Heretic Spellblade 4 - Ch15 Deleted Scene

[this is an alternative to Ch15, although I’m not posting the entire Chapter]

When they awoke in the morning, it was in a sticky mess. Fei’s cabin lacked a bathroom. Indoor plumbing was an extravagance that didn’t exist out here, and beastkin lacked the nudity taboo of humans.

“I’m not bathing in a creek,” Sen said.

“There’s a small bath hut in the village, but…” Fei trailed off with a frown.

“Yeah, I’m not going there either. Every time I join your knights for a bath, they try to feel me up. Nathan, can’t you just conjure up a bath in that mental world of yours? Or create one here?” Sen asked.

“I’m not that talented yet,” he said. “We’ll use the creek and I’ll cast wards to keep others out. Let’s go.”

Despite Sen’s grumbling, she joined the rest of them. As they left, Fei’s gaze wandered toward the worn path behind the cabin.

They bathed quickly. The chill of fall seeped into the water, and Nathan stopped Sen from wasting all of her magic heating up an entire creek. He washed and combed out the hair, ears, and tails of Ciana and Fei, and their ears drooped in pleasure at his touch.

“Hey, no horseplay!” Sen snapped, as Ciana began to feel him up.

“I’m not a horse,” Ciana muttered.

“Then keep your hands to yourself until we’ve left. We need to head back to Gharrick Pass and prepare to march on Aleich, right, Nathan?” Sen asked.

He nodded. “I expect Tharban to make his move. His plan to pincer us failed, and Fyre is heading there as well. If we wait any longer, then we’ll be too late.”

So with those grim words of warning, they finished bathing and left. Fei stopped outside the cabin, once again looking behind it.

“Let’s take a look after breakfast,” he told Fei.

Inside, they found the Twins lazing around on the bed. Which was a little odd, given the smell from last night lingered in the cabin, and especially on the bed. They were succubi, however.

“No food?” they asked, eying the empty hands and wet hair of the group.

“I can hunt down a deer or some rabbits,” Sunstorm said. “If we don’t want to eat rations.”

Nathan raised his hand to stop her, which drew attention from the assembled women.

“I have something I want to try,” he said.

He cleared some space around the firepit, which resulted in everyone crowding the edges of the cabin. The Twins watched him intently, likely aware of what he intended to do. Murmurs ran between the Champions.

Slowly, he reached for the power of his binding stones. He didn’t think he’d need much of it for this. The real problem was the spell itself.

Whenever he had attempted life magic previously, he hadn’t used a spell frame. The method was closer to the reality manipulation of his binding stones, rather than elemental spellcasting, so he found it more natural to weave magic into the world directly.

However, casting without a spell frame required intense focus and a clear vision of what he wanted to create. Life magic involved creating actual life. Food created using ordinary magic failed to reproduce taste, color, and texture because it lacked the conceptual quality of “food.”

That quality needed to come from Nathan’s mind. He needed to enforce his will on reality. Mental and spatial magic came easier to him, because he still felt that he was only altering reality. Life magic created something from nothing.

“Are you okay, Nathan?” Sen asked, concerned.

He waved her off, intent on his spell.

What he needed was food that came clearly to him. When he created simpler foods, like apples and bread, the issue was that it lacked “spirit.” Like coffee that was too watery, his creations paled in comparison to the real thing.

A memory came to him. One of a cold winter in his childhood, where food stores ran low even for a noble family such as his own. His nanny took care of him while his father traveled the county, assisting his people. She had been an elderly wolf beastkin and owned by his family almost since birth.

Each morning, she had made him a simple but thick porridge. Fairly standard fare for Falmir. But she had always spiced it up with something, and that winter it had been cinnamon and slices of preserved honeyed apples.

Simply thinking of the memory brought back the raw, delicious smell. The wisps of fragrant cinnamon, the sweetness of the apples, and the warm chew of the mixed oats and barley grains.

Latching onto the memory, Nathan brought it to life. His magic flowed into the room. He crafted a large pot first, then filled it with the porridge he clearly remembered. The smells, tastes, and sights poured from his mind into the serving bowl.

Fei took a big whiff of the porridge, and nearly drooled. “Wow. I’ve never smelled anything like this.”

