“Master Keldon, you can’t be serious,” he calls out.
“I am always serious, grasshopper,” he says in a grave tone. I wonder who taught him about the grasshopper thing.
“No you’re not,” I shout out. “Just yesterday you poured honey in my underwear then threw a bee hive into the room and slammed the door.”
“I did no such thing. But great idea! It sounds like good training.”
“Err, Rio … Rio would get the best training from that,” I desperately backpedal from my tongue-in-cheek horrible bad idea.
“Never mind. We’ll talk about it later. Speaking of Rio, he’s the one who gave me the idea for today’s training.”
I guess I know who to blame for ‘grasshopper’, now. “You shouldn’t listen to Rio, Master. He’s watched way more anime than is good for him. Or me.”
“No, no. This is a very good idea. Something he said he saw in a … what was it Rio?”
“A Kung Fu movie, Sir,” Rio contributes.
“That’s it, a gunk fu movie. The epitome of martial arts expressed in the form of art known as cin-a-mon.”
“Cinema, Master. And kung fu movies are complete and total hogwash. Sir.”
“Now, now.” Rio chimes in, “Don’t insult the great kung fu masters: Bruce Lee, his son Jet Li, Lucy Liu, Ping Xiao Po, Jack Burton, Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan, Mr. Miyagi, Victor Wong, Pat Morita, Sho‘nuff, Chris Farley. All great kung fu fighters. You should show them some respect.”
“Shut up, Rio. Chris Farley was a ninja, not a kung fu anything. Dumbass.” I give a sigh of resignation. “All right, Master. I’m ready.”
“Very well, young grasshopper. If you could see, you would see in front of you a pond. In that pond, I have placed posts of varying heights and thicknesses. In today’s exercise, you will jump from post to post, gracefully like a gazelle, starting from one side of the pond and finishing on the other.”
“Rio.”
“Yes.”
“I hate you.”
“Focus your mind, grasshopper. Or should I say polehopper. A stronger, better you awaits on the other side of that pond.”
“Rio!”
“Yes, Master!”
“You go first. Show us how it’s done.”
“Uh, Master … perhaps …”
“Shut up. Hop to it. Hop hop hop! Go go!”
Moments later, I hear a short scream and a big splash. I share a secret smile with myself. This is gonna suck but at least I’m not alone.
We all meet up for breakfast as usual, then clear the conference room for a team meeting. Kari looks a little tired and both Rio and Nix look like they've rolled down a flight of stairs in the rain. None of them say anything, though, so I don't ask.
After Tara and Jane serve tea, I ask them to leave us alone for about an hour. They curtsy and leave.
Everyone is pretty boisterous today. I guess the morning training sessions were a bit unusual. I’m having trouble getting them under control. Finally, Saki gets mad and slaps the table to get everyone's attention. She grabs the vampire book from its place beside me and opens it to the right section before handing it to me. She's always good at getting to the point. And this is a very sharp point indeed.
“It’s time. Time to make the next big step forward,” I say. “We’ve all made progress with our individual abilities. Every one of us is developing great strength. Not just in relation to our old lives but in relation to what is possible in this world.
“However, we’re still vulnerable. I believe it’s time to open up another source of strength. We’ve grown very close. Family close. Our next source of strength can be found there. Vampire’s can perform a bonding ritual called the Blood Family. According to what I’ve read, this will enhance our magical powers in a number of ways.”
I'm already feeling tired so I hand the vampire book to Rio and ask him to read the Blood Family section. It isn't very long so he gets through it quickly. The last section details the ritual involved.
Finally, I make the declaration everyone is expecting to hear, "I want to form a Blood Family with you."
Everyone spends a minute or two deep in thought. Finally, Nix says, "The passage implies that there are great benefits to be had from being a Blood Family."
"Yes," I say. "But it's the epitome of vague, no specifics."
"It could enhance existing abilities, give new abilities, create shared abilities, and have other effects for both individuals and the whole party," Says Rio. "But there is no way to know what will happen in advance because it all depends on what each person brings to the mix."
Saki scribbles out a note. What about control? Will Addie be able to control us?
Kari throws out an answer, "I don't think so. This section reads a lot different from the one on Blood Binding. I believe that with a Blood Family, we'll all be Bound to each other. But we won't have control over each other. What's being Bound to each other really mean, though? I don't know."
