Millennial Mage

Tala stood outside the room in which Rane was Refining, holding back tears while listening to him scream.

Her threefold sight gave her a perfect look at what lay beyond the heavily reinforced, iron-core door, but she almost wished that it didn’t.

Rane was sitting in a chair—well, actually he was strapped in—holding an artifact style device that was sending pulses through his body from one hand to the other.

The magic radiated out like a wave, sweeping down his arm before spreading out to wash over his entire body before recondensing to finish down the other arm.

Then, the wave would go the other way.

Each wave killed parts of Rane before building them back up, better than before on some undefinable level.

He only wore well-fitted shorts, like those he had often sparred in.

His inscriptions had been removed by a teleportation before the Refining began.

The only stop they’d made between the teleportation tower and this room had been an inscriptionist to get the bare minimum work added back into his flesh, only those magics that were to help facilitate the process.

Force—Rane’s sword—was in an iron box in the hallway beside Tala, along with Rane’s storage device and all his other garments and gear.

Rane had asked her to look after his things while he underwent the process.

She would honor that request.

Within the small room, he was unarmed, unarmored, without his magic, and alone.

The last was a good thing, too.

He was somehow manifesting magics that he’d never managed unassisted before. Master Grediv had warned of that possibility, because of the blessing that was more of a curse on their family line.

Since Rane was restrained, he couldn’t go berserk on what was harming him, so his magic was lashing out in his body’s stead.

Blades of kinetic energy were scouring the room around him, seeming unable to target either his bonds, the chair, or the device his hands were bound to.

In truth, the workings weren’t actually unassisted.

Tala could see with her threefold sight that Rane was pulling on his connection with Force, aspect-mirroring the weapon's magics as he unconsciously scoured the world around him.

In such an enclosed space, Tala suspected that she would be hard pressed to avoid the attacks, and she didn’t relish the idea of healing from such powerful blows.

Though… my iron would disrupt the magics rather effectively, and my flesh is tough enough to back it up, and I could even have a layer of white steel underneath.

But no, it was better that she stayed outside.

Being attacked by him wasn’t the worst thing that could happen if she were inside.

Worse would have been if he didn’t attack her, if he retained enough cognition to recognize her standing there, and beg for her to help him, with word, or deed, or simple look.

Even thinking of the possibility made her feel sick.

The only other item in the well-reinforced room was the leather rod he held clenched between his teeth, seemingly entirely forgotten even as it kept him from biting his tongue or breaking his teeth, and it deadened his screams.

Regardless, they were still easy for her to hear.

-Tala. You don’t have to wait right outside the door.-

I will be here for him.

-Master Grediv is in a room down the hall, monitoring the situation. You could join him there.-

1. Will. Not. Leave.

Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and she hadn’t noticed herself slipping to the hall’s floor, holding her own knees as the wall at her back shuddered under the erratic attacks thrown its way.

To try to bear through the empathetic pain, she focused in on those manifestations of desperation and power.

They were insanely precise, as Rane’s ability to direct magic seemed to be actively improving along with this first purifying of his body. The gunk being removed had been a barrier between his body and his soul, thus his bonds. Now, as it was diminished, that connection was improving.

That included Force.

Even so, without inscriptions or specific conscious direction, the kinetic blades lacked power.

She had the feeling that he would be tearing through this entire complex if he were properly inscribed and focused on destruction.

He was sweating out the black muck that Tala was beginning to believe was the taint of reality itself. Though, if she was right, she still didn’t know either the purpose or the mechanism.

If reality itself was sentient, she’d believe that it was doing its utmost to drag down those who had the capacity to wield void or magic, striving to keep them from realizing that potential.

But it obviously wasn’t sentient.

It was a pillar of existence and simply acted according to natural laws.

Rane’s hoarse voice jarred her once again.

She focused on him, on what was going on within him.

The black, tar-like taint was coming from every cell, and it would have quickly clogged his innards, killing him, if not for the prep-work of the pre-Refining inscriptions.

Tala saw those magics—the only inscriptions that had been added back—driving the nasty contaminants outward to be excreted through pores across his entire body.

As Tala watched the black move through him, she saw with fascination that it wasn’t being directly affected by magic.

