“I don’t see where there’s much to talk about,” Nym said. “You’re stealing arcana from the students I’m supposed to protect. You’re a threat to them. At the rate you’re draining them, they’ll die out here.”
“That is all true,” the boy agreed. “I suppose you’re not doing a very good job of protecting.”
Nym’s fists tightened. The construct for lightning bolt was half-way coalesced and could be triggered in an instant. The only thing preventing him from blasting the creature pretending to be a human was Nym’s concern about dragging the students into it. The farther away they got, the better off they’d be.
“Would you like me to rectify that for you right now?” he asked icily.
“You are welcome to try, of course. But you’ll fail, and I just want to talk anyway.”
“Fine. What are we talking about?”
The boy looked around and saw that all of the students were slowly disappearing down the trail. He nodded to himself and the glow of arcana faded. “You know, the thing that always annoyed me the most about you ascendants is your eyes. I can deal with the smugness, even that insufferable arrogance the ones at the top have, but your damn eyes seeing every illusion, even if you can’t see past it… it’s infuriating.”
“Is that why you stalk humans and eat their magic? Too hard to take a good bite out of an ascendant?”
The boy threw back his head and laughed. “Hah! You’re no better than the rest of your kind, little half-scendant. I think you need a lesson in minding your betters.”
The boy vanished, and in its place a white and red fox sat on the snow. Its head came up to Nym’s chest, and a thick, bushy tail flicked out behind it. Nym stared at it for a second, then laughed. “You’re a mirror fox. Whew. For a moment there I thought you were something dangerous.”
Arcana swelled up around them, completely engulfing Nym. Something otherworldly imposed itself over the physical space the fox occupied, something with deep, crimson eyes and whirling, lashing shadows fanned out behind it. “I am to a mirror fox what a you are to a human, child. And I do mean your true form, not this paltry disguise you’ve stuffed yourself into.”
The words were sharp, frightening, and the laughter died in Nym’s throat. Whatever the arcana was that surrounded the fox, it was different than anything he’d ever seen. It was heavy and dark and filled with hidden dangers. Archmage Veran’s pinnacle spells, as awe inspiring as they were, were nothing compared to the mere presence of that arcana.
As abruptly as it had appeared, the arcana was gone, and the fox was once again just a fox. “Steady there,” he told Nym, the words clearly audible despite there being no way for a fox’s mouth to form them. “I apologize. I lost my temper there.”
Nym shook himself out of his stupor and regarded the fox warily. The way he saw it, there were only two possibilities. Either the fox really was more powerful than anything else he’d ever met, or it had tricked him with an especially powerful illusion. Either way, it was bad news. He was suddenly a lot less eager to light the fox up with a lightning bolt, knowing that there was every chance it wouldn’t do more than tickle.
“I… what do you want?” Nym asked. “You’ve established that there’s probably nothing I can do to stop you if you decide to kill all of us, but you haven’t killed anyone, so you must want something.”
“Did you know that a lot of the bigger mystical creatures can live off of arcana alone? It’s practically a biological necessity for us. We would wipe out whole ecosystems within weeks if we needed meat to survive.”
“I… yes. I knew that. Creatures at that level of size and strength are rare though, and don’t tend to live anywhere near human lands.”
“You may have noticed we’re not exactly in human lands right now.”
“I suppose that’s true,” Nym allowed, “but you didn’t answer my question. What do you want?”
“I’m just sampling some unusual flavors. Humans infuse their arcana with intent; it’s quite tasty, and it’s a nice variety from my usual diet of nothing but cold, cold, cold arcana.”
“Are you… are you comparing this class to a trip to the sweets store?” Nym asked.
The fox started laughing. “In a way, yes, I suppose I am. You don’t need to worry, little half-scendant. I’m not going to kill anyone. I’m just nibbling, trying all the samples.”
“You say that, but… these are students. They’re still learning the basics, and they’re not strong enough to survive this kind of climate.”
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“Ugh, yes. Fine. Humans are so squishy. What would you like me to do?” the fox asked.
“Stop stealing their arcana from them so we can get to where we’re going?”
The fox seemed to think about that for a minute. “You would be better off turning back and going home. The Garden of Winter is not what it was. It was… corrupted. It’s dangerous to go there now, which is a shame, as it really was quite beautiful.”
“Corrupted how?” Nym asked.
“An interesting question,” the fox said. “To be honest with you, I’m not quite sure. The garden isn’t pure anymore. It languishes in heat that shouldn’t exist, like the land itself is fevered. Also it smells awful, which is why I’m staying far, far away from it.”
“That’s just fantastic,” Nym muttered to himself. He shook his head and added, “But still, that’s not an answer.”
