Chapter: 242 - A Fragment (Patreon)

<Contains content which may be considered grimdark>
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Tala nodded a bit lower to Eskau Meallain. “We thank you for the welcome.”

The elven woman gave a half smile in return. “Come, we have many here worthy of conversation.”

She turned and led Tala, Thron, Gallof, and Be-thric deeper into the hold.

Her stride was purposeful and steady, with only a slight sway between steps. The result was akin to a predator, comfortably sauntering through their own den.

Do not anger that woman, Tala.

-Seconded. Tala, let’s be on your best behavior.-

Tala seriously considered giving Tali the reins but dismissed the idea. There were a growing number of things that the ‘other’ woman would not have a good reason for, and a mental breakdown wouldn’t help anyone.

-I’ll…work on that. Hopefully within an hour or two?-

I thought you were keeping things up to date…

-We’ve been doing a lot of ancillary things, Tala. My focus was elsewhere. I’m just glad we’re still within range for a personal Archive connection.-

Tala came back to the moment as she continued to follow Meallain and frowned, her mage-sight was picking up… something. The zeme, the ambient magical currents, of this hold was oddly placid, unnaturally calm, as if the space were abandoned and no magic had moved through it in a long time. Though, obviously, they were all moving through the space as Tala looked around. What is going on?

Additionally, there was a growing, odd feeling around her gate. It wasn’t a constriction, nor a pain, nor a limiting. It felt like… Like gate-breaking, but without the increased pull, nor the marginal offset. It feels like something is reinforcing the edges of my gate, locking it in place.

-What does that mean?-

I have no idea, but keep on guard. Something is odd here.

They rounded a corner, coming out onto an exterior terrace walkway.

Tala stopped mid-step, in unmitigated awe.

She didn’t even notice her three traveling companions and guide staring her way expectantly. She obviously saw it with her mirrored perspectives, but she didn’t really register it.

No, her eyes were fixed on what lay before her.

A vista of expansive beauty stretched out before her. She saw rolling hills with a flock of some type of white birds just taking wing, the sunlight sparkling off of their feathers.

There were scattered trees, leading into whole forests, and in the distance, she saw mountains.

What the rust?

-What the rust?-

Meallain’s smile grew. “Magnificent, isn’t it? House lore contends that it’s a fragment of the old world, snatched from the Doman-Imithe as it crumbled. It is the greatest pride and worst-kept secret of the House of Blood.”

Be-thric was grinning. “And before you ask, this is why I didn’t tell you. It must be experienced without preamble, or the experience is lesser.”

Tala just found herself nodding as she walked towards the railing. She couldn’t see the edge of reality, here.

She briefly flickered Flow into the form of a void-knife so that she could see with her void-sight, but still, there was no evidence of the edge of the space before her, above her, or below.

There were no illusions. There was no end. It’s another world?

-That shouldn’t be possible.-

You’re telling me.

She turned around and looked back, but the hold extended beyond the entrance as well, just like her own standard entrance into Kit was not at an edge.

“I…” She closed her mouth and shook her head. Instead of speaking, she turned back to look out upon the world that lay within the hold.

They stood there for a few long moments.

Finally, Tala ordered her thoughts sufficiently to ask a question, “How is it this big? This shouldn’t be possible.”

Meallain nodded. “Excellent question. It actually isn’t.”

Tala frowned. “I see no illusion, no edge of reality.”

The elven woman quirked a smile. “What you see, beyond the middle distance, is echoes of reality. This is a truly massive hold, a rough sphere, twenty-five miles in radius.”

Tala did quick math. More than sixty-five-thousand cubic miles of space? That is insane! “How…I mean. Why?”

“To preserve what is lost. The anchors claw back more and more from Doman-Imithe, but it is a slow process. This hold began a mere mile in diameter at the foundation of our House. Through the millennia we have rebuilt this much of our lost home.” The pride was evident.

“This…how has the House of Blood not dominated the world?”

“Hmm? Oh. I think you misunderstand. This is not a resource; this is a treasure and an investment. Other holds exist to create raw materials, to fuel economic advancement. Some are created to house food production or personnel. This hold”—she shook her head—"This hold is too precious to soil or exploit. While we do use an underground portion for research into the nature of magic, we ensure that the sanctity of this place is preserved.”

Tala frowned at that. Then, she and Alat focused on her mage-sight once again, instead of her eyesight, recalling the oddity she’d noticed when she first arrived.

Now that she could see so much open space, her sight and mind were able to truly perceive what was going on, and she gaped anew.

Meallain chuckled. “And there it is. The true wonder of this place.”

