Millennial Mage

Tala stared at her friend, still in a bit of a daze.

Lyn seemed to be examining the floor in front of Tala. “I hope you know: I’m pretty sure we can’t clean that.”

Tala looked down and saw an irregular circle of blood around the stub of her finger. Just the blood that had been in that piece of digit when it was cut free.

The rest had been kept in her body. Tala groaned. The slight tang of copper was in the air, along with something that seemed to tingle her nose unpleasantly. Did she try to use a harsh cleaner on it? That didn’t make sense. Lyn wouldn’t have left the finger bit in the middle if she was trying to clean up the blood.

She seems…too unemotional? Lyn was still sitting back, stoically regarding Tala and the mess she’d made. “If we can’t, you’re buying me a new rug.”

Tala swallowed, licking her dried lips. The rug looked well made. That could be expensive…

Lyn sighed, handing her a cup that was full of clear, cool water.

Tala took it reflexively, drinking feverishly. Before she was really aware, she’d downed the whole thing. She pulled it back from her lips, letting out a satisfied gasp, pulling air back in with a great gulp. She’d been drinking so fast, she hadn’t kept breathing. After that, she felt recovered enough to speak. She smiled up at Lyn. “You seem to be handling this well.” She gestured towards the fingertip.

“Oh?” Lyn looked anything but pleased, even as she refilled Tala’s cup with a pitcher. “Well, I had a bit of time after I came out of my own meditation to startle, scream, puke, clean that up, and critically examine my housemate.”

Oh! It’s vomit. I’m smelling the lingering scent of vomit. “It was that bad?” Tala swept her gaze over the area near where Lyn had been sitting. She could see a slightly discolored portion of rug. Normal people wouldn’t be able to see it, but Tala could without difficulty. That was a lot of puke.

Lyn glared. “I came out of my meditative state, having successfully forged my star, only to find you holding a bloody knife, unblinking eyes locked on the magical matrix that remained behind after you cut off your own finger.”

Tala didn’t meet her gaze, instead looking down at her hands, which still held the iron vial. “Just the tip.” She was not petulant. She didn’t feel petulant. Not one bit. Besides, Lyn wasn’t her mother.

Out of the corner of her eye, Tala saw Lyn cock an angry eyebrow and intensify her glare. “You cut off your own finger, in my house.” Her lips were compressed into a hard line.

Tala swallowed to clear her once-again-dry throat, took another drink when that didn’t help, and looked up at Lyn. “I’m sorry?” Is that what she wants? It’s not like I enjoyed cutting off my finger.

“You rusting well better be.” Lyn folded her arms over her chest, leaning back with a huff. She’d crossed her legs as well. “You know. At first, I thought you were just ignorant. Then, I thought, ‘You know, she’s a bit reckless.’ But that’s not it, is it?”

Tala leaned back a bit, just blinking at her friend.

“No. You genuinely don’t care if you die, do you?”

“Of course, I do. Why else would I focus so much on my protections?”

“Oh, you consciously want to survive, but that’s the only part of you that seems to.”

“It was just a fingertip, Lyn.”

“Oh? And when you broke your brain and were unconscious for four days?”

“Well, I was-”

“What about when you decided to modify your Gate with your will, ignoring fundamental lessons that I know you were taught.”

“Wait a moment, that was-”

“And, let’s not mention all the stunts you pulled on your caravan journey. Do you have any idea how bad that looked for me?”

“I did my job.”

Lyn leaned forward, dropping her hands to her own knees. “Are. You. Serious.”

Tala pushed back a little further.

“You should be dead. If some part of yourself wasn’t as obsessed with survival as the rest was in trying to kill you, you’d be dead a dozen times over.”

“I…I don’t know if I followed that.”

Lyn just glared. After a long moment, the older woman took a long breath and exhaled in something that reminded Tala of a silent scream. She composed herself. “Stop being reckless, please. Please.”

Tala did not trust herself to respond verbally. So, instead, she just nodded.

The exchange seemed to have woken Terry from where he’d been sleeping in the corner. He rose to his feet and shook himself, his feathers adding a comforting rustling sound to the otherwise tense silence. Tala smiled at the bird. “Terry?”

His eyes were fixed on the bit of finger.

Lyn shifted, now more uncomfortable than angry, the avian having successfully distracted the older Mage. “He’s been staring at that, whenever he wasn’t sleeping, since I finished. Likely before that, too.”

“But he didn’t eat it.” Huh, the bird has some restraint.

