Act 2: The Shadow in the Light

They made good time the first day. At Fenrir's insistence the vast majority of their supplies had been placed in his pack, but even with this handicap he found that his companions tired before he did. Kira and Safara were the most unaccustomed to marching so quickly for so long, but while Katari displayed greater endurance, even she was glad to stop once they made camp for the night. However, Fenrir was favorably impressed with how well all of them kept up with him.

Fenrir had them stop early enough that there was still light enough for training, and after they ate, he and Kira submitted themselves to Katari's instruction for as long as light remained. Despite her fatigue, Kira threw herself into the training with the same full-bodied determination she had displayed when Fenrir had first watched her practicing her magic in the courtyard.

Once it became too dark to see, they gathered around the fire. Katari had been surprised and pleased to have such an eager pupil, and now she explained some of the theory behind swordplay to an attentive Kira. Meanwhile, Fenrir sat down next to Safara, who had remained beside the fire while the rest of them sparred. She was carefully transcribing a copy of Archmagus Calanrias' Rune Index, with constant cross-checks between several other books to ensure she did not make any mistakes.

She looked up with a small, though pleased smile as he settled next to her. "You've finished training, then?"

"For now," Fenrir replied, "but I'm not yet ready to stop learning today." At her quizzical expression, he continued, "I would like to learn all you can teach me regarding runework. Not only how to cast spells using runes, but also the underlying logic of the entire system."

"That... won't be easy. I mean, no one fully understands how runes work, and how they all interact with each other. Then there are some runes which have been lost to time, and it's not entirely indisputable that new runes couldn't be created if you knew how. It's pretty generally accepted that runes are the last surviving remnant of the first written language, and somehow they became infused with incredible power at some point. As to who came up with it, no one knows. Some believe it was the Ancient Race, but others think it's even older than them."

"Then teach me all you know, and we can go from there. Am I correct in believing that most magic is actually done using runes?"

Safara nodded. "Yes. Instinctive magic is more useful in a fight, but less powerful as a general rule, while rune magic takes much longer to perform and is far easier to get wrong but is also much more powerful and versatile. Most general purpose or 'household magic' is performed using runework." She closed one of her reference books. "Very well, I'll teach you what I know. I suppose we should start by teaching you all the known runes."

Two hours later, Fenrir stretched, closing the Rune Index Safara had been transcribing and was now using to teach him. "If this was once an ancient language, I can't help but be glad it's not still in common use. I can't imagine trying to write a sentence with these characters."

Relaxing against his side where she had gradually come to lean over the course of the lesson, Safara giggled. "That's what I said when I first started learning runework. I wondered if whoever came up with the characters was deliberately trying to make them as complicated and obtuse as possible."

"Did you ever find out?" asked Kira from across the fire. She was lying stretched across her bedroll, dividing her sleepy attention between Katari, who was carefully polishing her sword, the fire, and Safara and Fenrir.

Safara tensed at the question, but after a moment's hesitation she replied, "No, but I did notice that the more complicated characters don't show up as much in simpler rune circles, so maybe there's a correlation there?"

"What's surprising to me is how few of these runes have solid definitions," Fenrir mused, flipping through the half-finished rune index. "I mean, this one is 'heat, or fire', but then this one is 'heat, or energy'? What kind of energy? Fire is energy, just in plasma form. So is electricity, and it can produce far more heat far more quickly than most fire, so why isn't there a 'heat, or lightning' rune? That's what I really want to learn. I don't just want to know how to start a fire, I want to know how and why the fire burns, so I know all the different ways I can start a fire."

Total silence followed this soliloquy, even Katari pausing her polishing to stare at him in confusion. "You lost me when you started talking about energy, boss," Kira spoke up after a few seconds. "Were we actually meant to understand all of that?"

"Hmm?" Fenrir looked up from his perusal of the index. "No, sorry, I was just thinking aloud. Bad habit to get into, really."

"As to there not being a 'heat, or lightning' rune, there might once have been one, but it was just lost to time or something," Safara said. "And while I won't pretend to understand what you just said either, you have to keep in mind that most of these 'definitions' are just best guesses by runeworkers through the centuries. If we found a dictionary of runes or even a manuscript written in runic characters, it would likely revolutionize the entire discipline. Unfortunately, that even this much survived the ages is something close to a miracle."

"What about the 'original rune index' by that Archmagus whoever that you've got there?" Kira asked, motioning lazily towards the book Fenrir held. "I remember Koreen mentioning something like that."

