Without the Arcs

[Lasius]

He twitched slightly as Malkate left the bed, it was an unconscious reaction to the sudden absence of the warmth of her body. He showed no outward reaction to the dreams that filled his mind, burning pain, the mocking laughter of his brother as the combined might of the Arcs the man wielded inflicted incredible punishment on his body. The fight not so long ago outside of Sethia where he had needed to be rescued from death at the hands of his brother. That burned especially hot in his brain, that he had needed rescuing, that he could not defend himself, like some weak child he had been manhandled. When his mind went back tot he moment all he could remember was how if he had the Arc of Light and Lightning how differently things would have turned out.

His right hand clenched into a tight fist after Malkate had slipped out of the room, his arm tensing as he continued to dream. Weak, relying on godly artifacts for strength, there was a time when his own abilities had been more than sufficient. His arm relaxed and his breathing slowed, he had made his decision, it was time to alter the course of Sedian nature, and he would be the first. His sleep went on for maybe another 15 minutes or so as he pulled himself slowly to consciousness.

His eyes slowly opened and he turned his head to the side, Malkate was already up and about, he squinted his eyes at the morning light that streamed harshly through the window. Throwing off the blankets he sat and cradled his head in his hands trying to force sleep from his mind. His body screamed at him to lay back down, but he closed the door to that line of thought. His eyes darted to the Arcs that lay carelessly on the floor still sheathed in his weapons belt. For the first time in his life when he looked at them there was no longing, no desire to grab them and embrace the godly power that came with.

The thirst for power was not absent, but the source had changed, The Sage of light in his head cowered in the recesses of his mind, it wanted nothing to do with him at the moment, and such suited him just fine. He rose to his feet and dressed to his pants and boots leaving his shirt rumpled on the ground. He stopped in front of the Arcs sheathed in his weapons belt, and knelt to retrieve them, and left the room without glancing back. Sedian Elites and regular military filled the halls, moving about the Keep making repairs and running errands. Those that crossed his path though unconsciously seemed to step further away. His description was widely circulated, and it didn't take long to realize just who he was, and he didn't look all that sociable this morning.

A simple look moved the Elites guarding the Armory out of his path, they glanced at each other as he passed, their eyes questioning, but he paid them no heed, his purpose was singular, his mind for once focused. As the doors slammed shut he moved to the back of the room and triggered the warding to reveal the Arc's weapon rack. He placed the Arcs of Lightning and Light into the rack and reset the warding once more, then placed the weapon belt on a rack near the front of the Armory.

Leaving the Armory was probably the hardest thing he had done in centuries, leaving behind the source of unlimited power that matched with the elements inside him was only as hard as tearing off his own skin. Once the door to the Armory shut he heaved a great sigh of relief, it felt great to be free of it if only for now. He wasn't hungry this morning his desire was overriding that, despite the energy exerted last night.

He glanced at the Elites outside of the Armory as they stared at him in confusion and gave them a sly wink. Within a heartbeats time he had seized hold of the power of Lightning that constantly stormed through his soul. His form flickered and vanished, a small black scar left on the clean marble floor where he had been standing. The Elite's stepped back and stared at each other in shock, Lasius was going to take some getting used too after the relatively calm reign of Daegan.

His form flickered and appeared on the shore next to the Lake South of Sethia. His eyes drifted to the large sheets of glass that had been melted out of the Sand, remains from his pounding by Sitherack. Rage filled him and echoed in the storm inside him, he would not be caught in such a position ever again. The breeze coming off the Lake was cold to the touch of his bare skin up from the waist. He had no weapons, didn't see the point, they wouldn't help with what he planned to do anyway, he couldn't afford to be slowed down.

He closed his eyes reaching through his Soul and taking hold of the Lightning racing through him and embraced it to its fullest that his body could manage. Clouds boiled out of the clear sky covering the Lake. His fists tightened as his body trembled pulling still more energy forth, thunder rumbled across the sky, tiny bolts of Lightning crackled across his body as the first raindrops began to fall. Once again thunder crashed and the cloud flickered as lightning raced across them.

He opened his eyes and released his fists sweat standing out on his forehead, the effort of calling up a storm of this size unaided was extreme, but that what exactly what he was looking for, extreme, you never improved unless you pushed your limits. He smiled at the glass like surface of the lake, tiny droplets causing ripples that barely disturbed the surface. He pulled in his energy again Lightning flickering across his eyes as he looked up tot he clouds.

He matched the power roaring in his soul to the clouds giving it something to lock onto and then his for flickered for a split second before it vanished. He appeared briefly in the center of the lake, his steel soled boot just touching the surface of the water, not breaking it before he vanished again, not a fraction of a second later a bolt of lightning struck the spot he had been. He reappeared again several hundred feet tot he west, then vanished, another too late bolt striking exactly where his form had appeared. He continued to flicker across the lake, never staying in one place long enough for his weight to break the surface of the water, and constantly followed by the pursuing blasts of lightning.

Abruptly Lightning struck as he appeared, the impact of the bolt did not hurt him, but it shattered his concentration, and he plunged into the lake. Lightning crackled around his form as he sunk weighed down by his steel soled boot, but his face was more annoyance than concern. His form flickered and he reappeared back on the surface continuing the exercise. He pushed himself faster, and the Storm raging above the lake increased its Lightning strikes accordingly. His muscles burned from the effort the water soaking his pants and in his boots increased his weight and drag, making it harder for him to move and keep up with the falling bolts.

