A Concept of Apathy

Chapter 17

We fight against our faith and food
For our family one and all
And just to make this war conclude
It’ll be us who take the fall!

The rich have armed us
And given us glorious deaths
Just to kick up a fuss
And spend our last breaths!

We march far and wide
To a land we know not
And though violence is our ride
There is no ember burning hot

This war has gone on forever
Drinking up our kin
And though we may be severed
We ask seven gods; forgive our sin!

We might be winning
But that has no meaning
We just want to go on living
To be without swords gleaming

We march far and wide
To a land we know not
And though violence is our ride
There is no ember burning hot
– A Dead War, the last marching song of the Omorea, author unknown

Madam Lie
—
Tomorrow was when the fun began. I disliked leaving the Mistress in the hands of others, but I understood the rationality behind it. Madam Strength and Madam Weakness were both powerful, but their ability to cover an area was lacking. No, it had to be me on one front, as my Master held the other.
Perhaps hold was the wrong word. Utterly decimate? Back when I was first brought into the family I was curious, and it was in my nature to push, so I challenged my Master. He asked me how much support he was allowed to use, and I replied as much as he wished. He had only brought his robe and his ring, which was more than enough.
I could not touch him when he was in that robe, and the ring was perhaps the most offensive artifact I had ever seen. To say I had been handily beaten would be an understatement, which was fine. The goal was not to win, but to understand, to see. I had done the same to my Mistress, and although that fight had lasted longer that was more due to her having fewer answers to someone like me.
Today, however, I had a task. Today I had to go into the forest, and with me I had to bring the Young Master. Kaeo had come with us as well, and since she had woken up those two had been nigh inseparable. Minna had asked to come along as well, but she had been denied. She was getting a tour of the house’s defenses, along with that cleric of body. I didn’t like her, nor did I bother to learn her name, but something rubbed me the wrong way about her.
I had asked Mister Reclamation to keep an eye on her, and to inform the other two Madam’s. Those two were interesting, as I had a feeling that they were the same two concepts cut apart in a way to weaken them enough to pull them through. I rather liked them, but they kept to themselves. They still did not understand they were more than servants in that household, that they were more than objects that would be used.
They would learn, in time. Likely after the twins had been born. I had a hard time believing it until after the Young Master had been born, and I could tell when someone was lying.
Master had lent us Thanny to take over to the forest, which I begrudgingly took. He was not fond of me, which made me less than fond of him. It was hard to do anything about it when he was about as smart as a really smart dog. I put the Young Master on his back, and Kaeo just jumped up. From what I understood, her body had been actively tearing itself apart while she was asleep and reknitting to make itself stronger.
It was amusing to watch, as she could get her estimation of her strength and speed wildly wrong. There were already several broken cups and bent silverware proving that. She was improving remarkably quickly however, and she seemed pleased by her growth at large. I put myself on top of Thanny, and we were off at the Young Masters urging.
“The forest if you would, Thanny.” Sylin said, scratching the side of Thanny’s neck.
Kaeo let out a small squeal of joy as we were off, which I made sure to kill before it could get more than ten feet away from us. It was harder to keep up the illusion of nothing here when I was also using the lie of being human, but one I deemed worth my while. I rather liked the Young Master and the Young Kaeo, and did not want to drive them off.
It was not a long ride, and we all got off of Thanny who let out a snort before running back to the house. We were off into the forest, so that I might meet it.


