Side Story – Meadow - Chapter 1 Welcome to the North (Patreon)

Note: Hey all. I'm sorry for not writing any side chapters in so long. I've had a few rather busy months in my personal life. Been wanting to write a Meadow one for a while and I finally managed to put something together :). Let me know what you think.

EPUB: https://www.patreon.com/posts/38084862

Side Story – Meadow - Chapter 1 Welcome to the North

The Meadow watched, seeing all in its domain. Sunlight warmed the stone beyond the caverns deep within the northern lands. Existence bustled, thousands of creatures going about their daily needs.

Hunters were hunting, gatherers were exploring, and the Awakened of Hallowfort went about their daily business.

Meadow had found that the daily storms ravaging the northern lands were fascinating. A chaotic anomaly beyond anything it had seen in Erendar. A balance, energies shifting without the influence of sunlight to birth the mesmerizing dance of the Miststalkers and occasional Wraiths. It all seemed so very delicate. A perfect equilibrium of extreme forces tugging at the continent itself.

The humans asked questions, their newfound understanding birthing yet another slew of misguided and dangerous theories that would rip them apart without guidance. But of course such would not come to pass. For they were Awakened and they were friends of Ilea. Yet to gain the respect of the Meadow but certainly curious little things.

Ilea had been an outlier it seemed, one of few very powerful humans. Few others had been able to stand even the arcane powers whispering within its domain. And yet their species had a brain like few other Awakened the Meadow had nurtured. Despite their lack of power, they were quick to learn, quick to improve. Perhaps a necessity with their normally quite short life spans.

What could a being really learn in a hundred years? And yet they shine with ingenuity and hope, truly, splendid individuals.

Meadow glanced through the veil, poking at the creature it had found on its first day. Still asleep, it knew. A sleepy fellow. Its mind was visible despite the distance, a creature that surely knew a lot, one that could communicate at such a distance and in dimensions the Meadow itself may not have experienced before. Waking someone from their sleep however was a dangerous prospect.

And so the Meadow moved on, its attention in many places at once. “Good morning,” Meadow growled in the required sounds into the mind of the Trakorov.

The creature didn’t respond, as it was wont to do, instead spreading lava inside its cave to make it a little more comfortable.

Too warm, Meadow knew. But each creature had its comforts. The layered dungeon below its location was truly a wondrous sight. Crafted by beings many thousands of years ago, beings that could shift stone and metal to a degree that few Awakened could. The Ascended, it had been informed, beings from another realm just like itself. Talking to one of those beings would certainly reveal interesting information and possibilities, though the intent of the facility had sadly seemed to be born of malice and war.

Yet Awakened were rarely all the same, and capable space mages with knowledge of other realms and how to travel through them were exceedingly rare.

The Meadow turned its attention to the outskirts of its perception, five creatures entering through a crevice in the lands. Feynor, it knew. Enemies of Hallowfort, and according to their equipment and few words of conversation, here to scout the town. They had an interest in the location and a deep hatred for its inhabitants, a common sentiment much like many misguided creatures the Meadow had seen in its long existence.

Arcane lightning flashed in the skies above, vanishing into nothing before the strike crashed into the ground ahead of the Feynor. A warning they could not perceive but the Meadow had learned enough about their culture from the few encounters and the many records and tales told by the Hallowfort inhabitants. Superstition was a dangerous thing, perhaps at the very core of their motivation to seek and battle the Awakened who have come to live here.

But it was their superstition that made them turn and flee when another strike of lightning happened to slam into the thin fissure in the lands, a minuscule chance that could mean nothing else but doom to their operation.

A report appeared on the desks of Elana and Catelyn, detailing the number of Feynor, their equipment and whatever other information the Meadow had managed to overhear. Not much, but the task required no effort.

The ambient mana below Hallowfort was lower in density than back in its home realm but there was no need to mask its presence here. Life was abound, and magic flared up constantly, the storms and mists providing what its barriers and enchantments had done for centuries before.

Meadow shifted its main attention to the nineteenth layer of the Descent, watching the Deep Mirage as it solved the latest puzzle. The being proved incredibly smart, its intuition and spacial understanding far beyond what most Awakened showed. However its playful nature seemed to prevent an awakening. For now.

The Meadow watched the creature a little longer, its entire focus on the floating collection of cubes. It felt joy, being able to alleviate the Mirage’s boredom, leading it towards more than sand and the occasional intruder.