Instead, the magic was empowering the body’s own self-cleansing and -repair biological functions. It was those mundane systems that were keeping him alive and removing the filth.

And the process had only just begun.

-Be strong, Tala. He will need you soon enough.-

Tala grimaced, then shook her head, rising to her feet. Rust this.

White steel flowed over her, followed by iron, completely encasing her. She opened the box with Rane’s gear and pressed the few pieces against her back, enfolding them under her iron.

She would keep his gear close and safe.

-Tala? Is this a good idea?-

She tried the door, but it was locked, sealed tight until the procedure was complete.

-Tala. Master Grediv said it would be dangerous for you to be in there.-

But not for Rane.

-...no.-

Check.

There was a pause before Alat responded. -There should be no danger to the one Refining if others are in the room. It isn’t done due to the danger to those who might be present.-

Good. Her iron would disperse the magic carrying his kinetic energy, so even if it reflected back at him, it wouldn’t be sharp, and that was currently the greatest danger, as he didn’t have the precision to put too much energy into each strike.

Tala manifested iron around her bloodstars that were stoneward of the door, having them reach toward the superficial and latch onto her.

She took a step forward, leaning as if to fall through the door.

With surprising difficulty, she pulled herself stoneward for a brief moment, then thrust herself back to the superficial.

She stumbled slightly as she found herself in the room with Rane.

Blades of power broke across her iron shell, staggering her back against the door.

-I have informed Master Grediv of what we are doing, so he doesn’t over react.-

Thank you.

Tala stepped to stand behind Rane, placing a hand on each shoulder.

Kinetic blades sent sparks flying off of her iron as the energy and the magic containing and directing it tried to go different directions.

Tala opened just enough of a hole to speak through, filling her voice with power to ensure he would hear, regardless of his mental state.

“Rane. I’m here.”

The raking attacks flared to a crescendo, obliterating the walls, floor, and ceiling until they revealed heavy iron plates.

There were only two places that were untouched.

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The ground under the chair, and the floor and wall directly behind Tala.

The stone that had sequestered the iron was turned first to gravel, then to sand under the fury of the assault.

Tala’s iron was effective, but not fully so, and she was nearly constantly healing minor cuts and lacerations from strikes that made it through the front of her defenses.

She didn’t leave.

After the nearly three minutes of increased intensity, the attacks lessened until they were infrequent.

Rane’s unconscious focus had shifted from his bond with Force to another.

Tala watched that thread of reality grow before her eyes, the change easy to see with her enhanced eyes and threefold sight.

While Rane’s soulbond with Force still allowed him to lash out in pain and frustrated agony, he seemed to find comfort in her hands on his shoulders, in his connection to her.

* * *

Tala sat beside Rane’s bed in his family home as the sun slowly set outside, casting the room in a bloody hue.

Master Grediv hadn’t reprimanded her for her breach of protocol in entering the Refining chamber.

He had even gone as far as informing her that she might have made the process easier on Rane, but regardless, she hadn’t made it worse.

That had been a relief.

At the moment, Rane was covered in thick blankets and comforters, artifact warmers tucked around him to help him stay warm as his body realigned with the changes it had undergone.

There was an untouched mug of soup on his side table.

It would have long-since been cold if it weren’t in a vessel that magically maintained the proper heat in the liquid within.

Even so, the fitness for consumption of the food wasn’t the issue.

Rane simply hadn’t been up for eating since he was brought to his room and tucked within his bed.

Healers had checked on him every hour, and Tala knew that there was extensive magical monitoring set up within the space.

Still, no one had been able to answer how long he would be in this state.

His Refining had been an exceedingly difficult one, it seemed.

Rane coughed weakly, not moving beyond the involuntary inward curling, followed by a pained relaxing back into his prone position.

Still, that was as much as she’d seen from him in a few hours. She didn’t want to wake him if he was asleep, but she still wanted to check in with him.

She was supposed to be on night-shift tonight with her unit. She had planned to skip it, but before the procedure, Rane had been insistent that she go.

She had planned on staying against his wishes, but if he was awake…

“Rane?”

He groaned slightly, turning to look her way with hollow, weak eyes. He was barely cognizant.

“Do you want me to go? You’ve slept most of the day, but you look to need more.”

