Millennial Mage

Tala frowned, forcing her thoughts in order against the subtle push from outside.

I need a plan. How should I handle this? The part of her that wasn’t being influenced to go eat in the tavern wanted to burn the thing down, but that seemed unwise. First, find a way to remove the influence. Then, go tell Lyn. Then, go tell the Archons.

That was a solid plan. But how do I do the first?

The other her had noticed the influence, and she only had access to the same senses as Tala, herself.

What am I missing?

She delved through herself with her mage-sight and as she concentrated on her mind, she was able to see ripples of magic slowly moving through it.

A weaker, but more precise one acting internally seemed to be coming from the inscriptions at the base of her neck and in her right breast. But then, there were other ones coming from outside. They were broad, undirected, and strong.

There you are. But how could she counteract them?

I’m resisting somehow, at least a bit. Probably my magical weight? That made sense. That also explains why I wasn’t really affected during my first time passing by. I still had my iron salve at that point. She sighed. I wish I’d known to keep it on. But no, that wasn’t right. She hadn’t been affected as strongly, but she’d still been affected.

So, magical weight. She bit her lip in thought, moving to the side of the street and pulling back from the tavern a bit.

Can I shift my magical weight? It made some sense. It would likely leave the rest of her vulnerable to direct magical manipulation, but she should be able protect her mind more fully.

With a great effort of will, she forcefully guided her power up into her head. She didn’t form it into any shape, she just packed it in there.

There. As an Immaterial Guide, it wasn’t a difficult process. And it seemed to have the desired effect.

The external influence now felt more like a small hammer tapping on a rock than a finger poking a waterskin.

Alright, now to go to Lyn and…

Tala’s eyes widened in horror as the rhythm of magical taps changed, speeding up and becoming more focused on her.

Still, she held her concentration and resisted with little difficulty.

Hah, you can’t overcome me that easily.

It was then that two great eyes opened, high up on the walls of the tavern. They looked around, searching, and stopped to stare directly at her.

Oh… That wasn’t part of the plan.

She quickly dove into her garments and sent power through the path that would reactivate the defensive magics. I really should have done that before leaving Holly’s, or at the very least, made that step one of my plan.

Flow was in her hand in the form of a glaive. All the better to stab you with, my dear. She let out a little giggle, more from nervousness than humor.

Terry’s head jerked up, and he looked around in the closest thing to a panic that she’d ever seen him express. With a flicker of power, he was gone.

She could sense him staying close by, within safe range for his collar, but he was hidden. Probably for the best.

Now, what in zeme should she do, now?

Crush it? No, there were people inside. Crushing the building would kill them all.

Do I just…start hacking at the façade? What would that even do?

Only one way to find out, I suppose. She hesitated. Wait. It hasn’t attacked. It’s just staring at me.

She had a realization. If it attacks, it will likely become detectable to the city’s defenses, or at least the Archons.

She smiled, slowing moving down the street towards her home, keeping her eyes and weapon oriented on the syphon.

Is it going to let me go? That didn’t seem like it’s best option… Was it? What is it thinking? What is it doing?

She tore her gaze away from the monstrous eyes still staring straight at her. She looked through the windows and saw the forms inside beginning to slump. As she thought about it, she realized that the noise coming from inside had died down.

Oh, rust me. It’s draining them dry in a last grab for power. She no longer had a choice. People could be dying. She couldn’t go for help and leave them to their fate.

Tala growled and charged.

As she came close, the front porch tore itself free with the audible snap, crackle, pop of wood breaking and fasteners pulling free. The newly ambulatory limb whipped out, slamming into her faster than she could dodge.

Even though she got Flow in the way in time, mirroring her mass into the weapon, she was still lifted free of the ground and thrown to arc through the air before slamming into the cobbled street.

She landed in a tumbling roll further down the way, on the opposite side of the tavern from her home.

Nothing was broken, but she could feel her scripts pulling more than their base rate of power. Strained but not overcome. She could work with that.

She hopped to her feet and threw Flow with all her might, letting the weapon reshape into a sword so that it would be a spinning wheel of death as it approached.

A gutter detached to slap at the incoming weapon.

Flow sheared through the adornment-turned-limb but was still knocked aside. It would have missed the main body of the house, so Tala pulled her weapon back to her hand.

They were making a LOT of noise, and people were coming out of their homes to stare in bemusement at what was happening.

Good, someone will go for help.

Incredibly, most simply looked at her with confusion, shook their heads and went back inside. Tala could feel the power radiating through the air, knocking at her mind, trying to overcome her cobbled together mental defense.

In the doorway of the house closest to Tala, an older lady turned to her and yelled. “What’s wrong with you? People are trying to sleep. Those who drink too much should just go home.” She then huffed and slammed the door.

Tala stared after her for an instant of bewilderment. Don’t let it distract you, Tala. It’s still influencing their minds, but it’s thrown subtly out the window.

Further down the street, Tala saw Lyn staring at her in obvious confusion.

