to smile, feeling a little better even though the emotion started out as fake. This is just a short trip.

-Yeah, just a short trip. Besides, you have Master Simon, Mistress Petra, and their family with you. You aren’t alone.-

Right, right. She took another deep breath, glanced at the nearest guard tower, waved in case someone was somehow watching her, and walked forward.

And just like that, Tala deliberately, voluntarily stepped into the wilds on her own, for the first time.

Wait, this is the first time ever, isn’t it?

-I mean, in Alefast you went out to harvest endingberries.-

Right. That’s how Terry and I really got to know each other… speaking of which. She opened Kit. “Terry?”

Terry flickered forth, trilling at the sky as he stretched his vestigial wings outward and reached his beak toward the sky.

The majestic image was somewhat ruined by him perching on her shoulder and barely stretching up above her head, even while his left wing pushed against her face.

“Get off, you!” She flapped her left hand at him, even while she was laughing.

Terry chirped happily and flickered to stand beside her, now nearly her own height. He gave her an inquisitive look.

“I want to get an hour’s run, or two, from here and then do some experimenting.”

He squawked and took off, straight away from Bandfast.

Tala grinned and jogged after her avian friend, picking up speed as she got used to cross-country running once again.

They ran across the rolling hills, skirting copses of trees and avoiding the arcanous creatures that they could feel around them.

Terry seemed more interested in truly stretching his legs than in hunting for the moment, and Tala didn’t feel like needlessly slaughtering weaker creatures.

Thus, for those first two hours they simply ran, letting the sky lighten just behind them on the right.

She had to move slower than on her run back from the arcane lands despite two counteracting differences. First, the magical density here was generally lower, causing magical resonance to not come into play until a higher speed. Second, and far more important, her own magical weight had increased, reducing the speed required for detectable resonance even in the lower ambient magic.

Even with Master Grediv’s more efficient aura shape, she was still kept to a reasonable mundane running speed.

By the time it was a reasonable hour for breakfast, they’d gotten far enough from the city for Tala to safely test a few things.

She’d thought of doing these tests with Mistress Holly on watch, but her safety wasn’t really in question, here, and so the variability in possible results mostly included things that would be bad for those around her, and that was best done in the wilderness.

Having decided to stop, Tala first found a bald, slightly higher-than-average hill and reached the top without difficulty.

With that vantage, Tala could see the magic of Bandfast’s defenses, even if she couldn’t see the city itself.

It was probably within her ability to leap high enough to see it, but that wasn’t of interest to her at the moment.

She opened Kit, and after a brief exchange with Mistress Petra, Tala was able to pull out her breakfast tray.

She threw Terry a hunk of jerky that he flickered to catch before taking off into the surrounding hills, hunting for his own fare.

And likely continuing to stretch his legs. He’s been really confined with me lately. I’ve got to make sure to allow him the freedom that he needs.

The meal was easily up to Mistress Petra’s excellent standards.

The crowning feature of the breakfast was a laminated pastry with a hole cut down through the top layers. An egg had been baked—over-easy—in the resulting space, seasoned, and sprinkled with shavings of a hard cheese.

The result was stunningly excellent, and there were five of them for her.

By the end, as she finished the last of the side dishes, Tala even found herself pleasantly full.

She knew it wouldn’t last, but it was enjoyable, nonetheless.

Her body was quickly incorporating the calories and nutrients, and her power was siphoning the magics from the food and layering them overtop of her inscriptions and natural pathways.

-Alright. Are you ready?-

Tala grinned. I am. I hope that we’re being overly cautious.

-Oh, definitely, but there’s no reason to set off the city’s defenses, or blow ourselves up around mundanes.-

You’re not making me feel confident. She quirked a smile, not about to let some joking pessimism stop her.

-We’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.-

Tala huffed a laugh, tucking the now-empty tray back into Kit. Well, there’s no way that I’m not going to try this. So, better now than later.

With a flex of her will, she disabled her through-spike and called her iron from where it rested within the dimensions of magic around Flow and into her physical body. It obeyed with alacrity, rolling over her inscriptions and perfectly insulating them from the surrounding dimensions, leaving her body clear and uncontaminated.

There was an instant resonance through her power, as her magics felt almost like they had been folded over on top of themselves, gaining greater depth and stability.

Okay, even this is way better than when I was Fused.

-Agreed. This would build nicely, and I would expect… there.-

Almost immediately, the magical resonance caused inscriptions as fine and intricate as lace to spin into existence, seemingly carved with light into reality itself, surrounding her entirely.

Somehow, they didn’t block her vision, even though she could see the same effect manifesting before her eyes with her mirrored perspectives.

Now, the real test. She’d tried this before when she was already worn thin, and it had… gone poorly.

-Are you sure?-

Now or never.

-That’s not really true.-

Oh, I know, but I still want to do it now. She had a momentary thought of her death and Kit being whisked back to the Bandfast Constructionists. She could practically picture Master Simon’s face as he sighed and said something like, ‘Well, that was a short job.’

-He’d be sad if you died, and not just because he lost the opportunity and the job.-

I know, I know. I was just having some fun with the mental picture.

With another flex of her will, iron flowed over her skin, giving her a perfect covering.

It moved with her easily, though somehow, she knew it would feel hard and unyielding to anyone who touched it.

Her magic responded, her inscriptions yet again echoing and reinforcing themselves.

Tala shivered at the feeling of power.

It almost immediately began to boil over through the dimensions of magic, but she had sufficient iron to closely cover herself across those directions as well.

The wreathing of light vanished, the magics that carved them now contained within another layer of iron.

-Amazing. That feels great. Better than when you tried this as a Fused. Again, I feel more, somehow. Keep it up!-

Tala felt her enhancements ramping up even higher and her efficiency increase, not due to the scripts being more efficient, but because of an additional recursion being added on top of those already flaring through her.

The world became clearer as her perception was enhanced further. Each moment seemed to stretch on forever, not in that it dragged, but in that it felt like she had the ability to fully analyze everything before the next moment came to be.

It was more extreme than when she’d attempted this before. Even so, she felt her physical form rise to the occasion.

Her every cell was bathed in carefully calibrated power to a degree that was hard to describe.

This is going to be amazing.

Tala stood, stretching, and feeling her muscles pull more strongly than ever before.

She felt like she could rip her own body apart if she pulled hard enough, even though she knew that wasn’t true. Her ligaments and connective tissue were as amplified as her musculature, after all.

Her bones would have creaked under the increased pull, but they’d grown in resiliency just as much.

As she was completing her quick stretches, Terry flickered back into view.

The avian jerked backwards upon seeing her, and he squawked inquisitively.

At that, Tala really looked at herself with a mirrored perspective, even as she reassured the terror bird, “It’s me, Terry.”

He squawked again.

Tala’s skin was the dark gray of wrought iron. She looked like a masterpiece of decorative blacksmithing, with even her hair fully contained by iron.

The only breach that she could see was her eyes: blood-red on white, glaring out of a metallic visage.

The slight echoes of Terry’s squawk faded from the surroundings.

“I’m not turning my through-spike back on. I want to see if I still create magical resonance.” It was odd watching herself speak. It looked like a statue moving, but inside the statue’s mouth was human. Her teeth were almost blindingly white, not because they were unusually clean, but because of the contrast with the dark gray of her skin.

Terry let out a long-suffering, descending series of trills.

“It’ll be fine. Ready?” It was then that she really heard herself. The magics on her lungs and throat had been enhanced as well, and while they were in a passive state, they still added a power and endurance to her voice which caused it to carry far further. After all, Terry had appeared at the bottom of the hill, and he’d heard her perfectly, even without her specifically speaking louder or wishing for it to carry. I have to be mindful of that.

He turned and vanished with a flicker of dimensional power.

Tala grinned, crouching low before she pushed off as hard as she could.

The surface area enhancing scripts had been likewise amplified and she effectively pushed on the entire hilltop at once. She wanted to go fast, so she allowed all of her weight—along with that of her iron—to lend inertia so that she could push harder.

The hill exploded under her, a shower of snow, bits of grass, and dirt billowing out behind her.

And she dropped almost straight down into a new depression.

What?

-Huh. That’s odd. There isn’t an underlying, firm foundation to compact the soil down against, like you did to the sand in the arena.-

Yeah, I need more mass behind me, or to come up to speed more slowly.

-Something like that, yeah.-

How could a hilltop survive without bedrock under it? Why is it here?

-I have no idea, but the lack of trees seems to imply that it hasn’t been here that long.-

Could it be the result of some fight?

-That is most likely, yeah. It doesn’t even seem like there was much grass here, under the snow.-

In the end, they’d probably never know, but the loose nature of the soil implied that the hill hadn’t been there for very long and wouldn’t be around for much longer in the grand scheme of things.

-I mean… it’s not really around now, not after what you just did.-

Tala chuckled as she walked to the edge of the now-lower hilltop. Well, you aren’t wrong.

A note from JLMullins

Vote for MM on TopWebFiction! http://topwebfiction.com/listings/millennial-mage

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MillennialMage

Discord: https://discord.gg/millennial-mage

The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Please let the world know what you think of this story by leaving reviews on Amazon!

They help a TON with visibility on the site and allow me to keep writing and making these books.

Multi-Region Review Links!

https://geni.us/mageling-review

https://geni.us/mage-review

https://geni.us/binding-review

https://geni.us/bound-review

Chapter: 308 - Tea at the End of a World

Tala calmly started down the correct side of the hill at a jog, completely sheathed in her metals.

She let her speed increase, vaulting forward into a loping run, bounding from foot to foot with increasing power.

Tala quickly passed the speed at which she would have built up magical resonance without the iron, and she only felt the barest amount of build up around her head and more so her waist.

Eyes? … and Kit and Flow?

-And likely your ears, nose, and mouth as well.-

That made sense. As she looked closer, there was also a general resonance around her clothing as well.

The elk-leathers. Her bound items were showing their issue.

Her scripts were incredibly efficient, she had inscriptions specifically designed to help reduce power leakage from her eyes, and she had surrounded every part of her with iron in the dimensions of magic.

All of that combined to a very, very miniscule magical footprint in reality, with which to resonate.

As such, she was able to get up to far greater speeds before she began to feel any echoes in the world around her.

Even as she worked to shape what little of her aura was leaking out, to reduce her magical drag, Tala was considering.

Is this what Master Grediv meant? That if I am able to completely contain my own aura then I can go faster?

-I honestly don’t think so. Even if your power was fully contained within your body, without the iron, there would still be the same issue.-

Yeah… Well, we can ask him when we see him.

Terry was still faster than she was, of course. Though, he did seem to have to flicker forward in order to keep that advantage.

I want more. I don’t need my eyes, do I?

-And you don’t honestly need to breathe. It will take a bit more power, but that’s not really an issue with the efficiencies we’re seeing.-

With a thought, Tala closed her eyes, and felt iron seal up the last points of egress.

Her internal, magical resonance took another tick upward.

She almost felt closed in, but her bloodstars were in place, providing her with three-hundred-sixty degrees of perception independent of her eyes.

It felt vaguely uncomfortable to not be breathing, but as it didn’t build beyond that ambiguous sense of wrongness, it was easy enough to ignore.

She now looked entirely like an iron statue, eyes closed.

Now, Kit and Flow.

Kit was easy, flattening out against her leg before she willed an iron layer overtop of it, sealing it in place.

For Flow, she pressed the knife against the top of her left forearm, where she coated it and the sheath with iron.

It would be trivial to pull it free with a thought.

The elk-leathers.

She contracted it down to a simple band around her throat and covered it with iron as well. Three pockets in the iron. She felt a smile pull at her lips. An interesting solution, but it seems to work.

There was the issue that she was now quite obviously naked, at least in appearance.

Alright, let’s see how we can do this.

Tala opened a small hole near the band at her neck and white metal flowed out, covering her utterly in a thick layer of protection and obscurity.

She then added another layer of iron on the outside.

In the end, she simply looked like a roughly human-shaped figure. I look like a posable doll for figure sketching.

-Oh, yeah, I can see that.- Alat hesitated a moment, then added, -You know, you could just have thickened the iron around the places you wanted to obscure.-

Of course I could have, but I wanted to test this, too. I think it will be a bit more effective in battle.

She felt heavy and defended to an almost ridiculous degree.

-I call this your battle regalia!-

That’s… not a bad name I suppose? I’ll need to have my scalemail hauberk on to make it complete, but do we need to name it?

Alat shrugged in Tala’s mind. -Putting a name to it will help you cement the mental model and come back to it more easily.-

Naming an outfit still seems odd, though I don’t dislike this particular name.

-You’ll get used to it.-

Probably, yeah.

Thus, Tala stood in her battle regalia, the only hints of power around her were from her four bloodstars.

One at the base of her neck and three orbiting her head.

Let’s do this.

She came back up to speed once more, her steps barely heavier than before as her will naturally moved the iron along with her.

By shaping the minute parts of her aura that leaked out from the bloodstars while mirroring her perception, she could go as fast as she could propel herself without causing noticeable resonance.

Terry was a bit dubious of her new form but didn’t cause an issue over it.

She and Terry chose to swing wide around a couple of founts that they detected, and three creatures of magic.

With where the magical creatures were positioned, Tala understood that they were known threats that had been accounted for already. Her attacking them would simply destabilize the route between Bandfast and Marliweather, maybe even the whole region depending on how things shook out.

All in all, it seemed like she’d be able to make it all the way to Marliweather in just a single day, but then, she sensed something… odd.

Tala turned her head in confusion to look—even though that wasn’t necessary or useful—as she worked to stop.

She left long furrows in the ground as she slid to a halt.

Terry flickered back to her side, clearly confused, even while he just as clearly sensed what she had.

“I—” The word caught in her sealed mouth causing an odd buzzing within her head, and she twitched away from the unexpected feeling.

Terry flickered a bit away at her sudden jerk, but he came back a moment later as the metal pulled away from Tala’s mouth and nose.

She cleared her throat, pulling in a deep breath before she spoke, “I want to see what that is.”

He cooed softly but insistently, seemingly deciding to ignore her odd behavior.

“Why would a simple Mage be out here on their own? There might be something wrong.”

His second coo was filled with sad insistence.

“What do you mean I should leave it be?”

This time, he huffed and trilled quietly.

“Terry, they might need help. Why else would…?” She opened her eyes in realization, the metal shifting at her will to allow her to see by that means once again, “Oh…”

Tala felt her shoulders sink as the most obvious reason came to her.

“You think that they’re about to become a fount.”

Terry bobbed his agreement.

Even so, Tala shook her head. “You might be right, but I need to be sure. If someone got lost from their caravan out here, I’m not just going to leave them because they might be… broken.”

Terry huffed again but didn’t seem to object further.

“Let’s see for ourselves.”

Even though Tala had decided to investigate the oddity of a mere Mage wandering alone in the wilds, she proceeded with caution, keeping her focus on her and Terry’s surroundings.

Additionally, she mirrored her voidsight onto a couple of her bloodstars in order to cover what she could see through that unique vision as well.

What she saw took a bit for her to fully understand, but the implications were immediately apparent once she did.

As Tala neared the person that she and Terry had sensed, magical density and the strength of the zeme was dropping.

It wasn’t as if something was consuming the power. Instead, it seemed like this was simply a natural area of lower saturation in the already lower magical density around the human cities.

Additionally, the structure of reality appeared smoother to her voidsight the closer they got.

The fragments of existence seemed to be pressed closer together, looking almost seamless even under close inspection.

“You know, I never really thought about why founts were found where they are.”

Terry chirped quietly.

“I don’t know. I suppose I assumed that Mages just wandered a bit before… becoming founts, I suppose.”

He stopped in place, turning to give her a long look before returning his focus toward their destination.

“I never said I was right.” Tala hedged, feeling rather judged by the avian. “I even stated that I’d never really thought about it before.”

Terry huffed and didn’t react further.

“Fine, ignore me. Let’s just see what’s going on.” Just in case this wasn’t a Mage on the way to becoming a fount, Tala dismissed the remnants of her battle regalia form, returning her elk-leathers to the form of clothing, pulling the white metal back, and allowing her through-spike to reactivate.

-You could have just made sure your through-spike had a path and allowed it to activate.-

I could have, but this seems better.

-As you say, it’s up to you.-

As it turned out, the Mage wasn’t all that far, and soon enough they were approaching the source of what they’d sensed.

Tala and Terry crested a little rise, looking down on a dell in which an old man knelt.

From what Tala could tell, he was kneeling at the point of lowest magical density and highest stability in reality.

The man was well-enough dressed, though decidedly not in travel clothes, and it looked like he had been out in the elements for a few days at the very least.

His skin had an unhealthy pallor, and it was likewise suffused with an unusual amount of power, as if magic was taking over every part of him and slowly subverting it, somehow.

It honestly reminded Tala somewhat uncomfortably of her own recent, hyper-saturated state. Though her body was able to take the strain, whereas this man’s clearly was not.

Also, in her case, the power involved was specifically in line with all of her inscriptions.

For this man, the magic seemed far more crude, and it was woven through with something she couldn’t quite detect.

That makes no sense.

-I’ll see what I can figure out.-

“He really is becoming a fount.” She didn’t actually know how she knew. After all, she’d never seen the process before, but it was the only thing that made sense to her. At some level, deep within her being, she just knew.

She stared down the slope for a long moment, her mind turning to Mistress Odera.

If it was her down there, and I was another Archon…

-Tala. We don’t know what could happen. We know almost nothing about the process itself.-

I know, but we also don’t know that he can’t be saved.

-Yes, we do. That is one of the few things that is known with absolute certainty. There have been Archons at every level, with all sorts of magics at their disposal, who have lost family members to this, and they have been trying for centuries to stop or reverse it. It is a fact that once they enter the fugue state, nothing can knock them free. There isn’t even certainty that they still exist within the body at all. Their consciousness, their personage, is gone.-

Tala grimaced, wrestling with herself even beyond the discussion with Alat.

I’m going to try anyway.

Alat groaned in resignation but didn’t argue further.

“Terry, wait for me here. I don’t know what’s going to happen when I go down there.”

Terry chirped a couple of times, but it seemed more like a word of caution than trying to convince her not to go. He settled down into a crouch, fluffing his feathers and settling in for a long wait.

“I’ll be careful, but I need to at least try.”

She strode down the southern side of the dell, approaching the kneeling Mage from a direction that should allow him to see her approach.

If he can see anything at this point…

Tala stopped a dozen feet from him. “Good Master, are you well?”

The man didn’t react in the slightest.

Looking upon him, Tala was struck by just how human he appeared.

He had thinning hair that drifted around him in the cold breeze.

It was nearly as white as the snow, with a bit of gray and black peppered throughout. A leather tie held it in the last remnants of a tail at the nape of his neck.

He had crows’ feet beside his eyes, showing that he was a man of many smiles and a quick laugh.

The lines of his face were strong and firm as expected from a Mage. Even so, he looked to have been a kind man.

His eyes were vacant, staring past her and allowing her to see their crystal blue color, like that of a late summer, cloudless sky.

His hands looked strong but only lightly calloused, making Tala believe that he had most likely been a Constructionist or of a similar profession, working with his hands but not to the extent to reshape them with heavy callouses.

His neatly trimmed nails added to this aesthetic and impression.

As she looked at his hands, she noticed that he clutched a piece of paper in one of them, tucked closely against his forearm.

Overcome with curiosity, Tala walked forward and easily took the page from his unresponsive fingers.

It was an incredibly lifelike sketch of a large family with this man centered in the group. There were still traces of power on the paper, indicating that it had been created using magic to render an actual scene into black and white.

His family.

On the back, a simple note was written:

‘You loved us well in life and are loved so much in return even as you journey onward. We’re glad that you’ll be with Mom again. I love you, Dad.’

Tala felt tears trying to fill her eyes as she lowered the page.

Shaky, thoughtless hands moved for the first time that she’d seen as the Mage took the page back before returning to his previous state.

That was far more than she’d expected. An echo of his consciousness?

-Probably from his soul.-

And he’s been reduced to this… what have we become? She looked at the man more closely, trying to memorize his features, which was silly given her perfect memory. She’d memorized them the instant she saw them.

She still had her voidsight mirrored to one of her bloodstars, and finally, at this close distance, she recognized what had been tugging at her awareness.

Nothingness.

Throughout the man’s magic was woven the nothingness that had formed the visages of horror within the Doman-Imithe.

Her consciousness interpreted the nothingness as if she were in that place, causing her to see flickers of a too-wide, bright-white smile, filled with decidedly inhuman teeth in both kind and number.

Tala shivered and stepped back. What is this? Why is that here?

She forced herself to look more closely and found that a distorted grid of nothingness was permeating every part of the magic that suffused the man.

No, not a grid, a spell-form or something like it. The nothingness was so dark to her voidsight that it lost all dimensionality. It was the complete absence of magic, its direct antithesis, though Tala believed that she could detect some resonance with both void and reality.

Is this what drives us to become founts? Some sort of taint from the Doman-Imithe?

-And arcanes throw the bodies of gated humans into the Doman-Imithe when they die. What if part of the reason is to return the bit of nothingness that suffused them?-

Tala shivered again. We need to watch this. We need to know what’s going on, what’s going wrong.

She gave a deep bow to the kneeling Mage, already feeling like she’d been intruding. “My apologies, good Master. I need to witness your change. I don’t know when I’ll get the opportunity again, and it seems there is much I don’t know, much I need to learn.”

As expected, the Mage didn’t respond.

To say he didn’t object would be dishonest as he was clearly not in a state to do so.

“If I can, I will carry word of your fate to your family. That is all the recompense I can offer.”

-Tala?-

I… I am just imagining someone standing and watching Mistress Odera succumb, or Mistress Phoen, and I’d want to punch them with everything I have. Even so, we need to watch, and there’s nothing that we can do to help.

-We don’t even know where he came from. It is likely to be Marliweather, but we don’t actually know.-

We will look. I said I would try, but it won’t become my life mission if we don’t succeed.

-That makes sense. Though… there is something else we can do…-

Tala felt herself nodding. We can disrupt the fount after its creation and release him fully to the next world.

-I’ll check in with Mistress Ingrit and verify that we have the correct procedure.-

Thank you. The last thing she would want was to do it wrong, somehow…

Tala pulled back to the top of the hill near Terry, about fifty feet from the Mage, and sat down to watch.

Let Master Simon know what’s happening.

-I will.-

Tell him that we’ll notify him when the process comes to a head.

The man didn’t move as power swirled through him, seemingly without end.

It was clearly coming from his gate, but Tala couldn’t tell where it was going or even if it was going somewhere. She couldn’t tell even after she positioned her bloodstars in a circle around him at a similar distance to herself.

She could easily penetrate all the way through him with both her voidsight and magesight, but she couldn’t see where the power was going. It seemed to remain, but that shouldn’t be possible. There was no way he had sufficient magical density to take all of it in, so she left that issue to the side for a moment.

Worse case scenario, she could review the memories later.

Nodding to herself, she slowly took out her tea-making supplies, brewing chamomile with almost ceremonial slowness.

This wasn’t a ritual that she was familiar with, nor was she attempting to make it one.

Even so, she felt the solemnity of the setting and didn’t want to disturb it.

As the tea brewed, her thoughts turned to the sketch the man was holding.

He was the head of his family, clearly the anchor of a large group of people.

Sure, the Mage who had created the sketch could have made small alterations in the process of copying it down. They had probably taken some liberties to make everyone look a bit better, a bit happier, and a bit more unified, but there had been a quality of truth evident in the little things within the still family.

The mere fact that there was such a large extended family close together was telling.

The note on the back seemed to imply that one of the children had gone out of the way to somehow get the picture into the father’s hand after he had given in to the pull of his archon star.

There were a large number of little ones in the picture as well.

Tala didn’t truly remember her own grandparents, but she remembered how it had felt when they died.

It had felt like the world was ending.

She took up her tea and drank a long, calming sip.

Down there, a world is coming to an end.

A note from JLMullins

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Chapter: 309 - Void It Is!

Tala contemplated the Mage in the valley below even as his own magics altered him, transforming him into a fount by unknown processes.

Was it worth it? The price for magic?

One answer came back quickly, as uncharitable as it was.

That is the price for mediocre magic. That is the price for failing to advance.

She knew that wasn’t true even as she thought it.

Mistress Odera, until quite recently, could have matched or beaten Tala, in almost every metric of magical skill, despite having a handicap in her level of advancement.

No, becoming a fount was not a failure in effort.

Some just didn’t have the capacity to advance further, and even so, they had tried; they had aided humanity in their own ways.

Their efforts were fruitful, sometimes nearly doubling the Mage’s life and allowing them to contribute that much more, that much longer.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the first flickers in reality, a precursor to what was to come.

The information that Alat had been able to get from the Archive gave them some markers to watch for, so that they could at least have a rough understanding of where they were in the process at any given time.

Tell Master Simon that it’s about to happen.

-He’s ready.-

Tala quickly set Kit beside herself. The pouch opened briefly, and six small spheres rolled out.

Then, Kit grew upward until she formed a wall with a window in it. Through that window, Tala could see Master Simon and Mistress Petra sitting, prepared to watch from within the safety of the sanctum.

As Kit morphed, Tala picked up the spheres and carefully threw them with enough force to imbed them in the ground surrounding the Mage down below.

They were observation artifacts, feeding information to Master Simon’s Archive slate and through Tala’s connection to the Archive itself.

All of that took less than a handful of seconds. Thus, Tala was still able to give her full attention to the valley as a pulse of power reached outward, reality itself seemingly being bent and twisted to her voidsight.

To her magesight, the man was finally, fully saturated with power.

Even her mundane sight could see a fiery glow beneath the Mage’s skin.

His cells. His body was being stuffed with power, far beyond their safe capacity, in order to…?

And then it hit her, and all the pieces came into place.

Somehow, the nothing was enacting either an attraction or a containment to allow the magic within the man’s body to reach insane levels.

As she considered it, the magic had likely wiped the man’s mind—utterly erasing his personhood—if something else hadn’t done that first.

Is that what allows him to be taken over?

-Whatever eliminates his personage likely does, yes. Whether it’s magical density? I don’t think so; they don’t have that much power when they leave, at least not according to the research we have access to.-

Maybe something else then. But it wouldn’t be detectable if it was focused around their mind, and contained by some means with nothingness.

-That’s not really the best name for something, given that ‘nothing’ literally isn’t something.-

Do you have a better suggestion?

-…no.-

Alright, then. We can ask Master Grediv if there’s a better name for it when we see him.

As they had watched, the Mage had built up power to the point where his entire being matched the magic suffusion of the next world.

Tala leaned forward unnecessarily, witnessing the edges of the man’s gate fade away. Rather than closing, the through-put increased manyfold.

There was a silent impact that rippled outward through reality to her voidsight.

Even her magesight didn’t detect anything but an increase of power, and her mundane sight hadn’t seen anything at all.

The restriction on magical power that had been acting on the man was obliterated, and his power radiated outward on the heels of the ripple in reality, flickers of flame scorching the ground across the whole valley.

The soil directly where the man had been kneeling was almost liquified by the heat.

Tala watched as the sketch vanished to ash and then into nothingness before the initial burst of heat.

-Yeah, we’re authorized to close a flame fount of this flavor.- Alat’s voice faded as she noticed what Tala was staring at. Her focus had been on communicating with Mistress Ingrit, so she hadn’t seen it immediately. -What the rust?-

Tala’s gaze, her voidsight, was locked on the fount.

There was no reason it should have remained.

A gate without a body or other containment should simply slip into the next world. Even the arcanes knew this, being careful to have artifacts prepared to contain and harvest founts. But this natural fount had no vessel. Instead, tendrils of nothingness looped around it, holding it as it clearly tried to move on.

Tala knew that she couldn’t be the first to have seen these, or at least seen evidence of it.

Moreover, she was sure that nothing of the kind had existed in the founts held by arcanes within housings of various kinds. It would have been obvious in the extreme.

Unless it’s only something that’s visible, or that happens at all, right at the time of formation?