Dual hearts pumping furiously in his chest he hit the center of the lake once more just as three bolts converged on that spot, the impact was tremendous, light flashed through his body, and he turned as he broke through the water throwing both hands up to the sky. The Storm flinched for a second as the clouds began to scatter. He kicked off his boots and slowly rose tot he surface, as he broke the surface of the water he floated on his back staring up at the sky his chest heaving trying to catch his breath.

He floated there for upwards of an hour, his mind working furiously, before he flickered and vanished once more, appearing at the bottom of the Lake to retrieve his boots, and vanishing to the shore. He sat there staring at the water soaked and muddy now from the sand. He pulled his boots on and glanced towards Sethia as his stomach growled loudly, calling to him to go back and eat. But his eyes fell on the melted sheets of glass once more and a snarl crossed his face.

He grabbed hold of the Lightning element in his Soul once more and hurled it at the sky, the Clouds obediently reappeared and he darted back out over the Lake moving twice as fast as before, Lightning striking across the water furiously tracking him, trying to land a blow, he flickered and vanished even before the bolts began to form, now occasionally pausing to hurl a bolt back at the sky. When Lightning from him and the Sky collided it created a concussion sphere that showered water in all directions. He refused to stop, blood trickled from his nose as he pushed himself, his body screaming that it could not channel that much power. He scoffed at it and pushed it further, it found ways to adapt.

[Lasius]

Lightning continued to crash down over the lake for the next several hours before Lasius finally flickered into sight on on the northern shore panting heavily. Blood still trickled from his nose and his skin was flushed from the effort of maintaining that kind of speed at a constant momentum for as long as he had. He released his grip on the unnatural storm he had created and the clouds drifted lazily away in the mild mid afternoon breeze. He sat down on the sandy shore to catch his breath and think for a moment.

It went against all Sedian teaching to push ones element farther than the point that it brought physical pain to the body, In fact the vast majority of Sedian training deaths occurred from just that problem. But if the body could be trained to withstand more, then rightly so the Soul should increase the amount of power he could pull in accordance. The question was just how far could the body be pushed, Sedian physiology was unique, it was designed to be pushed, to endure more than other creatures, but where was the breaking point. He was determined to find out just how powerful a Sedi could become without the aid of Artifacts.

Of course intense training wouldn't be enough, Elites trained day and night and still they didn't reach the powers he was naturally born with, he needed something that would test him in every conceivable way. He sat and thought for over an hour before it dawned on him. Of course, it was so simple! He hopped to his feet and vanished in a flicker surge of energy reappearing in his chambers in the keep. He washed quickly, whipping the blood off his face and cleaning himself so as not to look like he had just run a 50 mile marathon, then set out in search of Malkate.

Finding her was something of an effort in and of itself.

Malkate’s breakfast settled thickly in her stomach, it took an amazing amount of food to fill the void in her stomach it seemed; and the cook was well humored with the dark haired Sedi by the time she left the kitchens, her violet eyes flickering with the mischief of her mind as she made her way back to Lasius room, her mind wandering back to their prior conversation the earlier night where he had proposed. Her mind was questioning over very female things; do Sedian weddings require the making of a dress? If so, she should discover what was proper for the race. She was also completely ignorant to most of the Sedian ranks, she noticed that there were stronger soldiers than not but she was used to a kind of Monarchy of ruling; A King or Queen, a Prince, nobility, there seemed to be a different kind of structure here. She’d have to ask Lasius later, or perhaps she’d find some poor solider she could grill into telling her to impress with her ‘knowledge’… or even better, ask Lomes at a later time.

If the woman could put up with Lasius, she’d have patience enough to deal with Malkate’s endless barrage of questions. The thought perked her step up a bit, and she pushed against the door, before channeling her form through the wood, using her Magus magic to push her through the door and flicker on the other side, leaving small black marks where the lightning of her element surrounded her natural magic. To her dismay, however, she found that the room was completely void of any life; and that apparently Lasius had risen for the day and someone had taken care of cleaning up the room. Heat rushed to her face, both of frustration and the puzzlement of how long she’d been actually in those kitchens indulging herself on the woman’s fabulous cooking. A frustrated noise came out of her mouth and she moved towards the door in the room, more curiously than a typical house cat as she pushed open the large door, and moved out onto the balcony there.

Wind pulled at her hair, tugging it behind her as her eyes glittered with pleasure at the mixing of elements around her. The raw emotion of everything hit her and it wasn’t a bad feeling; even with the boiling of another presence within her. It was a kind of accepted thing, muted in the background of her pleasure at the little things in this time. Her mind was a complete trained void of negativity, inviting only instead the lighter side of her inner Chi. The dress slithered around her form, pushing against it like a lover’s caress, and with a smile her arm reached up to the empty skies, but she paused, even as she reached as if for an invisible hand, her eyes turning towards a different direction; a faint frown upon her face. There was the storm, there, and she could feel him; feel the strain of his body. She never knew if this relationship she had with him; this connection went two ways but she had become almost painfully aware of him.

The idea of going to him, berating him for being stupid and pushing himself once more occurred to her, but then a smile tugged at her lips. Now, her soul was changed she understood his need a bit, like a kind of almost restless energy that boiled and begged to be filled. If she hadn’t the trained mind of a person who endured rigorous training in a lesser body, she might be inclined to run to that call. Though it was not fault, she thought, merely another kind of direction in life. Passion took many forms, and even as her eyelids half closed as the wind tugged at her, the faint scent of rain from the distant storm tickled at her nose; she understood that through so many centuries she’d let herself divulge in a different type of passion. Today was in itself a miracle, and the pleasure she had was not over-rided by the constant torrent of changing thoughts.

