Millennial Mage

Tala smiled as she sat atop the cargo-wagon, the morning light highlighting the thin, green canopy above. You know? Those are leaves, not needles, but they weren’t shed for winter. She didn’t know if she’d ever seen an evergreen with leaves before. Not that I make a study of trees. Not that it really mattered, in the end.

The previous night had been uneventful, and her morning routine, camp breakdown, and departure had passed quickly. She was now enjoying the last of a large bowl of sausages, chasing them down with a healthy amount of coffee… maybe an unhealthy amount…I’m sure it’s fine.

The food had been given by Amnin just as they were departing. “You have to keep up your strength.” The older woman had given her a wink. “Brand told me that your huge appetite has something to do with your magic. Don’t want you running out. That would be bad for all of us.”

Tala had been profusely grateful. Her enhanced stores were almost full, or that was the sense she got from her body and power, but she wanted to be topped off in case she needed the energy and materials. She had a sinking feeling and a suspicion that she would have need, soon.

She turned her thoughts from that unpleasantness. I’m not letting that ruin my appetite. That would be counterproductive.

The guards had taken to cycling more often, in part to help counter the growing cold, and partly because the trip had already taken as long as the shortest estimate.

Long shifts made for more frequent mistakes and slower reactions. They had the ability for shorter rotations, especially with the ‘extra’ guards that had come for this route. So, they reorganized. If Tala had heard correctly, they had dozens of different schedules that the commanding officer could select from, depending on the particulars of the caravan’s current situation.

That’s probably wise; don’t force a stressed commander to come up with a new, hopefully-workable system in the field.

Tala continued to play with her gravity manipulation, targeting things near and far to get herself used to as many aspects of the ability as possible. She was even able to do that practice while reading, so she was hitting several key points for her advancement at once.

At some point, I’ll have to start investigating the fusing of my body and soul… But that seemed much too critical and delicate; she wanted to wait until she was safely within a city’s defenses.

She also kept her eyes lifted just enough, while reading, that her mage-sight would quickly respond to things in front of the caravan.

I can do everything!!!!

Well, except advance towards being Fused, and-

I can do many things!!!

They were an hour away from their morning campsite when the first group of the day attacked them, coming from behind.

Thankfully, Rane had been in the rear when they came into view, and he, along with a healthy number of bolts, dealt with the six warriors and five lesser Leshkin.

I don’t know what we would do if those bolts weren’t reusable. From the looks she’d gotten at the items, each bolt had at least a half-dozen activations, assuming it wasn’t broken or rendered unusable in some other fashion.

The Leshkin weaponry was collected, with the caravan proceeding without changing pace.

Less than an hour later, Mistress Odera again created a bridge over a dense snarl of roots. Once the cargo-wagon and horses were over, and when the chuckwagon had just started traversing the magical construct, the second attack came, sweeping up from the south on their left-hand side.

That assault had only been composed of lesser Leshkin: Twenty lesser Leshkin, all told. A few had managed to put some gouges into the chuckwagon before the last one was dispatched.

Apparently, Mistress Odera was at her limit with the bridging shield, because she had to manipulate and maintain the properties to greater extremes for it to be able to function in that way.

That was the reason that she hadn’t been able to shield the wagon while the bridge was active. The fact that the chuckwagon had been half on that bridge made dismissing the spell-working a bad idea, as the oxen would likely have broken their legs from the drop onto the roots.

Those attacks set the tenor for the day.

By the time they made camp for the night, all the guards, even those newly on rotation, were twitchy, and Tala had completely given up on reading, her gaze constantly moving across everything around them. She was still able to continue her gravity manipulation practice, though. Small mercies.

Tala had lost count of the number of Leshkin they’d slain. Blessedly, they’d not seen anything more powerful than a warrior, but they’d dealt with more than a hundred of those, as the weaponry they’d collected testified. Tala had even been sent to assist Rane in one particularly desperate defense.

Near midafternoon, another guard had been slain.

Tala hadn’t even seen it happen, but when she heard the news, her mind filled with visions of a pitted, all-too-visible lower jaw; of a melted neck; of confused, pleading eyes, begging for her help.

Only her inscriptions had kept Tala from emptying her lunch across the wagon’s roof.

Another one dead. Could she have saved him, if she’d been allowed to engage the enemy, instead of waiting out the attacks from up here?

