Millennial Mage

Tala appeared next to Rane, opening her mouth to speak, but she saw that he was working on something that looked incredibly finicky.

She almost tried to look closer, but then she realized that Alat was blocking her threefold sight of the area, and so he must be working on his secret project, which he’d requested she not see for the time being.

She turned her back immediately, trying to honor his request to have her not look. “Sorry!”

He grunted, glancing her way. “You’re fine, thank you for turning away, though. It’s almost ready for you to see but not quite.”

She shrugged, still facing away. “You’ll tell me when it’s time. I am capable of being patient.”

“That I will, and that you are.” He chuckled as he came up behind her, wrapping her up in a hug.

Terry—who had been lounging nearby—trilled lazily in their direction. “Hi, Terry. Are you having a good morning so far?”

He trilled again, shimmying a bit against the grass beneath his back, reveling in the sunlight.

I swear, he is so cat-like at times.

…Fair.

Tala leaned more fully into Rane’s embrace, shifting to get into a preferable position. With that done, she let out a contented sigh.

“Long day already?” he inquired.

She laughed at that. “A bit, yeah. There’s an enclave of fox-kin in Astraya… Well, it’s more a waystop for most of them? Regardless, I think at least a few reside in there full time.”

He gave a rueful smile, clearly already guessing at the tenor of what had happened. “And you went and kicked the door in?”

A huff escaped her nose. “Not quite. I just dropped through for a chat… do you know anything about beast-kin Primacies?”

Rane frowned. “I can’t say that I’ve heard the term, but it sounds important and impressive. Why do you ask?”

Snuggling a little deeper into the embrace and shifting to press her back against him more pleasantly, she conveyed the broad details of her morning meeting with Primacy Noc.

When she finished, Rane finally broke his silence. “I can’t say that I’m glad they tried to paralyze you, but it’s hard to be upset, considering they failed so catastrophically.”

“Yeah, it’s a bit like someone walking up to you or me and demanding we give them our money. When we say no they grimace and walk away disappointed. Did they just try to rob us? I suppose so? But the attempt was so laughably inept, it’s hard to take it seriously.”

Rane grunted. “Oddly specific analogy, but yeah, I suppose so. In both cases, it’s easy to see how some could be taken in by the method, though.”

It was her turn to grunt before moving on. “I don’t suppose that you want to try the toxin?”

He shook his head with a chuckle. “Not even a little, but thank you.”

She shrugged again. “Suit yourself.”

They stood there in silence for a long time, simply enjoying the contact and the company before Rane bent down and kissed the top of her head. “What’re you thinking about?”

“Hmm? Oh, nothing really…” She frowned, sighing. “But now I am… We’ve been away for a long time. We’ve advanced quite a bit too.”

“Do you want to go back? Have your siblings out? Something else?” He shrugged. “I’m open for a change.”

She chuckled. “Yes to both ideas. Those are great thoughts, but I want to find Howlton first. I think after we leave here, we’ll transition to the flier. Enar and Alat can fly search patterns out wide even while Alat flies the one with Kit anchored in it at the safer—non-reality-harming—slower speed.”

Rane gave a slow nod. “That way, we’d be able to find it sooner. At the same time, we can be reaching out with the communication device, too. That way, we should be able to hunt down Howlton one way or another in a pretty short timeframe.”

Tala leaned back, letting out a long breath. “That sounds good to me. Are you okay with that?”

He grinned. “Absolutely. I don’t much care where I am. I’m finding myself and solidifying that, and I don’t feel like it has to do with a location on Zeme.”

That got a smile, and she leaned back, pointing her face up and prompting him to lean down and kiss her. “You are wise, my husband.”

“I do try. But beyond cementing my foundations as a Paragon, I’m working on Reforging. Building on the foundation toward Reforging can be done anywhere, given our shared resources.” He gave a small frown then. “It’s funny. I feel like there is something about being Reforged that we’re missing.”

Tala spun around at that. “I know, right? Things just don’t add up. Master Xeel doesn’t carry around all the material he needs to make a new body, and I don’t think he is actually turning his entire mass into light and back again. That…” She shook her head, puffing out her cheeks even as she blew. “That would represent so much power—used so easily—that he should be able to crack a planet if he used his full might.”

Rane gave a wry grin. “Yeah. He’s strong, but not that strong. He’s like a star, not a death star.”

Tala frowned, pulling back slightly. “What?”

“Well, he’s all light and bright, like a star. He doesn’t kill everything he shines on, like some sort of death…” He grimaced, rubbing his forehead. “It made sense in my head…”

She chuckled, going up on her tip-toes to kiss his cheek. “Your head must be a lovely place, my dear.”

He gave her a fake glare. “You’re a jerk sometimes, you know that?”

She pulled back, matching his playful tone. “Oh, well, if you want me to go then—”

She cut off when he caught her up, easily lifting her—despite her increased weight—and kissing her as he spun her around.

