Millennial Mage

Dinner in hand, Terry on her left shoulder, Tala walked towards a table near the edge of the larger wagon circle.

Rane sat, alone, eating his own meal.

“Master Rane?”

His head snapped up; the young man seeming startled. “Mistress Tala. I’m sorry, I didn’t see you, there.”

“May I join you?”

He looked perplexed. “Of course, you may…is there something I can do for you?”

Tala hid a wince as she sat down. I haven’t been very kind to him, have I? “Nothing comes to mind, but I haven’t seen you, today, and I haven’t thanked you for the thunder bulls, yet.”

He smiled a bit at that. “It was a quick fight, but good exercise.”

“Well, thank you. It was overly generous of you to give all the carcasses to the cooks.”

He shrugged. “I’m not on contract for the money. Others can make better use of the materials than I.”

Tala cocked her head, even as Terry hopped from her shoulder and dug into his awaiting plate. “Then, why are you with us, Master Rane?”

He smiled. “Quite a few reasons, actually. To see the wider world, to work with others, to visit an uncle in Bandfast, and to establish a connection with you.”

She blinked back at him. “Oh?”

He shrugged. “I’ve said it already. Master Grediv suggested that I’d be wise to work with you, and at least become friends.” He smiled ruefully. “I’m not too good at it, though. I killed things, I offered to hit you, and that was about all I’ve got.”

She snorted a laugh. “Hardly. I’d love to pick your brain on some things, if you’re willing.”

He straightened a bit, swallowing his current bite. “Oh? What do you wish to discuss?”

She waved her hand. “In a minute. I want to discuss sparring: I’d like to, but I’m not sure I’m ready to fight someone with your skill and abilities.”

He gave a half-smile. “Shouldn’t be a problem, especially since it would have to be a magicless fight. No offensive magics, and no retributive defenses.”

She frowned.

“Retributive, meaning magic that harms those who harm you.”

“Oh!” That’s clever. I wonder if I could auto target anything that hit me…It wouldn’t be power or metal efficient, but it might save me in a pinch, or when I can’t figure out exactly what is attacking me, or where from. It might help in crowds too… “That’s an interesting idea.”

He gave her a puzzled look. “You’ve not come across that concept before?”

She shrugged. “It’s probably been mentioned, but I’ve a whole new set of experiences, since my last formal lesson. I’m seeing things in a new light.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “That makes sense: the type of light would affect how you see.”

She grunted irritably. “You know what I mean.”

He smiled. “Yeah, I think I do. Once you fight your first monsters, it changes your perspective.”

Terry paused, glancing up at Rane with a searching look. The Mage seemed to notice, because he held up his hands placatingly, addressing the little terror bird.

“Not all arcane creatures are monsters, but many are. Magical creatures more so, but again, there are some that description doesn’t fit.”

Terry seemed mollified as he returned to gobbling down his food. Tala moved the plate to the bench, forcing the diminutive avian to hop down, giving her an irritated glance. That left the tabletop in a more ordered state and seemed to allow them both to think more clearly.

“So, yes. Sparring. I’d like that.” He smiled, and it seemed genuine.

Well, I didn’t really agree… However, seeing his expression brought a smile to her face as well. It’ll probably be fine. She nodded her thanks, taking another bite.

“So…what is it you wanted to talk about? Some esoteric magical entity?”

“I wanted to ask you about familiars.”

As it turned out, Rane didn’t know much more about familiars than the books that Tala had been reading. His knowledge was more holistic, because he’d had more time to read, study, and absorb the information. Grediv had apparently given him a set of tomes similar to Tala’s. He was just as irritated as she was by the warded books in the collection. Even so, they both agreed that they’d rather have the books, solely for use later, than not have them at all.

They chatted amiably through dinner, eating slowly as the other members of the caravan came and went, consuming their own evening meals.

It was getting late when Tala bid Rane a good night and headed for her starlit bed, atop the caravan.

She hummed softly to herself as she re-braided her hair and stretched, making sure not to disturb Den, who seemed close to sleep, tucked under an enclosure drawn around his driver’s seat for the night.

She did a final set of spiritual exercises, tossing her knife out and drawing it back to herself six times in quick succession. A proud grin stretched across her features at the sixth pull. Halfway there! While not quite true, she still reveled in the accomplishment.

That done, she pulled out her bedroll and laid it out beneath the starry sky.

Her eyes traced the familiar shapes above her as she let her mind wander over the last few weeks.

