Book 7: Chapter 2 |
IT WAS STILL LIGHT IN THE TENT when I woke up. As before, the camp outside was going about its usual business. I could hear people talking and laughing, and the whinnying and bellowing of all sorts of animals. Farther off, I could hear the blows of a smith’s hammer, and somebody much closer to my tent playing a flute.
Whether I had lost consciousness or just fallen back asleep, it didn’t really matter. The main thing was that this time, I didn’t have any visions, and I actually got some rest. And at least for the time being, my body wasn’t in pain either.
I switched to true vision and examined my energy system. So, I thought... This whole mess wasn’t just a bad dream. The auring magic was still there.
Suddenly, I sensed that someone else was present, which immediately made me tense. But then I let out a sigh of relief...
“How long was I asleep this time?” I asked quietly, without opening my eyes.
“The celestial orb just passed midday,” Selina replied. I could hear exhaustion in her voice.
So, I thought... I was only out for a few hours, and the lunari was sitting next to me the whole time, controlling my sleep and making sure it was restorative.
“Thank you,” I said in a very heartfelt tone of voice. “I actually got some rest, thanks to you.”
“It’s the least I can do, Master,” she replied softly.
“Go on — ask,” I said.
“Did you kill her?” She asked without hesitation.
“Yes.” I knew exactly who she was talking about. “I hope I don’t need to explain why I had to do it on my own?”
“I understand,” the lunari replied. “You didn’t want to risk our lives. Well, congratulations on your victory.”
I chuckled and nodded down at my body.
“Yeah, just look at my reward.”
“Can you tell me what’s happening to you?” She sounded a lot more lively.
“I think you already know,” I chuckled.
“The true power of an auring has awoken in you...”
“Yes,” I replied. “And it’s not obeying me. It’s like a parasite. It’s taken control of my reservoir and my energy system. And everything I’ve achieved — with all your help — has been changed by this parasite.”
The lunari had provided a lot of help. Thanks to Selina’s unusual gift, my concentration had improved. Despite the constant military operations and the headache associated with commanding such a huge number of people, my meditative practice had developed to a whole new level. I managed to figure out my new abilities as an avant very quickly after my transformation.
As I worked to restore Lada’s energy system, I mastered some new mana manipulation techniques, and applied that experience to improving my own energy nodes and channels. The “Fox Paw” that I used to kill Fria was one result of all this effort.
True, I had developed the technique for use with my energy, so I could use it in battle when I transitioned to a new level. Acquiring the power of an auring came as a real surprise for me. You could say it was two changes in one. By achieving absolute status, I somehow simultaneously induced a transfiguration in my energy.
Whether this was a coincidence or the will of some mystical being, I had no idea. One thing, however, had become very clear: my body may not have been ready for the auring energy, and I would have to spend a long time sorting out the consequences, but it was only thanks to the transfiguration that I managed to kill Fria. The awful woman had turned out to be a lot more powerful than I assumed she would be. There was even a moment when I really thought my last life was about to end...
“Answer a question for me, Selina,” I said pensively as I continued observing my energy system. “When did you first notice my aura? I don’t remember it being visible after my transformation.”
“It appeared yesterday evening,” the lunari replied.
“Was that when you started staying away from me?”
“No,” Selina answered. “That was earlier. When we noticed that you’re sucking up all our energy...”
“I see...” I said. “Let’s do a little experiment. Bring me some of the smallest bruts we have. Different colors. No pearls.”
The lunari nodded and disappeared; within a few minutes, she was back, holding a little bag of my crystals in her hand.
“Now — when I tell you to, you’re going to use these bruts to feed my aura,” I explained. “We’ll start with emerald and scarlet, then move on to amber and lilac. Ready?”
“Yes,” she said with an eager nod.
“Then let’s start.”
The lunari sprinkled some emerald bruts out of the bag onto her palm. They were all about the size of the nail on my pinky finger. The soft pulsating of their deep-green color made them look like little hearts, full of life.
Selina quickly stepped over to me and placed a single crystal on my chest, then rushed away again, leaving the remaining bruts at a safe distance from my bed.
My aura received the offering like a starving, wild beast; it almost seemed to throw itself onto its prey. Almost instantly, the brut dissolved in a translucent mist. As it did so, my aura flashed green, but only for the briefest moment. There wasn’t even any dust left.
I wanted to get a sense of exactly how the mana was getting distributed through my energy system, but I received a sharp and unexpected rebuff. Another fiery wave of pain rolled across my body. This made it clear to me that it wasn’t a good idea to interfere with the “program,” and that I would have to be content with the role of a passive observer.
“Dammit,” I hissed through gritted teeth.
The lunari was about to rush to my side, but I gestured for her to stay back.
Then, after a few minutes, we moved on to the scarlet crystals. Selina repeated the procedure. Within a second, the scarlet energy flashed into the golden energy. Fiery sparks flashed through my aura, but they were quickly devoured by the golden light.