“How is the power so still, so stable?”

“There is no zeme, here. Apparently, the currents of magic that are so pervasive on our world only exist because of the weakness in the fabric of reality.”

“So, this fragment…?”

“Shows how things were meant to be. There is no magical resonance here. There are no ether holds, no magical creatures, no disruptions to the majesty of magic.”

“How? It’s a broken piece, right?”

“Ahh, shattering a properly tempered piece of armor doesn’t ruin the temper on the fragments does it? To do that, one has to attempt a reforging, and do it…wrong. Our world, our precious Zeme, was rebuilt from fragments such as this, but it was rebuilt by amateurs. Well-meaning amateurs to be sure, and they had more skill than any alive now possess, but they were still woefully inadequate to the task of reality reconstruction. The very fact that Doman-Imithe exists, a step further away from the next world, the source of magic, than Zeme, is a perfect demonstration that it wasn’t put back quite right.” She barked a laugh. “The fact that there is a Doman-Imithe at all, means they didn’t even use all the pieces in the reconstruction.”

Tala was hanging on every word. This actually lines up with much of what I was told at my Raising. A great calamity broke the world, and everything that has happened since was purely a reaction to that.

“Ahh, but I am rambling, and this isn’t a class. Please forgive me.” The woman smiled warmly. “I just came from teaching a lesson on the history of this place, and I fell back into that role.”

Tala shook her head. “No, I appreciate learning what you know.”

She looked Meallain up and down.

“You taught a class in full armor?”

“Of course! It’s just so comfortable, why would I ever take it off?”

“I suppose.” Tala didn’t really know how to reply to that. Instead, she turned to look out at the vista once more.

Out of her mirrored perspective, Tala saw Be-thric lean closer to Thron, and she heard him whisper a question, “I’ve not known Tali to be so interested in holds. Is this normal for her?”

Tala almost froze at that. Rust…Rust! She hadn’t been thinking about maintaining a ‘Tali’ like attitude in the slightest.

Thron leaned a bit closer to Be-thric and shrugged. “After the work on her sanctum, she dove into research on the workings of holds. Since her venture into the ether hold and the one owned by the crafter’s guild, she has only been more intrigued, my lord Pillar.”

Be-thric nodded in response, scratching his chin. “Fascinating. I never”—He seemed to freeze for a moment, before seeming to change what he had been about to say.—“I suppose it is only natural for her to develop interests outside of her duties.”

Thron bowed his head slightly. “Begging your pardon, Pillar Be-thric, but I don’t think she sees the nature of holds as outside the realm of her duties.”

The Pillar nodded again. “Yes, I can see how that might be true.”

His smile grew.

“How wonderful. A masterpiece indeed.”

Thron frowned, clearly confused, but he didn’t seem to want to question Be-thric on the comment.

Meallain sighed. “We really should get you all to the dining hall. Dinner will have started by now, so your entrance will be sufficiently dramatic.”

She gave Be-thric a meaningful look, and to Tala’s nearly horrified shock, the Pillar blushed, muttering under his breath.

The look was odd, as it somehow appeared like Be-thric’s skin became dark red, which actually required a lightening of his skin. Does that mean he had an emotional reaction akin to me paling and blushing at the same time?

She didn’t know.

The elf turned, leading them away. As they walked, she leaned closer to Tala and spoke in a stage whisper, clearly intending for Be-thric to hear what she said. “I used to watch your Pillar, Eskau. He was quite the dramatic child. Things only got worse when he found a master with a similar bent to himself.”

She grinned conspiratorially.

Be-thric cleared his throat, face set in a stone expression. “I would appreciate it if you maintain the proper decorum when speaking of a Pillar of the House, Eskau.”

Meallain glanced back and huffed a laugh. “You’ve grown a lot, little Be, but not so much as to order me about in my own hold.”

Be-thric grimaced but didn’t reply.

Against Tala’s better judgment, she found herself liking Meallain.

It would be a shame to be killed by her.

-Yeah, death at her hand would be so much worse than regular, run of the mill death.- Alat’s sarcasm was palpable.

Hush you. I was going to say, ‘It would be a shame to have to kill her.’ But that is obviously not going to happen.

Alat projected the sound of a gasp. -What? Tala? Have you learned humility?-

You’re really rusting annoying sometimes, you know that?

-I offer what you need, when you need it.-

Tala only sent a feeling of grumpy grumbling as a response.

Their path through the hold—world fragment?— took them back inside the building, and before they re-entered, Tala took one last sweeping look over the vista.

