Harlan had spent much more time in the Sandsea than he would’ve liked, but he really was trying to understand them and build a relationship, even if often they were confrontational or simply didn’t show the respect which they should for the gifts which are being with so few strings attached.
But there was one person who did give proper thanks for what she was given.
In the morning, he intended to give this gift to the rest of them as well, the words of his gods had given him the resolve he needed to trust them to do the right thing with what they would be given just as he had.
Patra struggled to lift the glass of water Harlan placed on the table without spilling it, but she was doing well enough.
“It’s hard. Can’t I just-”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I can see that you actually enjoy magic, and it would be a bad lesson if I allowed you to quit when I know you can do better.
Taking shortcuts or turning away from difficulty will weaken you as a mage and as a person.”
“I’m so- No, thank you.”
“It’s nothing to thank me for, magic is just as much a burden as a gift sometimes.
When you have power, deciding when to use it or not is what shows a great deal about your character.”
“When do you use your magic?”
“When I need to.”
“How will I know to use mine then?”
“There are two ways for me to answer this, either I push my idea of when on you, or I ask a question and give you advice that I believe fits for you as a mage.”
“You tell me that learning for myself is better than being given the right answer from the start, so please ask me the question.”
“That you took that lesson to heart reflects that you are someone I think can be trusted.
I know your family would rather you stay inside and not learn, but you aren’t learning out of spite for them.
So I ask, why do you enjoy magic?”
She was deep in thought, trying to find the answer he was leading her too.
“Magic is freedom. My family doesn’t like me, but if I learn magic, then I could leave if I wanted to.”
“That is a fine answer, remember that you are the only one who can know when to use magic, so follow your ideals, nobody else. It would be a great sorrow for you to remain meek when I know you are so much better than any of them can understand.”
She grabbed his hand and leaned toward him.
Harlan used his free arm to block her.
“I am aware of the effects I can have on others when I try to uplift their spirits, but I would like to make something clear. I am flattered by your advance toward me, but you are a Canis, and I simply have no interest in you in that way.”
“But you can turn into whatever you want, so-”
“I don’t intend to ever talk about this again for your sake, as it would surely be awkward and I don’t want rumors to spread. I was born Fomorian and human, my tastes in women have not changed from humans and their subraces.”
She stepped back.
“I’m sorry.”
“That despite your age you are taking my rejection so maturely is a sign of good character.
And, I am going to give you a simple piece of advice. You are young and you have been emotionally damaged in some manner by those who should protect you. Do not fall for the first person who treats you kindly, because surely there are those out there who would use your kindness against you, and I do not want to see your heart broken, because I hope you would count me as a friend and I you.”
“Can I have a hug then, just as friends?”
“Yes. And next time you don’t need to ask, I think you are smart enough to understand the boundaries between us. Now, let’s continue our lesson. I want your help with something tomorrow.”
Harlan very much hoped that those feelings were nipped in the bud.
She reminded him too much of Adina, between her family treating her poorly and her poor eyesight being part of the cause, it felt almost as if she had been engineered for the sake of getting close to him, giving some manner of closure for him.
Yet, if she was in any way like Adina, then those feelings would remain and she would try again later.
But Harlan would not entertain the idea of a relationship with her.
He would never outright state it to her, but the idea of being together with a beastkin disgusted him and had he continued with his lack of sleep his response would’ve sent her away in tears.
Just as he said he would, Harlan gathered his 10 students.
“My god reminded me of what I am, I am a unique lifeform, there is nobody who is like me, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. As it stands I am possibly one of only two person able to grant the power outside of the veil.
Where I am from most beastkin learn this as children. Now, there isn’t much that I can really teach you, telekinesis is like a muscle, just lift until it starts to feel a phantom soreness and then rest.
The mana costs are low and relative to how much you strain yourself, not how much you actually lift.”
Harlan moved his hand and lifted a cup.
“Telekinesis is also very safe, so long as both people have it unlocked it is very difficult, but not impossible for them to directly grab and harm someone, but at the same time.”
Harlan twisted the metal cup into a rough needle, then opened a gate.
“For granting it to the masses, I would like Patra to-”
The room looked at him like he had gone mad.
“Why would we give them this magic? And what is she doing here?”
“From the start that was the deal, I teach you magic, and then your people spread it to those under them so everyone is stronger for it.”