I could feel a nice warm sensation spread through my body. It was the familiar effect of healing magic. I would have thought that the energy would go straight toward repairing the microtears in my energy channels and reducing the inflammation in my energy nodes, but apparently the parasite in my body had an algorithm all its own. All the energy I was receiving from external sources seemed to be accumulating in my reservoir (or as the werefox mages called it, my core).
After that, we moved on to the amber crystals. As always, this energy was thick and viscous, full of earth magic. As the first amber brut (about the size of a hazelnut) dissolved, my aura darkened for a moment, and the air filled with the smell of damp earth after a rain.
The amber energy always seemed more saturated and stubborn than other types, and sure enough, it took longer for my aura to absorb it. At my signal, the lunari laid three more bruts just like that one on my chest, and after they disappeared I finally managed a smile. My guess was correct.
“Can you see that?” I asked the lunari.
“Your aura just got darker!” Selina gasped with joy. “Lilac ones now?”
“Yes,” I replied. “Start with the biggest one in your bag.”
Selina took out a deep-purple brut the size of a quail’s egg. As my aura accepted the offering, it flashed bright purple and emitted several waves of palpable magical power. The lunari and I both squinted at the exact same time.
“Another,” I said, and Selina obliged.
In the end, we fed no fewer than fifteen bruts to my greedy golden parasite. Most of them were amber crystals.
As the last crystal dissolved, my aura finally dimmed and became invisible. And with that, it began to digest.
I could feel the tension ebbing away inside my body, and the pain was entirely gone. Soon, I was able to push myself up off the bed and sit up. I knew, of course, that I would have to repeat this process again and again, but at least I had a temporary solution. The next big question was how to keep the monster permanently full.
I glanced at Selina and smiled:
“You can come closer. Nothing’s going to hurt you.”
The lunari slowly got closer and stretched out a hand to me nervously. She finally pressed her hand lightly against my shoulder, looking for all the world like she was checking to see whether the oven was still too hot to touch.
“I don’t feel anything,” she smiled happily.
“I told you,” I said as I started getting up from my bed and stretched out my shoulders.
Once I was on my feet, though, I started lurching. First to the left, then forward. The lunari tried to hold me up, but I pushed her back gently and shook my head.
“I’ve got it...”
Everything was spinning around me, as if I were in the center of a carousel looking out.
I staggered my way to the table. Every step was difficult; it almost felt like I was learning to walk on some kind of highly-unstable surface. Which was strange, because I was normally so confident and aware of every movement. Besides that, I knew full well that I wasn’t injured. And the problem wasn’t just weakness or dizziness after losing consciousness. It was something else...
I was feeling something more than simple disorientation. It was like I was missing something, some invisible part of me that no longer existed...
Hm... Actually, I thought, I think I know what’s going on... That newly-acquired memory of an old life. That’s it.
I’m missing my tail!
The absence of a body part that was so natural for a werefox was making my movements stiff and awkward.
I chuckled and shook my head, which earned me a suspicious glance from Selina. By the way — I knew I would need her help in the near future, to come to grips with another little gift from my mysterious benefactor.
I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate. As stupid as it might sound, I had to remind myself that I was a human. Heh... And that I didn’t have a tail that could help me balance while I moved.
When I took my next step, it already felt easier. A few more steps, and I was able to squat. Then I jumped up and down a few times, and finally sighed with relief. Whew... The feeling seemed to be gone. Sure, my body still hurt, but that was a different problem.
I just had to hope that my enigmatic friend wouldn’t bring back memories of some other life where I was a weresnake or a wereturtle or something...
The whole time, Selina was watching me with a bemused expression on her face.
“What are you sensing?” I asked with a laugh.
“You’ve changed a lot over the last few days,” she admitted. “And it’s not your transfiguration... There’s something else going on.”
“Is it bad?” I asked as I sat down on my bed and started stretching out my wrist.
“No,” she shook her head. “It’s not bad, and it’s not good either... It’s not you, and it’s not from somebody else...”
I just grunted in response. That sounded about right... I had no doubt that she could sense the changes in my personality. But these changes were just temporary. I wasn’t going to let the little werefox take control of me. We were just too different. Although of course we also had something in common. It was surprising, actually... We came from different worlds and different lives, but some aspects of our personalities were still so similar.
“Okay,” I sighed. “Let’s talk about that later. For now, call Gunnar in. I need to get myself together. And also, I’m starving. I could eat a whole bull by myself!”
* * *
Despite the fact that I had asked Gunnar not to make a big deal out of my recovery, the whole camp was already aware that the Margrave de Valier was in good health and that the rumors of his illness did not accord with reality.