She had left a place of lonely learning for the wider world. And I promptly continued to seek learning, alone. The conversation over dinner, with Rane, had been enlightening. Not so much because he’d said things she’d never heard, but because the act of speaking about the myriad topics had settled the information deeper into her own mind. Perhaps the others who formed study groups had had the right idea… It was another reminder of her previous isolation.

She’d had similar discussions with Trent or Renix, but it hadn’t been the same. Rane seemed to be invested in growing stronger as quickly as he could, just as she was, and he’d had years longer to comb through Grediv’s books.

I’ll have to find more time to talk with him, to bounce ideas and see what sticks. She smiled at that.

Terry blipped back onto the roof. Where he’d been off to, she didn’t really know, but she’d been sure he’d return.

He padded over to her with heavy, yet soft and nearly soundless, steps, laying down to curl up beside her on the bedroll.

With Terry next to her, a warm pressure in pleasantly cool night, she drifted off to sleep, feeling less burdened, and less alone, than she had in a long, long time.

* * *

Tala woke in the middle of the night, mind racing. She stared up at the stars and tried to quiet her mind but couldn’t.

She’d had nightmares, again.

That wasn’t fair. It had been nearly three weeks since her last one, but they were back. She cursed, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes.

Terry was curled up beside her but hadn’t stirred as she’d sat upright. Good bird. Sleep. From long experience, she knew that she needed to move, let her mind reattach to the real world, and then she could get back to sleep.

The night was dead quiet through the caravan, the oxen were deeply asleep, and she couldn’t hear the guards patrolling. That’s either really good, or really bad.

She shivered. No, Tala, focus on reality, not on the horrors your mind can conjure.

She didn’t want to exercise, or even stretch, as she feared it would wake her body too much, so she slowly climbed down the wagon, saw to the calls of nature, and returned.

She was still under the sway of the nightmare, and was starting at every movement, shadow, or stray thought. Not ready yet. If she fell asleep, now, she’d fall straight back into the horror.

Grumbling to herself, she looked over the wagons, the cargo wagons. It isn’t too long til morning. She decided to charge the cargo-slots a bit early. Her studies had revealed that even with only the one symbol alight, the wagons could remain stable for close to a full day, so her being a few hours early wouldn’t hurt anything.

She moved through the now rote motions and soon had all twenty charged. Well done. She smiled. It had been enough, and her mind was now free of the clawing dragging fear, and back in reality.

Somewhat settled, she climbed back up the ladder, laid down beside Terry, and drifted back into a deep, and now thankfully dreamless, sleep.

* * *

Tala woke early and moved through her routine. She didn’t need to charge the wagons this morning, due to her mid-night restlessness, so after her stretching and workouts, targeting physical, spiritual, and magical muscles, she sought out Adam for the morning sparring and martial lessons.

To her surprise, Rane was there. She smiled a greeting and waved to return his gesture.

“Good morning, Mistress Tala.”

“Good morning, Master Rane.”

“Did I see you working magic last night?”

She shrugged. “You were on duty?”

He nodded. “I’d just taken over.” He yawned a bit. “I’m going to take a bit of a nap after this.” He gestured towards Adam. “So…?”

She reluctantly nodded. “I needed to re-center my mind, so I charged the cargo-slots.”

“Reasonable.” He waited, a questioning look on his face, but he didn’t ask.

She felt another smile tug at her lips, this one of gratitude. I’m not up for talking about it, now. “So…Adam? What’s going on here?”

The two Mages turned to the guardsman as he stepped forward. “I want to observe you two fight. Just to the first solid hit. I’ll instruct Tala based on each result.”

Rane nodded. “Unarmed, no offensive magic, yes?”

Adam nodded.

Tala grinned. “Should be fun. Are you safe?” She’d drunk her cup of ending-berry juice just after waking up.

He shrugged. “Any hit you land, I’ll deserve.”

Arrogant, but true? She raised her hands in a guard, and Rane quirked a smile.

He moved unbelievably fast. If Tala had fought him a week earlier, his stomping kick to her gut would have driven her to the ground in vomiting humiliation.

But it wasn’t a week ago, and Adam had been a faster opponent. Tala had been training against one of the most skilled fighters in the caravan and taking his feedback to heart.

As Rane’s kick came in, she clapped one hand above, and one below, twisting the driving foot, even as she stepped back, to move her stomach out of the line of attack.

The result was a torsion on Rane’s hip, which spun him on his planted foot to face away from her.

The last she saw of his features was a look of surprise.

Grinning in exaltation, she shot out her closer hand to snag Rane’s belt, and launched her back knee upward, contracting her whole body to drive the attack up between Rane’s legs.

