Rynisia - (Past)
Rynisia stood up. Her muscles screamed in protest. She forced herself to stay standing for as long as she could manage before collapsing back into her chair.
It had been a month since her awakening. It felt more like years.
She was constantly hungry. Eirian said that her body was trying to make up for time lost in stasis.
Any moment now, the dragon would arrive for today's visit.
As expected, minutes later Eirian approached on foot from across her meadow. What Rynisia hadn’t expected was the man she had with her.
“Rynisia, this is my husband, Irotem.
“A pleasure to meet you, lass.” He said, eyes twinkling while he inclined his head.
“Are you a dragon too?”
He chuckled. “You get right to the point, don’t you?
No, I am not. Just a simple human, thank you very much.”
Eirian looked at him with an eyebrow raised. “Simple?! You haven’t the faintest idea of what it’s like to be simple.”
He leaned in towards Rynisia conspiratorially and pretended to whisper: “My aura of humility is a lot easier to maintain when she doesn’t blow my cover.”
“Ahem.”
“Right, right. Sorry.
Eirian tells me your acclimatization to a corporeal lifestyle has been going well?”
Eirian jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow as he spoke.
“Um...”
Eirian shot a glare at her husband, to which he shrugged sheepishly.
“He’s asking how your recovery has been going.”
“Oh. Good, I think? I can stand and walk a few steps now.
I’m still really hungry all the time...”
She eyed the bag the man was carrying.
“Ahh. Yes. I’m sure you would prefer to talk on a full stomach.”
Irotem waved his hand and conjured a small wooden table and two additional chairs on the grass in front of them.
He reached into his bag and removed a large boule of bread, a chunk of cheese and a cut of cured meat. He began to assemble sandwiches.
Rynisia watched with interest.
“Why don’t you have your faeries—I mean, why don’t you do that with magic just like how you brought the table here?”
He smiled in response. “Young lady, by the time you reach my age you’ll have learned to appreciate the simple satisfaction of working with your hands.”
“Okay. But I’m hungry.” Pieces of the food floated over to land in her hands. She greedily wolfed them down.
Irotem watched her for a moment and broke into a smile. “I had almost forgotten the restlessness of youth. Thank you.”
As soon as she finished the food from her hands she summoned more from the table. Irotem retrieved more from his bag.
Midway through a bite, Rynisia had a vivid recollection. Home, sitting at a table much like this, eating with her parents.
Her parents.
Buried under a mountain of rocks a century ago.
She would never eat with them again.
The food fell from her hands and she began to sob.
“Oh, dear. The setting seems to have triggered sorrow. I’m sorry.” Irotem put away the remainder of the food.
Eirian scooped up the girl into her arms and cradled her. “No, it's not your fault. There is no way around this grief. Only through it.”
Irotem took a few minutes to walk around the meadow, appreciating the pleasant scenery and climate. He inspected Rynisia’s tree for a moment, then stooped down nearby and picked up something from the grass.
He walked back to them, rotating a small object in his hands.
Tears still running down her cheeks, Rynisia looked up, curious. Eirian gently returned her to her chair.
He handed her an oval stone of marble. “Your thief seems to have left something behind.”
“I—” she sniffed, “I don’t want it.”
“I think it will prove useful in the future. Humour an old man, would you? Pretend it is a cherished gift.”
“If I have to...” She placed it on the armrest.
“Irotem?”
“Yes?”
“Can magic bring my parents back?”
He sighed deeply and thought for a moment.
A single tear slid down his cheek;
“No, my dear; It cannot. They have long since passed beyond.”
“They didn’t deserve to die. Why did I have to survive?”
“Did your parents love you?”
“Well...yes. They told said so a lot.”
“I did not know your parents, young one. But knowing that they loved you I can safely guarantee:
If they had been given the choice of who should survive, them or you, they would have chosen you. Without hesitation and without regret.
As such, might I suggest you live your life as if they had been given that choice?”
She thought on his words for a long while, shedding tears anew.
Finally, she nodded.
“How can I go on without them?”
“That is up to you...although, I can make a suggestion or two if you wish to hear them.”
“What?”
“The arcanaphage your family sought to flee continues unabated. The ‘swamp’ as you know it.
It will continue to grow and consume indefinitely unless it can be contained or destroyed. There are millions of people in its path; Many families, just like yours.”
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“But what can I do that you could not?”
“Patience. We will teach you.”
EIRIAN
“Her level of functionality improves at an alarming rate.”
“Yes, very impressive.”
“Do you have any ideas as to how?”
“Not yet. Perhaps if I take some time to search accounts of similar phenomena...”
“Inform me the moment you discover any leads.”
“As you say, Brightest Light.”
“How quickly do you think we can safely rehabilitate and prepare her?”
“That depends on the fine details of her condition. I estimate six months.
Give or take five years.”
“The lower end of that range seems questionable.”
“Well, I have to cover all my bases.”
“You’re senile.”
“Of course, of course. I learned from the best.”
Irotem’s tone changed abruptly, becoming serious.
“I have a theory; What if their connection was bi-directional? It may have been possible for her to gain a degree of knowledge and skill by proxy.”
“That would be concerning if true, considering the source. However, she doesn’t seem aware of any such externally-gleaned information.”
“If it is happening, I doubt either of them are conscious of it.”
Eirian sighed.
“I’ll see if I can find evidence.”
“If the theory proves true, this may be the most promising divergent path we’ve encountered.”