Sylin
—
I limped along, letting the cane lengthen my stride enough to not slow down the other two. Not that I was sure I could ever move faster than either of the two women next to me, but at least I could not be slow. Madam Lie had a type of teleportation which I knew logically was impossible, and Kaeo was blazing fast at this point. The one spar we had had shown me that I needed more tricks, as I got rushed down and punched hard in the sternum.
The forest seemed to sense our mood, and our destination and was hurrying us along. The forest was fond of both me and Kaeo, and I honestly wasn’t sure it could see Madam Lie. Not in the same way at least. We had a goal, which was to get to the center of the forest to introduce the two of them, which was why Kaeo and I were brought with her.
No one knew how long it might take Madam Lie alone to get to the center of this place, but it was agreed time was largely against us at this point. So away we went, through the forest which seemed eerily quiet. Or perhaps I was too caught up in my thoughts to notice the noise.
“You really can move faster now.” Kaeo said, skipping alongside me. I thought it was rather unfair I was taking multiple steps per step and she could look like she was leisurely skipping to keep up.
“To some degree. The cane has had some work done on it.” Her eyes flashed with the sight briefly, and she snorted.
“Some? That thing practically glows to my Sight and I can’t even interact with it.” That was likely a fair point. I would have to ask my father about that, it seemed like stealth was hard against someone with the sight, at least if I was carrying around highly enchanted gear.
It was different for people, as those with sight could cloak themselves presuming they could touch the concepts of self. My father could not, but both my mother and Kaeo could. I had asked my mother to stop for a moment, and in that moment she practically glowed to the point I found it hard to look at her. I had asked if Kaeo would ever get up to that point, and my mother shrugged.
“I hope so.” Was what she told me, and I hoped so as well.
“So why haven’t you enchanted your leg?” Kaeo asked, dragging me away from my thoughts.
“My leg is not something I can swap out, it is going to be with me pretty much whatever I do. I wanted to only put the best I could on it, which meant starting with something else first.”
“Could you not strip enchantments from it? You’ve said you’ve done that before if they went wrong.”
“True, but it is expensive and lengthy to do. If it was easy to strip enchantments, I likely would have, but I do not want to cost my father that much money.”
“I see.” She said, still happily skipping.
That was a partial lie however. She acted more energetic when people were around, and I had a feeling Madam Lie knew it. She had become a lot quieter when it was just the two of us, and a lot more solemn. It pained me, but even when we were alone she was always doing something, from swaying side to side or skipping. Even if she was more solemn, she was still her.
The forest was growing dark, and the wisps of magic were starting to show. I smiled, watching Kaeo to see her reaction to them. She was looking around, following them with her eyes with wonder slowly blooming on her face. I imagined I looked similar the first time I saw them. I wondered how they looked to her, with her ability to see in the dark.
“What are they?” She said, reaching to touch one. Her hand passed through, so she tried flicking it which still did nothing.
“Magic. There is so much of it here the air is saturated, so we see this.”
She turned, walking backwards to talk to Madam Lie. “Is this what gave you the inspiration to do the thing?” She asked, making a small explosion with her hands. I presumed it was the thing where Madam Lie made lights that floated around, like a thing between stars and fireflies and I guessed this, now that she had brought up the connection.
“In part, yes. Once this is all over, I’ll ask if I can bring you two to one of the other inspirations.”
“What is it?” Kaeo asked, spinning around as she walked, taking in this part of the forest.
“A cave, and I won’t say any more on it.”
“Awww.” Kaeo bemoaned, but the effect was dampened as she kept looking around.
The waterfall started to grow in volume, and I was somewhat excited to show Kaeo that part. She rather liked waterfalls, and the river at large. We had gone swimming in tamer portions of it before my leg got… Well, perhaps we could go again after this.
We could finally see the light at the end of the forest, and that meant we were close. We continued, and Kaeo’s eyes were the size of dinner plates taking it in. The magic floated in the air still, lazily as the giant tree on a center island towered. The water flowed around the island, the river parting to make a moat then reconjoining to flow down a waterfall. The bridge of vines was still there, and I had a feeling that if someone who was not wanted ever came, that bridge would vanish.
“Feel free to look around.” I told Kaeo, “I’m going to get to work with Madam Lie.”
“Thank you for bringing me.” She said, twirling around to look at it all.
“Of course.” I started along the bridge with Madam Lie next to me. The forest seemed welcoming, but also seemed to ask who she was. We came to the center tree, and I rested a hand against it for a second before sitting down and leaning against it. Madam Lie was next to me, and I started talking to the forest, closing my eyes.
“I wanted to start with an apology. I did not need to bind your power to my cane, I could have powered it myself. For that drain, I apologize.” I felt a sense of bemused acceptance. “Thank you. Now, for the second part, which itself has two parts I suppose. Men come to kill my parents, to destroy what they have made, and likely to kill me as well.” I felt anger and protectiveness. “So we came to ask for your help.” Agreement and helpfulness this time. “This here is someone that my father bound to my service, to always help me. Her name is Madam Lie, which I’m sure you know, but she has come here with her own request.” The forest turned its attention to Madam Lie, and I opened my eyes to find her smiling. I got up to go be with Kaeo.