"Well, Archmagus Calanrias was one of the greatest runeworkers of the Drakon Age. It was her that first discovered how to use multi-ring rune circles, and some even believe that she invented the 'null' rune. But her rune index, as good as it is, is still only a best guess. Most of the circles she codified in it were discovered by trial and error, and not even she truly understood why they work, or rather, why all the runes in them are required and what they all do." Safara yawned as she finished her explanation, daintily covering her mouth with one hand.

"So runework is still a very imprecise science, then?" Fenrir asked, resisting the urge to yawn himself.

"Exactly. It makes it really infuriating to work in sometimes unless you're willing to stick to the beaten path and don't care about hows and whys. Pushing the boundaries of the discipline can be extremely frustrating, not to mention dangerous. Just making the S.E.P. cloaks was difficult enough, and that was only scaling up and making a slight modification to an existing enchantment. The larger size, not to mention adding in the toggle, could easily have broken the enchantment entirely."

'So it's as I thought. I'm a long way from being able to **** this magic system, if it's even going to be possible at all.' Fenrir shrugged his shoulders in an attempt to discard his frustration. "The road to success is paved with failures," he reminded himself softly.

Safara heard him, however. "That's very wise," she commented equally quietly. "At least if it means what I think it does."

"You've most likely interpreted it correctly. It means that you only reach success over the stepping stones created by your setbacks and failures, so there's no point in striving for a goal if you're not willing to fail multiple times before you attain it."

"I see. But why say that now? Did you have some plans regarding runeworking?"

"Nothing so concrete as plans, but it matters little. It's far from the only option available to me."

Safara yawned again. "If I can help..." she offered.

"For now, teaching me about runeworking is more than enough. But it's time to get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a long day as well."

They finally reached the bottom of the pass about mid-afternoon of the second day. From there they followed a gently sloping valley down for several miles until the hills on either side fell away and they came out onto the plains proper. There was a small spur to the south, the last brave holdout of the mountains against the encroaching flatlands, and on its summit Fenrir espied a small figure. As they came closer it moved down to meet them, and just as he was about to order them all into the trees which flanked the north side of the old road lest they be recognized as inhuman, something about the figure gave him pause.

He stopped to wait, every moment that passed strengthening his certainty as to the identity of this mystery person. His companions stopped as well, and it didn't take them long to find what had caused his own halt.

"There's no way. Is that... Chellise?" Kira asked, squinting.

"I think so," Fenrir replied in a voice laden with disapproval.

"Now that I think about it, she wasn't in the courtyard when we left, was she?"

"No, but I'm certain she was still in the castle. Besides, if she had preceded us, I would have noticed her tracks on the road, so I don't know how she came to be ahead of us. But we can ask her ourselves soon enough."

The group fell silent, waiting for Chellise to cover the remaining quarter mile or so to their location. When she arrived, her bright smile of greeting was immediately extinguished by the disapproving frown of Fenrir. "How did you come to be here, Chellise?" he asked in a carefully neutral tone.

"I followed you, Daddy. I thought I'd be more useful to you here." Her initial good mood upon approaching them was quickly melting into uncertainty at the frosty reception.

"I see. Was that all?"

"Y-Yes..." She looked between him and the others of his party as though searching for a sign of welcome, but Kira was frowning, Safara looked uncertain, and Katari was watching the scene with no indication of her thoughts appearing on her face.

"Did you stop to consider that if I thought you'd be more useful here I would have brought you along?" A hint of his displeasure was now creeping into Fenrir's voice.

Chellise scuffed one foot in the dirt. "N-No, Daddy."

"But you must have known that I would disapprove on some level, or you would have asked to be part of the party from the beginning. Now you have wasted three days, possibly more, since we will need to take you back and then start once again for the capital."

"Do we even have time for that?" Kira asked. "It'll take longer to get back than it did to get here, and I'd argue that we need all the time we can get. You haven't told me much about why we're going but from what I've heard, once we get there hurrying isn't going to be an option."

"You're not wrong," Fenrir muttered. He passed a hand over his eyes, thinking. 'I can't send her back alone. Yeti are only one of the many dangers of these mountains, and a lone girl would make a tempting snack for most of those dangers. If I leave the rest of the party to continue towards the capital, take her back myself, and then catch up, that cuts down on time lost, but I'm still leaving these three to whatever chance encounters may occur for at least three days. They can take care of themselves, but I still don't like it. ...No, it's more than that. This feeling is my gut instinct telling me that doing that would be a mistake. So that leaves me the options of either taking her with us or just swallowing the time lost and hoping it won't be significant. Neither of which I particularly like.'

