I remained limp as the marshals dragged me down the hall. I heard the sound of a key being turned in a metal door, followed by the squeal of the door opening.
“Get your worthless ass in there,” Mohun growled, shoving me into the cell. I let myself fall limply and rolled, landing facedown. Hands grabbed at me, turning me over, but I kept my eyes closed. I heard the door slam shut, and the sound of a pair of boots walking away.
“Is he okay?” Chomai’s voice asked worriedly. “He don’t look hurt.”
“That was a Severing rune I just felt,” the sheriff’s voice replied grimly. “Looks like Kamath finally got the boy.”
“Not quite,” I muttered softly. I felt the sheriff’s hands stiffen around me, but he didn’t say a word. “Are we alone?”
“Far as I can tell,” the old man said. “There could be somebody down the hall, though.”
“Then we’ll have to be quiet.” I opened my eyes and sat up, looking around. I was in a decent-sized cell, one made entirely of wood. Two pairs of bunk beds with stained sheets and painfully thin mattresses were the only furniture. Light came from a barred window two feet high and a foot wide, with four bars built into the sill to prevent escape. I glanced around to see my companions watching me, Chomai with wide eyes, the sheriff with a knowing grin.
“What are you playing at?” she hissed. “You damn near gave me a heart attack!”
“Kamath thinks he’s severed me,” I said simply. “Hopefully, that’s all the advantage we need.” I looked at the sheriff. “I know what’s going on.”
“Kamath’s trying to raise a Mythic beastie. I assume that rune’s how he’s gonna do it.”
“Not exactly,” I shook my head, quickly and quietly explaining what I’d discovered. The two listened in silence, their eyes getting wider and wider as I spoke.
“Son of a bitch,” Chomai swore softly when I finished. “That crazy asshole!”
“Crazy ain’t halfway there,” the sheriff said quietly. “What he wants ain’t possible.”
“He might be able to bond the thing,” I countered.
“He might, but bonding it and controlling it ain’t the same thing.” He looked at Chomai. “You’re the only one of us that’s bonded a beast before and after being severed. Was it the same?”
“Hell, no,” she snorted. “It felt totally different.”
“I mean, was controlling it the same?”
She frowned. “No. The lakestar was hard to handle. It didn’t want to do what I wanted it to, and it fought me every chance it got.”
The old man nodded. “There’s a reason we take a piece of beasts into us when we bond them,” he said solemnly. “That way, when we send them commands, it feels to them like they’re telling themselves what to do, not us telling them. Without that piece, you had to force the lakestar to do what you wanted, and it probably did a terrible job of whatever you told it.”
“It did, yep.”
“Then if Kamath bonds it, it’ll gain all that extra strength–but nobody’ll be controlling it.” The old man shuddered. “It’ll rage over the whole, damn continent. Nothing’ll be able to kill it. And with it being bonded, it might not run out of power and go back to sleep like most Mythic beasties eventually do.” He shook his head. “The man’s a damn fool.”
“On that, we can agree.”
My head snapped up as I looked at the cell door. I couldn’t see anything or anyone until a brownish blob seemed to detach itself from the wall across from the cell. It quickly resolved into a man-shaped figure, one that solidified into a man with a green vest and a silver badge.
“Damn rangers,” Ramka grunted. “Can never tell when they’re around.”
“Nice card, Govand,” I said conversationally to the man. “You should have used that when you tried to ambush us in the Devada. Things might have gone better for you.”
The man shrugged. “Our far-talking runes don’t work through the blending one,” he said. “It muffles sounds, see, so anything you say sounds like gibberish.”
“Is that how you’ve followed us for so long, then?”
He nodded. “Yep. Well, that, and little Aka, here.” He held up a hand, and a small bird the size of a canary with brown plumage and light green wings fluttered across the cell to land on his finger. “Nobody ever notices her. She lets me learn all sorts of interesting things.”
“You gonna go tell the marshal that Naasi’s not severed, then?” Chomai asked coldly.
“Now, why the hell would I do that?” Govand chuckled. “I’m not loyal to the man. I worked for him because he paid damn well, no other reason.” He grimaced. “But money’s not everything. Aka heard that story he told you, Naasi. The man’s totally insane. He thinks he’s gonna be the next Ujali!”
“He does,” I nodded. “The question is, what are you going to do about it?”
“Well, first, I thought I’d get you three out of here,” he said. “Then, we skedaddle out of here across to Nampur. I tell my superiors about this, they tell the Empire, and we raise an army to come back up here and stomp Kamath into paste.”
