Millennial Mage

Chapter 459: The Curse of Intelligence

Tala and Rane sat in the atrium of the cell which supposedly contained a Reforged level immortal elk, discussing the possibility of Kit simply absorbing the whole cell, atrium and all.

“Kit would absorb this space, and I’d tuck it on the side of my sanctum somewhere. Then, even if the creature ‘broke out’ it would just be breaking more fully into my authority. I should be able to hold it at bay at least until I can call in help. But that’s a bit beside the point. I don’t see it as being an issue in the slightest, at least assuming that what we’ve learned about the elk is true. To break out would be to forever abandon the land he has become bound to. That is also utterly against everything we know about magical beasts.”

“Whereas if he broke out here, he’d have the cell—his forest—still safely at his back.”

“Exactly.”

Rane nodded slowly. “So, you’re hoping that he just wants his forest and to be left in peace?”

“Precisely, yes.”

Rane seemed to consider. “So… what would you offer him, then?”

She smiled in return. “Well, for one thing, I can offer him exactly that. He would be left in peace.”

“He has that now.”

“Sort of. He knows there is a way into his forest that he can’t control. This would be like selling a tenant the home that they’ve been renting. It would be his now, utterly and completely.”

“But you would own the street outside.”

“Precisely.”

“And the ground underneath.”

“Well… that too, yeah.”

He huffed a laugh. “It sounds really risky, and what if he doesn’t want anyone coming through to study him or talk to him?”

“Well, for that I can offer incidental trades.”

Tala watched as it clicked for Rane. “You can let him grow his forest. You can grant him more dimensionality.”

“I can.”

“That’s expensive, Tala. As a Refined storage space, there is very little that can expand Kit.”

“Well, that’s one of the things I want to investigate in the moving cities, after Alefast’s waning if not before.”

Rane tilted his head to the side, understanding seeming to blossom within his mind. “From your report, they have city-sized spaces.”

“Just like the arcanes, yeah.” She chuckled at that. “I mean, they have arcanes among them, so it makes sense that they’d be able to mirror the feats of those people. They have holds that we might be able to study or learn the creation process of. If that fails, in the worst case scenario, we could enact a few raids on arcane cities.”

His head jerked, and he looked at her sharply. When he saw she wasn’t kidding, he paled. “Tala… that—”

She held up a hand to stop his objections. “I know, Rane. I’m not planning on doing it on my own, or without consulting others.”

“Still…”

“I’m aware it’s a long shot. In all likelihood, it wouldn’t be for a few more centuries, but gated humanity is on a cusp. We’re reaching a tipping point.” She grinned. “We have two new cities coming on line before the next Leshkin war. Our birthrates are finally to the point of greatly overcoming the death rates in our young adults,and our civilization stands on the edge of a true population boom. When that manifests into a new crop of Mages, then Archons, and eventually high-level Defenders of humanity?”

“We will be strong enough to live without the constant threat of attack.”

“Exactly. It will finally be time to turn this uneasy ceasefire into a lasting peace, and that will require a demonstration of strength that they can’t ignore.”

Rane understood instantly. “A strike on one of the City Lords.”

She quirked a smile as she nodded. “Yes, and a confiscation of all the holds, which they thought were a source of their power. We will free the vestiges and teach the Major Houses that humanity is no one's slave.” She was breathing a bit heavier, and she hadn’t realized her voice was rising in volume, but when she reached the end, she realized that everyone in her unit—and Mistress Terra—was looking her way with a mixture of expressions ranging from curious to concerned. Tala coughed. “But that’s at least a couple of centuries away.” She gave a disarming laugh. “I know I’m hardly the only person contemplating it, and I will by no means be the person choosing what we do or when we do it.”

Master Limmestare looked back at his book, but still raised his fist. “And the slaves will rise up, break their chains, and declare themselves forever free.”

Mistress Cerna quirked a smile. “Forever free.”

Tala glared. “Rust you both. We have to do something for all those gated-human souls eventually.”

Master Limmestare looked up again, frowning. “I am well aware of that, Mistress Tala. I apologize if it sounded like I was mocking you. I was quoting a rather famous abolitionist from the pre-gate era. He proposed that humanity wouldn’t be free unless we found a way to break away in part, grow in strength, and return to achieve broader freedom.”

Tala blinked a few times, her irritation cooling. “Oh…”

When she looked toward Mistress Cerna, the older woman shrugged. “I was teasing you.”

That made Tala bark a quick laugh, but she quickly covered it with a fake glare.

Mistress Terra shook her head, but she was smiling as she returned her attention to her slate.

Everyone returned to what they had been doing, and Tala turned back toward Rane. He was giving Tala an interesting look.

After a moment of silence, she finally asked, “What?”

He shrugged. “You have a lot of plans ahead of you, don’t you?”

“I try to keep busy. Immortality gives me a long time, after all.”

He grunted at that.

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“What are your plans? I know we’ve talked about a lot of random things, but what do you really want to do?”

He shrugged. “There are a lot of things that I’d like to do.” He chuckled. “Rust, I’d love to help bring about humanity’s rise to general safety and security. I would like to see such a world.”

