Chapter 2-38

I wanted to begin strengthening my domain immediately, but we couldn’t afford to linger. I wasn’t sure how solid my nascent realm had to become for my idea to function, but I knew I wanted to deepen my connection with Sati as well. Both tasks would take time, and the Pure would not wait.

We had received emissaries from clan Nagana, clan Math, and clan Finnag. The clans didn’t really believe in the value of purely political positions, so each of these diplomats had other skills to use on our behalf. Peta and Sati took charge of them immediately, talking to them about their skills and learning their temperaments, while Siobhan looked on in amusement. Technically they were meant to aid clan Ket, not our company, but she seemed just as happy to leave the diplomacy to us.

The trip to Clan Ket’s lands would take us about three weeks, time that I would spend meditating with my vas, reinforcing my domain, and learning the basics of runeworking with Riona. The druid wasn’t the most powerful, but as she explained to me, that was exactly what made her a better teacher.

“You’ve touched the sea now, have you felt the laws restrict you yet?” She asked the question almost idly, but I could tell the druid was fishing for some specific information.

“Only a little.” I shrugged, not seeing any real reason to hide it. “I’ve felt bound in matters of debt and obligation. But if I don’t think about it, it’s not obvious.”

“It gets worse the more connected to the sea you are. Honoring debts is the most fundamental law, but the restrictions on knowledge follow soon after. The most skilled rune crafters would not be able to speak to you about how they function at all.”

“So runes are directly related to the Radiant Sea,” I muttered. She smiled, and I nodded in acknowledgement. “You can’t outright tell me as much, but you can lead me straight to the knowledge. I suppose someone who is stronger would be more restricted. They’d have a harder time even implying the information.”

“Aye,” she grinned. “Much of a druid’s work is talking around their point. Makes us hard to talk to, as we get in the habit even when there’s nae reason.”

“I already find it frustrating, and I’m not even really bound by it yet.” I snorted. “Well, what can you tell me about this?”

I held out my hand, to better display the seal on my palm. It was traced in gold lines on my skin, that reflected a metallic, iridescent sheen. With a noise of intrigue, Riona grabbed my hand, only to scoff a moment later.

“It’s butcher’s work, plain as sunshine. These runes here are ours, used by the druids, I mean. But they're not used the way we would. See here.”

She retrieved a rod from her bag, showing me a row of runes carved on its length. All of the symbols were joined by a single line, carved down the whole length of the rod. I compared that to the similar runes on my palm, which were arranged in a sort of circular mandala. The runes all separated out, rather than joined.

“What about these then?” I pointed to several of the runes on my hand that looked significantly different than the metic runes, including the one that was most prominently displayed at the center of the design.

“I can tell you the meanings of our runes.” Riona had a sly smile on her face that told me she was skirting her restrictions again. “I can tell you the meanings of runes from sorcerers as well. But those I can’t talk about at all.”

“So the meanings of the metic runes have a mundane origin,” I mused. “But the other runes are tied directly to the sea somehow.”

Running my fingers over the rod she had handed me, I examined its mana. It was deeply infused, and I could feel not just the mana of the wood itself, but traces of mana that had been pushed through the object time and again. I resisted the urge to push mana through it myself, my arm aching from the restrained impulse. Instead, I tried to chase down a different sensation that was nagging at me. The runes themselves didn’t have any extra concentration of mana, something that confused me, but they did have… something.

I let my sight dip into the Radiant Sea, an act that was becoming increasingly reflexive for me. There, I found the source of the sensation I’d been pursuing. The carved markings were reflected in the sea, they resonated there. I stared at the runes, which were small and faint, but somehow imposing. As though I were not looking at weak reflections, but enormous icons seen from very far away. One, in particular, drew my gaze.

“Fire.” My fingers traced the rune feeling the warmth and playful dance of a flame under my fingers.

“You’ve a strong desire to burn things then?” My teacher pulled my attention back with her words, making me realize belatedly that I had spoken aloud. “It takes most of my students much longer to feel the meaning of a rune, especially without having been told first.”

“Myta’s aspect is fire,” I shifted uncomfortably. “It felt like her, is all.”

“I was only teasing,” she answered with a smile in her voice. “It’s good that you felt it so quickly.”

She held out her hand for the rod, and when I handed it back to her she pointed it into the air. I could feel the mana around her begin to swirl and shift, not the way a sorcerer might gather their presence, but as though a natural eddy had formed in the ambient energy of the world. It wasn’t the first time I had felt a druid’s magic, but I was still fascinated.

My attention was grabbed by the rod, however. The seemingly simple wand was the target of the flow of mana, and as I watched it filtered the incoming energy. Fire mana was retained in the rod, while other aspects of mana flowed away. When some tipping point was reached, the fire mana was released in a spear of flame, which Riona shot harmlessly off into the sky. Goats bleated in annoyance, while numerous people shouted questions, but I was deaf to it all.

“It’s intention,” I whispered the words, my mind racing. “The runes somehow carry enough intention to shape the mana you feed to it. And somehow, that intention is held, recorded, in the sea.”