It was likely a result of it being ‘exposed’ or having naturally occurred. Even then, it might fade with time.

Regardless, likely because of her experiences in the Doman-Imithe, the tendrils took on a very specific look as her conscious mind struggled to interpret what she saw.

The fount was gripped by an eight-fingered hand, quite obviously from a creature like those she’d seen before. Very likely it was the one that she’d seen echoes of just earlier, when looking closely at the Mage.

It’s not trying to get in. This Mage is specifically at the point where reality is the strongest…

-To destroy Zeme? Is that its goal?-

Maybe? That doesn’t make sense though… right? What would it gain?

-We have no idea what the true nature of these things is. How can we even begin to guess on their motivations?-

Yeah…

Tala’s voidsight was showing her a struggle, like saltwater and fresh fighting at the mouth of a river, the two forces were pushing on each other, each gaining supremacy for a short moment before waning.

Reality and the void were clashing, both also fighting against the magic of the fount.

All the while, the whole process was being stabilized by a darker-than-black hand of nothingness.

Tala watched as the fount solidified, moving towards a balance similar to that which she’d seen once before.

Though, that was lightning, not fire.

Even with the obvious differences, it was plain to see that this fount was also far more volatile.

The lightning fount that she had seen seemed to almost infuse all the surrounding plant and animal life, filling the area with power and a tint towards that type of magic.

This was literally scorched earth.

Maybe it would balance out, if we gave it time.

-But we won’t.-

No, we won’t. In the worst case, it could unbalance the whole region, calling down magical creatures and starting quite the upheaval.

-Mistress Ingrit just informed us that when she contacted the powers that be, they thanked us for our prompt response, and indicated that the standard bounty would apply for closing such a fount.-

Standard bounty?

-Apparently, the Archons with the ability to close founts are generally notified when a fount is discovered that needs to be removed for one reason or another. This falls under an environmental hazard fount. They’ll need data to verify, but if it checks out, the bounty is one hundred gold.-

Tala hesitated. That seems… is this that dangerous?

-Well, yes. For you? I don’t know. I think the Archons range in advancement, the key being access in some form to void-magics. You probably have a greater control and range in that department than most.-

She hesitated for just a moment more. I can do this. I’ll see him on to the next world.

Tala walked forward, her elk-leathers growing a layer of white metal to completely encapsulate her against the hot air and flame.

She could probably have withstood the magics directly, but it would have required at least some healing, and the white metal would lessen that at virtually no cost.

-So, all that we need to do is surround the fount with void, just beneath the surface. That should force it to lose connection to Zeme and move on.-

You mean just beneath the nothingness-hand?

-They did not specify that, no, but it does stand to reason.-

Alright.

The hand did seem to be stabilizing the fount somehow, and the nothingness did seem to be fading as it did its work. That said, it was almost like it was leaving behind a residue, a filter of sorts between the fount and the rest of Zeme.

But it’s not a fast process.

-Not at all. I’d guess that it won’t fully stabilize for another couple of days.-

And at that point, the whole area will be a burned husk of what it is now, or something else will have gone sideways.

As if to prove the point, a blast of fire shot out in all directions.

Tala’s white metal exterior heated up to an extreme degree, and Tala cycled the metal, replacing the hot material with other metal held merged with her elk-leathers.

-That’s… huh. I wonder if that will work long-term? Will the metal you removed cool back down? Remain the same temperature?-

No idea, but it would be interesting to test. The metal on her left arm shifted slightly as she returned the previous material to that spot. It cooled off nearly instantly.

Another pulse of fire radiated outward.

This time, instead of exchanging the metal, Tala just flexed her will for it to cool down.

It took quite a bit of power, though less than fully exchanging the metal, and it worked. The white metal returned to below her body temperature, feeling cool against her skin once more.

That… that is incredibly useful to know. It also reminded her that she hadn’t recoated herself in iron, and with a minor act of will, the skin-covering layer flowed forth to encase her.

-The iron is probably a wise choice. As to the temperature control—or at least suppression—I suppose it makes sense. If we can move the white metal at our will, with applications of power, that should mean altering its internal kinetic state, which is just its temperature.-

True enough, yeah.

It was a bit more complicated than that, obviously.

Tala knew she couldn’t jump into a volcano and simply keep her armor from getting hot.

That said, since she could bleed the heat away at an incredible rate, if there wasn’t too much power behind an external source continuing to try to melt the metal, she should be able to keep it intact and herself at a bearable temperature.

All it cost was power.

You know… maybe I could drop into a volcano? She was quite durable, so the margin for error would be rather high…

-No. Just no, Tala.-

You’re right… not until we can sufficiently map out the rates of change we can bring about.

-…can you focus?-

Oh, right. She could consider harsh-environment exploration later.

Tala felt the solemnity of the situation settle back on her shoulders—her attempt to distract herself having backfired—as she stood before the fount which was all that remained of the Mage.

The shape was incredibly odd.

One moment, it was like that of the kneeling man, but the next it was a small ball, seemingly the size of a human gate.

It was in the fractional instants between the two where the nothingness was the most clear.

Alright, I don’t have a fount-breaking tool, so I’ll have to get creative.

-Should I warn the nearby cities?- Alat’s tone was dry enough that Tala wasn’t sure if the alternate interface was joking.

That was—Tala sighed as she considered some of her other more eclectic experiments—hurtfully accurate…

Alat snorted a laugh within Tala’s head. -Your idea is a good one. I was mostly teasing.-

Tala shook her head, smiling despite the tenseness of the situation.

With a flexing of will, she brought the void-magics in her elk-leathers to the forefront, enhancing and focusing them around her white-armored hands.

The white metal receded everywhere else, to allow her full focus to orient on the task before her.

The fount flickered back to the size of a small ball, and Tala lunged forward, closing her void-coated hands around it.

At the same instant, she caused the white metal to flow over the fount, fully encasing it with metal and void-magics, simultaneously locking her hands together.

The power fought to try to escape, but it couldn’t.

She outweighed the departed Mage—magically speaking—many, many times over.

You know, I most likely outweighed him physically, too.

-Focus, Tala.-

Right!

Additionally, the void was specifically suited for the containment and consumption of… well everything else.

The man’s power, his flame, was pouring into her elk-leathers, but it wasn’t nearly of sufficient quantity to cause any sort of substantive change.

But her mind was not focused on that, not really.

As soon as her hands had wrapped around the fount, she had been faced with something across from her, something that was seemingly also holding onto the fount and only visible to her voidsight.

As soon as she noticed the figure from the Doman-Imithe, the world began to flicker between three places.

What? This is not how the instructions described the dispersal of a fount.

Her three forms of vision showed her the valley in which the Mage had knelt.

Then her surroundings changed to a place that was clearly in the Doman-Imithe.

The threads of reality called to her voidsight, and while, blessedly, she couldn’t see any other too-smiley creatures, the distorted and entirely alien landscape could only exist within the Doman-Imithe.

Trees grew out of one another, holding up the ground which she was somehow hanging from.

The leaves each had a single nostril which gave off the sense of desperately trying to catch a whiff of the scent of prey.

The bark of the trees looked more like diseased, encrusted blisters than anything resembling wood.

Even in the Doman-Imithe, this place was twisted to the extreme.

It looks like one of the floating cages I saw when I first entered with Thron.

Before she could do more than barely register what she was seeing, her environment changed again, and she was slammed by a tidal wave of magical power that, blessedly, crashed against her iron covering and was rebuffed, at least temporarily.

Unfortunately, even in the brief instant of exposure, the magical power flooded through breaches in her iron covering, mainly her eyes, ears, and nose. As it entered, it began burning everything it came in contact with.

Her every cell was anathema to the pure power that flooded into her, even the magic within her body was being seared away, the impurity of her unique aspects enough to taint the whole of her power in the face of the clarity of the next world.

Because that’s what this place was, the next world.

It was entirely forged of magic.

The zeme was so complex that it was hard to see the vague shapes of objects in the power, everything she could perceive was seemingly entirely composed of pure magic.

As stunning as it was, if she hadn’t moved back to the valley, Tala had no doubt that she would have died in seconds. Blessedly, as soon as she was back in the valley, the pure power was instantly aspected to match her, becoming hers and refilling the reserves of power that had been burned away.

Nope! Not dealing with that as I am. Iron covered her entirely, thickening as much as she could make it.

Her elk-leathers and Flow guzzled power as they tried to recover from their own damage, sustained in those bare fractions of a second, and Tala did her best to cover it all in iron.

Her bloodstars' perspectives—floating a short distance away from the fount—were not changing. So with her eyes closed, she couldn’t see the changing enviroments, or she shouldn’t have been able to.

From the outside, from the perspectives mirrored to her bloodstars, she didn’t appear to be moving, though different magics were washing over her, seeming to be spilling out of the fount clutched and sealed between her hands and within her metal and void-magics.

That’s a frustrating result.

-Which shouldn’t be happening…-

From the inside, she could still see, even with her eyes sealed behind iron. She had no ready explanation as to how, but she could.

In the Doman-Imithe, the grinning creature didn’t seem to move, even as it also somehow seemed to be fighting to keep the fount where it was.

In the next world, the fount seemed to be in the form of the Mage, now standing and looking at her with fond… pity? Gratitude? Anger?

She had no idea. He was basically a three-dimensional outline, and she wasn’t great at reading people at the best of times.

This was not among the best of times.

In the valley, flames wreathed the whole area, now a nearly constant deluge seemingly spewing forth.

It only pauses when I can perceive the valley first hand. Is the seal on the fount somehow rotating, along with my perception?

Throughout, she stubbornly held onto the round gate, hands locked in place by void-magic-filled metal.

Her iron was beginning to warm and bend under the heat in Zeme, even under the white-steel, and the oddly pure power of the next world was somehow beginning to affect the iron as well.

Her soul-bound items were beginning to recover, hidden away in their pockets, but Tala had only barely gotten them fully sealed in iron, and they’d each endured at least a half-dozen cycles exposed.

I am so glad that Kit is up on that hill. She would have survived, but that would have been a power-drain that I don’t need right now.

The only thing that was spared were her white-steel gloves.

Why are the gloves fine?

She forced her focus onto them and saw the obvious: void-magic.

That wasn’t surprising, but what was surprising was that they seemed to take longer in transit, transitioning between the three locations, and in between they almost seemed to pause before being dragged onward.

The perception of that one fact was so odd and counter to reality as she knew it that Tala felt her mind fuzz for a brief moment before she was able to reclaim her own thoughts.

The gloves are pausing, in the void?

-It is the buffer between worlds, right? It absorbs the disruptive aspects. Well, it absorbs everything it can, really.-

Void it is!

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 310 - Her Choices

Tala grit her teeth against the churning perspectives that washed through her as she clutched onto the forming fount.

Even so, she knew what she needed to do, and she grew the white-steel across her entire body, carrying with it the void-magics that she was already using in the gloves.

It took a lot of power under the current strain, and she moved through another five cycles before she was fully covered. When it was done, however, she felt instant relief.

As she held on, fighting to do what was supposed to be a simple task, the flickering worlds passed more and more rapidly.

Tala couldn’t tell if she had caused the increase in pace, or if it was just a perception because she was now sheathed in the void, but regardless, it was becoming dizzying.

She was still unsure how she was able to see through her iron, white-steel, and now a void-magic buffer, but she couldn’t deny that the perspective was coming to her somehow.

Finally, the cycle became such an endless, quick stream that the three worlds seemed to meld into one, and Tala was left floating in a void.

She almost had a moment of panic as she seemed to be floating in a void with nothing but the fount in her hands, but her bloodstar perspectives showed that she was still standing in the valley, holding the fount exactly as she had been.

So, more of a spiritual, perceptual, or magical dislocation?

-Maybe? The instruction book must have had a page ripped out or something…-

Alat’s grumblings carried a note of uncertainty that Tala did not particularly like. -I still have our Archive connection, so all this madness will get to someone, no matter what.-

Great vote of confidence, there.

Despite Alat’s only half-joking pessimism, she focused her mind on the present moment.

The fount, in the shape of a sphere, was suddenly mobile, and Tala was able to pull it toward herself, cradling it against the iron plating on her chest.

The iron across her whole body was rusted and pitted, but it remained remarkably unbreeched.

Wait, where’s the white metal? Where’s my void-magic shell?

It was still there, as seen through the bloodstars, but she couldn’t see it with whatever odd perspective was coming straight into her mind.

Even so, that was the least of her concerns.

Before her stood two figures.

One was the grinning creature of nothingness.

The other was the nearly featureless three-dimensional outline of the Mage.

It was odd, seeing them standing side by side. With the proximity, it was incredibly easy to tell how similar they were in form and concept.

Like an ice-sculpture and one made out of clay, each crafted by a different artist but with the same model.

-Huh… I actually think I agree with that analogy.-

Tala didn’t respond to Alat, as she was focused so closely on the two.

Outside of the Doman-Imithe the too wide smile almost looked like the creature was trying to be friendly but had no true foundation on which to base its expression. Or it’s a lure…

The outline forged of magic was composed of power that was so pure it almost burned to see it, but Tala could somehow tell it wasn’t perfect.

It was just a reflection of what it could be.

To behold that perfection would have killed Tala, she somehow knew that for a fact.

Suddenly, Tala felt like she understood.

She had ‘won’ the struggle for the fount.

If she wished, she could take the fount and depart. She could use it as the arcanes did or for some other purpose.

Or she could give it to either of these… beings.

But aren’t the fount and the magical outline the same thing?

Tala felt herself frown.

It would be nice if she could get an explanation, but her mouth was sealed, and she somehow knew that if she broke the seal in an attempt to speak, both of these… things could end her simply by the nature of their existence, whether or not they intended to.

A horrifying thought washed through her. We’re all occupying the same space across the three worlds, and the fount caused a sort of blending for a moment.

-That may or may not be true. Does it matter?-

No. No, I suppose that it doesn’t really matter right now.

Regardless, Tala knew her choices.

The first was the most obvious, but also the only one she wouldn’t seriously contemplate. She would not be claiming the fount for her own use.

Second, she could allow the being from the Doman-Imithe to have it. The fount would solidify in Zeme, and there it would remain until something broke it free.

Finally, she could allow the being from the next world to have it, and the fount would fade away, passing on just as the gate of a mundane would.

No, the outline isn’t from the next world. It is how he will be in the next world. It was a strange thing, that knowledge. It felt like it came from within her, but she definitely didn’t think she’d known it before.

-Innate knowledge? Something your gate knows but your consciousness doesn’t?-

I suppose it could be either? I have no idea. It could even be from the dasgannach, but I highly doubt that.

Similar to the magical outline, the creature from the Doman-Imithe was decidedly like the Mage, but for some reason Tala couldn’t tell if it was the Mage or was somehow drawn or shaped to resemble him.

Oddly, Tala felt like there should have been other options.

For example, she should have been able to cast the fount, the gate, into the Doman-Imithe, but something was stopping her.

Like before the knowledge was just there, within her mind as she contemplated the idea. It is not my role to choose the eternal resting place of a soul.

Alat shivered within Tala’s head. -That was the exact impression I just got, too.-

Founts will always pass on eventually, even if it will only happen when the world ends. So, in the end, they will always go to the same place. We can’t change that. It seems like you’ve just won the right to influence the journey.

Tala shuddered, the many straining forces grinding against her were beginning to be too much. There is absolutely no way this is standard, Alat. What is going on?

-I told you what it said, ‘surround the fount with void.’-

I’m doing that!

-You’re also surrounding yourself with void. Maybe, you’ve somehow brought yourself along for the ride?-

Or somehow gotten a seat at the table…

-Quite the dangerous table.-

Yeah, this is just typical… She grimaced.

There honestly was only one option. She’d been curious what else was available, but it seemed like nothing else would truly present itself as reasonable.

As soon as she’d solidified the choice in her mind, the creature from the Doman-Imithe reacted.

Somehow, it didn’t seem to move or do anything, but Tala felt it raging.

The strange, unnatural stillness accompanied by the feeling of cosmic levels of anger was worse than seeing something storming around or throwing itself in a tantrum.

It’s not doing anything. What is going on?

-I… I don’t know.- Alat shivered again, her confusion and disjointment growing.

As the rage rose to a crescendo, the thing didn’t appear to have moved in the slightest. Even so, she would have sworn it was doing all sorts of things that she didn’t want it to be doing.

Less than a second had passed.

The fount that she had been holding had vanished at the moment of decision as well, and the three-dimensional outline of the Mage was fading away.

Tala couldn’t tell what the fates of any of the three would be.

Honestly, she couldn’t truthfully tell if they were three separate entities or if they were three parts of the same, or three states of the same, or three similar aspects of entirely different entities, or three aspects of the same, or…

Her mind spun through uncountable possibilities as it felt like something was grinding away at her thoughts, the memories of the encounter slipping away.

Tala could hear Alat growling as if she was seemingly fighting something with all that she had.

In a haze, Tala fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

Tala, of course, immediately came back awake, catching herself even as she started to fall to her knees in the still-burning valley.

Alat’s original activation scripts verified that she was up and running, and nothing more came of it.

With an act of will, Tala pulled apart her hands and reshaped her gauntlets.

The fount was gone without a trace.

Tala snorted, taking in the fire-ridden valley. Yeah, no trace at all.

There was obviously evidence that fire magics had been in the valley, but nothing remained that would have indicated that a fount ever had been there.

I’m feeling a bit out of it… She frowned. Where did the fount go?

-I’m not sure. We grabbed it and then… it was gone? Wait, there’s something labeled ‘Urgent’ in our Archive repository.- After a momentary shocked silence, Alat continued, -It’s from me? What is… rust me to scrap. Are you ready?-

Tala frowned. Ready for what?

-Ready for the memories of what just happened. It seems like we had a close interaction with something of the nothingness, and something would have removed or corrupted our memories as a byproduct.-

You saved them?

-I am actively archiving our every experience these days. They won’t make us lose anything ever again.-

Sometimes I love you. She felt vaguely uncomfortable at the undeterminable ‘they’ in Alat’s injunction, but it wasn’t important at the moment.

-That’s a bit narcissistic, but I appreciate the gratitude. Ready?-

Yes.

Tala was not ready.

She reeled backwards as she was suddenly able to recall the entirety of the struggle followed by her choice. What the rust?

-Oh! Mistress Ingrit has a lot to say. One moment.-

Right, we were sending her what we were detecting, weren’t we?

-Yeah. It looks like she wanted to interact during, but it happened rather faster than it seemed.-

Faster?

-The whole process took less than half a minute.-

Well… rust. What did Mistress Ingrit have to say?

-First of all, she wants to know why you didn’t just use Flow.-

Is she serious? The last time that I used Flow, it ate the gate or at least it appeared to. I was not really comfortable attacking the fount when I had other options, not with the potential of destroying someone’s eternal existence.

-Master Xeel assured us that wasn’t the case. The fount wasn’t really ‘eaten,’ not in that sense.-

I know, but…I had another option, and I didn’t want to ‘just hit it with my sword’ if there was another way.

-Well, at least now we have solid confirmation. The true consumption of the fount would violate the sense we got, that we can’t change or violate the eternal destination of a gate.-

Yeah. It just seemed like I should try the other way, since it was available to me.

-That’s fair.-

Next time, I’m using Flow. That was… I’d rather not repeat that.

-Agreed.-

So, what else is she saying?

-Do you want to just talk with her?-

Are you capable of that?

-Yes. Stay fully encased in iron, and I can maintain it for a few minutes. You’ll need a reinscription afterwards, though.-

Alright, get it arranged. One of her mirrored perspectives had seen two people coming down the slope, surrounded by cooling magics that seemed to originate from Mistress Petra.

It was, of course, the woman herself along with Master Simon.

Master Simon called out to her when she turned, “Mistress Tala! Are you alright? That seemed to… go oddly.”

Tala tried to speak and encountered the same issue as before, that of having her mouth sealed. She willed the metal away from her lips as she responded, “I’ll be fine. There were some complications.”

The two stopped on the slope still at least a dozen yards from the epicenter, already visibly sweating despite the cool breeze and the magics meant to keep the heat at bay.

That might have been a scathing rebuke of their level of power and resiliency, but given the ground was glowing in quite a wide radius, Tala thought they were doing incredibly well. “Stay back. I’ll get the analysis artifacts, if they survived.”

Mistress Petra shook her head. “Forget the devices. Are you alright? Let’s get you back into the sanctum.”

It was only then that Tala really considered the fact that they’d both come out.

If she had truly been on the edge of death, which she likely appeared to be, then they had risked Kit being whisked away when she passed on, stranding them both in the wilds.

They had come to check on her anyways.

-We lucked into some really caring people, didn’t we.-

So it would seem, yeah.

She retracted the iron and white-steel from around her face, and at the same time extended her aura to give her iron room to reach out and scoop the artifacts out of the insanely hot ground.

The constructs were mostly intact, and Tala drew them to her even as she broke her feet loose of the ground and moved towards the couple.

She held in a groan as her whole body protested the movement.

Oh, that’s uncomfortable. “Something to eat definitely wouldn’t be amiss, now that you mention it.”

Mistress Petra’s face softened. “That sounds wise, Mistress. Let’s get you to a nice comfortable seat. We’ll get some water and food in you.”

As soon as water was mentioned, Tala realized just how thirsty she was. Yes, water.

The three walked out of the valley, though the two others kept a bit away from Tala as she was radiating an uncomfortable amount of heat.

They probably wouldn’t have been burned if they had touched her, but it would have been a near thing.

Tala was actively cooling the white metal that was still surrounding her, and that was helping her internal temperature drop. The whole thing was acting like a magically assisted heat-sink.

As Tala considered her physical state, she directed her thoughts at Alat. Do I want to know?

-I don’t see why not. If you were still Bound, you’d be dead. If you were still Fused, our brain would be cooked, and you’d be unconscious until it cooled enough to be regrown and refilled with our memories.-

Well… Let’s do it the easy way next time. Draw Flow, one quick cut.

-Agreed. Mistress Ingrit is asking if she can bring in an expert? To be clear, his area of study is founts, not void-magics or the Doman-Imithe.-

Sure. That could help us piece this all together.

-Alright, they will be ready in ten minutes. She wants the expert to review the findings first.-

Is there that much?

-Master Simon’s info is a part of it. He didn’t really see more than we did. The specialized artifacts recorded more deeply, but not really anything specific that we didn’t see.-

What does that even mean?

-If we tried every dish, he brought the buffet. Nothing really different, no more dishes than we sampled, but he has more full platters?-

Huh, I suppose I can understand that.

The three got back to where Kit waited at the top of the slope. Blessedly, by that time Tala was a more reasonable temperature.

Tala stopped in confusion when she saw that Kit was in the form of an open door. “What?”

Master Simon and Mistress Petra turned to her. “Mistress Tala?”

“I thought you were looking through a window.”

“We were, but we thought you needed help when the view vanished, and a door appeared next to us.”

Mistress Petra nodded. “We couldn’t leave you out here if you needed help, so we came to see what we could do.”

“Huh.” Tala shook her head and smiled. “Well, thank you.”

“Of course, Mistress.”

The three went inside, the door closed and vanished, and Tala handed Master Simon back his artifacts before settling down in one of her comfortable chairs, looking out on the calming view of her sanctum.

Mistress Petra went and grabbed some food for Tala, presenting her with a tray of snacks and a large flagon of water.

“Thank you, Mistress Petra.”

“Of course. You just went through fire.” She chuckled at her own joke. “Take a minute. I think Simon is going to want to ask you a few thousand questions when you’re free and settled.”

Tala looked around but didn’t see the man. “Where is he?”

“Oh, he grabbed his slate and constructs and went off to his work area. He’ll be trying to figure out how those that broke failed and why.” Mistress Petra smiled fondly as she spoke of her husband. “I’m sure he’ll be back once his mind is settled, but I’ll hold him off until after dinner at the very least. You should have that long to collect yourself and do your own thinking.”

Tala felt herself smiling too. “Well, I hope to have more for him by then. I need to clear my head and get all this straight.”

“As is only wise. Even so, eat up, first.”

-You have time.-

Tala nodded. “I will. Thank you.”

It didn’t take long to eat the bit of food, and she did find herself practically chugging the water. Kit refilled it at need, and Tala ended up draining four massive mugs.

Altogether, the repast was amazingly refreshing in a way that Tala didn’t expect. I can’t believe that I’m still surprised that my scripts don’t heal everything.

-Well, they do, but they don’t always make you feel perfect. They will keep you functional and fit, that was what they were designed to do.-

Tala grunted before standing. “Thank you, Mistress Petra. We’ll likely be on our way in less than an hour.”

“I’ll let Simon know.”

“Thank you.”

Tala left the dining area and went to her room before standing beside the bed. Are they ready?

-They are now, yes.-

She nodded to herself, and once fully encased in iron again, the scripts involved in her mental enhancements—and Alat’s functionality—blazed with power.

Five seconds later, Mistress Ingrit and an older man were seemingly standing in her room, looking around curiously.

Tala bowed to each. “Hello… greetings? I’m sorry, I can’t really say I know how to start such a conversation.”

Mistress Ingrit smiled and gave a small bow in return. “‘Hello’ works well enough.”

The man gave a small bow as well. “Hello, Mistress Tala. Thank you for agreeing to see us.”

“Sure. Unfortunately, I can’t maintain a connection for long. We should address the pertinent things first. I understand that you have questions?”

He hesitated. “Wait… you’re maintaining the connection yourself?”

“With my inscriptions, yes.”

“Remarkable. I would not have thought a Refined—” He shook his head, cutting himself off. “I apologize, I easily get lost on rabbit trails. I am Coinin, and I have so, so many questions. I will attempt to be brief.”

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 311 - Master Coinin

Tala faced Mistress Ingrit and Master Coinin as they were projected into her perception through Alat’s efforts.

The alternate interface could only hold the connection for a few minutes, so they needed to be efficient with their time. Even so, the man’s few words had already let Tala know that that wouldn’t be happening.

“It is good to meet you, Master Coinin.”

He smiled and nodded once. “Alright, brief and fast. I can do this. Did you notice anything different between this smiler and others you’ve seen before?”

She wanted to pass over the obvious name for the beings she’d seen, but she needed to be sure. Also, if there was already an established name for them, there should be more information about them available. Thus, she asked, “Smiler?”

Master Coinin gave her an almost-disappointed look as he answered, “Yes, I’d thought it would be obvious what I was referring to.”

She contained her desire to cut back and shook her head. “It is, I just haven’t heard that term before.”

“It fits, so…?”

“Ahh, so not an established term. Thank you. As to a difference. No? Not really. The ones I saw before all felt… the same? Like they always had been and always would be, forever unchanging, forever hungry, forever consuming. They were an emptiness beyond the void. After all, individual voids, or sections of the void, can be filled. These… smilers can’t, or at least they didn’t feel like they could.”

“And the most recent smiler?”

“It felt… incomplete? That’s not right. It was the same, but lesser, though that might just have been because I was sensing it from Zeme, rather than from within the Doman-Imithe. That’s why I wouldn’t swear to having sensed a difference. There are just too many complicating factors.”

“That might make sense, yes.” Coinin was nodding. “Do you think that the Doman-Imithe is their natural habitat?”

Tala blinked in surprise at the change of direction for the line of questioning but shook her head. “Not in the way I understand it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, creatures should be able to traverse their natural environment, and these were almost forcibly fixed in place.”

“That… that is an interesting way to look at it. I appreciate the perspective… What do you—?”

Mistress Ingrit cleared her throat. “The topic, Master Coinin.”

“RIGHT! Right, my apologies. We were discussing the fount. Your perception seemed to indicate that you felt you had a choice over the temporary fate of the gate, is that correct?”

“Yes. That is the sense I got.”

“But you also felt an… inevitability? Can you expand on that?”

Tala was a bit confused, and rather than allowing that confusion to last, she simply asked, “It seems like you reviewed my memories, you should know all I do. Right?”