Sigurd and I didn’t exchange more than a few words. He told me that the stryker and the soulcatcher from the Order of the Frozen Spear were securely under guard, and could be delivered to me for a little chat whenever I gave the word. In response, I thanked him for his help and gave him six bruts to replace the ones my aura had devoured.
I could tell that my bodyguard had a lot of questions he wanted to ask, but he was restrained and tactful as always. I promised him that I would tell him everything later on.
He also brought me a little case made of Shadow metal, one of the many items he and his team had taken from the Frozen Spears’ camp (the haul also included their stryker armor and some other trophies).
As expected, the case contained three little black bruts, as well as an Ice amulet. Fria’s body, by contrast, hadn’t yielded a single artifact — nothing but her clothes. It turned out that even the blades she was using to fight me were some kind of magical spell.
After I washed up and had something to eat, I started feeling a light sense of weakness in my body again. The golden parasite was demanding more food, a mere five hours later. Hm, I thought... That didn’t last very long... At this rate, I’ll be out of crystals in no time.
I had to feed it another ten bruts. Most of them were amber crystals. I didn’t give up any more lilac bruts, though. Because at one point, I suddenly realized that the mana in them was a lot like the mana the little werefox used in his battle against those zombies. In that world, it was known as Chaos Magic. So I knew I would need my lilac bruts for other things.
Just like the first time, all the energy from my crystals went into my magic reservoir for transformation; and just like the first time, I had no control over the process whatsoever. A faint wave of pain rippled out across my body once again, as if to remind me what would happen if I decided to interfere.
Thankfully, I had plenty to keep me occupied without worrying about that. That night, I was expecting answers to a few (at the very least) of my burning questions. And the lunari was going to help me with that.
After ordering Sigurd and Aelira not to let anyone into the tent, Selina and I got to work on another experiment.
“Did you carry out the order?” I asked her as I got comfortable on my bed.
“Yes,” came her energetic reply. “I got some rest, and I’m ready to help you.”
“Good,” I said. “I want to warn you. I don’t want you to be surprised by what you’re about to see tonight. I’m going to need all your skills.”
“I’m ready,” she repeated in a firm tone, although I could sense that she was anxious.
After I finished getting comfortable on my bed and closed my eyes, Selina sat down at the head of the bed and pressed her fingertips against my temples. A few moments later, I felt a light warmth spread through my body. My eyelids started to feel heavy. I suddenly felt really good — almost like a happy child.
The lunari whispered something quietly, and a series of vague shapes started to appear before me. My ears started picking up muffled sounds, as if I were hearing things happening through a veil of cotton. A fresh herbal smell hit my nostrils, mixed with the scent of lakewater.
Suddenly, the picture stabilized, and I found myself in a cozy little clearing on the shore of a lake. Immediately, I regained the memories of this episode from my former life. I was six years old, and this was my first lesson in practical magic.
All around me were other little werefoxes from my class. Occasionally, their tails would twitch with nervous excitement. This was the day when our master would show us a real-live fighting web. We were all wearing plain, loose-fitting clothing, and each of us had a small crystal in our hands that was about a quarter full of bright-purple magic. So, I thought... I was right about the lilac bruts...
The master was standing in front of us. He was a thin, old werefox. His silvery-white hair glistened in the morning sun. The tip of his right ear had been chopped off at some point, and a big bandage covered his left eye. The old fox had lost it in battle against the beasts of the wastelands.
The master raised a hand, and a little purple clot of energy appeared in midair to the tune of a gasp from the assembled children. Slowly, it transformed into a simple web, made of thin strands of energy. The web reminded me of one of the characters in the script that Mamoru Yamada’s language was written in.
The master was deliberately moving slowly, so that we could all get a good look and remember what he was doing.
“Watch carefully,” he said in a dry voice that demanded obedience. “This is a Chaos Fang. The simplest attack web. This is the base upon which your mastery will be built.”
I watched with bated breath, trying to catch every movement, every flourish of the magical web in front of me.
Meanwhile, the master slowly moved his right hand to the side, and the web began to change shape. It started to grow more complex and beautiful. The old mage kept up a running commentary with every change, listing off the name of every different type of web. After the tenth example, he stopped and said:
“Now take some energy from your crystals and try making your first webs.”
With total confidence despite my utter ineptness, I reached down toward the crystal’s energy and felt the longed-for response. Concentrating hard, I tried to mimic the master’s movements, and to my surprise the exact same glowing pattern blossomed in the air in front of me. True, it wasn’t as graceful or as bright as the master’s.
The thrill and happiness of my first successes was almost too much for my child’s heart to contain. And as I watched, the detached observer version of me found the hint I was looking for.
The shapes began to dim, and I returned to reality. I was looking up into Selina’s pale face. Her eyes were wide. After all, she was there in the clearing too, albeit as an even more detached observer than I was.
My lips spread into a smile as I winked at her. Okay, I thought — I know where to start...