I could tell He was present even before I materialized out of Teleport. The overwhelming purity of Fire Mana that was everywhere, a power barely even present in this land before, was especially apparent with the way it washed over my Luan Seed, which fairly screamed in delight and familiarity with the power.
The two Avian Emperors, one a great Eagle, and the other more like a great Peacock, with feathers of iridescent yellows and reds that swirled and ignited like living flames were within them, stood side by side upon the rim of Thunderbird’s Eye, looking out over His lands. The clouds, although still humming with repressed lightning, were sparse and clear today, the sky was blue, and the view of the lands below largely unbroken, a long expanse of green pines and white snow leading off into the horizon, with the faint purple of Lightning Mana touching the edge of one’s vision, if they knew how to see it.
I went to one knee promptly. “Healer Fae pays her respects to Thunderbird Emperor and Fire Phoenix Emperor!” I announced loudly.
Both Emperors actually turned their heads to me, something I was sure no other Mage in the world would have earned from them. Technically, the two wouldn’t pay too much attention to most Archmages, other than as mice to be swatted.
“A Luan Seed. I’ve not seen a Human with a full Luan Seed in many years.” The burning voice of the Fire Phoenix was somehow regal, benevolent, amused, and imperious at the same time, although it completely lacked the tyrannical edge and lofty, arrogant power of Thunderbird.
I had the distinct impression ‘many years’ was something measured in centuries or millennia.
“Flowing Silver Emperor gained it on her behalf, although the Luans acknowledged it was a worthy use of the Seed,” Thunderbird informed the burning Phoenix. Although He was older and more powerful, their relationship was only of strength on the surface. It was plain they were much closer to old friends and allies.
“Ho, impressed the Luans of the Beast Realm, she did? This is indeed a special Human. And for them to call a Human ‘Healer Fae’ is also quite the compliment.” Fire Phoenix ruffled His smoldering wings. “Come, Healer Fae. Old Thunder here has indicated you wished to meet me at some point, and that I would be interested in speaking with you. I have seen you have attended to injuries He has long borne, and ameliorated them somewhat, even at your level of power.
“Display this Bringing Down the Moon and Stars for us again. I am eager to see it.”
I sighed. Well, he was a Healing Bird with the Blessing power, one of the most revered of all Beasts that there was. To receive the Blessing of a Phoenix was an extraordinary honor for any Beast, and just having a liege who was a Healer was of inestimable value in their brutal world.
“A moment, Your Majesties.” I looked up, and Rode the Lightning up into the skies; a crackle of voltage and I was a mile above them.
The winds up here were cold and cutting and laden with Wind power, and should have shredded me pretty easily, the slightest breeze holding a cutting edge like a razor.
Primus glowed on my left hand and warded them off with impunity, mere winds not daring to disobey my Ring of Primal Elemental Command.
I swirled up spheres of all the Elements, bound them up in a Divinatory Ring about me, sent them flowing through it, and they erupted out in a formation of magnified Magical Awareness that shot out from me in a sphere and wave of perfect Magical Awareness, spreading clear to the horizon.
The great Formation of Lightning, Wind, Thunder, and Void in the skies of Thunderbird’s Domain was as apparent to me as a blueprint. Every Seed of every Element in the land glowed to my Awareness, plain as a flashbulb on a dark surface. The massive amounts of the main four Elements were deep and omnipresent, encouraged to grow and gather over millennia into a great Storm, whether it was erupting or not, around the Eye that was the nest of the Thunderbird.
But every other Element and its presence was also there. Fire Phoenix carried around Fire Mana every bit as pure and powerful as Thunderbird’s Lightning, but that was by far the most powerful secondary presence, save for the deep and unending Earth Mana that always underlaid the world, and especially the mountains that thrust up from it.
I fell calmly back from the skies as my survey was completed, knowing the Emperors were watching me. I most especially did not hover in the air in front of them, although they knew I had the power. That would be very disrespectful to them, especially as they were roosting themselves. I landed on the ground of the rim with just a pulse of power at the last second, earning a curious tilt of Fire Phoenix’s head from Him at the Hands of the Angels, and knelt once more.
“This one reports to Their Majesties that the Elements within His Majesty Thunderbird’s Domain have not recovered to the point where this one can Bring Down the Moon and Stars again. It is this one’s opinion that in another nine days they will have recovered to the point they can be gathered for the Ritual once again.”
Immediately I felt their own Awarenesses reaching out, attempting to judge the same thing. They were naturally most Attuned to their own Elements, but they would have at least some sensitivity to the others.
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“I had wondered if it was because of Brother Thunder’s Domain, or perhaps something to do with his new ornamentation.” Blazing bright fantails shifted to indicate the Vivic Braziers spread discreetly every sixty feet around the Eye.
“Inhale close to them, Brother Fire.”
Blinking His great glowing emerald eyes once, the interested Fire Phoenix dipped His head to do just that. I waited calmly as He inhaled, exhaled, His plumage rising and falling, and then did it again, even more deeply than the first time. Ripples of gold and silver ran through the embers chasing around inside his plumage, and He slowly rose after a moment.
“There is no Dark Mana near them, Old Thunder.”
“Yes. I had her place twenty of them around my Nest. I have not had to grind down any Dark Mana since she did. Indeed, breathing in the mists seems to be purifying away residues in my Mana I did not know were there.” He tilted his head down at me.
