The Runesmith Chronicles Ch. 25 - Final

"It's not like I suggested anything amazing. With harvest time on the horizon, it just seemed to make sense to take the crops from a few fields and set them aside, instead of having everyone weigh their crops then take out the King's portion."

"You'd be correct, it's not amazing. In fact, it has been suggested many times before. What's amazing is that you managed to convince the rest of the council to go along with it. Too many of them still see this town as little more than a trading post. That's one of the first times I've seen them acting in the interests of the town as a whole," said the older woman.

"I still wish Kal hadn't run off just before this meeting, this is the second in a row," grumbled Perra.

"I've already apologized for that, Perra. In truth, I can't thank Kal, Ikuno and Ghoss enough for going with Jurien this time. Until now, he's had to hire mercenaries to guard him when he goes to that blasted swamp."

"What exactly are they going for? Kal mentioned that it was some kind of mushroom, but he couldn't remember what you told him."

"Queen's Crown tree fungus and Ghost Fern fiddleheads are the big things Jurien is looking for. The fungus is what makes my salves keep for so long without going bad and boiled Ghost Fern fiddleheads make the base for some of our higher end poultices. However, there's a mess of potion ingredients to be found out there as well as some spell components, which is why Kal and Ikuno went if I'm not mistaken," explained Nina as they arrived at her and Jurien's shop. "Ugh, I hate going to the Smith's for these meetings, I'm going to start heating up some water for a bath."

Perra stopped Nina from closing the door to the shop behind her, getting a raised eyebrow from the apothecary's wife. She then had a quick conversation with Kal and Ikuno, which was difficult with how far away they were. After getting their approval she smiled up at Lady Nina "How would you like to enjoy one of the benefits of having a mage as a friend? I know the perfect place we can go to get cleaned up."

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As Kal and Ikuno were sorting and cataloging their bounty from their trip with Jurien, Ria decided to tell him of a special ink that could tie her to him in a way she could never be lost.

"If you will be traveling to larger cities then there will be pickpockets and cutpurses to think about. If you make this ink then all you need to do is put your mark on me," the sprite explained. "Once I have your mark the only way I can become someone else's property is if you were to die. More importantly, if I am stolen or lost I will try to return to you twice a day. However, each attempt takes a lot out of me and though I will be able to return to you, I won't be able to take out or accept anything for the next few hours."

Kal nodded in understanding, "What if a second person were to also put their mark on you? If I were to die, would you end up going back to the other person?" he asked.

Ria seemed momentarily confused, "Honestly, Kal, I don't know the answer to that. Most of my previous masters have been so hung up on protecting their property that I don't think it occurred to them to designate an heir. All we can do is try once you have made the ink."

Kal and Ikuno took down her list of ingredients and immediately began planning a trip to get those that could only be found far away.

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"I had the strangest meeting with the Master Tanner today," said Kal as he hung his travel cloak next to the door.

"Hm?" Perra was engrossed in the book she was reading. Kal's mother had been insistent she learn, and lately the young woman had started to get the feeling that reading well was about to become a very important part of her life. As such, she was trying to brush up on her reading skills from Ikuno's more mundane selection of books.

"He asked me if I had any trips coming up that I would be out of town. I told him when I planned to go hunting for the ingredients Ria needs for her ink and I'll be damned if he didn't schedule the meeting for the day after I was going to leave. You wouldn't know anything about that. Would you?"

Perra groaned and leaned back in the chair, covering her face with the book. Apparently, Nina had been correct.

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Once Ria's ingredients were gathered and Kal had made the ink, they tested it by putting Kal's mark, then Perra's on the sprite's bag. A tiny speck of light floated back to Kal's hand and turned into Ria's leather pouch a few minutes after Ikuno 'stole' Ria. They now knew that Perra's mark had not overridden Kal's and had to just hope that the second mark worked the way Kal was assuming. Unfortunately, the only way for them to truly test Kal's idea was for him to die and nobody was willing to go that far.

