Closed [Khamsin Inn] Beginnings Pt. II [Alric]

[Tazrae]

“I’ll take you someday, I promise, if you are ever in my neck of the jungle.” She said with a little chuckle, answering his comment about Reclaimed Knowledge. She’d been there plenty, and planned to go back often. Books were beloved things and precious in the jungle since the wet and warm tended to steal them through mold. She could picture Alric there, among the wild things growing in and around the stacks of books. It was something she’d never imagined she’d picture before, but she could see it now.

“Be careful with your things. If people knew what they were where you are from, I don’t know that they’d try to steal them, but I suspect they’d kill you for utilizing them.” Taz said, going by what Alric had told her of Sunberth. All she knew of the place was from him, but she suspected it was far worse than her imagination provided since he seemed to gloss over so many of the details and added very few personalized bits like she did when talking about Syka. But then again, he was a man and maybe such things didn’t occur to him. Her father… no uncle… had always added tidbits. But Alric was held his secrets closer, she decided.

Taking a deep breath, she signed and began stripping off some of the finer things she wore.

“The Voril weapons are rare. We can still learn the magic without a weapon or craft our own through time. It doesn’t say that but it feels right to me. Be patient. Searching a market isn’t where we will find true power. True power is hidden, and never in plain sight.” She added.

Taz plucked a pillow from beside her and laid it out between them. To the pillow she added a necklace she took from her own neck and a serpent shaped arm band from around her muscular upper arm. She slipped three charms off a charm bracelet she wore, though she didn’t even attempt to remove the bracelet itself. From her belt pouch she pulled a small set of goggles. All these things she laid out on the pillow, and glanced up at him.
“Magical things… mostly from Syka.” She said, noticing a ring on her finger and pulling it off. This one she kept to herself, holding it in her cupped hand. It was within Alric’s sight, but not hidden from him. She just seemed more curious about it than the rest of the gear. “This one is newer. It is from a box of trinkets the Founders passed out to the citizens.” She said of the gold ring. It had a beautiful stone set in it… one that ranged from green to pink in an ombre effect. The emerald cut of the stone was twisted sideways so it was set at an angle instead of straight across the banding.

“We’ll learn shielding too… but first… lets get more auristics practice in. Look at these items, Alric, and tell me what you see when you look at them with your magesight.” The Innkeeper said softly.

Taz hadn’t really had time to examine the ring further. She didn’t actually know if it was magical or not. So she decided it would be her focus and she’d study what she could learn from it. Concentrating hard, she tapped her well – instinctively diving down into it – and pulled djed from its depths. The djed she pulled into her eyes and into her throat as well, swallowing as the power filled her gaze and surrounded her vocal chords. Tazrae had been playing with music, challenging herself to greater effort in listening and hearing. She didn’t understand why Auristics couldn’t be tonal as well.

She sang a clear pure C and let it hit the ring, her voice backed by djed. The ring vibrated to the sound, odd enough on its own, but it was her eyes that clearly saw the flare of power answering the djed fueled note. The ring sang back with the same C, its own power flaring in reaction. Taz could clearly see that both with her eyes and with her hearing, the power answered power and the ring was tasked with something… did something… held something. She just had no idea what it was. There was no baseline to compare it too. Taz had no ordinary jewelry to sing too and listen for nor did she have an inkling of what she was hearing meant. The flare of power in her eyesight was common enough. Power answered power. But again, she had no idea what it meant.

Frustrated, the Innkeeper furrowed her brow and shook her head, letting the djed trickle out of her voice and out of her gaze.

“I can tell it has power. I can hear it sing power back at me. But other than a flare of color and the echo of a song, it gives no clues as to how I can know what it might do magically.” The Innkeeper thought out loud.

“Does the book say anything about how to view Auras? Maybe if various colors mean various things?” She said, thinking how she couldn’t exactly describe the color off the ring when she looked at it and sang to it with djed. It was decidedly a color, a thousand hues and shades, but one couldn’t say it was for example green. It wasn’t. It might be closer to say it had all the verdant colors of spring flowing off it.

Taz rose, retrieved the text, and flipped to the Auristics section. “Auras can detect physical properties, internal structures, feelings, magical activities, residual activities and intent.” The Innkeeper shook her head. “I could hear a chorus of sound off it and see a riot of color. How are we supposed to know what we are seeing or hearing… even feeling … what that means? How do you read intent from an aura?” She asked, suddenly understanding why a teacher was so important.

Frustrated, Tazrae sang another pure C, this time backing it with the gnosis she was marked with. She concentrated on hearing the feedback from her C note bouncing off the ring in her palm. The tone that reverberated back in her bard’s hearing was as pure as the note she sang, but different. It was as if it were a note from a scale that she was unfamiliar with. Taz took a breath, sang another pure C, only this time she concentrated and poured djed into her singing. Her tourmaline ring rang with a song that was so loud, so refracted back at her immediately and fiercely, that it was akin to someone banging a gong right next to her ear. Taz flinched, dropped the ring and clamped her hands over her ears with a yelp. The ensuing note ricocheted through her brain, causing an almost immediate headache that pounded between her temples.

It took her a moment to blink the room back into focus, find her ring on the floor, and slide it back on her finger.

She shifted, sitting up on her knees now, and rubbed at either side of her head at the hairline. “Ouch. I don’t think I was supposed to do that.” Tazrae said, gritting her teeth at her pounding headache. “Don’t force it… just be carefully… look gently.” She suggested, not wanting Alric to make her same mistake.

Words: 1234

[Alric Lysane]

“I would like that,” he said in response to the offer of a tour, though he was not sure it would ever happen, at least not for a while at least, “and I know, I am as careful as I can be. I don’t generally go around telling everyone I have magic things. Nor will I probably do any of…this…anywhere but here or in my shack. Believe me, I like breathing” “But as you say, I have to use everything that I have to gain advantages, grow used to things I never thought I would even touch let alone explore. I give you my word that I am not risking myself more than I have to. Believe me when the day comes I don't need them, you can have all the things I come across along the way” Either way he was caught between a rock and a hard place when it came to Sunberth. Despite his previous discussions with her it was feeling more and more as if he would end up outnumbered in a place that hated what he was becoming. The inevitable options weighed heavily upon him, not least because the only other place he knew would welcome him would also be put in danger by his presence. He sighed softly and directed his attention to her as she started to lay out her things…magical things that she offered up to show him. He slipped down to sit cross-legged upon the floor to get a better view of them, though he didn’t touch them. He nodded at her request and after a few deep breaths of hesitation and second-guessing he closed his eyes and visited the well she had shown him. It felt easier, which merely made him feel like his skin were crawling at the idea it was becoming routine. He hesitated once more before touching it, grasping at it and pulling it kicking and screaming into him, up towards his eyes. After a while of supressing the torrent within him with a frown he opened his eyes, shimmering emeralds, and looked upon the items. Each had the same hue as far as he could see, a palette of blues ranging from light to dark, swirling and changing every moment. “I see blue, a lot of blue, pretty much every blue. On all of the items. Wait a tick,” he said, transferring his gaze to her now, his vision sliding to the side and seeking out that kaleidoscope from before, a smile crossing his lips in satisfactions despite the activity when it flickered into being, “yes it is definitely that colour for me for your items…maybe for all magic items…yes…yes my bodysuit is the same” he continued as he rolled his sleeve up to look at it, his vision swimming slightly as he transferred his gaze, trying to pick it out from what he could only presume was his own in the background around his arm. He blinked and closed his eyes for a few chimes, a small ache beginning to form at the bridge of his nose and his head taking a while to settle from the moving from aura to aura. He thought about it for a while, still with closed eyes, and wondered if it was because he had tried to do too much, too quickly. Taking a deep breath and slowly opening his eyes now he focused purely upon Tazrae as she set about her mission to discern her trinkets. He kept his gaze carefully upon her and didn’t even think of any of the other things. He watched, headache getting slightly worse with exertion, as her colours seemed to change. Where before they had been myriad in shades and colours now, as he watched her focus, it seemed to become dominated by a few now – purple, green and a flash of red when she snapped. Anger perhaps? Frustration? When she sang there were flashes of white and it seemed to echo in his ears longer than normal, whispers returning in its absence that he tried to shake off. Just as she seemed to be flashing once more there was a crackle of black and at the sound of her ring dropping the whispers snapped out an ending and he let go of everything, a throbbing sensation behind his eyes suddenly manifesting and only many blinks later did his vision return to normal, tiredness poking at his eyes. “A little too late, I think,” he said as he pinched the bridge of his nose and hissed at the ache softly, closing his eyes against the light that suddenly seemed a bit too bright, “I don’t know how you learn intent. I suppose it may be like reading someone’s expression perhaps? You learn the subtle tells and can infer what their motivations are. Like watching a drunk at the bar leer at a pretty lass, it’s easy enough to tell what they want” he said with words that felt heavier in sound then they normally did. “I do know that just as you dropped the ring you crackled black…I’m guessing that means pain…for my magic anyway. I also learned not to switch too quickly between items, it…made my head swim? I think that’s the expression? I think we will need to spend a lot of time cross referencing…and maybe taking it one piece at a time, no?” he smiled a small, thin smile as he fought the spikes trying to pick at his forehead. “Are you okay Taz?” he asked, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder before deciding it was better lay down upon the floor for a little while, suiting his thoughts by slumping sideways to stare up at the ceiling, blinking against the throbbing.