“Your Majesties, all Elements have affinities based on the Core Seven Elements. Dark Mana is infectious and clings to its counterparts. Void draws both Lightning and Ice, and attracts both Curse and Poison. Sound is tied to Air, and attracts Shadow and Poison. Air and Lightning double this up, meaning that the Dark Mana Thunderbird Emperor draws in is most tenacious and hard to remove.”
“Is that so? It would explain much, Brother Thunder. Always the impurities, and so hard to remove...” the Fire Phoenix murmured. “What of myself then, Healer Fae?”
“Healing is tied to Water, Blessing is tied to Ice, Chaos is tied to Fire. Fire and Chaos are both tied to Blightfire. Water and Ice are tied the strongest when together to the corrupt Blood Magic, but also to Poison, Curse, and Shadow.”
“Blightfire? What is Blightfire?” the Fire Phoenix demanded to know instantly.
I brought up my hand, and condensed a ball of the stuff above my palm.
Very quickly, like a woodpecker lunging, His long and slender neck delivered His massive head to less than three feet away, and the Fire Phoenix’s great emerald eye was abruptly staring at the malevolent flames swirling above my hand with incredibly restrained hostility.
“To His Majesty, Blightfires are the flames of the Netherworld. Their primary purpose is to burn souls, consuming the memories and emotions of their existence, rendering them down to fuel for the Dark Planes and forming new Dark Mana from them. To wield them is to actually burn one’s own soul down, so they have not been truly released on the Mortal Realm, lest they deprive the Underworld of the very prizes they seek the most. There is only the most residual power of them mixed in with the rest of the Dark Elements, and thus only if you know what to seek can you gather it.”
“It is indescribably foul to look upon!” The waves of His Aura hammered at me with revulsion, and I expeditiously tossed the ball toward the nearest Vivic Brazier sixty-three feet away. There was a poof of misting white, and the ball was devoured and gone from His sight before it even reached the Brazier, just more mist falling to the ground before being slowly absorbed.
I could totally see where something would completely underestimate the Fire Phoenix’s ability in a fight. That was one very fast head He had there, and He could probably hammer His beak completely through the skull of those who challenged Him...
The Fire Phoenix straightened up, lines of blown embers rippling through His plumage in agitation.
“There is more, Old Flame.” Thunderbird just looked on, a brooding air about Him. “Show Him, Healer Fae...”
And so I did...
-------------
“He invited me down to His Domain when I was done working for Thunderbird.”
“He struck me as a pretty smart Bird.”
“Actually, He probably would have picked me up and flown me down there today after I showed Him all the different Blessing and Healing spells, and only Thunderbird being there stopped Him. Then He saw me tearing ten-foot cubes of stone out of the mountain, crackling with Lightning, pulses of electricity locking them to other cubes in long lines, which then showed the voltage as they matched to other Blocks and formed a long step for the Pyramid I was making...”
“Such an impressive widdle mage!” Sama said, messing up my hair... which, Null or no, slid promptly back right into perfect form instantly, Sylune’s Grace, tyvm.
“Yes, yes, I’m really something, pheer the true elite of the world!” I promptly simpered to her, which earned me another head-mussing, which I flailed away energetically until she retreated.
“You said a month to finish up?” Sama asked, opting to retreat in triumph back to the couch.
“He only wanted a basic forty-stepper, instead of the double-wide, so that helps with the sheer amount to do. He saw the reflected pattern in the Earth-magic and can already feel the difference in the resonance between Earth and Sky, so He’s happy to let things proceed.”
“Still surprising in some ways.” He was a Great Beast, after all.
“I won’t do any work on it unless He’s watching me, so no surprises, and He loves trying to follow all the Formations and see what they are doing. He’s been making, um, adjustments to His Domain Formation, and I don’t think He’ll ever admit it, but He’s having fun doing so.”
“Well, I suppose, whatever can help us all live together.”
“Also, I brought up the whole Dragon heads thing. He’d noticed Fire Phoenix’s talon-skulls, of course, but did not realize what they were for. He’s actually not opposed to the idea, especially after I asked Him a few questions about Dragons...”
Sama kicked up her legs on the low table in front of her. “Should I make popcorn?” she asked rhetorically.
“All three of the High Emperors are Dragons or Drakes.”
Sama pursed her lips, and considered the implications of that. “That is downright bloody ominous,” she finally murmured. “But... dinosaurs. I can totally see it. And thinking about it, why the Avians would also be so high up in Bloodlines, as well as the creatures of the seas. All the Mammal-types are powerful for their ages, sure, but compared to the Sea, Reptiles, and Avians, they have almost none of the Rankers.”
“Human Sages can and have killed Low Beast Emperors. I don’t think we’ve ever killed a True Emperor. At least, I can’t find any records of having done so. If they die, it’s almost always at the hands of High Emperors or during a War of Extinction, so their positions almost never change.” I sighed. “They basically keep the numbers of Low Emperors in check, which means the mammals... and Humans are considered one of the forces they need to keep in check. While a Sage isn’t equal to an Emperor, there are more Human Sages than there are Kings of any other species. We get incredibly powerful incredibly fast, and that without rarefied Bloodlines helping us out.”