“An army ain’t gonna stop a Mythic beast,” Ramka chuckled. “It’s been tried, remember? The Sarjan Army attacked that Quake Tortoise for a decade and just got themselves killed.”
“They didn’t have cannons and rifles back then, though. We do, now. A couple hundred cannonballs in the belly’ll kill anything.”
“I’ve got a better idea,” I told the man. “You leave us here, and we’ll stop him from doing it in the first place.”
The man snorted and looked exaggeratedly at the cell. “How? You’re not exactly in much of a position to do anything but sit there.”
“For right now, that’s all I need to do,” I said with a shrug. I paused. “If you can come back tomorrow, though, I have something you can do to help.”
“Tomorrow? I’m getting out of here at first light, Naasi.”
“Then come back at first light,” I said. “I just need you to take something and leave it somewhere. If you can do that for me, then we can handle the rest.”
He looked at me speculatively, then nodded slowly. “All right. I’ll be back at first light. If you change your mind about leaving then, I can still get you out.”
“We won’t, but thanks,” I nodded. “See you tomorrow.”
The man stepped back against the wall and pulled out a card. I watched him disappear as his outline blurred and shifted, blending into the wooden planks behind him. I activated See Magic and felt a surge of relief as I saw his otherwise invisible body glowing in my enhanced sight. The amorphous blob he’d become slid down the hallway out of sight, and I waited for a minute to make sure he didn’t come back, holding up a hand to silence Chomai when she tried to speak. At last, I dropped my ability and looked back at the pair.
“I think he’s gone,” I said.
“How would you know?” the sheriff chuckled.
“I don’t,” I lied. “But honestly, it doesn’t matter. He knows enough to ruin my plans if he wants to. A little more isn’t going to hurt.”
“So, what is the plan?” Chomai asked a little bitterly. “And why doesn’t it involve breaking me out of here?”
“I realized that getting here was too easy,” I shrugged. “Kamath was letting us come to him. That meant he knew where we were somehow.” I jerked my head toward the cell door. “That was thanks to Govand, it turns out.”
“Still, you could’ve come and gotten me,” she protested.
“I think you were meant to be bait. He warned his marshals in Sinakha that we were coming, and they waited to arrest you because they knew we’d follow. He was probably all set up to catch us breaking you out. When instead we grabbed someone to find out what was happening, he knew we’d be heading for the rune field instead and shifted down there.” I shrugged again. “At least, that’s my guess.”
“So, now we’re all caught.” She laid back on her bed. “Fine kettle you’ve gotten us into.”
“We’re caught,” I agreed. “My pets aren’t.” I looked at the sheriff. “Obviously, our plans have to change a bit.”
“What plans?” Chomai demanded.
“We were going to lure Kamath into a trap like the one we used against Ishar,” I shrugged. “I had my pets going around, planting explosives all over town last night while everyone was watching us. I figured we’d blow the town, lure Kamath out, and then hit him with a dozen blasts all at once.” I shook my head. “Now, I don’t think that would do more than make his ears ring.”
“If that,” the old man nodded. “I ain’t never felt that much power coming from one man before.”
“He’s on an Epic path called Grandmaster,” I explained. “I managed to analyze him while he was interrogating me.”
“Epic?” Ramka muttered. “Ain’t nobody walked an Epic path since Ujali!”
“Well, Kamath is. He said he found Ujali’s resting place and used what he found there to rank himself up.”
“Wait, how could you have analyzed him?” Chomai asked. “You ain’t got no cards!”
“Actually, I do.” I touched my shirt and pulled out a pair of the cards I’d stuck in its storage. “They didn’t find my emergency deck.”
“Sneaky,” the sheriff chuckled, then his face collapsed into a frown. “Still, an Epic path–there ain’t much you’re gonna be able to do against him, boy.”
“I know,” I nodded. “Maybe the three of us together can, though.”
“The three of us?” Chomai asked. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’ve been working on that Severing rune now ever since I took it from the marshal in Whitestone,” I prevaricated. “And I think I’ve finally worked out a way to reverse it.”
“You already did that,” she scoffed. “Remember? Just how hard did they hit you when they was interrogating you?”
“No, not invert it. Reverse it. Undo the effects–and make it so you can’t be affected by it again.”
“What?” Ramka gasped. “You serious, boy? You really think you can do that?”
“Yeah, I think so. I need to test it out, though.” I hesitated. “I was hoping to try it on one of you and see if it works.”
“I’ll do it,” Chomai volunteered instantly.
“Don’t be a fool, girl,” Ramka growled. “You’re young, with your whole life ahead of you. If this goes wrong…” He shrugged. “Well, I’ve done lived my life.”