“Any specifics?”

“Honestly? Besides having a family eventually, not too many. I want to see more of this world, and explore what I find interesting.”

She quirked a smile at that. “So, add to humanity and better it? Otherwise just sight-see?”

“At least until something else grabs my attention. I’m easy like that.”

“Oh? You don’t already have something grabbing your attention?” Her smile grew mischievous.

“No, no thing is particularly attractive to me.” He smiled in return. “There is someone who I’d enjoy seeing more of.”

“Oh? You want to see more of me?” She gestured to herself. “You think I’m too covered up, then?” Her elk leathers started to draw back, just fast enough to be noticeable.

Rane flushed and looked away. “I meant: see you more! Not see more of you.”

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Tala chuckled, returning her outfit to its standard configuration.

-Now, Tala, what would you have done if he hadn’t reacted that way? What if he had simply wanted to enjoy the show?-

It was Tala’s turn to flush. She hadn’t considered that when she’d started teasing him. But his reaction had been exactly what she’d expected and hoped for. Then he wouldn’t be my Rane.

-Maybe true. Still, I didn’t expect you to do something like that with so many witnesses.-

Tala felt her eye twitch, and she turned her perception outward, once again realizing that her entire unit and Mistress Terra were close enough that they’d likely heard everything, just by dint of their Refined level physical changes.

She flushed more deeply, even more grateful still for her through-spike illusions.

Alat didn’t say anything further. Instead, she sent the feeling of mirth in return.

Terry trilled and rolled onto his back, sticking his legs into the air and his tongue out the side of his beak.

Tala looked his way. “Getting bored, Terry?”

He gave a half-hearted, drawn-out squawk.

“Well, you know what cells entail. While you haven’t gone into that many before, you have seen how long this part takes quite a few times.”

He chirped several times, indicating that he was aware, and it didn’t change how he felt.

Tala sighed. “Fine. I won’t convince you. Do you want to go into the sanctum?”

He lifted his head a little, then let it flop down.

“No?”

-Terry has gained less entertainment from hunting the porcine occupants of your sanctum since the bond.-

Really? Why haven’t you told me that?

-It hasn’t come up?-

Tala sighed. The curse of intelligence. Simple pleasures aren’t so simple any more.

-...Did you just lament Terry’s fading cruelty to animals?-

…I did not think of it that way.

It wasn’t much longer before Mistress Terra cleared her throat, garnering all of their attention. “Well, the decision is in. It seems like everyone’s willing for us to give it a try, so long as the rest of Mistress Tala’s unit agrees.”

The unit gathered around the Paragon.

They all exchanged glances, shrugging or otherwise indicating acceptance. Tala grinned. “Thank you all. I think it could be quite interesting.”

Mistress Terra nodded. “Alright, then. So, the plan is to treat this like a normal cell, except that Mistress Tala is authorized to negotiate with the prisoner.”

Master Clevnis cleared his throat, then stated in a deadpan voice, “A normal cell, with a Reforged level prisoner.”

Mistress Terra seemingly decided to ignore his skepticism. “Precisely. Take this seriously, and plan as if you’ll have to face this opponent in a head-to-head clash.”

The unit leader hesitated, then nodded, drawing the unit off to the side while Mistress Terra began her preparations. “Immortal elks aren’t supernaturally fast, their attacks have penetrative magics, but their main feature is regeneration.”

Mistress Cerna took up the explanation, “This one in particular has nature magics as well: controlling vegetation, things like that. We would likely go in with a scorched-earth approach, but that would make negotiations rather difficult.”

Tala nodded. “Thank you for not.”

The woman grinned back at Tala. “Well, Mistress Tala, you’d be our preferred means of scorching the earth, so…”

The unit chuckled, and Tala quirked a smile. “Fair. Though, I’m hardly the only person capable of that.”

“But your dissolution breath—even in its currently limited form—is the best tool we have for that.”

She shrugged.

“Regardless. We’ll be creating a defensive location and bunkering down while Mistress Tala—”

Terry trilled loudly.

Mistress Cerna sighed. “—and Terry go deeper in.”

Rane lifted a hand to draw attention. “I don’t think that I would be best utilized in the reinforcement of a bunker-style defense, but I could be useful in a delaying action, should negotiations go poorly.”

The husband and wife unit-leader duo glanced at one another. Master Clevnis shrugged and Mistress Cerna pinched the bridge of her nose. “Fine. Tala, Terry, and Rane will go to directly confront the immortal elk with the goal of negotiation.”

Master Limmestare lifted a hand this time and spoke when acknowledged. “Why wouldn’t the elk just agree to any demand? That would get it free. I know I’ve heard that sapient magical beasts can’t lie, but is that true?”

Master Clevnis waggled his hand, but Mistress Cerna shook her head. “It is more accurate to say that they don’t. Such beasts are generally very closely tied to Reality, and that link makes the very concept of lying anathema to them. Sapient ones begin pulling away from that close tie, but the result stands.” She met Tala’s gaze. “That does mean that should you lie, they will likely know. Worse, they may have the power to bend the world to make your ‘lie’ true. So, be careful.”