There was obvious conflict behind his eyes, but finally he gave a slow, small nod.

Tala slowly stood. That lined up with what he’d said before, and she wasn’t going to argue with him or ignore his wishes when he was in this state. “I’ll check back in on you tomorrow, alright?”

He gave a weak smile, but didn’t respond further.

“Sleep, listen to the healers, eat if you can… I’m rambling.” She smiled awkwardly. “I’ll go.”

He gave a small nod once again.

Without a backward glance, Tala left the room, closing the door behind herself.

When she turned toward the exit, she saw that Master Grediv was coming down the hall, another Archon beside him.

When they saw her, the other Archon bowed to Master Grediv, then toward Tala before departing, going in the other direction.

Master Grediv walked the last distance to her with measured steps, only speaking when he stopped a few paces from her, “Mistress Tala. How is Rane doing?”

She took in a long breath before letting it out and shrugging. “I… I honestly don’t know. I expect you and the Healers know better than I with all the monitoring going on here. From my perspective though?”

He nodded.

“My Refining was awful, but this seems to be hitting him much harder.” Though, she still thought hers had been worse. Different people take injury differently, and he wasn’t weathering this well.

Master Grediv snorted an amused laugh. “Nothing about you or your Refining were standard, Mistress Tala. Your body, your very soul, wasn’t precisely human anymore, and while that added to the work that needed to be done, thus the process was more invasive, I believe it made things easier on you as well. Though, that’s like comparing two women’s childbirths.” He laughed in a self deprecating manner. “Let me advise you to never do that.”

Yeah, of course you shouldn’t do that. Tala internally shook her head. But I do think our peculiarities made our recovery smoother than it has been, or will be, for Rane.

-That was Mistress Holly’s opinion, too.-

Tala shrugged, “You might be right.”

“There is also that, for some unknown reason, the process is harder for some to endure than others.” He had a hard cast to his features, but Tala wasn’t left with any doubt as to why as the man continued, “My own beloved”—he swallowed to clear his throat.— “She couldn’t face what it took to fully Refine.”

Tala felt her shoulders drop as her heart ached for the man.

“For a long time, I hated her for choosing to not finish the process. Too long…” He glanced away, pausing for a moment before continuing, “I hated her for choosing death to avoid a process that I knew was doable. I felt that I wasn’t worth it for her.”—he gave a sad smile—”but before the end I learned the truth. I learned it surely enough that I was able to spend the last of our time together without that burden. Some can’t Refine, through no fault of their own. I do not believe Rane is one of those, but I have been wrong before.” His voice was soft by the end.

Tala swallowed. “I have no experience beyond my own, but I know Rane. If he can do it, he will.”

“I know, Mistress Tala. I know.” The Paragon’s gaze was far-off for a moment before he seemed to pull himself out of days long passed. “Forgive me. You said he was…?”

“Rane is trying to sleep, I think. He still hasn’t said more than a handful of words since the session completed.”

Master Grediv nodded. “I have the healer coming back within the hour. He will be with Rane tonight, and he should have a full assessment of the situation by tomorrow, midday. I know you have duties to attend to tonight.”

Tala grimaced slightly, feeling awkward. Even so, she decided to press again. “I hope I don’t overstep…?”

He motioned for her to continue.

“It would mean a lot to me, if you would keep me in the loop.”

“I will… consider it. I’ve no doubt that Rane will tell you what he knows, when he knows it, but…”

Tala found herself nodding, “But he won’t know the whole truth. He won’t be told what his estimated chances are, or that every single session is universally considered to be harder than the last.”

Master Grediv nodded as well, “I tried to push for him to wait for a decade or two, so that the magics could be embedded sufficiently to allow for a single-session Refining.” He shook his head. “There would have been greater risk from that session than this one, but less for the process as a whole.”

Tala felt herself smiling, “He said no?”

“He laughed at the very idea.” Master Grediv gave her a serious look. “He said that he wouldn’t give you that large of a lead.”

She winced slightly, but she knew it was true.

Even though they weren’t more than friends, they were close.

They had traveled together, spent hours conversing, confiding their fears, exposing their failures, trusting one another.

They tested themselves against the other, for the longest time only finding a truly worthy opponent in each other.

But they were both still so young.