“Or the most dangerous.”
“Or that, yes.”
“Be careful.”
“Likewise.”
---
Rynisia walked with Eirian across the meadow.
She paused, thinking.
“Are you tired, young one? We can return to the camp if you wish.”
“No, actually. I feel better than ever.
May I accompany you when you return home?
Eirian looked sad.
“I see. If you are able, you may…”
“Why do you hesitate?”
The woman feigned a smile. “It may be nothing. I will explain if problems arise.”
Rynisia beamed.
“Can we go now?”
“I suppose.”
They left the meadow, starting down the canyon trail. Rynisia had to keep herself from jumping with excitement.
Eiran kept a short distance behind her, watching with veiled trepidation.
“I still feel fine!” Rynisia assured her.
“Very good.” Eirian smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
They walked a few more meters.
Rynisia began to feel less energetic.
She tried to hide her fatigue.
More walking.
She couldn’t keep up her former pace. She slowed.
“Are you alright?”
“Y-yes I’m just a little tir—” she stumbled over a rock but managed to keep herself standing.
“We should return—”
“No, I’ll just rest for a moment.” Her speech slurred slightly.
She leaned against the canyon wall. The remainder of her strength left her and she began to slump over.
Eirian caught her.
“Rynisia?”
Eirian’s voice seemed to echo, as if she was speaking through a tunnel. Her vision went black.
She woke up in her bed, back in the meadow.
It was now morning.
She heard voices outside of the tent; She stepped through the door.
Eirian and Irotem sat in their own chairs nearby, talking softly.
Irotem looked up.
“Rynisia. I’m glad to see you are well.”
“I thought I was. I’ve walked for longer than that while pacing here. Why couldn’t I make it a few simple kilometers?” She said sadly.
“I believe your physical fitness has fully returned. There are simply some unfortunate complications with your unique situation.”
“What do you mean?”
“After spending so long within the wellspring here, you have become bound to it. When you move too far away your soul begins to lose contact with your body.”
“So I’m stuck here forever!?”
“Not necessarily. There may be ways to negate the problem.”
“‘May be’?”
“I’m not certain; Much is unknown about your condition. In fact, I’m impressed that you’re still functional at any significant distance. Even with training, most would only be able to manage a meter or two. And that only for a few moments.”
“What should I do, then?”
“Continue to study and exercise the limits of your abilities as we’ve shown you. If there is a solution, I suspect it will require a great deal of time and ingenuity to create.
In the meantime, stopping the swamp from becoming any larger is of utmost importance.”
“None of the magic you’ve shown me can do much at this distance.”
“Correct.”
“So how can it help?”
“You have been developing control. How will you direct greater powers unless you have mastered the ones you have?”
“I suppose.”
His eyes grew sad.
“Child...there is less time than you realize. With all my power working to contain it, the swamp strains at its confines. Even now, cracks are spreading.
I have reached the limits of my abilities.”
“But then...can’t you do something, Eirian? You're a dragon!”
Eirian smiled sadly. “If there was more I could do, I would already be doing it.”
Irotem nodded. “She has more power than I ever will; However, an adult dragon’s magic is aspected very strongly. It is most powerful for a specific range of purposes, none of which are particularly well-suited to fighting this type of arcanaphage.”
“You keep mentioning that word. What is an arcanaphage, exactly?”
“It is a chain reaction in which a spell or creature devours magic in order to grow, gain more power, and devour more. Unfortunately, this also includes the innate magic in all living things.
Any magical effect that is both self-sustaining and self-perpetuating has the potential to morph into an arcanaphage. Even a weak mage could create one by accident; It’s not even particularly difficult.”
Her eyes went wide as she considered the implications.
“How has some idiot not wiped out all life already?”
“Oh, such things nearly happen more often than you might think.
Thankfully, there are some few who have the ability to foresee possible events, to a limited degree of precision. I am one of those.
The rapid catastrophes are the easiest, both to predict and prevent.
I will know weeks or months in advance if some foolish mage is at risk of making a dire mistake, and I can then take measures to prevent it. Sometimes this is as easy as sending a cautionary message; If the danger persists, for example if the perpetrator is stubborn, I am forced to resort to more drastic measures.
“You kill them?”
“Not if I can help it; In a few cases it is unavoidable, such as when they know what they are doing and fully intend to unleash disaster.”
“Is anyone that evil?”
“Evil... Or insane.”
“So, why didn’t you stop the Swamp before it became so big?”
“The fast ones are the easiest to foresee. Inversely, slow, subtle types such as the Swamp can be very difficult if not impossible to detect at first.
It does not help that when it first began I was young and inexperienced. I only began to sense it fourty years ago. By then it was already centuries old and beyond my power to destroy. We have been working to contain it ever since.”
“So there is nothing more we can do?”
“There is nothing more I can do, at least not directly. My capacity has its limits. If given the chance you could surpass me, bound as you are to a primal, corporeally-bound wellspring.”
“How?”
“The wellspring that kept you alive is all but an arcanaphage already. However, unlike most it is not mindless. You have the ability to choose how it will develop. We hope that you will be able to guide it to surround and isolate the swamp.”
“Isn’t that risky?”
“Incredibly so. However, it is the best plan we have.”
“What if I go mad with power and become like the swamp?”
“That is why we chose you and not Meyriv. We do not think that is likely to happen to you. Even so, we will take precautions.”