After a long kiss, she pulled back. “So, you don’t want me to go then?”

He grunted and kissed her again, planting kisses down her neck.

She laughed, starting to squirm and trying to reposition. “Love. Love! RANE! That tickles!”

He laughed in turn, pulling her back into a full kiss.

Terry opened one eye before squawking in mock outrage and flickering away, giving them privacy.

* * *

As Tala and Rane ate, they fell into playing a game that they’d picked up since leaving the Lunar Hunt to help pass the time while also training their soulsight.

Terry was off hunting in the wandering wilds around Astraya, even as it continued its meandering course southward.

The game was a simple one, meant to help both of them train their soulsight, and it was one in which Tala did not let Alat assist. Rane had the same policy with Enar, so it was fair across the board. Though, fairness wasn’t really the thing at issue. They both wanted to master their own soulsight, not rely on their alternate interfaces.

Rane set his mug down and smiled. “Shall I go first?”

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Tala nodded, taking another large bite.

“Well, we’re well past all the basic things like siblings’ nicknames and things like that.”

She grunted in agreement.

“So, first, I am only this tall because my family fed all of us kids thunder cattle milk every day.”

Tala almost choked as she turned an incredulous stare on Rane.

Rane grinned in reply. “I know, right? My parents are both a little cross that the practice wasn’t known until recently.” He held out his hand, indicating their height. “They remain a bit shorter than they’d prefer.”

She did laugh then.

“Second, I didn’t learn to read until I was ten.”

Tala frowned. “I thought you said we were done with childhood ones?”

He shrugged. “Just the ‘most basic’ ones.”

She nodded acceptance, not taking the focus of her nascent soulsight off of him.

“Third, I like your hair best in the light of sunsets.”

She shook her head, a smile playing across her lips. “You made that too easy.”

“Did I? Are you guessing based on what I said or by the soulsight?”

A sigh escaped her, and she looked back at her own decision, even before she’d expressed it. “Well, my guess is based mostly what you said, but I do think I can see the flutter of your soul at the lie.”

“So, then,” he leaned forward, smiling, “what was the lie?”

“Thunder bull milk.” She grabbed her coffee, taking a drink, utterly confident in her answer.

He nodded. “First, I said thunder cattle milk, not thunder bull. But yes. You are right. It was bone-yak milk, not thunder cattle.”

She did spit then, laughing even as she purposely did not catch the spray before it hit Rane.

“I’m not sure that was deserved.” But he was chuckling.

Tala felt his will flex—like feeling his muscles move while he was pressed against her—and the moisture vanished from him and his clothes. She huffed in mock outrage. “Hey! You didn’t have to put it back in my cup… that’s kind of disgusting.”

He grinned. “I would never want to waste your coffee, my dear.” After a moment, he shrugged. “I also wanted to see if I could separate out the component parts. I think Kit did the heavy lifting, but the little saliva and food particles that were in it should now be in the ground outside.”

Tala frowned, seeing that, yes, only coffee had come back to her cup. “Huh… What do you know…”

“So, you got it right. Your turn.”

“Not quite, Master Rane. What do you mean that you didn’t learn to read until you were ten?”

He shrugged again. “I didn’t really want to, and it was a way to frustrate my parents. I could pick out words. After all, there wasn’t any problem with my eyes or mind—they hired many professionals to verify that—I just wanted to be doing other things.”

“What happened when you were ten?”

“Chloe. She was apparently tired of our parents complaining about it, so she sat down and read me the first chapter of a really gripping story, then sat the book beside me.”

Tala’s eyebrows rose. “Oh?”

“Yup. She said, ‘If you want to know what happens, there’s the book.’”

She laughed. “And that worked?”

“It did.” He was smiling too. “She had already forbidden all the servants from reading it to me, and eventually, I just buckled down and read it. I’ve been reading ever since.”

“Huh… good to know.”

“Yeah. People learn at different paces, and as it turns out, some kids—boys especially—just don’t have the motivation to sit still and read before seven, eight, or even nine.”

“But you waited until ten?”

“I’m especially stubborn.”

Tala shook her head. “I would say persistent, personally.”

“Either way works. Are you ready to go?”

She nodded as he took another bite of his meal. “First, a mage and a band of woodsmen tried to kill me on my first visit to Alefast, but Terry ate them all."

Rane paused mid-chew, his mouth full. He spoke around the food. “What now?”

Tala waved him off. “No follow-up questions. You just need to choose at the end. Assuming it’s true, we can talk about the particulars after.”

He grunted, starting to chew once more. Once he’d swallowed, he shook his head. “I think I want an answer now. Terry ate a bunch of people? Really?”

“Do you really think that Terry wouldn’t, if pressed?”

Terry flickered into being beside them at that moment, looking back and forth. They both blinked at their feathered friend’s unexpected arrival. Finally, he let out an annoyed squawk before flickering forward and snatching a payment from each of their plates.