Madam Lie
—
Hello. I said, in a way of communication we both knew. I didn’t think that people knew that concepts could do this, but we had ways of talking that were not speaking aloud.
How can we help? The forest asked, anger and violence being promised within the canopy.
I want to work together. There will be multiple fronts we go to fight, and we will have one of them. Will you help? I felt the tree behind me seem to watch me. The forest was patent, but old. It had made a claim on two children who loved it like a second home, and war had been threatened on them.
Death. The forest promised, and I smiled.
Will I be permitted to return?
As you wish.
From my palm, I extracted a golden needle and stuck it in the earth. I was handed a pinecone, and I rose. My work here was done.


Kaeo
—
I was sad I had never seen this place before, but happy I was here now. I hung my legs over the edge of the chasm, kicking my feet and watching the waterfall below. Magic lazily floated around me, appearing and fading with no rhyme or reason.
The forest seemed welcoming, like seeing a pet you had not in a very long time. It was glad I was here, and as I laid back I heard the very distinctive gate of Sylin. I tilted my head back, and saw him “stride” his way over. I didn’t really like what he called that sort of walking with his cane, but I had no better name so I supposed it was here to stick.
He settled in next to me, and after a moment also laid back. I was staring at the sky, looking at the clouds. They were moving, but not quickly. I had always liked it when you could see the clouds moving, like there was an entire realm that we could not understand but could see.
“Does this part of the forest have a name?” I asked, still kicking my feet over the edge. The waterfall was loud, but I knew from experience that if you were talking to someone they would still hear you.
“The center I suppose. Not an interesting one if that’s what you’re after.”
“Do you think it wants a name?”
“I’m not sure it cares about that. I think it does to the extent that it would make you happy.”
“I think we should name it then.” I said, feeling the grass against my bare arms.
“The forest or this spot?”
“Is there a difference?” I asked, looking over at him. He was also looking at the sky, more lost in thought than I was. He was better at getting lost in his own head I found.
“I don’t really think so, no.”
We were quiet for a time, and Madam Lie appeared laying next to us. “Time to go, I think.”
“Awww.” I said, pouting.
“We can come back later.” Sylin said, rising to his feet and offering me a hand. I found that habit of his amusing, considering I was significantly stronger than him. I still took his hand in the spirit it was offered, and we started out of the forest.
I turned and gave it a wave, and I swore that the floating magic shivered in the air as if to wave back.


Karios
—
I had finished giving Minna and Apolonia a tour of the wards, of which there were seven. Seven was a good number, magically strong. I had set them all to be connected to some relatively nearby mountains or other similar things. The first ward was the largest, and it prevented magic from being used by anyone who did not have blood on a stone that was in the house underneath one of the roof tiles. I had made sure to put it in a container so water or other such could not wash it away.
The second, third, and fifth wards were all physical, all tied to mountains. If anything moving fast enough passed through them it would be stopped. Well, more like it would hit one of those mountains so close enough. I rather liked that ward, more so now that my son could act as a battery. It made the wards significantly smaller, as I had to do no work with magic ratios.
The fourth ward was made against gasses. It would purify the air, as I knew clerics could call down poison and other such. Better to be safe in my opinion. The last two were the most nasty, and would only be turned on when everyone was in. Once turned on, it would shred any matter trying to pass through them. They were the least discriminatory of the wards, and work I was rather proud of. I had to burn two contracts to make them, but contracts were made to be used as much as it pained me.
“Any questions?” I asked the two clerics. Minna always acted like she was only half listening, but she was sharper than she let on. Apolonia did not like me, which was fine. I had several of the concepts looking after her in case she tried anything, as I did not trust her even if Eusenius said she was trustworthy.
I found it paid to be paranoid in war.