[Tazrae]

She watched Alric stretch out on the floor and stifled a yawn. Rising slowly, Tazrae decided she needed a break. She paced the length of the room, and reached up to release the strip of leather that tamed her hair. She hadn’t bothered with shoes, though if she had, Taz certainly would have kicked them off. She wished she’d brought her mandolin because her hands felt the need to get busy. She flexed her fingers, made a fist, then hummed the scales of a C chord. Then she hummed a snippet of a melody that she loved about two star-crossed lovers that could never be together. Her head hurt, but Taz had a remedy for that. She let her djed flow around her, through her, tapping her well without any purpose for the djed use.

“She follows the path of least resistance.
She doesn’t care to see the mountain top.
She twists and turns with no regard to distance.
She never comes to a stop.”

Still circling while Alric stretched on the floor, Tazrae sang while she thought about Auristics. She let the music wash around her, and let her voice guide her. She didn’t arrange the song in order, but rather sang verses out of place, skipping refrains, and altering the tempo almost without thought.

“He’s headed for a single destination.
He doesn’t care what’s standing in his path.
He’s a line between to points of separation.
He ends just where it says to on the map.”

Taz made another round, opening some of the window screens to let in a breeze. She noted the small things as she paced… the coldness of the floor, the slap of the bareness of her feet on the chilled tile of the floor. Pulling more djed, she sang out again, softly, but with power because it was in her blood and because it was in her blood it was her right.

“And she rolls, she’s a river.
Where she goes, time will tell.
The Gods know, he can’t go with her.
And she rolls, all by herself.
All by herself.”

It was such a fitting song. They were two very different worlds coming together. She should be his enemy, he should be hers… her family hunted his because of power he had barely decided to acknowledge. But slowly, ever so slowly, he was starting to understand. The Founders words of caution filled her mind, even as the song demanded to be let out.

“And he rolls, he's a highway.
Where he goes, time will tell.
The Gods know, she can’t go with him.
And he rolls, all by himself.
All by himself.”

Gods, she could feel the power in her. Deep in her, with her song, power surged and swirled, demanding out. She opened to it, letting it fill her and she could feel the djed in her throat and in her eyes, and as she sang out the next verse, not really caring if Alric laughed or not --- she didn’t sing for him, only for herself – as the djed rose, flooding her body, soothing her head, even as she focused on the room all around her. She framed in her chest, took a deep breath, and as she paced around one more time, she let the song’s powerful chorus loose.

“And every now and then, he offers her a shoulder.
And every now and then, she overflows.
And every now and then, a bridge crosses over.
It’s a moment, that every lover knows.”

She blinked, but it didn’t help. The room was a glow in her senses now. And she layered her voice so that both of the choruses came together, one stacked on top of the other, as she looked around the room and took in its aura. As she sang, she looked… really looked, and saw with the eyes of a mage without strain, without fuss, without pain. And the smile that spread across her face was wholly genuine.

“And she rolls…
And he rolls…
She’s a river…
He’s a highway…
And where she goes…
And where he goes…
Time will tell…
Time will tell…
The Gods know, she can’t go with him…
He can’t go with her…
And she rolls, all by herself…
And he rolls, all by himself…”

Then she doubled down, pulled in more breath, and dragged out the last line, haunting and heartfelt.

“Fare thee well….. Fare thee well… Fare thee well”

By this time, she’d made another lap of the room, as big as it was, and was coming around. She had a hand on the back of her head, buried in her hair, and was reaching out with her free hand, touching everything she could see in her immediate sight. To her, with the djed, and the song relaxing her… the entire place was aglow. So she kept humming the fragmented song, and touched literally everything. Her fingers ran over the counters in the kitchen, the frame by the door, and across the table. She looked, really looked, and started to see the differences in auras. It was light and sound and a thousand layers of other things that gave the viewer clues. No wonder her book had been so vague on how this was done.

Alrics was bright, strong, and filled with a thousand shades of blue, like a storm rolling around him. The sound coming off of him was a counter harmony to her song, flowing in little eddies that she could hear more than see around him. She wouldn’t know how to explain it, but she saw and heard his frustration, fear, and determination all woven around his form and making up his aura. She’d never of thought of him as someone blue, but she also sensed this changed as his mood and his atmosphere did.

The jewelry on the pillow she’d laid out earlier sang to her in a way she understood. The pieces echoed her song in her voice because they were hers. She could see the magic layered over them or infused itself into them. She heard it as much as she saw it, her eyes at war with her ears as to which was going to sense what when. When the colors started to fade and the djed in her failed to rise without her concentration, she sang out the verse again and the well let go of its greed, and gave to her deeply and freely, filling her senses with power once more.

“And every now and then, he offers her a shoulder.
And every now and then, she overflows.
And every now and then, a bridge crosses over.
It’s a moment, that every lover knows.”


She circled again, eyes on Alric, pondering him, watching his colors as she picked up the book once more.

The book seemed to showcase Auristics as a feast to the senses. Taz realized that’s where she was going wrong. She was trying to focus on one sense at a time, not all of them. That wasn’t much different for a trained cook, Tazrae supposed, who found themselves in an intensive kitchen with every ingredient that had ever existed but only interested in using very basic things. That person would have become as overwhelmed as Taz and Alric had their first attempt.

But Taz wasn’t overwhelmed now. Now she was thinking smart. How would they know where to start and what to focus on? The true answer was they wouldn’t. Not ever. Instead, she’d just needed a focus – the song – and to relax and let her body do what it already knew what to do. That was something she missed when she had tried before. Once she just let her body go, let it reach and examine, then she’d succeeded. It was then she could narrow her focus, and work on her control. There was no need to sense the whole room… sense it. She liked that thought. It made more sense than looking or listening.

Taz switched directions, retrieved the book, and then rested it down between them where she could look over the studying her companion. “You are beautiful all lit up with color and sound.” She said softly, then glanced away, to where the ring had tumbled away from where she had been sitting. She padded over, retrieved it, and sat down on her original cushion. Cupping it in her hand, she closed her eyes and sang.

“She follows the path of least resistance.
She doesn't care to see the mountain top.
She twists and turns with no regard to distance.
She never comes to a stop.”