If she’d taken a moment to think, she would have realized that not only was it a very cheap shot, but it was also, quite literally, a low blow. That said, if she’d taken a moment to think, he’d have stomp-kicked her into the dirt, so it evened out.

As her knee impacted, she saw magic explode outward. All the force she’d imparted was redirected back into her as a direct application of power. It seemed to be intended to spread the energy in an even distribution across her body.

Now, if Rane’s magic had acted like Tala’s hammer and simply taken the incoming force and redirected it, she would have felt as if she’d kneed a stone wall. Instead, Rane’s defense had attempted to affect all of her, directly.

The iron across her skin made Tala almost impervious to direct magical affects, at least any that she was likely to encounter. Thus, the magic literally tinged off of her iron salve.

There were two other results:

First, the force had to go somewhere, so, denied Tala, the magic exploded outward in a ring, shredding the knee of her pants, and tearing at the inside of Rane’s legs. Because the magic was his, it mostly bypassed the flesh, instead cleanly tearing through the mid-thigh of his pants leg, and blasting outward to create an expanding pressure wave that kicked up dust and rattled the closest wagon.

Second, all inertia was stolen from her, and Tala was left balancing on one foot, her knee jammed into a rather uncomfortable position, her left hand still locked onto Rane’s belt.

Rane looked shocked to still have an opponent so close, after his defenses had activated.

Tala was surprised to be in such an awkward position, without her opponent writhing in agony.

Adam seemed confused that they weren’t continuing.

Rane recovered a blink faster, sweeping his already extended leg up and back at Tala’s head in a surprisingly flexible maneuver.

Tala rolled with the motion, bending to allow the kick to deflect off of her rising arm.

He spun with the kick, using the inertia to pull him around again, as he drove his fist for her chest.

Why do you people always aim for my chest! Trusting the ending-berry power within her, she did something colossally stupid.

She struck, punching the much bigger, oncoming fist with her own.

She felt an ache radiate from her knuckles through every bone, joint, and connection down her arm, through her shoulder, and into her back at the moment of impact. Her form had been perfect, but fists weren’t meant to hit one another.

She was driven backwards, feet skidding cross the dirt, but she maintained her balance, and her stance, arm extended. An alarming amount of ending-berry power was consumed in that instant as nearly half of her body was put under destructive strain in an instant. Most of that energy was consumed keeping her hand from splitting, as his knuckles had impacted between hers, driving with enough force that her hand should have been divided into bloody sections. Her own knuckles had similarly impacted on him, but her hand was much smaller, and his much stronger. Even so…

Rane, for his part, held perfect form after his own punch for a heartbeat before loosing a string of nonsense words, clutching his fist in his off hand and dancing in a circle, trying to bear through the pain.

Despite Rane’s frantic movements, Tala was able to see that the hand didn’t look quite right.

Adam was stunned, and he spoke to himself, with Tala barely able to catch the words. “She punched…his punch. Did I not teach her how to block? What madness…” Then, his eyes snapped to Rane, and he sprang into action. “Healer! Someone call Master Tang, and if the chuckwagon has ice, we could use it.”

Some of the random people, who’d been about, turned and ran in various directions, seeking to obey his instructions.

Rane stopped his dancing about and took deep, gulping breaths, staring at his hand in horrified fascination. The knuckles were spread just further apart than they should be, and the entire limb was beginning to swell.

Tala gaped, eyes going wide. “Oh, Master Rane! I’m so, so sorry.”

She almost offered him some of her ending-berry juice, but that was a protecting, not a healing, magic. It wouldn’t help him. He doesn’t have healing scripts to cheat with, either.

He gave her a wonder-filled look. “Are your bones hardened steel?”

She cringed, guiltily. “I’m protected from physical damage of all kinds. I’m just glad you drove me backwards. I can’t even imagine what would have happened if I’d been properly braced and hadn’t moved.”

Rane looked down at his hand, still clearly in agony, and simply nodded, closing his eyes against the pain.

He sank to the ground, settling into place, cradling his hand.

One of the cooks ran up with a bowl of ice, towel draped over the top, just as Master Tang arrived.

Terry, for his part, was eyeing Tala suspiciously.

She glared at the bird, walking over to him, and whispering for him alone. “I didn’t mean to hurt him. He is not an exception to the ‘no hurting humans’ part of our agreement.”

Terry gave a reluctant bob.

“Good.”

Terry flicked up onto her shoulder, and she returned to Rane’s side, looking to Master Tang. “What can I do?”