Sylin
—
We got back to the house as Minna and Apolonia – or at least that is what I thought the cleric of body’s name was – were walking away from the house as we rode up. I gave Minna a wave who returned it, and hoped down from Thanny. My father was walking up, looking at Madam Lie.
“How’d it go?” He asked, stroking the side of Thanny’s neck.
“Well, I’ll be able to work with the forest.”
“I’m glad to hear.” He turned to me and Kaeo. “What are you two supposed to do on the morrow?”
“Not leave the house.” I stated.
“And help Minna and the other cleric with the birth.” Kaeo said, walking onto the porch to grab the brush she used for Thanny.
“Good. If people get into the house, what are you to do?”
“Presuming the birth is not done, try and slow them down. Do not engage unless forced to. If the birth is done, go to mom.”
“Good. What direction will they be coming from?”
“Behind the house.” Kaeo said, starting to groom Thanny who was happy to be brushed.
“Amazing. It’ll all go fine, this is simply a minor inconvenience.”
“Does the town know?” I asked, to which my father waved his hand.
“The mayor knows, and they know they will be sent away unable to leave their house tomorrow.”
I wondered how many of them were panicking. There was no way they didn’t know they were under siege at this point. I had asked my father about why Kaeo and I weren’t sent away, to which he had answered that if they were given reason to try and break the working they might succeed. I asked if they even knew about Kaeo, which he said it was better to presume they did.
That seemed somewhat reasonable, and I did trust my father in this. I had less practice waging war than he did, and spent less time thinking about it. I’m sure he had a strategy. My biggest worry was that we were going to be surrounded. We were not an army, even if we had the strength of one. We had a few very powerful people, but that still meant we could be surrounded. That was a bad thing, and I knew my father was trying to mitigate that by sending Madam Lie to deal with one front and dealing with another himself, but the third would surround the house.
I was unsure how much my mother would be up to after giving birth, but my father seemed sure she would be fine. I would have to trust them, which was not hard to do. It did little to settle my fears, or my mind, but there was only so much that could. How much would be lost in this, or was my father right, was this a minor inconvenience. He seemed to be treating it like it was, although the preparation told me otherwise.
Given, he was the only one preparing. My mother had done nothing, and the cleric of seven had also done nothing. They were bringing more clerics, so logically another cleric of seven would be coming. Maybe more than one. I went into the house to get some water, and almost ran into Mister Sharp who was walking out.
“Sorry.” I said, moving to the side to let him pass.
“Not at all, Young Master.” He said, walking by me. He moved into the front yard, and I watched what he would do. It seemed he was just doing drills, which were fascinating to watch. Blades would grow out of him at different angles, and he scythed through imaginary opponents. He seemed to believe that every cut would not be stopped, which from what I’d seen might be true. When he needed extra grip on the ground, spikes would grow on his feet. If he needed extra reach with a weapon, it too would grow.
The entire thing was amazing to watch, and he did it all with inhuman speed and strength, never slowing or hesitating. It was like a blender made into a person. I stopped watching eventually, walking into the kitchen. My mother was sitting in the kitchen, eating some food and reading something. I walked over to the cabinet, pulled over the stool to be able to reach them, and pulled out a glass.
I filled it up with water from a pitcher and sat next to her to drink it. She looked to be reading one of those romances she was so fond of, and when she got to a break in the book she looked up.
“Is there something you need?” She asked, spearing another piece of food with her fork.
“No, not really. I just have nerves.”
She looked understanding, and nodded. “Don’t worry, this isn’t the first attempt your father and I have had at our lives.”
“I know, but it is the first one I’m seeing. And from the sounds of it they have troops made specifically that you are bad against.”
That made her laugh softly. “That’s giving your mother too little credit. I’m worse against them than human troops, or even undead ones, but they won’t be much of a problem.”
“Okay.” I said. Nothing she could say would make me feel better, which she seemed to realize. She pulled me into a quick hug, then let me go and she went back to eating. I sighed, getting up after I polished off my glass of water and walked out of the kitchen.
Kaeo walked in, likely coming to find me which seemed true as she fell into step beside me. I started up the steps to the second floor to get a book from my room, and Kaeo parted from me for a moment. I went down to the living room to read, and Kaeo eventually came down the stairs in a new dress with her own book.
She had said that she liked reading more and more the longer she lived with us, even if that time had only felt like a few months to her. We sat together on the couch reading, waiting for tomorrow to come.


Minna
—
Minna walked down the street over to a kid that had fallen. He had been running, and he had scraped up his hands and likely his knee fairly badly. His eyes were watering, but he did not cry as he got up, teeth clenched. He saw Minna coming down the street, and looked surprised. The entire town knew Minna now, as she wandered around from house to house looking for where she could help.
In this case, it was healing a boy’s hands and knee.
“Please, if you would lend me your hand?” Minna asked, extending her own hand towards him.
“Thank you.” The boy said through a wavering voice. Minna started the miracle, asking Xhaen to take the wounds. What she did was not technically healing, as that was not under his domain except for a few cases, and instead took the pain and wounds and offered them to her god.
He took them, carefully saving them for later. Someone would get those wounds, likely someone who deserved them. Minna hoped so at least. She was not happy about how clerics of her own faith were coming to kill a family. No, she thought that rather dumb, especially when most of them had not even been in that fight that had earned that man the name of Ruin.
Minna shook her head to herself after the boy got up to go and play. He had said something else, but Minna was not paying enough attention to catch it. She started back the way she came, knocking on a door to see if she could help someone else.