Her hand reached down again, and she gripped at some kind of invisible air before her body disappeared in an almost flickering bolt that appeared from seemingly nowhere, and her body hurtled itself towards the distance of the lake; to the Red Dragon Inn; giving her the ability and time to surprise the sleeping Fae Cat there. Her sudden appearance both startled and surprised him; his haunches raised, and his teeth pulled back, but confusion warred in his violet eyes. He knew that his mistress set wards so only she could come within; yet this violet eyed black haired creature was not her. Something familiar still, something within.. and as he closed his eyes, a third eye opened hidden within the black furred skull, a faint glow of a violet triangle appearing around it as he stared at her, and saw the flickering of her soul within. The red fire tinged around the Sedian element and with a yelp Malachite closed his eye.

Laughing, Malkate sat on the bed next to him, before spending the time dropping her wards, and cleaning…


Lasius wandered the keep aimlessly for some time before a thought abruptly came to him, It was so simplistic that he silently berated himself for not thinking of it before, of course she would go there, after all she had her own home, and it's not like she would just abandon it. He embraced the Lightning element within him and vanished in a pale flicker, he was weak from his long day of training, but not so week he couldn't get around. It was however noticeably less showy.

He knew better than to enter her Inn without permission, especially in the weakened state that he was in so he just re appeared several hundred yards outside on a large rock and spent a few minutes idlely skipping rocks over the now calm surface of the lake to pass the time till she finished what she was up to inside. He had time to spare, after all it would take him several hours to recover the energy he had spent today so far, and he was certain it would take her at least that long to work out how to make what he needed. The thought that she might not be capable of doing it never even entered his mind.

A final huff had her grinning at the clean Inn, and more amusement worked into her. The Sedian body had her able to clean faster too, it was a simple way to be proud of it but she was. Letting her feet fall from under her, she sat cross legged on the dojo floor, reaching up her arm to wipe away a bit of stray sweat that lay upon her brow. She’d changed from the dress into a white oriental style top and pants, all made of a soft satin; lined with black that went up high on her neck. Her obsidian hair was pulled up away from her face and her violet eyes were as a predators as she inspected the dojo again visually, letting a snarl erupt from her lips as she noticed something out of place… until the tugging at her brain let her know that Lasius was done with whatever self-inducing punishment the man was up to now.

She snorted, thinking patience would do him good; but the sudden thought of him idly waiting what he could easily do to the lake there, the garden, or a variety of other things she’d worked on caused her to stand fast, forgetting completely to put on shoes as she pushed the door open, pulling on her Magus powers once more as she appeared near him, but away from the lake enough that a casual push wouldn’t push her in; and her violet eyes were half weary as she watched him for a few minutes, a slow smirk tugging at her lips as she tried to hide her amusement, but it changed as she noticed the shape his body with in; and if he looked at her he’d see the fury in her eyes, the disapproval, but somewhere in there… understanding.

[Lasius]

Lasius grinned widely spoke immediately in true male fashion he completely missed all the warning signs in Malkate's demeanor. “Ahh Malkate excellent I have been searching for you, I have a bit of a problem you see i need some help with creating something and I was hoping you would be able to assist me in it. After all being an Arch-Magus I'm sure you are the best person for the job.”

He plowed on not pausing to let her get a word in edgewise he hopped off the rock and turned to face her excitement and energy flashing in his eyes the likes of which hadn't been there since boyhood. Probably this was a side of him she had never seen, the over eager youthful side that never seemed to go away no matter how old the man got, part of Sedian Agelessness, or perhaps just a personality quirk of his own, it was there all the same.

“Excellent, again your timing is utterly amazing, my energy is just nearly regenerated. Here Is what I need,” He leaned idlely against the rock and combed his hands through his still damp hair. “I need a sealed off dimension, with only one possible exit and entrance point, I need that point to be in the Keep. The make of the Dimension needs to be very specific, I need the environment to adapt itself to my body, whenever I surpass a certain strength or speed I need the gravity to increase, the air to thicken, to increase the difficulty of movement, so in a way I suppose it has to be conscious of me. Hmm Speaking of movement, we better make it boundless, it wont be much good if there are definable limits, so its probably going to have to go on for eternity...” He placed his thumb and forefinger on either side of his chin as he leaned back against the rock apparently completely consumed in thought. This was the first pause he had made since he began speaking, and it didn't last but for a heart beat before he continued.

“I need the elements of the dimension to constantly assault me, increasing in strength and abilities as I do, changing in a random manner, completely unpredictable, yes thats extremely important, and I need time to flow differently there, Like a week inside should pass for every hour that passes out here, so that I can spend time there getting stronger and not miss out on time out here. Oh and I need opponents, I need it to randomly generate sentient creatures of different abilities, ever increasing so that there is constant danger there. You see I have discovered the greatest flaw in the Sedian Race, and its my hope to overcome it with your help.” He glanced at her his eyes alight with excitement an impish grin tugged at his lips. “So what do you think can we get it up right away?”

“I’ve got it, I’m going to stick you in a house, sealed off with only one exit and entrance and make you find your way out of it, that might be a challenge; because in it you’ll have to find your brain!”

Malkate’s normally more amusing mannerism completely deflated itself. She’d laugh outright if she thought for a second he was kidding, but standing there just as he was she knew he wasn’t, the boyish side would have been refreshing of the uncontrollable urge to dump him head first into the lake until he started screaming for mercy. She felt her legs go out from under her and she landed, almost painfully, on a rock and crossed her bare feet underneath her, reaching up to rub at her temples in a circular motion.