My presence didn’t help the other guard…

Aside from the one death that day, three guards had received severe injuries that Mistress Odera couldn’t fix, at least not well enough for them to return to duty. Many more had been injured and healed, ready to get back to work thanks to her.

We need to get to Makinaven.

When Tala had asked Tion, the head driver said they were likely less than three days from the city, assuming they continued using Mistress Odera’s bridges, and there weren’t too many tree trunks moving to increase the length of their route.

One can hope.

The mood around the camp was subdued.

The passengers, while not exposed to the horrors directly, were quite aware that the trip was taking longer than it could have. On this route, they knew what that meant. Part of the purchase of passage was understanding and agreeing to the risks.

True, that was a part of any caravan trip, but for some routes, like Bandfast to Alefast, it was usually just a formality. For this path? It was a stark reality.

Tala and Rane still sparred, but they put less energy into it, using the opportunity to perfect form rather than fighting at full speed and strength. Tala even began altering her gravity during the fight to try leaping around Rane.

It didn’t work very well, and Rane almost universally swept her from the air. Falling slower makes me easier to hit; who would have thought?

To make it effective in actual combat, she would need to be able to become lighter for the initial jump, then heavier than normal to drop back to a defensible position more quickly. Or she would need to be strong enough to make the heavier effective gravity not lessen her ability to jump.

To make the first idea work, she’d need to be able to change her effective gravity much, much faster. That will only come with practice. As to the second, the stars knew she’d tried just being heavier for long enough. I could have been practicing this variability that whole time… There was no going back, now, and not every crazy idea she tried would turn out well.

Tala and Terry’s bouts, after most people had turned in, were likewise less strenuous. Terry seemed a bit twitchy, too. If Tala had to guess, the avian didn’t like how nonlethal he was against the Leshkin.

He’d helped out in a couple of tense situations throughout the day, and each time, he’d barely been able to act as a delaying force. Any attack that harmed the Leshkin would, as a result, cause him to be hit with acidic blood, even if only the part of him that made the strike. Neither Tala nor Terry wanted to risk that.

Because of the danger, he’d limited himself to tripping and destabilizing those that he had engaged. It had been fairly effective, but as the terror bird was used to being a one creature killing machine, it was obvious how much it frustrated him.

It was an unideal situation all around.

“We’ll take a different route next time. Eh, Terry?”

He let out a low thrum of agreement.

Before the nightshift truly began, Tala was able to grab a quick bath. Stars be praised.

As she scrubbed, she contemplated their situation, and her wonderful friend who’d signed her up for this particular route. She would have to ask Lyn why she’d thought this would be a good second trip.

Maybe, I annoyed her too much, and she’s decided to get rid of me… That was unlikely.

She’s in league with the Leshkin and is sending them tasty, tasty Tala meat. Where had that even come from? I doubt I’d be very tasty… Terry had seemed to enjoy her finger. Bleh! Moving on!

The Leshkin weren’t intelligent enough to be in league with anyone, so that was unlikely to be Lyn’s motive.

As she finished her cleansing and was ready to get to her post for the nightshift, Tala felt a couple things click into place.

This route is more dangerous, meaning a higher pay for Mage protectors. Lyn knows I am in need of funds, and I should have a better survival rate than the average Mage.

Ending-berry use was anything but common, and Tala doubted that anyone else had inscriptions based on the myths surrounding that power. Therefore, Tala had no reason to believe that Lyn knew Tala’s defenses would be at a disadvantage against the Leshkin.

Xeel had known, or at least suspected, but he’s ancient. I’m sure very little is new to him, these days.

So, Lyn had been trying to ensure that Tala had a profitable trip, while sending a Mage that, from her understanding, would have a better chance of success.

When looked at in that light, Lyn’s choice of route had been exceptional. I’m still going to give her a hard time about it, even so.

Tala took up her post, scanning the forest around the dark camp. Stars be praised that arcanous beasts are less active at night.

* * *

Near midnight, Rane relieved her of duty, and she was about to climb down when she had a realization. “Hey.”

Rane turned back towards her, a questioning look on his face. “Yeah?”

“How are you holding up?”

Rane gave her a long look, then sighed. “It’s a bit rough. The experience is really good for me, and my scripts move me out of the way of the acid, but it’s…pretty gruesome. Mistress Odera can heal anything short of a missing limb… or death.” Rane glanced away.

Tala settled down, sitting near the ladder. Terry opened an eye to glance at her, then flickered away. I guess he’s going to hunt or something. She looked back to Rane. “Were you there when the guard died, today?”

