Most seers have better things to do than mess with you. Most have better things to do than let you know they exist. But if ever you come to their attention, the best course of action is complete, unquestioning compliance. They know how to make you do what they want regardless of your preferences, and if you force them to prove it, not all of them will be nice about it.
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"I can't wait to introduce you to everyone!" Jair was walking backwards as he spoke, stepping up onto the lunar platform that would take them from Terluna to Orard.
The rest of his group came up beside him, along with a handful of heavily-armed strangers who wanted to try their luck in the wild jungles. There were no piles of crates or eelships piled high with trade goods on this platform, which was about as small as possible for a lunar passage.
"You'll love them. Eythron, Qahrvirna—"
The portal flashed and threw them down to the planet below. Lilin staggered slightly, but handled the transition relatively well. The increased gravity of Neptus took a bit of getting used to after spending the whole day on Terluna, but she’d get used to it quickly.
“I don’t like this,” muttered one of their fellow travelers. “Feels like a setup.”
Jair spun. He’d used this platform—this exact lunar passage—countless times before and never had any trouble.
This time, though, someone was waiting for them.
Three someones, in fact. A vampiress in a sleeveless red dress with flairs of black lace curving across its top in a suggestive X pattern before twisting around the skirt, spell imprints visible on her arms above the elbow-length black gloves. A grey-haired man with weathered features and looking very grumpy about being present, arms crossed over his haphazard armor of homemade monster-leather, no visible weapon but a glint in his eye that would dare anyone to underestimate him. And towering over the both of them, a muscular beastkin man with black scales and fur, pale ivory horns and claws, and glowing gold eyes.
Jair knew them all. And he knew no reason for them to have gathered right here at this particular time.
"Qahrvirna. Eythron. Uqiar. What are you doing here?" Under normal circumstances he would have been overjoyed. But today, he felt only suspicion.
Qahrvirna stepped forward, grinning. The rest of the passengers edged away hastily to get clear of the platform as she joined Jair atop it. "I have a message for you. Go back. We're coming with you."
"No we aren't," Eythron grumbled. "I agreed to come deliver the message, not join an intercontinental crusade against a mad sorcerer."
Jair blinked. "Uh, well. Qahrvirna, nice to meet you. I'm Jair Welburne, we've been friends in several futures. This is my sister, Lilin, and my best friend, Raina."
The three females exchanged knowing smiles.
"Eythron, you're my mentor in—"
"All the futures where I don't succeed in murdering you first, yes yes. That damned seer told me. Now go away. You don't have much time."
"You're coming," growled Uqiar. He picked Eythron up in a bear hug, from which the struggling mageblade was too slow to release himself, and hopped up on the platform.
Qahrvirna grinned at Raina. "You look delectable, may I say."
Eythron continued trying to squirm free. "Uqiar, let me down. I will hurt you if I have to."
"You will not."
"I will."
The platform flashed, returning them to Terluna along with the lone return passenger who wasn’t there to ambush Jair.
"Put me down. I will kill you all."
Uqiar didn’t release Eythron. “No.”
"Yay, we have just enough time to catch the last portal back to Veor," Jair said tonelessly. "Why do I feel like I'm going to very much not like the next few hours?"
"Because if it had been any other collection of people waiting for you, they'd be dead by now," Qahrvirna said altogether too cheerfully. "Want to try it? I'm so curious. She wouldn't tell me what happens."
Jair sighed and shook his head. "We can find out what happens to a vampire with Darkflame another time. Right now, we need to convince Eythron not to murder us all first."
He'd never once succeeded in convincing his mentor to leave the Oriad, let alone the continent. That he was here was only due to the trickery of Uqiar betraying him at the last moment, but that wouldn't be enough to move him all the way across Terlunia to the Veor return platform. Not when they were on as tight a deadline as this.
Eythron summoned his sword. “I’m serious.”
"All right, that's enough of that." Qahrvirna jumped at Eythron and bit down on his shoulder, hard.
He responded with a murderous glance and raised his soulsword. Before he could slash, Qahrvirna jumped back, leaving only two pinpricks of blood barely visible against Eythron's dark tunic.
"You... can't do this... to—" he slumped, unconscious.
Qahrvirna licked her fangs, then made a disgusted face as she tested whatever she'd had on them. "Nasty stuff. Eugh." She swayed dizzily for a moment, then her eyes flashed bright red and she stabilized.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Jair sighed and started walking toward the internal transit platforms. Qahrvirna followed, the others trailing after.
"I have no idea what's going on," Lilin said, raising her hand.
"Me either, but I'm sure it'll sort itself out," Raina said, much less concerned. "And it sounds like we're heading for home?"
"Yes. Though I'd appreciate an explanation as to why."
"I was told that 'Sekir is starting early' and that you'd know what that means. Also something about not being at Meliarn this time, so you being on your own. Except with us."
"Well, Dovak. I didn't see that coming. So now I'll have to deal with him, not only without a full archmage loadout, but without any spells at all, and without seer support?"
Qahrvirna shrugged. "That's what you have me for."
"You're not a seer, or an archmage."
"No, but I'm a vampire and a witch, so that's got to count for something."
Jair shook his head. "I don't suppose you have a plan for how to keep him calm after we reach Veor?"