Then she opened her eyes and the rest of her senses, and the ring sang back to her. It sang of warnings, protection, and foresight. Taz couldn’t have said if she read that in its colors or if the tones of its own unique song whispered that to her. She looked and listened until she could look and listen no more, then closed her fist around the ring.

“Warnings… protection…. foresight,” Taz said, then shook her head. “It’s protection…. I can feel it all the way down to my bones.” Taz said without singing, her voice one of a speaking human. “It gives warnings of something bad to happen… it gives protection and foresight.” She knew that was vague… but it was what she read off her ring. Sliding it back on her finger, she grinned at Alric, her pounding head completely gone.

“Wow… just wow….” A crooked grin filled her face. “When it works, you’ll know it….” She told Alric, growing quiet as she continued to look around with her newfound magesight.

Words: 1607

[Alric Lysane]

As he lay there, the throbbing easing somewhat as time passed but still persistent in its pain, he turned his head to watch her pass him. The movement felt less problematic now, his vision returning to normal though the sensation of having tried to stuff his head with a bit too much still there, though fading as she sang. It had felt strange, as if too much had been trying to be channelled into his eyes and they, built for only so much, had rebelled and signalled their dislike. Strange too, considering he spent every second of every day using the things. Still, progress was progress and he had seen more than in his first attempts. The fact that things felt like they were getting easier, albeit marginally, was in and of itself slightly discomforting to him. Upon reflection he supposed that that might be his problem, distasteful as that seemed. He had been off balance for a while, his feelings upon many things oscillating between extremes. He tried not to show it externally, it was unwise to give street people signs that you were not quite paying attention. Yet he had felt an inner war brewing. He had never even thought about things differently until he had come to the Outpost, that in itself was curious. Taz had shown him a path but, as the words of her song created new thoughts, he had been the one to begin treading it. It was strange, every time he was here, he felt better about doing these things, when he was in Sunberth he didn’t. He sighed, blinked hard for the last time and levered himself up to sit back into his chair, relaxing into its comfort. He found that by concentrating and returning to his well, if not immediately touching it, he felt somewhat better – like having a small drink after the previous night’s revelry. That was curious to him, and he tucked that away for future consideration as it seemed important. As she sang his listened, the words hauntingly mirroring his feelings in some ways. He closed his eyes and opened himself to the Djed, not fighting it this time, accepting it and seeing where it would go, still keeping a metaphorical hand on the tap, closing it to a trickle to begin with. As it began to fill him he simply relaxed as best he could, wondering if by learning how to just hold it that he might have an easier time in commanding it. He found himself humming along with her tune once he had it figured out – he was no singer and so did not inflict his voice upon her. “I am glad at least one person thinks so,” he said in response to her comments on him, smiling slightly and finding relief as the power of the Djed seemed to ease the pain he felt, for now at least, “I rather enjoy your voice, though the song is a sad one. Still, your voice is lovely” A fragrance came to him and he sniffed, puzzled at first, until he realised that however he was doing it he was picking it up from her. As she sang and circled the room she was leaving it in her wake, to dissipate and spread. It was her usual scent of earthy tones and fresh greenery but this time…there was an almost honeyed sweetness mixed in and he could feel both the enjoyment of the act of singing but also the melancholy of the song veined through the scent. He was not sure how, but he was positive it wasn’t his mind playing tricks on him, her scent had changed with her activity and mood. It reflected her joy and sadness, though it seemed the former outweighed the latter by some bit, eventually covering it completely as he heard her return to the floor in front of him. This is crazy, it’s doing it by itself now…mind of its own she said…is it just using me to do what it always wants to do? Simply changing how it expresses itself based upon what I direct it…no…that doesn’t seem good at all he thought to himself briefly, stuffing it down for later as he felt his tenuous grip tremble slightly before righting itself. “Ah…I could have done with one of those a long time ago. But it’s nice to know you’ll have some warning should the darkness come to visit. That’ll help me worry less,” he said, his voice seeming far away, “your smell changes as you sing, and with what I assume are your feelings though I can’t be sure. Interesting though that it adds other scents rather than replaces the main one” He still didn’t open his eyes yet, he was trying to take it slow and his current revelation that it was doing it almost by itself didn’t make him feel particularly safe about not getting another headache. He shifted in his chair and shivered slightly at the sensation, his sense of touch amplified and taking in everything, the grain of the wood, the solidity of the chair, able to picture it…feel it down to its minutest detail. He startled and then got a hold of himself and instead cautiously relaxed into it. He brushed his fingers across the arms, feeling them out. Wood, he felt within, hard wood not soft, though he wasn’t sure which one. There was a layer too, some kind of oiling that he felt instinctively was not to stain but to protect against something. It was seeped into the wood, penetrating all of it. Finally, he sighed and opened his eyes to not so much see the room but to feel it. It was strange, like there was a layer beneath the real surface he saw every day, and that somehow it was more real than the real. It was a foolish notion, but it was the best way he could describe it. He didn’t focus upon anything specific, didn’t try to get information as he had made that mistake before, instead he relaxed into it all and just…was. It was like a subtle throbbing perhaps, but he knew instinctively that he was safe for now, until he tried to focus. He felt that feeling was what was needed, like with the chair. He had tried to absorb everything through sight, not unusual for him but impossible with what was revealed now, he could never take in all of…whatever this was…with simple eyesight. He had been a fool to try, though he had not known in fairness. He narrowed his focus, not his sight but his focus, and instead switched everything to Tazrae, sat so happily before him with her ring and the triumph in her voice. She was not a chaotic kaliedescope now, though there were various colours, no she was mainly a yellow, almost a banana yellow, bold and it seemed to pulsate with her smile. Was that happy? A little, he felt, but no…wait…no it was triumphant…she had figured it out. There was a lacing of orange, a related colour and tilting his head he felt it out and thought it was wonder…which made sense. All of this came not from sole sight but everything, the changes in smell and the song that while muted seemed to be ever present, like a constant crackling mixed with various rhythm's and melodies vying for dominance - he would clearly need to work on sound. It was quite a humbling series of sensations. She was quite beautiful, and now sensing her out with this strange gift, he was sure of her more than ever. There was no oozing darkness like how he had felt with Florentin, only a flickering warm glow and a sensation of warmth upon his skin. He felt the urge to touch too but resisted, though he suspected from his musings upon the chair that where she had clearly found solace with sound and movement, he worked better with scent, touch and stillness. “I think…from whatever this is…that the mistake was to try and use one thing to learn about one thing…which is ridiculously amusing by the way and something I’d not have though of given the way they wrote about it,” he said, keeping his general focus upon her, his fingers gesturing slightly as he used imaginary touch to help him concentrate, “I’d never had thought that you could just…what is the word…use it, I suppose, without actually focusing it. That it just…is…until you try to focus. But you are quite the beauty yourself, particularly when smiling, it lights up more than the face it seems” He relaxed back into the chair more, wondering how people could walk through places and not know this existed, this something underneath…or surrounding…everything. Or perhaps they did, they just didn’t know it? It was confusing, to be sure. He had the sure knowledge that despite his reservations he'd spend much time exploring with Auristics, it was too enticing, the knowledge and curiosities that it seemed to offer. It whispered to him, causing the hairs upon his neck to tingle.

[Tazrae]

Taz was terrible at taking compliments. His words brought high color to her cheeks, tinting them coral a moment before she settled in front of him and studied his reaction. Her fingers of her left hand were busy twisting the ring on her right hand, not exactly a nervous gesture, but something to focus the energy in her limbs on. Taz was animated at most times and needed to keep moving unless exhaustion had creeped up and overwhelmed her. She wasn’t even close to exhaustion at the moment. And she was no where near that stage in this moment of excitement and discovery.

She was, in fact, feeling excited.