“Ahh, but I don’t have your context. A person’s memories are stored for him or herself. As an example, you might think to yourself that a wolf reminds you of a childhood dog. In reviewing those thoughts, if granted to me, I would know that factoid, but I would have no idea what caused that connection to be drawn, nor would I inherently know anything about that dog from long ago.”

Tala frowned. “I’m not sure I fully understand.”

“Basically, your memories are encoded for your own mind and how you see the world. Thus, with such a small sample, I can only make guesses at some of the more esoteric parts, and let’s be honest, the entire experience was esoteric.”

She found herself nodding. “Oh, I suppose that makes sense. Yes, then. It felt like my choice would not matter for the gate’s, for the soul’s, final destination. What I was granted, or what I had seized, was the ability to influence the journey. To use your word, the ultimate fate of the gate seemed inevitable regardless of me or my choices.”

“I see, I see. And that inevitable fate, it was the next world?”

“That seemed to be the case, yes.”

“And on the topic of the next world. The power you interacted with there was hostile towards you?”

Tala shook her head. She was certain on this point. “No.”

“But it damaged you, correct? It instantly harmed you with the slightest exposure.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t make it hostile. Just as a mundane can drown in water if he is not equipped to traverse its depths. That fact does not mean that the water is hostile to the man. The fact that we often use anthropomorphizing, antagonistic language isn’t an indication of truth. The power isn’t hostile. It just is. And I am unable to endure it.”

“So, this power? The fundamental makeup of the next world…?” He gestured for her to go on.

“It felt like something about me was utterly out of place, like I simply couldn’t exist beside the pure power. Like an acid and a base.” She frowned. “No, that’s not right. It wasn’t an interaction of mutual destruction or dilution. The purity of the next world wasn’t tainted by my presence, I simply could not exist there as I am.”

“Fascinating.” Master Coinin seemed to draw into himself for a moment, considering.

“Master Coinin?” Mistress Ingrit had remained quiet for their short conversation, only interjecting previously to help the man keep on topic, and it seemed that she was again attempting to facilitate.

“Hmm? Yes, Mistress Ingrit?”

“Do you have any other questions?”

-I am nearing the end of what I can maintain.-

I’ll try to be fast.

“I think so. Mistress Tala, are you aware of the nature of existence?”

Tala arched one eyebrow, causing the man to laugh self-deprecatingly.

“I suppose that was a silly question, wasn’t it? It could mean anything, or nothing at all. In fact, if we think about”—he glanced up and saw Mistress Ingrit staring at him intently, stopped, cleared his throat, and redirected—“But of course, now is not the time for that. What I meant was: Are you aware of the tripod supposition?”

“That seems like an entirely different question.” Tala hesitated. “Unless you believe it to be beyond question in its relation to the nature of existence?”

“I do, actually, and I suppose my bias comes through rather strongly.”

“It does a bit, yes. Even so, we are getting off topic again. No, I don’t believe I have heard of it.”

He nodded, seemingly not expecting her to have known what he was referring to. “Well, the basics are that existence is composed of three things: Reality, Void, and Magic.”

Tala frowned but didn’t interrupt.

“Imagine they are the points of a triangle. The side opposite the point representing Reality is void-magic, or the line connecting those two points. The side opposite of Void is reality-magic, again the line. Thus, the side opposite of Magic is…?” He gestured encouragingly to her.

She realized it would be faster to guess than wait for him to continue. “Reality-void?”

“Precisely! Or rather a void in reality. I believe that is your ‘nothingness.’”

That… made a lot of sense, actually. “I think I can see that, and these three things make up existence? Like a tripod, existence can’t exist without all three?”

“Well, they obviously aren’t things, but loosely, yes. More specifically, they make up existence within Zeme. I wouldn’t dream of making a claim about existence outside of our fractured little corner.”

She grunted at that. That’s probably wise, yeah. “So, what are you driving at?”

“Ahh, yes, the actual question. How would you guess the Doman-Imithe fits into that framework?”

Mistress Ingrit closed her eyes and sighed, slightly shaking her head. Even so, she didn’t interrupt.

Tala blinked a few times, trying to grapple with such a monumental question.

-Tala…-

I’m trying!

She tried to clear her mind and give the best answer that she could, “Well… reality threads throughout, sheathed in the void, and the smilers were there, too. There… was magic, but it was all tied up, somehow, all doing various things rather than free-floating, just as the void and threads were…” She trailed off as she understood what he was getting at. “You think that the Doman-Imithe is actually existence? And somehow Zeme is… what? Just a cobbled together mass of unused pieces hanging off the center?”

He laughed once, almost triumphantly. “Yes! That is what I and many others have postulated, though not exactly. We believe that the Doman-Imithe was created to hold everything together, to provide the underpinnings for existence in its truest form, and then Zeme was constructed within that protective framework. This isn’t all of existence.”

Tala remembered speaking with Meallain and the City Lord of Platiori. They had either implied or said the same things. Still, she was trying to be quick. Instead of mentioning those conversations, she focused on a more tangible response. “Well, of course it isn’t. The next world isn’t a part of Zeme, but it clearly exists.”

He tapped the side of his nose while pointing at her with his other hand. “Precisely.”

Tala was about to add that the next world was also not a part of the Doman-Imithe, but Mistress Ingrit shook her head and interjected, “Alright, Master Coinin, you’ve followed your last trail. I believe our time is up.” After a moment’s hesitation, she smiled and added. “I do believe that we have some memories available for your acquisition which might be quite interesting to you.”

Tala glanced to the Archivist, and Mistress Ingrit smiled.

-She notified us. She is referencing the pertinent discussions with Meallain and the City Lord of Platiori.-

Perfect, then I don’t need to deal with it. She really is incredibly helpful.

-That she is. Now… please?-

I’m trying.

Master Coinin nodded to Mistress Ingrit in acknowledgement. “I look forward to our negotiations.” He then bowed to Tala. “Thank you, Mistress Tala for your time. May I reach out again in the future to discuss things further, should there be a need?”

Tala nodded. “I am open to the idea.”

“Thank you.”

She then turned to Mistress Ingrit. “Anything you need from me?”

The woman shook her head. “No, thank you. I just knew he’d get utterly off topic if he communicated with you by himself.”

He pointed to her, nodding sagely. “She’s absolutely right.”

-Tala!-

Tala quickly bowed to each of them, and they bid each other a final farewell before the two vanished from Tala’s perception.

Alat groaned. -Ow… Reinscription, please?-

Sure. Let’s do that now.

Less than five minutes later, Tala was reinscribed and back in her room, soaking in her massive tub.

I need to do this more often. It really is relaxing.

-Maybe without the massive strain on my pathways first? As to the bath, we don’t have that much time, but yes. It does seem good for you.-

Thank you for keeping up the conversation. That was really much more… pleasant? Useful? Efficient. Tala nodded. That was much better than trying to communicate through passing messages back and forth.

-I’m glad that I could be of service. I’ll be able to slowly improve, and we might be able to get something to augment the connection when we’re in a specific location, but I think it might be a bit expensive.-

It sounds like it’s worth looking into at the very least.

-Thank you.-

Of course. She shifted slightly in the amazingly hot water. It was incredible how different hot water could feel from being within a fire. Cold water might have been ‘better’ for a recovery from so much flame magic, but Tala had chosen a relaxing, if short, soak over a freezing plunge.

-You know, ice baths are good for you.-

Yeah, but they are really unpleasant…

-You would barely feel it.-

…maybe. She shook her head and changed the subject. Are we still going to be able to make it to Marliweather today? That felt so odd to even contemplate.

It was a week trip by caravan, but that was because the caravans took it slow to be as safe as possible. The distance was only about a hundred and fifty miles, and she could easily run that in a day, especially with her magical resonance so reduced.

It should have been a relatively trivial thing for her to make the trek, but instead, it had turned into an insane day.

While finding a Mage about to become a fount was unlikely, it wasn’t that unusual considering the range of her senses. Now, if she found another, she’d know something was really odd.

You know, I think us going around larger pockets of power might have increased our chances too.

-I agree. It seemed like the Mage was drawn to a place of lower power, so since we were trying to stay in exactly that same environment…-

Far more reasonable, yes.

-Let’s just not do it again. I agree, that would be a disturbing pattern.-

Or if another unlikely thing happens. That would be unideal.

-Are you trying to jinx us?-

Tala huffed a laugh. I suppose not. I’ll leave it.

With a quick aspect mirror, she cleaned herself within the water. The little grime that had stuck to her skin came free in the water, and Kit whisked that away to who knew where.

Tala stood, combed out her hair, braided it, and dressed for cross-country travel.

She coated herself in iron but let her through-spike maintain her appearance. No need to look odd for the Simons’.

-…I don’t think that’s their last name.-

Well, I don’t actually know it, do I?

-I could see if I can find it?-

No… if I need to know, I’ll just ask. She considered for a moment before sighing.

She should ask.

Even so, Tala almost summoned a door and simply stepped out into the wilds but thought better of it at the last moment.

Instead, she went back to the dining area, where Mistress Petra had more food ready for her. “Thank you, Mistress.”

“I’m happy to provide. That looked like hungry work you did.”

“It was that.” Tala gave a wan smile. She hesitated for an awkward moment before she shook her head. “I’m sorry, Mistress Petra. I don’t think I ever asked for your last name?”

The woman tilted her head to one side. “I suppose you haven’t. It’s Zuccat.”

“And do you prefer Mistress Petra or Mistress Zuccat?”

“Usually, either is fine, but you and I are easily on a first name basis, I think.” She gave a cheeky smile. “Are we not, Mistress Tala?”

Tala grinned in return. “I suppose we are, Mistress Petra. Thank you.”

“Take care of yourself now. Eat and get us back to a proper city.”

“Will do.”

Tala sat in her comfortable chair and ate.

She didn’t linger, but she still made sure to enjoy every bite.

Even with the measured pace, she quickly finished, banishing the tray with a thought.

“Thank you again.”

Mistress Petra simply waved dismissively with a smile as Tala stepped through a summoned door and out into the wilds.

The valley below was still hot, even with winter’s steady encroachment.

Snow had begun to fall, and it sizzled when it struck the ground anywhere near the center. Even so, the outer edges were already being covered, black giving way to white.

Peace was returning to this disrupted corner of Zeme.

Tala picked up Kit, pressing the flattened pouch against her leg before enfolding it in iron.

She wanted to perfect her various accoutrements, so this time she didn’t use a layer of white-steel. Instead, she followed Alat’s suggestion and simply thickened the iron to obscure wherever that was needed. She also suppressed her through-spike, removing almost all of her magical presence.

Flow was still secured on the top of her left forearm, and her elk-leathers were reduced to a tight band around her neck, both fully enclosed in iron.

-Why did you add iron to make your face a blank mask, too?-

Anonymity can be useful at times?

-Yes, because there are so many Mages who can go around covered in iron.-

Well… it doesn’t hurt, does it? Besides, non-Mages can’t instantly tell it’s iron, can they?

-No, I suppose not. Well, we need a name for this configuration. ‘Travel?’-

I was thinking ‘everyday.’

-With the face? Or should I say, without a face?-

The through-spike will add the illusion of my face at need.

-I mean… I suppose? I won’t fight you on it. What about your eyes and mouth?-

I want to get in the habit of treating my mirrored perspectives like my main vision. This should help with that. I also want to get used to not breathing, so it’s not a draw on my attention in tense situations.-

-What if you need to speak?-

Then, I’ll open a slit or pull the metal back or something.

-As you wish.- Alat clearly didn’t think it was the greatest idea, but Tala disagreed. Keeping maximum magical containment would do wonders for her natural pathways and magical density over time, and this was the best way to do that.

Tala stretched briefly, nodded to herself at her easy movements, and took off down the hill away from the valley. She would circle the fire damage and continue on her way.

Terry flickered up beside her mere moments later. A few more flicks of dimensional power let him move all around her, seemingly examining her from every angle.

Her metal pulled away from her mouth as she addressed him. “I’m fine, Terry.”

He squawked once.

“I’m glad that you pulled back. That wasn’t something that you could have helped with.”

Terry squawked in irritation.

“I was careful, and I am fine.”

He did not seem mollified.

“I’m not going to do it that way again in any case. Don’t get your feathers all bunched up over it.”

He trilled a derisive series of notes.

“Just because I’m going to do it differently in the future does not mean I was reckless the first time.”

-Why do you think he tried to convey anything like that?-

Because it’s what I would have said if I were him? And his tone matches. Tala shrugged internally.

Terry let out a long-suffering groan but turned his attention forward once more.

They only ran like that for a little while before Terry began flickering around once again.

At that point, Tala fell into a rhythm and allowed Alat to bring up the next book for her to read as she ran.

The experience of reading as she did other tasks was more odd than usual because the book didn’t block any of her vision at all this time.

The book seemed to hover before her closed eyes, visible even so. Independently, she could see perfectly through her mirrored perspectives.

Thus, she was in a position to split her mind and attention as she moved.

It was actually a bit exhausting, mentally speaking, which meant it was probably good training.

I don’t split my focus very often, do I?

-No, you just jump between tasks or areas of focus. If you truly need to do more than one thing simultaneously, you rely on me.-

Tala found herself nodding as she ran. I’ve let that become a weakness. Let’s correct that, shall we?

-As you wish.-

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 312 - Baby Steps

Tala ran through the wilds and read as the sun moved across the sky.

Terry kept close and checked in on her fairly often, but he didn’t bother staying within sight most of the time.

In the end, they came to the edge of the city’s defenses with the sun barely showing over the horizon. Ahh short winter days, how inconvenient you can be at times.

They stood on top of a particularly high rise and looked down upon Marliweather, the city of Tala’s birth.

It covered so much more land than Bandfast, given that its mines were still operational. They still have almost fifty years left to drain the mines dry.

Within the ring of massive gantries and equipment to transport workers and materials down into and up from the mining tunnels, the familiar farmland lay just as dormant as it had been around Bandfast.

The city also looked very much like Bandfast, and she was yet again struck by the similarities. The layout of the streets was nearly hauntingly familiar, as were large portions of the skyline.

Even with the steadily falling snow, the view wasn’t that obscured.

She was reminded of her first time returning after her Academy days, and she looked over to Terry, shifting the metal away from her lips, “Wait a minute.”

Terry froze in place and glanced her way, letting out a questioning trill.

“You were learning to fight with weapons. Throwing them until you were a hurricane of blades all by yourself. What ever happened with that?”

He lowered his head and glowered.

“You were getting really good! Even before I was… taken. Why haven’t we gone back to that?”

Terry shook himself and turned back toward the city.

“Ahh, right. Too much else going on… well, we should get back to it. You were rusting terrifying.”

He tilted his head slightly, giving her a side-eyed look.

She held up her hands. “Not that you aren’t terrifying as you are now.”

He bobbed once and chirped in satisfaction.

Tala found herself grinning. “You know, you really do make everything better.”

He preened slightly, trilling happily.

“Come on, let’s get into the city.” She had a realization as she said that; she didn’t actually have any pressing need for anything within the city.

She didn’t need to find a place to stay or supplies; she had Kit.

She didn’t need to find food; she had Mistress Petra.

She didn’t need safety; she was more than capable of handling anything that this region was likely to throw at her.

Why am I here again?

-…your family.-

Are you sure? I think I can just go back to Bandfast. We could probably get back before dawn.

-Tala.-

She let her shoulders drop slightly. Fine…

“Let’s go.”

Terry flickered to her shoulder, and she allowed her through-spike to activate, shrouding her in an illusion of her real, uncoated appearance. She also let her elk-leathers re-cover her in appropriate clothing.

Then, together, they moved down the hill, toward the closest road.

The work hours in the mine didn’t need to follow the sun, so the traffic on the road was still rather light, with only a few comers and goers.

Those they passed waved and greeted her, and she returned the courtesy.

People are so nice.

-Yeah, it really is good to be back.-

Tala felt a bit of wetness building up in her eyes. It really is.

She didn’t actually cry, but she definitely had a tightness in her chest.

Come on, Tala. It’s just people saying hi. People said hi to you in Bandfast too.

She shook off her wave of emotions. She knew that her reaction was likely due to being in her hometown again, and the mindset this location moved her toward.

This was a homecoming, even if not the same type as returning to humanity as a whole, or even returning to Bandfast.

She should expect it to dredge up some powerful feelings.

Terry had been occasionally shaking himself free of snow, and he seemed to finally have enough, glancing down toward Kit with an inquiring chirp.

“Sure. I can let you back in.”

Tala opened the pouch, and Terry flickered within, vanishing into her sanctum.

Now without a companion, she focused more inward.

Walking the last stretch allowed her to reaffirm her emotional state and her plans.

She’d told her siblings that she’d be in Marliweather in the next few days, so she could delay if she wanted or needed.

She didn’t think that she would. If she waited too long, she’d leave without seeing them and make some excuse.

Tomorrow. I’ll see them tomorrow.

-Do you want me to message them to that effect?-

…Maybe? Is it a school night? Will they even be available?

-They won’t have any school tomorrow, Tala.-

Okay, thank you. Yes, please send them a message.

-Do you want me to say anything other than, ‘I’m in town and will be by tomorrow morning’?-

No, that sums it up pretty well.

-Alright, I’ve reached out to Master Leighis. He’s been a solid connection to them.- Alat only paused for a moment before continuing. -I still say we should have tried to connect with one of your siblings directly…-

Oh, I know that’s your opinion. You’ve been very clear. I like the little bits of separation…

-Do you think that’s going to stand?-

No. Not after… all this.

She walked through the main gates to the city and felt a wave of power pass over her, reading her projected aura.

One of the guards off to one side stood up a bit straighter, seemingly hearing something that she couldn’t. He then oriented on her and strode her way.

What is this, now?

-I have no idea.-

He stopped near her and bowed. “Mistress.”

“Guardsman. What seems to be the matter?”

“Nothing is the matter, Mistress. I was instructed to greet the Refined Mistress and see if there is anything in particular that has brought you to our city.”

Alat? What is going on?

-I still have no idea.-

“My apologies, but why?”

The man looked vaguely uncomfortable. “No, Mistress, I must offer my apologies, but I do not know either. I am simply following instructions. Now, is there any way that we can assist you?”

She frowned, feeling the whole situation was odd. “No, thank you, Guardsman. Good night to you.”

He bowed again, clearly seeming relieved that their interaction was coming to an end. “And to you, Mistress.”

She walked into the city without further delay, but she felt the need to glance back.

Instead of actually turning her head around, she simply put more focus on the aspect-mirrored perspective from the bloodstar at the base of her neck.

The guard watched her go even as he returned to his station.

Please let Mistress Ingrit know what just happened and ask what this might be about.

-Done.-

Alat would let her know as soon as a response came back, so Tala didn’t feel a need to wait.

She walked through the streets of the nearest market, the falling snow continuing to build up. Tala shifted her metal and drew in a deep breath, taking in the feeling of having people around her again after being in the wilderness all day.

Oddly, the mere presence of so many people was relaxing to Tala at that moment.

She liked her usual isolation, but the mass of humanity held its own sort of appeal.

-Alright, Mistress Ingrit said that it shouldn’t be anything to be concerned about. It might be because you were a new Refined, not in the city’s records. It could also be that the city defenders have been doing surprise inspections or defensive drills, and so the guards are more on watch for more advanced Mages. If there was any real issue, you’d have been greeted by an Archon at the very least.-

Okay, then. Please thank her for us.

-Already done.-

Thank you.

She wandered a bit until she found a shop with a clear wall on the side, in an alleyway that wasn’t too shadowed or foreboding.

The shopkeeper was meticulously keeping her wares cleared of the little snow that drifted under her canopy, ensuring they were visible and ready for the evening crowd.

Tala walked up to her with a smile. “Good evening.”

“Good evening. What can I interest you in today?”

“Well, I was wondering if I could use your exterior wall.” Tala gestured at the alleyway she’d been eyeing.

“My… wall?”

“Yes. It won’t be damaged, or affected at all, long term, but I thought it would be polite to ask.”

“May I ask what for?”

“Of course, I want to anchor my dimensional storage against the wall for the night.”

“Oh! Mistress, my apologies.” The woman bowed politely. “I did not realize that you were a Mage.”

“It is no matter. Do I have your permission?”

The woman glanced in the direction that Tala indicated. “If it will cause no damage or disruption…”

“It should not.”

“Then, you are welcome to use it. Thank you for asking.”

Tala gave a shallow bow. “Of course. Good night.”

“Good night, Mistress.”

She walked around the corner and placed Kit on the wall where the pouch expanded into a door that seamlessly fit in with the building’s aesthetics.

Honestly, Tala felt tired.

Once again, she didn’t know if the feeling was just an artifact of all she’d been through, combined with being back in her childhood hometown, but she felt like she would sleep solidly all the way through the night.

Dinner first, then sleep.

That was a plan she could tackle with ease.

And tomorrow, the siblings…

That part would not be as easy.

* * *

Tala had been correct.

She slept all evening and through the entire night.

When she woke, she felt rested at a level that she hadn’t realized she was lacking.

It seemed that the events of the previous day—more like previous months—had been even more draining than she’d realized.

It was still before sunrise on the outside, but the sky of the sanctum was beginning to brighten, and that light was likely what drew her awake.

She moved through her stretches before aspect mirroring and hopping to free herself of what little grime had built up through the night.

Then, iron in place and through-spike active, Tala went to get breakfast.

She didn’t have her iron in the ‘everyday’ configuration she was trying out because she was about to eat, then go talk with her siblings. Thus, having her face thickly covered would be quite the irritant.

Even so, she did close off her ears, leaving only her airways open.

She could still see and hear via her bloodstars, and it was good practice for the oddity of her hearing not coming from the expected locations.

When Tala entered the dining area, she saw that Mistress Petra had her breakfast ready and waiting, while being out of sight.

The Mage had learned quickly that Tala enjoyed a bit of peace and quiet in the morning.

She is a treasure.

The food was as excellent as always, and Tala savored it while she watched the sun rise over her domain.

It was an odd thought, that this was her domain, but it really couldn’t be considered anything else.

This place was controlled by Kit, but Tala was its benefactor, its ruler.

Her power sustained Kit and everything within the sanctum.

If she were to die, or withhold her power, this place would crumble away.

In the best case, Kit would abandon the too-large dimensional pocket in an attempt to exist for a bit longer, and this would simply become an unattached pocket of existence which may or may not ever encounter Zeme again.

If it did, it may or may not have become an ether hold by then.

Tala really didn’t know how such a process took place, but with dimensional storages being one of the most common types of items sought and used by Archons, there had to be millions of tiny spaces floating around.

I wonder if they collide, combine, or… something else?

-First of all, they have to be over a certain volume before they truly become separate spaces, without specific interference. So, most dimensional storages simply ‘flatten out’ with Zeme upon their dissolution. Second, I believe that even for the larger ones—those that are truly separate and only loosely connected with Zeme—most degrade over time. Finally, you’re delaying.-

Tala smiled ruefully; she had finished her breakfast a few minutes earlier. Fair enough.

The doorway out appeared in front of her, and she pulled it open, looking out onto the falling snow.

You know, if I do soul-bond Kit, and go through the process of having her only tethered to my soul, that would mean that the entrances could appear anywhere around me, or rather anywhere around my soul.

-That is my understanding.- Alat’s voice was hesitant, clearly sensing Tala building towards another delay, even if only a cognitive one.

And we have a part of a soul-bound ring in the Library in Bandfast.

-I… huh.- Alat actually sounded a bit surprised by the obvious connection.

And I could leave a bloodstar… well, anywhere. Could I open an entrance to anywhere I’d left a soul-bound… anything?

-I… I don’t honestly know. Most Archons only soul-bind things they want to use all the time. Thus, they keep the items within easy reach. Even so, I’m sure someone has experimented with the idea.-

We should look into it.

-Yes, we should, and you should stop delaying.-

Yeah, yeah. Tala stepped out into the well-lit alleyway, moving through a reasonable amount of still-falling snow.

The sky was still dark overhead, but some people were out and about, walking past on the nearby street.

Tala hesitated for only a moment before pulling Kit free of the wall and hanging the pouch from her belt.

She could leave the entrance to her sanctum there on the wall of the random shop, but that would end up being really inconvenient for her.

Terry hadn’t come out with her, but he would likely ask to at some point this morning.

-You’re delaying again.-

Tala turned and walked toward her childhood home.

The snow that had started the previous afternoon had continued.

It hadn’t mattered much the previous day when she was maintaining a bounding run through the wilderness. Walking through the streets was a different experience.

By some quirk of the local climate, Marliweather got a lot more snow than Bandfast, reminding Tala of her previous trips and of her childhood when the snow would sometimes pile up to four or five feet in a single storm.

Tala didn’t have any issue pushing through the growing drifts to get to the main street before continuing on her way.

She didn’t see any familiar faces as she traversed the city, but she didn’t expect to, and Tala actually made sure to pick a route that avoided the haunts of such people that she was aware of.

Baby steps.

-What about Bob?-

The Constructionist? Tala was confused as to why Alat would bring him up.

-Yeah, didn’t we hear that he was going to be in Marliweather?-

I suppose so. Why?

-Well, you could ask him for anything we need the Constructionists for, like a way to relieve the burden on communication through the Archive?-

Ah, yeah. That would probably be reasonable, but who's creating cognitive delays, now?

-Fine, fine. Get back to your introspection. Don’t let me provide distractions while you’re on the move.-

Tala huffed a laugh and shook her head but didn’t otherwise respond.

Her mind wandered back to the large amounts of snow.

Work crews were moving through at the early hour, some using artifacts powered by local harvests to melt or move the snow. Some were physically moving the snow to melting zones, where larger workings or Mages were liquifying the buildup and that which was brought to them, allowing it to flow down the storm drains and clear of the city.

Tala saw a few Mages working to move the snow as well, obviously working with ice or water related inscriptions.

Another few seemed to be spraying powder across the streets.

What is that? Incorporators?

-It does look like it, if the smell is any indication they are hot, salt incorporators. At least close enough to salt to closely mirror the smell of the ocean when mixed with water.-

Now that her attention had been brought to the scent, Tala could easily smell salt on the air just as Alat had said.

-Look behind the Mages. They are being careful in where they apply it, otherwise it would just leave behind sheets of ice, and that’s worse than snow.-

Yeah… I suppose they were doing this when I was younger, too. I remember some, but this seems like a whole other level of effort.

-Well, you didn’t come to the market districts very often.-

That’s fair enough. Even when she’d been visiting her family quite often the previous year, she’d mainly stayed near their house or at the work yard. There also hadn’t really been any big storms while she was around, then.

I was only in Marliweather for a couple of days every two weeks or so. So, I suppose it makes sense that I might have missed seeing something like this.

It was interesting enough that Tala specifically watched the goings on as she moved deeper into the city, toward her destination.

Finally, she approached the alchemist shop, the sun still not peeking over the surrounding rooftops, though the sky was bright enough that she expected it to come into view shortly.

Well, with all the clouds it might not come into view all day. It should get a lot brighter soon, though.

Just as she remembered, the street her family lived on was much less important, so it wasn’t being cleared with the same fervor. Still, there was an easy path to walk, so it wasn’t like the people who lived here were being abandoned.

When she finally got a good look at the storefront, she stopped in her tracks.

There beside the door, bundled against the cold and sitting in a sturdy chair, was her father.

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 313 - Catching Up

Tala stood frozen in the street, staring at her father nearly a block away from her. In the dark of pre-dawn, under the clouds and the still falling snow, there was almost no chance that he could see her yet.

The man was clearly freezing, and he was just as clearly waiting for her.

-You don’t know that.-

Oh?

-Yeah, he’s quite well bundled. He might be fine temperature wise. As to why he’s outside? He could… just want some fresh air for his health?-

Tala scoffed and shook her head. Not likely.

She was suddenly torn.

She could simply stride past him into the family shop and ignore the man, but knowing him, if he had set his mind on something, he’d be planning on standing as she approached and blocking the door if she tried to move past.

She could just move him. She was easily strong enough to move him, bodily.