“Yeah.”

Tala waited, feeling like pushing would be a mistake.

Rane kept his eyes moving, but he seemed more burdened than usual.

She continued to wait. I can give him a bit if that’s what’s needed.

Finally, Rane glanced her way, then sighed. “It was pretty awful.”

“Oh?”

“I haven’t lost anyone since…” He gave a sad smile and gestured to the faded scars on his face.

Since the family died in front of him. “Are you…ok?”

He snorted at that. “I have to be. If I get in my own head, more will die, and I can’t allow that.” He said that with some finality, seeming to think the topic was closed.

Tala nodded, almost moving to go. Then, she hesitated again. After a long pause, Tala spoke. “Last night…that guard died because he thought I was in danger.”

Rane looked back her way but didn’t say anything.

She pulled up her knees, hugging them to her chest. “I was on the ground, a Leshkin warrior standing over me, about to stick a spear into my stomach.” She shrugged. “I don’t think it would have killed me.” She shook her head. “No, I’m almost certain that it wouldn’t have. He died for nothing, simply because I looked like I was in trouble.” She closed her eyes, resting her chin on her knees.

“He was doing his job.”

“And I wasn’t doing mine.”

He gave her a confused look.

“I am a Mage protector. I shouldn’t have been on my back, seemingly in need of a rescue. I fell, and a man died.”

“Mistress Tala, I got the after-action summary. You went down because you took a spear-strike. You didn’t trip over your own feet or stumble when fleeing danger.”

“There are after-action summaries?”

Rane gave her a puzzled look. “Of course. How else can you learn from what happened?”

Tala just gave him a look. “How do you get them?”

“I just ask. Either Mistress Odera or the head guard.”

“…I’ll ask about that, then…”

Rane laughed. “I imagine that Mistress Odera would have passed anything relevant along. She is…guiding you, after all.”

“Getting the information directly, even if not directly applicable, would be nice.” Though, now that she thought about it, many of the things Mistress Odera had conveyed in their discussions had the tenor of being pulled from or built off of such a report.

“Fair enough.”

They fell back into silence.

After long minutes, in which Tala waited and Rane kept his eyes on the forest, he finally let out a long breath. “You’re still here.”

“You still seem like you need to talk.”

“A guard died. I couldn’t have stopped it, but I was there. Maybe…” He shook his head. “There is nothing I could have done differently.” He barked a laugh at that. “Rust, that sounds arrogant. ‘I acted perfectly. Nothing to change here!’ ” He shook his head, again.

“So…could you have acted differently?”

“Of course. If I had perfect foreknowledge, I probably could have kept everyone alive, but with what I knew at the time? I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“I’m glad you have that, at least.”

“Oh? Would you have acted differently?”

“I could have begun retreating towards the wagons sooner, kept a better footing, or moved to better positioning.”

“Did you act to the best of your ability, with the knowledge you had at the time?”

Tala grimaced. “I’m not asking you to make me feel better, Master Rane.”

Rane hissed a short laugh. “Of course you aren’t, but you still need it.”

“And you don’t?”

He shrugged. “I don’t blame myself for his death, I just…” He glanced away. “I wish it hadn’t happened. I wish that I was better, more powerful, so that his sacrifice hadn’t been needed.”

Tala grunted her agreement. “It makes you think.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I mean, these caravans are dangerous, but they’d be less so with a higher-powered Archon along. What are they doing that is so much more important than this?”

Rane made a non-committal noise. “There are probably too many caravans for them to commit an Archon to each.”

She gestured at the two of them. “They sent two, here.”

He laughed at that. “You know what I meant. We hardly count. We’re barely more than Mages, at least for now. Even so, I know that the Caravan Guild has quite a few Archons, just not enough for every trip on every route to always have one who would have magics of a type to be useful.”

That’s a fair point. “Still seems like this route should have one…”

“Between any two forest cities is supposedly just as hazardous.” He frowned. “Though, the fact that we were shunted so far east likely made this more dangerous than average. I’ve also heard that the caravans that have to go south, between the forest cities, encounter much more powerful beasts as well, so I might be overestimating the uniqueness of the hostility we’ve encountered.”

“Fair enough, I suppose.”

They lapsed into a companionable silence, then. Eventually, Rane looked back to her, smiling. “You really should get some sleep.”

“You’re probably right.” She pushed herself to her feet.

“Mistress Tala?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

She smiled in return. “Good night, Master Rane.”

“Good night.”