Millennial Mage

Tala stretched, twisting to one side, then the other as she walked.

She felt a series of oddly relieving pops with each twist. That’s the spot.

She smiled contentedly, then checked her gear.

Three bloodstars rotated around her head and a fourth floated a bit behind the base of her skull.

Between her neck and that fourth bloodstar, her tungsten rod was fixed, vertically in place, moving with her as if attached, though it never touched her or inhibited her movements in the least.

The tungsten sphere, with a bloodstar at its core, rested just in front of her sternum, and the three defensive discs moved around her body in tight, oscillating orbits.

Flow and Kit hung in counterbalance to one another.

Thron was off with an artificer, discussing the white steel that Tala had gotten from the guild hold. They’d wanted to meet with the man earlier, but he’d been otherwise engaged until that very morning.

What can you do, right?

Her elk-leathers covered her nearly completely. She had grown shoes around her feet and a collar reaching up her neck, so that only her hands and head were uncovered.

As she moved, she could feel the tungsten spheres held tightly against her torso sway ever so slightly, but they didn’t get in the way.

Tala glanced to the side, where Be-thric was walking beside her. “Are we ready?”

Eight soldiers of the House of Blood surrounded her and Be-thric as they moved through the streets of the District of Doors.

Be-thric grinned back towards her. “Unquestionably.”

Tala had been clever with the idea. Most would consider themselves safe within another’s hold.

Be-thric had been meticulous in picking out the specific target. The House of Ravens was a relatively new, minor house, and it had invited several major Houses to this celebration.

Only one had elected to send a representative.

That one major House was a competitor to the House of Blood in several ventures, making the removal of one of their candidate Eskau a worthy move. Even just the taking of her protian weapon would do as much as killing her, arguably more, but they had planned for either eventuality.

Together, Tala and Be-thric had chosen the soldiers to allow for a smooth execution of the strike. A specialized hold-breacher, six soldiers skilled in quick strikes, and a leader who was good at thinking on his feet.

All told, they had likely overplanned, over-prepared, and more than simply Tala, herself, was overkill. Even so, she wanted there to be no room for error.

She hadn’t particularly liked working so closely with Be-thric in the planning, but it couldn’t be helped. If this failed, they wouldn’t get another chance for the acquisition of a protian weapon in this manner. They had to make it count. What I do to get back home.

All told, it would require something going incredibly oddly for anything to be a problem.

Even if a true Pillar of the major House was in attendance, or this minor House was hiding someone of true power, there would be issues but not insurmountable ones, no real problems.

If the City Lord is there, and decides to oppose our action, that would certainly do it.

-Well, of course, but that’s sort of the point of the City Lord. Anything he opposes, within the city, is a no-go. So, this really isn’t any different.-

That was an odd thought, actually. All of arcane society within this area lived under the whim of the City Lord. He could, quite literally, kill them all, and only a few beings in the city could likely even slow him down.

And their opposition would likely cause as much death and damage as the unchecked City Lord, himself, though it would be less directed…

In the end, if the City Lord decided to level half the city, those with power enough to oppose him would likely just grab who they care about and move out of the way.

It was just simpler than fighting, not to mention more likely to succeed.

No one really seemed to mind the dictatorship; it wasn’t like the City Lord had actually done anything of the kind in living memory for most of the populace.

But he could. And Tala didn’t like the feeling of that possibility hanging over her head.

-The powerful always could but worrying about it never helped anyone.-

Thanks for the reassurance…

-I don’t offer reassurance, I offer reality.-

Tala just sighed.

Her attention focused outward once more as she, Be-thric, and the House of Blood soldiers rounded a corner. Her gaze locked on the entrance to the hold in question. The House of Ravens is in for a bad day. Hopefully, they won’t make it worse by resisting.

Their mission was a bit like the whims of a City Lord in that regard. The minor house couldn’t stop them, and if they chose to try it would likely go worse for all involved. It would just be better if the House of Ravens buckled down, got out of the way, and hoped to not attract the ire of those above them.

And that’s likely exactly what they would do.