There would be some catharsis in that, but it would also be bullying, and she didn’t like how even the idea made her feel.

She could go around back? Hop the back wall and come in through the kitchen….

Then, she’d have to face her mother. Step-mother.

-Now you’re just being petty and delaying.-

Tala growled.

She had no idea why he was outside.

What did he want to say or do that he didn’t want anyone else to hear?

Is he so naive that he thinks no one will be watching or listening at the door?

-You could stand out here until both of you freeze. Does that appeal?-

I don’t actually think that I’d freeze even in the void.

-Of course you wouldn’t, you’d overheat. That’s part of the issue.-

Fine, I don’t think I’d freeze if I stuffed myself into a glacier for a hundred years.

-Now you’re just being argumentative.-

Now you’re being pushy.

Alat sighed. -Tala. What do you want?-

She growled again. If I knew that, I’d have already done it.

Even so, she started forward once again.

Her father did see her coming and stood. “Tala.” He called to her, then seemed to hesitate. “Mistress Tala, may I have a moment of your time?”

She stopped in the street in front of the shop, a good two paces from him.

They were surrounded by mounded snow, and more was falling as they stood in awkward silence.

Finally, she shook her head. “What do you want?”

She could hear the small smile in his voice as he responded, “A moment of your time. Didn’t I already make that clear?”

“For what?” She snapped back.

He sighed, visibly deflating just a bit. “Can you open your eyes? I know you don’t want to see me, but that’s… It’s hard to talk to you like this.”

Tala froze. My… eyes? Her eyes were covered in iron, so they were closed, but she had her through-spike active.

-And the illusion mimics the real you.- Alat sounded a bit chagrined. -I did not think of that…-

Clearly I didn’t either. She opened her eyes, maintaining her iron covering.

It felt weird to have iron on her eyeball, but leaving any gap could cause a distortion of the magic reflected back.

Her father nodded. “Thank you.”

Tala gave a strained smile. She was slightly hurt that he’d thought she was being so childish, but what else would he assume? She certainly wasn’t going to take the time to explain things to him.

“I wanted to talk with you about Dagan and Alva.”

“What about—” But she cut herself off, slowly nodding. “They’re turning twelve in just a couple of weeks.”

-Yes, they are! That is a fact that we both know and remembered… and simply didn’t consider.-

Not helpful, Alat.

“Yes.” His voice was firm.

“So, they want to go to the Academy, I assume?”

“They do. Illie and Nalac send messages so full of wonder about what they’re learning and seeing that it’s hard not to be drawn in.” There was only a hint of recrimination in his tone. “Add to that Latna’s new apprenticeship and—”

“What?” Tala cut him off.

He winced, shaking his head. “She’ll tell you herself.” He half glanced over his shoulder. “I’ve already probably said more than she’d prefer.” He deflated further. “But we’re getting off topic. I want you to convince them it’s a bad idea.”

Tala couldn’t help it. She barked a harsh laugh. “You? You want me to convince my siblings to stay away from the Academy? Are you serious?”

“I know, Tala—Mistress Tala. I know I have no right to ask, but—”

“No right? A random stranger has no right. From them it would be odd and out of place, from you it’s an insult.” She felt herself flushing under her iron, and she was filled with a desire to punch the man. Only a complete certainty that it would kill or cripple him stayed her hand.

“Don’t you think I know that?” He snapped, and the heat in his tone actually took her aback for a moment.

She mentally pulled back, trying to assess the situation and her own emotions, but he continued before she really had a chance to sort through it all.

“We lost you. Again. Every one of the children…” He closed his eyes and seemed to be fighting to keep himself stoic. “They mourned you. You were dead, and it nearly broke this family.”

Tala was at an utter loss for words.

“Aside from the loss itself, I was to blame. I was the reason you were a Mage. I was the reason you weren’t here. I was the reason why you were out in the wilds where you could simply vanish without a trace. Me, and they all know it.”

It was hard to see under all the layers, but Tala finally noticed something that had been tickling at the back of her mind. He had lost a lot of weight. He’d never been fat, not really, but he had been a bigger man.

Now? Now, he looked like… Like three months out from the edge of starvation.

“What do you want me to say?” Her voice was quiet, but it wasn’t soft. “Do you want me to absolve you? Do you want me to lie to Dagan and Alva?”

“No!” His voice was equally quiet and equally harsh. “Tell them the truth. Don’t sugarcoat it. They are children, and they don’t understand the dangers. Your return just cemented the invincibility of Mages in their mind, even though they know families who have lost so, so many.” He shook his head. “I don’t want absolution. I am not the reason for your success, but I am the reason for your hardship. There is nothing that I can ever do to change that, and I don’t expect you to ever forgive me. But please.” He looked up and met her gaze with incredible intensity. “Please don’t make the mistake I made. Don’t send more of this family off to die.”

The silence that only seemed to exist among new-fallen snow grew around them. Tala didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say anything.

Finally, her father shook his head. “That’s all, Mistress. Thank you for your time.”

Without another word, he turned and opened the heavy door, letting out a wave of warmth and nostalgic aromas.

Tala followed him inside, maintaining the silence, stepping into the reception area of the alchemy shop, and shutting the door.

A voice came from the back, “Dad? Are you back? Or is that Tala?”

The speaker was clearly more excited at the second option. Did he actually somehow finagle a way for them to all be elsewhere?

She was somewhat impressed, despite herself.

Her father glanced at her before calling back, “Actually both. She arrived as I was just outside.”

That started a cascade of noise, most of which had ‘Tala!’ mixed in among various other exclamations and the sound of objects clattering.

Tala probably could have parsed it all, but she didn’t feel the need.

A pile of young people came spilling out through the door into the back, and they swarmed her like a plague of locusts.

If she’d been mundane, Tala had no doubt that she’d have been taken to the ground by their exuberance.

As it was, she found herself with half a dozen little people hanging off of her or in some way trying to give her a hug in the center of a larger group. The air was filled with greetings and clamor for others to move out of the way.

A few of the smaller ones were poking at her and commenting to each other how she felt like a statue.

Tala simply smiled and added power to her voice, ensuring that it would carry through the hubbub. “Hey. It’s good to see you all.”

Everyone stopped instantly, fully orienting on her rather than those in their way.

Her dad shook his head, huffed, and stepped through the door into the back.

Her brother Dagan’s eyes were practically glowing as he spoke into the silence, clearly intending to talk to himself, “That’s so cool.”

That broke the other siblings out of their surprise, and the avalanche of greetings resumed.

It took a full five minutes before everyone was satisfied.

When they all quieted down once more, Latna stepped forward, clearly having been tasked as the spokesperson, “Do you want to eat here? Or should we go elsewhere to catch up?”

Tala considered. “Have you all eaten?”

Latna shrugged. “We just put the food out for breakfast.”

“Ahh. Well, I don’t want to interrupt that. It’s probably getting cold. Go, eat. When you’re done knock on this door.” Tala tossed Kit against the inside of the front door of the shop where the pouch expanded and blended in seamlessly.

Her eldest sister tilted her head to one side and frowned. “What did you do to our door?”

“Nothing special, but if I want, it can now lead into my place.”

That got an excited murmur that Tala immediately realized she needed to head off before it could grow.

“Not forever! Just until I take back my pouch.”

There was a collective groan of disappointment.

“Now, go! Eat. We’ll talk as soon as you’re done.”

Tala opened Kit and walked inside, out onto a warm, sunny, grassy hilltop.

She turned around and grinned at their astonished faces. “Don’t take too long, now.”

The door closed but didn’t disappear on Tala’s side.

She wanted to make sure they came out beside her when they came.

-You know, you’d know if anyone knocked, no matter where the door was. Then, you could instantly move it to your side.-

Even so… If something went wrong, now would be among the worst times.

Alat sighed, not arguing with her clearly unassailable logic.

As expected, Tala did not have to wait long.

Soon enough, a tentative knock sounded on the door that stood, unsupported, on the hilltop beside her.

“Come!” Tala called back, and the door opened on its own.

The three of the four youngest stood outside, only missing little Sella to round out the set.

These three had been basically unknown to her before her frequent visits the year before. They’d been a baby or not born when she’d left for the Academy.

“Come on in.” She smiled. “It’s perfectly safe.”

Voices called from behind the three, a mixture of protests and demands that they wait. The three boys shared a mischievous grin before walking through as close as they could squeeze together.

The thunder of running feet followed close behind, and the others practically dove through the door one by one after the three, until they all had joined Tala on the hilltop.

While Kit couldn’t handle all of them for an extended period a couple of hours here and there shouldn’t cause an issue.

With an unnecessary gesture, Tala closed the door, and it vanished, causing several of the siblings to gasp.

“Now,”—she clapped her hands together as she looked at each of her twelve present siblings—“let’s catch up, shall we?”

* * *

The day passed quickly.

Terry came by for a bit to play, but he still seemed a bit off, more contemplative than his usual self, and he didn’t stay around for that long.

The Zuccat children were introduced, but Tala had previously asked for this first morning to be strictly her family, so they also quickly moved on to other things, promising to meet up to play with the kids close to their own ages later on.

Tala entertained her siblings with heavily edited retellings of her various… adventures.

She didn’t sanitize them to make them seem less dangerous. More than anything she left out the parts that would be too confusing, difficult to explain, or that would complicate their advancement if they chose the path of a Mage.

And there’s no need to mention all the loot I got on the way out.

-Yeah… treasure is never the greatest motivator for safety.-

She knew that she was doing what her father had asked, in a way, but it wasn’t because he had asked, so she bore it and did as she’d planned.

Mistress Petra provided lunch.

The two of them had discussed just that before the trip to Marliweather, and Mistress Petra would be providing meals for her siblings whenever Tala requested, though they would need to refill their stores if it was too often.

Latna stepped out early on to let their mother know that the kids would miss lunch but be back for dinner.

Their father apparently was minding the alchemy shop for the day to give the siblings time together.

When evening rolled around, and dinner time had nearly arrived, most of the siblings left to help with the final preparations.

Only Latna stayed behind, and she even closed the door behind her last sibling, turning toward Tala. “You know, you could join us.”

“I know, but I'd rather not.”

“Mom and Dad?”

“That is a part of it.”

“What’s the rest?”

“Your house isn’t my home anymore, and I don’t want it to be. This is.” She spread her hands out, indicating their surroundings.

The siblings hadn’t gotten the tour—Tala had planned that for the next day—but they had learned a bit about what Kit was.

In the end, she hadn’t been entirely effective in keeping away from mentions of loot.

“I don’t want to rejoin the family, Latna. I love you; I love our siblings, but I am not one of you. Not anymore.”

Latna shook her head. “Do you really believe that? That you can just decide to not be one of us anymore?”

“Being a Karweil has meaning, Latna, and it no longer applies to me. There have been good and bad Karweils, and I’ve severed my connection to all of them.”

“And your mother?”

Tala winced slightly but shook her head. “I don’t know. I never knew her, and she didn’t have any family that I know of.”

Tragedies like Lyn’s family weren’t everyday occurrences, but they did happen often enough that it wasn’t that unusual to find lone remaining members of a family. In those cases, tragedies didn’t just ignore the survivors forever, so even Tala’s mother’s story wasn't that odd.

She only hesitated a moment before continuing, “If she were alive? I don’t know. I might have more pull, but that’s not how it is.”

“You know… she chose him. She chose our father.”

Tala scoffed. “That could have happened for any number of reasons.”

Latna arched an eyebrow. “Really? You think she chose to marry a man without good reason?”

Tala held up her hands in concession. “I didn’t say those reasons weren’t good.”

Latna shook her head. “You’re justifying.”

“And you’re trying to play out an argument you had in your own head against a ‘me’ who doesn’t exist.”

She froze at that. After a long moment, she nodded. “You’re right. That’s a fair assessment. I apologize.”

Tala watched her sister slump just slightly. “I know you mean well, Latna. You will always be my sister, even if we aren’t in the same family. Just like when you get married, I won’t be a part of that extended family either.”

Latna smiled at that. “I can understand that, but you will still be connected to them through me.”

“To that, I completely agree. But that doesn’t make me a part of it with you.”

“I suppose…” She still seemed like she wanted to argue, but finally, the younger woman shook her head. “But that’s not what I wanted to talk with you about.”

Tala felt a rueful smile pull at her lips. “Oh? What is it, then?”

“I’ve taken an apprenticeship.”

Tala almost said that their father had told her that already, but she stopped herself. That would turn the conversation in an entirely undesirable direction. “Oh? What did you choose? I thought you enjoyed alchemy.”

“I do.” Latna smiled animatedly. “I see this as enhancing my alchemy. I’m studying magic.”

Tala frowned slightly. Does she have more magic in her system than before?

-Maybe? I don’t think so, though. There’s no discernable difference from the last time we saw her.-

And there are no inscriptions…

Latna held up a hand. “Before you fall into contemplation—spinning your mental wheels all over the place—I’ll just tell you. Master Leighis is starting me on the theory and foundations. He thinks I’ll be ready for a keystone and basic ancillary inscriptions in a couple of years.”

That’s not how the Academy did things at all, but Tala supposed that the Academy was a non-standard location that might allow for a different order of operations. “So, Master Leighis is teaching you?”

Latna smiled happily. “He is. He’s a wonderful teacher. Apparently, he’s only had one apprentice before, but they were inducted as a full Mage. So, you could say he has a perfect record.”

The younger woman giggled slightly at her own poor joke, and Tala cocked an eyebrow. “I see…”

“Isn’t it exciting? I’m going to be a Mage, too!” Latna did seem very excited.

“I’m glad that you’re able to pursue something that excites you, yes.” And maybe someone?

-You could ask.-

Of course I could.

-…but you won’t.-

Nope.

Latna beamed. “I’m glad. I could hardly wait to tell you, but I wanted to do it in person.” Her countenance fell a bit. “I had only just decided to go through with it when we got word that you’d vanished…”

Tala gave a wan smile. “I am sorry for how that hit you all. I definitely would not have chosen it.”

“I know.” After a moment, Latna added, “We know that it wasn’t something you chose. We… we had just begun to see you again, just begun to get to know you again, and then you were gone.”

“Well, I’ll be staying in touch more from now on.”

She gave a half smile. “But not visiting often?”

“Probably not too often, no.”

Latna sighed. “I guess that’s to be expected.”

She glanced back at the closed door.

“So, are you just going to wait in here until tomorrow?”

Tala shrugged. “Probably. I have a lot to do, and this place isn’t exactly small.”

“Alright.” Latna smiled. “Goodnight, Tala.”

“Goodnight, Latna.”

The younger woman hesitated for an instant, then stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her older sister. “I’m glad you’re back.”

Tala returned the hug, curling into the familiar embrace. “So am I… So am I.”

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 314 - A Pleasant Morning

Tala passed the following two weeks much as she had planned.

She spent time with her siblings, showing them Kit and actually discussing quite a bit of the random theories of magic with them, well, with the older ones at least.

They never delved too deeply into the topic as no one but Latna had any foundation to speak of.

Tala played with her little siblings and chatted with the older ones about their lives. The Zuccat children and Terry joined in the fun much of the time, and Tala often simply let groups of her siblings into Kit to play with the new playmates available in the sanctum.

When absolutely required, she exchanged words in passing with her parents, but neither her mother nor father attempted to force conversation.

For that, Tala was infinitely grateful. Though, not grateful enough to approach them for anything further.

Aside from the time with her family, she trained, hard.

Her body was fully recovered.

She had a clean bill of health.

The only thing she didn’t have was a physical sparring partner.

In every other regard, she dove into her full suite of exercises and training routines.

She had asked Terry if he wanted to spar, but he had indicated that he wanted to wait, for some reason or other. So, she hadn’t pressed him.

He’ll let me know when he’s ready.

Knowing him, he was probably watching her train to learn how to most efficiently defeat her.

That was alright. Tala preferred competent opponents to spar with.

She could learn from defeat, and she was excited to do so as soon as he was ready.

Tala contemplated finding sparring partners in the city, but that seemed… too permanent to her.

Maybe I can convince Master Leighis? Or maybe he knows someone that it wouldn’t be too awkward for me to fight?

She’d have to ask when they spoke, and they would be speaking.

Master Leighis and Latna were coming for dinner that night, and Tala found that she was almost as nervous and awkward about it as she had been when she hosted the Zuccats.

But now, Mistress Petra is cooking for us and setting everything up, so I don’t have to worry about it myself.

That really was a weight off.

She did have to take Kit to the market district to let Mistress Petra and Master Simon do some shopping for all the meals, but that wasn’t too difficult either.

She could have simply let the pair walk on their own there and back, but that felt rude, somehow.

I’ll get used to having people help me.

Even so, all of that was secondary to what she was currently doing.

She sat under an older tree, talking with Dagan and Alva.

“And I can’t wait to rain lightning down on arcanous creatures! That will be soooo cool.”

Normally over the past week, Segis would have joined in the older boy’s imagination, over-awed by another so dedicated to play-fighting, but Tala had gotten time with just her two siblings, today.

Are all little boys like this?

-Evidence suggests yes, but I doubt it’s really all of them.-

That’s true, I suppose. There are always outliers.

-What was that saying? There is more variation within a group than between groups? I do wish you had paid better attention in some of your classes.-

We can grab a book to refresh if necessary. The crux was an injunction to not toss something out of a category simply because it differed radically in ways other than the defining characteristics.

-Yes, yes. I am aware of the crux.-

So then… why were you asking?

-You were speaking about outliers, and I was irritated that I should have a perfect response, but you don’t remember it perfectly.-

Tala groaned internally. Please let me focus. I want to give my siblings my attention.

-Fine, fine. I’ll get something else done.-

Thank you.

Tala turned her concentration back to her two young siblings.

Alva was sipping her tea as Dagan continued to wax on about his dreams of conquest and glory.

“And then, I’ll turn into lightning and streak through the hordes of attackers to wreak even more devastation.”

Alva set down her cup and interjected, “What if someone you care about gets hurt?”

That gave Dagan pause for a moment, then he shrugged. “I’ll fry the wound closed or shock them back alive.”

Tala opened her mouth to correct him but frowned as she considered that what he said was close to accurate in what could be done. In the end, it wasn’t worth trying to divert him.

Alva seemed to have a similar view as she gave Tala an exasperated look without interjecting further at that moment.

Their brother had been enthusiastically explaining all that he would do once he had access to his magic for most of the morning.

Alva had joined in occasionally, and while she spoke less, her interjections were often more… interesting.

The first time had been especially notable.

Dagan had been describing how he would deal with a rogue group of City Guards—without bothering to explain why they were rogue of course—when Alva had seized the moment.

“Yes, and once your lightning is bouncing between the armor of all the evil men, I will grab hold and amplify it! You supply the spark, and I will bring the thunder.”

Dagan and Tala had turned to her, Tala surprised, Dagan elated. “YES! We will bring them down, together!”

Alva didn’t add more as Dagan then altered his tales to include his sister’s enhancement of his own power.

The young girl had smiled happily, content to listen.

You know, they could probably make that work.

-Of course they could, but it would tie them together.-

Yes and no. A lightning-creating Mage has the potential to be very powerful, and even a guide of lightning is never truly powerless. Then she paused. No, I’m falling into a flawed way of thinking. They can all do the same things, just in different ways.

-Fair enough, yeah. If they follow through, it will be pretty interesting to watch their careers.-

Tala did try to ensure the two knew that Mage work was dangerous and usually not as glamorous as many stories made it seem.

Even so, Tala would say that her preference was for them to pursue magic. So, she probably didn’t try as hard as she could have.

-And if you can go against your father’s wishes at the same time…-

Hush, you. That has nothing to do with it.

-Oh, of course not. It’s just a side benefit.-

Alat…

-Fine, fine. I’ll stop. Your reasons are your own and have nothing to do with your father.-

And they actually were.

While Tala’s own induction into the world of magic as a student had been… unideal, that didn’t change the fact that Mages were required for humanity, and those who took up the mantle had a far greater control over their fate.

There was more danger, but also more freedom, and humanity needed all the help it could get.

She had contemplated her own reasoning over the last couple of weeks, and she had come to the conclusion that it was better to be a player in the game than a pawn on the board.

After all, when she played tafl with Rane, the pieces never won or lost, only the players did. Even so, they were moved by others, their fate entirely outside of their own hands.

By the nature of the game many of the pieces didn’t get eliminated for full games. It was an odd, brutal game when more than half of either side’s pieces were removed, so it was relatively safe to be a piece on the board. Even so, the pieces had no agency, no ability to affect the board.

She wouldn’t let her siblings be subject to the whims of others if she could help it.

Alat had helped her reason through her thinking, so the alternate interface was mostly poking at her, attempting to tease her into further reflection.

Even so, Tala didn’t allow herself to be drawn in, instead focusing on her siblings and what they wanted to share with her, now that they had finished a midmorning snack with tea.

Funnily enough, Alva quite enjoyed cross-stitch, and Tala barely held herself back from commenting on the nature of fusing or the Doman-Imithe while looking at the few pieces the girl had brought with her.

Dagan on the other hand, had brought a wooden box almost too big for him to carry.

Once Alva broke the ice with crafts, Dagan was practically bouncing in his seat.

When Tala indicated that she’d like to see what he brought, he began pulling out… glass?

She was surprised at first, but in the end, it turned out that he had a passion both for blown and stained glass.

He wasn’t that good yet, but from what little Tala understood of the crafts, he showed promise.

And he has the most important characteristic for such things.

Alat grunted in assent. -The desire to continue.-

Their crafts made Tala consider her own lack of a pastime.

She read.

She trained.

She ate.

She explored ideas.

That was pretty much it.

Well, she also enjoyed the theatre and tafl, but those just weren’t the same alone.

I’ll do more of that when I get to Alefast. I’m sure Rane will be up for it.

-I don’t think there will be too many plays put on in a Waning city.-

Huh, I hadn’t considered that… We’ll find something to do.

She was considering what she could do on her own. Plays required performers and tafl required a competent opponent.

I could take up automata crafting…

-Tala…-

Kidding! I’m kidding.

Though, truth be told, both she and Alat were quite interested in the now completely grown body that Io had left behind. There was just an empty socket for a soul-connection, waiting within the thing’s head.

A bloodstar could fit in there so neatly…

-Tala!-

Right! Right. They needed to do more research before taking such a step.

-And if we can figure out how to make it work, a magic-bound golem of that power would be exquisitely useful.-

Excited for all the possibilities, eh? Tala couldn’t help but project her amusement along with the question.

-Of course, but only if we can manage it without undue risk.-

Tala nodded to herself, returning her focus to her siblings.

They had been playfully bickering about whether a guide or a creator was a more powerful Mage.

Apparently, Master Leighis had been giving some basic instruction to all the kids who were interested. It was nothing forbidden or anything that would unduly influence their growth.

It was just some good background that most adults would know, regardless of whether they were mundane or Mage.

Tala shook her head and smiled, interjecting, “That is a misconception.”

They both stopped, turned toward her and asked at nearly the same time, “What is?”

They then turned to each other and glared.

Tala laughed. “There is no inherent power difference between guides and creators. There are some situational limitations, but even between material and immaterial Mages their abilities are not so easy to classify. The quadrants mainly address how a thing is done, rather than what can or can’t be done.”

Dagan hunched, crossing his arms.

Alva rolled her eyes. “We know that. Master Leighis tells us all the time.”

“And you think he’s wrong?”

“Of course not. He says that it depends on how you think about things. My argument is that it is both more efficient and more effective to think about guiding things where you want them to go than simply creating things whole cloth all the time.”

Tala gave a half-smile and shook her head. “As I said, it’s a matter of method, not capacity.”

“Oh, I completely agree, and guiding is the better method.”

Tala opened her mouth to argue, but then just huffed a laugh. “You’re going to have fun.”

Dagan perked up at that, latching onto the change of topic, “Is it fun? It’s not just boring lectures, is it?”

“Not at all.” Tala smiled.

“Good…” He looked a bit nervous. “We’re leaving in three days, and… I’m a bit nervous.”

Alva glanced at her brother then slowly nodded. “Me too. What if Illie and Nalac were lying? What if it’s awful, or we don’t make any friends?”

Tala leaned forward. “Even if that’s the case, you’ll have each other, and you’ll come out Mages.” She hesitated. “Well, as magelings.”

They considered that for a moment.

“More importantly, everyone else is going to be feeling the same. Be a good friend, and you’ll find some. Don’t let people take advantage of you, but err on the side of kindness as much as you can.”

Dagan punched his own palm. “And sometimes the kindest thing you can do for a bully is teach them that that isn’t a good way to act.”

Tala blinked a couple of times. “While, yes, I suppose that I agree... Have you been having to deal with bullies?”

He sat up straighter. “No.”

Alva rolled her eyes again. “He’s never let anyone in our class become a real bully. He puts them down too fast.”

Tala didn’t honestly know what to say to that.

Dagan was looking away sheepishly, glancing back sporadically, likely trying to see how she would react.

“Well… I suppose it’s good that you’re protecting others. What happens to these kids afterwards?”

He shrugged. “Nothing really. They’re just like everyone else. The issue was that they didn’t think they were. Now they do.”

Alva smiled, giving a deeper explanation for her brother, “He’s friends with some, and none were really left out. They are fine, now. He even has enforced this on the years behind us, though not as much.”

He shook his head, frowning. “It’s hard to give a proper lesson to someone smaller than you. They just see it as you being mean.”

Tala honestly had no idea how to respond to that either. Even so, she took Alva’s offered way out, and segued into discussing their friends.

All told, it was a very pleasant way to spend the morning.

Dagan and Alva left for lunch and to rejoin school in the afternoon.

They weren’t really participating in class at this point, as they would be leaving for the Academy so soon.

Instead, they were saying their goodbyes and generally being a disruption to their class.

It was a funny thing, really, and something that Tala hadn’t experienced given her odd departure, but she could understand it.

There was basically a celebration whenever a kid went off to the Academy, and that drew others to consider it more strongly, if they were able to make that choice.

Tala felt like it was a reasonable middle ground.

Humanity needed Mages, desperately. Given the circumstances, it would have been perfectly understandable if every child with any chance at Magehood was gathered up and shipped out to the Academy.

Some would fail out, but more would probably succeed than did under the current system.

Even so, that would take away so much agency from both the children and their families. It would be a tyranny, and Tala was grateful that humanity was not so desperate that such was necessary.

And it never will be, if I can help it.

That idea was a bit shocking as she considered it.

She was immortal unless she was killed. She very likely would help keep humanity in a state where more choice could be offered.

It was easy to argue for freedom or death, but as she’d experienced in the arcane lands, the practical implications had her choosing servitude with a hope for future freedom.

That is a choice that no one should have to make, not with their lives. Debt? That made a sort of sense, as much as she hated to admit it.

As she sat, considering the idea, she had a realization.

If her death could have changed the arcane society, could have brought more freedom to those living there, she would have chosen death. At the very least she hoped that she would have made that choice.

But it should always be my choice. She frowned. It was an odd contradiction.

Society was best when it didn’t enslave the individuals, and individuals, overall, were best off when they each, individually, willingly chose to serve society.

It can’t be enforced, or that ruins the point. It must be chosen freely, or it’s meaningless.

She felt something shift within her, and Alat confirmed her suspicion before she could check. -Another miniscule tick towards Paragon? Nicely done!-

Tala felt herself smiling. Just considering the nature of reality, and the wider implications of individual actions. You know, as I usually do.

Alat chuckled.

Now, let’s go play with an automaton.

-Tala…-

Kidding! I’m only kidding.

A note from JLMullins

BONUS CHAPTER: This is where the tenth Bonus Chapter comes in for allPatrons.

(That's right, even the $1 tier!) 🎉

Chapter: 314 Bonus - Terry

These are secondary POVs that add to the worldbuilding but are not required for the story.

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 315 - Terry?

Tala felt like she needed a good stretch after spending the morning sitting and chatting with Dagan and Alva.

So, after lunch, she moved to her sparring circle and moved through her morning routine for the second time that day.

