As she stood before me, Shemira shifted from one foot to the other nervously. Nearly a year ago, when I was young and inexperienced and confused, I’d seen her as an unflappable, confident leader. As the weeks of conflict then months of companionship passed, I saw that while Shemira presented a confident front, she so frequently was a coiled mess of confusion and nervousness below. She projected competence, even when unsure.
This Shemira whose tail twitched with nervousness was unabashedly unsure of herself. It was strange to see, but refreshing. I forced the frustration from my mind and instead looked at her with more patience than before.
“What can the swarm do for you, Shemira?”
She hesitated for a moment before speaking hesitantly. “I hatched in the same brood as you, and though we did not begin on the friendliest of terms, I think that we have become, if not companions, at least allies.”
“I count you as a friend, most days. Sometimes, you’re relegated to ‘that female that spends so much time with my mate’.”
Shemira’s nervous posture faded to a more relaxed, open stance as she laughed. The sound was beautiful, as she so effortlessly was. “We females deserve time among ourselves. Just as I tore you from our time alone. I’m sorry, I was worried.”
“Shemira, no need to worry. You’re coming to me to ask for my permission for something, or maybe guidance. The first is easy, while the second will absolutely be well-intentioned but might be wrong as well.”
The tall khatif flared her frills and took a deep breath. “I know I sang for the swarm, and you didn’t hear. I enjoy the music. It settles in my heart, and I can’t help but indulge in it. There’s something magical to the notes and intent, and ever since I heard you sing in those other words, I’ve wanted to record our journey. Your journey.”
“You want to sing about me?” I saw the nervous energy grow again in Shemira.
“I’ve been around since the beginning, and I was one of the first to be conquered. I’ve seen what your strength brings, and I respect you for it, and I’ve seen where you came from and how you got here, and I think that it would be helpful for us to have something that could teach those who come after, and I hope that my song will be able to fill that role, but I don’t want to overstep and offend. Even so, I think with my influence and magic, I can make it so that my song, once it’s complete, can instill a greater respect in the listener, so that way we can further solidify your position as Swarm Alpha, or whatever else you become.” The words left her in a rush, the air nearly whistling through her fangs as she presented her case.
“It’s a good idea.” I merely answered.
“You… approve?”
“Of course. You’ve found something that makes you happy, and now you’re trying to help me and the swarm with it. Why wouldn’t I want one of my elites to find pleasure in furthering all our goals?”
“That… makes sense. Is there anything you want me to add into the song?”
“I trust you.” Then, I flicked my tail as I added, “Well, and see if you can’t make Sybil sing it for me at some point.”
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Shemira’s laugh rang out, high and happy. “That isn’t something to ask me for. She might be able to be persuaded, though!”
“That’s all I can hope for, I suppose.” I smiled back at Shemira. “Thanks for sharing your dream with me. Glad I can help you out with it, at least a little.”
“I’ll have further questions for you as it gets honed and perfected, but for now, I’ll leave you to your alone time.” As Shemira said as much, she walked away with a certain excitement in her step. Each movement belied her enthusiasm, and it wasn’t long before Vefir came close to her and nuzzled her neck fondly as she animatedly spoke with him.
With nobody else approaching me, I finally refocused myself on my magic. My main capabilities with my magic were exhibited in my [Skills]: [Murderous Melody, Disastrous Discourse, Innervating Address, Nurturing Enunciation, and Destructive Wave]. [Innervating Address] and [Nurturing Enunciation] hadn’t evolved yet, though the second’s progress had advanced to show it was nearly halfway finished. I imagined I would breakthrough for evolution on that [Skill] quickly once we starting having young again. In fact, it’d been so long since I’d looked at the [Skill] in depth that I pulled it back to make sure I was understanding it correctly.
[Skill: Nurturing Enunciation; a skill granted to those whose mastery of sonic magic has grown beyond the obvious and immediate, now allowing the resonance of their magic to influence and assist even the most vulnerable and weak. Those whose development is assisted and guided by Nurturing Enunciation gain Stats, Skills, Titles, and other benefits more easily until they have reached adulthood. Note: this Skill can only be used on fetuses, infants, and juveniles. This Skill can evolve. Requirements: Use Nurturing Enunciation to more than double what would be the Stat total of a creature. Progress: 22/50.]
Not only would it progress much faster as more hatchlings came into the swarm, it couldn’t progress until more had. Now that I looked at it more closely, I quickly realized that just about every hatchling and young juvenile that’d joined the swarm must have contributed to this. Unfortunately, the vast majority (all except for Trai) that could have qualified were keelish, and by the time we’d made contact with them, they’d reached adulthood too quickly for my [Skills] to truly work their magic. Those who’d evolved to khatif were at least initially unremarkable, Kha’Tal civilians. They did show, however, the capability of those within castes to evolve, or at least change, to higher castes. Before, Joral had merely displayed a horizontal shift in caste, while these juveniles and young adults exhibited the possibility for khatif to progress vertically.
I pulled my mind from ruminating over the progress of various other keelish. I’d lost myself once again in the minutia of ruling. Instead, I examined the [Skills] themselves, and how they generally functioned. I quickly gathered them into three different functions. The first group was [Disastrous Discourse] and [Innervating Address]. These two’s function was to affect the mind of those who were the target of my [Skill], whether that be negative or positive. I decided to think of them of my supportive [Skills]. Then, [Murderous Melody] and [Nurturing Enunciation] fell into my second subdivision, that of [Skills] whose function was to impact the functioning of the body of whatever was the [Skill’s] target. This second type I thought of as my impact [Skills]. Finally, [Destructive Wave] was the final, most simple [Skill]: manipulate sonic waves to destroy. I quickly categorized this final [Skill] as destructive. Glancing over the [Skill’s] description, though, I realized that instead of mere destruction, the evolved [Skill] granted me the beginnings of all sonic wave manipulation and control. I still didn’t change the way I thought of it.
So many possibilities opened up before me, but first, I needed to select which of the three branches of [Skill] to focus on honing for now. The supportive ones would be impactful, but for now, I wondered if it would be best to wait for [Innervating Address] to evolve. The same applied to the impact [Skills], with [Nurturing Enunciation] sure to evolve once the first clutches were laid in Nievtra. Then, would it be best to focus on my destructive capabilities? Having taken another look, I realized that there was much more to the [Skill] than what I’d initially supposed, but was that not too broad?
After thinking on it for a time, I finally made my decision and began to flood my body with power from my sonilphon.