"How did you get here before us?" Kira asked Chellise curiously.

"I followed you until last night, then I went around and made for the rock where we saw the soldiers when we came through here the last time." Fenrir noted that she did look exhausted.

"But you did not use the road," Katari stated.

"No, I used a different trail. There's one that parallels this road along the ridge over there. That's how me and Nelith caught up with you the time we stayed behind to scout."

"And further up in the mountains?" Kira questioned.

"I mostly went through the woods. I almost got lost a couple times, but I didn't dare use the road."

"Very well," said Fenrir, making up his mind. "You get your wish, this time. We do not have time to take you back, and none of our other options are much better. But make no mistake, once we return to the castle you will be punished for knowingly going against my wishes, nor will it be a punishment you will enjoy."

"Yes, Daddy," Chellise answered in a chastened tone, unable to meet his gaze.

Without further delay they set out again. Before long Fenrir heard Kira speaking behind him. "Even for you, Chel, this stunt was a doozy. Do you have any idea how worried Lilli and Nelith are going to be when they find you missing?"

"I left a note..." Chellise's tone was still subdued from Fenrir's earlier disapprobation.

"Yeah, because that'll stop them worrying. You know they were already concerned about us going at all. Any of us. I trust the boss, and so do they, but that won't keep them from worrying. And now you running off will just make it worse."

Chellise deflated even further. "I'm sorry. I didn't think..."

"Well, you'd better start. Consider the consequences of your actions and don't make the boss feel like he can't trust you. He's a better master than we could have hoped for. You don't want to ruin that."

A silence of some minutes stretched, then Safara spoke, a little hesitantly. "Is that how you feel about him? You think of him as your master?"

"Yeah," Kira replied, adjusting one of her pack's straps. "Though I've gotta admit, if it weren't for the air, or you know, the aura of authority or whatever that he projects, I think I'd forget how far beyond us he is. He's way nicer to us than any master I've ever seen."

"I know what you mean," Katari chimed in, rather unexpectedly. "I do not know about all of you, but he has treated me with respect and dignity far beyond what I deserve."

"Oh, that's right, the first evening you were with us you mentioned something like that. Your code says that you're basically his ****, right? How does that work? I mean, I've never lived with oni, but basically all the stories I've heard about them mention how much you love to fight. If you become a **** whenever you lose a duel, how are any of you still free?"

"We do not become Beholden every time we lose a duel. It is only when we challenge an outsider, lose, but have our life spared that we become Beholden to the one who spared us. That, and if we owe a great debt to another, we may choose to become Beholden if we do not believe we can repay it. But that does not happen often. Oni cherish our independence."

"But with how prideful the stories always paint you to be, you'd think oni would butt heads pretty often. How do you guys resolve your differences?"

"We do fight duels amongst ourselves when two oni cannot come to an agreement, but most often inter-clan duels are only to first blood, or until one proves themselves the better combatant in the eyes of impartial judges. Duels to the **** are only suffered if the two concerned cannot put aside their ****-hate but neither has violated any of the terms of the oni code." Katari paused to take a swallow of water from her waterskin, then continued. "We do spar amongst ourselves often, but such fights are friendly in nature and are treated more as sport than aught else. Some even lay wagers on the outcomes, but it is considered foolish to wager anything of consequence, and none would ever wager something as important as their freedom."

Safara spoke next, her brow furrowed as she did so. "How do you become free? Are you just a **** forever now?"

Katari shook her head. "I may become free when my lord decides I have repaid my debt or dies of natural causes, but not before. Often this does mean that Beholden remain so for the rest of their lives, but not always. Not that there are many examples. It is rare for an oni to become Beholden, after all."

"But what if your master were to die in battle or was assassinated or something?" Safara asked.

"If it were a **** born of foolishness and arrogance, I would be free, but otherwise I must also die or live as a Dishonored forever after."

Kira shook her head sympathetically. "That seems rough. But the boss will take care of you. Hell, he might free you right now if you asked him. He told us- wait, have you heard how he met us?"

Katari shook her head as well, looking curious in spite of herself.

"Well, it happened like this," Kira began, and everyone settled in for the story, while the miles slowly disappeared beneath their feet.

And Act 2 begins! Chellise promptly gets herself into trouble with Fenrir, but she does get to go along. We'll see whether she ends up regretting it. We also learn a bit more about oni customs in this chapter, and more about runework. Next chapter they should get to civilization, and then we'll see just how useful the S.E.P. cloaks will really be.
Happy reading!

Act 2 Stats chapter here. Warning, contains spoilers.