Nomiki
—
I felt the children in my belly, as they were currently squirming around. I soothed them, even as I worked. Tomorrow was the time for war, even if it was poorly timed. It made me so mad that they would come. That anyone would come! Wasn’t the entire reason we were in the queens service was to stop things like this? My foot tapped against the floor as I inwardly focused.
No, I had to be calm. It was harder to trance while pregnant, and a full trance could be dangerous to the twins so that was not something I could do. But a partial trance helped. I knew I had always been hot blooded, and I was grateful for Karios who was much more level headed. Sometimes too much, but it was helpful. Grounding.
I looked over to my son and Kaeo sitting on the couch, reading together. Sylin was against the arm of the couch, shoulder leaning against it as he read. His cane had been put on top of the arm of the couch, and it looked like it should have fallen off. Kaeo had her back against Sylin’s other shoulder, her knees up to lean her book against them.
The entire thing made me smile, and I froze a picture of it in my mind. Maybe I would join them there, I had a particular fondness for one of the armchairs, so I started my way over there. Sylin noticed me, glancing over and seemed to remember something.
“Mom, do we have any elf blood?” He had his finger keeping his place, and was twisting to the best of his ability to look at me even as Kaeo leaned against him. She stopped at the question, turning as well to look at me.
“We do, yes. Your grandfather is an elf.” I said, and Kaeo leaned over to inspect Sylin’s ears. He seemed either to not notice or not care.
“Which one?”
“The one on my side. You might meet him one day, he does rather like to travel so might stop by.”
“Huh. How long should I expect to live then?”
“What’s bringing this all up?” I said, dropping into the arm chair. Karios had made it, and he must have enchanted it as it was always so comfortable. I let out a little sigh of pleasure, shifting to bring my feet under me.
“Minna said that Eusenius was a thirty-second elf and was nearing two hundred.”
“Yes, well, you could likely live to over two thousand give or take.” He looked rather surprised by this, face furrowing in concentration.
“How old will you live?”
“Till I decide I don’t want to, although that is more due to magic than the blood.”
“Oh. How about dad?” He asked, seemingly worried. I let out a laugh. My son was so smart, but also so naive.
“Your father will have to deal with age, but a mage of his caliber can find ways to shirk it off. He will live till he no longer wants to as well.”
That seemed to put him at ease, his face unpinching. He gave a small nod of thanks, then turned back to go to reading. Kaeo kept facing me however, asking a question of her own.
“Could I do what you do with magic?”
“Yes, given enough practice.”
She looked excited by that, which made me glad. She seemed to be hitting tragedy after tragedy. Her parents died, then she went into a coma, then… I took a deep breath, staying off my rage. Then a knock came at the door, which led Sylin to stand up and get it, leaving his book open. Kaeo stretched along the entire couch, her arms above her still reading.
I looked to see who it was, and when Sylin opened the doors I stood, reaching for my sight. It was a man dressed in black, and had the distinctive knots on his shoulder of a captain of the army of Ekelek. He reached for Sylin, which was a mistake. His arm exploded, none of the blood or anything else allowed to leave him to make a mess. I kept it floating around where his arm was. I killed the pain for him, as I wanted him to answer some questions.
I walked over, Sylin looking completely unbothered. Kaeo had sat up, knife in hand. I looked at her book and she had used another knife as a book mark. I could deal with that latter.
“Sylin, would you be a dear and call Madam Lie over?”
“Yes Ma’am.” He reached for his golden needle, pricking his finger and stepping off to the side. The man tried to talk but he wasn’t going to be allowed to for now.
An instant later, Madam Lie appeared by the front door looking rather annoyed, then rather mad. The man was trying to speak, but no sound left him which seemed to make him scared. I started out of the house, Madam Lie offering me her arm to lean on which I took. I forced his body to walk with us, and I saw two horses by the front of the house.
I thought that Mister Sharp was out here, but evidently not. “Sylin, be a dear and close the door, would you?”
“Yes Ma’am. Be safe.” I snorted at that, and then I heard the door close behind me.
“They are watching through the window.” Madam Lie said, head not turning.
“Cloak us, would you?” I asked, getting the man to keep walking with us. The other rider made to leave, but he found himself instead guiding his horse to the front of the house. I found myself starting to hum the refrain of the trance, and killed it. No, the twins did not need that.
I guided the other man to get off his horse, and had both of them sit in front of me. I tapped my lips for a second, then broke both of their legs. I also sent both of their horses over to the stable hands. I had no use for them, and they could likely do with more horses, especially ones as well bread as these.
“Why are you here?” I asked, allowing them to speak. Both men were tall, taller than me, and both with black hair. One had curly black hair, the other one straight, but they were both close cropped due to military regulations. One was twenty two, the other thirty four, and both fit. Green eyes met mine, and the captain began to speak. The other looked like a rank and file, brought along for who knows why.
“To ask for your surrender.” I looked at Madam Lie, who gave a nod. The truth then.
“Someone must have really disliked you two. I suppose there is a threat as well? Besides the army? We already know about that and the three fronts.” They looked surprised, and it seemed genuine enough. It was hard to tell, brains were complicated and I did not fully understand them. That was why Madam Lie was here, to make sure what they spoke was the truth.
“We will attack at nightfall if not.” I considered this, then turned to Madam Lie.
“Relay this to my husband, would you?” Her form wavered, and I knew a second Madam Lie had appeared next to him in his tower. Her form wavered once more, as she took the form of my husband. He would be looking at what he could see if he was actually here, Madam Lie acting as a type of relay.
“Bluff.” He said, looking at them and something I could not see. “The army is too far for that. Early morning at best.”
“It will be a small raiding party.” The man got out, visibly trying to bite back the words. I almost felt bad. He had a strong will, but I had fought stronger and forced them to speak.
“Anything else? Either of you?” I tapped my foot impatiently. They didn’t answer and I made to kill them but Karios spoke up.
“Who comprises the raiding party?”
“Fourty men, ten of which are clerics. All on horse back, trying to kidnap the children.”
“Anything else, Love?” I asked, and he thought about it.
“What clerics?”
“One of each, the extra being three clerics of other.”
“Nothing now, take care and be safe. Ban the children from leaving. I’m giving Thanny full run, and I’ll send him with Mister Sharp.”
“Oh, is that where he is?” I asked, as both of the men crumpled into spheres. One of them had some sort of magical explosive implanted in them, which made to activate but it was set in organic matter. I rolled my eyes, stopping it.
“Yes, I brought him here so he could figure out where he would be most useful in the fight. Seems like we might as well send him and Thanny forwards as a harassing party, along with a few others I’ve collected.”
“Okay. Be back before dinner.”
“I will, love you.”
“You as well.”
Madam Lie’s form flickered, and she was standing in front of me once again. In the distance I could see the top of Karios’ tower ignite like a white flame. That should let him see the entire area, giving a semi-omnipresence. I stretched, sending the two spheres into the compost bin. I had some reading to catch up on.