"We'll deal with that once we get there."
Eighteen expensive transit flashes later, and one more lunar passage, and they were back at the twilight desert Jair had hoped they'd seen the last of for a while.
"Guess our Terlunia holiday will be just that," Raina commented.
"Still the best Terlunia I've ever had," Lilin said shyly. "I... I had a lot of fun today."
"Perfect! Now we just need to decide what to do, where to do it, with whom, and—” Jair spun on the Oriad contingent. “WHAT IS GOING ON!"
"Jair, dear, no need to shriek." Qahrvirna patted his head like he was an unruly child.
He ducked, lunged, and bit down on her hand in a split second by pure reflex.
She grinned at him and slowly raised her hand to lick the blood from its back. "I do like you. How refreshing."
Raina and Lilin were staring at the pair of them like they’d never seen them before.
“This is normal,” Jair and Qahrvirna both said in unison.
The vampire grinned even wider. “I think this is the first time a seer has given me something enjoyable.”
“Don’t give her so much credit, I was going to find you either way.”
“I think the most reassuring part of this all is that Jair also has no idea what’s happening,” Raina said to Lilin in an aside. “That means we’ll get an actual explanation. If he knew everything, we’d stay in the dark indefinitely.”
Jair glared at her. “I tell you things.”
“Sometimes. When you remember to. If I point it out.”
“Also.” He turned back to Qahrvirna and gestured at Uqiar with one thumb. “Is the only reason he’s along to babysit our kidnapped mageblade? And what use is having someone who’ll go violently aggressive the moment he realizes he’s away from his precious forest?”
“Take us to the dragon’s mountain. We’ll be safe there.”
Jair stopped and turned to her with a frown. “You want us to set up base inside Ryenzo’s mountain?”
Qahrvirna shrugged. “Or I can give you the message in the middle of the public when we have no idea who, where, or what your mysterious nemesis is up to.”
Jair glowered, but nodded and held out Maelstrom. “Everyone, grab on.”
With a tiny stab into Eythron’s back and the rest voluntarily connected, Jair darkflamed the entire group of them to the ledge where Ryenzo had last stood before her untimely demise.
“Ooh, I like this place.” Qahrvirna immediately started walking around, showing no ill effects from the darkflame, and waved her hands at the walls as though trying to decide how to decorate them.
"Alright, we're secure. You can go furniture shopping later. What're you here to tell me?"
"Right to business, eh? I suppose impatience has an allure of its own.”
“The message?”
She drew herself up and put on a haughty tone. “Jair Welburne. By the friendship we have had in the future, I send you… blah blah blah. I wasn’t really paying attention to that part.”
Jair had no doubt that Mersine had gone on exactly the necessary amount of time to wear through Qahrvirna’s boredom until she flipped over into resignedly memorizing the remainder of the message.
"I don't know how you managed to break things this much worse in one week, but there is no longer time to delay. You must return to Veor immediately. I have gathered your allies and will send them to you, but you are the one who must do what is necessary. I will not be able to reach Meliarn this time, I am needed elsewhere, but I believe you can do this even if I have not seen it. Do not leave Veor again until Sekir is dealt with.” Qahrvirna dropped out of her recitation voice. “Who’s Sekir?”
“A powerful sorcerer. You’ll like him.” Jair grimaced. She’d probably like him a lot. Anyone fringing on immortal, and especially those with extreme healing abilities, tended to land in Qahrvirna’s sweet spot more often than not. “I don’t mind if you play around with him, but please don’t join him in trying to destroy the world.”
Qahrvirna's eyes glinted, and she continued her recitation without answering. “Whatever you've done, he is a lot more inclined to take action than ever in the futures I saw before. He's never been this aggressive this early and I don't know why. Eythron is important, though I don't know why. Without him present, the continent is destroyed with or without Sekir. I do not know how you can prevent it, but it is clear you and he are the only ones capable of doing so. Blah blah, something, our world has lost too much already. Oh, and I'm going to send Qahrvirna along too, so you have someone to play with. Don't break her too badly. I still need her for the Mynora Disputes."
Qahrvirna paused and tilted her head, eyes narrowing at Jair. "What are the Mynora Disputes?"
"You think I know?" He did.
"Yes."
"Nope," he lied.
She squinted at him suspiciously.
"Please, continue."
"On a more personal note, whatever you are doing to yourself is rapidly destroying your timeline. It used to be you would survive eight years like clockwork, right up to Mount Sanctum, but now I've yet to see a single timeline where you make it to Celsin at all, let alone the final invasion. I know you won't listen, but at least be aware. You're not the only one you'll be destroying if you continue down this path. You are so powerful and capable of so much. I wish you weren't in such a hurry to throw yourself away."
For some reason, hearing Mersine's words of concern in Qahrvirna's voice made tears come to his eyes. He shook his head and blinked the unexpected wave of emotion away. "Crazy seer lady. I'll never know what she sees in me."
Qahrvirna licked her lips, grinning. "I can think of a few potential options, and I'm sure we could figure out a few more with a little effort."
"We just met."
"All the more reason to get to know each other better."
Jair only raised an eyebrow at her.
She pouted when he ignored her proposal, then tapped a finger to her lips. "So, if you’re dying anyway, want to try out becoming a vampire?”
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