Without hesitating, she shot forward and attempted to scoop the steaming mixture up with her bare hands. Ciana and Sen shot forward to stop her.

“Bowls might be nice,” Sunstorm said. “It does smell amazing, though. I always hated the gruel they served when I was child in the Federation, but this somehow reminds me of when I was back on Kurai.” A small smile rose to her lips.

Nathan clicked his fingers and summoned a set of bowls and spoons, as well as a pair of larger serving utensils for the pot.

Ciana took up the role of serving up bowls for everyone. While she did so, Maura stepped up to the pot.

She lifted the other serving spoon, took a sip, and let out a hum of approval.

“Yeah, it really does taste like home,” she said, eying Nathan. “Can’t say I ever ate porridge, though. Was more of a wheat puffs girl. Too poor for the chocolate cereal.”

“Chocolate cereal? What kind of plant grows that?” Nathan asked, in disbelief about the idea of a cereal plant that grew chocolate.

Cocoa came from beans, but actual cereal? Such a thing would be an almost literal money plant.

“Uh, it’s not a plant. They just mix cereal with cocoa,” Laura said. “Duh.”

“For breakfast?” he asked.

She stared at him. “Yes? Your kitten eats a cow every morning. Why is chocolate bad?”

“I don’t think you should use Fei’s habits as a benchmark.”

For some reason, Maura ignored them. Her gaze seemed distant. Slowly, she dropped the spoon back into the bowl.

“You don’t use life magic much, do you?” she asked. “I’ve been teaching you all about spatial and mental magic, but I guess you’ve been practicing this with the dumb goat.”

He nodded.

“Figured. This is a pretty good attempt, but you loaded it with too much emotion.” She waved a hand. “Each type of ascended magic is different. Spatial magic is all mathematical and analytical. Mental magic has some connection to social skills, which is why we’re good at it and the goat sucks at it.” Maura grinned.

“And life magic?” he asked.

“Emotions. I was told that you’re coloring in the world as you create stuff. Normal objects are easy, because you only need to recreate what basics senses. But living things? Food is a feast for the mind, as well as the body.” Maura shrugged and stared at the porridge again. “You put too much mind in this one. Pure nostalgia.”

He blinked.

“Wait, you mean there is actual nostalgia in this?” Nathan asked.

“Yup. I taste the porridge, the cinnamon, and lots of honey, but what I feel are memories of my childhood, when things were… well, not better, but okay.” She laughed bitterly. “Fuck you, by the way.”

He winced.

Then he looked over at the other Champions in the room.

The happy mood from earlier had vanished. Instead, four women stared glumly into their bowls. Their spoons hung from their fingers.

“Man, everyone looks like I feel,” Maura muttered. “I remember there’s some saying about this from my world. Something about happy families?”

Nathan ignored her, and instead wandered over and gave Sunstorm a squeeze on the shoulder. She looked up at him with a wan smile.

“I’m sorry. It tastes fantastic, but…” Tears welled up in the edges of her eyes. “It hurts to remember. I don’t think about my family much. It’s been so long.”

“You’re not allowed to cry,” Sen mumbled. “Aren’t you the strong one?”

“Says the one who joined bandits and tried to raze Anna’s hometown.”

Each of his Champions might be happy now, but they all had dark pasts. They explored Fei’s now, but none of them had parents anymore.

Sen and Ciana had been orphaned while young, although their upbringings afterward had been very different. Sunstorm had lost her family and home during the destruction of the Kurai Peninsula.

A small part of him wondered what sort of reaction he might get if he fed this porridge to Astra or Narime, but he suppressed that.

Mostly because it might be dangerous. Astra might not take too kindly to the reminder.

“I think we could use some fresh air,” he said. “Why don’t we step outside.”

Their mood improved in the cool morning air. No doubt the smell of the porridge contained the magic as well. The Twins destroyed the evidence, before whipping up their own breakfast.

“I’ll go hunt down some food,” Sunstorm said. “Care to join me?”

Sen and Ciana wandered off with her, but only after Fei tugged Nathan toward the path behind the cabin.

[the chapter then turns to the burial ground scene]

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Commentary: A few people might enjoy this, so I threw it up as a bonus scene. It's ~1500 words that doesn't add much, which is why it got cut in an already fairly long sequence of chapters.