She’s right. There is no sign of meddling in view from here. This building is the only thing on the surface within view, and the results are…stunning.

She wasn’t sure why the view settled into her heart more than a similar vista would in the ‘real’ world.

Rust, back in Makinaven, she’d seen vistas at least this expansive, if not more so.

This somehow feels…peaceful.

-Like before, somewhere deep inside we knew that there were the skeletons of millions buried below the ground we saw.-

That’s a bit…dark. She considered. But I think you’re right. There is something wrong with our world, Alat. And now we’ve seen how it should be.

Her heart ached, a feeling like a constriction in her chest, and her eyes watered.

Our world is broken. She felt a firming within her innermost being. It should be fixed.

Tala felt her steps gain a firmness, and a confidence as she turned and followed the others inside.

A smile tugged at her lips even so. Let’s get free and back to our people first, though.

-Yeah, that’s probably a wise order of operation.- Even though her words were teasing, there was a solidity to Alat’s response. She clearly agreed with Tala’s desire.

We can give a record of this memory to others. When they see this…We won’t have to do it alone.

-Tala…the sovereigns. If it were possible, wouldn’t they have done it?-

If they didn’t cause it? Maybe. Who knows.

Back in the building proper, Meallain led them down a wide hallway, the sound of a subdued meal echoing down the corridor around them.

They turned a corner and stopped before two great doors.

Servants stood to either side. One was a dragonling with mother of pearl scales, and the other was a red-gold-skinned dwarf. His hair was almost pearlescent, each strand having a distinct luster and shine, and the braiding in his hair and beard showed it off in spectacular fashion

Tala couldn’t help but assume that they’d been picked as a complementary set for aesthetic purposes.

Meallain’s friendly demeanor had been replaced once again with stoic professionalism. “Announce us, if you please.”

The servants bowed and pushed the doors open in unison. As soon as the way was fully clear, the Eskau strode forward, those she was leading following closely behind.

The dwarven servant’s voice resonated through the room, announcing their arrival, “Eskau Meallain, Titan of the Plains.”

The dragonlings voice was similarly basso as he spoke in counterpoint, “Pillar Be-thric, Grand-Apprentice of the Mind Flayer.”

And there it was. Tala had suspected that Be-thric had some connection to the Mind Flayer, but he’d never told Tali, and even seemed to have purposely avoided the subject of his master and his training. Now? Now, Tala knew.

Not that it changes anything?

-Still, good to know. Not a direct apprentice as I’d have guessed. But still, the apprentice of the apprentice of such a notable figure is no small thing.-

The dwarf continued the announcing, “With Eskau Tali, Blade of the Void.”

Blade of the Void, eh? Isn’t that giving away a bit too much of my capabilities?

-Not really? Also, these are ostensibly your allies.-

Right…

The dragonling finished on a relatively anticlimactic note, “And retinue.”

The two then bowed to the room and departed, closing the door behind them.

The entire dining hall seemed to have paused at their arrival, the occupants turning to see who had entered, to put faces with the announced names and titles.

There were only around two dozen people in the roomy space. Quite a few were Eskau and Pillars, but there seemed to be a few others like Gallof and Thron in attendance as well.

All of the Pillars were in the green to blue range to her mage-sight. The Eskau were generally between yellow and green, with Meallain being an obvious exception. The others seemed to be at least yellow, making Thron and Tala the exceptions. Both were unusual because they were solidly between orange and yellow.

It’s been a long time since I was the weakest person in the room.

-Maybe we should ask the servants to come back?-

Tala kept a smile from her face and changed the subject. This is likely no more than half of the Pillars of the House of Blood. She suppressed a shiver. How powerful are the arcanes?

-Xeel did say they were overwhelmingly powerful but ununified. It seems that human information is correct in that regard.-

At least in vague terms, yeah…Is it bad that I almost feel like I like the House of Blood? They’ve been at least half-way decent people overall. If they’d approached me, instead of kidnapping me, I might have even been happy here, for the most part.

-Yeah, but they did kidnap you.-

Oh, yeah, no doubt about that. We’re burning as much of this House to the ground as we can. The nicest cannibal still isn’t ever really your friend.

-That…that is a horrifying analogy, Tala.-

I aim to please.

She leaned close to Thron in the brief pause and whispered, “Just retinue, eh? Sad you didn’t get a title?”

He eyed her out of the corner of his eyes, then his lips twitched towards a smile as he responded even more quietly, “I used to have a title, but it was gradually undermined. It’s fully gone now.”

Tala turned to look at him. “Was that a corrosion joke?”

He turned towards her as well. “It’s not a joke if it has to be explained.”