The door to the House of Ravens’ hold didn’t stand out from the others around it.

It was a simple red, wooden door, between a black and a blue one. On the upper panel, the minor house’s crest, three ravens in flight, seemed to have been burned into the material of the entrance.

There were no guards outside.

There were no defensive fields.

Nothing.

The lead soldier, Ce-annaire, fell in beside Be-thric as he asked, “Pillar Be-thric. Which plan do we implement: a quiet entry or a breach?”

They had prepared for both, deciding to wait on the final decision until they were on the scene.

Be-thric looked to Tala. “Eskau Tali?”

Well. Hmmm…

-Kick down the door, storm in magic blazing and swords swinging, or knock and ask to be invited in, otherwise we have to stand impotently on the threshold.-

That second one was never part of the plan, and what? Why couldn’t we enter without an invitation?

-Superstition? Convenient plot device? Good manners?-

You make absolutely no sense, sometimes.

She made her decision. “Quiet breach. Allowing surrender will get us what we want more cleanly than butchering the lot of them. We have no need to wipe out a minor house, tonight.”

Ce-annaire nodded acknowledgment as he pointed to one of the others, motioning him ahead. The indicated man moved forward at a jog.

Alright, follow the plan.

They strode forward, following the soldier, Saru if Tala remembered correctly.

Saru, a green, hue-folk man, grabbed the door handle and released a small pulse of magic.

There was an audible click before the door swung inward, revealing an open, elegant entry hall.

Another surge of power radiated from the man, and the doorway seemed to distort, allowing them to breach three at a time.

A total of nine entered, three ahead and three behind Be-thric, Tala, and Ce-annaire

Saru staggered a bit, then turned and quietly headed back toward the House of Blood’s hold, his task complete.

He was barely red to Tala’s mage-sight.

He spent all his power on those two workings.

-Fascinating.-

The door snapped back to its proper dimensions behind them, swinging shut on weighted hinges.

Right inside, the soldiers drew weapons on the two defenders who had been stationed as guards and doormen.

The soldiers of the House of Blood each utilized a limited subset of the Way of Flowing Blood, obviously only practicing the portions for their given weapon.

The Way of Flowing Blood was a reasonably effective martial art, but where it excelled was when utilized in concert with the House of Blood’s particular protian weapons.

When used in isolation, the various sub-forms for any given weapon were heavily weighted towards offense, which made sense because an Eskau could simply use the forms for a shield or other defensive tool to defend.

They weren’t exclusively offensive, obviously, but the purpose was obvious, nonetheless.

Tala didn’t have that issue, despite being limited to only three of the myriad weapons normally available to an Eskau because her body and armor were a powerful defense.

Though, the issue did go a long way toward explaining why she took more damage than would otherwise be ideal.

Even so, the soldiers didn’t have to fight.

The House of Ravens’ guards saw the House of Blood insignia and immediately took their hands off of their weapons, stepping backwards and dropping to their knees.

They were no fools. They knew their minor house had nothing the House of Blood could possibly want. Moreover, they knew that they would simply die if they resisted, and that would change nothing.

Good. Step two, completed successfully. If someone of prominence was here, or if they had a strong backer, those two would have tried to resist. Their compliance is a good indicator of what lies within.

Now that the assault group from the House of Blood was firmly within the hold, Be-thric spread his arms wide, and his armor distorted into existence around him.

Tala saw him begin to glow within the armor as the protection of light covered him below the gear. He then appeared to catch fire before that fire condensed into what seemed merely to be a heat haze around him.

Tala could no longer feel the heat, even while walking beside him, but she knew that her improved biology wouldn’t be able to withstand the extreme temperature if she tried to strike at him through the defense.

His wearing of the armor was already an attack on the resources of this minor house. The damage to the integrity of hold from the strain of so many founts, moving in close proximity to each other, would cost a lot of power to repair.

It wouldn’t be something that drained their assets, but it would strain the fount that they had powering the hold, and limit their ability to raise the density of magic within, as they needed to divert power towards the reinforcement and repair.

A lesson in the cost of hosting opponents of the House of Blood.