She was barely halfway through when Terry flickered into place across from her.

Something in his avian stance gave her pause.

He was crouched a bit lower than usual, and there was a glint of… finality?

Don’t be ridiculous.

Regardless, there was something in his eyes. “Terry?”

He trilled at her, flickering forward and tapping her chest with his clenched talons before flicking back.

She instantly understood, standing fully upright with a smile. “Oh? You’re ready for a spar?”

He slowly bobbed his assent, his eyes never leaving hers.

The solemnity of the situation settled on her in an odd way. She didn’t know what was going on, but this was important to Terry for some reason. “As you wish.”

She pulled Flow to her hand, ensuring that the sparring sheath was in place as she took up a ready stance. The one she chose was geared towards fighting a ring of opponents surrounding her.

She hadn’t fought Terry recently, but she still remembered what it was like… At least, she thought she did.

She was wrong.

Terry immediately flickered in, landing just in front of her back foot, smaller than she’d seen him recently.

In the same instant, he grew, mouth held upward to clasp around her ankle, driving her foot upward.

What the rust?!

Tala instinctively kicked out with her other foot, and Terry flickered away.

No, not away.

He appeared directly between her shoulder blades.

The only reason she knew that was because of the bloodstar she held just behind the base of her neck, mirroring her perspective as a complement to her normal vision.

Terry struck her with ridiculous force, his foot lashing out, talons tearing through leather and screeching off of the iron layer of her skin.

Her willpower fought to keep the iron intact, and with the backing of her sturdy body, she barely succeeded.

Even so, she was thrown forward into a roll.

Her mind was finally switching over into combat mode. It had been less than a second, and she was already chastising herself for adapting so slowly.

Flow licked out, morphing into a glaive for added reach for the first of her probing strikes, driven straight towards Terry, where he was still falling through the air.

Each of the strikes was forced to aim in a completely different direction.

The second was a sweep to the side, with Flow being a sword as Terry flickered into being, beak snapping at her shoulder.

The third, before she vaulted up to her feet, was a slash with her knife to fend Terry away from her other side.

She was once again reminded of how much fighting Terry was like going through martial forms.

They didn’t clash; Terry never stayed long enough to force that.

Instead, she was forced to move through combat forms without any feedback or rebound.

Yeah, rust that. This time seems special for some reason. I need to do better than this.

She pulled open holes in the iron layer all over her body, forcing her aura to flood out… right as Terry appeared just behind her right shoulder.

Flow struck backward, and Terry flickered away.

NO.Tala asserted her will over the space and Terry within it, but it felt like she was trying to grab a greased rope that was already whipping across the yard.

Terry slipped away without issue, and Tala cursed.

-Voidsight?-

Voidsight.

Tala engaged that vision across all her perspectives and glanced at Flow’s sheath.

Black and purple-ish metals seemed to stand out more starkly in the intricate, intractable pattern that made up the sparring guard as Flow took a void-form.

Void-magics contained. Good.

The world came into stark focus, and she had an instant realization.

I could use Kit. Kit can move people. Kit could move Terry, or at least contest Terry’s movement.

-Tala, don’t. The people we move can fight it, and we don’t actually know what such a clash would do.-

She only hesitated an instant—warding off no fewer than a dozen of Terry’s attacks—before she agreed. You’re right. This is a fight between him and me. Kit shouldn’t factor in.

Tala felt herself loosen, ancillary concerns falling away as she settled deeper into the calm of combat.

It was just her and her opponent. The rest of her sanctum was irrelevant.

Her voidsight showed her Terry moving about, just as her magesight highlighted the pulses of dimensional energy.

She tried several more times to lock the avian in place through force of will and by contesting him magically, but he always slipped away with ease.

She simply didn’t have a good enough grasp on what he was doing to oppose him properly. She couldn’t even oppose him well enough to force him to use his magical weight against hers.

We really need to study this branch of dimensional magic more.

-Even if only for defensive purposes, absolutely.-

She wasn’t tired; she could quite literally do this all day. Though, a shield would make it easier.

It was frustrating that she seemed utterly unable to make any of her strikes connect.

Even so, beyond the first two attacks, Terry hadn’t successfully landed a blow on her, either.

As Tala focused more and more on Terry’s movement, she could see where he would arrive infinitesimally before he appeared, the nodules of reality shifting to make room for him, somehow.

That wasn’t a perfect description, but it was the only one that came to mind, or seemed to fit, at the moment.

Sadly, her foresight wasn’t even close to far enough in advance for her to react with her weapons, but it did give her an idea.

Her aura had expanded to fill the entire sparring circle, though Terry was staying within five feet of her, seemingly without issue.

That part of her attempt had failed. He was simply too magically stable to be negatively affected by her more advanced aura.

Even so, the effort wasn’t in vain. She could now use that spread of control to try something else.

She focused on all the lumps, nodes, and nodules of reality and acted without thinking too deeply about what she was doing.

The command was simple. Join.

The working sparked but failed to grab hold.

Her fundamental understanding for her gravity manipulation, ‘All mass attracts all mass.’ just didn’t apply in this situation.

The nodes of reality didn’t have mass, they… indicated mass? They were like a convenient grouping system for various subsets of existence.

No, not existence, reality. We’ve never seen magic or void as any part of a nodule, just on the outside of them.

She continued her dance through Terry’s attacks, even as she focused.

The threads of reality had clung together, attracting one another and trying to create clusters.

More than that, her dissolution breath was a specific breaking of connections. To do that, the magic had to act on something.

The connections are there, not just between all matter.

-The dissolution breath has dispersed magic, too. It acted on existing connections within spell-workings and broke them apart.-

And my healing and defense, the opposite of dissolution, is a pulling back together, a reunifying or a strengthening of the unity that is already there.

-The true antithesis of dissolution is pulling together more tightly, combining more closely.-

Everything is connected.

That wasn’t really an important, nor novel, realization.

Void clung to reality, magic acted within reality, and all three held to itself.

Tala hadn’t seen void be pulled apart, not specifically, but she believed that it could be.

What she had seen was void around her self join with void from another source, seamlessly blending.

Everything in existence pulls together.

That resonated deeply.

It wasn’t unequivocally true, her own siege orbs proved that when they detonated. Her dissolution proved that when it severed the connections.

But exceptions proved the rule, and the statement was true enough to hold weight.

She refocused on all the lumps, nodes, and nodules of reality and acted, this time thinking deeply about what, exactly, she was doing.

Join.

Existence wanted to pull together. Gravity was but one part of that, and she was using it as a template through her inscriptions.

There was the barest hesitation within her magics, both natural and inscribed, followed by an almost ringing clarity as the spell-forms activated.

Power.

Magic blazed through her, surging at her command.

Pieces of reality couldn’t be joined together, not in such a purely physical way, but they could pull together more tightly.

Tala’s power stoked that pull at a deeper, almost metaphysical level, pressing the clumps in a way that she had no description for. This was partly because nothing physically seemed to change.

There was no pressure on her or Terry within the physical space, but Tala still felt a heaviness to the air.

It was purely a feeling, however, rather than something that would slow her or anyone else.

She thought that she recognized the sensation as similar to that which she’d experienced during her training with a diminutive Eskau of the House of Blood.

Everything within her aura was just slightly more stable.

While the effect was there, it was minor.

Terry still flickered around her unimpeded, and she still warded him off with blade, pommel, haft, fist, and foot.

But she didn’t stop powering her magic.

She had the working in effect, and she devoted her immense reserves—and most of her throughput—to amplifying the ‘join.’

Less than ten seconds—and uncounted exchanges—later, Tala noticed Terry taking a hair longer to flicker about.

It wasn’t much, and it certainly wasn’t enough to allow her to land a hit, but it was noticeable.

The miniscule delay took some pressure off of Tala, and what was likely more important, she could tell that Terry was needing more and more power for each flicker.

Usually, the terror bird could move with such ease that even a mundane could have sustained the power requirement indefinitely, or nearly so.

Now? Now Tala knew that even she would be hard pressed to keep up the needed power for even an hour.

Still, this fight wouldn’t last even a tenth that long, despite their tremendous endurance.

I’m wearing him down, or at least starting to.

Despite the seemingly increasing resistance to dimensional movement, even after a full minute Terry was still flickering about with little difficulty.

Terry had obviously noticed the change whether or not he knew how or why it was taking place.

His determination seemed to harden further, and a rock suddenly struck Tala in the side of the leg.

She had seen it, but Terry had timed his attacks so that she had little recourse but to take the light blow.

A light blossomed within the terror bird’s eyes.

Oh… rust. It had been a test to see if it would be worth the effort, her disregard showed that it was. After all, if it had been trivial to avoid, she would have, and anything that wasn’t trivial would tip the scales of the match.

At random intervals, Terry vanished for slightly longer than he had before, and projectiles began to arc toward the sparring circle with varied trajectories and speeds.

Tala responded by calling her defensive discs into the fight, adding them to Flow and her body as she deflected and warded off Terry’s increasingly sophisticated attacks.

The incoming projectiles added the first real sound to the conflict, besides the soft tap of Tala’s footfalls.

Each arching attack that was deflected had a slightly different sound based on the composition of the projectile itself and which method Tala used to avoid harm.

When she avoided them entirely, rocks made a cracking sound against the sparring circle’s ground, wood thunked, mud splatted, and dirt clods cascaded like a broken waterfall.

When Flow took them from the air, they rarely landed near enough to be easily heard, and the sparring sheath ensured that even the less coherent distractions were deflected as a whole.

Kinetic impartment, I can see why Rane loves you so much.

-Yeah, it is really convenient not to have to worry about shattering incoming missiles.-

The attacks that met her defensive disks made similar sounds to those that met the stone beneath her feet, save that the sound was more hollow, as if the disks were dense wood or hardened bone.

We never did figure out what those were made of.

-Yeah, it’s never seemed like a priority… like now…why are you thinking about this now?-

The sound is rather pervasive…

-It is that. Like rain on a thin metal roof.-

Rust no. Not that annoying.

-But it is distracting.-

Fine! I’ll focus.

Terry seemed to have learned how she responded to various types of assault, so he was expertly working to maneuver her into a position to force her to take another hit.

She couldn’t remember a fight this interesting since Io, though Alat could probably check. She wouldn’t of course. She needed to—

-Tala, for the love of everything, focus.-

Right!

Terry’s strategy was forcing her toward taking a hit.

So, Tala grinned and changed her reactions, shifting between subsets of the Way of Flowing Blood.

That almost earned her a blow on Terry’s side, but the slippery avian flickered away at the last instant, clear surprise flickering in his eyes as he vanished.

That’s right. You’re not the only one who can change the battle.

Even so, Tala’s mind was stretched thin.

She was not used to having so many independently moving parts within a protracted fight.

The fact that Terry had no discernable pattern to his attacks was aggravating in both senses of the word.

First, it was infuriating to not be able to predict his attacks.

Second, it was making the strain on her mind and willpower much worse.

Even with Alat’s assistance, Tala was nearing her limit.

Adding to that frustration was the fact that she still hadn’t landed a blow on Terry.

He’s fighting more fluidly than we’ve ever seen.

-Yeah, if I didn’t know better, I’d say he was actually trying to kill you.-

Tala huffed an internal laugh. If he wanted to do that, he knows where I sleep. I’m durable, but a terror bird the size of a house sitting on me as he ripped off my head? Yeah… I’d die.

-…you would, but…-

Tala mentally hesitated, which of course made all the strain she was under worse. What is it?

-I’m not sure that you’d stay dead, honestly. It would come down to whether your gate stuck around, or even if it left, if your body had enough power stored up to regrow your head. The Archive connection would be broken, but who knows how much would come back from just the healing. Basic function? Probably. Likely not more than that. In either case, you might not stay dead.-

But my body would be without my gate? Without my soul?

-Well, in the absolutely most extreme case of your body recovering, yeah.-

That’s… horrifying. Would I still be able to act?

-That’s a ‘what is the soul and how does it work’ type of question.-

She didn’t have any bandwidth for more contemplations after that.

Thirty seconds later, Terry was able to land a blow that started a cascade of projectiles striking her and continuing to move her as he chose until, finally, he became massive in size as he pinned her to the ground with his taloned foot.

Tala wasn’t breathing heavily, but her mind was definitely spinning.

That was the hardest fight she’d ever been subjected to. Even the Eskau that she’d fought hadn’t pushed her that hard, and that was before her most recent improvements.

She was proud of how well she’d done, and it hadn’t been enough.

-We would need to try to kill him to have a chance at winning, I think, at least for now.-

Yeah, I think so too. A couple of siege orbs or the like could help us bring about a victory, but I don’t know how he’d fare in that case.

-Precisely. It would just be a chance.-

Then there’s the ending-breath.

-Oooo, I do like that name for it.-

I know, right? But hardly helpful now.

-Yeah, you should probably focus on the matter at hand.-

Tala looked up at her wagon-sized avian friend, even as he examined her with one eye, his head tilted to the side, critically. “Good fight, Terry. Give me a couple of minutes to rest, and we can go again, yeah?”

He didn’t move, or really respond in any way except to swivel his head to examine her with his other eye.

After a long moment, Tala cleared her throat. “Terry?”

Finally, he trilled and flickered away, appearing on the far side of the sparring circle, barely larger than a chicken. He gave her a long, long look, then flickered away.

I wonder what that was about.

-No idea.-

“Thank you for the match!” She called out after the no-longer-visible terror bird, infusing her words with power so they would carry.

A rolling, powerful squawk came back, clearly an acknowledgement of her gratitude.

“I hope he’s okay. He’s seemed down lately.” She spoke softly, obviously to herself.

-Yeah… I’ll see if I can find any clues in our memory.-

“Thank you, Alat.”

-It is my pleasure.-

Tala still had some time before Master Leighis and Latna would be coming by, so she turned her focus back to physical training for the next half-hour or so.

At that point, she was ready to move onto something else.

Honestly, she was in an awkward place.

She was back with humanity, and she had nothing that she had to do on a day to day basis.

She wasn’t healing anymore, so she didn’t need to take it easy.

She wasn’t with her friends, so she couldn’t fill her time by bugging them or doing random things in their free time.

She's with her siblings, and they aren't always available, though they did make an effort to be with her as often as was reasonable.

Even so, Tala needed some way to fill her time.

Training was all well and good, but if it was all she did, she wouldn’t survive her now effectively infinite life-span.

She’d die of boredom.

There was an item that desperately needed investigation, and she’d been putting it off again and again.

She couldn’t do a lot herself, but she hadn’t even done the initial things required to get others involved.

It was time that she at least looked at Io’s now fully matured artificial corpse.

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 316 - Her Next Moves

Tala took an extra moment to consider her next moves. She needed to investigate Io’s corpse, but she wanted to proceed intelligently.

-The automaton body is not really dead, so is it fair to call it a corpse?-

But she is. Therefore, it is Io’s corpse, even if it isn’t dead.

-Yeah… that’s fair.-

Tala bit her lip in thought. You know, if I lost my head and my gate, but my body had enough latent energy to return itself to full health, I think it would be the same. I would be dead, so the body would be my corpse, but the body, itself, wouldn’t be dead.

-Yeah, I regret bringing up that very remote possibility.-

She shrugged. It’s an interesting comparison, if nothing else.

Tala returned her mind to the topic of Io’s body.

The inactive automaton had been set aside, placed into the vat of magical liquid to finish maturing. That process had finished, and the result had been waiting for her to begin investigations into its secrets for quite a while now. Thus, it really wasn’t surprising that her mind had moved back to the automaton and the need to kickstart that process.

I do think it is time.

-Really? … Fine. No experiments, but you can go examine it.-

Tala quirked a smile. “Thanks, Mom.”

It was a funny thing, how she found herself speaking to Alat both internally and externally, depending on the circumstances. She hadn’t put together a pattern, per se, but she had started to take note of the various instances.

But that was not the matter at hand.

With a thought, Tala was in her sanctum’s lower reaches, standing near—but out of reach of—a tank filled with purple liquid.

The body was substantially more developed than when Tala had fought Io.

The automaton had seemed like a late teen at that time, by body size and development, but now, it was clearly meant to mimic an adult.

Armor plates with sophisticated, ingrained spell-forms covered the majority of its form.

Their configuration clearly wasn’t designed like a suit of armor, so it wasn’t perfectly sealed by a wide margin. Even so, it was obviously much more protective than the average person’s flesh.

Under the plating, Tala could see bits of the construct poking through. Now, it looked like nothing so much as muscle of braided and interwoven precious metals, but each bunch was surrounded with an odd, semi-clear material of unknown composition, filled with natural magics that Tala could sense were meant to replenish and act upon the metals contained within.

A muscular system that can be strained and heal back stronger?

-That’s what it looks like to me.-

Io didn’t have anything like that. I feel like I would have noticed.

-No, it didn’t when you fought it. That is the latest development, I believe. At the very least, the magical, metal muscles weren’t visible when we checked last, and everything indicated it was almost complete at that time.-

And it is complete now?

-Yes. From everything we can determine.-

So, the ‘muscles’ that had been there had expanded and been filled with this more biological-like, magical mechanism.

It seemed to imply that the body could train and be molded to its needed tasks.

Automata are more human-like than I had assumed.

-That seems to be true, at least if we assume that Io is actually made in their image.-

Do you doubt that fact?

-Not really? It seems odd to consider them being able to have such a profound impact from wherever they are sealed.-

Assuming they are sealed.

-Tala. If they weren’t—-

Tala waved her off. I know, I know. If they weren’t contained, they’d be doing more than simply influencing a random arcane researcher or two.

-Exactly.-

She returned her focus to the automaton.

If it were freed of its growth tank, the form would stand taller than her, though it had similar proportions.

The figure was designed to have feminine characteristics, for whatever reason.

It’s almost scaled to be like the larger arcane species, but not quite that size.

-I agree. It seems like it’s as large as a being could be while still fighting at human scale with relative ease.-

Yeah… I don’t remember any overlarge features in the hold we took this stuff from. Maybe they just were an average sized group, so they made this creation to be powerful and overbearing, but still work within their facilities.

-That’s a pretty solid guess, actually. Certainly better than many other reasons we’ve considered.-

Tala smiled at that. Isn’t that the truth.

They had bandied about some rather insane potential reasons for all sorts of aspects of the automata they’d fought.

Tala stepped forward and placed her hand against the side of the tank. “There is so much about you that we don’t know.”

She knew that there was no consciousness to hear her, and she doubted her words would have carried through the rather thick, purple fluid regardless.

The tank was warm under her hand, both with heat and magical power. It was an impressively magically-dense construct, all things considered.

-We need to get to work on researching all the spell-forms contained within.-

Tala only paused for a moment before nodding. “Let’s do it.”

Without further delay, she moved her bloodstars around the tank, panning her perspective over the automaton from every angle using mundane vision, magesight, and voidsight.

Her aura suffused the purple liquid, pulling all the information she could from that perception as well.

It would not be a fast process, and it would likely take many days to complete it properly, but together, she and Alat began building a comprehensive, three-dimensional understanding of the unusual creation that had fallen into their hands.

In the end, they hoped to have a map similar to what Inscriptionists used to design spell-forms for their clients.

They wanted to fully understand every aspect of the magics involved in the automaton’s construction.

This was a chance that they simply couldn’t pass up, and truthfully, they didn’t trust anyone else to do it.

They would bring in others to study what they pulled from the form, but the automaton itself? That would stay here unless someone like Master Xeel asked for it.

While they had it, they would not simply hide it away, fearful of what it could do, what it could mean.

No.

Tala and Alat would learn everything they could; they would find every secret and weakness hidden within the automaton, and they would pray that that information would never be needed.

***

Tala sat around a small table with Latna and Master Leighis.

Mistress Petra had outdone herself with the meal, even specifically mirroring the mundane food for the other two and Tala’s magic-filled fare.

The Mage-cook had made a selection of meat pies, varying the makeup of the crusts and composition of the contents for a truly scrumptious and varied spread.

It also made for a funny comparison.

While the Healer and Alchemist, between them, had five or six little serving dishes, each with three of the given type of pie, Tala had a single large platter with a full thirty sundry pies.

The evening began rather boisterously as Latna described how they’d made great strides in cornering the market for the iron paint that Tala had helped them acquire the recipe for.

The Constructionist Guild had a standing order for just a little more than they could make.

While it was slightly frustrating to leave money on the table, it also meant that what little they couldn’t supply wasn’t being fulfilled by another alchemist.

There wasn’t enough profit in it for another alchemist to fork out the cost for the recipe.

At least there was no reason until the contract Latna had negotiated came close to its end, but that wouldn’t be for another three and a half years.

They were using the time to get better at the process and reduce expenses surrounding the production. Latna guessed that they’d be in a place to offer rates no one else could match when the contract turned over.

That would cut into their profits, but it would cement their hold on the customer.

At that point, they would be positioned to increase production and possibly begin selling in the neighboring cities, or more likely, seeking out other customers in Marliweather.

The various aspects of that got them through most of dinner, at which point, the topic turned to magic.

Latna was beaming. “Master Leighis has been incredibly kind, taking his time to teach me the basics of inscriptions and the foundational theories of Magic.”

Tala smiled at that. “Oh? Are you moving her toward a specific quadrant or seeing how things fall?”

He smiled. “It is a bit early to be focusing on any specific quadrant or type of magic, honestly. I am just attempting to give her a solid foundation. She may stop at inscribed, but I don’t think so. I see her being able to go the distance. She’s bound to have a good chance.”

Tala heard the none-too-subtle statement in his last sentence. He thought that Latna should have a good chance of making it to Archon. Honestly, that was a weight off of Tala’s mind. She still felt like she didn’t really understand how to tell who would make it and who wouldn’t.

She simply didn’t have enough experience with meeting Mages before they made the attempt, in order to draw comparisons between those who did, and those who didn’t succeed.

Tala purposely let her gratitude at the information show through. “That is very kind of you, Master Leighis. Thank you.”

“It is my pleasure. My own master suggested that I solidify my base of understanding and examine my perspectives before pushing toward Fused…” He hesitated at that. “You have… rather exceeded that level of advancement.”

She pulled her smile back to a small, polite one. “I have had rather extraordinary circumstances driving me forward, most of which I would not wish on… anyone.”

She had almost said that she wouldn’t wish them on her worst enemy, but she realized that wasn’t actually true. Were he still alive, she would wish every manner of torture upon Be-thric.

I suppose it also isn’t accurate to say that I wouldn’t wish it on ‘anyone.’ Even so, it was vague enough to not really be untrue.

“I can understand that.” Master Leighis’ face softened. “I know the barest amount of what you went through, and I definitely agree, I would not want to pay that price to advance.”

Tala shrugged and shifted the subject. “So? How do you feel about your own progress?”

“Well, I am coming to be more at peace with who I am and what I do. I definitely have a deeper resonance and connection with healing. My master and I felt that my deepest barrier to my Fusing was that I was pursuing the path of destruction, when healing held a stronger calling for me.”

Not a problem for me, but I suppose that everyone struggles in different areas. “So, you are moving towards Fusing, then?”

“I am. I feel a component, for me, is helping others reach their full potential, not just physically.”

Tala had never really considered healing a manner of helping a body realize its potential, but it made sense as soon as he said it. Even so, that wasn’t what he was bringing up. “Hence, teaching.”

“Yes, teaching. My previous student was a good memory to look back on, and I came to realize that that pursuit was a part of what I needed. Latna has been kind enough to learn from me, so that I could test that theory.” He then got very uncomfortable and seemed to hesitate.

Not wanting to push, Tala took a long drink to give him time.

It was then that he nodded. “I’ll just come out and say it, we wanted to talk with you before we formalized our relationship.”

Tala spat out her drink.

She really couldn’t fall into coughing fits, but she definitely felt that some water had gotten into her lungs.

Her inscriptions removed it with speed and efficiency even as she forced out a slightly garbled, “What?”

Latna was frowning at Master Leighis, but he seemed to not notice. “I know it’s highly irregular, but I felt like it was prudent to consult you before I make her my mageling, officially.”

Tala blinked at that before asking, again, “What?”

Latna shook her head. “Master, I think that you gave her the wrong idea with how you asked.”

He frowned. “What do you mean? What did she…?” His eyes widened. “Oh. Oh! No, my apologies, Mistress Tala!”

He held up his hands, a look of genuine contrition painting his features.

“I feel that it is appropriate for the important people in a mageling’s life to approve of their master, before such a relationship is made official.”

Tala found herself nodding. That was not always the case, but it did make sense. A mageling-master relationship was a massively important one that often lasted for as long as the Mages both lived.

Master Leighis’ own obviously continued communications with his own master stood as testament to that.

“Well,”—Tala cleared her throat—“what information do you feel is pertinent for me to know, before I approve?”

Latna groaned before interjecting. Even though her tone was long-suffering, something about her made Tala believe that she was incredibly on edge, “I think it’s pertinent for you to know that I get to choose, and I’ve already chosen.”

Tala barely suppressed a smile as she gave Master Leighis a mock-serious glance, trying to draw Latna out of whatever was bothering her. “You certainly let your magelings speak disrespectfully toward those above them. Maybe we should discuss how you intend to handle discipline?”

He gave a half smile. “The beatings will continue until morale improves?”

Tala chuckled. “That’s a good start.”

Latna glared at them both. “That’s not very funny. Beatings aren’t good for morale.”

Tala and Master Leighis shared a look before they both burst out laughing. Tala took it upon herself to address her sister. “That’s the joke, Latna.”

Latna froze, coloring slightly. “Right, of course.”

Master Leighis continued to chuckle.

Despite the awkwardness, it seemed that the odd underlying tension of the topic had been thoroughly dispelled.

As such, the three settled into discussing the specifics of what it would look like for Latna to be his mageling.

He specifically offered Tala the chance to fulfill the master role for Latna, despite her sister’s clear hesitation.

Tala flatly refused. Though, she did thank him for checking with her and offering her the opportunity to refuse.

Where she was going, and what she was going to be doing in the near future, was no place for a mageling.

She had no way of healing others, either, and it would be irresponsible in the extreme to bring someone unsuited to danger into it without clearly set up layers of protection and recovery.

Tala might be a bit freer with danger than most Mages, but she only really acted that way with herself, because she knew she could take the fallout.

Thankfully, she hadn’t been wrong yet.

That moved them onto the topic of her future plans, and their plans, and all in all, they passed the evening in incredibly pleasant conversation.

They only paused to grab dessert, a multi-layered fluffy delicacy with just the hint of coffee.

Tala was refraining from diving back into that black hole, even though it would likely be fine for her now.

Dark, rich, amazing—

-Tala!-

Hmm?! What? Tala almost jerked at Alat’s outburst.

-You swore off coffee for at least another two months.-

I know, but…

-No coffee. This dessert is fine, but no liquid coffee.-

Fine…

It was nearly midnight when the two bid Tala goodnight, and she felt surprisingly tired.

Who knew? Being social is more exhausting than fighting a House’s worth of arcanes.

-Every introvert, everywhere.-

Ahh, but how many have the actual experience to truly do the comparison?

-Yes, Tala, you are very special.-

You’re not very nice sometimes.

-Go to sleep, Tala. I was derived from you, remember? And we’re tired.-

She definitely was exhausted. Still, she took the time to walk to her room rather than simply cause Kit to move her. I still need to study that more.

-Not tonight!-

No, of course not tonight. Don’t be silly.

-…You’re not in bed yet.-

Tala huffed a laugh, pausing in the courtyard that surrounded her dais to look up at the stunning night sky for just a moment.

“Beautiful.” She spoke softly, so it didn’t carry.

She knew it was fake, but she saw it as a sort of living painting. It didn’t matter too much if a painting depicted something that actually existed or not. It just needed to evoke the emotion it was intending to bring forth.

This did that in gold.

She drew her thoughts back together and walked into her room, pushing open the massive door and letting it swing silently shut behind her.

Her usually spartan room was now a little less so.

She’d added two little shelves.

One held a slightly wonky glass vase made with off-blue and brownish-red glass.