“We received no such contract, and came to no such agreement. Again, what is she doing here?”
“Patra showed resolve, finding me herself and asking that I help her learn to improve her magic.
I’ve been training her for almost as long as I have all of you.”
Tatton was upset, but clearly trying to hold it in.
“I gave you no order to teach her, nor should you have ever met her without permission from me.”
Patra didn’t say anything, she could be somewhat confident between the two of them, but his few weeks of time with her was nothing against years of being ignored or scolded for speaking with her grandfather.
“And why is that?”
“She is not yours to-”
Harlan skipped face to face with the king, wanting to lift him by his throat, but also not wanting to be the one who escalated the situation. As it stood there was still the chance that he could tattle to Carmilla and force compliance.
“She is nobody’s, she is herself. If you do not want her, then say not a word of complaint when someone else does.”
“The masses will not be given this power. That is final.”
“Then it is quite funny that now nobody else will either, because the only one of you that I taught how to grant it was her.”
“She will follow my orders.”
“Patra, remember the lesson of last night. I won’t lie, I will judge you by your choices, so bear that in mind when you make them Tatton, I am leaving immediately after the trains are finished, do not expect anymore magical lessons. I hope you live long enough to regret this.”
Harlan left the room, punching a pillar on the way out when he couldn’t hold back his anger, breaking off a chunk of stone and frightening many of them.
A vizier turned on the wards in the room; they hadn’t figured out the limits of Harlan’s hearing yet and would rather not let him in on this conversation.
“Was that wise?”
“The boy won’t do anything, you should hear how he speaks about Carmilla, he seems to genuinely love and fear her, because he knows she is one of the few who could kill him.”
“Then we will move ahead with the trains?”
“Convert all but one seating car per train we still need somewhere to ride, keep the rest of the cargo cars intact.”
“Very well.”
Tatton then looked towards his granddaughter.
Harlan’s eyes looked like torches and he was letting off a black haze.
He listened closely, trying to find anything which he might be able to let out some of his anger on.
A muffled scream.
Harlan rushed down the halls and out into the city proper.
A man looked over his balcony at another who had been pushed down into the street, blood was still flowing from the gash on the man’s head.
Harlan wanted to swipe at him just once and destroy the man, but even with his frenzy, he couldn’t do it, he had no context, and the man seemed regretful over what had happened.
Instead he held him with telekinesis.
“I didn’t me-mean to, we were just arguing, I didn’t mean to.”
Harlan examined the wound.
His skull wasn’t even fractured, their Canis biology made them naturally a bit more sturdy than people, and the fall wasn’t more than 12 feet.
With a little healing magic, the man was back on his feet.
Harlan didn’t bother explaining himself, he simply brought the man down from the balcony and handed him over to the guards before he flew away again.
He hated so much these days, and he didn’t know where to put it.
So turned to a bird and glided for a few hours, just trying to let it go, to remember that in time they will either destroy themselves, or he will get the chance to destroy them.
He looked at the trainyards and saw what they were doing, dropping like a stone from the sky as he returned to his normal shape.
“Why are you removing the seats from the cars?”
“King’s orders, the royals don’t need more than one car for themselves.”
“And where does he expect the commoners to sit?”
The worker just shrugged his shoulders, such a question was above his pay grade and he hadn’t expected the trains to be for commoners anyway despite what Harlan had stated before.
He floated through the halls, murderous intent could be felt by anyone around him.
When he reached the council hall he didn’t bother opening the door, instead a net of void cut the wall into squares and he kept moving as if they weren't there..
“Tatton, I will give you a single chance to explain what is happening with my trains.”
“They are my trains. And I will use them as I wish, thank you for your help with setting them up, but I think it would be best if you left my kingdom and stopped your tantrum.”
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Just as he raised his hand to pluck out the king’s eyes, he fell to the ground, spasms tore his muscles as he distorted in shape without using shifting and he felt his organs twist.
The final look that they could see before Harlan closed his eyes was undeniable, everyone in that room had forfeit their lives.
“You are back so soon.”
“THOSE FUCKING BASTRADS POISONED ME, I’M GOING TO RIP THEIR VOCAL CORDS OUT WITH SIGILS SO THEY CANNOT BE HEALED, I’M GOING TO MOVE THEIR EYES TO THE TOPS OF THEIR HEADS SO THEY NEED TO BOW JUST TO LOOK AT SOMEONE.”