“First thing we learn as an Arch Magus is the importance of things, you want me to create a dimension. Do you want some new gods for that? Or why don’t I just create more races here for challenge to your men while I’m at it? Oh, or wait, Why don’t I just… great ever patient Mag.. are you serious Lasius? Even if I thought for a fact I could do this, do you know how many months, or even years I’d spend on it? My every ounce of strength, energy and time would be in it. It’s one thing taking dimensions and weaving them together without having to overly adept to them besides the ability to breathe… and your asking me for a super solider trainer to put yourself through more things that could possibly even kill you!”

She didn’t want to crush him, she didn’t want to disappoint him and make his dreams seem futile, this was the most frustrating thing on her part. She couldn’t say no and she damn well couldn’t say yes could she? To agree to it she’d literally be doing what she said she had been doing; spending months, years, trying to perfect it; and then the thought occurred to her, and she started laughing, but it was a bitter sounding thing.

“And the problem with creating something, anything, even remotely sentient is it’s like a child; it starts out simple but then it gains knowledge. Like creating your own race, and you as a god at one point should know this; at a point the dimension will try an find a physical form and it will not lean to command, and do you want to be the one trying to destroy something that is more powerful than Five Sitherack’s put together Lasius? Rationality here… we just made it out of one world ending disaster.”

She closed her eyes, pushing to stand up again, trying not to pace. Her mind moved over it; even getting to know this body would be trouble enough not to mention trying to shove that much power through her constantly. Even with the aid of Arcs or her Staff… oh her old masters would find her and fillet her alive for attempting such a stupid, daring, stunt. She sighed again, a long release of air as she moved towards him, reaching out to cup his face in her hands, her frustration written on her face.

“I could do it, I think… but Lasius, I don’t like it. Why do you need it? There is a point to every man’s strength; there is no end to learning but your weakness is not in body as it were..”

His smile slipped a little as she laid into him but he didn't loose all hope, he knew how it sounded, it was utterly insane, it was beyond imagining, which is exactly what it had to be to work, that was what he had figured out, normally he would just order it done and it would be done, but he knew Malkate, and he respected her, and her opinions. In truth her knowledge of this far outweighed his own, but she had asked the right question, why it had to be done.

“I know how it sounds, i know how it makes you feel, it makes me queasy just thinking about it Malkate, but I don't want to die, I don't have a death wish, thats not the point of this. Our Race was created to be the perfect warriors, yet time and again we face extinction at the hands of world bending powers. The Arc's have gotten us through, time and again we have grown to rely on them, but with that we have grown weak as a people. The threats we face now are not the kind that can be prepared for in this world, there simply isn't enough challenge here to become strong enough to deal with them. Sitherack was a perfect example, I held the Arc of Magic when I faced him and he handled me like a child. There was a time when our race rose up took the Arcs from the hands of the Gods themselves and banished them from this world with nothing but our own might.” He turned and stared out over the lake his hands curling into fists a small bolt of lightning crackling across his fist and up his arm. He didn't even notice it, he hadn't called on the element, his body and soul were already beginning the infant stages of adapting to the demands of his mind, his power was responding without need to be called.

“The Arcs and our dependency on them has made us weak Malkate, The Arcs can be taken, they work for anyone who wields them, as you yourself have seen, if the Sedi are to survive, truly survive and prosper they need to push through. Nothing can take our own abilities from us, we must push them to the point that we can meet any adversary head on without the aid of creations.” he glanced back at her and lightning flickered across his eyes.

“We were made to push our limitations, only something inconceivable, something no one could think to survive can push us through. I am the most powerful of our people, if anyone can do this it has to be me, once I achieve it I can show others, we can finally achieve the kind of security our race deserves after all we have been through.”

[Lasius]

"I don't think that is your only answer, Lasius. I don't think so at all, and this will take quite awhile even planning before I make the first move and even attempt to start this all. I know you wouldn't ask for a reason but I'm telling you that there is a rationality behind it; Arcs are but tools you can do anything you could do with the Arcs but if you think your race has become less of Warriors how long ago was it you battled the Gods again? You are on the brink of extinction... you can't take two or three years and turn around and try and retrain warriors, there will always be something out there that is stronger, faster, smarter than you... you're only prayer is that somewhere they stagger and your cunning proves to be more true.”

”This will only create a temporary band-aid on a wound thats been bleeding for awhile. Your people are warriors, fighters and maybe they need organization but Lasius they also need stability of some sort. They need to know that they can go out, fight with hearts and still have a place to call home. There's a point of learning how to be strong to survive, but with the seeking of strength comes those who would seek their own ends with it, and if you have no death wish, you have a funny way of showing it sometimes."

Her lips quirked, a faint line of humor in her solemn face, but his passion showed. She felt a growl ink at the back of her throat and swallowed it as she looked at him and sighed.

"I'll do this under three conditions: One, When your body absolutely is exhausted itself to the point that you're unsure of if you can make it back if you go on you must leave, and you must not abandon your people for your desire to gain strength for them.

Two, you will watch it for if it becomes something that becomes too sentient, I will destroy it before it gains the power to annihilate and destroy everything I know and love, including you.

Three, I will come with you and you will not argue, you will train me as you learn."

He watched her carefully, her Sedian nature was beginning to shine through in her thoughts, her own desire to become stronger to become better the primal need that all Sedi felt was plainly written in her eyes, but there was something more. His smile softened for a moment, she wanted to share in his endeavor, to take part in it with him and show that she two sought what he sought, even if she disagreed with his methods she supported his decision. It meant more to him than words could relay, her demands on the other hand sent a pillar of shock through him.