The other held a small cross-stitch of a wolf-pack, held flat in a frame.

Dagan and Alva had insisted on giving her the gifts. They were her favorites of what they’d shown her, and she felt a smile tug at her lips as she glanced their way.

In their own way, the little works of art were just as lovely as the faux night sky outside. In many ways, they meant more.

The sky had been commissioned for an indentured servant and commissioned from a workman who had likely made dozens, if not hundreds. Oh, the arcane had done an excellent job, but it had been just that: a job.

The two pieces of art from her siblings were works of passion, given out of love for their big sister, and the very idea pulled at Tala’s heartstrings.

She wiped away a tear and chuckled ruefully. “Rust, I really do need to sleep.”

Alat wisely didn’t comment.

Without further delay, Tala retracted her elk-leathers and glanced down at herself. “Well, that was pointless. I’m not going to get rid of the iron to sleep.”

There was no need for it to be in place either, but it felt more… normal.

-You’re sleeping, self-entombed in iron. Nothing about this is normal.-

Well, to be fair, ‘more normal.’

Tala huffed a laugh and flexed her willpower. The clothing regrew even as Tala sealed her own mouth and eyes.

She would sleep fully encased in iron, even if it wasn’t reasonable to leave herself so sealed while interacting with others.

It was a bit odd, sleeping without breathing.

At first, it had harkened a bit too much to her Refining, but through careful exposure, she was getting more used to it. By this point, it only occasionally caused dreams of drowning, or being buried alive, or suffocated or…

Thinking like that isn’t helping…

She shook her head and stopped mirroring her own perspective, letting herself be enclosed in utter darkness.

Goodnight, Alat.

-Goodnight, Tala.-

Sleep claimed her quickly.

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 317 - Family

Tala sat bolt upright as she felt someone knocking on her door.

Well, she felt someone knocking on Kit's door.

The knocking was transmitted to her via two methods.

First, it came to her as an odd vibration in her magic where it resonated with the power within Kit. That point was quite close to her gate, and thus it was very startling to feel it vibrate.

Second, she felt like she could hear it, as Kit transferred the soundwaves to her vicinity whenever something like this happened. Even so, with her ears completely covered, it wasn’t really the same as hearing it directly. Kit couldn’t transmit the sound past her iron layers, after all.

With a quick flex of will, she mirrored her perspective to her bloodstars which were arranged around the bed.

She took in the overlapping perspectives with no little confusion, seeing that it was fully dark and the night sky of her sanctum was still shining down outside her window.

What time is it?

-About two hours past midnight.-

Who is up at this hour?

-Well… we are, now.-

Not helpful… How long were we asleep?

-We only laid down about two hours ago.-

The knocking came again.

Tala pulled the iron from her eyes and mouth even as she sighed and called the door to herself, causing it to appear beside her and swing open.

“Yes?” Over the last weeks, Tala had taken to leaving Kit on the front door of her family’s alchemist shop. From the way the knocking came through, the person was knocking on the inside of the door.

Kit wouldn’t have notified her if someone was knocking on the outside. The alchemy shop, and Master Leighis’ healing establishment connected to it, often got late night visitors, and the Archon had set up magical relays to notify himself and the master Alchemists in those cases.

At her command, the door swung open, showing the dark interior of the alchemy shop’s front room and a little girl standing there, her hand raised to knock once again.

“Sella? What’s going on?” Tala frowned, swinging her feet out of bed. Is she alright?

-I don’t see any injuries, and she doesn’t look afraid.-

What has her out of bed, then?

The little girl brought her upraised hand to her face, rubbing at one eye, “I tired.”

Tala hesitated. “Yes?”

“I wan sleep.” Her posture was one of near-petulance as if someone was denying her that which she most desired.

Tala was quite confused. Why would the little girl have gotten out of her own bed and come to Tala, simply to tell Tala that she was tired and needed to sleep? “Sella, it’s the middle of the night. What’s going on? Why aren’t you in your own bed, asleep?”

Sella walked with slightly unsteady steps through the open door and scrambled as she climbed up into Tala’s bed, dragging a blanket behind her. “I tired.”

Tala gave her youngest sister a confused smile. “Yes, Sella, you need to go to bed and sleep.”

She laid a hand on the little girls forehead, then cheek. No fever that I can tell. No hostile magics.

“Just like I was asleep in my own bed before you knocked.” She gently teased, with the barest hint of a smirk.

The little girl patted her new seat proudly. “Bed. Sleep.”

“This is my bed, yes. This is where I was asleep.” Tala felt herself smiling, even while she was incredibly confused.

To be fair, when she’d dealt with her younger siblings before, back when she lived with them, they’d all essentially been in the same room. It was also different because she’d been a lot younger at the time. Those two things—and many others—together meant this sort of interaction wasn’t something she had a basis for.

She felt completely out of her depth.

Sella seemed to want to come to the rescue, however. “You tired?”

“Somewhat, yes. I don’t need much sleep, but I do sleep.”

“I tired.”

Tala felt her mouth twitch as her mind continued to fill with a befuddling mix of amusement and frustration. “Yes, that’s why we both need to go to bed.”

Sella laid on her side, pulling her blanket over herself even as she patted the surface below herself. “Bed. Sleep. You and me.”

Tala took a long breath to level her emotions, fighting to keep a smile off of her own face. Be strong. Don’t let cuteness rule. “You need to go to your own bed, Sella.”

Sella shook her head, fiercely, “No. I sleep.”

“Sella.” Tala found herself rubbing at her temples while continuing to fight a smile. How is she so frustrating and endearing at the same time?

-She’s a child? It’s sort of what they do.-

Sella pulled the blanket a bit higher, snuggling down. “I sleep you!”

“Sella…”

“Pease.”

“Little one, you need to—”

“Pease!” Her little voice was filled with vigor and frustration. “I sleep bed. I tired.”

Tala was at a loss. “Sella, you can’t sleep in my bed. You know the house rules: Everyone is to sleep in their own bed, unless they are sick or injured.”

She scooped up the girl with ease, hugging her close and carrying her through the still open door.

“Let’s get you back in bed, little one.”

Sella curled inward, huddling against Tala and pulling her blanket up after her. “I tired.”

“I know, Sella. I know.” Tala was now openly smiling despite herself, unable to contain it now that the little girl had no hope of seeing it. “That’s why we need to get you to bed.”

She walked the familiar path through the alchemy shop, toward the girls’ room upstairs.

Her feet knew the way even though she hadn’t come this far into the building since she had left for the Academy.

It hadn’t changed much.

Her parents were creatures of habit and routine, as was required with so many children running around.

It was clean and well kept.

Anything else would lead to stress, frustration, and the beginnings of insanity.

The walls had been repainted and the floors seemed to have been redone, or at least resealed, in the nearly a decade since she was last here.

Even so, the stairs creaked in an achingly familiar way as she carried little Sella up them. Though, they were louder than they had been in her memory. I suppose I am older.

-And heavier.-

That’s true enough.

-And you have better hearing.-

Yes, Alat. As it turns out, there’s a lot that’s different.

She got up to the room with her charge and found the door open, the other girls sound asleep.

The doors to the boys’ room and their parents’ room were both closed.

Tala navigated the dark space with ease, her eyes capable of seeing in far less light than was in the darkened house.

She laid the little girl down in the bed that she had clearly vacated recently and tucked her in.

Sella straightened against her pillow, “I—”

Tala covered her mouth with a gentle hand, whispering quickly, “Shhh… everyone is sleeping, little one. We need to be quiet and courteous and let them sleep.”

Sella nodded seriously, and Tala removed her hand. Sella then whispered back, “You sing.”

“Sella, no. I can’t—”

“Pease, sing.”

“Sella…”

“Pease!” She was still whispering, but it was a near thing. She also reached up and latched onto Tala’s braid.

It was coated in iron, but Tala had learned early to will it to act normally, otherwise it would stab her or inhibit her movement every time she turned her head.

“Let it go!” Tala whisper-shouted as the child tried to use her head as a bell.

The little girl pulled back with a pout. “Sawy.”

Tala pressed her lips together in a firm line, but the little girl’s pleading eyes were the only response. Finally, she let out a defeated sigh, fighting back a smile. “Fine, but quietly.”

“Thank you.” Each of those two simple words were spoken slowly and distinctly, causing Tala to once again smile at the small girl.

She is too precious…

-You’re going to spoil the child. You should be firm. You told her ‘no.’-

I know… but she’s so cute.

-Too cute for her own good…-

She sighed. “Sella, even though I said ‘no,’ I have decided that I was too hasty in that decision and singing to you would be alright. That is why I am going to sing. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Tala searched her mind for an appropriate song. She knew several from recent plays that she’d seen with Rane, but none were really good lullabies.

So, she dug back, and back, and back, until she found one that appealed to her, and she began to sing.

She was able to modulate her volume using her inscriptions so that she could sing properly while still keeping it at a soft volume.

As the words came from her mouth, she remembered her father holding her and singing this song to her when she was sick.

One particularly vivid memory came to mind, where she’d had a particularly pernicious stomach bug, and while they had waited for an anti-vomiting tincture to take effect, he had held her, despite her continued disgorgements.

It had seemed to take forever to work, but looking back, it had likely been less than ten minutes.

Less time than hunting down a healing Mage would have taken. After that, they’d kept her dosed with the proper remedies until she was fully healed.

-He was always good at what he does.-

That he was.

Tala remembered snuggling against him and his sick-covered shirt and him hugging her securely as he sang, uncaring of the mess.

That was only one of many, many times he had sung this song to her, and she felt her nose tingling and tears building in her eyes at the many memories.

Blessedly, it was too dark for little Sella to see, and besides, the little girl was asleep before Tala finished the second verse.

“Sleep well, little munchkin.” Tala shook her head affectionately as she retreated from the room, pulling the door closed.

The house was silent as she made her way back to Kit, opening the door into her sanctum and directing it into her bedroom once again.

The dark room seemed a little more barren after hosting the precious little one, even for only a brief time.

Regardless, Tala was still emotionally and socially exhausted, so she wasted no time in returning to her bed.

As she got resituated for sleep, her mind was filled with the better memories from her childhood. There was unquestioningly a wide spectrum from the awful to the sublime to choose from, but she found that even her sleep was filled with only recollections of those happier times.

***

Tala passed the next day and a half in companionable gatherings, discussions, and play with her siblings.

Terry was around still, but he hadn’t sparred with her since the oddly intense match that felt more and more like a duel the more she considered it, in retrospect.

But those considerations were an unneeded distraction from the task at hand.

Her family had bid goodbye to the second set of twins that they were sending off to the Academy, and now Tala was walking them, alone, to the teleporter.

They had requested this exact situation, and they walked with firm steps, each holding one of her hands.

Tala felt a bit awkward, but that awkwardness was dulled by the warmth in her chest.

The trip wasn’t that long, since they only needed to go from the residential ring into the central area of the city, the teleportation tower being on the nearer side of that part of the city.

No one talked, but it wasn’t an awkward silence.

Dagan and Alva didn’t have any bags or packs as nothing would survive the teleport.

Tala had covertly let them know that they could probably sneak something through, as long as it wasn’t too big, and they tucked it under their clothing.

She hadn’t verified what they’d done with the information, but both had scampered off for a short time after she shared the secret, and Tala would have sworn that their clothing was a bit more lumpy than it had been beforehand.

Tala would be returning with their winter gear, so that the teleportation workers wouldn’t have to deal with delivering it, and it wouldn’t just vanish in the transportation.

She couldn’t honestly remember if she’d worn her coat onto the teleportation pad so long ago. After all, she’d been focused on her grandmother’s pillow, tucked within her shirt at the time.

-Focused on that, among other things.-

That’s true enough.

Still, she didn’t allow herself to fall deep into contemplations. Instead, she forcibly turned her mind back to her siblings, engaging them in some small-talk.

They chatted about what the two expected from their time at the Academy.

Apparently, Illie and Nalac knew that they were coming, and they were supposed to be waiting for them at the teleportation receiving area.

Tala let Dagan and Alva know that it might not be quite that seamless, and emphasized that even if their siblings weren’t within sight right away, they should be there to greet them soon.

Tala actually vividly remembered quite a few of her classmates being called out at various times because some sibling, friend, or relative had arrived.

She, herself, had only been approached once, when a slightly younger classmate from her Marliweather school had arrived at the Academy, but they hadn’t known each other well in school, so Tala had declined.

Looking back on that, she regretted the choice.

It would have taken so little effort and would likely have meant a lot to the other student. After all, if someone else had been available, they wouldn’t have approached Tala to go for the meet-up.

They had crossed paths later, Tala and the other student, and there hadn’t been animosity, but even Tala had definitely detected a bit of a chill.

The regrets of youth. It’s amazing how we view priorities when so young.

-Weren’t you just reading at the time? Sitting in a corner of the library, alone?-

It was a good book. Tala thought defensively. Or… I think it was. I don’t really remember which one I was reading at the time.

-That tells me all I need to know on that account.-

Tala huffed internally. Well, I was quite a bit younger then.

-It was less than ten years ago.-

Almost half my life ago, you mean.

-Just because you can say it in a way to make it seem longer doesn’t actually change the time frame.-

Well, ten years is still a long time.

Tala returned her focus to Alva, who was in the process of asking about the food offered at the Academy… again.

Tala found herself smiling as she once more went into the details of how tasty the food was, along with how closely they had to moderate and balance their intake with their exercising.

The Academy also paired it with strict coaching so that students didn’t swing too far either way and maintained a healthy view of themselves.

Even so, a lot of it was moot until each student stopped growing. It was more important to have the proper nutrition to grow than to maintain a perfect balance of intake and usage.

Tala didn’t go into all of the details, not by a long shot, but she did briefly hit the highlights.

It was still enough to fill the remainder of the time until they arrived at the teleportation tower.

Two older looking Mages met them just inside the doorway.

It was funny; looking back, Tala remembered being met by similarly old-appearing Mages, and she realized that they were actually just that: Mages, likely stalled out in their advancement. Even so, they were selected to meet with children heading off to the Academy because they had the appearance of being older and more distinguished.

Like convincing mundanes that a common bit of magic is special and difficult.

-I don’t know of anything like that, actually.-

Well, no… maybe some farmer convincing people that rotten meat or moldy cheese was a delicacy?

-Oh! Or some worthless, incredibly abundant creature is actually a sign of class, if eaten?-

Yeah, something like that… has that happened?

-Probably. If so, I bet the thing is pretty disgusting…-

The Mages both smiled at the children and bowed deeply to Tala. The woman, who stood in front of Dagan addressed her directly, deference still clear in her tone, “Mistress, thank you for bringing these charges this far. We can take them from here.”

Tala gave a slight nod back in return. “Thank you for the offer, but I will accompany them until they depart.”

The two exchanged a look, and the man spoke next. “We do not want you to have to spend your valuable time in such a manner. I assure you, we are quite practiced in seeing off the future defenders of humanity.”

She frowned, glancing at Dagan and Alva.

The two returned her looks with a mix of confusion, concern, and pleading.

Tala turned back to the two Mages and shook her head, “Again, thank you, but I will be accompanying my siblings until they teleport away.”

“Siblings?” The older woman glanced to the man, and they both bowed once again. “My apologies, Mistress. We were told to expect the two Academy entries, alone. We assumed that you had simply accompanied them after seeing that they were traveling alone through the city.”

“Oh.” Tala blinked a couple of times. “I suppose that is an understandable assumption. Now that it is resolved, shall we proceed?”

The five made their way through the tower, the Mages engaging Dagan and Alva in conversation, dispelling any trepidation and hesitation with obviously practiced ease.

Tala took the twins’ winter gear, tucking it into Kit as they pulled it off one piece at a time.

It wasn’t a long walk before they arrived at a room with two teleportation circles inset side by side.

Simultaneous teleportation was fairly common when teleportation was used, since each circle could only take one person. Thus, the towers were set up to accommodate side-by-side activations in at least some of their main rooms.

Tala called out Terry, and he gave a goodbye snuggle to the twins before returning to Kit much to Tala’s confusion and the obvious relief of the Mages.

We need to talk with him.

-After.-

Yeah, after.

All the human goodbyes had already been taken care of, save one.

Dagan and Alva tackled Tala almost in unison, hugging her tightly.

Tala returned the gesture carefully, ever cognizant of her own strength and their frailty.

-You know, they’re basically your height.-

Hush you. “Be safe, you two. Have fun, make friends, learn all that you can.”

“We will,” they returned, almost in unison.

“Give Illie and Nalac my best, but don’t feel like you need to attach yourselves to them. Make your own friends, find your own path.”

They nodded against her.

Tala just stayed there, holding them for a long moment.

The Mages, for their part, didn’t interrupt or hurry the process along in the slightest. While they hadn’t expected anyone to be with the children this time, they were clearly experienced with Academy students saying goodbyes in the teleportation rooms.

Eventually, the twins pulled back.

Dagan smiled, “Thank you for coming with us.”

Alva nodded in agreement.

“I was happy to.”

Without another word, the two walked to their respective spots and let the Mages know they were ready.

Alva shifted slightly, looking to the older man beside her spot. “How long will it take?”

He smiled reassuringly. “Ten seconds from when I say ‘now’ until you depart, and you will arrive in the same instant.”

Tala didn’t think that was quite accurate, but she wasn’t about to argue with the man in front of her siblings.

“Now.”

She felt the build up of power and waved. “Messages are hard to get in and out of the Academy, but I’ll try regardless.”

Alva rolled her eyes and smiled, and Dagan shook his head as he responded, “If you send anything, we’ll respond.”

“Hey. I’ll send something.”

-Well, you mean I will.-

And you are me.

-True, true.-

Alva twitched her head in a way that immediately drew Tala’s attention, likely that had been the girl’s intention. With a mischievous smile, she spoke quickly and softly, “We love you, Tala. Take care of yourself.”

Before Tala could open her mouth to respond, the teleportation magics activated, and they were gone.

Oh, that tricky munchkin. She waited until they were about to vanish to say that.

-Because she didn’t want you to be pressured to respond.-

I suppose…

The Mages went through the process of prepping the room for the next teleportation without actually refilling the now-spent spell-forms.

It only took Tala a moment to notice that they were putzing.

When she oriented on them, they bowed yet again. The woman addressed her, “Is there anything else that we can do to assist you, Mistress?”

“No, thank you. I will leave you to your work.”

“You are most kind. Thank you.”

Without another word, Tala turned and left, heading back toward her other siblings as she tried to ignore the bit of tightness firmly lodged within her chest.

They’ll be alright.

-That they will.-

A note from JLMullins

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Discord: https://discord.gg/FddACAjUrR

The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 318 - Questions and Departure

Tala was just leaving the teleportation tower, after dropping off Dagan and Alva, and she had set her sights on having a discussion with Terry.

She almost headed back to the alchemy shop to set Kit on the door and speak with Terry in the sanctum.

Instead, she hesitated. If she did that, she knew that it would be noticed and set off a cascade of questions as to how the twins got off, if they were alright, and things of that nature.

It would take quite a long while before she could take time to speak with Terry.

Therefore, she went to her bench in the park near the family house.

It was where she’d met Nalac on his way home from school nearly a year and a half ago.

There wasn’t much snow about; spring had begun to fight back winter, leading to more melting and less snowfall.

The bench was vacant, so she sat down and opened Kit.

“Terry? Can we talk?”

Terry flickered out, standing on the bench, sized to put their eyes at an almost equal level. He had a stern, stiff demeanor about him.

“What can I do for you, Terry?” Tala kept her voice calm and level, while also making sure that the warmth of her affection for the avian came through as well.

He cocked his head to the side, awaiting her explanation.

“Something is wrong, I can tell that much. What do you need? Do you need me to take you beyond the city’s defenses? Do you need something different to eat?”

He seemed to hesitate for a long moment.

Tala felt a building nervousness that she couldn’t explain, like a thousand voices—just outside of her ability to hear—were screaming at her that this was important.

No, not out of hearing range, maybe behind some sort of barrier, blockage, dampening field, or wall.

-Maybe the fourth?-

Yeah, it could be the fourth.

It felt like a thousand voices were trying to emphasize the importance of this talk with Terry from just beyond a metaphysical wall.

“Terry?”

The avian shook himself in the negative, indicating that it wasn’t either of the things she had offered. He then hunkered down, looking up at her questioningly.

“I assume you don’t want to spar again.”

He tilted his head and squawked irritably.

“Right, hard to answer that. Do you want to spar again, now?”

He shook himself.

“Do you want to discuss the bond?”

He hesitated, then let out a tentative trill.

“Yes, but not how I mean it?”

He bobbed to that.

“So, not a soul-bond, but our friendship? Our partnership?”

He bobbed slowly.

“Close…”

Terry started flickering to two spots, just as he had so long ago. He showed two terror birds fighting, growing together in ability. This time he didn’t go for nearly as long, as he was seemingly referencing that earlier time.

“Training together? Growing together.”

He bobbed.

“And that along with the previously indicated partnership… are you talking about us being a group, or… herd?”

He squawked loudly in irritation.

“Right, right. Herds are groups of prey.” She suppressed a smile. “How silly of me. You are thinking about us as a flock?”

He slowly bobbed. The motion conveying importance and seriousness rather than hesitance.

“You are trying to decide if we can grow together or if it is time for us to part.” It wasn’t a question.

He bobbed again.

“So… what are you thinking?”

He gave her an unimpressed look before standing up and sinking back into his previous position.

“You’re saying, ‘I’m here, aren’t I?’”

He trilled, and the tonality and timbre carried a note of ‘obviously.’

“Well, that’s good. So, you’ve decided to stay?”

He hesitated before finally bobbed his assent.

Tala felt a wave of relief as the tension she’d felt building was released. “I’m glad.”

She smiled and scratched the side of Terry’s head.

“So, you wanted to discuss it?”

He bobbed.

“But you’ve decided.”

He bobbed yet again, making sure to keep her hand in scratching range.

“So, you wanted to tell me that you’d decided.” She nodded to herself. “You want me to know that this is important and significant. So, what does that mean?”

Around the scratches, he gave her a flat look.

“Right, right. You can’t easily answer a question like that.” Her smile grew. “So, do you want to bond?”

Terry shook himself.

“That’s alright. Do you think you might ever want to?”

He immediately bobbed, then shook himself again.

“You think that you might, depending on how it goes?”

He nuzzled her hand before flickering to her shoulder.

“You want to test things out, operating under this new framework?”

He headbutted her cheek.

“So, more sparring?”

He chirped happily.

“But not today.”

Terry trilled.

“Right, right. You already said that. Then I’ll look forward to our match tomorrow.”

He hunkered down on her shoulder, clearly content.

-Well, that’s progress.-

Yeah, he’s with us for the time being. I can understand not wanting to soul-bond.

-It did seem like he was interested in the idea, but still wanted to think on it, or try out something or…-

Yeah, didn’t have a definitive answer… She glanced over at Terry.

He cracked open one eye to look back at her.

“So, we’re testing out being a flock, eh?”

He cooed, closing his eye.

“What does that mean?

He opened his eye again and shuffled his feet a half dozen times before letting out a huff.

Tala grinned. “Not now? Let you sleep?”

He headbutted her cheek and hunkered back down.

“Alright, alright.” She scratched his head and neck. “We can talk through the specifics later.”

He pushed into her hand even as she stood up and headed back towards the shop.

The remainder of her time with her siblings passed in a similar fashion to the first weeks, simply with two fewer siblings to spend time with. Well, and Terry was around a lot more, which made everything even better.

Tala intentionally filled her days with as much time with her siblings as possible. She also sparred with Terry when he was amenable, and she had time.

The first time, the day after their discussion, she noticed something important: The effects of her working within the sparring circle had remained.

As soon as she noticed, she honestly wasn’t surprised. Her gravity enhancements were similarly enduring, and the banishing trigger that she’d imbedded in her mindset for the working hadn’t been broken.

Tala called over Master Simon and asked him to analyze the space.

After an initial sweep, he began to frown and proceeded to perform rather intensive scans, refusing to say more than that the results were odd before he finished.

When he did finish, however, he expanded on what he meant by that, “I wouldn’t say that the integrity of reality is greater, here. Whatever you did, it didn’t change the nature of the space, but it is more stable.” He scratched his chin as he went over the results of his scans, displayed on the slate before him. He was still obviously trying to wrap his mind around what he was seeing.

“So… what does that mean?”

“If reality was a cracked plate, you didn’t heal the cracks, but you did dip the whole thing in glue.”

She tilted her head to one side. “So, I’ll ask again. What does that mean?”

He chuckled. “My apologies, yes, yes. Analogy isn’t an explanation. This means that this area mimics unbroken reality in many ways but not nearly all. I think that this section of your sanctum should be more resistant to degradation, but that would take a lot of testing. It is also more dimensionally resistant, so I think it would be harder to expand, or enact other similar magics within.” He shook his head, a frown creasing his brows. “Even though you don’t know exactly what you were amplifying, what level of amplification do you think you reached?”

Tala thought back on the fight, checked with Alat, then shrugged, “Honestly? A couple of trillion times.”

He blinked at her. “Come again?”

“I think that I amplified the metaphysical forces involved by a factor of at least two trillion.”

He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his off hand as he grimaced. “You grabbed onto an unknown… something and amplified it to an insane degree?”

“Yes? Well, that is assuming that I was getting a similar recursion to my gravity amplification.”

His now open eyes allowed her to see one twitch. “You can amplify gravity that much?”

“Well, yeah. That’s how I can make these.” She reached out toward him, one of her siege orbs appearing in her hand.

He took it gingerly, starting to nod. “You mentioned these, but I suppose I didn’t consider exactly what it meant.”

“To be clear, I can’t do this on a wide scale, but for a discrete target-set?” She shrugged. “It’s very possible. So…?”

“We don’t know what you amplified, exactly, nor really to what extent. We have no basis for comparison, so I can’t possibly tell you what you’ve done or the results.”

“Should I… stop?” She was quite hesitant to agree to that. Even though she didn’t exactly understand what she was doing, it did seem to make Terry have to work harder, and Tala felt like she needed every edge she could get, especially now that the sparring was so much more important.

He gave her a flat stare. “The rationalist in me begs you to undo whatever this is…”

“But?” Tala hid a hopeful smile.

“But… I cannot detect any specific danger from this, and with how wide-ranging my information gathering artifacts are, I should be able to detect at least an inkling if there is any. Additionally, I am curious beyond what I would think reasonable, were I in a standard, Constructionist position.”

“So?”

“So, I think that you are somehow affecting my rationality.” He gave her a narrow-eyed inspection.

She huffed a laugh. “I’ll follow your recommendation.”

“I gathered that.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Let me check on the progress every day, but otherwise, keep on, I suppose. It looks safe from everything I can tell. If I remember correctly, your magics have the ability to be broken by yourself?”

She nodded. “I leave a trigger within my workings that allows me to break them, yes.”

“Alright then.” He looked down at the slate, longing clear in his eyes. “How about I watch from the sidelines whenever you are using the working, and if I tell you to break it, you break it instantly and with no questions asked?”

Tala smiled. “That sounds like a good plan, and I accept the conditions.” She glanced over to where Terry was sunning himself while waiting. “Ready?”

His answer was to flicker into position on one side of the sparring ring.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

So, every day Master Simon monitored the aspects of reality and existence around the sparring ring while Tala and Terry sparred.

Every day, Tala continued to amplify the connection between the pieces of reality, slowly making it harder and harder for Terry to use his movement abilities.

After their matches, Tala would go over the results with Master Simon and discuss the insights and thoughts he had on all aspects of the fight he was able to observe both with and without his artifacts.

Thus, the month was spent, and before she really registered the passing days, it was time for Tala to depart.

While she didn’t make a big deal about it, her siblings all knew she was leaving, and they each said their goodbyes.

Sella, in particular, tried to make demands for Tala’s quick return.

For Tala’s part, she promised to communicate more often, and to return during the following summer—if not before—when Nea would be making her final choice about whether or not to go to the Academy.