Mister Sharp
—
I laughed, riding on Thanny. He was a wonderful mount, and a lance formed in my hand. I no longer had to pull my punches, as I did with the kids. My form had grown, making Thanny into a mount that looked reasonable despite being closer to the size of an elephant than a horse. Thanny was also enjoying himself, singing in the language of concepts of riding. He was on the dumber side of concepts, more like a dog, which made me more fond of him rather than less.
I liked the family I had been brought into, with more simple pleasures rather than the pleasure of glorious battle. Even with that, I longed to be in the melee. It seemed that some of them had been foolish enough to ride in without support, forty of them in total.
Thanny began to smoke, eyes starting to glow red. I heard nothing, like Thanny was eating up the noise. I wondered how many people had seen my Master atop this pale horse with that strange robe as their last sight. Death’s own horse, or something like that.
I saw the riders on the horizon, and they were not riding fast. They seemed like they were waiting for something as they walked their horses forward. Most of them were in black, but there were other colors. Reds, oranges, blues, purples, yellows, greens, and white. There were more purples than anything else besides black, and I pushed Thanny faster who gladly complied.
My lance took the first of them before they knew what was happening. It was the one in white, and blood began to stain the clothing. He was dead almost instantly, and I heard cries of dismay die behind me as we circled back around. I willed spikes to burst from my lance, exploding out of the body making it a mess. I sharpened the edge of my lance, pulling it through the corpse letting it fall. Thanny tried to take a bite at it, but missed. I consoled him, letting him know that we could come back for it.
We circled around, and some shots of energy and a few arrows flew but none of them near their mark. We started in again, this time aiming for one of the other clerics. They were being moved to the middle rather than the back of the group, so we went through the middle. Blazing quick once again, and even as other riders with lances rode at us I laughed.
Some of the lances hit Thanny, but where they did metal rusted and wood rotted. Some hit me as well, but they were weak blows. One lance splintered as it hit me dead on, and the arm of the man using it snapped as we rode past.
The clerics were exposed, and a bolt of light hit me in the shoulder. I grimaced in pain, forced to regrow it. One hit Thanny as well, but he seemed more energized than anything. I speared another two as we rode by, Thanny trampling over horse and rider alike, killing another four with the trample and grabbing one in his mouth. She screamed as she was torn off her horse, and eaten alive by the fast running Thanny.
The two on my lance were dead, once more exploding with spikes that retracted and slid off the lance as we moved in for round three. Three clerics remained, the riders were spooked. I saw a few running, and left them for later. For now, there was the rest to finish off.


