POP!

The once multicolored flames merged into a large sphere of shining light. There was a bright flash, forcing Zerine to cover her eyes with an arm. When the blinding light had faded, she stared in awe. A ball of light roughly the size of a large pumpkin was floating in the middle of the cavern. Swirls of yellows, golds, and silvers moved across the sphere’s smooth surface.

“Ho-ly shit,” Zerine whispered.

Varino broke the silence by zooming around the sphere, chiming excitedly.

Zerine sighed. “Varino, that is not how you're supposed to introduce yourself to a Starborn.”

She bowed to the sphere. Who didn’t react, but Zerine could sense that the being was…happy? Her instincts were a bit of a mix bag when it came to the Starborn.

Probably having to do with how these beings are a collective acting as one, she thought.

Starborns, also known by Starwalkers or star spirits, were beings that lived beyond their planet. Little was none about these beings other than that they were a collective and like beings near stars. She had read a book that had a firsthand account from an unnamed summoner who had somehow been able to form a union soul contract with a Starborn. There were many discussions about the being's behavior and a little about its magic. First, a Starborn collective appeared sometimes like balls of fire, but in actuality was a type of light and fire elemental. The second fact that she could remember thinking at the time was insane, was the fact that if a member of the collective knew something, then the rest did as well. Mental magic was common, but it appeared that Starborns had some deeper connection than that, which the summoner never wrote about in detail. The book overall was interesting and a direction she had explored. She thought with her instincts that she might have an affinity for being a tamer or summoner. But won't know till she gets her crest.

Zerine distinctly remembered thinking it was crazy how lucky the summoner was to meet a Starborn, let alone form a contract with one. She never thought in her wildest dreams that she would be standing underground with a Starborn mere feet away.

Speaking of that sphere of light. An oscillating electronic tone came from the being. The sound startled Zerine. It was like nothing she had heard before. And yet her instincts kicked in, giving her a vague feeling of what the Starborn was saying to Varino. Since the Starborn was a collective, the impressions she was getting from her instincts were a jumbled mess.

God gods, just a little overwhelming, she thought. If she could compare what she was feeling right now, it would be like her attending a large social gathering. All the distinct impressions, feelings, and information from those around her that her instincts picked up on made those types of gatherings tiring and difficult. This wasn’t as bad as those gatherings, because there was a sort of cohesion amongst the collective. To make it better, the collective wasn’t hiding agendas or other things, unlike those that Zerine delt with during classes.

Varino’s answer to the electronic tones was a bright flute note, followed by a host of whistles and chimes. Zerine wasn’t sure if the Starborn could understand Varino’s speech, but clearly Varino’s communication ability was working fine.

If only it worked both ways, she thought as she tried to understand the impressions from the Starborn’s electronic sounds.

Kimi suddenly jumped off Zerine’s shoulder and skittered towards the floating elemental. The spider clicked at Zerine to come along and introduce herself, waving a foreleg for her to follow.

“And here we go,” she muttered, still uncertain if they should approach or even exactly how to approach a Starborn.

Varino’s whistle to her and Kimi made the decision for her as the spirit introduced them to the Starborn, who evidently could understand Varino.

When Zerine got closer, she bowed to the Starborn. When she straightened, she spoke.

“Hello, I’m Zerine. It’s an honor to meet you,” she said, smiling, hoping it didn’t show how nervous she was.

Suddenly, a cluster of smaller balls of light popped out of the spirit and flew around her. Goosebumps appeared on her skin from what she guessed were the spirits scanning her in some manner.

The little Starborns made higher pitched electronic tones, which were rather adorable. The smaller Starborns were easier to understand than the larger Starborn? Collective Starborn? Zerine really wasn’t sure what exactly the beings floating around her were. Were they individuals acting like a whole? Or were they all one being just with many bodies? Another pressing question popped into her mind.

Why the fuck wasn’t any of this in that book!? she thought. She was pulled out of her thoughts as the little Starborns spoke to her.