Tala was both pleased with herself for having come up with the idea, and a bit sickened at how much she enjoyed the puzzle of gaining so much from a single, decisive action.

I really do need to get out of here, soon, or I’m going to start to like it here. She very pointedly did not glance towards Be-thric. She knew that, at the moment, she would have difficulty restraining her hostility towards him, and it would be foolish to give up the game.

Ce-annaire had a map of the hold, and he directed them on the most direct route, allowing them to move through the passageways with quick efficiency.

When the group from the House of Blood encountered servants, the soldiers moved them aside and allowed them to recognize the situation for what it was.

None resisted in the slightest.

Good. These people are just in a bad place at the wrong time. No reason for them to die.

Even so, the soldiers had their magics at the ready, and it was an odd thing, seeing the various powers that the soldiers employed.

Two stood out more than the others. One somehow used shadows like a living part of himself. The other had cut herself and was coated in a thin layer of her own blood. That blood was seemingly completely under her control, and she used it both offensively and defensively.

It wasn’t as strong as armor, or as penetrative as a standard weapon, but it was flexible. Her use of the Way of Flowing Blood was the closest to the true combat style, among the soldiers, but hers had been modified to compensate for the relative weakness of her tools.

They continued, not needing to kill or harm anyone, and reached the dining hall with little issue. The shadow wielder opened the door open with a flourish, bowing towards his Pillar to hide his ambushed smile from those in the dining hall.

The rest of them swept in amidst gasps of surprise, their entrance even causing one scream of startlement.

Tala’s gaze immediately found the candidate Eskau sitting at the head table.

Flow snapped into Tala’s hand even as she strode forward, in front of the others, just as they’d planned.

An act of will suppressed her through-spike, allowing Tala’s truly inhuman visage to be displayed before all those present.

The intricate cage of powerful inscriptions, seemingly carved into reality itself with light, hugged her iron-painted skin.

With a heavy channeling of power into her weapon, Tala pushed Flow into its void-sword form and pointed the weapon at the not-ever-going-to-be Eskau. She knew that the act also caused her eyes to appear as irregular tears in the world, adding to the visual effect. “Surrender your protian weapon, or die.”

Please just surrender. There’s no need to die here. Tala would kill her without hesitation, if necessary; it was already decided, but she would prefer a simpler, more peaceful, outcome.

The hue-folk woman paled slightly, the reaction looking odd on her ash-gray skin. Her eyes looked almost human as they widened at the threat, though the glowing orange irises weren’t natural. An artifact of her power?

Around the room, the House of Raven guards stepped backward and knelt, clearly signaling that they would not interfere.

The target of Tala’s threat stood, brushing her black braid back over her shoulder. “I am Tin-talun, candidate Eskau of the House of the Eternal Fires Within. What reason does the House of Blood have for so assaulting the House of Ravens? Or for seeking to deprive me of what is mine?”

Tala saw the head of the House of the Ravens, predictably a raven beast-man, shrink in his chair just a bit.

He was mostly human in appearance, simply having dark gray skin, black feathers in place of his hair, and incredibly sharp features. Though, to be fair, Tala could only see him from the shoulders up.

His hunching made complete sense as well; no one with even half a brain would want to be a focal point in a contest between two major Houses.

Tin-talun was trying to draw the minor house into the conflict, and the poor man just wanted to stay out of it, and not offend the winner, whoever that would be.

Tala smirked. “I am Tali, Eskau of the House of Blood. No assault has taken place on the House of Ravens. We are gathering the protian weapons required for Pillar Be-thric of the House of Blood. Such is the way of Houses, as I am sure you are aware.” Hey! I didn’t have to pull from Tali for that one.

-Nicely done.-

Tin-talun nodded once.

“Good. We understand one another. Now, I can kill you and take the weapon from your corpse, or you can hand it over and live. Either way, we will leave with the protian weapon, and this celebration can continue in peace. Your choice will simply determine if you are around to enjoy the festivities or if your hosts have a body to dispose of.”

The woman seemed to straighten for a moment, then deflate. “Very well.”