The siblings shared a final dinner together, Mistress Petra going above and beyond to make it a special one.

The Zuccat children—Karsa, Segis, and Metti—dropped through to bid goodbye to the Karweils, as well. The children had actually played as a group quite a bit over the previous month, so the goodbye was a bittersweet one.

Karsa was actually planning on leaving for the Academy in just a few months, so she would see Dagan and Alva there, and if Nea joined them, she’d have another friend too.

Terry joined the siblings for the full dinner, and they all enjoyed throwing out bits of food for him to snatch throughout the meal.

The next day Tala was up and ready for departure before daybreak.

Kit had been left on the alchemy shop front door, so when Tala exited, she chose to exit outside, where she found her father sitting, just where he had been when she had arrived.

How long was he out here, to make sure to catch me leaving?

He was in the process of standing as she stepped out, likely having heard the door open, and she didn’t pause, closing the door and pulling Kit to her belt.

He gave a short, respectful bow. “Mistress Tala.”

“Master Alchemist.”

If he was insulted or saddened by her address, he didn’t show it. “Thank you for the kindness you showed to my children. I know you care for them, so I don’t intend to say you would have acted otherwise, but I wanted to specifically express my thanks.”

Tala almost bristled, but in the end, she decided it wasn’t worth the energy. “You are welcome.”

“Thank you, also, for talking with Dagan and Alva about their futures as Mages. From what I was able to gather, they did seem to have more realistic expectations than I’d previously intuited.”

“Oh?” That was news to Tala.

“Yes, it was a small thing. They seemed to be approaching the prospect more like a career path than a storybook to step into. Thank you for that.”

“I’m not sure that was due to me. It could just be that they were faced with the growing, very real truth of their own departure.”

“In either case: Thank you.”

“You are welcome.”

They stood there for a long moment, silence filling the space between them.

It was not the comfortable silence of new-fallen snow, nor the deep inhalation before a storm. It was simply an emptiness.

There was nothing between them at all.

“Was there anything else?” Tala finally asked.

After a brief, final hesitation, he nodded, “Just to say, your mo—” He closed his mouth and eyes, shook his head and restarted, “My wife and I are here if you ever wish anything of us. Even if that is just to yell or rail or… anything. We will be here, until we aren’t.”

Tala had been building toward irritation as he spoke, ready to snap at him that she would never want anything from him, but the final sentiment stopped her in her tracks.

They would be there, until they weren’t.

They’ll be waiting, until they die.

-Which won’t actually be all that long, at least not in the scale of your life now.-

Tala grimaced.

She didn’t want to do this, now.

She didn't want to do this, ever, but certainly not now.

Still, she couldn’t muster the rage to snap back at him, not anymore.

Thus, she gave a simple response, the depths of her emotional exhaustion leaking through into her tone. “I will keep that in mind. Goodbye, master Karweil.”

Without another word, she turned and strode away.

Her mirrored perspectives saw him watch her go.

By his movements, even though he didn’t reach after her, he seemed to want to.

Finally, he bowed at her back and muttered too low for him to have thought she could hear, “Goodbye, Tala. Goodbye, my daughter. I love you.”

She didn’t change her pace or give any indication that she had heard.

She did flex her will, rolling her iron over her eyes before the building tears could break free.

That rusting man. Why can’t he act like the monster I knew?

-Would you really want him to be that man to your siblings?-

Tala growled internally. How are you so calm?

-While I am you, I am not you. While he is my father on a soul level, that is all the connection I have ever had to him. Everything else has just been through you and your memories. Because of that, I don’t have the emotional weight surrounding him that you do.-

That makes no sense.

-We can debate my nature later. Do you really want him to be who he was?-

Tala made it out through the southern gate of Marliweather before she answered, Alat giving her the long minutes of silence that she needed in order to start to organize her tumbling thoughts and emotions. No. I am glad that he is not that man to them.

-But it’s not enough.- Alat guessed.

Enough? That has nothing to do with it. He was that man to me. He misused our connection to the point of breaking it, and I don’t trust him enough to allow it to be rebuilt.

-There is a difference between rebuilding a father-daughter relationship and having civil interactions.-

I don’t want civil interactions with him.

Alat sighed. -No, you want him to be your dad, but he broke that.-

Rusting right he broke that.

-And you are so broken over that loss that you can’t let anything exist in that space?-

Why should I?

-Isn’t that like having a one of a kind piece of art that gets shredded; then, instead of finding something to fill that space on your wall, you just leave it blank and grumble about the shredding every time you pass by? Maybe even leaving up the irreparably damaged piece in place as a monument to what was lost?-

Tala didn’t seem to have a response to that, and Alat was wise enough to not press the issue further.

Thus, Tala’s mind was unusually quiet, overtop her turbulent and unsettled emotions as she began her run back to Bandfast.

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 319 - Fight!

Tala… may have gotten carried away.

She pulled the metal away from her mouth as she spat blood to the side.

The iron was instantly stripped away as the thick fluid left her mouth, leaving a clear splatter on the rock beside her.

A hundred yards away her opponent hunkered low and let loose a roar that shook the ground and caused the nearby trees to tremble.

The sound was like a mix of a heavy, rasping breath and the beginnings of a growl, projected at volumes that would break mundane eardrums.

Yes, this fight might have been a bit much for her to take on while simply traveling between cities.

Tala had been nearly halfway to Bandfast when she decided to divert into the mountains just north of that city as a way to take a new route back there.

As she traversed the increasingly rugged terrain, she had sensed a powerful collection of magic coming from within a moderately well-hidden valley, easily a dozen miles deeper into the mountains than she had planned on going.

Even so, she’d been curious.

It had led her here.

The valley was only two or three miles long and just over a mile wide, tucked high in the mountains.

A lake dominated one side, trees filled much of the remainder, snow capped the surrounding mountains, and the air was positively dripping with power.

Tala could sense no less than a dozen founts in caves surrounding the valley, all of which felt like they were earth or plant related, at least at a cursory inspection.

Alat had checked immediately, and Tala was not authorized to remove these founts. They were known and allowed for various purposes.

Since she was in the area, she was offered two gold to investigate the integrity of the area and ensure that nothing odd had cropped up.

As it turned out, something had.

Tala had noticed unusual movements in the zeme of the area near a cave in the northern most extreme of the valley. She had barely drawn near, in order to investigate when this creature had lunged forth.

The magical beast was seemingly a newer addition to the valley as it hadn’t been there a decade earlier, when the last Archon passed through the area.

As Alat reported the situation via Tala’s archive link, the reward had been upped to ten gold if she slew the creature and brought back the body. That said, defeating the monster was only to be her third priority behind, maintaining the integrity of the valley and keeping the corpse intact.

She should have asked for more.

The magical beast was a compact, four-legged, feline beast.

Its muscles bulged and flexed, looking more like those belonging to a bodybuilder than a standard specimen.

The flesh and fur were striped with browns, greens, blacks, whites, and oranges, letting it blend in perfectly with the surroundings to her mundane sight.

Its eyes were a bright blue, like a glacial lake, and its fangs and claws were the pure white of new fallen snow.

The big cat registered as green to her magesight, and it had a depth of power within its own body that would make chasms envious. Additionally, it was intimately connected to the valley in which she stood.

While she had fought magical beasts before, she’d never actually fought one on its home turf before, in the seat of its power. The prospect had seemed intriguing.

All told, the big beast looked reminiscent of a mundane tiger save its coloring, and its size.

It was as large as two caravan wagons and built like a city wall.

Magical beasts… A check through her memories—of the books that Master Grediv had given her so long ago—told her what it was.

It was an upland tiger.

The name was insultingly mundane given the truth of the creature.

It was quick.

Not in the way Terry could quickly reposition himself around a battlefield, but in the sense of reactions, reflexes, and the flexibility to distort in seemingly impossible directions to avoid her blows.

They had only clashed once in a rapid series of strikes given and received.

Tala had scored a cut deep into its side, causing clear blood—drained of its iron—to splash the ground beside them. The tiger had ignored the hit in order to backhand—Back paw?—her so hard that her mouth had filled with blood even before she’d slammed into a rock formation more than a hundred yards away with shattering force.

Thus, she had spat out her own blood as she pulled herself to her feet. It roared at her, and she realized that she might have been a bit hasty to pursue this fight.

Her magesight easily saw the torrents of power being drawn into the feline from the land around it, the slice on its side sealing in barely a breath.

Just like the book said…

-Well, we can only see information on the Refined version.-

Yeah, even so. It seems like it can’t heal while attacking, like the Refined variant can. It is using its roar as an area effect to give it space and time to enact its healing.

-Yeah. It also does seem to be tied to the land even more closely than most magical creatures that have areas as their bound source.-

The only hope is overwhelming power before it can heal, otherwise we’re fighting a well of resilience equivalent to a mountain valley.

-A magical mountain valley.-

Yeah… that does probably factor in.

-We also need to keep in mind that it could be more powerful or more capable in some aspects. Hopefully its known weakness still holds true: It can’t heal from anything that would instantly kill a normal animal.-

That’s basically only a beheading or brain obliteration. Even ripping out a heart takes a moment or two to lead to death.

-Severe trauma can kill something instantly. I’d recommend a dissolution breath to the head, like with the thunderbull, but more powerful, but we have to keep the corpse intact.-

Yeah, but I don’t think we’re going to be able to enact that level of trauma on a Paragon creature without ruining the body… wait, is it more correct to call it Honored?

-Seems like either is correct. But more importantly, the fight?-

The tiger crouched, the very ground around it seeming to compact and harden beneath its paws before it launched forward.

Tala grinned as she called Flow back to her hand, pushing power through it to change the form into a glaive as she set her feet against the charge.

In the second that it took the massive feline to close the distance between them, Tala felt her footing shift.

It was so unusual a sensation that she oriented one of her mirrored perspectives specifically downward.

For the fraction of a second that she had before impact, she watched in fascinated horror as the very ground beneath her feet seemed to break apart into loose sand and gravel, undermining her footing and stealing her ability to brace against the oncoming assault.

Well… rust. That wasn’t in the book.

-We did only read about the weaker version of this creature…-

Flow still took the tiger in the upper left shoulder, digging deeply even as the impact drove Tala into a backward slide.

Its right paw came in from the side in a sweep containing power closer to that of a battering ram than a conventional melee attack.

In response, Tala willed her upper layer of iron to aspect mirror Flow’s resistance to damage. After all, Flow—in sword form—was effectively just a wire, and yet it had never bent or deformed, regardless of what she’d put it through.

She hadn’t actually attempted this aspect of her power, having only seen it as theoretically possible in the vision she’d seen when merging Flow with the dasgannach.

There were several things that Tala did not account for.

First, and possibly oddest, was the fact that all the iron containing the mirrored aspect both heated up and vibrated to a crazy degree under that first blow.

It all began to glow a dull red almost instantly, having absorbed roughly half the kinetic energy of the hit as heat, the rest being converted to a buzzing vibration which rattled her teeth and almost caused her to lose her grip on Flow’s haft.

Second, the focus and will-power required to maintain the aspect mirror skyrocketed as the aspect was stressed by the blow.

The heat imparted to her outer layer of iron radiated inward almost instantly, but Tala was able to cool the white-steel with an additional flexing of her will.

All told, it was too much. She couldn’t hold the new aspect mirror under the stress and her concentration shattered at the second blow, this time from the tiger’s left paw.

Blessedly, Alat was able to help keep her cognizant enough that she didn’t lose her hold on Flow or her footing.

The first two strikes were far from the last, as tiger’s front legs were long enough for it to immediately begin a surprisingly rhythmic series of slashes, tearing through Tala’s iron, white steel, and flesh with equal ease, the left paw strikes only marginally weaker than the right.

That wasn’t to say that her defenses did nothing.

The feline forelegs bulged with straining muscles as it powered through each swipe. Its back legs shifted and braced to continue to push forward, lending it more power than even its considerable weight should allow.

Tala stalwartly held onto Flow, trying to shift to minimize the damage she took, even as she healed after each hit, pulling together and attempting to thicken the metals struggling to protect her from the beast.

Flow continued to work deeper, the clear liquid that flowed down the shaft mirrored by a stream of iron that she could feel flowing into the dimensions of magic around the weapon.

Despite what the books indicated about the lower powered variants of the upland tiger, this one seemed to be able heal while it was directly engaged, even if not to the same extent as when it was able to dedicate its focus.

The wound was actively closing around the still embedded glaive-form Flow, even if the gash was leveraged opened again almost immediately afterward. Additionally, the amount of blood-fluid and iron freely leaving the beast indicated that either it had some form of dimensionally expanded spleen, or it was generating new blood.

Or, it just has a massive volume, given the fact that it’s massive.

-Yeah, we haven’t been fighting it very long.-

Still, they looked at the increasingly slushy ground all around them, and they had to admit that it should have been at least slightly negatively affected by the loss of blood.

There was also the fact that they could see power flowing into it from the surrounding land, coalescing all through its body in patterns reminiscent of Tala’s own healing magics.

For her part, Tala wasn’t using that much of her reserves. The swiping claws certainly rent her open, but they didn’t actually remove that much material. As such, the wounds were magically expensive to repair, but not materially so.

Even so, she could easily see an issue.

They were both ‘take the damage and heal’ type fighters, and between the two of them, the tiger was doing more damage and looked to have deeper reserves to draw on.

True, Tala was fighting with several rather frustrating handicaps, but the state of things was still inarguable as they stood.

She could change the odds by using Flow in a void-form, but that would likely destroy at least a good part of the corpse, if it was effective at all.

It should be effective, but it would either be devastatingly effective to the point of being harmful overkill, or it would be useless. Thus, it wasn’t worth testing.

Or, I could just ignore the stipulation to preserve the body? She seriously considered it, but she was tired of doing things sloppily. She wanted to learn how to do things properly and as she aimed, without unneeded collateral damage or unintended results.

She briefly considered using a siege orb, but those had the same issue as Flow’s void-forms, plus more besides. Not only did she not trust that one would be sufficient to instantly kill the creature, she’d been asked to minimize damage to the valley and maintain the corpse, if possible.

All told, she was operating under pretty crazy restrictions.

It highlighted all the more clearly an issue she’d been noticing in her capacities. She could easily deal with weaker threats, and she could respond with hopefully overwhelming force against more powerful foes, but she had little that she could do in delicate situations if the threat was anywhere near her own power.

Then, as she was temporarily disemboweled for close to the fiftieth time, an obvious thought flickered into her mind, Well, you know, I don’t have to do this alone.

-Yeah, you are a flock now, right?-

Tala willed Kit to open at her waist, even as her abdomen was riven open yet again.

She was continually sliding and stumbling backwards, even as she continued to leverage and torque Flow to cause damage, and her lungs were only functional every other second or so.

Still, she managed to shout. “TERRY!”

Slice, lungs venting and unable to hold air.

Heal, quick inhalation and, “FIGHT!”

That was seemingly sufficient as the terror bird flickered out with an aggressive screech.

The avian’s eyes widened as he took in the creature Tala was facing, but he didn’t retreat. Though, Tala left Kit open so that he could if he needed to.

After all, Terry was only an arcanous creature, however powerful, and the upland tiger was a magical beast of significant advancement.

It was almost immediately obvious that Terry would have the same issues against the tiger as he did against Tala.

His talons couldn’t seem to pierce the fur and flesh, nor were his strikes strong enough to break the underlying bones.

Even so, he was strategic in his attacks, stealing the beast’s footing and allowing Tala to finally set herself enough to push back, even with the ground beneath her seemingly animated to rob her of footing.

Her surface area enhancing scripts were proving their worth as she could tell that she’d likely have sunk in deeply without them, rather than simply struggling to maintain balance and stability.

Additionally, she internally blessed the little furball of an Eskau, De-arg, for all his stability training. That monster of an animated teddy-bear-look-alike had put her through training and fighting on far worse footing than this.

Even so, it was still incredibly difficult.

Terry took up a harrying role, even as the tiger pulled back and drew power into itself to quickly close the deep, gaping wound in its shoulder.

Tala tried to press the momentary advantage, but it roared again, forcing Terry to flicker away and Tala to grimace against the pain of enduring it from so close this time around.

Her ears were magically reinforced, as well as being encapsulated under iron and magical steel, and she still felt like they were in danger of succumbing to force and magic within the sound.

As soon as the roar died down, Terry was on the offensive once again, his talons now focusing on the feline’s eyes and other vulnerabilities.

The tiger was livid at the bird’s assault, but Tala was able to close the distance despite the increasingly difficult terrain.

With a bit more time to line up her strike thanks to Terry’s distractions, she managed to hit the front leg of the beast just where it joined the paw, and Flow cleanly severed the appendage, skipping off the bone to glide smoothly through the joint.

She had only an instant to grin in triumph even as she continued the attack sequence by driving Flow up to its sword-hilt in the tiger’s chest.

Her mirrored perspectives saw the severed paw reverse course mid-fall and seamlessly rejoin its limb just in time to slam into her side and throw her, skipping across the ground once more.

Rust. I thought that would give us a momentary advantage.

She righted herself, thankfully not needing to clear her mouth this time. She’d managed to twist with the blow, dissipating much of the damage potential of the swipe, even though it had still thrown her with ease.

As she considered, standing up once more, she realized exactly what that meant.

To anything else, she should have the inertia of a couple of thunder bulls, but this upland tiger was tossing her about with relative ease.

It was ridiculously strong.

Even with Terry’s help, this might be an impossible fight given the restrictions she was operating under.

Her avian friend seemed to have reached the same conclusion, because Terry took that moment to flicker to Tala’s shoulder and rock backwards, pulling her directly away from the tiger.

She frowned, slightly surprised that they’d come to the same conclusion. “You want to flee?”

Terry trilled, the sound containing the increasingly familiar sense of ‘obviously!’

“Are you sure?” Tala looked back toward the tiger as it crouched low. She really wanted to beat the big kitty despite the difficulty…

He bobbed before flickering away, appearing far behind her, turning back to regard his partner.

Tala almost shook her head in frustration, ignored the bird, and settled in to continue the fight.

He wants to be a flock, to test that out. Being a flock, fighting together… that requires trust.

So, that was the question: Did she trust Terry’s judgment?

No one’s life was on the line.

She was fighting for a few gold at the most.

If she left, some other Archon would be dispatched to deal with this overgrown tiger.

With that understanding solidified, she made her choice.

Rocking backwards, she leapt away, following after Terry.

The tiger paused, clearly surprised by her retreat.

It didn’t relax, nor lower its guard, but it also didn’t pursue.

It was protecting its den, its land, its source of power.

It seemed to have no need nor desire to pursue her.

She blinked at that, then began to laugh internally.

She had suppressed her through-spike.

She was covered in iron.

She wouldn’t look like a human, magically speaking, so the odd almost-compulsion that magical creatures seemed to have to attack humans, didn’t seem to apply.

It would have had flickers of that while it was tearing into her, which likely explained its ferocity and persistence during those attacks, but now? Her power was effectively veiled, and it didn’t have a compulsion to pursue.

A minute later, she was out of sight of the tiger.

Even so, she and Terry didn’t slow down, and soon, they were at the southern end of the valley, in the pass through which Tala had entered.

Terry flickered to her shoulder and headbutted her cheek.

“Thank you, Terry. You were a big help.”

He chirped happily.

“You were wise to have us retreat, too. It was a dangerous fight with little reward. Thank you.”

He trilled happily and settled down.

She briefly informed him how the fight had come about and about the restrictions she had been operating under.

That seemed to help him relax further, the little bits of confusion she’d detected from him leveling out. When she finished, he headbutted her again.

“You were confused why I wasn’t using certain tactics and skills?”

He bobbed, chirping in affirmation.

“Yeah… I actually think I could have taken it out with relative certainty, but it would have been… messy.”

He gave a warbling, undulating, and descending note.

Tala snorted a laugh. “Yeah, that was a bit of an understatement, wasn’t it?”

He bobbed one final time, and then flickered away, heading out of the valley.

“Yeah, let’s get back on the right track.”

She turned to look south and a little east, to where she knew Bandfast lay.

It had been an interesting diversion, but she still wanted to get there that day.

“Alright, Tala, let’s get to it.”

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 320 - A Temporary Goodbye

Tala arrived at Bandfast after sunset, approaching the city through the darkening twilight, Terry at her side.

Alat had sent messages ahead, so she’d be grabbing a late dinner with Lyn and Kannis, before leaving for Alefast the morning after next.

Rane was already gone, presumably in Alefast, Waning ahead of her.

Likely dealing with his family in one way or another.

-Yeah, I wonder if there was any fallout from him breaking Furgal’s staff…thing.-

Well, Master Grediv was fine with it, but that likely won’t stop other members of the family from being irritated with him.

-That’s true enough. I’m glad we don’t have to deal with idiocy like that…-

At least not often, yeah. Though, she was aware that given her friendship with Rane, she might be pulled into the matter while in Alefast. She hoped that wouldn’t be the case, however.

-Hope springs eternal.-

She could have bypassed Bandfast and gone straight to Alefast, Waning, but it really wouldn’t have saved her much time, and she did need to actually say goodbye to Lyn and Kannis.

She was changing her base of operations away from Bandfast for the first time since her graduation.

Well, the first time I’m doing it of my own volition.

-Yeah, being forcibly relocated to Platoiri really wasn’t the same.-

Not at all.

There was also her meet-up with Master Cazor.

The Mage Hunter had agreed to spar with her and test her iron usage.

He’d even indicated that his duties would bring him through Alefast, Waning, on occasion in the next years, so they could continue such experimentation then. Even so, they’d already agreed to spend a day on the project in Bandfast, first.

But that was for tomorrow.

With those contemplations set aside, Tala turned her focus back to her direct surroundings.

Even at night, the fields, orchards, and farms were familiar, and Tala saw the plants beginning to sprout and grow as spring grabbed greater hold.

She’d gone between Bandfast and Marliweather quite a few times by this point, and this was the path she’d always taken, once through the outer edge of the city’s defenses at least.

The outer gates into Bandfast were still open when she arrived, as expected. Human cities didn’t tend to close their gates, except under extreme circumstances. After all, the magical defenses were generally all that were required to maintain an acceptable level of safety for the citizenry.

She didn’t dawdle, but she did try to soak in the ambiance of this city.

She wasn’t saying goodbye forever, but she was going to be leaving it behind for the near future.

She’d be back every so often to visit Lyn and Kannis, but overall, her time in Bandfast was over.

I suppose that was true even before I left for Marliweather.

-Yeah, but there was too much going on. Tacking on saying goodbye to this city, and Lyn and Kannis would have been too much. It would have felt too drawn out.-

Yeah, I suppose so…

Tala was far from alone as she walked through the streets. Even though the short days of winter were mostly transitioned into the regular days of spring or fall, leading towards the longer summer days, people were still about after dark, doing what they needed to do before they closed themselves in their homes for the night.

Some people called generic greetings to others, including her. She responded to those with a smile and a wave without slowing. People were just being polite.

After all, they were all human, all in this city, this life, together.

It was important to focus on what unified them rather than what divided them.

Her feet almost unconsciously took the incredibly easy route to Lyn’s house, across from the park blossoming with new growth, visible even in the dim light from the streetlights.

When she came to the front door, she hesitated.

This isn’t our house anymore. She felt that clearly, even though she still had a key.

The key that she held in her hand as she hesitated.

I shouldn’t unlock someone else’s house… that’s just weird.

Even so, it felt like it would be strange to knock.

Thus, she was left standing on the front step, indecision trapping her rather effectively.

Nearly a minute passed before the door opened, revealing Lyn just inside. “Tala?”

Tala had stepped back at the sudden opening of the door. “Oh! Hi, Lyn.”

“What are you doing? We’re going to eat, right?”

“Yes.” She took Kit and tossed the pouch at the open door. Kit flowed over the slab, blending in perfectly.

Lyn glanced at the door with a raised eyebrow. “Alright, then. What were you doing out here?”

Tala grimaced, then held out the key that she still held in her hand. “I need to return this. It didn’t seem right to use it, since I don’t live here anymore.”

Lyn snorted a laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous. Keep the key. You are welcome here, and to use that key, for as long as I own this house.”

Tala felt herself smile, indecision wiped away. “Thank you, Lyn.” As she followed her friend back inside, Tala frowned. “How did you know I was out there?”

“Tala, your aura is projected in a sphere around you by your illusion thing.”

“Through-spike.”

“Yeah, illusion thing. In any case, it lacks teeth, but it is very easy to sense when I am within about twenty feet of you.”

“Oh… I didn’t really realize that, I suppose.” She pushed on the still open door, and Kit opened up just enough for her to toss the iron key inside, allowing her sanctum to close once more.

Lyn shook her head. “That still looks odd, even though I know exactly what is happening with it. It’s no wonder that so many syphons can exist within human cities, when they have the ability to hide like that.”

“Indeed, yeah.” Tala nodded solemnly.

Kannis had heard her arrival, and she was standing just inside the sitting room, looking their way. “With all due respect, master, with regard to the first topic, I can’t sense her. I feel it would be unkind to Mistress Tala to misrepresent the reality of her illusory aura.”

Tala waved to her old classmate. “Good evening, Kannis.”

“Good evening, Mistress Tala.”

Lyn was shaking her head. “You would sense her if your magesight were active.”

“Absolutely, Mistress Lyn, but not without it. You, on the other hand, sensed her without use of magesight.”

Tala looked to her friend, eyebrows climbing.

Lyn shrugged. “That’s true enough.” The older woman smiled at her mageling. “Thank you for clarifying, Kannis.”

“My pleasure.” Kannis gave a small bow.

Interesting… “So, Lyn do you think it’s due to you being Fused?”

Lyn shrugged. “Let’s discuss it on the way to dinner, shall we?”

“Yes!” Kannis grinned.

Tala chuckled. “Sure. That sounds great.”

The evening passed with pleasant conversations, amazing food, and promises of future visits.

Even though it was a fun time, there was a tinge of sadness throughout the evening, and she realized that it wasn’t quite the same without Rane with them.

He’ll be in Alefast.

-That he will.-

For food, they grabbed little cheesy caravans before going to the large square that Lyn had taken Tala to on her first night in Bandfast.

Gretel was still there, peddling her pies, and the older woman seemed genuinely pleased to see Tala once again, but whether that was because she genuinely remembered Tala, or she was experienced enough of a saleswoman that she pretended to, Tala couldn’t tell.

In either case, Tala was grateful for the interaction and the tasty pies. They were just as amazing as she remembered, though, in comparison with Mistress Petra’s cooking, they didn’t seem quite as uniquely incredible as they had the first time she’d had them.

Speaking of the cook, Tala had informed Mistress Petra ahead of time that she wouldn’t need dinner, having decided that it was acceptable to miss a single meal of power infusion in order to share some reminiscence with her friends.

The Zuccat family was also taking a good deal of time the next day to visit with those they knew in Bandfast while Tala met with Master Cazor.

The conversation that the three women had while walking ranged from what Kannis was learning and her future prospects, to Lyn’s new duties and coworkers. They briefly touched on differences in magical perception based on advancement, but none of them really had the knowledge or inclination to experiment around such theoretical things while on a night out.

As to the things that they did discuss, funnily enough, both Lyn and Kannis had dealt with several potential suitors even in the last month.

None had worked out, obviously, but the women were drawing increasing attention, and they both found themselves more than a bit intrigued at the prospect, at least if the right someone expressed interest. Not that they had anyone specific in mind, of course.

Additionally, they didn’t have time to go hunting for their own prospects, at least not yet.

Finally, the three discussed what Tala expected from her time in Alefast, Waning.

Honestly, Tala’s contributions around her upcoming plans was the smallest portion of the overall discussion. After all, part of the reason she was going was to experience the waning, and learn exactly what it entailed.

It was a big prospect, honestly.

There were just about twenty-one years until that city would be fully abandoned. Tala was barely older than that, and she was making a decision that would set her course for as long as she’d been alive.

And yet, it will just be a blip on my life to come.