As the littles Starborn’s spoke to her, Zerine smiled. Roughly, they were saying it was nice to meet her and they were curious about where they were in the cosmos, as Varino hadn’t explained that because she didn’t know.

“Hmm, where to start?” she said thoughtfully. During the momentary pause, another group of small Starborns flew out and inspected Kimi and the spider introduced themself.

Varino whistled, drawing Zerine’s attention away as Kimi clicked to their group of Starborn. Varino was pointing straight up. Zerine craned her head back to look up the hole the Starborn had made crashing into the hill. Attempting to see the sky, Zerine squinted, turning to get a better view. The sky was darkening as storm clouds began moving in. Zerine frowned because the clouds looked…off. She wasn’t certain about it, but the edges of the clouds appeared to have a similar effect to oil on water, having that ghostly rainbow effect. She observed the clouds a little longer, hoping that it was just a trick of the light.

First Metal heads and now a gods damn mana storm, she thought grimly, recognizing the early signs. There are no mana barriers to protect us, so where could we be safe from a mama storm? The spiritual place, maybe, but anywhere else? We better start heading to the spirits again, then.

The little Starborns sounds made Zerine look at them.

“Right, you are on a planet near…” Zerine trailed off. She realized she couldn’t help the Starborn. How do you explain where in the cosmos you are when, from your perspective, the cosmos was unknown? There were records from the rare iridesium-rank who could go explore before ascending, but they knew very little about the world beyond theirs.

“I don’t believe we will be able to answer where you are in the cosmos. But what made you crash into our planet, if you don’t mind me asking?” Zerine wondered. Yes, they probably should leave before the storm came, but when else could she talk to a Starborn?

Several Starborns vanished in a tiny blink of light. Then the little cluster of Starborns around Zerine began talking about something called a corrupted one. Zerine had never heard of anything called that before. After some probing questions, she discovered it was some sort of creature that warped their energies somehow, but it was this corrupted being that had made the Starborn crash into their planet.

“Wow, so is this corruption thing coming after you?” Zerine wondered, hoping it wouldn’t, because if it beat the Starborn, then they wouldn’t be able to do much against such a foe.

Zerine’s gaze followed Varino and the larger Starborn start playing a game of what looked like tag, while the Starborns around her began explaining that they had to protect something and it impeded their fight. But they still have the Star Seed, so the corrupted one would probably come after them.

“What’s a Star Seed? Also-”

And just as she was about to wish the Starborn good luck in the fight, the Starborn asked if their group could help protect the Star Seed while they deal with the corrupted one.

Hearing this, Varino zoomed over, answering for Zerine with an overly enthusiastic bell-like chime, while Kimi agreed as well, making Zerine sigh.

Here we go…again, she thought, a mix of exasperated and amused.

The Starborn followed up Varino’s response by saying they would gladly repay them for this, which they declined. Well, Varino and Kimi declined. Zerine followed their lead, but really wondered what a Starborn would give as a reward. But now they had to figure out what a Star Seed was and how to protect it, while nearly all the Starborns went off to fight. While they planned their defenses, the large Starborn and Kimi were filling the cavern and hillside with magical defenses. Thus far, they learned that there would only be four Starborns left, while the rest went off to fight. They would hold off on taking out the Star Seed until the last moment before they were ready to go fight.

“So you have a spatial storage ability, and that takes up resources which affected your fight,” Zerine said, mulling over their situation. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. The mana storm was probably going to start either tonight or earlier. Metal heads were in the area, and the Star Seed would most likely attract most of the monsters on the island. Thinking about the monsters made her ask a very important question.

“How strong are you all when you're like this?” Zerine wondered, gesturing to the small spheres of light.

The Starborn made a questioning electric sound and Zerine sighed.

I’m so dumb, like they would understand our ranking system, she thought.

“Varino, can you tell how strong they are?”

Varino whistled, looking up from an arrow she was working on.

“Somewhere in C-rank, that…that could work,” Zerine said. “You all don’t share one mana pool, do you? Oh, and out of curiosity, are you all individuals with a hive mind or are you one being with multiple bodies?”