The Mage glanced at Terry and frowned. “The terror bird should be taking advantage of Master Rane’s weakness and attacking, especially because you damaged the good Master.” Tang looked puzzled.

“About Master Rane...Master Tang?”

The Mage seemed to return to himself. “Right! Right, apologies.” He moved his focus back to Rane, and at the same time Tala allowed herself to truly focus on the injured hand.

What she saw caused her to go pale. Her mage-sight brought her a cacophony of information, but if she was interpreting it right, there were small tears all through the big man’s hand, along with small fractures evident in the small bones therein. She swallowed involuntarily.

Master Tang closed his eyes, and Tala watched as the older Mage activated a careful series of inscribings, focusing on Rane’s injury. Power flowed forth, and Tala was able to watch as the energy of the healing was consumed, pulling the hand back into correct shape and almost stitching the tears back together. The only way that metaphor fell short was that they were left utterly restored, rather than with sutures, or scars.

It was awe-inspiring.

The swelling didn’t diminish, precisely, but as the hand contracted, the blood that had been rushing to begin work on the injury was squeezed out, leaving behind a slightly misshapen, but fully healed, appendage.

Master Tang settled backwards, smiling. “There, good as new, or as good as can be done, I’d say. It will be swollen for a day or two, and I’d recommend keeping it cool.” He pointed to the waiting bowl. “The ice is a wonderful idea.” He gave Adam an approving nod. “There is no damage, but the swelling will be uncomfortable, and I’d recommend taking it easy until we reach Bandfast, just to be safe.”

Rane was breathing easier, now, and he nodded. “Thank you, Master Tang.”

“Now.” The older man slapped his knees and stood, looking from Adam, to Rane, to Tala. “What exactly happened?”

Tala opened her mouth, then closed it, unsure of exactly what to say.

Adam stepped forward. “A sparring accident. Mistress Tala seems set on unconventionality, while it worked out for her, this time, it injured Master Rane.”

Tang clucked his tongue. “I can’t say I approve of Mages brawling like animals, but I’m glad they had a master of the craft to observe, even if only to have a coherent account of what the idiocy caused.”

Adam seemed perplexed by the mix of insult and compliment in one, but he also seemed unwilling to make an issue of it with the Mage. He simply nodded in acknowledgement. “Thank you, Master Tang, for your assistance. I know that Master Rane is grateful for it, even if he is still in a bit of shock.”

Tala stepped forward. “Yes. Thank you, Master Tang. We appreciate your healing.”

He glanced her way, then smiled, and nodded. “Now, I need to finish my breakfast. Good morning to you all.” Without a backward glance, he departed.

The other onlookers began to disperse as Rane placed his hand on the towel, and into the bowl of ice. He let out a sigh of contentment, though it was obvious that he was still uncomfortable.

Tala turned towards Adam, her face clearly conveying that she expected a reprimand.

Adam opened his mouth, seeming about to deliver just that, but then he stopped himself. Finally, he sighed and shook his head. “Well, Mistress Tala, it seems that I’ve done you a disservice. I’ve been training you like a mundane guard, and you are anything but mundane. That little maneuver would likely have cost you a hand if you were.” He took another deep breath and let it out slowly. “Two things.” He gave her a questioning look.

She nodded once, doing everything she could to indicate attentiveness. “Yes?”

“First, never do that again, especially not with a sparring partner who isn’t protected against the damage.”

She nodded vigorously. “Of course.”

“Second, what I’ve been teaching you is a good foundation, but we’re going to need to build a fighting style that fits your particular talents. Once we’re back in Bandfast, I’m off for the winter, and in need of a project for one of the classes I am assisting: Fighting Opponents who Defy Physics. You are going to be a subject for my students, and we are going to craft you a means of fighting that will take full advantage of who and what you are.”

Rane raised his hand. He raised his hand. Tala felt a smile tug at her lips.

“Yes, Master Rane?” Adam turned to regard the Mage.

“Can I join in that project? Master Grediv helped me a bit, but he’s never been the most talented up-close combatant.”

Adam hesitated, then glanced to Tala. She gave a shrug, then a small nod.

“Sure. It will be a good object lesson, when your two fighting styles diverge. It will keep in the forefront the idea that no two magical beings will be the same.” He nodded, as if to himself. “Yeah, that will be perfect.”

Adam gave Tala a few more comments, then he sent Rane away to get some breakfast, and Adam and Tala spent a few more minutes finishing up their morning sparring and lesson.