“You’re the fool, old man,” she replied shortly. “You’re the strongest handler of all of us. Hell, you’re a damn legend. Naasi’s going to need a legend to fight a legend.” She grimaced. “Besides, if only one of us gets through all this, it should be you. You can go back and make the Gistal better. You can be the marshal that Kamath should have been, keeping the sheriffs in line and the people safe. I can’t do that; only you can.”
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“Who says I want to do that?” he asked. “Maybe I just want to get Parri, go find an empty hilltop, and stake myself out a homestead where I can be left alone.”
She scoffed. “You ain’t got that in you, and we all know it. You’re born to keep the peace, old man, and that’s what you’ll end up doing. Ain’t no use pretending otherwise.”
“Assuming all this works, and the boy can do what he says,” the sheriff pointed out. “That ain’t exactly guaranteed.”
“He can,” she sighed, sitting up. “He always does what he says.” She looked at me. “What do you need me to do?”
“Sit down here, on the floor,” I instructed at Sara’s direction. As the woman settled into place, I turned my thoughts inward. “Okay, Sara, what are we doing, here?”
“Drawing a rune, obviously,” she said. “Start here. It’s going to be complex, and it’s going to take a while.”
A glowing line appeared on the floor next to Chomai, starting near her left buttock and curving outward. I produced my pen from storage and crouched down, setting it onto the wooden floor and beginning to draw as Sara continued to explain.
“Kamath’s aura was the key,” she said a little eagerly, appearing before me the way she often did when she was excited. “From looking at it, I think it’s a near-perfect copy of the original design that allows the people of this world to have paths, stats, and levels the way an Inquisitor does.”
“Near-perfect?” I echoed.
“Close enough that I can extrapolate the rest,” she shrugged. “The point is that it looks like over the years, that design has warped and corrupted, creating weaknesses that shouldn’t have existed. That severing rune won’t affect Kamath the same way it does everyone else, I don’t believe; it will weaken his pet bonds by a rank or so, but it won’t strip them away, and if it does, he’ll eventually recover.”
“Which is probably why he’s using a bloodfly,” I suggested as I carefully drew another twisting, curving line that snaked around the woman’s knee. “If he wants to be severed to help bond this Mythic creature, he needs to be bonded to a Simple creature to do it.”
“That makes sense,” she nodded. “However, the point is, the severing rune targets a flaw in the bonding lattice. The exact mechanism isn’t important, but what matters is that as time has passed, it seems like that flaw has gotten worse. What was probably meant to be a rune to temporarily weaken foes has become one that permanently cripples them.”
“So, what are we doing?”
“Repairing the flaw. This rune should link to the torn parts of Chomai’s lattice, allowing it to draw world energy through her. It should guide that energy into the hole left in her and fill it, then it will smooth and reinforce that part of her lattice so that if it’s attacked again, it will only damage her bond temporarily.”
As Sara suggested, the rune I drew was incredibly elaborate. It spread out to cover a space three feet around the woman in all directions, leaving her in the center of a tangled weave of black lines. I crafted each line carefully, linking the layers in what were hopefully the right points and connecting multiple layers to one another, even backtracking several times into deeper layers to make further connections. It was by far the hardest rune I’d ever drawn. When it at last finished, an hour later, I stepped back and admired my handiwork, massaging my cramping hand.
“Okay, it’s done,” I said, shaking my hand. “Now to power it.” I knelt down and touched the edge of the construct, feeding energy into it. The power flowed onward, pouring around and through me into the rune, which began to glow as it slowly activated. Three more spots lit up, and I touched them each in turn, sliding energy into all of those spots at once. More energy slipped through me and filtered into the inky lines, and I watched with my magical sight as the bottom layer unfolded, rising up to enshroud the woman in what almost looked like a glowing, golden helmet. That pulled up three more layers, which drew more and more magic as the rune sucked power even faster. I felt the tug of exhaustion as the power continued to flow, and I wondered if I would have enough juice to fully activate it.
My strength was flagging as the power drain finally ceased, and I fell backward onto my ass as the rune rose up and shrouded the woman in its grip. New energy surged into the construct, power drawn directly from the world itself, and I watched as it flowed into Chomai, surging down into her body. She hissed in sudden pain as the crimson shell surrounding her flared, and Ramka half-rose to his feet before I waved him back.
“I think–I think it’s working,” I panted. “She’s okay.”