The Starborn made several tones, then beeped once.

“Huh, so individual mana pools when separated, and yes to the last question?” she clarified.

The Starborn beeped again in confirmation.

“Oookay, that just leads to more questions, but that’s neat,” she said. “Oh, and since you can make magic arrays and embed magic runes, why can’t you use magic dampening on the Star Seed to hide it?” Zerine wondered, watching as several small Starborns carved runes with beams of light.

The Starborn made a bass tone.

“Ah, so no, those runes won’t work. Hmm, can you carve these? There is a mana storm coming, and we may need a safe place to hide,” Zerine said, holding up an array of runes she had been scratching into a stone.

The little Starborn bounced and soon the other Starborns were carving several runes in a ring around the space. Meanwhile, Zerine had Varino, and one Starborn help her make about a hundred and fifty arrows into a type that could create lightning, fire, or light attacks when they hit a target. During her rare time of not fighting monsters or the damn monkeys, Zerine had been making more arrows, and these were the result of her hard work. They weren’t the best, but you try making arrows out of sticks with only knives. After a few failures, these arrows had passed her tests, so should hold up well during the fight.

“A hundred and fifty of these and another hundred of the Metal head ones should last me, hopefully the first few attacks before they realize not to bother with us,” Zerine said, inspecting a sparking arrow that Varino had just completed.

Varino chimed in agreement.

There were suddenly three blinks of light as three other Starborn appeared, floating around Zerine. The Starborn she had been talking to was all red, while now there was a cyan color one, a mint green, then lastly a dark green Starborn.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“What were you three off doing with the rest?” Zerine wondered.

All three spoke, taking turns. Their electronic sounds weaved a melody. They explained they had been out with the others, creating magical arrays. The arrays would ensure that anything stronger than Varino and those around their strength would be attacked or blocked.

“Wait, there are runes and an array that can do that!?” Zerine said excitedly. This was new knowledge and something beyond anything she had read. “C-can you show me that array? Here carve it into this rock,” she added, finding a flat slate-like rock.

The red Starborn began carving a complex set of runes, patterns and symbols, while the others made tones of mild confusion, but then went back to explaining what they had been up to. The group had been rather busy. Not only did they make magical arrays and helped Kimi make traps, but they had affected the fire in the area in such a way that those who would come after the Star Seed would have to approach from one side of the hill. A part of the hill that just so happened to have their traps and barricades. With all of those factors, they should restrict movement and would hopefully reduce any number advantage the monsters or creatures would have.

Hearing the Starborn explain this helped reduced the stress that Zerine hadn’t even noticed building up. She still was a little afraid, however, but felt more prepared, which was good because the large Starborn gave them a cheerful tone, saying good luck before vanishing in a flash of light. With that sudden departure, their group started towards the tunnel to get ready as one Starborn stayed back to place the Star Seed in a protected area.

Zerine followed three of the Starborn, who flitted about ahead of them as they went through the tunnel. Varino was sitting on her shoulder, humming happily, as if fighting a horde of monsters was totally normal. At that thought, Zerine realized it kinda had been their normal. Every day, they had fought anywhere from twenty to nearly eighty monsters. The worst days had been those after the mass manifestations where she had lost count of just how many monsters they fought. This helped her get her mindset ready for what came next.

“Wow…you realize a barricade tends to look more…improvised,” Zerine said, staring at what she could only describe as a wall rather than barricade. Logs and stone had been moved to make sturdy looking defenses. Hell, she even saw many had magical arrays to help them withstand attacks. Not only did the Starborn and Kimi somehow do this over a few hours, but had done it three times, creating a three layered defense.

I guess when you can produce a swarm of Starborn it makes tasks like this easy to finish quickly…incredible quickly, Zerine thought, still in a shock.

Varino chimed, impressed.

“Great job is an understatement. This is incredible,” Zerine said.

The Starborn beeped happily.