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The summer months passed and dipped into fall. Kal continued to learn spells as quickly as possible. Although most of them weren't very powerful, many of them were useful in some way. Ikuno recommended things like a spell that opened locks which Kal, at first, dismissed as something only a thief would need until she reminded him that magic users weren't very popular in some cities where the church held a great deal of sway. The idea of being locked up in manacles convinced him the oni might have a point.

His leather mask received an upgrade in the form of the water breathing rune from the book. This was quickly followed by a darkvision rune when he discovered he could barely see underwater. Unfortunately, darkvision only helped with the light level and not the distortion or the fact that he had to keep his eyes open underwater for long periods of time. This led him to develop a rune that created a clear shield over his eyes that filled with air and allowed him to see fairly well as long as the water wasn't overly murky.

This small adaptation to his mask led to another revelation about the flight rune. The new addition created similar shield but over his entire face that deflected wind and allowed him to see without squinting against the oncoming air. Ikuno was hardly surprised when Kal insisted upon going to see Felli in order to test it.

With more time available to him, Kal's combat skills increased right along with the number of broken bones inflicted by Ikuno. The oni was holding back less and less as his skills improved and there was still the occasional mistake that led to him waking up with his head on her lap. Thankfully, he was fairly protected against serious injury by his runes and most of the time got away with mild fractures and bruises.

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As the weather turned colder and the leaves began to change it was once again time to say goodbye for the winter, not just for Aradelle this time but for Bea and Adalena as well. Bea explained that she and her daughter would hibernate over winter together in a chrysalis she would construct after sealing her home. Both of them had put on significant weight over the last month since they wouldn't be eating again until spring. The butterfly girl was decidedly unhappy. Not with how her body looked since it was necessary, but because the extra weight was making it very hard to fly. Adalena had grown significantly in size during the summer months but slowed down as things got cooler, trading growing up for growing out. As they prepared for hibernation the normally happy little girl seemed to be having a hard time staying awake for more than a few minutes.

Kal said goodbye to Aradelle, Perra and Ikuno, then walked back to Bea's house with her, carrying a sleeping Adalena most of the way. Bea struggled to get up into her house, cursing the necessity for her extra heft. Once there, she and Kal shared a short tearful goodbye before his handing over their daughter and leaving her to begin making their winter cocoon.

Afterward, he returned to the other three women back in the clearing. Aradelle was in her flame-sprite fall colors once again as teary hugs were passed around for the second time that day. A few minutes later the alarune waved goodbye before curling up into a ball and descending into her bulb as she shed her petals and the hard outer leaves folded up for the last time until spring. Kal was more than a little disconcerted by how Aradelle's mind became completely still over the bond after months of her constant presence. Two days later Bea's thoughts also went quiet as she completed her chrysalis and went to sleep for the winter.

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Kal sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes, the day was growing late and he still hadn't come to a decision on which rune should go in the free space next to the shield rune. He looked over at the vambrace laying off to one side of the table in Ikuno's library. Kal had been so excited to learn and use it for the first time after seeing Sir Balthus save his hot-headed friend. The mage's brow furrowed as he remembered the intricate tattooed runes that had covered nearly all of the knight's forearm arm and wondered how he had not noticed that they were really nothing at all like what was on his bracer.

"Ikuno?" he said getting the oni's attention. She was sitting in bed enjoying her second favorite pastime, reading as she sipped saké from a small ceramic cup. As usual, she was totally nude, partly in hopes of enticing Kal into some fun, her first favorite pastime, and also because she knew how much he enjoyed looking at her body.

She looked up from her book.

"How is it that Sir Balthus had glowing runes all over his arm for his shield yet I am able to do the same thing with a sigil and a couple of rings?"

"He just used a different type of rune, if you could see through the skin and muscles on my arm you would find that those runes look very different from yours as well. Elvish, Orcish, Dwarven even the desert nomads and the island witch doctors, who most likely did Sir Balthus's arm, all have different looking runes that accomplish the same tasks."

"That doesn't make any sense, the rune directs the magic as to what it's supposed to do. A rune here should look the same as one on the other side of the world."

