I suddenly feel like Aladdin in the cave of wonders. Like I’ve walked into some underground fairy realm. Bastet’s memory wasn’t a patch on the reality. We’re in a cavern that’s several times the size of the tunnel we’ve been travelling through. The walls around me are encrusted with red diamonds, their hearts shimmering with fire. No question about whether this is the source of the red light or not: the stones don’t just reflect and refract light, they actually emit it. There are dozens, hundreds even, looking almost like they’ve grown from the rock. Or like droplets of blood shed from innumerable small wounds.
The whole impression is one of magnificence, but I don’t get quite why Bastet was so excited over them. She still is – almost bouncing in place as she looks around. Lathani seems curious; the cubs are just ignoring everything and rolling together as they wrestle something. River, however, is unusually animated, a palpable ebullience creeping over the Bond. It’s contagious, and I start feeling an anticipation for something I don’t even know is worth feeling excited about.
“What are they?” I ask River, deciding that he might be more able to explain than Bastet.
Look at them, he says instead, his tone admiring – and covetous. What do they look like to you? What is with my Bound and being mysterious about these things? Exasperation running through me, I lean closer. Not touching – I know better than to touch something I’m unfamiliar with, no matter how my Bound are reacting. When I only look at one of the gems and mentally separate it from the cluster, I realise that River’s right – they do look familiar. The fact that they’re growing in groups on a wall rather than being extracted as single items from a corpse had put me off.
Frowning, I pull the salamander Energy-Heart out of my Inventory and compare them. I was right – they are similar. Not the same. The salamander one is far darker, garnet instead of ruby, and its reflection is infinitesimally less. It doesn’t actually emit light the way these appear to either. Although it had looked like a gem in River’s hand, now it looks like barely more than some everyday rock in comparison to the rubies in front of me.
The salamander Energy-Heart is smaller than most of the gems clustered on the walls, but it’s not the smallest. No, the main difference is that it looks carved, shaped, like it’s already been processed by some skilled craftsman. In comparison, the rubies all around me are rough, natural rather than carved. It makes their capacity to sparkle and reflect the world around even more impressive: if they are like this when rough, what would they be like when carved?
“Are these…?” I ask out loud to no one in particular. River comes into my line of sight. He’s more excited than I’ve ever seen him before.
Yes! They’re natural Energy-Hearts! I’ve never heard of them being found in such a large quantity! Do you know what this means, Markus? I don’t, but from his reaction, and Bastet’s as well, it’s got to be a good find. With this many Energy-Hearts, I’ll be able to evolve in no time! That catches my attention.
“Wait, what do you mean ‘evolve’?” It’s got to be a good thing, right? Certainly River seems to think so. A memory comes back to me of a raptor-cat growing bigger and gaining wings. Is that what he’s talking about? River ignores me, instead doing his version of cooing over the Hearts.
That’s an image I’m sure I’ll never forget – a sharp-toothed, sharp-clawed crocodile-man looking like he’s halfway towards melting over a bunch of rocks. “River?” I ask, a little impatiently as he starts stroking the Heart. For a moment I think that it’s rubbed off on his fingers – the digits seem to gleam in the light very briefly. The next instant, the shine is gone and I wonder whether I just imagined it, or somehow River’s scales caught the light in an odd way. My Bound is completely rapt, and it takes me putting an annoyed hand on his shoulder to get his attention. He glares at me, irritation flowing over the Bond from his side at being interrupted.
What? he demands rudely, turning to gaze covetously at the stones after he’s shot me a dirty look. The tone makes me frown. Something feels wrong – he’s never reacted like that before and I’ve asked him to do much more difficult tasks than stepping away from a glowing gem.
