Millennial Mage

Tala and Rane buckled down to learn what they could in their limited time with the Pack.

As their third week came and went, Lerra informed them that they could only stay another week or so without starting to be in danger of harming themselves due to temporal torsion.

Thus, they would spend a total of four weeks within the Lunar Hunt, seemingly equal to four days for Zeme.

They were having a wonderful time—with the sole exception of confirming that advancement to Paragon did not allow them to conceive a child—and learning much, but they were still left with a hard decision before them.

Once they left the Lunar Hunt, they could go to the northwest, aiming for one of the city sites that were under either preparation or construction—Tala had always wanted to see those—or they could go more northeast and end up on the wandering plains, where the moving settlements of humanity—and some arcanes—could usually be found.

She really did want to track down Howlton and see what had happened with the clockwork thunder, especially now that she understood what a cell actually was and knew that the thunder was most likely a prisoner within one.

That said, there was a sense of danger and adventure involved in preparing new city sites and then building the new cities that appealed to her. Moreover, it was a mystery that she wanted to investigate. She couldn’t truly comprehend how it would work, even if she understood most parts of the process.

At least ten years of site prep, then roughly twenty five years of construction with an average loss in the neighborhood of sixteen people per day at each given site—obviously biased toward the beginning of the ventures, and usually in bigger groups spaced out rather than actually occurring per day. It’s a heavy toll to pay for a city for a million people to call home.

-And that doesn’t factor in the loss of life getting the citizens to the new city…-

Yeah… The cycling cities couldn’t be avoided at the moment because of how gated were, but it truly required a staggering cost in order to keep the remainder alive while not irreparably harming their world.Such a loss of life was with Archons on high alert, extensive magical constructions to make things safer, and dedicated professionals involved at every step. They were essentially retaking entrenched positions from magical and arcane creatures who had had centuries to embed themselves and their magics into the very landscape at every level, in addition to the standard hazards of construction. Clearing the mining tunnels alone… She shook her head and shuddered.

Someone like Master Xeel could probably keep most people safe if he wholly devoted himself to the task, but he—and all of those with his level of ability—were needed elsewhere. They were, in fact, needed more places than they had Archons capable of fulfilling the need.

-You’re sort of skimming over some of the greatest sources of death outside of new city work, those that Master Xeel—and many like him—does help with.-

Yeah… arcanes coming in on infrequent skirmishing runs is another problem I wasn’t considering.

-If it were more often, it might be more predictable. Once every few months is frustrating enough, but there are bursts and groupings of daily raids on occasion. At least, that’s what I’ve gathered from pouring over the data that we’ve been given access to. Most of those end up in the death of the arcane, too, allowing any houses involved to easily claim it was a rogue actor… every time… Unfortunately, we aren’t willing to truly start up the war again over such things. We simply can’t. No matter how devastating such strikes are, a war would be worse.-

…You are making the city sites sound depressing, not adventurous. If the strikes happened mainly around upcoming cities, I’d likely be interested. It’s been too long since I got to fight an arcane… one who wasn’t a prisoner. The rest… She grimaced.

-...I’m just giving you the facts.-

Tala turned to Rane as he opened his mouth to take a bite of a gloriously constructed breakfast sandwich. “I think we should go straight to the wandering plains. Would that be alright with you?”

The man hesitated, clearly having a war within himself.

She grinned, finding herself chuckling. “Take your bite and think, love. I don’t need you to drop what you’re doing the instant I make a comment or ask a question.”

He smiled even as he took his truly massive bite, some of the runny yolk trailing a fiery orange down his fingers and dripping onto his plate.

He chewed slowly, clearly savoring the enormous bite. When he was done, having swallowed, set his sandwich down, and wiped his hands, he met her gaze once more. “I’m fine with that plan. The city sites can be interesting, but I’ve never heard more than passing rumors—and your stories—from the enclaves of humanity in the plains. The Lunar Hunt has been less… violent than I expected, but I guess that makes sense. Even though it’s called a ‘Hunt’ if you hunt so close to home,I suppose you’ll eventually drive away all the game.” He grimaced slightly. “And I don’t think I’m ready to hunt the four-dimensional creatures…”

She nodded firmly in agreement. “Indeed. The one clash I had with a little creature of that description was more than enough for me, for the time being.”

“Indeed. But I’ve shifted the subjects and gotten us off track. I’m fine with your plan. We’ll go north and east to the plains then. That sounds like an excellent idea.” He nodded once for emphasis before picking his sandwich up once more.

Tala nodded once in return, smiling and returning her focus to her own breakfast. “Then it’s settled.”

* * *

Sooner than they really realized, the four weeks in the Lunar Hunt had flown by. Ironhold was closed up—all citizenry inside—and Tala, Rane, and Terry were standing on the twilight edge of the Lunar Hunt.

They’d bid their Pack teachers goodbye already, and only the Alpha of the Pack remained to part ways with.

As for the god-beast himself? He sat on his haunches, sized to be barely Tala’s height when so seated.

“Thank you, acknowledged of the Pack, for gracing the Lunar Hunt with your visit.”