“Well, let’s get to the first wall and make it hold out,” Zerine said, drawing her bow.

Soon, their small group was arrayed on the outermost wall. Kimi was hidden somewhere, while Varino was still sitting on Zerine’s shoulder. The Starborn had turned themselves invisible using their light affinity, and Zerine knew they were flying around getting ready for the first wave.

Zerine looked up at the still darkening sky. The once subtile, oily-like rainbow that had been on the edges of the clouds was now far more prominent. Several were even changing from dark grey to shades of blue and purple.

“This better not take too long, or we may just get to experience a mana storm first hand,” Zerine said.

Varino patted her shoulder and whistled reassuringly.

“Saying it will just make it more fun dosen’t ease my mind. But it will be a worthwhile experience…I guess,” she said, while thinking.

If we survive the storm, which isn’t even taking into account this fight. Or the Metals heads, which I am pretty sure will show up.

There was a pulse of energy that rippled outwards from the cavern. Monster’s shrieks, screams, cries, and more sounds echoed as they the energy’s affect spread, catching their attention. The red Starborn appeared next to Zerine in a blink and beeped.

“Yep, here we go,” she replied, nocking an arrow. She shoved aside her worries and prepared for a fight. Her gaze checked the still burning part of the forest waiting.

A burning tree exploded into shards as a large alligator appeared charging them. The monster had long legs, unlike the normal alligator allowing it to run. It had large spikes protruding from its back that it shot at them once its six eyes locked on to them. Zerine loosed her arrow, which rocketed off in a blast of air getting aid from Varino. The shot marked the beginning of the fight for the Star Seed.

***

“Well, we made it back,” Alana said, sitting heavily in a chair.

Lucy sat in another and started up the observation stream and froze.

“What is that little red ball?” Alana said, leaning forward. “And did they make a damn fortress while we were gone? Like…how the actual fuck?”

“I believe that is a Starborn, but I’m uncertain. We will have to look over the recordings to learn more. The sensors there picked up a powerful mana source drawing in,” Lucy's voice trailed as her eyes went wide.

“Drawing in everything!” Alana commented, then whistled, looking over at the display Lucy was staring dumbfounded. “Hey look at that, a mana storm is coming in too. Well, shit. That is a handful.”

“Understatement of the century. We-” Lucy was saying when both stiffened as a mental message from their parents came in.

“A Metal head horde had been found. Several mass monster manifestations have also been detected. We are mustering everyone and that includes you two,” came their mother’s mental message.

“What about our charge on the island?” Lucy thought back.

“If she hasn’t broken her emergency crystal, then your task is to help others.”

The connection was severed immediately after that.

Both sat in silence, watching as Zerine and her rather bizarre group began a large scale battle.

“Let’s go. And here I was hoping for a nice rest,” Alana said, standing and stretching.

Lucy bit her lip, but nodded. “If she has a Starborn friend now, she’ll be fine,” she said, trying to convince herself, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that this would not end well.

***

Zerine shot another arrow, killing a large flying snake. She ducked under the swing of a mantis-like monster’s blade arm. Literally, the mantis’ two armors were made from polished steel. One of her swords appeared in her hand, replacing the bow. Zerine tilted her, the air sung as an arms slice just missed her cheek. Now she was close enough that with a targeted strike she cut the arm of the mantis off, spraying dark brown blood. She grabbed the falling limb and sliced the mantis’ chest open with its own arm before moving on to her next target, which there were plenty of them.

The battle was chaotic. Creatures were taking advantage of the monsters’ distraction to attack, while the monsters attacked literally anything in their path, as if the mana from the Star Seed had made them lose their minds.

If they even have intelligence, she thought, dispatching another monster still using the mantis monster’s limb as an improvised scythe.

Varino flashed past a streak of lightning, blasting aside anything that got in her path. Zerine and Varino stayed close to one another in the melee to cover one another.

They had been on the wall, but when creatures showed up to just kill the monsters, the monsters already unorganized battle became full-blown chaos. So they jumped at the chance to kill as many of them as possible, keeping close to the wall just in case.