Many secrets had remained in the Descent, writing left behind by ancient civilizations, experiments and runes left behind to be deciphered by the Meadow. The common denominator of blood had become obvious after a few days in its new home, sadly not one of its most known fields of study but it had time. The substance often found within the Ascended testing facilities was especially fascinating. Incredibly volatile but full of possibilities, even to a laymeadow.

Any teleportation circles they may have had lay altered beyond recognition. No runes had remained. The lightning elemental had caught another beast that wandered into its domain, killing it in a single blow before it nudged the being with its talons.

“In your excitement, you have killed it,” the Meadow supplied.

The young Elemental screeched and shot lightning upwards. It did not like watchful eyes.

The Meadow knew it to be a challenge, a hope for excitement and battle. It wondered why the Elemental never traveled up or down to find foes. All flashes and no lightning it seemed, the being content to rule in its domain. The Meadow didn’t engage, not willing to hurt the fragile pride of the bird like creature.

“Greetingsss,” the Ice Serpent spoke when it noticed the fluctuating space.

“Good morning, friend. How is thine realm,” Meadow asked.

“Cooooool,” the Serpent replied and flowed once more into the deep ice where even the Meadow could not penetrate. A shy creature, lacking the sheer power of a true Elemental but perhaps it could become a trusted friend in time.

Few corrupted creatures remained, mostly stuck within closed rooms or crevices they could not escape from. The Meadow had yet to decide if bringing them up to the enemies they could not hope to face would be murder or salvation. They were entirely corrupted, merely a vessel for the orange goo that had taken over their flesh. Though low the hope may be, perhaps there was a chance to help even those creatures awaken, with enough knowledge on blood and corruption. Though even the Meadow had to admit that such prospects were about as promising as awakening a Miststalker. Not very high.

The Guardian of the first layer greeted the Meadow as it did every morning, the awakened forming runes with its shadow magic. The Meadow replied, using earth and flowers. It knew the being named Ilas found joy in the protection of the first layer, and felt companionship with the Meadow through their shared intent. Entirely superfluous but the Meadow would not deprive it from its ambitions.

A faint voice called from deep within the land and the Meadow opened its eyes. A cavern, far removed from all Awakened, no entrance and no exit, within twirling in the air it found a creature twirling in the air. The second of its kind the Meadow had found and one Ilea had talked of before.

“Do you seek assistance, little one?” the Meadow asked. A fragment of the whole, one so intricately connected to the fabrics of space it was difficult to see it beyond the veil. Were there a chance to learn from a being of such natural ability, to converse with it about reality and consciousness itself.

Boom, the creature replied.

Alas, it was not meant to be, true knowledge forever hidden behind a nature curious and playful. “Boom?” the Meadow asked, having an idea of what the being wanted. It would oblige of course, if only for a small chance of meeting the whole, welcoming it within its domain.

The small creature pointed at the large rock blocking its way deeper into the cavern, how either the stone or the Fae got there was a mystery better left unquestioned.

Meadow sent a pulse of magic, shattering the stone into thousands of bits and pieces.

Grateful!

“Enjoy your stay, do call once more should you require assistance,” the Meadow sent, amused as it watched the creature float into the darkness. Nothing good awaited it but the Meadow would not question the decisions of a being as ancient as this one.

Capable, the being sent with a hint of pride.

No help was needed. Of course. How could the weak and puny Meadow ever even consider such an offense. It turned instead to the wild, watching the hunt of a giant eagle, the creature flying short distances within the crevices of the land to avoid the storms above, looking for pray in the many valleys scattered throughout the land. It soon left the visible range of the Meadow, continuing on with its hunt.

“What about this one?” Iana asked, standing next to a set of runes she had added to her platform.

The Meadow answered by creating a floating platform above, adding a few hundred runes as an example.

“Ah… shit. I hoped it would work like this but I can see what you mean,” she said and returned to her work.

Quite smart for something that small and weak, the Meadow thought, along with ten other thoughts.

It felt a familiar magic within its domain, so subtle it was barely visible. It had noted its existence before, unable yet to determine the source. Whenever its attention wandered towards it, the spell would vanish. A curious little thing, first documented when Ilea had appeared within Erendar.

The Meadow had thought at first that it had to do with Elos, or perhaps humanity itself. A side product of their existence or perhaps a being powerful enough to bend the laws of space itself. It studied the phenomenon as well as it could without giving any conscious attention to its existence. Little by little it unraveled the spell, making progress for the first time since its first detection.

I see.

And it saw.

A thousand eyes look at you.

The spell unravels as the Meadow aims to stabilize it. “Who are you?”