“He looks like he wants to…”

Should I let him? Tala did have to do something with the fraction of a digit. But, is that a bad precedent? She groaned. I really don’t care enough, right now. He seems to really want it. “Go ahead.”

Terry flickered, and the finger was gone. The bird shook himself happily and blinked to her shoulder, where he settled down, seemingly asleep once more.

Lyn closed her eyes, turning her face away and looking a bit green. “Gross.” It was barely above a whisper, as if she were afraid talking normally would bring up more bile.

Tala cleared her throat. Distract her; she’s vulnerable to cementing the topic change. “Sooooo... You finished forging your star?” She smiled, hopefully.

Lyn’s eyes opened, then narrowed. “We’ll come back to this; don’t think you’re off the hook.” Even so, she took a deep breath, then smiled. “But, yes!” She pulled out her small diamond sphere, which positively blazed with power to Tala’s mage-sight. “What do you think?”

I think it’s less than half the strength of the one I made. “That looks awesome.”

Lyn’s shoulders sagged, just slightly. “…you think it’s weak.”

Tala sat up straighter, eyes widening. “What? No. It’s great!”

Lyn rolled her own eyes and sighed. “Don’t patronize me, Mage. I know I made a bottom-of-the-ladder Archon star, but I rusting made one. I made one in five hours.” There was fire in her eye. Not literal fire, though Tala didn’t doubt that Lyn could manifest thermal energy within those orbs to create such. Probably a bad idea, though.

“Yes, obviously. That is impressive, beyond what all but the best Mages, your age, could produce.” Well, without a Way, at least.

“Now you’re just being insulting.” Before Tala could say anything further, Lyn shook her head. “Doesn’t matter, Tala. I know what I’ve made.” She held out her hand. “Let’s see it.”

“Hmmm?” Tala turned a bit away, giving a half smile.

“Don’t be coy. Give me the vial. I want to see what sort of abomination you created for your star. I couldn’t get a good look at it while it was still in what remained of your finger. My mage-sight isn’t precise enough.” Lyn shook her hand slightly to add emphasis.

Tala grinned, holding out the iron vessel for Lyn’s inspection.

Lyn took the vial, activating her mage-sight as she unscrewed the cap. She looked in and instantly re-covered it. “That’s…blinding.”

“Does your mage-sight not adjust?”

“Yes, Tala, of course it does. That is required.” Her tone was long-suffering, and her look one of weariness.

“Fine, fine.” Tala waved her off.

Lyn shook her head, carefully re-opening the vial. Once her mage-sight had had time to adjust, she simply stared down into the opening.

“Sooooo?” Tala was quite curious what her friend thought.

Lyn sighed. “Well, this city’s going to have two new Archons, alright.” She capped the vessel and tossed it back.

“Three.” Tala held up her left hand with three fingers raised, while her other tucked the vial away into Kit. “Master Rane said he was ready, too.”

“Right! He said he was going to get us registered for evaluation and elevation.” Lyn smiled contentedly.

“What? When?” I don’t remember him coming in… She didn’t remember Lyn vomiting, either, but even so.

“He was here like an hour ago. He saw my star and stared for a long time at the…mess that was your finger, at that time. Then, he said he would get it sorted.”

Tala grunted. “Well, that’s kind of him. He coming back?”

Lyn shrugged. “Probably.”

Tala pursed her lips and frowned.

Lyn gave her a searching look, then burst out laughing.

“What?”

She kept laughing.

“Come on, Lyn. What?”

Lyn reined in her mirth. “I can see your mind working, little Tala.” She snorted another laugh.

“Oh?”

“You are trying to decide if it’s rude to get food without him, and if it is, if being rude would be worth it.”

Tala blinked in surprise. That is…surprisingly accurate. “Huh.”

“The answer is: Yes, it would be rude, and no, it wouldn’t be worth it.”

She groaned. “But I missed lunch.”

“And he’s been insanely helpful. Don’t be utter pyrite.”

Tala growled irritably. “Fine. We’ll wait.” Tala did her best to keep topics frivolous, until then.

Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait long before a quick, firm knock on the front door preceded Rane’s entrance. “Hello?”

“Come on in, Master Rane.” Lyn’s tone was welcoming, and she stood to greet their guest.

Tala reached a hand up towards her friend. “Help me up.”

Lyn gave Tala a bemused look. “Not mentally recovered?”

What? Tala hesitated. Oh… She felt a bit foolish. “Right.” She leveraged herself up, careful not to hit any furniture. This is a bit inconvenient. She really needed to remember that she was heavier than she had been, and by quite a lot.