His fists tightened more, and he locked eyes with her. The first two were not a problem, he had no intention of killing himself, and he knew when his body could take no more, and should the dimension itself become a threat he would help her destroy it, the idea was after all not to complete the extinction of his people but rather make them strong enough to ensure their survival. It was the third demand that made him sweat, that shook him to the core. He had already agreed to teach her, but this was something altogether different. He was one of the oldest strongest Sedi who had ever lived, and he wasn't sure he could handle the kind of pain and effort he was going to have to put himself through, only one in 12 Lightning Sedi made it through their first year after touching their element. Not counting the rigorous training it took to join the organized military or the Elites.

This was far beyond anything, and she could not even harness her energy at will yet, but he could not do this without her. He forced his fists to unclench, and with the relaxation the lightning died away from his form. He refused to look away from her eyes, he couldn't not and say what he needed to say.

“If you want to endure the training I endure that is fine, I will not stop you, but you will become my student, you will obey everything I say, you wont so much as take hold of your element until I tell you to, especially in this place we are going to create. I love you with everything I am Malkate but I am far tougher on my students than any other Sedi. None of my students have ever survived, they couldn't hack the training, the couldn't handle what I had them do. I expect you to be the first one to live through this.”

“And another thing, we don't have years, your soul sings of it the same way mine does Malkate, you are Sedi now, and you know that our race is constantly tested, if we don't break through soon we will all Die, I know this as certainly as I draw breath here and now. Together and with whatever help we can find we must find a way to complete this task swiftly and pour everything we have into this.”

He closed his eyes in thought trying to wrap his mind around the problem approach it from all angles at once, there had to be some way, some method of completing this before some other impending doom came down upon them. He was bound and determined to find a way to combat something as powerful as the Arcs on his own with no assistance.

“Perhaps we can build it from the Inside, perhaps we can locate an empty dimension with the time variable we are looking for and use it as a basis for constructing what we need, we could spend the time we need in there creating it, and time would pass normally out here.” He shook his head and cleared his mind of thoughts pertaining to the training dimension he wanted to create.

“First things first, we cant do anything with this place till we get your training well underway. You look like you have had a full day, you look worn and tired, thus this is the perfect time to begin, Are you ready?

[Malkate Rose Sedi]

“You will find Lasius that I am no mere child of the Sedi, this body is new but I have seen countless years and endured training that might make your hair grayer than it is now. Do not underestimate the power of a Magus…”

She let the reaction show nakedly upon her face, and her hands were clenched. She also bit back the wanting to remind him who she was, powerful man or not she was not simply some child begging to learn, some careless thing who had other matters on mind. The Sedian nature raged within her, and she had powers to command at her fingertips that no man could dream of even as a Sedi in nature, though she knew he understood this and also understood his caution. It was his warning that this was no life or death trait, and that she would endure more than she’s endured in quite awhile as far as pain. She also knew there would be times he may say he’d not let up but that he’d see her as who she was, so her words might send that temper of his far enough not to question if he was pushing her too hard; and that he’d know when to stop with her.

“I said months not years but before we even find that dimension I need to formulate. Perhaps between training I can try and find a way to consult with other Magus’, perhaps even attain Nuria’s help if I can keep Lomes from trying to disintegrate the woman on sight.”

At that, Malkate’s lips quirked into a smile, though it dropped as she looked at Lasius. The idea of fighting and pushing herself was not appealing, if not for only the thought of her last good meal had been at breakfast time and it was turning well into later day. Though the scowl she had she hid from him because she knew it’d only humor him, so she took in a deep breath, resisted the childish urge to kick him in the shin with her foot, and then smiled again at him, another feral grin.

“I think I’ll train you too, what I can. We’ll see if you can learn Magus magic, with more working it’ll go faster. If I can teach you how to harness Magic and a bit of my training we can make the time go down by a lot, and prove useful in the future if no one knows that you understand how to use energies.”

His lips quirked in a smile, he knew her abilities, in straight power she likely equaled or surpassed him, but there was far far more to it than that, she'd learn it wouldn't take her
long, she had a quick mind, and her body would adapt to whatever her mind conceived possible, such was Sedian nature. Her offer to teach him her way of formulating spells was intriguing to say the least, but he sated his own desire to learn at the moment. He glanced back out over the lake as a cold feeling of dread crept over him. Something was wrong, he had felt it for quite some time now but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

“If you are truly as confident as you say you are then you should do well, your body will adapt to the strength you gain, it will hurt, I'll not lie to you, you'll feel like you cant go on any further, but thats why most people stop. Thats the real trick, we can begin with a basic exercise if you like, if you feel up to it that is.”

He grinned slightly, he knew Sedian nature inside and out, he was pushing all the right buttons without even trying, he had high hopes for her, and was convinced if he applied pressure in just the right spots she would eventually exceed even his mastery of his element. Then he would have something interesting to match himself against.

“Of course I do. What do we start with?”

A snarl erupted from her lips, but it wasn’t quite feral against him, indeed the right buttons. She cleared her throat and then let the smile overtake her features, and she felt the calm relaxing meditation of her mind clear her thoughts. She was exhausted, weary, and tired, but by the gods, she was going to do this. Her meditation helped her feel like she gained some energy, enough that she could at least feel semi prepared for whatever it was that he was going to throw her way. The idea that she might become as apparently suicidal as he was made her smile falter, but only for a second. Then she paused, and looked at Lasius, a look of shock on her face.

“Wait, Lasius… do you hear that?”

Nothing. Not the chirping of birds, not the normal sounds that the forest had with it. They would be disturbed by the two people talking, but there was an eerie lack of anything, a kind of void of sound she’d not thought about until now.