“LYN! The tavern is attacking people.”

Lyn cocked her head. “What are you talking about?”

“Please! Go for the guard, even if just to arrest me. Attack the tavern if you can.”

Lyn gave her a long look, then shook her head. “If I go to jail for this, you’re paying bail, and you are paying to get me reinscribed.”

She lifted her hand, and Tala saw Lyn use battle magic for the first time.

Brilliant golden inscriptions blazed to life across the woman’s body, burning away in an instant of glory as she spoke a single word. “Crumble.”

A spell with greater weight than two of Tala’s crush enactments tore down the street, and Tala witnessed the Conceptual magic in the air splinter and crumble.

Lyn’s eyes widened now that she could seemingly suddenly see the tavern as it truly was.

Her spell-working tore into the gigantic creature, and its material began to shred, revealing the twisted, disguised flesh that really composed the seemingly mundane establishment.

Unfortunately, Lyn lacked the power to dispatch such a monster.

Even so, its pained roar shook the surrounding city, causing both Lyn and Tala to stumble, and the being’s aura was unleashed, fully visible to Tala for the first time.

Blue filled Tala’s vision.

Oh rust. Oh, rust! Why had she been able to resist it? Its power was defuse, and it was trying to remain undetected. That was gone, now.

She felt something strike out at her mind, and frantically jerked her magical weight to the side. Somehow, that let the attack glance off, if only for a moment. In the distance, Lyn crumpled.

Her mind was spinning. Too much was going on. I’ve got to get to Lyn. I have to-

-Tala-

-That is really distract…WHAT THE RUST IS THAT!?!?!-

Tala began to laugh. At least we’re in agreement.

-KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!-

I don’t have fire.

-…we should reconsider that. Alchemist’s fire is a good option to have at hand. Please don’t die. I have work to do.-

A staggering blow hammered against her mind, and Tala’s vision fuzzed. She barely held her magic in place, focused around her mind.

She thought she could hear a small whimpering from the back of her mind. Other me probably has the right idea…

Her vision returned as lances of fire and spikes of lightning began to rain from the sky. The city defenses had detected the threat and began the purge. As the first attacks landed, several cloaked figures seemed to materialize out of nowhere on the street in front of the monster-building.

With waves of power in the form of various spell-workings, human bodies were pulled from the increasingly unrecognizable tavern, and once they were clear, the fight truly began.

Some of the new arrivals were establishing a perimeter, erecting defensive and dampening shields to protect the surroundings.

An Archon whose aura was utterly undetectable to Tala pointed at the syphon. A beam of pure light extended from the finger and as the Archon moved their finger in a random zig-zag, the beam sliced through the creature effortlessly.

Tala saw another Archon on the other side absorbing the beam of light in a cloud of darkness so it wouldn’t continue into the city beyond.

The syphon didn’t go down so easily, however, its body pulling together in new, mind bending shapes as it healed from every wound it received.

It lashed out with body and mind.

Tala staggered under another mental attack, but it was wide-area this time, and so it didn’t cripple her even for a moment.

Several of the other Archons, who were much closer, stumbled, one even going to a knee before recovering.

After that initial largely ineffective attack, the syphon mostly used fleshy tentacles to slap and slam anything it could reach.

The Archons who were closest engaged the flailing limbs as best as they could, but it was obvious that some were more skilled than others.

A few in the group appeared to be healers, and they were tending to the humans who had been pulled out of the false-tavern.

Tala ran over to them as they seemed like the least likely to be hurt if she distracted them. “Is there anything I can do?”

A woman glanced at Tala. “You helped draw it out of hiding?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Then, you’ve done enough. Draw back so you don’t get crushed in the crossfire. We know what we’re about.” After a moment, she continued. “Don’t go too far. We’ll want to talk with you once the creature is dispatched.”

Tala nodded and moved past on the far side of the thoroughfare, skirting behind a shield Mage who was simply protecting the houses across the street from the raging beast.

Once she was in the clear, Tala ran towards Lyn who was sitting up on the street holding her head, clearly in pain and just as clearly exhausted.

Tala sat down next to her friend. “Are you ok?”

The beast screeched, but it was dampened, the sound barely reaching them just a few dozen yards away.

Lyn nodded tiredly. “I’ve not used that working very often.”

Tala snorted a laugh. “What was that, anyway?”

“My defense of last resort, my foundational understanding made manifest.”

“Oh?”

“ ‘Words are power.’ ”

“Rust. That’s pretty cool.” Tala chuckled.

Lyn grinned. “Yeah. Too bad it’s single cast.” She sighed, leaning back to enjoy the show. “I should be able to support a multi-cast variant when I reach a higher tier of advancement, but we’ll have to see.”

“When? Not if?” Tala smiled mischievously at her friend.

Lyn rolled her eyes. “Yes, when. I’m over the biggest hurdle. Basically, everything else just takes time, and I’ll have that in gold. I’m not going to stop now.”