“You could release that… I’m really not sure why you would want it constantly maintained.”

Tala shrugged. “I’m going to give it a good try. I’ll consider removing it later.”

Before Lyn could respond, Rane came in and broke into a broad grin. “You’re cognizant again!” He glanced to Lyn. “Did you wipe her face? The drool is gone.”

Tala colored, swiping her lower jaw with her sleeve, even though that was obviously not needed. I was drooling?

Lyn cleared her throat. “That is hardly relevant. Well?”

Rane grinned. “I got us all registered. Mistress Lyn, you will be seen mid-morning, tomorrow.” He held out a small piece of thick paper. “That contains the details of the location and exact time.” He then glanced towards Tala. “We’re scheduled for later in the day, after our morning with the Guardsmen’s Guild.”

Tala gave a slight bow. “Thank you, Master Rane. I trust you know the details?”

He shrugged. “Yes, but I should give you this, anyways. I go just before you, so you might not want to arrive early, just to wait around.”

“Either way.” She took the proffered informational card. It was a thick, cream-colored paper with a somehow-metallic, black ink.

Rane cleared his throat. “They asked that I pass a single instruction along.”

Lyn and Tala turned their full attention to him, each lowering the card they’d been examining.

“We are not to discuss the process of forming our stars, or anything around such, until after our evaluation.”

Tala shrugged. “Fine by me.” We’ll be better served by eating.

Lyn frowned. “Why not?”

“No idea, but they were quite insistent.”

Tala waved dismissively. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk about it, tomorrow. Right now, we’re all hungry, yes?” She looked to each of the others, and they nodded in turn. “So… food?”

Rane chuckled. “Yes, food.”

* * *

More than two hours later, they were each finishing up their dinners. Rane had insisted on paying, in celebration of the two women’s accomplishment, and the two hadn’t protested the kindness. Rane had even bought a whole roast chicken for Terry.

Terry had accepted the offering with stoic consumption.

They’d all stared on in fascination as the obviously too small Terry had swallowed the chicken whole. The other two had refrained from commenting, but they’d seemed to keep a closer eye on the bird, after that.

Tala knelt beside the table, content, Terry seemingly asleep on her shoulder. Rane and Lyn did not give her grief about her inability to use a chair, though they both let it be known that they thought it a bit silly.

Lyn, now finished, acted a bit overfull, leaning back as if to take pressure off her stomach.

Their table was outside, set a bit apart from other groups, which had come and gone through the evening. There was a chill to the air, but the patio had several regularly spaced, cast-iron woodstoves, which more than took the edge off the cold.

The stoves, themselves, were mundane, seemingly completely devoid of magic save the standard traces found in all things. They seemed to have been designed for incredibly efficient use of fuel, and towards that end, Tala had only seen a single one of them require more wood, and the attendant had only added a single, medium-sized chuck. It’s fascinating what can be done, even without magic.

The meal had been extravagant. Roast turkey, with the skin crisped just right, and honey glazed ham that fell off the bone came together, served with a thick, smooth, brown gravy.

Steamed peas and carrots were seasoned to perfection; dinner rolls that were light, fluffy, and hot from the oven; and mashed yams that seemed too thick and creamy to be real were all coated by exactly the right amount of butter in accompaniment to the meats.

There had been some sort of casserole made up of alternating apple and sweet potato slices, marinated and baked covered in a brown sugar brandy sauce.

The final side had been some sort of twice baked cornbread. Apparently, in times past, it would have been cooked inside a turkey or chicken, but these days it was made on its own. Oh, by the stars, stuffing is the best thing I’ve ever eaten. She especially enjoyed it smothered with gravy.

Tala wasn’t sure if her new favoritism would hold up after she ate her next meal, but she didn’t really care. The celebratory feast had been perfect.

Rane wiped his mouth with his napkin, sighed happily, and cleared his throat. “So, it seems we are, all three of us, quite special Mages.”

Lyn grinned, swallowing her last bite of dinner roll with butter. “Don’t you forget it.”

Tala cocked her head, though, a bit confused. “Oh?” I know we’re all a bit young, supposedly, but that’s not that special. Is it?

Rane nodded, as if happy to explain. “Even among those who can create an Archon star, most don’t understand the form well enough for any sort of efficiency. Without a well-established Way, and a good mental construct, even a top tier Mage can take more than two days to make a barely acceptable star, and most Mages aren’t top tier.”