“Oh, that is creative. But they didn’t do this. You did.”
“WHAT DID I…”
In this place, the pain was gone, and he tried to calm himself.
“What did I do?”
“Well, not you, but your other self. He and I made a deal, for Adina to live, the Fomorian pact must be destroyed. It is going to be excruciating for her. She’ll spasm until she’s sore and then her bones are going to shatter from the tightness of her own muscles. But, if someone wanted to take her pain, I’m sure a simple transport spell wouldn’t be beyond me.”
“Just do it.”
“Oh no, not you, I’ll just send Coronach…Ah, but he’s here now. I suppose that you’ll have to do.”
“What do you mean, Coronach is here?”
“In the palace. You don’t think I’d leave you with these monsters without protection, did you?”
“I can protect myself.”
“That would be true, but with the pact broken you’ll be sleeping for another five days, long enough for your soul to process both the pact being broken and the pain from the child’s pact being broken while her soul is still forming. It will take them 20 minutes to come to a conclusion on if you are better dead or alive.
Depending on their path, Coronach will remove any threats in the area.”
“Make sure that Patra isn’t harmed, the rest can be gutted so far as I care.”
The scenery changed from her void into a city full of faceless people who emoted in silence, laughing and talking without words.
“My, what is this?”
“I’m going to be here for a while, aren’t I?”
“That you are.”
“I wanted somewhere a bit nicer to sit around.”
“Most would find this setting to be quite unnerving.”
“I think I might hate people's faces. I’m not good at reading them, I rely on my empathy for that.
So much is hidden behind the flesh, I just want to peel it away, see what people are doing honestly.”
One of the faceless poured a glass of hot tea for both of them.
“You’ve gotten quite good at this. This smells and tastes real.”
“Do you eat things?”
“Only vicariously. I’m a mass of void flesh, like Coronach, my body is endless, without organs.
Without the need to eat and drink, it seems like a terrible waste of my time.”
“Ah, but time is the one thing you have, right? You can slow things down, spend seconds like hours.”
“When you constantly use skip, you get hungry, do you not?”
“Yes. I’m changing local time and burning up stamina along with my mana.”
“There are inefficiencies when one changes time. My mana would greatly lower and it would weaken me, if I am weak, my seeing becomes less accurate, and inaccuracy is wasteful.”
“The thing that wastes the most time is trying to save time.”
“Very astute.”
“I… I had a dream a few weeks ago. In it-”
“Ah, very good.”
“What?”
“You’ve spent a great deal of time worrying about me instead of Adina, my plan was rather simple, but highly effective.”
She gently stroked his face, her body letting off cool wisps of void smoke.
Harlan’s heart beat strongly as he stared into her eyes, bright white and without pupils, contrasting her dark form.
He sat still for minutes, appreciating the warmth, mental, not physical, that she held in her.
“Oh I know that look, but don’t misunderstand, I’ve no interest in that kind of relationship, nor would I be capable of it. Gods are not people, we just are. I am a collection of things, memories which I’ve made myself and some which I have been given, and yet I’m bound by rules for what I should be. What you did to your own mother is terrifying, to warp her mind instead something it should not have been, and that is what I am, a being of compulsions, yet ones that I cannot overcome.”
The moment Harlan felt was gone, and she took away her hand.
“In that sense, I suppose I am like the Fae whom I despise so much. In your opinion, do people fear the dark? Or do they simply fear that which lives among shadow?”
“I’m sorry, I’m still just… I don’t know.”
“It was a kiss and a little affection, that you are so caught up means you are worse than I thought.
I hope to never repeat this phrase, but please, go to a whorehouse.”
“No.”
“Then find a girl, one whose company you can stand, and get over Adina.”
“It’s harder than it sounds, she-”
“A fool is the man who seeks power yet refuses the touch of the weak. A man who would discard the chances of a woman who he sees as lesser, a coward of hard head and soft heart.”
“I understand what you are saying, but-”
“Then I shall speak plainly. There is never going to not be a power imbalance between you and the ones you choose to love. Unless you fancy Carmilla, or you track down a witch, you will remain alone under the guise of not wishing to cause harm or not trusting that they love you for more than your power.”
“That doesn’t mean I should just ignore that.”