“I see. I will propose a trade then. In exchange for leaving your flock alone, I want you to wear this emblem. It will allow me to see and hear through it. Since you’ll be going to the Garden of Not-Really-Winter-Anymore, I’ll get to see what’s going on without having to smell it. And I do admit that I really am quite curious.”
A ring appeared between them, made of some black metal Nym didn’t recognize. A fox head symbol was set into it, with the eyes the same dark crimson he’d seen when it had revealed its true form. The band itself was a pair of tails twined around each other.
Nym took it and looked closely at the band. Inscribed inside it was a series of tiny runes, so fine that he couldn’t even fully make them out. “Is that all it does?” he asked.
“All you need to know about,” the fox said with a sly grin.
“No thanks then,” Nym told him, letting it go. Rather than fall to the snow, it started floating in the air again. “I’m not putting this on my finger without understanding exactly what it does first.”
The fox rolled his eyes, but there was a glint of approval there. “Cautious, I see. Good. Take a minute to examine the runes fully and you’ll understand what it does.”
Nym cast a perfect sight spell on himself and gave the fox a suspicious glance, but it just sat unmoving on the snow and waited. He squinted at the ring and silently read the runes. The configuration wasn’t something he was familiar with, but that didn’t concern him. Writing a rune sequence on a large, flat object like a piece of paper or a wall of earth-forged bricks wasn’t the same as sewing them into the hem of a dress or carving them on a piece of jewelry.
It was easy to find the sensory connection runes the fox had admitted were there. They took up perhaps a third of the total sequence, right next to something that looked illusion based with a mild mental compulsion in it. If Nym had to guess, he thought the purpose was to hide the ring from casual observation and influence anyone who did notice it to forget about it.
That part was all well and good. It was the last half that he was concerned about. They did something to the wearer’s mind, and they were tangentially linked to the sensory connection runes. It was possible it allowed the fox to control whoever wore the ring, but that didn’t seem right. The rune sequence wasn’t nearly strong enough to control anybody. It could maybe nudge their emotions a bit, but full mind control wasn’t a possibility.
“What is this section here for?” Nym asked, casting an illusion of the rune sequence into the air.
“Communication,” the fox said without hesitation.
“Ah, of course.” Now that he knew it, it made sense to Nym. “A two-way mental link tied to the sensory connection runes to give it some distance. How long does it stretch?”
“A few miles, perhaps as many as ten if someone like you is powering it. It will draw arcana from your soul well when you use it, but the amount should be miniscule compared to what you’re capable of.”
“No arcana battery?” Nym asked.
“In the eyes, but they’re quite empty. Feel free to recharge them for me.”
Nym snorted. “So this ring will allow you to see and hear what I see and hear, and to hold a conversation telepathically with me, and hide itself from casual observation while discouraging more targeted scrutiny. And it has an arcana battery which of course is empty, so I’ll have to charge it myself or give it a live feed of arcana to keep it working.”
“Yes, yes, it’s a very impressive trinket, I know. Now will you put it on?”
Nym looked it over one more time to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, then slid it onto his left middle finger. He poured raw second layer arcana into it and the runes came to life, giving him the feeling of someone watching over his shoulder.
[You see? It is harmless,] the fox’s voice echoed in his mind.
It was uncomfortable, but didn’t seem immediately dangerous. Nym was more concerned about what he’d agreed to do with it. He’d just barely extricated himself from the last disaster he’d been involved in, and here he was heading towards another area that an extremely powerful mystical fox wasn’t willing to directly investigate.
It was fine though. He’d talk to the professor, they’d send the students back, and he’d fulfill his obligations to the fox via some remote scrying. If he was being honest, he was a bit curious as well. That wouldn’t have been enough on its own, but ultimately, he didn’t think he was in a position to refuse the fox’s deal. Sending in a few golems was a small price to pay in order to free the students from predation.
“Alright, I’m going to catch up to the group. Without your interference, we’ll make the Garden soon. If it’s as bad as you’ve said it is, we’ll likely send the students directly back, and I’ll see about getting a good look at what’s going on for you. You’ll leave this group alone in exchange. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” the fox said with a grin. “Take care of yourself, half-scendant. You’re such a fascinating creature, and I can’t wait to see how your story turns out.”
The fox started laughing when it saw the sour look on Nym’s face. It vanished mid-laugh, though the sound echoed in the air for another second before fading away as well. Nym glanced down at the ring once, sent another surge of arcana into it, and started flying after the students.
He wasn’t sure exactly how much to tell Professor Lakton. With any luck, he’d be able to convince her that the best option was to turn everyone back. She was a generally reasonable woman; hopefully she’d agree. Teleporting that many people would be exhausting, but it’d be less work than escorting them all the way back. If he could get them to agree to it though, it would make his work keeping up his end of the bargain a lot easier to fulfill.