“I think we should step out of here,” I say slowly, trying to push calming feelings down the Bond. I dart a glance to the others. Bastet looks to be much the same as River, almost nuzzling the rocks. This time, I’m pretty sure that something rubs off on her as I see her feather-fur gleam. That can’t be good… Lathani and the cubs seem more bored than anything else, though the nunda juvenile is poking at one of the rocks growing on the ground with her paw. “Yep, come on everyone,” I order, moving towards the exit. Lathani and the cubs follow me with no issues, especially when I pull a couple of bits of cooked meat out of my Inventory to bribe them with. Bastet and River, however…
“Bastet, River, come here,” I tell them levelly, making it very clear that I’m not asking. I don’t like using the fact that they can’t disobey a direct order on them, but I’m feeling more and more concerned about the situation. Maybe we should wait until morning and go through the forest anyway? My two Bound try to resist, but their limbs don’t let them, walking them over to me regardless of their attempts to stay with the shiny red jewels.
As we move around the bend of the tunnel and the cave is blocked from view, I observe my Bound relax. They stop resisting my order and perhaps even start to control their limbs again. We pause there, and Bastet lies down next to the cubs. I sit on the stone floor and River joins me there. Both of them send over a sense of apology, River’s also thrumming with shame. The lizard-man looks at the ground for a long moment before speaking.
Master, I’m...sorry. I was out of line, there. I’ll accept any punishment you feel fit for my rudeness. I shake my head before he even finishes.
“I told you, call me Markus. And it’s fine. No one was hurt, which is the most important thing. No, I just want to know what happened. Why were you and Bastet so drawn to those things? Did they have some sort of control over you?” Of all things, that’s my worst fear. Earth’s legends have plenty of ghouls, ghosts, and demons in them. We’ve already come across carnivorous trees and fire-breathing lizards; who’s to say there’s nothing that could exert mind-control over or possess my Bound?
No, River responds immediately. There was no control. There was just...desire.
“Desire?” I ask curiously, reassured a little despite knowing that there could still be danger.
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My whole body, no, my whole being cried out for me to approach the Energy-Hearts, to touch them, to consume them...to evolve.
“You said that before,” I note. “What do you mean?”
Do you remember what I said about Energy-Hearts? River asks me, his voice taking on a lecturing tone even as his eyes are drawn back to the cave.
“You said that they were something that grew in you, that they are useful for you in controlling Energy. You found one in the salamander.” Which is now back in my Inventory. I meant to give it to Bastet, but between her being injured, eating, and then going to scout, I haven’t had the opportunity. Maybe I should just give it to River since he’s the one that found it anyway… But that’s only if I’m convinced that these things are good for my Bound – what I saw in the cave is not exactly heartening. The lizard-man dips his snout in agreement, his attention now firmly back on me.
Indeed. We claim Energy from other creatures when we kill them – I imagine you have experienced this already. I nod. Some creatures have an Energy-Heart in them, like the fire-beast we recently fought. These Hearts are rich sources of Energy, containing multiple times what we can claim from the creature as it dies. My eyes light up.
“We can get Energy from these Energy-Hearts? How?” Then I remember the tiny ones Bastet had crunched down. “By eating them?” Amusement comes across the link even as River makes a hissing sound.
Not generally. Beasts which know no better do that, but we don’t. Over time, my people have discovered that eating Energy-Hearts actually loses some of the Energy they have to offer. Instead, we meditate and absorb the Energy over time. Bigger Hearts, we might spend days absorbing. Though, due to the rarity of those, only the most powerful of the Tribe might be given the opportunity to do so. He pauses for a moment, thinking. However, I did see...our herbalist adding slivers of Energy-Hearts to her potions to improve their effects, so you could argue we eat them then. Interesting. But it doesn’t explain anything about my original question.
“But what is this whole ‘evolve’ thing?”
When we’ve absorbed enough Energy, we develop a Heart within us. Everyone seems to have a different threshold that they have to reach, and many never manage to achieve it, even if they live that long. Once their Heart is complete, they evolve. Each one of us dreams of doing so: it’s an immediate access to more power than we’ve ever held before. For those who become able to control Energy, they discover a tendency towards a certain type of magic. My...previous master has no ability with stone or wood, but she can combine different substances in water, and enhance their effects by adding Energy. The shaman can commune with spirits and control them. The wood-shaper can make wood flow like water into the shapes she wishes them to be. He reaches for a handle on his belt, draws it out and hands it to me. I’d thought it was another of his containers, but it isn’t. Instead, it’s a knife.