“What is the sea?” The druid hadn’t corrected me, and her broad grin told me I was closing in on what she wanted to teach me.

“It’s a place, a state of being, where the world’s excess mana flows.” I responded as much to work through my thoughts as to actually answer her. “It’s the realm of gods, who are empowered by belief. It’s the realm of belief? A realm where belief shapes mana. Where intention lingers.” I dragged my nails down my face, wanting to scream at how obvious the answer was. Riona spoke it aloud for me, her lips unsealed by my own understanding.

“Runes carry intention from every being who agrees on their meaning.” She laughed. “Like any other language, they’ve no meaning but what we assign to them. The stronger the will behind them, the better they work. If every druid died tomorrow, this little toy would become useless not long after.” She waved the rod idly by way of emphasis.

“So you can explain most runes. They were simply made up by people with enough influence, or long enough ago, that their meaning has spread. But the runes you can’t explain are somehow tied intrinsically to the sea.” I could only think of one way that could be true, and the thought made me feel ill. “Were the remaining runes created by the divines?”

Riona nodded, her smile turning a little crooked. “Aye. Someone among the Pure is tapping into primordial forces to warp the souls of others. It’s naw wonder their victims are becoming demons.”

“So if I want to alter these seals, I need to learn all the runes that form them, as well as understanding how they interact. Then, I should be able to rewrite them.” I laughed, a little bitterly. “Well I did need a new challenge.”

Riona taught me how to feel out the meanings of the runes, and their meanings did need to be felt, rather than explained. Feeling the runes resonate turned out to be far more important than having some abstract understanding of them, they were like mastering an aspect of mana, in that way. Fortunately I turned out to be quite proficient at understanding the runes, or at least my teacher assured me that I was, multiple times. Each rune had multiple layers of meaning however, and I could spend days studying the nuances of a single one.

At least the trip itself was pleasant, even glorious. I loved the cool spaces beneath the redwood canopy, redolent with the crisp scents of pine, fresh greenery, and rich damp earth. Our path wasn’t difficult, but it was winding and circuitous. The Metic clans didn’t maintain paved roads on their lands, but the open nature of the forest made our passage easy enough.

Myta avoided me during my lessons and meditations on runes. The process bored her immensely, not because she didn’t understand the concepts and their potential value, they simply didn’t interest her. She preferred training and work that had a more visceral impact, and so she spent her spare time training with her warriors. They practiced their combat sorcery, discussed strategy, and generally got to know one another better. The Metic warriors folded into our company’s dynamic with surprising ease, their respect for mercenaries and martial prowess easing the misunderstandings that arose.

Sati, unlike Myta, was just as fascinated by the power and utility of runes as I was, and so she spent more time at my side. It was just as well, as I was trying to deepen our connection by getting to know her better.

“And the goat didn’t knock you off the wall?” I laughed in amusement and disbelief at the culmination of a story the apsara was telling me. I couldn’t imagine Ita or Ina tolerating the indignities the former princess had just described.

“Of course not! He recognized my regal bearing.” Her haughty expression broke in a fit of giggles. “Also I’m not sure he realized I was stil on his back. I was much smaller then, and with my aspect, very light. Besides, he was distracted eating the ribbons.”

“That, I can believe.” My cheeks ached from smiling, and my heart was light. It struck me again how disconnected this story of Sati’s youthful impishness was from her ruthless, if foolish, attempt to overthrow the governor of Kuru. She felt my sudden turn of mood, and her anxiety pulled a shadow across her eyes.

“I think it’s time,” I said, “to delve a little deeper into what has poisoned your spirit.”

“I don’t think that’s wise.” Her voice had a petulant edge. “With your spirit as damaged as it is, you could be hurt if you try to affect my spirit.”

“Don’t deflect, little flower.” I made my voice firm. “Don’t pretend you’re protecting me, when we both know that you’re just scared of facing your mistakes. Just visiting your inner world shouldn’t put any pressure on my spirit, and you’ll feel better after confronting the memory.”

I held her gaze with what was hopefully a stern but compassionate expression. I hid my own uncertainty, because while visiting another’s inner world wouldn’t normally be any kind of strain, if I found and uprooted an anchor for her sickness a flood of poisoned mana could indeed crash into my spirit. That was how Myta’s cleansing had gone. But the steady stream of corrupted mana from Sati had ceased flowing, and I was worried that if we didn’t keep making progress then she would stagnate, even backslide.

And aside from my concerns about the apsara, our relaxed journey, combined with my slow studies, made me itch to accomplish something significant. I knew the danger of that urge, the urge to act and to progress. It was a siren song that, if I didn’t indulge it a little, would push me into some even more rash act.

“Yes daddy.” Sati blushed as she looked down and away from me, and I smiled a little at her excited embarrassment. I’d learned that she enjoyed it when I called her out on her little manipulations, despite her pique. She liked knowing that I would set boundaries for her, and pull her back across the lines when she crossed them.

“Good girl.” I smiled at her, and she fidgeted a little, blushing harder. “We’ll visit your past tonight.”