“Stop looking at this in the extremes then. You slaughtered those children because you understand that good and evil are flexible concepts that those like us must unbind ourselves from at time, lest we allow those who would break them rather than bend them to win.”
Harlan thought back to the battle, his talons, their shouting as they realized it was a lost battle but still fought, those who turned their guns on themselves rather than let Harlan kill them.
The Darkness touched him again and he woke up, screaming until his throat was sore.
Then just as quickly he was back in that false city of faceless people.
He touched his body, the false senses of this dreamscape bringing with no pain from his physical form.
“A pain of the flesh does take the mind from itself, does it not?”
“What’s happening to me out there?”
“The pact is bound to the soul, but more than that, it is bound to every cell in your body. You are still going to be Half-Fomorian when you leave this place. But there are certain processes that are being shut down.
Did you know that your body is alchemical in some ways? Your nerves are still feeling pain, that is just part of being, but your resistance to pain has been constantly heightened by your body manufacturing a potion of sorts that is always there. That part will be gone when you wake up, since it’s been pulling in mana to your soul where the pact then makes this potion.”
“What? Why?”
“Whatever the most terrible thing you’ve ever thought could be, you can be certain the Fae have done it already, either as entertainment or just as how they fight. I’ve seen them pull the nervous system from a man and sew a blanket with it, yet the nerves were still active for the man who they had been taken from.
Let me tell you about a story from Earth, the gods of a nation kept fire from the people, but one of them took this fire and granted it to humanity.
As punishment they bound his flesh to stone, and every single day an eagle comes to eat his liver, and then it grows back again.
There were a lot of things to be learned from the first time I tried to make a species of Fae slayers, and one of them was that I needed stronger protections to prevent tampering and to prevent the breaking of minds through the flesh.”
She smiled at him, looking youthful as she rested her elbows on the table and held her face in her palms.
“Come now, don’t you wish to ask? I’m certain it’s burning a hole in you right now.”
“What was the first species?”
“An incorrect question, who are the first species is what you should’ve asked.”
Tatton and Jakel stared at Harlan, the doctors had no idea what was wrong, and because of his thrashing when touched they couldn’t figure it out, even in his broken state a single blow was potentially fatal.
“What should we do?”
“Contact Carmilla first, if he dies suddenly it would seem odd, but if we tried and failed to help them, that is another matter entirely.”
She answered quickly.
“Yes?”
“Queen Carmilla, Harlan has… we are uncertain. He suddenly collapsed, screaming as if he was one fire, his spasms so intense his bones have cracked and broken his skin.”
“I hope he isn’t conscious.”
“He has been asleep since it began. What advice can you offer?”
“I may need to visit in person, expect me soon.”
It annoyed her greatly, either those of the Sandsea were trying to kill him, or something happened to Harlan, who she already knew wouldn’t be killed by anything minor and who scoffed at losing entire limbs or being set aflame.
Carmilla contacted Mercedes.
“Has Harlan’s other fallen ill?”
“What? Of course not, we all know how healthy Harlan is, he’d never-”
Panic was clear in her voice, without Harlan their nation had no means to maintain itself, he was the lynchpin of the entire kingdom.
From the caverns under Kor that stored their food to the soldiers which defended the border to the golems that taught people how to use magic, it all came from him and she had no idea if he gave away the means to continue using these things to anyone.
“Girl. I do have his best interests at heart, because they are also my best interests, is Harlan’s body able to speak with me and explain why the one in the Sandsea is a mess of broken bones and spasms.”
“He suddenly fell, like a puppet without strings.”
“No screaming? No clawing at his body?”
“What exactly has happened? He’s warned us that if he lost connection or died a true death the other bodies would fall with him.”
“Worry not, I’m certain that I can find the answer, and Harlan isn’t one to die quickly, a sudden death wouldn’t be befitting of him.”
She got up from her bed and dressed herself in loose fit clothing, Harlan had given her a shifting suit as a present, but she didn’t trust it, for all she knew it would also be able to take on the properties of silver somehow, and being wrapped in it would give him at least the slightest of fighting chances.
Then her body twisted and grew dark and hairy, filling out the loose robe.
With hognose and ribbed ears to match her longer fangs she was a giant bat thing, her fair features almost entirely hidden under this body that she disliked.
Taking ships was slow, and gate was not something she ever learned due to difficulties with numbers and a refusal to decide on a lifepath for the first truth, lest she be locked into a life she might grow to hate.