Rio speaks up, "Can we trust the book? We don't know anything about it and very little about the person who gave it to us."
I choose this moment to throw in my own opinion, "I don't think we can ever answer that question by normal means. But we have abnormal means available."
Rio chews on his lower lip thoughtfully for a moment before saying, "And we trust Fate magic more? I really don't know."
Kari shrugs, "Try it and see."
Rio leans forward and pulls the book over to himself. Sets his hand on the passage and closes his eyes for a long long time. Almost five minutes. We eat cookies and sip tea almost patiently.
Finally, he speaks. "If I ask the question of whether to form a Blood Family or not, I don’t get a negative feeling either way. However, if we decide to form a Blood Family, I get the impression of us opening a large treasure chest. That's all I have."
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"Treasure chest or Pandora's box?" Asks Nix.
"Or both," I interject.
Saki raises her hand, palm down and waggles it back and forth - It's always like that. Our curses have positive and negative aspects.
Kari shrugs her shoulders again. "Let's do it! Together we'll be stronger."
Saki signs. It seems like fate to me. That there would be five people like us, summoned here, and presented with this opportunity.
Rio looks dubious. Nix looks like his usual timid self. Says, "I will trust Addie's judgment. Becoming a Blood Family depends on her abilities. We chose her to lead us. I trust her to make the right judgment."
And with that, those bastards throw the decision right back into my lap. I call for a ten minute recess to think.
I read through the section again, including the ritual., which is fairly simple. I compare it to the other rituals for Blood Binding, noting similarities and differences. It does seem fundamentally different. I think about everything that has happened over the past five weeks. I think about all my fears and reservations about the life we'll lead here. I know I can't make it alone and I know I'll need every advantage I can get. I ask my inner vampire for advice. She says she's hungry. That's all she ever says. Big help.
It seems to me that we will have to take a leap of faith. I laugh to myself. Hadn't expected Kierkegaard to show up in the room before lunchtime. I guess that means my decision is made.
I told the others, "I'm tired of being weak and frightened. I want to do this."
The exercise is about to get under way. More than a hundred soldiers, archers, mages, scouts and more on each side. We are on the large training field today and it’s been set up with numerous obstacles. Both forces have limited sight distance and are doing what they call a movement to contact. Which pretty much means what it sounds like. Scout, probe, move forward and be ready to fight at any time.
The scouts, myself included, will be sent out fifteen minutes before the main forces start moving. Bethany is on the opposing side this time so I will have no easy way to communicate what I see.
Which doesn’t matter right now. My role is that of an assassin. A role my Sigil is tailor-made for.
My Sigil gives me four Skills. Hide allows me to disappear into a shadow. So long as I don’t move while someone is watching, I can’t be seen. Ambush gives my attacks increased power when I’m in my hidden state. Dark Tendrils allows me to anchor a target in place. Blind casts a Curse of Blindness over a thirty square meter area.
My mission for this exercise is simple. Find a good place to hide, wait for an opportunity, and take out the most important person I can reach. Ideally, that would be the Great Dick Ettiene. Just sayin’.
I move fast once the exercise starts. The Skills I received as part of my leadership role allow me to make sense of a battlefield quickly. Choke points, fields of fire, patterns of obstacles: all are clear to me. I pinpoint two critical areas, find strategic places to hide, and plan out routes between them. As the main forces go into motion, I’m already hidden in shadow.
It takes almost half an hour for the skirmish line to make its way past me. Then a heavy infantry unit approaches. I wait for the right moment, then ambush the platoon leader, taking him out with one strike. Immediately I cast Blind on those around me and make my escape.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m in my next hiding spot. Deep behind the enemy front line this time. I don’t have to wait long after settling in. My assessment is that this is the best place for their fire support to set up. Fortunately, they agreed with me. My target is less than five meters from me when she stops to set up her unit.
I move like lightning, casting Dark Tendrils on her, I attack from hiding and take Bethany out with two strikes from my swords. Casting Blind again, I melt back into the shadows.
Now I go looking for my next target. Taking out Bethany threw a monkey wrench into their communications. Ettiene is hard to find. And I couldn’t get set into position fast enough. One of his scouts sees me and sounds the alarm. I’m surrounded and after a short fight, Ettiene takes me out by his own hand. And with a supremely satisfied smirk.
