47: Of Gods And Magic

NOTE: Sorry for the random release times. I'm trying to release on patreon at the same time I do on RR, and that's been random to pull in crowds from across the globe. We'll settle on a fixed release time after this first month.

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. That was what Maiya’s life had become these days—a monotonous series of breathing exercises that had yielded not even an ounce of progress.

“Is there anything else I can do?” Maiya asked from where she sat on the floor of Tanya’s bedroom.

Her mejai mentor paced around her in circles, which of course, did absolutely nothing for her concentration.

“Some Praniks naturally attune to the surrounding prana,” Tanya lectured. ”Those who live in prana dense regions manifest affinities far more easily than villagers like you, growing up in gods-forsaken lands.”

“Gee, thanks. Trust me, if I could’ve gone back and chosen my place of birth, I’d have done it already. Anything I can actually do that’ll help me out?”

“No. So keep practicing,” Tanya said.

Maiya let out a sigh, returning to her breathing exercises. She really was making no progress at all.

Unlike Vir.

The irony was not lost upon her. Someone who was supposed to be incapable of using prana was leaping past her, while she—the one with two affinities—stagnated. And one of those was a Greater affinity! Not to mention that she had a mejai teacher, while Vir was out figuring things on his own.

At a startling rate, too. How the heck had he picked up not just one, but two Talents in a single week? She knew the answer, of course. Prana Vision was far more precious than her friend probably realized. If only he knew how much she struggled to sense even the tiniest bit of prana. To be able to see it? That felt like cheating to her.

Maiya shook her head, ashamed of those thoughts. She couldn’t possibly complain. Vir had been ridiculed and ostracized for most of his life. His inability to use orbs hobbled him daily, making his everyday life a chore.

Riyan had called him a prodigy, but that wasn’t true. He just worked hard. Absurdly hard. On every single thing he did. What right did she have to mope when she hadn’t even given magic a fraction of the effort? She practically had a silver spoon.

It’d just be nice if I had ‘some’ progress to show for my efforts. Is that really too much to ask, you stingy gods and goddesses?

But alas, fate was not so kind. She needed a distraction.

Clearing her throat, she spoke up. “So, can people ever improve their affinities?”

“Distracting me with questions will not speed up your mastery over magic, girl.”

“Look, I’m still doing my breathing exercises, aren’t I? Not like it’ll kill you to humor me.”

The woman glared at her for a moment before answering. “You can, though it is difficult. Quite difficult. Refining one’s affinity to Apex is a requirement to progress from Mejai of Ash to Mejai of Realms. A chalIenge I will have to overcome someday.”

Maiya burned Tanya’s response into her memory. “Okay, then what about arrows? Do people enchant arrows?” she asked, firing off her next question without pause.

Tanya narrowed her eyes. “These are very peculiar questions. How are you coming up with these?”

“I, uh, I just thought it’d be useful. Y’know, if I ever run into a situation that needs this stuff? As a mejai, of course,” she stammered.

The truth was that Vir had given her a list of questions to ask Tanya. He knew the mejai would never answer him directly, so Maiya was the go-between. She didn’t mind. His questions always intrigued her as well.

“Arrows cannot be enchanted with magic, no. The runes and patterns that have been handed down from the gods only function on a very specific type of crystal, mostly found and mined within Saian lands. All attempts to copy these onto other materials—including wood or metal—have proven impossible.”

“What about the arrowhead?” Maiya asked.

“It has been tried. The crystal is simply too fragile to serve as an arrowhead. Some Altani mages found success embedding the crystal within the arrow shaft, but that proved to be unfeasible. As with many things, it is a question of cost. Not even the Altani are wealthy enough to dispose of crystals by the thousands for use in arrows. What’s worse, any crystals left intact after striking their target could be appropriated by the enemy.”

Vir had been especially excited about that one. Maiya figured he wasn’t going to like that response.

“That said, enchanted bows are relatively common. Both recurve bows and crossbows benefit from orb enhancement. They are large enough to fit blood rods, which helps justify the cost expenditure.”

“Blood rods?” Maiya asked. That sounded ominous.

“A tool that allows a mejai to power orbs without being in direct contact with them. You will learn of this later, once you can actually channel prana,” Tanya said, dismissing her question.

That was incredibly interesting to Maiya. She was sure Vir could use this knowledge somehow. Acting as his spy made her feel slightly less useless, so it served as a nice morale boost for her.

“Sorry, one last question! What exactly are Artifacts?” Maiya blurted. She knew she was pushing her luck here, but Tanya didn’t quite seem to be on the breaking point yet.

When Tanya fell silent, Maiya popped open an eye to see what she was up to, only to find her instructor gazing somewhere far away, lost in thought.

“Tell me,” Tanya said, “how much do you know of the Age of Gods?”

“Uh, not a whole lot. My dad used to preach about the stories from that era, but I never really thought any of that actually happened.”