Tazrae nodded at his next words then tilted her head. “I mean, if you figure this all out, how do you describe in words how to do this for someone else who is just as blind as you were moments ago? That’s just explaining something verbally. Writing it down so it makes sense is near impossible. I’m shocked we’re learning this much from a book, though I suspect we are more motivated than most. You’d have to be the most gifted wordsmith in the world to actually get Auristics down in a book accurately. It’s not an easy concept to wrap yourself around and teach to someone else you’ve never met and have no idea how they think or even who they are.” She said, nudging the book and openly admitting its flaws. “It certainly doesn’t have all the answers, does it?” She added, then took a deep breath and offered him another smile.

“Its like describing how we breathe. I mean if you think about breathing, which we honestly don’t most of the time, it’s a super complex situation that involves us inflating what are essentially two bellows in our chests. But there’s a whole lot of muscle work involved, and lip motions, and nostrils… and when you talk about breath control in terms of singing, you start getting into diaphragm support, and...” Taz trailed off, lifted her shoulders in a shrug and released her fussing hands to make a gesture with her whole body. The gesture was a huge open-armed open-handed shrug. “It’s complicated! And that’s in essence what the book says. Then we have to figure in how everyone senses things…. I mean I hear sounds…. sounds like you wouldn’t believe. And you keep talking about scents! I try not to smell things on purpose.” Taz laughed, wrinkling her nose. “But smell is one of your driving forces. I don’t know you well, Alric, but I know that about you already. You’re a human bloodhound.” She said with a light laugh, her eyes twinkling with mirth.

“It’s almost like the same magic can be done by two people very differently and still be successful. I mean its so diverse that a hundred people could probably use Auristics and all use it differently.” She offered, studying his current expression which was pensive and introverted. He was thinking again, his eyes a mixture of concern and excitement.

“With Auristics, I feel like we’ve walked through the world a bit blind to a lot of things, and this is like gifting us with another ‘sense’ like our taste and sight and sound.” Taz said softly. “It’s frightening, in a way, because what have we walked right by and never sensed? What kind of things live among us that we are blind too?” She dropped her voice slightly, concerned, and intrigued.

Taz took a deep breath, then let out her air slowly. “Alric, just being around you is causing things to open up in me… in my heart and mind… like potential locked away that has been suddenly unlocked by what we talk about and what we’ve been doing. I can’t explain it exactly…” She said gently, shaking her head and taking a moment to run her hands through her curls in an attempt to push them out of her face. “You make me think things I would have never thought about before meeting you. I’m curious if it is you… your djed… our shared experiences. I just don’t know. But I do know there would be a huge hole in my life if you weren’t around. You make me… want to be more and feel like I can be more… just by… being with me. Thank you for that.” She said sincerely. Then, as if embarrassed, she rose abruptly.

“We need something to munch on before we go on. I think Auristics is going to take us a great deal of practice in every day doings. I think its time to switch gears, end on a high note, and come back to it and maybe compare some findings to what we learn through practice in our everyday lives. So let’s have a snack, then I want to sit and read the shielding pages as well. Maybe talk about that. I can’t stay the night tonight… because I have a set of guests checking in tomorrow morning with the Veronica pulling into port. James sent a parrot ahead letting us know to get rooms ready.” Taz added, and moved away, heading towards her backpack.

She dug into the backpack and pulled out a covered crock that was almost like a casserole pan. She unwrapped its contents and pulled plates and forks from the cupboard to make him up a plate. She carried it over to him and sat one down on the floor next to her cushions. Then she returned with wine and sweet bread. On his place was a half of a hollowed-out fruit – large – with interlocking brownish scales and a crown of green at one end. It had been cut in half, laid on its side, and stuffed with rice, shrimp, and more of the yellow fruit that looked like it might have been part of its guts originally. “It’s a pineapple.” Taz said, then gestured to the overstuffed mixture in it. “That’s rice, shrimp, and more pineapple cooked in coconut milk, saffron, and a bunch of other spices. Try it… its good without being heated.” She said, laying a fork on his plate and settling into the cushions and picking up her own plate.

Tazrae loved feeding Alric. It just made her feel good to see him get a whole meal. She knew he ate well enough in Sunberth, but he didn’t seem to have any extra flesh and she suspected he’d missed more than one meal in his time there.

She dug into her half of the pineapple rice and shrimp mixture, not really caring if the container was remotely consumed or not… she just liked the decorative effect of the make-shift bowl, and nudged the book around and began thumbing through it to see what it said on Shielding. Stopping at that section, she nudged the book towards Alric.

“Well, you were interested. Tell me what its about?” She added, between bites, chewing each mouthful carefully. She’d picked or harvested, even caught the shrimp, by her own hands fresh earlier that day or the day before. It made her happy to feed people and make sure they thrived through a good meal. Now… what would he say about Shielding? And why was he interested? Protection, maybe? She could see that.

Words: 1213

[Alric Lysane]