I watched as the world energy rushed through her, flooding the angry construct surrounding her. Snarled lines smoothed and untangled; thick, hard plates softened and molded more closely to her. The harsh crimson glow faded, replaced with a soft coppery radiance that was much less painful and uncomfortable to look at. Her body went rigid as the power plunged down into her, descending into her depths. Finally, the magic ebbed and faded, and she went limp as the energy holding her up fled back into the atmosphere.
Her aura glowed like burnished copper in my sight. It looked smooth and even, without the harsh and painful glare it held before. She pushed herself back to a sitting position, panting slightly, a sheen of sweat covering her body. While she recovered, I checked my notifications, activated analyze and smiled at what I saw.
New Rune Learned: High Unsevering
Arcania Required: 42.1
Heals a severed handler or pet and prevents further severing of that handler or pet
Chomai
Paths: Hunter, Shaper, Horde Head, Horde Leader
Rank: Greater
Affinities: Water, Wood, Earth
Pets: None
Dominia: 27.5 Personia: 18.1 Arcania: 28.5
Threat Level: Low
Not only had the rune seemingly worked, it had made Chomai’s stats go up. She wasn’t just a handler again; she was a better one than she had been. At least, she had the potential to be.
“You okay, girl?” the sheriff asked in a concerned voice, dragging my attention back to the moment.
“That–that plain sucked,” she panted.
“Did it work, at least?” He glanced at me, and I shrugged.
“I think so, but there’s no way to tell without her bonding something.”
“Hold on a second.” The old man rose and began rifling through the room, lifting mattresses and sheets, peering under beds, and finally standing on his toes to look into the eaves by the ceiling. “Aha!” He reached into the space and came back out with a closed fist. He brought it over to Chomai. “Hold out your hand, girl.”
She stretched out her palm a little hesitantly, and she shuddered as he opened his fist to place an insect that looked almost like a roach with long pincers and an upturned tail at the back.
“A woodbug?” she asked distastefully.
He shrugged. “It’s all we got. Give it a try.”
The woman took a deep breath, then brought the struggling insect up to her face to peer at it. Its waving legs stilled, and her eyes widened.
“I–I did it,” she gasped softly. “I–I bonded it! I’m a handler again!” She wrapped her fist around the insect and brought it to her chest as tears streamed from her eyes. “The hole in me–it’s gone! Naasi, I…” She stood up and walked over to me, extending her hand. When I took it, she hauled me to my feet, then wrapped her arms around me.
“I was wrong,” she whispered. “I was wrong about you. I’m sorry.”
I didn’t say anything, and after a moment, she released me and walked over to the sheriff. “So, old man, looks like you’re gonna have to live up to your end of our bargain.”
“Bargain?” he asked.
“To teach me to be a handler. Of course, first Naasi’s gotta get you fixed up.” She shoved him over toward me. “Go on, get fixed.”
I held up a cautious hand. “I’m going to need a bit to recover, sorry. That took everything I had.” I touched my shirt and removed the ivory orb I’d taken outside of Whitestone and held it up. “Besides, I need to work on this.”
“I’d ask where you kept that, but honestly, I don’t care, and I don’t wanna know,” she sighed. “Fine. Sit back and relax, old man. Obviously, the boy don’t have the stamina to go twice in a row.” She flashed me a grin. “At least, not after me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, that’s exactly it, Chomai. You were just too much for me.”
“Good that you can admit it. At least you’re man enough for that.”
It took me an hour to gather the power I needed to fix Ramka, and I spent it with my pen, adding layers to the Epic rune in my hand. When Sara declared that I’d regained enough energy to use the rune again, I had the sheriff sit in the center of it and activated it for him. The display was basically the same, although afterward, his aura gleamed a dull gold, similar to Kamath’s but not quite as bright. When the rune finished, I pulled him out and sat in the middle of it myself.
“What are you doing?” Chomai asked. “You ain’t severed!”
“This will keep me from being able to be severed,” I said. “It might even make me a better handler. Sheriff, do you mind doing the honors?”
The old man shrugged and bent down to touch the activation site. Power surged through it and wrapped over me. I felt the world’s energy flowing along me, sinking into my body with icy fingers that made me shiver. It wasn’t painful, though, the way it apparently had been for the other two.
“I’m guiding it myself, John,” Sara told me. “The rune’s just gathering it; I’m doing all the work. It should be a lot more comfortable this way.”
I simply sat while the power roared and surged through me, rippling along my body and sinking down into my depths. It burned and stung slightly, but when it faded, I felt stronger, better–more whole. My senses came alive; my body seemed surer and stronger. A sense of disconnection I hadn’t even noticed was gone, and I felt more like myself than I ever had in this world. The blinking notifications in my vision explained why that was.