Meallain cleared her throat. “Right this way. Servants will meet us at our table and bring us what we want from this meal’s selection.”

She led them across the hall, greeting many of those they passed.

Everyone, even the Pillars, gave her nods of respect as she passed. Apparently, neither her Pillar, nor Pillar Corinis was in the hall at the moment, making Eskau Meallain the highest ranked member of the House of Blood in attendance.

Tala and Be-thric were also acknowledged, but no one tried to strike up a conversation.

The five of them sat at a corner table and a servant came to let them know what food was prepared. Of course, the servant assured them, if they required something else, they would be happy to accommodate, but it might take a bit longer.

That proved unnecessary as they all found something that sounded good.

As they were waiting for their meal, Meallain turned to them with a grin. “Now, how are we going to get you those last five protian weapons?”

Be-thric nodded. “Yes, your advice would be good in this case.”

Tala cleared her throat. “I actually have some ideas.”

The other four turned towards her.

Thron smiled. He’d heard her ideas and helped her refine them, working together to throw out some of the more…outlandish ones.

Meallain simply nodded. “As is proper for an Eskau. What have you come up with?”

“Well, we are obviously not the only House with a new Pillar, or with a Pillar about to be raised. Could we negotiate with one of our own House’s candidate Eskau for their weapon, then trade that to another House for one of theirs?”

Meallain leaned back, frowning in consideration.

Be-thric huffed a laugh. “That’s an idea. If we can entice candidate Eskau from other Houses, why not one of our own?”

Meallain nodded but seemed conflicted. “I’m not sure I like the precedent it would set, though. We’d effectively be incentivizing them to give up.”

Tala shrugged. “Anyone who would give up for personal gain wouldn’t be a good Eskau, but they might still be a good member of the House. Better to keep them within our House, than to lose them to another, just as former Eskau candidate  Cuan was lost to his former House, to our benefit.”

That made the older Eskau pause. “That is true enough. It also gives future generations a reason to form protian weapons beyond an attempt to become a Pillar or as a ticket out of the House altogether.”

Wait… What? No. I don’t want to incentivize the creation of more vestiges. But it was too late.

“I like it. I’ll see what I can find. There are few potential Pillars and candidate Eskau that chose to pass up the opportunity for advancement that you seized. They might be open to…other paths.”

Be-thric was clearly very pleased. “What else have you come up with?”

Tala now felt…off. She didn’t want to create more reasons for humans to be hunted down. But she’d already told these to Thron, so he would pass them on if she didn’t. In for a copper… “Why not negotiate directly with another major House? See if they would simply trade one to us?”

“A common tactic.” Be-thric nodded.

Gallof continued. “We are actually in talks with several. One that we’ve been speaking with is here and their local leadership seems to be hoping to use the trade to gain a greater foothold and closer working relationship with the House of Blood within this city.”

Tala nodded. “Are there any minor houses that could be joined with the House of Blood, rather than struggling to attain status as a major House? Bring them in as a full part in exchange for the protian weapon or weapons that they’ve managed to forge?”

Be-thric nodded. “That is also done. It is a common way to expand the House when a new Pillar is raised. There are several such minor houses attempting to court us in that manner. One looks promising, but not definite. The others either have sub-par protian weapons, which shows that they are not of quality to join our House, or other factors make them unsuitable.”

Well, good. No more poor incentives.

-None that you’ve been made aware of.-

Tala sent an internal glare towards Alat.

“The last is simple.”

They all leaned in a bit.

“Why not just go take one from inside another major House’s hold? Their candidates are wary of going out in the cities near us, for fear we’ll waylay them. Why not get them where they are?”

Meallain laughed loudly, pushing herself back. “Oh, I like her! That couldn’t be done, here, but in Platoiri, when you’re back?” She laughed again. “That would be excellent. Can I come?”

Tala shrugged. “If you can? Sure.”

The elvin woman waved her off. “I can get where I need to be. That sounds amazing. There’s a large branch of the House of the Rising Sun in Platoiri, right?”

Gallof nodded. “There is, Eskau.”

“Then, I’ll seek approval for such a raid. That hasn’t been done in centuries. It will serve those beasts right.”

Tala shrugged. “Well, those are the ideas I had, which seemed to hold up under scrutiny.”

Meallain was smiling. “I like this one, Be. Where did you find her again?”

Be-thric hesitated. “You’ve read the tale, right? You know already.”

She glanced his way, some of her mirth leaving her features. “Right, right. Silly of me.”

That might have spoiled the mood of the conversation, but they were spared any awkwardness by the arrival of their food.

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