I looked on as Mavrich inspected the Lions Manes, debating what type of tea I would like to enjoy with him. While Mavrich liked a black tea, I was partial to the greens, so we often ended up sharing teas with hints of flowers and herbs so we were both compromising. Maybe rose hips today. That could help Mavrich’s shoulder stiffness as an added side benefit. I hopped down from the third level counter where the Lions Manes were and headed towards the back. Mavrich would be a while with those mushrooms.

“Rose Hip?” I sent over my shoulder.

There was a minute of silence then Mavrich’s voice floated back to me, “Make a big pot, we have a lot to go over.”

“About the mushrooms?” I asked in surprise.

“No, the elf. But more importantly, the companion. Nattens should be expediting the instance, not slowing it down. It's not going to be less painful for either of them with more time in between,” he rumbled back. “She should know better.”

Glad that Mavrich couldn’t see me with my eyebrows rising more with each word he spoke, I set the water to boil. Seems like I needed to take a minute with the steeping and readjust my plan to include Mavrich going forward. I also needed to figure out how much he already knew. Direct was always best with Mavrich. I sighed. This was going to be a darker mid-morning than originally predicted.

“What would you tell Shadark?” I asked and settled in for the answer.

“Tell them? Tell them! Nothing!” Mavrich spat. “She can just show them, just open the bond and take them through it. They were fully bonded the last four instances, which never happens, and you know this is their 5th! If Nattens wanted they could be power leveling and clearing this instance for a pinnacle.”

I could hear Mavrich’s breath getting hitched with emotion, and knew that some of this was more about his companion then anything Night was or was not doing with Shadark. Companion bonds were complicated for a lot of reasons. It also explained how that had escalated so quickly. Maybe I should switch to lavender tea…

“What would it gain either of them to achieve a pinnacle on this instance?” I prompted.

I heard grumbling and knew it was time to bring the tea and sit down to hash this out. Pulling together the service for mixed company, I strolled back out to the main room. I placed the set down on the table under the window that opened out into the crisp mid-morning sunlight of Helmsword’s middle merchant district. Yes, the subdued sounds of bustling adventurers and trade might be helpful to sooth this conversation along.

“Come join me,” I motioned him over. I watched him gently set down the now crumbled mushroom, dust his scaled hands off and stride purposely towards me. So to business it seemed.

“When are you going to finish it?” Mavrich interrogated me while claiming his seat and his cup, not breaking eye contact.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“When you are ready to join me, and when they are together. We’ve talked about this,” I responded in an even tone. “It does nothing to ‘just get it done’ and that also changes nothing. I know that it is difficult to watch over and over while they ‘fail’, ‘failures’ that any of us could have prevented with well timed advice or some tough love. Yet, for them, each failure is an opportunity to get closer to what they crave - meaning. Meaning for why they are going through all this in the first place. For them, reading philosophy will not have the opportunity to stack up against lived experience.” I paused, seeing the shifting expression in Mavrich’s face in that last bit.

“You want them to join the Sentient? That’s surprising,” Mavrich leaned in. “Why?”

“No love, not join them, supersede them,” I said as I raised my tea cup to my lips, letting my glasses fog from the tea steam to hide some of the merriment in my eye for his impending reaction.

Mavrich spit out his tea in amazement “Superc…! No! Valen! What did your Sight do to you?”

Debating how long I could keep his incredulous gaze, and quickly moving on from that stray thought, I returned his gaze with an even one of my own. Counting off on my fingers, I recited, “This is Nattens’ fifth instance of her fifth companion, this is Grix’s fifth of 5s, Sasha’s fifth Guide pathing, my fifth Mythic and your fifth immortality.” I turned my palm and it’s five upright digits towards him. “These elements always exist, though names are different and circumstance adjacent, but this is the fifth decade that they do not care. At all. Not even a little bit.”

I paused, took a deep breath and continued as evenly as possible, bringing 318 years of knowledge into my next words. “And we owe it to them. All of us are here because of what they gave up. Even if none of you remember what they sacrificed. My Sight reminds me, helps me find what we keep losing. That’s what my Sight does to me, Mav.”

I took a deep breath, “You remember that they know each other - Shadark and Night, were bonded, that this is their fifth instance together and that they are above average levelers so could reach pinnacle. You know that they could path Guide, Everheart or Draven to name a few. You know that eventually their synergy will trigger Shadark to know also, to remember, to regain the memories of their last four instances together,” I affirmed.

“What you don’t remember, don’t know, is what they, Shadark, among others, sacrificed to keep this,” I motioned to the room, the city, the instance, the worlds, “from imploding into chaos brought about by idiocy, immaturity, selfishness and naked greed.”

I stopped and sipped my tea while the wheels in his head turned, not quite creating smoke from his ears, but close. That was another frustrating part of the instances. None of us remembered enough, just pieces that the Sentient seeded so we could path properly for their plans.

Few knew that they wanted the return of Midrin and the Age of Skills, or they believed they did. Dire conflict, power leveling, overpowered people and epic journeys. So they seeded complacency and mediocrity so that a Midrin could rise on the backs of others struggles. Maybe that will come to pass. I wouldn’t stop it, yet I wouldn’t help it along either. Coming out of my own introspection I glanced up at him.

I found his gray eyes waiting for mine, tinged with sadness and pain. “I don’t remember. And I know I don’t want to remember.” I waited as I sensed there was more. “Why don’t I want to remember Valen? I’ve been in this instance for three decades. I hesitate to even ask as, although I am one made of fire and passion, I feel cold dread at the prospect of knowing. I feel fierce and angry and enraged at this game you play, and still I can’t bear to know. Is it guilt? Shame?” he implored me.

“I won’t tell you,” I assured him. “And Nattens will not be telling Shadark either. Sadly, they may learn soon enough anyway. We’ll have to wait to see if it destroys them or the instance.”