***

“Nudging the Starborn in their direction seems a bit much,” Order and Chaos remarked. “It’s not like the mana storm, the still increasing number of monsters, oh, and the Metal heads arriving in mass the next day would be easy to handle.”

Zeron’Nyo and Order and Chaos observed Zerine’s fight start. They watched as Zerine shot an arrow that was a streak of light. It found its mark exploding a monster’s head into gore. But the attack didn’t stop there. The arrow curved slightly, still shining with light, before blasting a hole through a monstrosity of flesh and wood.

“I didn’t know about the Metal heads. They were hidden and probably has something to do with ascendents on the other side doing something. They must be aligning with one of the groups,” Nyo said.

“Hmm, the larger group of Metal heads was heading towards the wastelands, it appears,” Order and chaos said, mildly disinterested. The fairy’s gaze went distant for a moment before she smiled.

“So Great mother, what brings you to our little…what do they call this in other realities…stream and chill? No, that’s not right. Oh! watch party?”

Nyo turned to see a woman standing next to the couch they sat on. The women had nine transparent purple and pink fox tails made form sort of energy. They swished as the woman snorted a laugh.

“Is this a formal visit?” Order and chaos wondered.

“Nyo is here. And I’m curious what you two have been up to, Eris,” the Great mother commented, tilting her head. Her features kept changing, which was rather distracting for Nyo, who tried not to stare.

“Casual then, Demetris,” Order and Chaos smiled brightly. “So, what actually brings you to our watch party?” Eris said, waving her hand, extending the couch, which was made from the night sky.

“Two things. One I haven’t checked in on, the one you’ve been observing…Zerine was it? I assume, since Nyo is here, that you two are watching her. The second is this,” Demetris waved a hand, changing a view of Zerine to another reality entirely.

In the image was a fight that made the one that Zerine was in look childish in comparison. A moon split in half from a slash of pure black mixed with swirls of crimson. A man wearing matte black armor was wielding two swords. One was a shining silver and blue, while the other was black with swirls of red. It had been his attack that destroyed the moon. The man's opponent was a woman who used a jade-colored spear. She jabbed her spear forward, shooting a blast of power that carved a hole through part of the moon as the man dodged the attack.

“Your deal with me wasn’t to put him in this type of conflict. This is pushing his injuries and abilities too far. He isn’t ready and if people catch on, it will only lead to trouble for your plans,” Demetris said.

“We,” Eris gestured between them, “didn’t make a true deal. He did. To help twelve planets was the deal. This is the eleventh planet and is well within his capabilities and the scope of the deal. He already killed Corruption’s ascendent. Now he is just dealing with a troublesome witness.”

As Eris had spoken, the view of the man flared with light as a beam of silver, blue, red, and black erupted from the man encasing the women who didn’t reappear. The attack faded and Nyo stared in shock as there were no signs of an ascendent reconstituting themselves or even remanents of their power.

“That red and black blade…is that the concept of annihilation? The weapon with the bound god of Annihilation tied to ti? The one all the major factions are currently looking for since it vanished from its prison. Oh, and that silver and blue blade is made from fragments of Creation’s forge. A forge that has been missing for eons,” Nyo said, giving Eris a disapproving look.

“I don’t know how a mortal got their hands on such things,” Eris said innocently, while Demetris giggled.

“That man,” Nyo said, jabbing a finger at the image showing the man who was now drifting in space. “That man is mortal!?” she said incredulously, her voice nearly cracking.

“Yep. Actually, he is missing quite a lot compared to those from his original reality. He can’t even ascend as he is right now,” Demetris commented. Her gaze was watching the view of Zerine’s fight.

Nyo got a glimpse of the action. Zerine cut off a spiky leg made of metal from a monster, then used that leg as a spear to kill that same monster. Seeing that made her smile. Zerine certainly was living up to her expectations. But her gaze went back to the other image as a being wearing a pink cloak appeared and took the man away, vanishing in a swirl of stars. To her amazement, the moon was whole once again.