-It’s rather exciting, isn’t it?-

And overwhelming.

They talked about that too, the Refined, Fused, and mageling. They discussed the long span of years before them all.

Even though many specifics couldn’t be discussed in front of a mageling, they mainly wanted to discuss the vague aspects anyways. This wasn’t a time for planning or academic discussion; it was simply three young women contemplating the river of time.

Thus, they passed the evening, enjoying each other’s company along with the tasty food.

The next morning, Tala woke bright and early.

She stretched, ate the breakfast prepared by Mistress Petra, and left for the training arena where she was meeting Master Cazor, Kit hanging from her belt.

She’d bid a temporary goodbye to Lyn and Kannis the night before. So, she felt no need or desire to seek them out before departing.

The tentative plan was for her to come back in a few months and take them to Alefast, Waning, so that they could see the city for themselves.

The more she considered it, the more Tala realized that her life was going to be filled with temporary goodbyes.

Most of those she would interact with would be incredibly long lived, and they had a limited number of cities to move through. Almost universally, they’d cross paths again eventually.

So long as they both survived.

Yes, happy thoughts, Tala.

-Realistic thoughts, though.-

Yeah, I suppose.

The training arenas were as familiar as ever, and she was directed to a much more reinforced one than she’d needed in most cases in the past.

They had discussed performing the experiments and training within her sanctum, but they both thought that it would likely be best to not do larger scale—or more experimental—tests with iron while inside a magically created and maintained space.

I grow in wisdom.

-That you do.-

What, no sarcasm? Tala felt herself smile internally.

-No need. You are getting wiser, and I am glad for it.-

Master Cazor was awaiting her as before, but this time he was waiting without preprepared bags of iron.

He gave her a rueful smile. “Well, Mistress Tala, I would not have thought it possible, but you have somehow added more iron to yourself since last we met.”

She grinned in return, her metal moving along with her face to allow the expression, mirrored as illusion by her through-spike.

“That is… marginally creepy since I can at least partially sense through it.”

With a sigh, she pulled the iron away from her mouth, nose, eyes, and ears. She only had the single external layer of metal at the moment. “Well, I definitely wasn’t going for creepy.”

“Then you need to get better control of your illusion. The unblinking eyes are odd enough, but the features portrayed have a thick, stiff quality, as if you have on vastly too much makeup or something like that.”

She found herself nodding. “I hadn’t actually considered that. The layer of iron would act as a smoothing agent… What does this do?”

Tala shifted the metal, layering it over her face until it was built up to the point of being a relatively featureless mask. The main benefit of this was that there were no harsh angles for an attack to catch against.

Master Cazor’s left eye twitched just a bit. “Well. The illusion is trying to fill in the details, but it clearly uses your face as a map.”

Tala turned one of her mirrored perspectives to specifically examine her own face, rather than simply seeing it from the corner of that vision.

Oh… that is uncanny.

-Just a bit, yeah.-

The face was definitely human, and it even looked mostly like Tala’s, but it was utterly devoid of any expression, and the eyes were staring forward, sightlessly.

“It doesn’t help that I can sense—and basically see—the flat plate of iron slicing through where the illusion appears to be. I’ve got to say that, to me, it isn’t fun to look at.”

The iron flowed away from her face once more as she smiled mischievously. “Just what every girl wants to hear.”

He snorted a laugh and shook his head in response. “In any case, shall we begin?”

“Of course. What were you thinking for the first test? I’ll also disable my through-spike so we can better observe the results.”

“That seems wise. As to the test, I have been working on my wide-area-effects. How about I attempt to pin you down using purely magnetic fields?”

She frowned. “Wouldn’t that require our auras to clash? That’s hardly fair, given I’m Refined.”

He shook his head. “That’s the whole idea. I’ve been working at controlling two distinct points on opposite sides of a space and inverting them from each other, turning them into massively powerful poles on a non-existent magnet.”

She felt her eyebrows rise. “So, you don’t have to affect the space between them directly?”

“Precisely.”

She felt ideas begin to spark within her own mind. Oh, that’s clever. I think I could…

-Yeah, but not now. Focus on this while you are here.-

Right, right. “So, let’s see it.”

He grinned, and Tala felt the zeme of the arena begin to shift, two bright points of power building on either side of the space.

It took a minute as the magic continued to build, but Tala began to feel pressure exerted on the iron on her skin.

She kept it under her control; she had to do that anyway in order to allow for normal movement. Thus, while the pressure was noticeable, the forces involved weren’t in danger of taking any from her.

Master Cazor was obviously using a tremendous amount of power to amplify this effect. His straining voice sounded hopeful as he asked, “Are you feeling restricted yet?”

Tala moved through some stretches before shaking her head. “I can feel the pulls, but it isn’t inconvenient, not yet.”

He nodded. “And you’re maintaining a willful control over your iron, correct? Quite similar to your aura?”

“Similar, yeah, though my aura is contained at the moment.”

“It’s…” He tilted his head to the side. “Can I try something?”

She shrugged. “Sure.”

Without further warning, the two poles of the non-existent magnet rushed inward, the bi-directional pulling force increasing exponentially.

Tala grit her teeth as she set her will against the massively escalating power.

“If you’re not maintaining aura control of your surroundings, and if your aura is bound within the iron, then you can’t contest this, can you?”

The poles stopped three feet to either side of her, just out of reach.

Tala couldn’t muster the focus to answer, her mind entirely bent to keeping the iron in place against the unnatural pull.

“Yeah, I thought not. Well, let’s test the limits, then. Resist and overcome the magics if you can.”

Tala couldn’t keep her arms down, and they were pulled outward, her fingertips falling short of the magical beacons which were the magnetic poles.

Her iron began flowing across her skin, gathering around her hands in increasingly large spheres, barely held from moving further by her will.

The surface of the collected iron dust rippled and writhed under the influence of the clashing forces, but Tala held firm.

Master Cazor was visibly sweating as he strained to control and maintain his working. He wasn’t trying to increase its power any more, simply keeping it going seemed to be his limit.

Tala, for her part, was under immense strain. It honestly felt like someone was attempting to rip off her arms.

Blessedly, only her outer iron was being affected, for the most part. That which she held within her body, and that within the dimensions of magic, was being sheltered to a far greater extent.

Then, her eyes locked onto Master Cazor’s, and she smiled, the apparent strain melting from her face.

It hadn’t been entirely an act, but she wasn’t under nearly as much pressure as she’d allowed it to appear.

With her iron pulled to her hands to a large extent, she was free to extend her uncontained aura outward.

At the same time, tendrils of iron reached out, surrounding and squeezing down on the magnetic poles.

The massively powerful magnetic field winked out in an instant, and the two Archons fell to their knees almost in unison, gasping from the magical and mental strain they’d both experienced.

As Tala took in the sand around them, she felt a smile pulling at her lips.

Lines of dark iron-dust were striated through the otherwise tan sand, creating clear lines, demonstrating the influence the magical magnetic field had had.

“Well.” Master Cazor forced himself back to his feet. “That was a fun first test. Shall we try others?”

Tala stood as well, showing greater ease in the movement as befit her faster recovery rate and higher advancement. “Absolutely.”

A note from JLMullins

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 321 - Welcome to Alefast

A note from JLMullins

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Tala kept up the pace of a light jog in the crisp, night air.

She and Master Cazor had spent the whole day experimenting with iron in various capacities.

In almost every regard, their experimentation simply confirmed what was already suspected about Tala’s control and manipulation over iron.

So, more than anything, it was a relaxing change of pace and a fun new method of training.

Thoughts of the day drew her mind toward the times before, and she cast her mind back over the last month or so, using the regular cadence of her footfalls to lull her into internal contemplations.

She was glad that she’d spent all of the time that she had with her siblings. While she still felt a bit awkward around them, it was gratifying to actually feel like she had younger brothers and sisters once again. It was funny that, in many ways, she was a parental figure to most of them, given her role as an established adult overseeing their rightfully childish play. Maybe more of a crazy aunt.

-Yeah, I could see that.-

She had undeniable authority over them in some regards, especially when they were visiting her, but she also had proven that she didn’t see herself as obligated toward them at all.

-Yeah, definitely more of an aunt than a parent. But, hey! You’re a fun aunt!-

Tala smiled at that but didn’t reply. She didn’t feel the need to.

Apart from her time with her family, her training was coming along well.

While sparring with Terry was an exercise in futility if she were simply focused on victory, she felt like it was a wonderful whetstone upon which to sharpen her reflexes and combat awareness, among so many other facets of her abilities.

Even so, it really was a shame that she didn’t have any venue in which to practice her full suite of abilities and deploy her full arsenal. Hopefully, this next venture would provide such.

That brought her mind to her encounters in the wilds.

The upland tiger had been an insane opponent. The more she’d considered it, the more she was uncertain if she would have been able to triumph, even without restrictions.

She thought she could have, but she wasn’t sure and that worried her. She needed such opponents to push herself, to try herself against, or she was going to stagnate.

There was also the Mage that she’d watched become a fount, and then subsequently sent on to the next world.

She’d been paid basically as soon as the job was done—Mistress Ingrit had seen her memory and instantly verified the job was done, so that hadn’t been a problem. It was an easy, if sparse, source of income that she should keep in mind.

There were also all the half-formed insights that she’d caught glimpses of through the process, but those would take a lot more discussing and fact finding before they bore any fruit.

No, what had been an issue was finding that man’s family.

Alat had taken on that task without even having to be asked, but even with a month’s time, she’d been coming up blank.

-It is rather frustrating. No one matching his description has gone missing or been known to have departed to become a fount in the last three months. I checked with key individuals in Bandfast, Marliweather, Arconaven, and even Retindel. Nothing.-

Why did you restrict it to those cities?

Alat made an irritated sound within Tala’s head. -Because I can’t just blanketly bother city officials across all of humanity over a single Mage. I need to be strategic on who I inquire with and how I follow the threads that I find. People are usually okay with being reached out to individually, even for small things, but if it comes across as a ‘I just messaged everyone, you all solve my issue and tell me the answer’ people would likely get irritated.-

Ahh, yeah, that makes good sense.

-I’m glad that you approve of my methods.- There was a bit of humorous mocking in the alternate interface’s tone.

Tala felt herself smile. Thank you for handling it, Alat.

-It’s what I’m here for. I’m glad to help.-

Their conversation, and Tala’s internal musings, moved on from there as she continued her night-run to Alefast, Waning.

While she had considered staying in Bandfast for the night after her day with Master Cazor, she honestly hadn’t seen a point.

She didn’t need the sleep.

She’d already said goodbye to Lyn and Kannis, and waiting until morning would only delay her arrival, needlessly.

On the funny side, she’d already had to skirt a caravan encampment during her jog. Doing so had reminded her of her own first contract between these two cities and had caused her smile to settle ever more firmly in place.

As to this trip, Tala wasn’t moving as quickly as she could have, but she wasn’t going slowly.

Terry had declined to run with her, so she was truly alone as she traversed the dark landscape.

Fully wrapped in iron, she wasn’t announcing herself as a tantalizing target and her magical resonance was reduced to the extreme. Even so, there were still some limits to the speeds she could safely travel at, if she were inclined to push herself.

I really do need to discuss such things with Master Grediv.

-There does seem to be a lot in that category, doesn’t there?-

Undoubtedly, yeah. There will probably be other powerful Archons in the area too, right?

-Oh, absolutely, yes. By the records and inferences that I can find, there should be at least two hundred Archons who are Refined or more advanced.-

That was… a lot.

-Yeah. I was surprised by the number too. Though, when you think about it, it sort of makes sense. All told, there are just above two and a half thousand Archons who are Refined and higher, across a human population of well over ten million. Let us not forget that Refined and above don’t die of old age. Therefore, there have only been that many… ever. Neglecting, of course those that have been killed, which I would hope is not that many.-

Tala found herself nodding, her smile gone. And even so, they are less than two-and-a-half percent of one percent of humanity.

-‘We.’-

Hmm?

-You should have said, ‘we are less than…’ You’re one of them.-

That was… an oddly horrifying thought.

On one hand, she didn’t feel very special. She knew of quite a few beings and creatures who were her equals or even betters in a fight, and that didn’t factor in other situations such as topical expertise.

On the other hand, she knew that she’d had an unusually successful road. The challenges that had come her way had been overcome by the skin of her teeth alongside her obsession with healing and defensive magics.

If hers was the only way to reach Refined, she’d be surprised there were even as many as there were.

The longer road is easier in some senses, I would guess.

-Fewer sheer cliffs from which to fall and die is my estimation, but the wandering paths seem to rarely point toward the summit.-

Yeah, that’s a good way to put it.

Still, looked at in another light, having two-and-a-half thousand people as magically advanced as she was, or more…

It’s no wonder that the major Houses don’t attack us. We’re terrifying.

-But not strong enough to fight them all, and they would unite against us if attacked.-

Hence the balance that Master Xeel explained to us. Tala felt like that had been so long ago.

Thinking once again about combat effectiveness, she had to admit something else: There were those less magically advanced than her who would be able to match her as well. Most of them had depths of knowledge and experience that she was decades from even beginning to approach.

A smile was beginning to creep back onto her face. We’re doing pretty good, aren’t we?

-Humanity is on a slow track, but yes. I think that we’re going to be fine if we can keep on keeping on.-

Tala felt her back straighten just a bit at that idea. Her people were doing well, in the grand scheme of things, and she was a part of that.

She and Alat discussed dozens of little things that had been plaguing the edges of their mind as Tala took her time traversing the terrain.

She also took a bit to read while she moved as well, but all told, the journey was mainly a relaxing little jog.

As Tala wasn’t really pushing herself, the sun began to rise before she got to the cleft pass near which she’d helped fight a midnight fox on her first trip.

She’d considered going south around the mountains entirely, but that would have taken her very close to the Leshkin forests, and it simply wasn’t worth the risk just to try out a new path.

Blessedly, there were no odd encounters on her trip, and she found herself approaching the city around midmorning.

She was still about half a mile out when she came out of her contemplations enough to see the massive fluctuations in the zeme hard up against the city toward the east.

Honestly, she should have seen the powerful magical currents sooner, but she’d subconsciously dismissed any variation that might have drawn her attention as attributable to the massive increase in density, relatively speaking.

This region would still be considered energy starved for arcanes. That made her smile grow, even as she shifted her path to investigate the oddity. The magical density in the air—or more accurately the lack thereof—was yet another defense enacted by humanity.

She came over a rise and stopped in confusion.

It took her a long moment to really understand what she was seeing, given just how much was going on before her.

First and foremost, what stood out to Tala was an oddity in the wilderness: Just outside the northeastern gate, a woman was dancing.

That would be odd in and of itself, but there were at least two dozen of her, all moving in sync to the point that they were obviously the same person, or at least directly controlled by the same person.

Power flowed off every iteration of the woman, obviously in sync with the movements of the dance.

I haven’t seen a movement-enacting caster since the Academy, at least not one with this complex a form of such.

The Archon’s power seemed to be fluctuating through the orange-to-yellow range. Tala thought that implied that the woman was Refined and utilizing some weaker magics. Though, Tala hadn’t really seen magics exactly like this before, so that was only a guess.

To all of Tala’s sights—mundane, mage, and void—the women all looked identical to each other.

The oddest result of the three was that of her voidsight, as every single woman was quite obviously the same node of reality, simply existing in different locations simultaneously.

The disjointed nature of what Tala saw almost caused her to drop that sight.

Alat quickly convinced her to simply pass it off to one of Alat’s perspectives so that they could study it later.

All told, however, the woman and her oddities were the least of what was occurring outside the wall.

A minor tide of magical creatures was rampaging, attacking their opponents with abandon.

The creatures were easy to identify with Tala’s knowledge and previous study.

Asteries.

They were small, Bound level creatures that tended to move in swarms with a few Fused variants among them.

Each one was composed of five to twelve limbs and a miniscule core body. The core contained only a teeth-filled mouth, lacking even eyes.

The limbs were somewhere between an arm and a tentacle, covered in barbed pads that could grip, or rip and tear. Each limb was tipped with a sensory organ which functioned similarly to eyes, but not quite the same. Tala hadn’t taken the time to grasp the exact distinctions.

The asteries often moved with a clever sort of locomotion, rolling along on the tips of their limbs like their whole bodies were rimless wheels.

Finally, they were usually between half a foot and three feet across when spread out, tip to tip.

As to what they were fighting?

Plants.

They were fighting magically grown plants, clearly the result of—and controlled by—the dancing woman.

Each plant seemed to hold an immobile central bulb with innumerable thorny vines whipping around them.

Illusions wove around each plant as well. The majority of those illusions made the plants seem to roll or be moved by their own vines, but Tala was able to penetrate those figments sufficiently to see that they were, in fact, quite stationary.

Adding to the chaos, there were tens of illusory versions of the woman with various weapons in hand, attacking the asteries quite effectively. When Tala looked closer, she saw that various plants surrounding each illusion as it moved across the battlefield acted within and along with those illusions to give them substance and actual striking power.

As Tala looked on, she suddenly felt someone observing her in turn and looked back to the woman just in time to see her left hand, across all iterations, begin to move in complex patterns quite separate from the rhythm of the rest of her dance.

The air right in front of Tala shimmered, and a version of the woman was suddenly standing there.

She was quite obviously an illusion, not connected to the woman by anything but a tendril of power extended through the dimensions of magic.

Tala could have dispersed it in an instant and without effort but saw no need.

The illusion gave a shallow bow. “Traveler, welcome. I am Kaeti. I would appreciate it if you did not interfere. I have this threat contained and moving toward destruction, but unknown magics entering the field could complicate that outcome.”

Tala gave a respectful bow in return, pulling her metal back from her face so that her illusion wouldn’t trigger any confusion. A battlefield was not the place for a misunderstanding. “A pleasure to meet you, Mistress Kaeti. I am Tala. I come from Bandfast on personal business. Since you do not need aid, may I enter by way of that gate behind you?”

The woman smiled and nodded. “I will not prevent it, though I make no promises on what the guards will require. If you are in the city long, I hope our paths cross again.”

Without waiting for a reply, the illusion vanished, and Tala noticed that the woman herself had ceased moving her left hand to a separate cadence.

The mastery that would require...

-Not to mention the split focus. I can’t imagine how long it took to perfect such mental acuity.-

Yeah. We should seek her out to learn training methods, even if for no other reason. Besides, she’s doing something with the nodules of reality, and we should see if she’ll let us figure out what that is.

-Excellent idea, yeah.-

Tala carefully skirted the battlefield, re-covered in iron to prevent herself from drawing any attention from the little horde of creatures. Additionally, she suppressed her through-spike so that the projected aura wouldn’t be attention grabbing either.

Now that she’d figured out what was going on outside the walls, she turned her focus to the walls themselves.

There seemed to be more movement on the wall-walks than she’d have expected, but that made some sense. After all, there was a small horde of enemies outside the gates; why not have a larger guard presence, just in case.

She looked up beyond the wall, and saw the expected city defenses, but she also saw something that she didn’t expect. There was an almost blur-like effect on everything beyond the walls. She suspected that if she were to rise straight up, she wouldn’t be able to see anything within the city with accuracy.

They really have stepped up the defenses recently.

Even going a roundabout way, it didn’t take long to come up to the heavily reinforced gatehouse, particular to waning cities.

As she stepped inside, she allowed her through-spike the freedom to function once again. Across from her, she saw that the interior portcullis was down, effectively letting her into a confined space, without access to the city.

They didn’t drop the one behind us, so that’s a good sign. Even so, she pulled the metal back away from her face, as she expected to have to communicate in order to be granted entry.

She was proven right almost immediately as she was greeted by a voice calling from above, the sound coming through the murder hole above, “State your name, advancement, and reason for being here, traveler.”

The tone of the inquiry wasn’t harsh, but it also wasn’t overly polite. It was simply professional, a man doing his job.

Tala almost wanted to mess with them a bit, but she quickly realized that that was a foolish notion.

Instead, she shrugged internally. There was no reason to withhold the information. “Tala, Refined, and to experience a waning city.”

Tala could hear well enough to discern that the obscurement of some sort of magic sound scrambler was enacted, reducing what should have been an easy-to-hear conversation down to a few muttered garbles.

That’s new.

-Or it just wasn’t used when you came through with a caravan.-

Ahh, yeah, that’s fair.

The voice came again. “Are you coming to meet with anyone, or will you be meeting with the local Archon Council regarding the dispensation of your time?”

She blinked in surprise at that, but as she considered, it made sense. An extra Refined would marginally increase the strain on the scripts and magics of the city, thereby speeding up the degradation of the city. That would be offset if she helped out, but they likely wouldn’t be pleased to have her within the walls if she planned on simply kicking her feet up and wasting time.

Even so, having the gate guard ask so blatantly was surprising. Though, she supposed that it was better to be upfront as opposed to circumspect on such important topics.

She smiled up at the source of the voice. “I will be meeting with Master Grediv Gredial, at his convenience. I suspect that I will also be interacting with the council at his behest.”

There were some more obscured conversations, then the inner iron portcullis began to rise. “Thank you for your time, Mistress Tala. Welcome to Alefast.”

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The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

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Table of Contents

Title Page

Image Gallery

The Publishing Plan (Books 1 - 6)

Chapter: 1 - New Beginnings

Chapter: 2 - The Caravanner’s Guild

Chapter: 3 - Dinner

Continue the Story [Book 1 - Mageling]

Chapter: 41 - To the Ending Grove

Chapter: 42 - Well… That’s New

Continue the Story [Book 2 - Mage]

Chapter: 71 - I’m Going to Become an Archon

Chapter: 72 - Are You Heavier?

Chapter: 73 - Flow

Continue the Story [Book 3 - Binding]

Chapter: 104 - That Seems Bad

Chapter: 105 - Practice

Continue the Story [Book 4 - Bound]

Chapter: 136 - Underpinning Aura

Chapter: 137 - Humanity

Continue the Story [Book 5 - Fusing]

Chapter: 173 - Tight Spaces

Chapter: 174 - Draining Her Reserves

Chapter: 175 - A Long Night

Chapter: 176 - Through-Spike

Chapter: 177 - Memories

Chapter: 178 - Crazy

Chapter: 179 - Adjusting Your Senses

Chapter: 180 - Master Avian

Chapter: 181 - Just a Minor Change

Chapter: ?? - Blessings Never Cease

Chapter: 182 - That Unleashed a Flood

Chapter: 183 - Embarrassing for Everyone

Chapter: 184 - Surprisingly Reasonable

Chapter: 185 - Not Surprised in the Least

Chapter: 186 - I Really Want To

Chapter: 187 - Genuinely Shocked

Chapter: 188 - Explain Everything

Chapter: 189 - Dissolution

Chapter: 190 - Alat, Ignored

Chapter: 191 - Uneventful

Chapter: 192 - You’ll Never Guess

Chapter: 193 - Family Claims

Chapter: 194 - I’ll Be Fine

Chapter: 195 - A Tea House

Chapter: 196 - Exceptions Aside

Chapter: 197 - The Marliweather Constructionist Guild

Chapter: 198 - A Fun Idea

Chapter: 199 - A Wonderfully Peaceful Time

Chapter: 200 - The Reason

Chapter: 201 - Found You

Chapter: 202 - Blood

Chapter: 202R - Rane

Chapter: 203 - A Bit Concerned

Chapter: 204 - Shift in Focus

Chapter: 205 - Gag Me Now

Chapter: 206 - The Feast Hall

Chapter: 207 - The End of the Night

Chapter: 208 - Begin

Chapter: 209 - Clash

Chapter: 210 - Objections

Chapter: 211 - If You Command

Chapter: 212 - Buy Yourself Something Nice

Chapter: 213 - Naturally Lesser

Chapter: 214 - Sanctum

Chapter: 215 - First Raid

Chapter: 216 - Service to the House of Blood

Chapter: 217 - Gate-Breaking

Chapter: 218 - Combat Ready

Chapter: 219 - Knowing Her Role

Chapter: 220 - One Simple Question

Chapter: 221 - The House’s Sword

Chapter: 222 - Not-Gravy

Chapter: 223 - Villain

Chapter: 224 - Questioning

Chapter: 225 - Internal Monologue

Chapter: 226 - The One to Seize

Chapter: 227 - Understanding

Chapter: 228 - The Manipulation of Concepts

Chapter: 229 - Future Duties

Chapter: 230 - City Lord

Chapter: 231 - Guild Hold

Chapter: 232 - Armored Units

Chapter: 233 - That Depends

Chapter: 234 - Negotiations

Chapter: 235 - Faith

Chapter: 236 - Tests

Chapter: 237 - House of Ravens

Chapter: 238 - Preparations for Departure

Chapter: 239 - An Excellent Plan

Chapter: 240 - Not the Best Plan

Chapter: 241 - Croi

Chapter: 242 - A Fragment

Chapter: 243 - Ask an Expert

Chapter: 244 - Attrition

Chapter: 245 - Despair

Chapter: 246 - Grueling, If Profitable

Chapter: 247 - No Power in Zeme

Chapter: 248 - Return to Platoiri

Chapter: 249 - Risks and Liabilities

Chapter: 250 - In the House of the Rising Sun

Chapter: 251 - That Girl

Chapter: 252 - Down, Boy

Chapter: 253 - Acidic Tide

Chapter: 254 - Wonderful

Non-MM, Silly and Fun Chapter - Tek and the Wizard's Cat

Chapter: 255 - Unpleasantness

Chapter: 256 - Hole

Chapter: 257 - Sight

Chapter: 258 - Voidsight

Chapter: 259 - Parting

Chapter: 260 - Sleep?

Chapter: 261 - I Need Some Answers

Chapter: 262 - Building Some Good Will

Chapter: 263 - Howlton

Chapter: 264 - Ours?

Chapter: 265 - Decay

Chapter: 266 - Small Note

Chapter: 267 - Entrance

Chapter: 268 - Ravenous

Chapter: 269 - Ownership

Chapter: 270 - Lunch

Chapter: 271 - Priceless

Chapter: 272 - Sapphire Disc

Chapter: 273 - This Time

Chapter: 274 - Hit the Highlights

Chapter: 275 - Into the Weeds

Chapter: 276 - The Tour

Chapter: 277 - Tests of All Types

Chapter: 278 - Breakfast

Chapter: 279 - Dimensional Stability

Chapter: 280 - Mine is Secure

Chapter: 281 - To Grow and Improve

Chapter: 282 - Goodwill and Favors

Chapter: 283 - Payoff

Chapter: 284 - That is The Plan

Chapter: 285 - I’m Listening

Chapter: 286 - No Place for Deception

Chapter: 287 - Alternates

Chapter: 288 - A Fragile Peace

Chapter: 289 - Reality Shifted

Chapter: 290 - Until Next Time

Chapter: 291 - Sacks of Iron

Chapter: 292 - Don’t Change Your Body

Chapter: 293 - Not too Stereotypical

Chapter: 294 - To Learn the Results

Chapter: 295 - Quite a Few

Chapter: 296 - Assessment and Consideration

Chapter: 297 - Considering

Chapter: 298 - Anti-Magical

Chapter: 299 - I Do Try

Chapter: 300 - Expensive Food

Chapter: 301 - How to Host

Chapter: 302 - Arrangements

Chapter: 303 - Counter-Spell

Chapter: 304 - Dimensional Storage, Recovery Artifact

Chapter: 305 - Finally!

Chapter: 306 - Goodbyes

Chapter: 307 - Let’s See for Ourselves

Chapter: 308 - Tea at the End of a World

Chapter: 309 - Void It Is!

Chapter: 310 - Her Choices

Chapter: 311 - Master Coinin

Chapter: 312 - Baby Steps

Chapter: 313 - Catching Up

Chapter: 314 - A Pleasant Morning

Chapter: 315 - Terry?

Chapter: 316 - Her Next Moves

Chapter: 317 - Family

Chapter: 318 - Questions and Departure

Chapter: 319 - Fight!

Chapter: 320 - A Temporary Goodbye

Chapter: 321 - Welcome to Alefast