He watched as her cheeks reddened slightly at his words, seemingly unusual given her repeated mentions of bodies being bodies he found it curious she might blush at words of appreciation. There was a pinkish lattice that appeared in her colouring, her scent attaining a layer of…cinnamon perhaps? It was difficult to pinpoint but it definitely had a slight spicy tint to it. He looked at her further as she moved past it, the orange now taking over once more, alternating with a very bright blue, flickering as if she were switching between two things at random. He listened as he maintained his relaxed grasp of her aura, though the term aura seemed so small now, as if trying to describe something far beyond that but not having the correct words. He found himself easily agreeing with her as she spoke, reflecting many of his own thoughts as she worked through it all as she spoke. He’d not have thought of the breathing analogy, but it was a good one and summed up neatly how they had just fumbled their way towards some glimmer of understanding. He’d have to remember that, he noted to himself, for when he put his quill to his journal. “You know me better than most, and I suppose that I do like finding things, seeking things…there are worse things to be. Perhaps it will be the difference in the end. And you express yourself with sound and movement, intuition too I would think. Powerful things in the right hands,” he acknowledged easily, he would not be surprised that for all the talk of his Djed and bloodlines that she would be better than him with this skill, “but I was thinking much the same, about what else is hidden behind the world that we look at without this…sensing” There was little time to muse upon such darkness, though he suspected it would rear its head repeatedly until the end of his days. The more he explored this birth right the more he was beginning to think, deep down, that is was not a sword to be laid aside later. He didn’t admit it though, not just yet, instead listening to Tazrae as her words tumbled outwards, though with some pauses. He watched as he listened, feeling her change slightly as she spoke. There was a whirling of everything, things he knew – like yellows and oranges – but also greens and even slight dimming of scents and colours before a resurgence when talking about how she felt towards the end, peppermint dominating towards the end though he wasn’t able to puzzle out what that meant. In some ways he felt there was a…sadness…hidden behind the affection but it was difficult to pinpoint or even really answer. Instead his answer was to let go of everything he was sensing, his eyes returning to their normal colour. “I’m not sure my Djed would be responsible,” he said carefully, thoughtfully as he looked at her, “though being fair I never think I’m able to affect people that much. Never thought I was that important. But…I do know that we have been through much in a short time…and have stood by each other. That, I would think, counts for something. It is a sad twist of fate that we find ourselves so far apart, though the Outpost is a bridge in many ways. I had no idea that I was that…significant. Though I know the feeling you speak of, I think of our meetings often as they help light up the dark streets. I…find myself becoming…different…in your presence. Better, I think. Many things I would now do I’d never have thought of if not for your challenging me, pointing out flaws and encouragement. I suppose, sometimes, others can help unlock what is inside better then the person can themselves” His words were simple, honest and thoughtful in their tone and, as he finished, she had passed him food that looked exotic and strange, but he knew would likely be delicious. He could tell that with normal sight and smell. He thanked her and smiled slightly before tucking in. It was far from his usual fair but he liked the heartiness of the seafood mixed with the tangy sharpness of the new fruit that had been revealed to him. He was suitably appreciative, thanking her and discussing his enjoyment of the tastes – particularly the shrimp – between bites until she nudge the book at him and he swallowed, shifting himself to be upon the floor and thus closer to it, propping it up in his crossed legs as he carefully ate between finding the right pages. There was a sadness that she would be leaving this time, but he resolved to thus make the most of what time they did have. “As you wish m’lady,” he said, finishing his last bite before placing the food down to read, “Shielding allows a mage to ‘weave’ their Djed into three-dimensional barriers that serve the primary purpose of blocking foreign Djed from passing through, so as to protect objects, and people from other foreign Djed and its effects” “Shields have size, shape, and the Shielder must always think in three dimensions in respect to what they protect. A Shielder may not be able to protect an entire structure, for example, and so they will instead shield entrances and exits. A shielded chimney, for example, will protect against Djed penetrating it, but still allow smoke to escape.” “Shields have a variety and almost range of unlimited purposes and can be ‘tasked’ with multiple ‘tasks’ – so a shirt may be tasked to block foreign Djed but also be tasked to be waterproof, or arrow proof. All shields primarily block Djed as their initial function. Through layering and tasking, Shielders may then add other ‘tasks’ to their shields. The range and expanse of what shields can block depends on the caster, their inherent talent and ability with shields, and to a certain extent the amount of Djed they have at their disposal” “Shielders create shields in a variety of ways and it isn’t a difficult discipline to learn so long as one knows how to manipulate Djed. The main barrier to becoming a Shielder lays in discovering their ‘method’ of Shield creation. Each Shielder is different and possess and certain inherent mechanism that comes most naturally to them - some extrude Djed that they then weave into a sort of magical fabric that covers their own bodies for example. Others seemingly ‘paint’ their Djed like a master painter would, creating layer after layer until the shield is the size and consistency they require for their work” “Shielding was most often taught out of necessity to supplement other disciplines, especially Reimancy, so as to provide basic protection during a mage’s learning and experimentations. Usually Shielders begin by learning how to create their first shield task and develop naturally from their in their abilities, though discovering other shields comparable to their abilities it has been shown that they can then study and pick apart said Shields, to determine how mages of the past cast them. Due to the fact that Shielding is such a ‘passive’ form of magic, it is very difficult to Overgive when using this discipline. The Shielder simply runs out of the ability to finish the weave of a shield as they run out of Djed to use to power up their shields” He finished reading and took up his food once more, what was left of it, and began to finish it with a happy gusto, leaving them both time to go over what had bene read in their heads and what it might be used for, how they might learn and the rest. The implications were clear to Alric, at least in theory. If he could become a master f such an art, and stronger than Florentin, then he might very well be able to contain the beast quite neatly, as well as protect them both along the way in one way or another. “Well well….I like the sound of this Shielding even more now we know a bit more about it. This is deliciousm by the way, I know I keep saying it but it really is" he finished his last mouthful, all of the food gone apart from the rind. "I like the idea of being able to be protected whilst weak, or asleep...of that I could make a magic proof jacket or something. Perhaps we can put our enemy into a little box where he can’t hurt anyone for a while too one day, see how he likes it, no?”

[Tazrae]

Tazrae ate stoically as she listened to Alric speak. Privately, she felt very privileged that he let her see so much of his true self. To her, that was trust and a sign of a deeper understanding. She could lean on people she trusted and learn hard lessons with them. This magic was no easy task, but with a partner to help understand it, things went a lot smoother. Had she taken on this task alone, she thought the learning curve would be a whole lot steeper.

“We just need to make sure….” She said between bites of her pineapple shrimp. “… that we stay responsible with the power this magic brings. These things feel small right now, Alric. But as we grow into the knowledge and understand how to wield it, I think this discipline as well as the others we take on will become more and more dangerous. We need to stay the course and acknowledge it, rather than ignore the corruption power can bring. We also need to keep each other’s trust. I know I’ll never lie to you when this gets tough or if I get afraid or think I can’t do it. I’m going to be honest about it. I think you will be too.” She added, firm in that belief. Tazrae felt they’d have many hard conversations before them, ones designed to shake off the uncertainty and trepidation she knew she’d certainly run into.

Alric gave her courage though. His existence gave her a reason to fight her grandfather’s plans. She hoped that he felt something similar in her company. And if he didn’t, she wanted to figure out how to be that for him when he needed it. Taz was certain he would need it sooner than later.

His curiosity about what was hidden wasn’t something she shared. Taz was certain there was a hidden world and some of her Audius revealed it neatly enough. What she was more curious about was how it could be used to keep their enemies at bay and unable to catch them unaware or corner them. Both the pair had caught a glimpse of what life would be like if Florentin Arcadius got his hands on either of them. She never voiced her fear of Alric becoming Arcadius’ prized breeding stud, nor that she would be one of those that would have to do her duty to her family and produce children. Was that what her twin sister was doing right now? At their current age, Taz’ sister… could have been a mother multiple times over already. Alric’s voice faded out for a moment as Tazrae’s heart broke a little at the thought, filling her with sadness. Glancing up, she wondered if Alric was using his magesight on her…. then knew he was as she caught sight of his luminous eyes.

She shook out of the mood though and looked back at Alric. She felt like she had to explain. “Sometimes I think of her… my sister… and wonder what she’s like and if she is indeed in Grandfather’s hands. I can only imagine what he’s done to her. We… women that is… have no value to him other than what we can produce or be traded for.” Taz said softly. “Did he do the same to her that he did to your mother?” She asked softly. “I wonder how I can be descended from such a monster. What he did to Selana was barbaric…” She said softly, letting the words trail off into nothing. “And if he finds me… will he do the same to me?” She asked, voicing the deepest fear she had.

She blinked at what he said next then shook her head.

“Alric… you are Nymkarta. You don’t truly understand. Your family has been arranging marriages and breeding its own bloodline for thousands of years. That could have been hundreds of Florentin Arcadius’ activities. You found and tapped your well the very first time you tired. Do you know how big it must be? I was told when I was being taught Reimancy that its often hard to find and easy to tap dry. You have something incredibly valuable to them. You already have what they were trying to create. I know we only have part of the story, but what we know we know because we witnessed it. We were there. I can’t get that image out of my head. It wasn’t a story. It wasn’t rumors. We stood in that tower and witnessed an atrocity.” She said softly.

“That’s why you are so important. When I told the Founders about you, they agreed. They told me other things too… things about your family in the past. You have Alvinas and bits of pieces of fragments of power all woven in your bloodline, Alric. It’s special… very special. They ruled for generations. There are so few of you left, so few people actually survived the Valterrian. I’m lucky my Djedline is pre-Valterrian. And lord knows how far Arcadius’ has manipulated my bloodline or what he’s done. Duncan thought I was just extremely talented. He called me a natural.” She said bitterly. “But at what cost? How many lives did he destroy to add power to his bloodline? And why would a man do this for his children, children he might not even get along with? It makes no sense to me. It would have to be a special madness to want your family name stronger with each generation. I keep rolling that around in my head. It makes no sense. It’s not helping him in any way other than making his children strong, and he’s proven he cares nothing for them.” She added, tangling her hands in her hair once more and scrunching the curls as if that would help her think.

She offered him a smile when he said she challenged him. That was something she could be proud to be guilty of. She challenged herself just as much. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t grow.

The ate, the tone gradually changing as Alric read about shields. “I don’t think you can actually make something magic proof. Think about how general of a term that is. Shielding sounds a lot like baking or seasoning a specific dish. You have to do so precisely… the whole tasking thing. I suspect you can’t easily shield against djed, because how would you task a shield to block every single form of it? I don’t think you could… but I might be wrong. But could you shield against something already tasked and transformed like fire made with res. I would think that would be easy. Or even something simple like rain? There’s only one plain pure water falling from the sky. It sounds as if you build shields with one task in mind, at least early on? From what you said and what else is on the page, you can only task shields with one thing when you are first learning?” She tilted her head, thought about it, and then nodded.