“Artifacts are certainly handy when covering up massive battles that would normally catch attention. And for some reason, Corruption and Chaos’s views and connection to their agents were blocked,” Eris said happily.

“How have Corruption and Chaos’ factions not noticed? Also, isn’t him killing an agent of chaos like killing someone who fallows you by extension?” Nyo wondered.

“No, I don’t have a faction. Chaos is the primal of pure chaos. Their power is an echo of mine though, but they are their own being,” Eris said.

“Officially, you never had a faction, officially. And the others have noticed. But none can see what happened, so all they know is that their plans have been thwarted as of late,” Demetris said.

“This grand plan of yours is rather complicated,” Nyo commented.

“True, but I have waited for eons and pieces are finally falling into place.”

“I wish my family wouldn’t be so troublesome or our planet might be in a better state to help our plans,” Nyo said.

“How long do you think it’s been since the last time you interacted so frequently?” Eris wondered.

“A little over three thousand years,” Nyo said. Then it hit her as she tried to think about it in more detail.

Wait, has it been? Time is…odd now, she thought.

“Eris! You haven’t helped Nyo get used to time stream relativity?” Demetris said incredulously.

“From your perspective it’s been that long,” Eris said, ignoring Demetris. “But from your planet. Weeell, umm, Demetris, how long?”

Demetris sighed. “Your just as bad with time,” she muttered, exasperated. “It’s been a little over ten thousand years their time. Your little check ins have been every thousand years or so,” Demetris said.

“Holy shit! No wonder why they’re being difficult. But what about ascendents from my family?”

“Your planet has some every few centuries, higher than average. Some have been related to your family. There is an ascendent working for Order who is back on your planet. Their influence and that of the others is making your family argue amongst themselves,” Eris said, waving her hands, enlarging the view of Zerine’s fight.

“They never looked for me?” Nyo said, surprised.

“You're an independent and have a strong path. When others ascend, they go from being the biggest fish in a small pond to a tiny speck in the greater cosmos. Their instincts make them want to join a faction of some kind just to feel like they have a place in the cosmos and a chance to grow,” Demetris said, watching Zerine use her ball and chain to crush the skull of a goblin-like monster.

“Wonderful, so one of my own is adding to the chaos that is spreading in that world,” Nyo grumbled.

“Well, for now. Just sit back and watch. Wait and see what happens, trust me, it will be worth it,” Eris said, grinning, her eyes flickering crimson as her normal teeth turned to serrated points before everything went back to normal.

“Speaking of watching, it appears that the first wave of fighting is over…for now,” Demetris remarked.

***

Zerine sat down on a stone, breathing hard. She had a bandage around an arm and around her left thigh. The fighting had been brutal, and they ended up having the first wall get shattered, but kept the monster’s back from the second wall. The Starborns had been a great help. They dealt with more powerful monsters, while leaving the smaller ones to their group. Their tactics had helped them not be overwhelmed by numbers for a time, but eventually they were pushed back.

Kimi and Varino were sitting next to her, absorbing mana from quintessence shards to help replenish their mana reserves quicker. Neither of them had been injured, but Varino had some close calls forcing her to use more mana to black an attack or just barely avoid getting hit.

All three were exhausted, but knew they would have to push through the night. This was the first lull they had for hours and would take advantage of this break. Zerine popped another healing pill into her mouth.

Varino’s whistle warbled.

“I’m doing fine, but I only have around thirty left. Overall, I think we will be fine. The Starborns say the fight is going well and the Large one should be back tonight, so we just have to hold out,” Zerine reassured Varino. “But I will need to take this other pill. It will help me be ready. When I nap it should feel like I got full night's sleep. Wake me if there is an attack, or preferably before one…alright?” Zerine said. After she got a click and chime of agreement, Zerine popped a blue pill into her mouth. She only had ten of these. There would be a negative impact if she took too many in a row, but she needed the energy restoration. Soon she was in a deep sleep.