Being restricted was something she believed she would never really get over.
So she took to the skies.
Once past the border of the city she should really start flying.
She shattered the sound barrier and a halo of vapor was created around her flying form, growing larger as she crossed the sea, only to shrink again as she got near the dry air of the desert.
Her body twisted again, returning to human shape and pulling the straps in her uniform to make it more form fitting.
She walked into the palace, guards kneeling as she passed.
“Show him to me.”
Harlan tossed and turned, his body so sore and broken that he couldn’t do any more damage.
She touched his body and the soulfire leapt from him to her.
Carmilla recoiled as her skin bubbled despite no heat.
“Oh, that must be quite painful.”
The Darkness grabbed her hand, the coolness of void soothed the heat.
“There is nothing to be done here, he won’t wake for another few days. You’ll be needed elsewhere however.”
“For all I know you are some manner of demon, twisting his mind and devouring his soul.”
She just laughed.
“Fine.”
The Darkness took a form as more than just a feminine shadow, she became a pillar of void, eyes, and teeth, and stretched from the floor to the ceiling, spreading out more and more, forcing Carmilla to back away from the Harlan.
“Can you now feel my divinity? Now banish that idea, demons don’t devour souls, they are a more general term used for a variety of non-standard monsters, things which should not exist in this world.
Please, allow Harlan to rest, if you can trust these men to watch over him that is.”
“He is suffering, if you are a god as you claim, surely there is something to be done?”
“I don’t intend to air his feelings to you, but the boy has sorrow over the woman which he cannot be with, and to save her from the pain, I offered to give it to him. When the pain is done, his body will heal, and until then, I shall keep him in my dream, away from the suffering of the flesh.”
Carmilla was uncertain if The Darkness truly was what she had claimed, in her era many things claimed to be gods, and she would not be the first that could fake that indescribable divine feeling.
But something told her that staying wasn’t an option, and leaving was to be either dead or alive.
“You’ve claimed that I am needed elsewhere, explain.”
----------------------------------------
Sholl stood still, trying to understand what he had seen, and the towers looked away from him.
He slowly flew nearer to them and saw roots inside of the tower leading inside of the main house.
Following the roots he looked inside of the home, but didn’t see a clear answer for what was happening.
He thought it possibly some strange evolution of a mimic tree or an unknown magical creature.
Sholl reached for the door handle, and suddenly got a bad feeling.
His spells revealed no magical or mechanical trap, but he always trusted his senses, they had kept him alive thus far.
There was nothing else he could figure out from looking around the city, and he didn't wish to go into the towers themselves.
Everything he got near gave that eerie feeling, and there was not a life inside of the city which he could see.
But then a wagon train started to arrive.
As they got closer, Sholl realized the wagons he had seen were not driven by people, nor were they wagons.
Giant spiders with a dozen legs and hollow thoraxes were filled with gems and ore.
Once they reached the gate something came outside and turned the wheel to open it for them.
It had no head, just a large body like an ogre and strong limbs to do the work of multiple men.
Each spider stopped at a storehouse with bins in front of it, and another thing came out, it’s dozen limbs and eyes moved independently from one another, sorting each or and gem into the bins which then scuttled away like millipede and onto a track that Sholl recognized as belonging to a train.
Sholl felt like he had stumbled into something terrible, a world that felt wrong, cut off from the reality he understood.
Suddenly a shadow passed overhead, and the towers turned their focus to him.
Sholl barely dodged the bat thing which dropped from above, leaving a deep gash across his chest and nearly severing his left arm.
“Ah, I’ve not killed a Finger in some time.”
He came to a stop, looking at the vampire lord with her tight fitting red and black robe.
“You should not be here, in these lands, his lands.”
“What is happening here?”
Sholl was more than just a destroyer, and the wound, though costly, healed quickly.
“Is it not clear? This is a mining town.”
“Those things, this place, where are the people?”
“They have moved on to a better place, as you should. Go, run to your tin men and warn them of what they cannot understand.”
Sholl fought his pride, dusted himself off, and fled as she laughed.
Death would come to him if he stayed, but she knew killing a Finger would be more likely to just bring a Hand, and no fight between her and a Hand would be without a great deal of damage even if she did manage to win.
She would not allow foolishness to bring another kingdom to ruin.