He was less than pleased with the food remaining on Rane’s so he ate it all before flicking forward to press his beak and eyes into Rane’s face to stare him down.

Rane did not seem to know what to do, but after a moment, Terry flickered back, chirping in obvious mirth.

He then took another two portions from Tala’s plates. She, of course, objected, even if mostly out of principle. “Hey now! That’s not very nice.”

Terry trilled, meeting her gaze. He then flickered forward and back so fast that Tala almost missed it, taking another chunk of food.

After a pregnant pause, he began working his beak, swallowing his ill-gotten gains.

That had Tala and Rane laughing, and once Terry was done, he settled in on Tala’s shoulder to enjoy some time with the two of them.

Tala shook her head. “Well, it was my turn, right?”

Rane nodded. “You were about to give me your second ‘fact.’”

“Right. So, second, I had an imaginary friend as a child named Doris.”

And on their game went.

When they decided to give Terry a turn just for fun, neither Tala nor Rane had any idea what he was actually saying with his long series of chirps, tweets, squawks, and trills, but Alat assured them that he was playing correctly.

Regardless, the exercise actually helped them both incredibly, as they were forced to rely entirely on their soulsight, rather than just putting together a good guess based on what was said.

Needless to say, they added in Terry turns after that.

A few rounds later, Rane would not let one of her ‘facts’ go. “What do you mean that ‘you were led to believe’ that you had a cat as a child named Claude. How could you not know?”

“Well…” Tala cleared her throat before deciding to ‘punish’ his rule-breaking inquiry by turning the truth of Be-thric’s deception into an outright ‘lie’ for the game. She justified it as good training, too, which it was. She was sure it was. “Cats wander a lot. I kept putting out food for the cat, and it seemingly kept getting eaten. My siblings asked what his name was, so I said Claude. As it turned out, their parents were just finding the food that I left out and tossing it.”

Rane laughed. “You didn’t notice the missing dishes?”

“I… I usually just put it on the ground?” She tried to fake embarrassment.

“Why did you think it was a cat?” His eyes were dancing with mirth, clearly guessing that this was a fabrication.

“Well, I saw some cats wandering around, and I figured it had to be one of them.” She shrugged.

“How long did this go on for?” He raised one eyebrow.

“Well… I was seven at the time… and eight.”

He chuckled. “A whole year, eh?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Ahh, love. That’s… that’s amazing.”

She grunted. “Back to the game?”

“Sure.”

“So, Brand once tried to murder me.”

That brought another smile to his lips. “You’ve used that one.”

“I have? Right, a week ago, sorry.”

He shrugged. “It’s fine. This is always a hard game for me too, and after playing it so much, I’m starting to run low on random factoids… my creativity is slipping too.”

“You can’t be referring to your completely believable lie about having three arms?”

“It was a good baseline test for your soulsight,” he said with joking defensiveness.

“Sure, sure. Justify it all you want.”

He huffed a laugh, then gestured for her to continue.

She frowned. “Oh! I was once told 'A woman like you should be naked, but you’d cause a riot.'"

Rane barked a laugh. “I could see that.” Then his eyes twinkled. “You could say that I have seen that.”

“No interrupting!” She grinned despite her protestation. “Third…” She frowned, tapping her chin in thought. “Oh! I once shoved my arm down the throat of an arcane and blew him up from the inside… he was about to insult me at the time."

“I did see that memory… yeah.” He shook his head. “That seemed like a rather violent way to go.”

She grunted. “Fine then. Actual, third, I once poked a thunder bull in the head with a stick and almost died.”

Rane snorted a laugh. “ With a ‘death stick’ right?”

“I told you that story too… that’s right.”

“Well, yeah, but the caravan guards did first.” He gave her a huge grin. “You were the talk of the wagons much of that first trip.”

She colored at that, though she wasn’t that surprised. “Fine. I once tried jumping between sections of Makinaven and almost fell off the city."

He narrowed his eyes. “I did not know that… so a lie? Wait… This is the third one, and it’s replacing a truth, so it has to be true… Right?”

“Soulsight. Remember? We can have up to three lies in this game.”

He grunted. “But it’s called two truths and a lie…”

“Eh, our version is better.”

Rane chuckled. “True enough.”

The next round, it was Tala’s turn to stop him mid-triad. “Wait… no. There’s no way that’s true.”

“So, you’re saying that my very first one is a lie?”

“There’s no way that Chloe once convinced you to steal Grediv's coffee for her when you two were growing up."

“I guess you’ll have to wait and see then.”

She chuckled, waving him off. “Fine. Keep going.”

They whiled away quite a bit of time just being together, laughing, and learning ever more esoteric facts about each other and each other’s lives.

As they really did know each other rather well already, they were almost to the point of having Alat and Enar sequester their memories to make the game more interesting when it was their turn to guess, but that was still at least a few more days off, yet.

Regardless, they simply cherished the time together.