The council of Deepmere gathered in the morning expecting to find a series of positive reports. At the very least they expected Tombul, their representative to the elves and Dageth, to be waiting for them with a list of new ‘properties’ gained. Instead they found a seething Calvore and an icy cold Ulvandia waiting for them.
“Gentlemen of the council,” Ulvandia began once the council took their seats. Her tone was sharper than dwarven steel. “The commander of Dageth and I feel that we have not been privy to some extremely vital information.”
“Where’s Tombul? We expected a report of the subjugation,” Arthos said looking around for the missing man.
“We’ll be the ones asking the questions,” Calvore snapped. “The level of cooperation we receive will determine your fates. Make no mistake councilors I have already informed my headmaster of the events last night. He is most displeased.”
“As are the elves,” Ulvandia added.
The gathered councilors were silent for a moment each one pondering what could have happened.
“Of course. We have negotiated in good faith,” Arthos said. “Ask your questions.”
“Who is Azure Magebane?” Calvore said. The councilors could see the fury in his eyes. They turned to look at their fellow councilors. Each had a blank confused look.
“I personally never heard of such a mage,” Arthos said.
“Nor I,” Lord Tarwin.
More negative replies came from Archmage Denayd, Kelfina, and Grand Magus Arwin.
Calvore looked at Ulvandia who nodded. They both relaxed slightly.
“Very well,” Ulvandia said. “What do you know about a blue hair half cat-kin?”
More negative replies with the exception of Tarwin.
“Such a kin is known to my family,” Tarwin said slowly. His mind racing. What could this be about?
“Oh. That’s good,” Ulvandia said her tone changing to a sweet poison. “Please enlighten the rest of us.”
Sweat formed on his brow although the morning was chill. He really had no clue what was going on. That was an unusual feeling for him. He wanted to stall to find out what happened, but that clearly that wasn’t an option here.
“The girl is half kin with an awaken mana pool,” Tarwin said glad his son was absent. “She was evaluated by two separate mages and her pool is too small to cast even basic spells.”
Ulvandia chuckled darkly. “Oh I think that might be incorrect.” She then paused. “Or maybe not.” Tarwin didn’t understand that response at all.
“How do you know her? What’s her name,” Calvore asked intently.
“Her name is…” Tarwin paused as he thought. He heard it a few times but never paid it much attention. “Azura I believe. She is…” He hesitated but knew he had no choice. “She is my son’s bastard.”
“I know nothing else for certain about this kin. I’ve done by best to ignore her existence,” Tarwin said. He wanted to distract them before he was force to revel the botched assassination attempt. He still didn’t understand what happened there. “What's this all about?”
Calvore and Ulvandia looked at each other for a moment. The elf gestured to Calvore taking a guest seat.
“Here is summary of the events last night. Your representative Tombul is unavailable to give this report due to an unforeseen case of death. So, I shall do so in his place.”
The councilors muttered at this but Calvore went on uncaring.
“The kin population was successfully restrained and relocated to the bowl with minimal effort. However, between one assault in the slums and a late night attack on the bowl itself our forces sustained loses.” Calvore paused letting his words digested with the councilors.
Tarwin had a bad feeling about this. Did a mage die? It was possible that one or possibly two could have been killed by kin if they weren’t careful. Was that it? Did Tombul get himself killed by a kin? Unbelievable. He was powerful. Then he remembered the early questions and his assassins report.
“No…” Tarwin muttered.
“Oh yes,” Calvore interrupted those around him. “It came quite a surprise to us as well. Let’s see… ah yes here it is.” Calvore said in a mocking tone slapping a piece of parchment. “Dageth suffered twenty-two causalities and ten with significant injuries.”
“My people lost two elite mages,” Ulvandia added. “Two more are crippled.”
“How!?” Arthos demanded in shock. The losses were unbelievable. They were just nulls.
“Apparently this Azura, or Azure Magebane, objected to your scheme of enslaving her people. Selfish girl.” Ulvandia said mockingly shaking her head. “This half-kin, with a mana pool too small to accomplish anything, bested all these mages at the same time. She used spells and effects never before seen. During all this, no magic was detected.”
Pandemonium slapped the entire chamber as the councilors all shouted statements like ludicrous and so on. Ulvandia grinned at their shock. At least this part was entertaining.
“I think it would be best if they viewed the memories,” Calvore said looking at Ulvandia.
She tapped her forehead.