Great… Wait. It’s like the fae.

-Wouldn’t that make sense?-

What do you mean?

-Well, if the fae are real, they’d be magical creatures, right? Even down to their dislike of mankind?-

I… I never considered it that way. I thought there couldn’t be humanoid magical creatures, though, just arcanes?

Alat sent over a mental shrug. -They might just be legend, but if they aren’t, I’d expect Reality-Magic humanoids.-

That was oddly terrifying.

-Terrifying? This from the woman who wields void, magic, and hints of reality with seeming impunity.-

That’s different. Why would I fear myself?

-‘A wise man fears that which he might become.’-

Tala twitched, feeling a bit of unpleasant reminiscence at the idea. Alat would have known that, and likely was pressing the point on purpose. Regardless, she deflected. I am no man.

-... Really? You’re going to purposely make it about that rather than the clear meaning of the quote?-

You could have changed the quote to refer to me. Tala returned a mental shrug.

-...I feel like you might be unclear on the concept of a quote.-

Their internal banter was cut off by Mistress Terra’s proclamation. “I’m ready.”

The unit came over as roots seemed to grow up in the middle of the clearing, shaping themselves into a doorway.

As soon as that had fully formed, the now-all-too-familiar hallway appeared, and Rane shot down the passage.

As quick as he was, he wasn’t faster than Terry, who was already at the far end.

He wasn’t even faster than Tala’s aura, which she extended down the corner of the tunnel before connecting to the part of her aura which was coming off of Terry.

Once that direct link was established, she flickered forward.

Rane arrived a moment later, muttering under his breath. “Cheaters, both of you.”

Terry let out a laughing series of chirps, while Tala just rolled her eyes, but she was smiling nevertheless.

Together they looked out at the makeup of the cell. Calling it an old-growth forest would have been deceptively underselling it.

It reminded Tala of the Leshkin forests to the south, but instead of being largely clear at ground-level, the columns of massive tree trunks were surrounded by smaller plants, rocks, and other things in a way that somehow evoked the feeling of a garden more than a wild wood.

Even so, it didn’t actually look manicured. It was like a very skilled person had planned out and planted the vegetation, moved the stones and earth, created waterways, and then simply left it to grow and come to its full beauty on its own.

The whole place had a solemnity that Tala associated with the Wilds, though it was somehow more stark, as if they were walking into the place of dominion devoted to a powerful being.

-Which is exactly what we're doing… right?-

Fair enough, yeah.

Overhead, the trees weren’t quite as tall as in the southern woods, only reaching about a hundred feet from what they could see. There were more lower branches as well, indicating clearly that they were entirely different species of trees.

Black oak mostly?

-It looks like some red maple, too. I think there are more subspecies of each as well.-

Tala, Rane, and Terry moved forward, among the trees, ignoring the sounds of building behind them as Masters Girt and Limmestare worked their magics to form the initial defensive structure, closing off the exit.

They were careful to not harm any of the trees with their construction, per their agreement to leave an easier chance of negotiations.

Toward that same end, Tala and Alat had been throwing ideas back and forth—faster than most people could think—so that they could approach the elk in the best way possible.

They had a whole range of options available, based on how the initial meeting took place.

Rather than moving as fast as they could, the trio moved with a certain amount of sedate reverence, keeping their senses attuned and focused outward.

They detected many small animals of various kinds scampering among the foliage. Terry twitched a bit, clearly instinctively wanting to flicker after them, but he held himself back.

He was moving warily, clearly aware of the overpowering presence that was a radiant undercurrent in this forest.

There were some predators, but they were all on the smaller side: foxes, falcons, that sort of thing. Tala thought she caught hints of larger ones, but they were far enough away that she couldn’t be sure, even with her threefold sight.

With that threefold perception, Tala could barely tell just how massive this forest was. It was undoubtedly the largest cell that she’d ever seen, making it hard for her to truly grasp the scope.

There was the oddity of the cell being turned within four-dimensional space, so her orientation wasn’t what she was used to, every step taking her farther from the superficial and deeper into a crack of void. But that was expected for a cell, and she didn’t let it distract from—

“Humans.” It was a sound like the breeze, or the bubbling of a brook, or the rumbling of the earth. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.

Following closely on the heels of the word, an elk appeared before them, barely ten yards away, standing taller than a horse, but not much larger than that.

The majestic beast was standing between two trees, uncounted points on its antlers rising toward the stars even as some ethereal light shone from behind it, showing it in stark relief.

The creature’s aura was… odd. It somehow looked perfectly green, entirely blue, and deeply brown all at the same time. It was as if its aura was embodying nature itself.

It locked gazes with each of the three for a moment. From this close distance, Tala could easily see the intelligence in its eyes. Its fur wasn’t anything special in appearance—being a simple dark brown—and it wasn’t even perfectly clean, as if it were an intrinsic part of the natural world around it.

The inhuman face oriented on Terry the longest before he finally returned his eyes to Tala and asked, “It is time for the resealing, then? The eons of Zeme are unending, my forest will endure. Why have you left the entrance this day?”

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