He frowned and tightened his left fist once more, indeed it was empty feeling, silent, and he had no clue as to why. He closed his eyes and the late afternoon sun brightened slightly as he forced the Sage of light into action, his eyes were everywhere rays of sunlight filtered down and caressed the earth for over a thousand miles in all directions. He saw the land for a brief instant, from the desolation and carnage in the Wood of the Dryads, to the small child like creatures rising from the earth, to the massive bull like forms of the Minotaurs in the desert. His forehead creased with confusion, these creatures had not been present in this world a short time ago, something unexpected, life found a way it seemed.

He turned to Malkate concern in his eyes showing briefly, before he forced his muscles to relax and let go of the Sage of Light. The afternoon sun dimmed back to normal luminescence. “Yes, you are right, the world has changed, creatures that were not here before have arrived, and the Dryads have all perished. Lomes is investigating it now, she can handle it, this just reinforces my feelings that we need to prepare.”

He sighed and shook his head looking towards the glistening marble city of Sethia in the distance, then back to Malkate. “If you are truly ready the first thing you need to do is empty your mind of these concerns, we are going to push your limit and see how far you can go. Open your Soul to the Lightning Element inside you, let it fill you and then focus it somewhere, act as a conduit, give it somewhere to go, if you don't it will fill you and kill you. Once you have done that pull more, keep pulling it until you feel light headed and hold it at that level.”

[Lasius]

Malkate watched Lasius, silent, understanding he was investigating in his own way. Her lips turned into a frown as he spoke, and something tugged at her and she didn’t like it. The Dryads had all perished? What could kill a race out so fast? Or had their time with Sitherack distracted her enough she hadn’t noticed it before? Though his reinforced words of needing to move fast made her sigh, and she knew that tomorrow morning she’d have to open or create that dimension and try and reach the other Arch Magus’s even Nuria for assistance in creating it; and hoped they saw through her theory of it. Though to empty her mind… had she been the woman she’d been before it might have been hard, but as it was she stopped, and listened to the end of his words before she nodded, once silently and went eerily still. Eerie because her chest barely rose with breath, even with a duel set of lungs, and she didn’t even twitch, or blink, her body was simply a statue among the forest as she started schooling her mind.

Clearing your mind is harder than it sounds. In her beginning trainings something would itch, or she’d feel something crawling along her skin that wasn’t there, or a stray thought would wander in, always something. Now was a time when she’d done it a hundred times, but even as she tried to clear her thoughts she felt that damnable Sage creep up to her, but with the mental visibility of a leash, she bound and gagged it within her, a snarl of reminding whose body it now thrived within. The feeling stilled, and her mind went completely clear; devoid of thought, manner, even the random chaoticness of the Lightning Sedi’s true nature. Irony stated that it was a schooling of thought to still those random thoughts and patience was a tool in learning their element. Still, had she not had years of training it would have been harder to do what she had done; and it was almost even testing her schooling to clear that chaotic thought pattern, but her body did it.

Taking a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she felt her element within her, though it was a connection most of the Sedi had, she was a visual thinker in instances. The trouble was differentiating the training of a Magus to what he was telling her to do; two kinds of energies as the Sedian race pulled from souls and a Magus pulls from the world around them, the sentient energies. She took a deep breath again, focusing, clearing the thought as it tried to grip her and she opened the flood gates, metaphorically. She felt the energy build within her but her ears were deaf to the outside world because there was a throbbing energy in her ears that felt deafening. There were no manifestations of clouds within the sky, the lightning was simply there, stemming out from one of the clouds that lay there, striking in rapid succession across the sky like branches of a tree reaching out. It was hard to focus, hard to pull that much energy and keep the flood gates open; again her training of when to say no screaming at her, but Lasius’ words and hopes for her telling her to go on.

Still she focused the keeping her mind clear, the lightning striking in rapid succession and the light headedness occurred, and she felt her grip almost slip on it, and an iron fist of training managed to grab it again but sweat showed on her head, as well as the exhaustion of earlier in the day. Keeping her mind clear yet concentrated, she kept her eyes closed, the lightning of its own accord still splintering across the sky.

“What now?”

The Lightning streaking across the sky resonated the Element within him but he kept it suppressed, it required conscious effort now to restrain his power from manifesting at will. He watched as she strained to pull it and caught the moment when she reactions were slightly off, the lightheaded feeling must be in her, by the time she spoke he was already facing her again.

“What is actually happening to you right now is your soul is pulling raw energy from the Aether, your soul is converting it to the element its attuned to, it then flows through your body, which is naturally immune to the element, where you manifest it directly as your mental energy chooses to. The Lightheaded feeling you are experiencing is loss of concentration due to the strain you are under.”

He raised his left and and opened it a small white pinpoint of light appearing and pulsing in time to her own twin heartbeats. The flash was slow and steady right now, but as time went on it increased in pace.

“This is representative of your hearts, we'll watch it and you will see what i mean about the Sedian ability to adapt. Now I want you to double the amount you are pulling through you right now. But before you do be prepared for the pain. And don't be surprised if you get a nose bleed.”

Malkate’s frustration wanted to scream at him; but she trusted him. It was that blind trust that kept her going, and she took in a deep breath, sent a quick, silent prayer and squeezed her eyes closed more as she did. She then did exactly as she was told, and tried not to scream as an eruption of pain flooded her entire system; hot liquid rushing out of her nose faster than she thought was healthy, but most likely the same amount any Sedian bled from duel heartbeats, but her head wanted to crack open, and her lungs felt like they were being stabbed by needles. The lightning flared, almost screaming as it streaked farther and farther, almost crisscrossing and balling at some points, though ironically she managed to make sure no being or creature was wounded by the element, at least doing her best to do what she could. Her eyes opened, and her violets were extreme, and she gritted her teeth hard enough she couldn’t really speak to him at that moment. A Magus power never should hurt; the seconds it did you had the choice to choose to live or die.