“DISPLAY MEMORY.” It was advanced magic with little use in every day circumstances but one she enjoyed. She liked to re-watch her play time after her toys were broken.
A three dimension scene appeared in the center of the council room starting at the moment the first three mages expired. Tombul among them.
The councilors watched in amazement as the Azure Magebane decimated mage after mage with feats thought to be impossible. The memory ended when the half cat-kin fled after surviving a barrage no living mage could have ever withstood.
“What kind of magic was she using?” Archmage Denayd whispered. His comment did not go unnoticed. Everyone could hear him thanks to the silence. He was utterly astonished. The Archmage title was only given to those who had demonstrated knowledge and competence in all major branches of magic. The fact he was dumbfound, was by itself, amazing.
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“I don’t believe she was using magic at all,” Ulvandia said. “I had time to think on it. At no point during the battle did I see or sense any magic at all. In fact she was removing magic from the area. I think this is some new power. Perhaps that is why her people called her Magebane. She might possess the power to destroy mana around her. Perhaps she is consuming the souls of mages for her strength. Then last night was just a feast for her.” The idea was preposterous... but then again so was the entire situation.
“I vote to immediately initiate an information gathering mission on this Azure Magebane,” Archmage Denayd said. “The secrets of this power must be understood.” He received nods of agreement.
Ulvandia clapped her hands together. “Excellent. Now is the matter of compensation.”
“Compensation?” Arthos asked warily.
“Of course,” Calvore said. “The agreement was that we would subjugate the nulls for you while claiming our new lands. You failed in informing us of the risks. As such we had received unacceptable losses on what should have been an easy assignment.”
“We had no idea,” Arthos protested.
“Regardless, those loses did occur,” Ulvandia said. “I think a gesture on your part is required for this relationship to proceed further. If you refuse…” She shrugged.
Further protests died in Arthos throat. Dageth and the elves did have an army inside their walls.
“Of course,” Tarwin said smoothly. “You just took my fellow councilor by surprise. Perhaps remunerations can be accomplished with additional slaves and more land?”
“That will be acceptable,” Ulvandia said and Calvore agreed.
“I’ll organize our mages and begin cataloging the slaves,” Arthos said.
The meeting ended shortly after. Tarwin did his best to hide his emotions. His son had better have answers for him.
Azura awoke slowly. It wasn’t the constant chatter around her or the gentle kicking of Tabatha snuggled next to her that did it. It was the only force that usually could draw her from slumber. Food. However her usual impulse to leap out of bed to seek out her prey was absent. Toren… His absence was too raw. It sucked the joy out of everything. Instead she laid there cuddling the rabbit-kin. She had insisted on sleeping with Azura. She didn’t mind. The girl must have gone through a lot. They all had.
Azura lifted her free arm and stared at her hands. She had killed so much. It seemed odd that they were clean. True, she had washed before the funeral, her mother had insisted on it. But if felt like they should be stained crimson. She had killed. Not just one or two, but many.
It was strange.
She thought she should be sicken or disgusted with herself. Yet she felt nothing for the deaths. When she thought of Toren and the kin trapped in that pit she only wished the number had been greater. Was this who she was? Was this the journey of a cultivator? Perhaps…
Raised voice came from the front of the cave but she ignored them. It wasn’t her problem. Her growling stomach was. She about to go get food when her mother came around the corner a tray full of meat.
Mom you’re awesome, Azura thought but remained quite not wanting to disturb Tabatha.
Coralline gave the tray to Azura, then took a seat next to her.
“You okay honey?” Coralline asked her hand resting on Azura’s.
“I’m fine mom. All healed up. I’m just tired. That’s all. It… was a long night.”
“It was for everyone,” her mother agreed.
“What’s going on out there?” Azura gestured to the front of the cave as she began to eat at a reasonable pace.
“They’re debating on what to do next,” Coralline said. She didn’t show it, but Coralline was sadden by her daughters eating display. It was like the joy had been seeped from her.
“I’ve had a thought on that. Can you get everyone together? I’m not sure if they will listen to me, but I want to try,” Azura said.
Her mother snorted. “Not listen to the great Azure Magebane? I think not.”
Azura gave her mother a puzzled look.
“That’s what the kin were chanting when you were fighting the mages. You must have put on one hell of a show. It’s all they’ve been talking about.”
Azura thought for a moment. A small grin crept on her face. “I like it.”