Karios
—
I stood at the top of the tower, beholding the world. It had been most of a decade since I had used this much power, and it felt good. The white flame burned around me, and I followed the armies that matched upon my home. They were getting close, not close enough that any attack I could make would not just be beaten away, but close enough I ripped through their clumsy excuse at illusions.
Clerics. They put too much faith in their gods, and not enough in what mattered. They were told lies and acceptance by other clerics, making their small cult uneducated. They were, in my opinion, what Gadden had been talking about when he spoke of inefficiencies and evil. I sighed, as the clerics buzzed around after I tore away their illusions.
They saw my Sight which had been amplified by the Flame of Truth atop my tower, and they tried to blind me. I scorned their lazy attempts, swatting them away. They were too far to launch any attack that had any chance of hurting me, and the fact they tried said more about them than anything else I had seen.
At least I knew someone else led their armies. Clerics were arrogant, the batch I killed that earned me the title of Ruin had marched at me, with nothing else. Like numbers and “faith” would do anything at all. No, someone smarter was pulling the strings here. I watched, tapping my foot.
Nothing became apparent, and I had to check my clock once again.
Opps.
I had taken too long. I would be late for dinner.
That was more of a problem than the clerics.


Kaeo
—
I leaned against Sylin as I read. I needed to catch up in my studies, more now than ever. Not that I had any chance in most of the sciences, but history I might be able to. And geography, although not what made it function like it did. I had spent so long asleep, and it all felt fake. Like I had woken up in a new world, where everything was going wrong. More than it already had.
We were under siege, and the twins were about to be born. That more than anything was what had convinced me I had been asleep for so long. I felt like I was drifting, but luckily there was something that could ground me.
Sylin was the same, even if he had gotten taller. He still acted the same, still had the same hand writing, same everything. It was reassuring that the world hadn’t completely moved on without me. Even my own body had changed while I was asleep, and I was growing used to the changes. I had asked what the knife had done to me, but Mister Duewoe had no answer for me.
Not yet.
He said that once this was over, we could start some real tests. He was a brilliant man, and perhaps the reason this small town existed at all. He had moved here when it was much smaller and he alone was not what made it grow so. I glanced over at Missus Duewoe, who was talking in the kitchen with Madam Lie.
Two prodigies had come to this town, and people followed. Some wanted to learn, others sought power, and some trade. It didn’t matter why they had come, only that they had. The town was like the aftermath of a storm, and those two were definitely a storm.
They said that the world shifted around great people, but I never really understood that till now. They had adopted me like a daughter, and I was thankful for that. Even if it felt like if things went slightly differently I could…
No, that was a bad line of thought. I was getting better at controlling that, especially when I was with people. They made me happy, and I wanted to be around them. Madam Lie looked over at me, and gave me a wink. I smiled back, trying to force my attention back on my book but I couldn’t.
I knew I needed to catch up with my studies as I was behind, but it was hard. Most of the reading was extremely dry, like it would have killed the author to crack a joke. Maybe it would have, and that is why the books were like how they were. It would have explained a lot. I sighed, trying to read A Short History of Lost, but found even as I read the words I gained nothing.
I eventually stopped trying, knowing nothing would be gained by the effort. I could come back to it, and it was great stuff to read as you fell asleep. Or maybe it put you to sleep. I inwardly shrugged, same difference as far as I was concerned. I got up, Sylin watching me rise.
He sighed, putting a bookmark in his own book. He knew me well enough to know I wanted to do something, and it seemed he was willing. He had gotten much better at sparing, and I was about to ask but I heard a pot getting hit with a wooden spoon. That meant it was time for dinner, and Missus Duewoe was looking darkly out the window.
I turned, trying to see what she saw but I saw nothing. Sylin and I got off the couch, going over to the table. It looked like there was some kind of stew for dinner. I rather liked stew, it had meat. We waited for a while, Sylin and I talking as the door flew open. Mister Duewoe walked in, getting his shoes off by the door.
“I’m so sorry.” He said, walking over to his wife.
“You had one job.” She said, half glaring at him.
“I know. I am evidently not very good at time when I am in the Sight by the True Flame.”
“Hmph. Well, you’re here now, so get a bowl and let’s get everyone served.”
We filed over, and I smelled beef. I smiled, bouncing up and down as I waited. Even if tomorrow was time for war, today I was happy. It was a good day, come what may.