She’s going to attack me.

-Yeah, that’s pretty obvious.-

Tin-talun whipped her hand up and forward. A dagger flew towards Tala, seemingly made of rough stone, run through with molten, glowing cracks. “Then have it!”

Hey, she attacked before she yelled. Good choice that.

-Not every enemy can be trusted to be a fool.-

Thank the stars for that. Can you imagine how boring a world that would be?

The woman vaulted over the table just behind her weapon.

Tala grimaced, changing Flow to its non-void sword form and striking the lava-knife out of the air.

A void form would have worked better, but using void magics very likely could have just consumed the thing, and they needed it intact. First we finish Be-thric’s set, then we can all go home.

As Flow hit the knife, the thrown weapon exploded in a shower of burning rock and molten metal.

The magic defense on Tala’s elk-leathers entirely stopped the portion of the attack that reached her, keeping her from even minor injury.

Huh, that was incredibly weak. No one else had been close enough to be caught in the minor explosion.

Be-thric was largely unnecessary for this venture, but he had come just in case their intelligence had been faulty once again.

They didn’t want a repeat of the bakery incident, with a more hostile person this time.

The guards had accompanied them to deal with the minor house, if necessary.

It didn’t seem like they would be necessary beyond what they had already done..

Tin-talun was still advancing on Tala quickly, but Tala was hardly concerned.

The woman reached out, and the fragments of stone and metal came back together in her hand, forming a greatsword.

What a foolish choice for a weapon form. We’re practically already too close for it to be an effective shape to fight me. Not that there was really a good choice.

Tala reached out with her will and her magic to switch targets for a pair of spheres, and a familiar crack filled the air as they shot for the ashen woman.

Tin-talun responded incredibly quickly, somehow deflecting both spheres with a single movement.

Huh, she’s good with a greatsword, even in close quarters? It still wasn’t as versatile in such tight confines. She’s not half as good as Rane.

-You’ve not seen her fight. Isn’t that a bit of a premature assessment?-

Tala grunted. I can tell. She’ll lose almost immediately.

-If you say so.-

Tala shifted her focus back to the matter at hand. You know, Io deflected my spheres, too. They might be more predictable than I thought? Maybe, I should ramp them up, higher in the future…

They had slammed into the ceiling above the combatants.

Tala smiled.

She nodded and calmly spoke. “Fair warning Tin-talun: Those were more than a single strike projectile.”

Tin-talun frowned, watching her warily, but not attacking for the moment.

Tala helpfully pointed up as some dust trickled out of the two broken holes.

The other woman glanced towards the ceiling, seemingly on reflex, and Tala lunged, extending Flow into the form of a glaive. She also willed for her elk-leathers to grow a helmet at the same time.

I do not want to be covered in ‘her.’

Tin-talun jerked her head back down and blocked with a somewhat clumsy sweep of her large weapon. Even so, Tala hadn’t tried to be overly fast or hard to block, allowing Tin-talun to easily deflect the glaive thrust.

The ashen woman looked thoroughly confused as Tala sprang backward once more. “What was the point of that silly misdirection?”

Then, the tungsten spheres worked themselves free of the ceiling, and the air cracked once again.

Tin-talun’s head burst from a duel impact before the woman could react.

Tala was blessedly protected from the splatter by her helmet. Just as I planned.

She quirked a smile, speaking to the corpse but loudly enough that everyone present would hear. “Since you asked: I find that the truth is often a convenient distraction.”

After Tin-talun had been ‘tricked’ to look up once, she had been slower to respond to potential feints or distractions from above her again.

Tala stepped forward and caught the greatsword, pulling it from the dead hands, even as Tin-talun’s headless body fell limply to one side.

Tala released her hold on her through-spike, and the illusion snapped back in place, leaving the appearance of a rather unassuming, small, human woman.

Without another word, Tala turned, strode to Be-thric, and presented the sword to him. He smiled and accepted the proffered weapon.

Without any acknowledgement or gesture to the members of the House of Ravens surrounding them in the dining hall, the group from the House of Blood departed, their goal accomplished.