Profession: Investigator has gained a level
New Level: 7
For every level of Investigator, you gain:
Reason, Perception +1, 1 Skill Point
Partial Adaptation!
You have Partially adapted to the world of Puraschim.
Current Adaptation: 99%
Effect: All stat penalties removed, +50% to Puraschim stats, Handling Abilities increase by one Tier.
You have ranked up your profession!
Generalist has become Pantologist
Epically Rare
Level: 1
For Each Level of Pantologist, you gain:
Dominia, Personia, Arcania, Reason, Perception, Intuition, Charm, Prowess, Vigor, Celerity, Skill +1
Your Abilities have upgraded!
Greater Beast Domination has become High Beast Domination
Passive Pet Ability
You can tame a pet three ranks higher than normal, to the maximum your natural Personia allows or the Paragon rank, whichever is lower. You can tame pets up to 250% of your level. Your pets gain a 3% bonus to all Personia-based stats per level of Pantologist.
Greater Bestial Resistance has become High Bestial Resistance
Passive Pet Ability
You can tame ten more pets than normal, plus one pet per 2 levels of Pantologist. Your pets gain a bonus to their Dominia-based stats equal to 3% per Generalist level. You no longer suffer a penalty to your maximum pet rank or level.
Greater Rune Casting has become High Rune Casting
Passive Pet Ability
You can craft and use runes of three ranks higher than normal, to the maximum your natural Arcania allows or the Paragon rank, whichever is lower. You can have six extra runes active at once, plus one rune per two levels of Pantologist. Your runes gain a 3% bonus to their effects per level of pantologist.
Your Pet Bonds have upgraded from Greater to High!
New Bond Strength: 10,216
“Sara, did you upgrade my profession?” I asked.
“I did, John. The rune drew in energy as if it were fixing severing damage, but I didn’t need that much energy to repair your lattice. I channeled the extra into your Generalist profession, and when it maxed out, I ranked it up for you rather than losing the energy. Sorry for not asking…”
“It’s fine,” I assured her. “I trust you, Sara. If you did it without checking, I’ll assume that you had no choice.” I pulled up my status and pet screens to see the changes.
John Gilliam, Guardian of the Sun
Mental Stats
Reason: 67 Intuition: 55 Perception: 39 Charm: 44
Physical Stats
Prowess: 52 Vigor: 54 Celerity: 22 Skill: 63
Professions
Inquisitor (Hidden, Divine): Level 4, XP: 31,366/58,800
Investigator (Standard): Level 7, 7,189/8,800
Pantologist (Extraordinary): Level 1, XP: 0/100
Dominia: 75.3 Personia: 75.6 Arcania: 83.3
Max # of Pets: 45 Max Pet Level: 65 Max Active Runes: 32 Max Runes Per Day: 56
Pet Stats
Name
Bond
Atk
Def
Dmg
Spd
Dodge
Buzzfly (Simple Glowwind)
1,043
162
58
154
197
88
Cloudhunter (Greater Air)
3,801
509
119
339
688
254
Shockfloater (Greater Lightning)
3,831
359
194
574
410
250
Galestrider (High Wildstorm)
9,216
882
400
956
772
490
Mistfreezer (High Ice)
10,216
632
560
561
846
843
Moonstalker (High Predator)
8,336
1,091
381
935
779
519
Sparksnake (High Lightning)
10,496
716
449
1051
901
599
Terror Eagle (High Wildwind)
12,221
1,441
406
1038
1,450
628
Wave Horror (High Water)
13,344
303
1,144
455
586
1,654
I stared at my pet screen in utter shock. My profession upgrade–and the subsequent massive boost to my handler stats–had turned my pets into true monsters! My little buzzfly was strong enough to tangle with Greater creatures if it had to, and I was pretty sure that my eagle could butt heads with Paragon monsters. I couldn’t help but grin at what I saw–at least, until I remembered Old Sena. Her stats had been more than ten times higher than my pets, and that was without bonding to someone like Kamath. Even now, my pets wouldn’t be able to do much more than hurt her a little; I’d have to rank them all up to Paragons to probably stand the slightest chance against her. And that was only an Epic monster. If Kamath truly raised a Mythic creature, one ten or more times stronger than Old Sena, and bonded it, with his stats… I couldn’t quite suppress a shiver.
The simple fact was, I wasn’t going to win this battle with my pets. I only had one chance, and it lay in the orb hidden beneath a blanket on my bed. I rose from the rune on the floor, tossing a blanket over it just to make sure no one walked by and saw it, then fished out the orb and sat back down with my pen. I had a lot to do before the morning, and it promised to be a long night.