Tala frowned. “But why would a top tier Mage lack those things?” That makes no sense.

Rane shrugged. “Many of us are stubborn.” His smile shifted to one that was a bit self-conscious. “I, for one, wanted to do it on my own. Only you, Master Trent, and Master Grediv’s persistence convinced me of my folly. And hear me when I say that Master Grediv was not one to allow too much self-assurance.”

Lyn sighed wistfully, nodding. “My master had to practically strong-arm me into taking the notes on Ways and the Archon star spell-form. I’d assumed that I’d just figure it out, if I ever needed or wanted to. And even with the notes in my possession, I didn’t even consider using them until you and Mistress Holly…encouraged me to.”

Tala grunted. “That seems pretty foolish.” When both her table companions looked at her oddly, she raised both hands. “No offense!”

Rane snorted, and Lyn barked a laugh, shaking her head.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean that, how it came out.”

Rane ruefully. “I know that feeling.”

Lyn sighed in mock resignation, shaking her head again. “In any case, despite the best intentions of masters for their magelings, most end up going it alone and without true guidance, thus taking much longer to create inferior products.”

Tala’s eyes were twinkling, but she didn’t say anything, and she did her best not to smile.

Lyn glared. “I’m not just talking about power level, Tala. Mine is no ignorant Mage’s construct.”

Tala did smile, then, but refrained from commenting, her mind already contemplating something else. She tried to imagine making an Archon star without the void-channels, or even the void, and shook her head. “Doing it the ‘standard’ way…That would have taken me ages.” She smiled at Lyn. “Thank you, again, for sharing your master’s wisdom.”

She shrugged, her irritated expression fading into an easy smile. “From what I understand, books detailing the Ways will be freely available to us, after our raising. I just gave you the insight a bit early.” She winked.

“Precisely.” Tala beamed. “And thank you, Master Rane.”

“Oh? What for?” Rane had jumped a bit at being suddenly addressed. Had he been falling asleep? He did look quite drowsy, eyes half closed, a happy little smile pulling at his lips.

“Food,” she gestured at the empty plates stacked before her, “scheduling our evaluations, discussing the Ways with me, and for waiting for us to be ready to be raised alongside you.”

He gave a small smile, clearly pleased with himself. “Well, I’m glad to have been of help.”

Lyn added her own thanks, and Terry woke briefly to thrum a happy chirp, as well.

“Well, you are all most welcome.” He was sitting a little straighter, now. Clearly, he was still tired, but he was contented, nonetheless.

Tala stretched, twisting first one way, then the other. Terry ignored the movement. “We should get some sleep. It’s a big day, tomorrow, and today’s been full.” She hesitated, a thought coming to her from the depths of her never-ending to-do list. “Though… I think I’d like to swing back through the Constructionists’ guild again, on the way home.”

Rane stood. “As fascinating as I’m sure that will be, I should get some sleep.” He yawned, and Tala noticed, once again, that he looked weary. His eyes weren’t quite as bright as they usually were, and his face seemed a bit less animated. His shoulders rounded a bit, and his posture suffered now, even if just barely.

Tala gave him a comforting smile. “I hope you sleep well. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Bright and early.” He smiled through his tiredness. “Good night, Mistress Lyn, Mistress Tala.”

Terry lifted his head, looking at Rane.

Rane noticed and gave a half-bow, conveying the utmost seriousness. “Good night, master Terry.”

Terry shimmied, scrunching lower as he tucked his head down. He let out a happily dismissive squawk and feigned sleep once more.

Rane whispered, clearly hoping Tala would hear. “Every day, he proves that he’s more intelligent than I’d have guessed, by a long shot. Please be careful? Once beasts like that get a taste of human blood, it’s hard to rein them in.”

Tala chuckled nervously, looking away. “Yeah…of course.” Blessedly, Lyn didn’t comment, though she just might not have heard. Tala cleared her throat and plastered on a smile, once more. “Good night, Master Rane.”

Lyn sighed, shaking her head and not looking at Tala. “Good night, Master Rane.” Rust, she did hear that…

Rane left without a backward glance, though he did give an offhanded wave as he left the restaurant’s patio.

Lyn wiped her mouth one last time as she stood. “Shall we go?”

“Do you want to come with me?” Tala stood as well, not disturbing Terry with the careful movement.

“It isn’t too far out of the way, and I’m curious what you’re going to do this time.”

Tala smiled, feeling genuine affection for the older woman. “I’ll be glad to have you along, then.”