“Me too,” Coralline agreed. She left to gather the others as Azura ate.
Finished, Azura slid out of bed just as Tabatha grabbed her hand.
“Don’t leave me,” Tabatha said. Azura gently patted the kin on the head. Hand in hand, the pair left the back of cave.
Turning the corner Azura saw the kin. Close to fifty kin stood talking. Instantly they all stopped once they saw her. They turned toward her, waiting. Azura was a little overwhelmed. She wasn’t sure on how to begin when Hamal raised his hand.
“AZURE MAGEBANE!” He roared and was quickly joined by all the others. Azura blushed at the attention and scowled at Hamal who gave her a small sad smirk. Jerk. Helpful. But still a jerk.
The chanting went on for nearly a minute before her mother calmed them all back down.
“Umm,” Azura began. “I’m not sure how to say this gently so I’ll be blunt. We’re in trouble. Not just us, but all kin. The mages have taken their oppression to the extreme. Our family, our friends are all in trouble. It’s up to us here to stop it.”
“How can we? We’re not like you,” a rat-kin called.
Azura glanced at her Fatania who gave her the same smirk as her son. Had she set that up? Probably. That woman was truly worthy of being the leader of the rat-kin.
“You can be,” Azura said. A collection of gasps sounded around the cave entrance. “I have discovered how to awaken mana pools. But know this. You can’t be mages. You will never have sufficient magical reservoirs to be any type of mage.” The collected group seemed to deflate at that.
“But why would you want to be one?” Azura asked then went on before allowing anyone to answer. If someone had… well that would have been awkward.
“You can become greater than a mage. You saw what I did to those mages or at least heard of it. I can show you a power greater than mana. You can become like me, a cultivator. It won’t be easy or quick. In fact it will take years. But you can go beyond your limits to heights never before imagined. I need you. I can’t do this alone. I will train you in the art of cultivation. Together we can liberate the kin. Will you help me? Will you give it your all to become cultivators?”
An astounding cheer was her answer. Just to make sure she went on. “All those interested please join me on my left side. All those who want to live a normal life on the right. I won’t judge you for your choice. I can’t guarantee safety or success. What I do promise it that I will do my best to help you if I can.” Not a single kin chose the right side.
“Let’s begin,” Azura said and felt a tug on her arm. Tabatha was looking up at her determined.
“Me first,” she said.
“Mom can you grab me something to sit on this is going to take a while.”
Coralline and Fatania soon returned each with a stool as Azura searched her core. The tiny pieces of her core nestled in the center of her ki spiral. As always the sight awed her.
Isolating out a single piece of crystalize ki she directed it into her blood stream. Again she fought the ki’s pull to return to the center.
Azura forced the crystallized ki out into a single drop of blood resting on her index finger. A white star blazed in that single drop of blood. Azura was struck at how heavy that drop was. It was like the ki was far too big to be contained in that small space.
“Open your mouth,” Azura said to the rabbit-kin. She needed a way into their body. Tabatha reluctantly opened her mouth. Azura set the single drop on her tongue. She withdrew her finger as she directed the ki through Tabatha’s body toward her dormant mana pool. The entire time she wrestled with the ki’s desire to return to her.
Azura didn’t notice how Tabatha’s eyes were wide in amazement or the reactions of the others. She just focused on controlling the ki. Reaching the destination she forced the ki into the dormant pool. With a surge of power the pool awoke. Job done she directed the ki out of her back to the surface. It pushed its way out of her skin in a drop of blood where she collected it. Strange… The color of the ki had changed. It was a light pink, but the intensity of the light was no different. Had that happened last time? Maybe. She was too frantic to have notice much then.
“Amazing,” Tabatha said. “What was that?”
“That’s ki. Train hard and that power will be yours someday.”
Tabatha nodded and left the stool on unsteady feet as the next kin sat down. Using the same piece of ki she began again…
Fatania stumbled away from the stool her mind ablaze. That had been the most incredible experience of her life. She could feel her mana. How wondrous. Yet, she knew Coralline had been right. That speck of ki was more glorious than an ocean of mana. How she wanted it.
Fatania had gathered many sources of power during her life; magical artifacts, favors, and elixirs. None of it compared. She couldn’t wait to start training. But before that they had to find some place safe. This cave wouldn’t stay hidden for much longer. Not after last night’s events. They need somewhere safe. Somewhere mages would never think to look for them. As she felt the mana in her stir she knew the perfect place.