Completely made out of wood, I test the edge and find it has significantly better cutting power than I would have imagined. Not to the standard of my own knife, I still find it’s capable of cutting my skin with less pressure than I would have expected. Perhaps somewhere between an eating knife and a kitchen one. Extremely impressive considering it is purely made of wood.
“One of the...Path-walkers made this?” I ask, a theory occurring to me as I remembered how one of the other Path-walkers had almost stymied our escape attempts with her powers of telekinesis.
Yes.
“And all the Path-walkers are evolved, capable of using magic?” When River agrees again, pieces click together in my head. No wonder that they would be the leaders of the group, even if they were smaller than most of the rest. Magic is a great equaliser. Though, as the Path-walker I killed proved, get close to them and they’re just as vulnerable to a mace to the skull as anyone else. I hand him his knife back, a thought occurring. “Have you ever heard of ‘flesh-shaping’?” A sensation of River being deep in thought comes through the Bond before he answers.
No, I don’t think so, he says finally. Water-shaping, Earth-shaping, Wood-shaping, yes. But not flesh-shaping. Ah well. It was just a thought. I guess I’ll have to ask Kalanthia about it after all.
“And what about the warriors? I think you mentioned that there was a choice between gaining control of magic and growing bigger.”
Yes. Perhaps one in five of the Tribe gain the ability to control Energy. The others find that they suddenly grow a lot in a certain way. Perhaps size, or strength, more armoured skin, or speed. Perhaps even better senses – it’s rare, but I knew one who could follow a trail through his intense sense of smell. There was no escaping him once he’d got your scent. Then, every time they kill, they grow a little more. They will always be better in one area, but they grow in the others as well. The warriors who chased us were the best the village had to offer. After almost all of the party sent to capture the Great Predator’s cub were killed, that is. OK, so evolution is definitely a good thing. Frankly, any way River evolved would be useful for us.
“Can you choose your path of evolution?” I ask.
No. It seems mostly due to what you’ve been doing before reaching the threshold. That’s why I apprenticed to the herbalist – I hoped to gain an ability similar to hers when – if – I evolved.
“But wait,” I say confused as I try to match what I’d observed with what he’s been telling me. “I thought that all the Path-walkers were female? And you’re male? I mean, every time they’ve been mentioned, you’ve been saying ‘she’, and ‘her’.” Confusion comes across the link and I wonder if I’m going to regret asking.
Female? At the same time, he tries to pronounce the word, with as little success as ‘fire’ earlier.
“Yeah, you know. The...the ones who carry babies or...eggs, or whatever.”
Oh! he says, understanding. Yes, they are. He stops there, not seeming to see an issue with this.
“And you’re male...the one who, um, sires the babies or eggs, aren’t you?” Or have I been using the wrong pronoun for him all along?
Yes, I am. Well, not yet, but possibly in the future. He stops again. I’m even more confused; I get the feeling we’re not communicating very well. I sigh, my curiosity now far too much to just give up now.
“How can you become a magic...Energy-user if all the Energy-users are female and you’re male?” I ask, trying to be as plain as possible, more than half of me regretting asking the question in the first place. River looks at me, the feeling through the Bond the sense that he thinks I’m being very stupid here.
I would become female, of course. Great. Right. Obviously. I’m totally stupid to have not thought that would be the answer. Closing my eyes and trying to control my irritation, I think through what he’s told me. As I calm down, a thought occurs. I open my eyes and look levelly at the lizard-man.
“River, are all of your species capable of bearing and siring offspring?”
Of course. Right. Well, that answers that, then. Lizard-folk are hermaphrodites or something. They clearly have gender roles for whatever reason, but they are probably all essentially the same sex. Or maybe they transition between the sexes based on their evolution. Or something. Aaand that’s enough of that. Back to something else which won’t make the rising heat on my neck any more intense.
“So, are Energy-Hearts dangerous in any way?”