Tala and Rane each bowed in gratitude. Terry trilled his jubilation before flickering to Tala’s shoulder.

“Humanity’s next great test will set the stage for the coming… centuries. When you clash with the Leshkin, if you are able to push them back to their forest before they retreat and reinforce themselves for another cycle, we will come. If you show that much competence, it may be time to reset the stage, removing the Leshkin for good.”

Tala almost responded with joy at the very idea, but something in the wolf’s tone made her pause. After a moment’s consideration, in which she recalled much of what he’d said previously, she gave a slow, respectful nod. “Doing so would cost you much.”

“Yes, young ones. My Pack would need a worthy ally for the time I will require to recover.”

So many things flashed through her mind. Master Xeel’s comments on the lack of unity among sovereign-level beings. The fact that Anatalis and Vidarra were seeming exceptions to that, possibly only ignored because their focus was on their children, their Pack. The Pack’s approaching humanity, and so, so much more.

Things were moving in Zeme, and in such times of turmoil the whole balance of power could shift.

Lisa’s words—given so recently—came back to her as well. She, herself, stood in a place of power, existing as a sort of rusted conglomeration of Major House and rogue humanity.

…This was way over her head and had implications that she couldn’t even begin to parse.

-I’ve flagged this memory—and that of the conversation with Lisa—for review by Mistress Ingrit for thoughts and proper distribution.-

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Thank you, Alat.

-Of course. I am happy to take on such tasks for us. I’m as much out of my depth as you are. We’re in this together.-

To whatever end.

-To whatever end.-

Rane’s hand found hers, giving a careful squeeze.

He—her husband—was there with her too. Their fates, like their souls, were inextricably intertwined.

The coming centuries would be… impactful.

She almost laughed at the thought, given her scant thirty years of life so far.

As if he had read her thoughts, Anatalis’ chuckle rolled through the landscape one last time. “I can see you understand some of what lies ahead of us. I will not burden you with yet more. Good hunting, safe den, swift travels.”

With that last benediction, Tala, Rane, and Terry found themselves standing at the edge of a normal forest, alone.

The omnipresent moon that had hung over their heads for the last four weeks was gone.

They had returned to Zeme.

They had returned as Paragons.

After a moment passed, Rane turned toward Tala with a mischievous grin. “So, shall we message Master Grediv together, or shall I and Enar handle it? I’m sure he’ll have much to say about our recent advancement.”

A smile tugged at her lips in return. “Oh, absolutely you should. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Rane’s eyes unfocused for a brief moment, then he grinned. “Done.” His expression shifted to contemplative. “You know, we have the power to send messages directly to the Academy now.”

Tala froze for a moment. “Right. I… I didn’t think about that.”

-Already on it! Our siblings will feel our love from afar.-

Let’s…

-Yeah, I’m not letting them know that we can send and receive from them at any time now. That would only open the door for hurt feelings when we’re less communicative than we could be.-

Thank you, Alat. What would we do without us?

Alat snorted within their head. -Agreed. We are a treasure.-

Rane shrugged, clearly unconcerned. “I imagine that it’s already taken care of?”

Tala chuckled. “Yeah.”

“Good. I was just thinking… I wonder what he’ll say now that we’re Paragon too?”

“Master Grediv?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t think he’s actually more advanced, just hiding his advancement… do you?”

“No? It is odd—given what we know now—that he’s never shown himself as less than Paragon, but what do I know? I’m sure he has his reasons.”

Tala frowned at that. It tickled something at the back of her mind… Her eyes widened. “The books!”

She smacked herself in the forehead.

“I completely forgot about the books that he gave me years ago about the differing levels of advancement.”

Rane frowned. “No, they were about creatures of various advancements.”

Tala waved that off. “Same difference.”

“No?” He sounded genuinely confused.

“The capabilities of the various creatures is a good show of the breadth of what is possible in a given stage.”

He frowned, considering. “That’s… surprisingly reasonable.”

“Thank you? Were you expecting me to be crazy?”

“No, but I hadn’t thought of it that way.” He shrugged. “So?”

Tala pulled the first tome out of thin air. The title gleamed in the dim light beneath the trees: ‘A Brief Overview of Entities: Refined.’

She flipped it open and found… exactly what she expected. It was a detailed overview of various beings that shared her previous advancement. She put the Refined book away, taking out the next one—the Paragon text—with a bit of reverence. It opened at her touch with ease, revealing a very sparsely filled book.

There was a preface: ‘To the Archon who reads this, greetings. I have done my utmost to record what I know of beings at my level of advancement, but blessedly, my encounters with such are few and far between. There are a few things in here that are generally handled by Paragons in our fair cities, even while not being of that advancement. I urge you to take any such entry seriously even though you are more advanced. Now that you have reached this level, you are meant to be a stalwart defense against such threats.’

Tala frowned, flipping to the table of contents, speaking under her breath, “UnReal Hydra? Mind Worms? Incubus/Succubus Cascade? Lich? Necromancers? Cells and Their Derivations?” And on and on she read.