"Yet, obviously, from mine and Balthus's shield runes, that's not the case. Perhaps a good way to look at it is just that there are multiple paths to get to the same result. Some are more direct, like your shield and mine, while others meander and enjoy the view, as with Sir Balthus's arm," said Ikuno.

"Ugh, what you are saying kind of makes sense but I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around it." Kal rubbed his temples, "This is giving me a headache."

"Then quit thinking about it for the night and come to bed." Ikuno got up and placed her saké bottle and cup on the shelves next to the stove before crawling under the covers, lifting one side up in invitation for the young wizard.

Kal smiled and closed the book in front of him before turning off the magical lamp and making his way towards the bed. Ikuno was right, it was getting late already and they could continue this discussion tomorrow.

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Ikuno glared into the gray clouds billowing around her, her face etched in a mask of dismay. She had believed herself to be immune from being pulled into the astral realm since she recast the anchoring spell every few days. It was overkill since the spell's instructions stated once a week would be sufficient, even so, she wasn't willing to take chances. Regardless of her efforts, her attacker had found a way around her protection and she once again stood on the dried cracked earth, surrounded by clouds that obscured the sun, or whatever it was that kept this small pocket of the astral plane dimly lit.

Large green glowing eyes appeared just beyond the edge of the clouds, casting about for a moment before falling onto the oni's blue form.

Steadying herself under the eerie necromantic glow, Ikuno resisted the urge to summon her club and escape. She wanted answers.

"Show yourself, mage," the oni growled, "I would at least like to know the identity of my enemy."

The eyes widened momentarily at Ikuno's words. "I see you've managed to keep your wits about you," a voice boomed from the clouds. "A pity, really. I enjoyed watching you snarl and snap like some feral bitch, it suited you."

"Sorry to disappoint," replied the oni with a sardonic smile. The memory of her last time being dragged into the astral plane and how this man had somehow repressed her memories, turning her into little more than a wild animal, still weighed on her. Since then, she'd lived with a slight fear that this magic user or his friend could do the same outside of the astral plane and put those she cared about in danger. "As I said, I'd like to know who it is that seems to want me dead. I've had little to do with necromancers over the years and know of none who I may have upset. That is, of course, it is you that has the issue with me and not the mage who created this pocket realm."

"You think I needed help bringing you here?" the voice asked.

"Every apprentice wizard knows that opposing affinities don't work together. A necromancer having mastery over the astral is farfetched at best," Ikuno's jaw tightened. As the words left her mouth she was immediately reminded of Kal's haste rune, in which he managed to make air and earth affinity runes work together. Kal was a bit of a prodigy in that respect and helped by his special vision, she doubted that a normal mage could accomplish the same without decades of practice. Even so, Kal proved that it could be done, which threw into question just how powerful this wizard might be.

The voice laughed, "Mastery over astral magics? Not hardly, though I have had to learn quickly thanks to you. Sadly, I'd call myself a passable necromancer at best. The beast your plant girl killed has been the pinnacle of my abilities in that arena. To be honest, I'm glad that dog didn't kill you Ikuno, what I have planned will be much more satisfying, poetic even."

Ikuno's eyes narrowed, "Who are you and what quarrel do you have with me?" There was a disturbing familiarity in the manner the voice was speaking.

"Still haven't figured it out? Now I am disappointed. After all the time we spent together, and you can't even recognize me." The eyes closed, disappearing into the clouds. Moments later a faint shadow of a human could be seen walking through the mists. Ikuno gasped as the mage stepped into view.

Meticulously crafted from fine silk and costing hundreds of gold coins just for the workmanship, his robes with their climbing flame patterns were immediately recognizable. However, that wasn't what caused Ikuno's sharp intake of breath. The face beneath the man's white hair would have looked more appropriate on a corpse, as did his hands extending from the arms of his robes. Leathery skin was drawn tight against bones that didn't appear to have enough muscle attached to move them. His face seemed to be locked into a gruesome smile and his lips barely moved as he laughed at her reaction. The only place she could see any emotion was in the sunken eyes that glowed green with necromantic power.