“So… according to what you read, everyone has a different way of building a shield. And learning shielding is discovering how to build that shield.” A slow lazy smile pulled across Tazrae’s lips. Her eyes lit up and she took a deep purposeful breath. What he read about sounded so easy… perhaps because she’d already learned how to produce res and make it into fire. Tasking sounded easier… so she closed her eyes and let that breath take on purpose as she opened her mouth to sing.

“There is something different about you and I…
…about you and I”

Tazrae felt for her well, dove deep into it, and pulled power from it with the force of her voice and her words. It was something she’d done a lot, preparing for making res and crafting something of Reimancy. But this was different, less structured, rawer, and she sang another line as she pulled and let the power drift out as words. Her eyes became luminous as she visualized her song manifesting into a tangible woven barrier. It was just a trickle at first, as she watched with auristics, breaking into a sweat to do three things at once. The first was to tap and pull power, the second was to fuel her vision with djed, and the third was to extrude djed through her voice as she sang. Tazrae’s mind worked in a very step one, step two, step three sort of organized way. It was the chef in her. How is it she hadn’t see this before? That magic was a lot like cooking? She pulled and sang more, the words floating out there, wrapping around her hands and arms, becoming almost tangible lines of power that she added more and more lyrics too, filling in the gaps surrounding her as she made a fist with each hand.


“And I feel like I have known you my whole life
There is beauty behind every tear you've cried.”

She sang, thickening the power the words pulled forth, pulling and stretching and making something from the djed-fueled music. It layered over her hands which she inverted and cupped, pooling res into them in a tiny amount and igniting it with the only element she had – fire. It infused the power surrounding her, tasking the shield to prevent her from being burned by the flame. Taz kept singing, thickening the makeshift magical gloves she had envisoned.

“Sometimes it's just hard to realize
When you're stuck in a moment
And your spark has been stolen…”


More. It needed more. The flame was a tiny tendril of fire, the power of the shield not needing much to recognize and understand what it blocked against. She saw that the thing the shield needed to be tasked with had to be woven into the shield. One could not just think ‘block rain’ to make it work. It was clear to her power-filled eyes that one needed a single drop of rain for the magic to understand what it would not allow to pass. She kept singing, thickening the gloves, even though the tiny flame danced – one in each palm – even as the shield formed. She wasn’t sure if she should be using auristics, Reimancy and shielding at the same time, but it was easy… there was plenty of djed for it.. and she felt in that moment that she knew what she was doing.

“This is our time to own it
So own it…”

She reached out then, to the man before her, and willed the shield around her hands to move to his, to cover him and protect him even as her tiny dancing flame went with the shield, still merrily burning. She grabbed his hands, taking them momentarily and tried to transfer the shield and the flame at the same time to him. It was harder to control a shield that wasn’t directly on her body, but she attempted it, unsure if she’d burn him or not. And if she did, planning on extinguishing the tiny flames immediately if things looked unstable.

But the shield crept around his hands like gloves on her fingers inverting to suddenly cover his, and the flames went with them now dancing in his palms and leaving hers magic free. Could she maintain it? Taz wasn’t sure how that worked… would it linger past her ties to it or fade without being fed?

She experimented, trying to feed it for a few lines… and so she sang.

“Like a bird that's scared of heights
With a heart that's beating at the speed of light
You've been waiting for this feeling all your life
Sometimes it's just hard to realize?”…

There was a tie to it, deep inside of her, powering the magic. It was almost like the chavi line, thin and delicate, but it was woven with spun gold that was all Tazrae’s color. She sang one more line then cut off the song to see how long the spell held afterwards.

“Alric, we were born with
Fire and gold in our eyes, eyes…
…with fire and gold in our eyes, eyes”

She took a measured breath, expanded her diaphragm, and sang one more verse.

“Got lightning in a bottle
Have color we won’t mottle.
Even in the dust, we shine
With fire and gold in our eyes…”

She cut off the thread abruptly, letting the dancing flame of res die immediately. But she was curious. Would the shield linger? Taz studied it, unashamed of her singing and using her bardic tendencies to produce the magic they were studying.

“I think that worked…. “ She said, still watching it. “I knew immediately what my method of production would be. What’s yours going to be?” She asked him even as she watched the shielding around his hands slowly fade. A hundred questions about making it permanent or how to tie it to other magic ran through her mind in that instant. Her curious gaze turned to Alric, wondering what he thought.

Words 2177

[Alric Lysane]