Sylin
—
I blocked a blow aimed at my torso, pushing it to the side. Recently Mister Sharp had forced us to learn a martial art, but I already had some training in a few. Kaeo was not allowed to use any of her sped up perceptions, or super speed, or super strength while fighting me. I wasn’t allowed to use my cane either, which was the only real thing besides my robe that I had enchanted.
Kaeo had natural talent, I had to give her that. That and reach, she was taller than I was. Girls often were when they were kids. I still had more training, and in effect more practice. Perhaps not in this body, but I still knew what to do. I still had to retrain all the muscle memory, which would also all have to be different with my leg.
I threw in a few tentative hits, getting a feeling for what she was trying for today. She always was trying something new, and today the blocking was rather aggressive. Like she was attacking me with each block. I hummed to myself, waiting for the next blow.
It was well done, I would give her that but she had misjudged the speed. I had enough time to grab her wrist, twisting it around to her back and forcing her to the ground. I pinned her, and she struggled for a bit before admitting defeat by tapping the ground with her free hand.
“How are you so good at this?” She asked, shrugging her shoulders ready for another bout. She was remarkably hard to hurt, or even bruise. I honestly wasn’t sure if she was muting her ability to feel pain, or if her body’s tolerance for damage was simply that high.
“Practice, I suppose.” I said with an easy shrug. I knew what she was trying to do, and it was a favorite tactic of hers. She was harder to wind and get tired than I was, so she liked to keep me talking. Less time for me to catch my breath, but I was feeling fine for now. She also liked to use it to try and distract me, which was why I was completely unsurprised when she rushed towards me out of a casual stance.
She threw a kick out that had a lot of momentum, which made me sigh. I moved over to the side to get out of the way, then put my hand out to catch her leg. She looked panicked for a moment, one leg held up the other on the ground.
“Do you want to call this one now?” I asked, watching her.
“Ummm…” She lunged from where she was, somehow managing to throw her body at me despite the awkward position. It felt like she might have been using a bit of strength there, but there was no way to prove it.
I landed on the ground hard, starting to roll but she was on top of me. She grabbed one of my wrists, but I got hers with the other. I got sloppy and got punished for it, I shouldn’t have given her the chance to surrender. I started working for leverage, trying to get somewhere to do something but I couldn’t. Not that she could do much either, she had to spend a lot of effort to keep me pinned.
I struggled, eventually getting a point where I could sit up. Kaeo grimaced, then threw herself at me once more, knocking me back to the ground. I was grateful for the springy grass as my head went back. The position reverted to how it was, which made me sigh. I almost instantly regretted doing it, as I was getting tired and I was not in a position to carelessly waste oxygen like that.
“So what’s the plan?” I asked her, trying to figure out what to do.
“I have no clue!” She cheerfully told me.
I started to speak again, but she had somehow gotten into a position to knee me in the stomach. I grunted, and she did it again. I saw no way to recover this, so I tapped my hand against the ground signaling that she had won.
“Ah ha!” She said, standing up and offering me a hand. I took it, getting back up and rubbing my stomach.
“Well done.” I conceded, delving into my sight briefly but finding nothing to heal. It would not bruise, which I was somewhat thankful for.
“I really thought I lost that one at the beginning.”
“Same. See if I ever offer you surrender again.”
She stuck her tongue out at me, which made me laugh. We were called in by Madam Lie who had been watching us, and it seemed time for bed. That was reasonable, as tomorrow would be a hard day.

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