Tala bumped her friend’s shoulder with her own. “Good.”

Together they settled in to watch the show, and a show it was. The city’s defenses were relentless, but they weren’t designed for this level of threat. Thus, they were only an aid to the true heroes of the moment. The Archons displayed a wide variety of abilities from earth rising up to crush parts of the enemy to the light beam that Tala had seen earlier.

One Archon apparently favored fire, and used it liberally.

There were a mix of other workings as well, but from where they sat, it all distilled down to a beautiful lightshow, punctuated by increasingly desperate, rage-filled roars and screeches.

It took nearly an hour, and a truly staggering amount of power, but the Archons wore down the beast, cutting it apart, until it could no longer heal.

Tala had watched as its aura slowly moved down the spectrum. When the aura had faded from red entirely, she knew that the fight was done.

Less than a minute later, a final, mournful cry escaped the mound of flesh, and it shifted for the last time, settling into a dead, bloody lump of used-to-be-creature.

Lyn shook her head in wonder. “Imagine: A Revered getting into the city. That shouldn’t be possible.” She barked a short laugh. “And no one died! It was contained and destroyed.”

“Yeah…” Tala frowned. “It shouldn’t have gotten in at all, but I doubt it was that powerful when it arrived. It’s probably been gorging itself on power for weeks.”

“True enough.” Lyn shuddered, some of her good mood fading away. “I’ve gone to that tavern, Tala. I liked the food and ale. I drank so much I missed work the next day…” She shivered again, all mirth gone. “I fed it…”

Tala wrapped an arm around her friend. “You’re okay now. It’s gone.”

Lyn leaned into Tala’s embrace. “I feel disgusting, violated.”

“Anything I can do?”

“Food. I want food, prepared by a human, while I watch. No crazy magical creature drawing me in with inhuman delights.”

Tala smiled at the attempted humor. “I can do that. Let’s find somewhere that’s open. But we should check in with them first. The healer I talked to said they’d likely like to speak to us, now that it’s over.”

As they stood together, they garnered attention and one of the Archons came their way. “You two. You fought the beast?”

They hesitated, then nodded.

“Tell me what happened, please.”

Tala shrugged and recounted what had led up to the fight, though she left out any mention of voices in her head.

“Clever use of your magical weight. It’s a good skill to practice, if you’re able, and you’ve a leg up as an Immaterial Guide.”

Next, Lyn filled in her side, short though it was, and the man nodded his acknowledgement.

“Thank you, both, for your assistance.” He handed a token to Lyn. “That will allow an Inscriptionist to charge us and cover the cost for reinscribing.” He grinned. “That was some spell. It lit up our detection grid like the breath of a god. I can’t wait to see what you’re capable of in a few centuries.”

Tala laughed, patting Lyn on the back, the other woman coloring at the compliment. “Thank you, Master.”

He then turned to Tala. “Mage protector, right? Blood Archon Tala?”

She blinked at him, processing the fact that he knew her name. She was instantly suspicious. “Ummm… Yes? How do you know who I am?”

He gave a half smile. “We were briefed on your encounters and discovery. We were also asked to watch out for you, when possible. I’m glad you survived even such a small engagement with that thing.”

She laughed nervously. “Yeah…” Well, it does make sense that the Mages watching over the city would have been told about mind altering creatures within their walls. It also made sense that they’d be told who the source of the information was.

“You helped slay it, so you’re entitled to part of the rewards. Your friend’s pay is the reinscribing, and I imagine that’s worth more than you’ll get, but here.” He handed her a different token. “Come to the Archon’s compound any time after tomorrow morning and turn that in for your portion of the calculated pay.” He bowed and was about to turn away when he paused, sighed, and looked back to Tala. “I was also instructed to inform you, if our paths ever crossed, that the city lord would still happily accept you into our ranks.” He gestured at the group who had responded to this internal threat. “I can promise it’s not a boring job.”

This time, he got a half-dozen feet away before he paused and turned back. “In case it wasn’t obvious, we’d prefer you not spread information about this incident. If you choose to, or if you must, talk all you want, but it would be a kindness if you didn’t.” He bowed again. “Good night, Mistresses.”

Without another word, he departed.

Lyn and Tala shared a look, each holding back a smile and some stress-induced laughter.

The older woman sighed, still clearly fighting down a smile. “Food?”

“Food!”

Terry flickered into being on Tala’s shoulder.

“There you are. I was worried about you. You vanished right as that thing showed its true form.”

Terry squawked at her irritably and headbutted her cheek.

“I’m fine.” She tried to wave the terror bird off.

He squawked again, this time clacking his beak near her nose.

“Alright. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.” She tossed him a bit of jerky and then scratched the back of his head and down his neck.

He harrumphed but seemed to accept her apology as he curled up on her shoulder and tucked his head in to rest.

Lyn shook her head, clearly barely holding back laughter. “Come on. Let’s find something to eat.”

Tala nodded emphatically. “Yes. Yes, please.”