“Myths abound. Some likely have a kernel of truth, but tales of men ascending to immortality are likely overblown. What is true, however, is that something existed back then. An empire the likes of which we can scarcely comprehend. Few know its name. Only that it existed. The Altani keep this information close to their hearts, but I learned a few things in my time at their capital, Alt Ashani.”

“What were they called?” Maiya asked, her voice low and reverential. She got the distinct impression that what Tanya was about to tell her was not common knowledge.

“The Prime Imperium. A name that was once spoken with utmost reverence. Now, it is all but forgotten. Fewer still know of the crown jewel city they called their capital. The fabled city of the gods that shows up time and time again in our scriptures. The lost city of Mahādi.”

“Mahādi…” Maiya whispered. Even to her uninformed ears, it sounded ancient. And powerful.

“What records we do have speak of an incredibly powerful civilization that spanned across several realms. Creators of magical technology beyond comprehension. Beings that wielded the power to end worlds. The Age of Gods was a time when they roamed the lands… over four millennia ago. Artifacts are said to hail from that era.”

“You’re saying the Artifacts they made four thousand years ago still work!?” Maiya gasped. Tools broke down in months, and maybe sometimes years. It was rare for anything to function for decades. Not even magic orbs had that kind of lifespan.

“Imperium machinations transcend comprehension. Every single Artifact ever discovered has functioned, and continues to function to this very day. They are impossible to destroy or damage. Each Artifact is unique, and the ones I have heard of sound obscenely powerful.”

“You’ve never seen one?” Maiya asked.

“I’m afraid not. I know only of two. The Pagan Order is suspected to have an Artifact of immense power, but little is known about it. Some suspect it to be the reason the Voided Lands are so starved of Prana.”

A device that could suck up all that prana? Maiya shuddered to imagine just how powerful such a thing could be. She sincerely hoped Tanya was wrong. A superweapon in the hands of those maniacs could only be a bad thing for the world.

“The one Artifact that is well documented belongs to the Matali Kingdom. It boosts the prana density of its surroundings, allowing Matali crops to grow in breathtaking abundance. As a result, they have had an overwhelming monopoly on agriculture over their neighbors for centuries now. Though that is all ending now.”

“Why’s that? Something happen?”

“Yes. The Ash happened. Each year, the Ashen Realm continues to expand, slowly encroaching upon their land, forcing them farther and farther west.”

“Which means less arable land for them to grow crops on,” Maiya said. “Makes sense. They must have it rough.”

“Indeed. And that is quite enough chit chat. Now, focus on your training. I have affairs to attend to and will return later.”

Tanya strode to the door and left the room, leaving Maiya alone. But if given the choice between studiously practicing her useless technique, or tailing Tanya to see what she was up to, her course was obvious.

Maiya got up and sneaked out of the room after her. Luckily, Tanya was not a difficult woman to follow. Unlike Riyan, who somehow moved as quietly as a snake despite his size, Tanya didn’t even try to hide her presence. Almost like she wanted people to know she was coming.

That worked out well for Maiya, who picked up her loud voice all the way from the hallway. She’d entered Riyan’s room, and while the door to his bedroom was just as solid and thick as all the other doors in his abode, Maiya had learned a trick. There was a small gap at the very bottom of the door where air—and sound—traveled. She’d found it when spying on their benefactor earlier.

She got down to her knees and planted her ear under the door.

“—losing control over this situation,” Riyan boomed, his voice thundering through the room, all the way to the door. “We must act before these spies escalate the situation any further. Use the boy as bait and eliminate them.”

“Won’t that tip off the princess?”

“Mina already knows. Knowing her, she will be looking to kill them. Especially the boy, if she learns of his potential.”

“Yes, sir,” Tanya said. Maiya was so shocked to hear her speaking deferentially that she almost bumped the door. Her heart pounded in her chest.

Vir. I have to warn Vir!

She sprinted into their bedroom, only to find Neel snoring happily on her bed.

The Dome! she thought. He spent most of his time there, so she hurried there next. But that too was empty. As was the grotto.

She sprinted outside, despite the late hour… and saw that Bumpy was missing.

He’s gone somewhere? This late?

Maiya ran back into the abode and returned to their bedroom. Long ago, they’d established a method for sending each other messages neither of them wanted Riyan to get wind of. It was especially useful if their training schedules didn’t match for the day. Often, one of them would be fast asleep by the time the other returned from their training.

Maiya lifted Vir’s mattress and snaked her hand underneath, searching.

She soon found what she was looking for—a small piece of parchment with a note hurriedly scribbled in charcoal.

‘Out on last minute training trip for Riyan. Godshollow. Back in few days. Keep up your training!”

The blood left Maiya’s face. She grew lightheaded and had to brace herself against the bed, taking deep breaths to calm down.

Vir was all alone out there. And he had no idea he was being hunted.