Rane’s eyes widened a bit more with each heading. “Those all sound… well, honestly I have no idea what some of those are, and the rest are terrifying in implication.”

“Indeed.” She flipped to one of the first entries, alphabetically speaking, and began reading out the start of the description. “Absolute Armored Warriors - True Name Unknown. Heavily, heavily modified and enhanced humans—though that description is only loosely accurate—they stand at more than nine feet tall, have three lungs and more muscle than you would expect. Their armor is technologically based but still works to augment and enhance their physicality to be equivalent to combat focused Refined or even Paragons. Despite this, their weaponry is mostly distance based, and it is underestimated at the Archon’s peril. If you are in the area of affect, you are about to die. They generally hate magic and anything ‘heretical’ to their creator with a burning passion. Though, some have shown magic-like abilities. They live only to fight and kill, and we’ve never detected signs of aging on the remains. We have only had encounters with singular examples of this opponent, those seemingly having been thrown here through various breaches—or warps—in the void or Doman-Imithe. Even so, the brief interactions led us to believe that they generally travel in squads or even as whole armies. Destroy any you encounter with extreme speed as their technology is to a level they might be able to call for reinforcements if left in Zeme for too long.”

Rane was pale when she got to the end. “They sound terrifying.”

“Yeah. Imagine that level of power in fanatic warriors.” She arched an eyebrow at him.

“Fine, that does sound like the Eskau of the Major Houses, at least a bit, but something in the wording… I can practically hear Master Grediv’s voice in the word-choice. He’s scared of these things.”

Tala nodded. “Indeed.”

That did make her curious though. So, she flipped to the entry on ‘Eskau,’ because of course there was one.

“These are the swords of the Major arcane Houses… and the spears, and the whips, and anything else their Pillars need. These are warriors of unsurpassed skill, utilizing morphic—or otherwise highly flexible—weapons that are hard to mimic by any means we are aware of. Assume that they can be entirely different shapes for every strike, effortlessly and instantly shifting from a small dagger to a halberd as the Eskau has need, or even having each be created in their hands as they strike—depending on the House. These weapons are each—regardless of the House—powered by a human soul, which the arcanes refer to as a vestige. These weapons are bonded to the Eskau in a method that is similar to our soulbonding but more… subversive of the remnant will of the soul used, and also less damaging to the vestige when the Eskau dies or is stripped of their rank. Do not expect such a vestige to ever spontaneously pass on to the next world as some other arcane vestiges do. Most Eskau wield arcane magics—those backed by and based on concepts—with unparalleled skill. Their bond with their weapon also means that they will not suffer from the arcane weakness of limited power to the same degree as their kin. The vestige is never sufficient for endless power at the Eskau’s need, but they do increase the staying power of these harrowing warriors. Assume that any Eskau can fight at least one level of advancement beyond what they seem. Though, in truth, I suspect that part of this might come from a practice of disguising their level of advancement. Doing so seems to have some greater significance to them than just subterfuge as some of those whom we’ve fought have maintained such disguises for far longer than would otherwise have been prudent. Do not engage on your own if you have a choice. Do not allow to roam free in our lands. Drive away if at all possible. Harry until reinforcements arrive if not. Killing one is a political act and should only be done as a last resort. These are not disgraced scions looking to re-earn esteem through foolish assaults. If an Eskau is before you, such happened at their choosing. Do not take them lightly, no matter how things appear.”

She looked up to see Rane regarding her with wide eyes, though there was a sparkle of mischief in their depths. “You really are terrifying, aren’t you?”

Her lips pulled up into a half-smile. “While I was—and really still am—an Eskau, this is from humanities encounters with Eskau. It is not a full or true picture of how all Eskau are. I imagine those who clashed with humanity directly were among the best and most powerful.”

“Like your sometimes mentor, the elf woman… Meallain, right?”

Tala gave a sad smile as she remembered the Eskau’s distress at that monster’s death. “Yeah. She would be… she would be terrifying to deal with. Humanity will have a very bad season if she ever comes this way with violent intentions.”

“Well, blessedly that hasn’t happened yet.”

A breeze blew through the woods from behind them, cooler than usual for late summer, and it caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end.

Tala shuddered. “It’s funny. I’m not used to having such reactions anymore. I suppose the wind on the back of the neck is ticklish, no matter how tough the skin is.”

Rane nodded. “That is true, yeah. It is funny how our bodies are still fundamentally mundane, even if we’ve enhanced and strengthened them to the extreme.”

“Yeah, they are actually likely the weakest link in the chain of our selves, at least now that our souls are starting to gather strength.”

He continued to nod, taking on a sagely air. “We really should do something about that in the near future. I feel like our next step should be some sort of deeper reinforcement of our bodies. We need to break them down and remake them… reshape them? Re….? Re…? There must be a good word for it somewhere…”

Tala gave him a light shove even as Terry rolled his eyes and let out a sonorous trill. “Yes, yes. We’ll Reforge next. I suppose you think that you’re so clever.”

He laughed, catching her up in an embrace. “Not especially, but it does explain why we gated humans move that direction for our next step. It just makes sense.”

“Indeed.”