Oooh that sucks! Overall the operation was a success. I was taken out by my own stupid desire to get to Ettiene. And now he’s telling everyone about it.
It sucks, it sucks, it sucks. I swear vengeance. I’ll definitely get him next time.
“Hello. I’m Tia. Are you the Librarian?”
It’s toward the end of the day when a person I’ve never met before comes into the library and introduces herself. I can’t hear what she says, but I read her lips well enough.
I get a piece of paper and write, I am Penelope, the Librarian. I am deaf. And show it to her.
She surprises me by tentatively signing, Can you sign? My name is Tia.
I can sign. Saki taught me.
I see her laugh. Saki would teach you, of course. I haven’t seen her in a long time.
She comes here every day. What can I help you with?
I am looking for a book on tactics for shadow mages.
I smile and get her the book she needs. The best book we have for her anyway. With a smile I give it to her. She looks at the title and signs, Thank you, before turning to leave.
She is almost at the door before she turns back. Perhaps you can help me. You’ve been here for some time, right? Have you ever seen a man, a Healer, who wears a hooded robe? He healed me last week and I’d like to thank him.
I freeze for a moment. I instantly know who she’s talking about because he was showing me his new cloak the other day. The one he thinks is cool and everyone else says makes him look like a dork. I realize suddenly that I feel jealous. Why? It doesn’t seem rational for me to be jealous just because he helped someone.
No, I sign, I don’t know him. Sorry.
Oh well. Thanks anyway. Nice meeting you! And she leaves.
A girl. An attractive, outgoing girl. Nix helped that girl. Rrrrrr!
Okay. Sometimes life just gets weird. I walk into the library and find a statue of Penny. Or it looks like it anyway. She’s frozen in place for some reason.
I wave a hand in front of her face and she starts moving again. Gives me a dim smile before sitting down with a weary sigh. It takes me a few minutes but I get the story out of her. Nix is involved, of course. One of only two idiots I know who can cause chaos without even being around.
Nix is a bit of a bumbling nitwit when it comes to romance. So why is it that every girl he heals gets a crush on him? Penny, Tia, even a hot elf for Pete’s sake! Is there something going on that I don’t know about?
Saki comes in a few minutes later and sheds some light on the subject. She pulls out her Journal and shows us Nix’s Blessing. I read it once before but didn’t really pay attention to it. A Hidden Boon: Love Crush. We don’t know specifics but we’re deeply suspicious.
Saki and I’ve known Nix a long time. He’s a really sweet, kind guy who craves romance. That apparently has been translated into some kind of superpower. Poor Penny.
Or maybe not. She could do a lot worse. Nix is a dumbass and a dork but he’s got a good heart.
And he’s hung like a horse!
Hahahaha! I made that up. I don’t know. I absolutely have no knowledge about Nix’s private parts and I absolutely do NOT want to know! Just wanna make that clear.
###
So I leave the girls to their chattering. They sign way too fast for me to follow without getting a headache. I’ve got my own study table in the back of the library where Penny puts all the books she thinks I need. My main topic these days is Hexes, their flora and fauna, and their role in the economics of Emulgren.
So, there are town Hexes. A Hex which comes with a village at the center. Around the village are fields and orchards and everything people need to live. Or other races, for that matter. We know that there are Elves and Dwarves and Humans here. There are more but not around here. Demons don’t count ‘cause they come from somewhere else.
Around the village Hex is an inner ring of six Hexes and an outer ring of twelve Hexes. All Hexes have valuable stuff in them but most are pretty average. There are some Hexes which have a lot of valuable stuff in them. By valuable stuff, I mean plants and animals which have some kind of magically charged parts which are useful. For example, the hide of a Fire Fox is highly fire-resistant. So if you can hunt a Fire Fox and prepare its skin properly, you can sell it for good money. Lots of things like that.
Some plants have medicinal uses. They can be used to make potions and salves for people who don’t have someone like Nix around to heal all of their booboos.
As you would expect, the valuable stuff in the Hexes is the hardest stuff to harvest. Either because the Hex is hard to get to, or the critters are particularly vicious or powerful, or any number of other reasons.
So my current job is to make a list of Hexes which we can target in order to get the most economic advantage. I.e. we can hit them for the most money. I like this job. It tickles my hoarding instincts. I’m looking forward to becoming a Harvester.