It was so hard for her to keep that concentration with her past training, but she ignored it. After all, she’d trained under harder circumstances in a physical combat training.

The light in his hand rapidly increased its flashing to the point of creating a strobing effect he watched it carefully, ignoring her bleeding and obvious discomfort. That flashing told him the line between her life and her death, and that was all that mattered with a Sedi, if they were alive they would adapt, they always did until death.

“The pain you are feeling is your body being ripped apart from the inside out you must not stop however, the sudden emptiness might stop your hearts. The energy you are pulling through yourself now is more than the body can handle, but this does not limit your minds ability to manifest it, as you see the storm you have created still rages, more intense than before.”

He watched the light keenly his eyes not blinking for a second. Time was passing he knew, and the strain Malkate was under was not fading. But there was nothing to do but wait at this stage in the game.

“Keep channeling at that level, don't fear that the pain will over come you, Sedian minds don't release that easily, it would take far more to remove you from conscious thought than this, you must endure, you will see soon enough what I am pushing for.”


Another snarl erupted but it was not aimed anywhere near him, it was the pain that her very body endured. Her mortal death didn’t last as long as this and her violet eyes opened, a rage of storm as she refused the urge to scream, channeling as she watched the strobe, felt the storm spread across the skies now, reaching farther, growing fiercer as she channeled.

Her hands shook slightly and the concentration wasn’t hard to maintain as far as the thoughts, her mind was too busy raging with pain and the exhaustion of body. You cannot prepare yourself for this kind of training no matter how vocal the warning was; and her eyes solidified away from pain and into sheer stubborn will as she kept her focus, even daring to draw more through herself as the lightning struck near the lake, slamming hard into the water as it sizzled, sending rivulets around but never near them. Blood dripped from her nostrils in twin lakes, dropping and staining the dressing she wore.

She couldn’t speak, wouldn’t for fear of giving in but the stubborn set of her jaw said she would not relent, and if he wanted her to back down from this she wouldn’t, not even slightly.

[Lasius]

The Light flickered abruptly and slowed, a small smile crept across his face, her heartbeats were slowing, her body was strengthening adapting to the new level of power that she had roaring through it. It was simple, when faced with a new problem Sedian physiology had a mandate from the gods themselves when it was created, adapt or die, change what needed to be changed. When it became clear that the power running through her would not cease to the warning signs that the body was sending her, the only solution was to change the body, become stronger more resilient. The pain would begin slowly to decrease as well.

To Malkate it would almost feel natural, like it was instinctually suppose to be this way, but her memories of humanity would ultimately argue that the body simply did not do that. That is when the realization should occur to her. For the first time She would have true knowledge of just how different Humans and Sedi were, how despite the great effort and care taken by the gods to make the races as similar as possible on the outside, how utterly unalike they truly were.

Lasius held the light in front of her as the haze of pain would be clearing from her mind, it was slow now steady as it was before, the slight lightheaded feeling would return, showing her that this level was now her new limit.

“There, now thats it thats enough, if you feel ready to release the energy stop manifesting it outward, let it fill you inside. It will restore your bodies natural energy, and when you feel awake and alert again then let go it will dissipate in the course of a few seconds back to the Aether from which it came.”

Impossibility wasn’t a way to describe it, shock showed on her face as she realized, as her hearts slowed, as the pain receded and the light-headedness took effect. Her understanding of Lasius appeared then, and not even the slightest bit of awe appeared naked on her face. She let go of the energy as she was told, slowly taking every step with a liberalness that made her mind haze, and as the storm started to disappear, the lightning receded she reached up to wipe the blood from her nose, her brows drawing down in confusion. There was a good gap of time that she said nothing, simply stared at the blood on her fingers with her brows knitted, and then she sighed, and looked back at Lasius.

“I still think you’re crazy.”

A smirk appeared on her lips, and that was the closest he would get to her apologizing for her earlier constant nagging of him and his desire to die; her understanding now was dawned upon her and she was grateful that Lomes gave her this opportunity because she’d never understand without experiencing it as she had here. She closed her eyes, almost slumping before she reached out to grab at his arm; it wasn’t tiredness of the body though that was present, it was a kind of exhaustion of the heart, mind, and soul. The clearing of her house was more than physical it cleared out all of the webs of her past with it in a metaphorical way, the training itself hadn’t begun and her mind was already going over patterns and training she’d have to do the next day.

“We can train more later, I need to eat, and you need to come explain to me how exactly that just happened without me dying, or passing out, or… how it even worked that way.”

He slipped his arm gently around her waist and walked with her towards the Inn, his thoughts tracing their way back to stories told to him by his father, the only Sedi who had actually met with all the Gods when they were not trying to kill his race. His eyes were distant, pain lost from centuries ago faded but lingering at the mans death. But despite all the time the mans words to him were still clear and he repeated them to Malkate as they walked towards the Inn.

“The Sedi is a strange creature, we were made to protect humans from any manner of creature sent against them by the God of Darkness, a long time ago. We look like humans, move like them, but we are not, we were designed, made specifically to push the limits, created by the gods to survive and endure.”