“I haven’t lied to you yet, nor will I. Why would I push away the best friend I have?” he answered her softly, “and I agree, these initial steps we take…they feel easy. Too easy perhaps, as if the magic itself is drawing us in. I haven’t changed my mind on magic being dangerous, even if I have chosen to wield it through necessity. It is the most dangerous thing I can think of. Even Arcadius, powerful as he is, derives his power from magic. I won’t say I’d get rid of it all if I could, you’ve changed my mind on that, but that doesn’t mean I don’t see it for what it is” he finished simply, honestly. He listened as she spoke of her sister, and the darkness they both found themselves in. He didn’t need Auristics to see how she felt, though if he were using it, he felt sure that there would be that sad scent once more and a suitably muted, dark colouring to her aura. Strange how he now thought that way, including the assumption in about the world they now knew existed. Most of his focus was on her though, the background dialogue ticking away in his mind as he met her eyes when she looked his way and empathised with her pain. When she spoke of Nymkarta he knew she was right, but he didn’t like it, didn’t want to think he was that special. Still, there was no faulting the logic. “I don’t know what fate your sister has, but I hope that it is not as bad as that. If we ever find her, I give you my word I will help you get her away from him, if that is where she is. As for you,” he said as the flashed of his mother entered his mind’s eye and he closed his eyes for a few moments to focus upon willing them away, “I will not let that happen if I can help it. And if I can’t then I will get you away from him. Though I think that what with all the things you will be learning you’ll put up a fight of your own” he finished, there was little else he could say. He meant the words, though he realised being halfway across the world there was little he could do at present. The idea of heading to Syka prodded at him once more, asking for more consideration. “I know Taz, I know…you are right,” he looked away briefly in thought, frowning into the hearth for a while as he turned words around in his skull, “in some ways I liked being just Alric, street urchin and thief. This new me…it’s everything I used to hate. Not that I like myself much at present anyway. I didn’t want this, this specialness. Especially when it has dragged so many into its wake just to destroy them. I don’t want to leave broken people behind me. Until recently I just wanted to have a full belly and maybe one day meet someone to…but it doesn’t matter anymore, I am what I am,” he sighed and looked at her once more, “I know why he does it, people like him all do it for the same reason. Power. It’s a drug. He may justify it a hundred ways, but it comes down to power. People are playthings to him, even his progeny, because his own power is all he cares about. Perhaps he means to forge a new empire or something, in his image. It doesn’t matter, I will do what my bloodline should have done – protect things. I’ll do my best and stop him, probably die in the process, and then the world can be rid of two terrible things” he said with a small smile. He had already accepted that this target on his back might get him killed, it was only sensible for a Sunberthian to acknowledge the odds. Besides which he wasn’t so important or established in the world that many would mourn his passing, and if he could do some good then he supposed that was all the better. He left it there and instead watched with fascination as Taz spoke upon her thoughts about shielding and how it worked. He listened but mostly he watched as she started extruding her Djed, glistening rainbow of colours and facets, working it and forming it. Despite its magical nature it was a beauty to behold, a delicate and intricate work that she covered her hands with. He noted how her eyes glowed, suggesting she was also using her Auristics, and then the ball of flame appeared, and he knew Reimancy was at play. Three magics at once seemed a little much and he was about to speak when she shifted forwards and touched her fingers to his and he felt the cold sensation as the ‘gloves’ transferred to him and he kept very, very still just in case. The fact that there was a small fire in his hands was reason enough not to break her concentration. He was happy she was delighted but he was also the first to admit to himself that he was happy when it all started to fade away and he could shake his hands off absently, free of the required stillness. “That was…unexpected. Three magics at once? And you were talking about dangers,” he teased her slightly in a soft tone, ”though making lyrics up about me, I’m flattered. From what the text says and the fact it just…faded…I would imagine that would mean that as well as blocking Djed as it suggested was first, you’d need to somehow absorb Djed too. Recharge it somehow, constantly, to keep it working. Or at least that makes logical sense to me. It said you could task it for anything and everything is made of Djed. Perhaps it could absorb Djed from the air between personal doses?” he relaxed back into his chair, musing upon the rest of her words. He was not sure what his method would be. She had told him he was akin to a bloodhound but he doubted is nose would help him much with this magic. No, scent was nice for Auristics but largely useless for Shielding, he felt. She had said she had known her method instinctively. Was he the same, then? Did all Shielders just know? He frowned and thought further upon himself, how he learned and what he was like. Auristics…with Auristics he had not just smelled but touched. That had been his second strongest aspect and he was a tactile person – Remmy hated that about him and told him off frequently. He moved his hand up and down the arm of the chair, focusing upon his Djed before shaking his head and moving to the floor for less chance of damage. “Let’s give it a go then, shall me” he muttered softly as he retreated inward once more, tired though he was, and focused upon dipping into his Djed, pulling at it and letting it flow into him. He left no tap on it this time, the book had said you couldn’t really Overgive and just run out of Djed and he kept being told he had a large Djed pool. He felt his Djed pour into him, signalling his intent to it and directing it down his right arm and into his hand. Frowning he felt it collect there and then start backing up, not extruding as she had done, and shifted his focus from Djed collection to the idea that it should somehow seep out of his hand, out of his palm skin pores, it didn’t matter how just that it started to leave it. It took a while, how long he was not sure, but after a slight sweat had started to appear at his temples, he felt it…release was the word that came closest. He moved his hand, as if he were wiping it upon the floor and it seemed as if that made it easier. Shifting himself around, moving as he tried to shape his work, he let his hand set the boundaries and smear out the thickness. It began to come out of his hand easier as he worked, having been a sudden surge at first, as he grew used to the sensation and tried to regulate it, grew slower and steadier. He kept concentrating, knowing that extruding was only half the battle and instead now felt out the extruded Djed, delved into it almost in his mind and saw it was simply a pool of water like properties. That wouldn’t do, not for shields, shield were supposed to be like armour. He focused further, not sure how he started doing it but as if obeying his intent the Djed started to…lock up, like chainmail woven from thin magics strands. He felt them begin linking together though the Djed seemed to remain roughly the same in appearance. As he extruded he wove, instinctively and became more and more aware of the fact he was starting to worry himself. The shield had reached a few feet across now and a couple feet wide, between him and Taz, and it didn’t seem as if he were running out of Djed. He let it continue for a while longer before pulling away, severing the connection. “Bloody Nymkarta” he sighed, sitting down upon the floor now, resting his back upon the chair behind him and noticing that the tiredness had grown a decent chunk larger for all of his efforts. “Well, not sure it was the best thing ever made but it seemed to be alright for a first try”

[Tazrae]

Her eyes lit up, but she lidded them momentarily at his words. “I feel the same way about you. I know quite a few people, especially in Syka, but none of them are any I would consider friends. You are that to me, Alric. I would not hesitate to say best friend. This… “ She nudged the book and shook her hand a moment, the glimmer of purple and blue iridescent Res drifting off into the air between them making her smile. “… this is not something I could share with just anyone. Not like this… so… raw. You make it easy to experiment and not be ashamed of failure… or let the fear of failure compromise the attempt.” She added, then finally settled back on the cushions by the fire and in front of the couch.

She made some mental notes that they needed a bit of an upgrade of some furniture – things they could buy here – but that would come later. For now, having the space, was more than enough.

They spoke of Kami… or at least she did and he listened. He made the appropriate comments and promised to help her if such things were required. She hoped they weren’t. Taz had a feeling when it came to her sister. She wasn’t… exactly worried about her. Instead, she was more looking forward to finally meeting her. Would they be alike? She hoped so. “He won’t have me. Ever. And I won’t do what he wants me to. Life is lived on my terms, not his. My life is my own, not his. Just like your life is your own, not his.” Taz affirmed, then offered him a smile. “I’m not sure what he thinks he can do with your bloodline, but its not going to happen.” She said, then shook her head. “Honestly, at this point, I can’t imagine why no one has destroyed him yet. It feels like he’s ruined a lot of lives. Someday, he’ll cross the wrong person and try to ruin the wrong life, and that will be the end of him. There’s always someone stronger.” Taz vowed, not claiming to be stronger, but just knowing that’s how the law of the jungle was. Someone, somewhere, would stop him when he crossed the wrong person. If it had to be them, it would be. Taz was certain there was a reason she met Alric, and they’d become friends.

“I’ll be really honest with you Alric. You aren’t a street rat. There’s nothing about you that resembles that. You are slowly growing into something that fits you a lot better. Don’t you see that?” Taz stated firmly. She didn’t want to argue with him about it or downplay the fact that he was a square peg in a round hole… but he was and he was busy correcting that. She would help if she could. She hoped she already had. If her Grandfather was coming after Alric, she was going to make sure Alric was prepared to fight for what was his; his life.

Then she gave shielding a try. And she liked it. It was organic and natural and she only laughed when Alric shook his head and said something about three magics at once.

“It’s like music, Alric. It sounds better and works better with different instruments and voices all joining in together. It’s more organic. And its easier if you blend them. I can’t…. I’m not…. I’m not that person that puts everything in neat boxes and ticks them off in their mind. I throw everything in a cook pot and make something wonderful with it. I’ve not seen you produce enough magic yet, and you have no Res, but once you have it and can produce it, I think you’ll see what I mean. And you will have it. I’ll get strong enough and give it to you if there’s no one else you come across that will induct you.” She said, already having a suspicion about what element he’d be though she would not share that with him. She’d guessed wrong about herself, suspecting she’d be air, but shocked that she’d been fire instead. But Duncan had assured her that her second element would most likely be air because it would be something compatible with fire, and not opposing it.

“It didn’t feel dangerous. It felt seductive… like I was sipping on the most delicious wine. But I don’t understand how to maintain a shield without thinking about it and actively feeding it. I’ll have to work on that, do more reading, and figure it out. There has to be a trick to it. I would like to think I could tie shield gloves to my own djed and feed it without conscious thought, but I wouldn’t give a complex song to a new singer. I’m not going to take on something that complicated as a new mage. I’ll work on making them permanent, and maybe blocking light through the windows or sound…. something. It’s going to take work. But I do know I’m going to shield the floors at The Protea against beach sand.” She said with a slightly wicked grin, as if she could already see an end to the constant sweeping herself and Oralie did, chasing sand back out into the wilds.

Taz leaned back, drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. She rested her chin on the top of her kneecaps and watched him work. She hummed a note, listened to the note echo back at her, and called to her djedpool to augment her hearing. She could actually hear Alric extruding djed. The sound around him changed, sharpened, and hardened with power as the shield came into existence. It had a metallic tang to it, like he was building armor from something he’d left on the floor… something that lapped back and forth like a pond teased by the wind. She couldn’t see it… but she didn’t try. She heard it clearly enough, knowing its boundaries and the moment he pulled it up and made it more tangible like a wall lightly dancing between them. The Innkeeper reached out, wanting to touch it, just before it snapped out of existence.