Their paths could still so easily diverge without something tying them together.

Better friends had drifted apart in less time than eternity.

Am I okay with that?

She didn’t know the answer.

She knew that she didn’t need Rane, but she liked having him with her. She liked being with him. He sometimes chose into things that she found less than ideal, but when she went along with him, the events weren’t ever as bad as she had feared beforehand.

Could she watch her friend age, trapped on the cusp of immortality while she persisted?

Worse, could she leave him to degrade alone?

-You know, even if he never Refines, he’d still live a very long time. He Fused incredibly young, unlike Master Grediv’s wife or the Zuccats.-

Yeah, he could have six thousand years.

-It is almost as rare for a Fused to die from old age as it is for a Refined. It isn’t old age that kills Fused, not most of the time. So, will it matter in the end?-

She didn’t know.

Tala and Master Grediv had been standing in silence for almost too long.

It was he who broke the building pause, “Do you wish to stay here? I can make arrangements for your duties to be covered.”

She decided that she wouldn’t be diverted, only addressing the offer briefly, before returning to the crux of the moment, “Thank you, but no. You didn’t answer me. I would like to be kept informed. Are you willing?”

Master Grediv hesitated for another long moment. Finally, he gave a slow nod. “If he chooses to share what he knows with you, I will make sure you know the rest. You have my promise.”

Tala felt as if a weight had been lifted from her. “Thank you, Master Grediv.”

His eyes hardened for a moment. “Do not mistake me, Mistress Tala.”

The normally almost non-existent power within a human city was suddenly replaced by a growing maelstrom, the zeme tumultuous within the confined space of the wide hallway.

“If you betray the trust that that confidence represents, you will not have eternity to concern yourself with any longer. You have potential; you could be a boon for humanity; I am even rather fond of you; but none of that nor any other facet or fact will keep you in this world if you break faith on this issue. Am I clear?”

She swallowed. Her own aura was practically locked within her body, rebuffing the violently churning power around her but unable to extend further.

She knew that she was weighty for a Refined, and she knew that that still didn’t make her equal to a Paragon, but this was a stark reminder of what a true Paragon—one ancient of power and will—was capable of.

The barest edge of his hardened intent was sufficient to leave her feeling utterly at his mercy.

She hated it, even if she understood it. “I understand.”

He nodded, the magical power vanishing as quickly as it had come. “Good.”

As he turned to go, however, Tala felt something within her snap.

Her iron rolled out of her, flowing through the physical dimensions one increment both star- and stoneward of the hallway.

In those separate dimensions she made ready, spreading it over the walls, ceiling and floor before closing off either side of the hallway.

It even bled under Master Grediv’s feet as he strode away from her.

In the time it took him to walk a half-dozen paces, the iron was in place, ready.

He seemed to only notice it at the last moment, whirling to face her.

Her iron pulled to the superficial, slamming an iron box around them both, locking them inside, even while she left sufficient iron both star- and stoneward to close off those sides as well.

Her power—her aura—slammed into the space, carried and amplified by the iron.

Barely greenish, yellow power rang through the air like the tolling of a funeral bell.

Tala found herself floating in the center of the iron-clad hallway. The only light within was the gold-silver mixed illumination of her blazing inscriptions and manifestations of power in existence itself, all underpinning a blood-red light blazing forth from her eyes.

“Now, let me be clear.”

The air resonated along with her voice, only the three-foot sphere around the Paragon—maintained by his aura above the iron—didn’t respond to her will.

“I understand and approve of your protectiveness of Rane, and my respect and gratitude toward you goes deep. However...”

There was a pregnant pause before she continued.

“...you will never speak to me in that way again. Am. I. Understood.”

Master Grediv was obviously on his guard, but he didn’t seem truly concerned. Instead, he simply examined her for a long moment before giving a single nod. “Understood.”

Tala dropped to land on her feet once more, her iron immediately bleeding stone- and starward vanishing from the hallway in a blink.

From there, it streamed back into the space around Flow.

The Paragon’s eyes stayed fixed on her, but she could somehow tell that he had swept his surroundings to ensure that it was now free of her influence, a bit of obvious tension bleeding away from him once that was complete.

They stood that way for a breath before she gave a tightlipped smile. “Good.”

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