He rand his free hand through his hair as they walked pushing it out of his face and sighed deeply, a lot of what he knew was ancient, from the world before he was born, things he had learned from his father and looked into throughout his life searching texts, and talking to people, a lot of his ideas in creating Lomes had come from what he learned about Sedi.

“Our bodies change, like a human body, if it lifts weight for a certain amount of time it adds muscle mass to make that work routine, but our bodies change in a matter of minutes, and it changes every system, our greatest strength lies in our ability to adapt to new conditions. Our elemental abilities are limited only by what our body can withstand, and our bodies constantly strengthen to endure more.”

He paused at the door to the Inn and glanced at her his eyes focusing on there here and now “I don't have to tell you that what we did here today is the easiest way to push our powers higher, but this only lets us go so far, what you did today a Sedian youth does 4 times a day every day until he's an adult. Your powers are mature, so you can handle far more than a Youth, you should reach the maximum you can handle within a few weeks, but this is not the end.”

“I have discovered that when in great need our bodies can adapt further, when they are pushed to the brink they ignore the previous limitations, thats why we need this built, we need something that continues to push that limit, until I know what the end result is I'll never know what our Race was truly meant for.”

She took in his every word, taking it for what he said but even as he said that Sedian youth do that four times a day… she was wondering how training coupled with trying to build was really going to do with her. Maybe the exhaustion of body and mind from both would train her faster than even things that Lasius could come up with. Taking a deep breath she pushed her hair back from her face, moving to lean her head on his shoulder as she thought; silent for the few minutes until he turned to look at her, his face all serious and she stopped.

“No, this will not be the end. I told you I will help you do it and now I understand better why. I’m still not happy about it, though my understanding is greater. You also must understand my leeriness of what we could potentially build but your race lacks communication, what one can do with one weapon you can do better with two. Perhaps you should train in more than simple element building. Though not right now, tomorrow and the weeks after are time for politics, discussion, and training. Now it is late, and we are here. Let me show you my home now..”

She smiled, moving to slide away from him as she pushed the dojo style door open, sliding it to the side rather than pushing it open. She slid her shoes off before entering, turning to reach for his hand. Her fingers would slide through his and she, with little effort, lifted her hand and whispered a few words as the wards flared up to life, small orbs glowing to illuminate the room, and she stepped in. The floor in this area was padded, and along the walls various weapons hung; including the Arc of Darkness. Though if Lasius tried to test it, he’d find a nasty ward that shimmered across the Arc, any thief or Sedi who tried to grab it would find the cage she wove tangled with a nice little trap that would leave them… shocked… to their core.

From swords to poles, to wooden weapons, anything a traditional dojo held was held here, along with two red oriental style dragons woven around the wall, chasing each others tails. Above where a normal flag would be, her staff rested. She moved to the door that separated the dojo from the Inn, and smiled back to him before she opened the door and stepped inside. The entrance moved into the inn area, though it was more homely than a typical business so to say. A few tables, all nice even for their roughness, a relatively nice medieval style kitchen area with the fireplace boiling a stew, dried herbs, and various boxes enchanted to keep food preserved.

There were stairs leading upwards and a door off to the far left cracked open, normally closed that was her bedroom, a simple bed, a woven stand, and a large black faerie cat happily stretched across the bed in a possessive manner, not even bothering to do much besides crack one violet eye open, a soft dismissive growl, and close it again as he returned to his slumber. More orbs started lighting the room as she stepped in, moving aside so he could take everything in. There were various decorations around the rooms, including some sketching that Malkate had done at one point of her life.

[Lasius]

Lasius paused outside the door for a moment to unbuckled and remove his steel soled boots, he seriously doubted that she would be amicable to him traipsing mud through her inn in addition to tearing up the floor. He placed the boots outside the door and followed her into the Inn. He was impressed with the orderliness of the place, the comfort and homeliness it emitted. His eyes paused briefly at the sight of the Arc of Darkness but he decided to ignore it, the artifact was her responsibility now.

His eyes followed her as she moved about more impressed with her movements than even the array of weaponry around them. He leaned quietly against a wall, watching her silently his eyes following her movements as the smell of food drifted to him and caused his stomach to growl involuntarily. He chuckled softly under his breath placing his left hand on his stomach as his lips twitched in a half smile.

“You have a great place here, it looks like you have had a nice life for the time, I'm sorry i missed out on it, It would have been nice to have been a part of it. I wont miss anymore however.” He glanced at the Fae-cat sleeping on the bed and grinned, “That is if the man of the house doesn't mind to terribly bad.”

He remained silent after that, lost in thoughts, his memories of his father had stirred deep things inside him that had not been touched in hundreds of years. How long since he had visited his fathers tomb? How long since he had lit a fire in his remembrance? Time always seemed to slip by, never enough time for all the things that demanded doing, even now he knew the Sedi in the keep were probably lined up around the corner seeking his orders on any number of trivial matters. There were advisers to handle that but he was 'Lasius' and they would take any excuse to say that the word had come personally from him.

He was worried about Lomes and Daegan too, whatever was lurking to the south was malevolent, nothing would cause the kind of carnage he had seen briefly in the Wood without directed malevolence. And to the Dryads of all creatures, what was the purpose? Surely Lomes was seeking these answers and true he did feel she could take care of herself, but the persistent nagging need to look after his people crept up on him all the same.

He shook it off and glanced towards the kitchen, The Sedi could handle one night without his direct attention, Daegan and Lomes could manage themselves, they didn't need him constantly looking over their shoulders like some concerned parent watching a toddler.

“Alright then, so when do we eat?”

[Malkate Rose Sedi]

(Continued in "the Son Returns" Red Dragon Inn)