"Gods, Azrin, what have you done?" Ikuno whispered.

"You seem... unimpressed, with your creation."

"My creation? How on earth is this..."

"This is all your doing!" screamed Azrin, his entire body erupting in sickly green flames. "You took my sister from me!" Nearly as quickly as his momentary fury, the flames died away leaving the man unscathed. He held out a hand and conjured a single ball of the green flame, "Look at this Ikuno, all of the beautiful oranges and reds, gone. All I am left with is this disgusting green, had I known this was part of the price of immortality I may not have paid it. You were right, you know, all those times you told me that you were my second lover and that fire was my first."

"How dare you blame this on me, Azrin!" Ikuno snarled. The pyromancer's eyes snapped to the oni. "Your sister attacked me! I never wished for her death, I even gave her the chance to stop so I wouldn't have to kill her! Perhaps if you hadn't been so busy getting lost in your flames and spent some time putting your cock into her instead of me, we wouldn't be here!"

Ikuno could hear a hint of madness in his voice as Azrin laughed. "As expected, 'It was all Midora's fault. It was all Azrin's fault.' I didn't actually expect you to take the blame, after all, you ran away like a coward after you killed her."

"What?"

"You know we recorded everything that happened in that arena. I watched it over and over listening to her say how much she loved me and that she would happily give her body to me." Flames licked along Azrin's robes giving him an outline of green fire. "Then some giant blue bitch sliced her in FUCKING HALF!"

Ikuno studied the man's eyes as he spoke. The transition from pure adoration when speaking of his sister to unfettered hatred directed at Ikuno was disturbingly sudden. It appeared that grief over his sister had broken the pyromancer's mind, letting him make up a new version of reality that was easier to deal with than admitting Midora had tried to murder his lover in a fit of jealousy.

Understanding that reasoning with him was futile, Ikuno changed tactics, "I had it on very good authority that you were dead, and by all rights, you should have passed away many years ago. What have you done to yourself in this misbegotten quest for revenge?"

Azrin held up one of his hands inspecting the way the tendons showed through the stretched skin, "The pinnacle of magic, immortality. Wasn't that how it all began? Searching for the Philosopher's Stone to make the Elixir of Life? I thought becoming immortal would be beautiful. Look at this, little more than a corpse powered by magic.

"After you ran off I stayed at my hold for a few years. Finally, I could take no more of allowing my sister's murderer to still breathe and decided to hunt you down, so mine and Midora's souls could finally rest. For decades I searched for you, hiring diviners who would point me in the right direction but never arriving in time to catch you. I began to realize that the trails were getting colder, you were slipping out of my reach.

"I was drowning my sorrows at a tavern and thinking of returning to my hold when a necromancer by the name of Loran approached me. He needed my help with a very important project that required him to learn astral magic. I remembered how you shied away from astral spells when we were together and it occurred to me that an attack from the astral plane may be the best way to get at you.

"We traveled together for a time, I learned some astral magic and taught what I could to the necromancer. As a fire mage, I was tied to neither of the affinities and thought I might also learn a little bit of necromancy since he was willing to teach me. However, astral spells appeared to be the quicker way to avenge my sister, so I decided to leave dealing with the dead to those who enjoyed it. It seemed as though you had the correct idea in not specializing Ikuno, teaching the man seemed nearly impossible at first. Eventually, he began to get a grasp on dreamwalking to the point he could study on his own while we went about collecting all of the components he needed for this grand spell he was going to cast.

"We started making our way back to his keep, which he had built on the edge of an ancient battlefield. The place reeked of death and decay from the zombie and skeleton soldiers he had raised to be his home's guardians. I assisted him with making the potion for his spell, although he refused to let me know what the potion was for. He also had a secret project that he worked on alone and would get angry every time I asked him about it.

"Unfortunately for him, he had the outside of his keep warded against divination and astral projection but didn't think to put up any wards between rooms. Using my meager dreamwalking skills I spied on him and discovered what all of this work was for. Immortality.