“I could hear it.” She said blinking, then shifted so she was on her knees. She walked awkwardly on her knees, closing the distance between them, and laughed. “You made a puddle. It sloshed just like one… and then you pulled it up, like a chain fence a person might have kept chickens in… I mean that’s what it sounded like.” She rested on her rump right in front of him then laughed.

“You hold yourself so still, but I think if you actually move your hands and your body like you see your djed moving, it will help you. You look like you are fighting the urge to do so already. I won’t think you silly. Let yourself move. I bloody sing notes and snippets of lyrics to see things most magical people can probably identify a hundred ways instantly. And I don’t care if you laugh at me. If it makes things easier, it makes them easier. The book even says everyone does everything multiple ways. We are going to be different.” She said, then reached forward and hugged him.

“I can’t stay today. I have guests coming with the tide and I should be getting back. And you are looking a little grey in your skin tone… like this is a lot for someone from Sunberth to take in at once. Practice your Auristics. But make sure when you are people can’t see your eyes. They take on a luminous quality when you are using your magesight. Work on the shielding too… at your home, wherever you lay your head in Sunberth. I’ll do the same in Syka. And let’s meet back in a few days. My guests won’t stay longer than ten days, but I can’t be here on a tenday anyhow because of the gatherings in Syka. I’ll bring Bree next time and you two can introduce yourselves. Don’t buy firewood for the fire. We’ll bring a huge load and supplies for the kitchen. How about the thirty-first?” She asked, releasing him from the hug, and gently kissing the top of his head as was her habit.

“What do you want me to study and come back with? We both need homework. While I’m leaving some things here for you….” She said, rising and heading to her backpack. She’d of course baked him some things and had a few sandwiches wrapped up in cheesecloth for him that would keep in any weather – plus a hand of bananas that were still green enough he could let ripen to eat or sell in Sunberth if he needed too. She let him think on what to study for their next meeting. “… you can pick something out for us to work on and maybe take a few notes from the Encyclopedia or just read another section while I rummage.” She said, not sure what he would pick.

Meanwhile she pulled a tin filled with shortbread cookies out of her backpack, a linen bag with three big sandwiches made of barbequed pork, some Tapir jerky, and the bunch of bananas. “This is fruit… its ripe when it turns more yellow than the current green. You just break it open like this….” Taz demonstrated without actually cracking the end of the green banana and peeling it. Instead, she just mimicked it. “It’s called a banana and its incredibly delicious and good for you. You can eat it raw or put chocolate or sugar or even bake it into things like cakes and breads. “And this? Banana bread… it will keep for days. Just slice off a hunk when you are hungry.” She added. “And if you hit the market in Sunberth we are running low on Baking Soda in Syka and are having trouble getting some because no one’s been to Riverfall in a while. If Sunberth has any, I’d be incredibly grateful for a tin or two of it to take home if you can swing it. I’ll gladly pay you back.” She said, not knowing if Sunberth had such things, but she was hopeful.

With her loot for him unloaded, she walked over to collect the book from him and awaited what he thought they should go over next time. Then, unfortunately, she’d have to take her leave.

Words: 1752

[Alric Lysane]

“Well you are my best friend,” he said softly, “but I know what you mean. This is…different than sharing a drink somewhere. This feels more…personal” He listened to her talk then, outlining how she felt about Arcadius and other things, nodding along every so often as he watched her face change with the topics. “Or smarter…yes I know that well enough. There is always a hierarchy, even amongst the lawless. You wonder why Sunberth still stands despite the depressing picture I paint for you…the natural order. No one is too big that they can’t be brought down, too powerful they can’t be held accountable for their terrors…there is a natural order to everything, I think. We create a veneer for our comfort but I think the Valterrian proved quite neatly that it is a shaky foundation and can come crashing down if the natural order is disturbed,” he said thoughtfully, he hadn’t thought of it like that precisely before but it made sense to him, “and I suppose you are right about me too, you often are it seems. All of this does seem to…come a bit too naturally for my tastes…but I suppose it is me, for better or worse” he acknowledged in a neutral tone. “I know what you mean, and I think that is the true danger. It is seductive and calls to you, promising things and whispering to you. It would be so easy to slip and do too much, try something too complex…and the rest,” he agreed, listening to her words upon his shielding attempt, a small smile creeping across his lips at her words, “yes, that was what I tried to imagine the weave as…chainmail. Linked together and forming a barrier, pulling each other together and becoming strong as a whole. I’ll try the hand waving next time, you can laugh at me all you like, wouldn’t do to let my ego get too large. I don’t laugh at you because I enjoy your singing but me waving around like a madman, that will probably be amusing” Then she was hugging him and telling him that she had to leave and he squashed the sadness at their looming parting, she had her own life after all and he was only a small part of hers when compared to the entirety of Syka. He knew she held him in a certain regard and fondness, best friends he agreed with her upon, but he had no right to demand anything of her and so he simply enjoyed the warmth of her skin and the kiss upon his forehead before she set about her rummaging. He looked over the book and fancied that he could remember what had been read out, though he went over it once more quickly to make sure he remembered everything for when he made his notes once she had left. She was right, he felt very tired, though he didn’t like the idea of looking grey. Clearly, he’d need plenty of practise before he’d be able to use magic without it exacting as steep a toll upon him physically. He pulled out his quill and inkwell, writing down what they had learned that day into his journal in his usual angular script, basic and without flourish. It didn’t take too long before he was blowing upon the pages and leaving them to dry, looking over the other magics as Taz busied herself. “You know your eyes light up too, though it’s mostly your usually nice colour getting brighter, though I give you my word that I will be careful. I wouldn’t want to die before I get to see you again on the 31st, ”I think that you should study Auristics, Reimancy and Shielding mostly. I think it’d end up being your strongest defence for now. Sight, barrier and fireball for the enemy. I’d imagine those three simple things might handle most simple threats. But I saw the fascination in your eyes with Morphing so by the time you return perhaps you’ll have outstripped me in all of them. You are your own woman, you know you best…learn what feels right for you” "I do think that this Gkyohing looks interesting though, too complicated to make quick notes but by the looks of it can be used to amplify other magics. Something about storing them....whatever that means. Still, looks interesting and I like new knowledge so mgiht be work a look. Might be worth your time perusing" He pushed himself up, bringing the book to the table and placing it down gently, ready for when she wanted to retrieve it. It was safer with her and she would likely want to use it for her studies. Looking over what she had left for him, watching her mime eating the banana, a warm grin broke across his mouth. She was definitely too good for him, she always brought him things and though she said it cost nothing and was abundant he appreciated that she took the time and thought for him. His fingers traced all of the things, some different than other times and intriguing. He fancied that some would vanish this coming evening, feeling his stomach rumble slightly at the idea. “Keep bringing me things and I’ll start feeling like a king, you’ll have to knock me down a peg or two,” he said sincerely, “you’re always too good for me Taz, but thank you. I’ll be full for a while I’m sure. The things you bring are always too tasty to trade away…but yes, I will make sure that you get your baking soda. I know some cooks, well I’ve found things for them in the past, but I’m sure I can work something out. No payment necessary, a gift in return for gifts” “Here,” he said as she returned, holding out the book and slipping it into the magical bag she opened for it, “just be careful. I’d very much like to see you again so don’t go blowing yourself up. Go and see to your guests, I’ll be here when you come back from your paradise” he finished, kissing her cheek and watching her leave, walking off in the vague direction of the Dovecote. It was both an enjoyable and sorrowful experience and once she vanished from sight he sighed and closed the door, locking it and leaving the key in to prevent it being easily picked. The rest of his evening was simple – no magic and nothing more arduous than eating and reading. He read through his notes and embedded the knowledge into his mind. Eventually, when he felt he couldn’t take in any more information and his stomach was filled he sleepily jotted down a few more lyrics and phrases that came to mind, enjoying the quiet crackle of the fire. He fell asleep on the cushions, darkness taking him until the following day came.