"In what variations on the magic arts do you consider yourself underprepared, but interested in shoring up your knowledge in?"
"They are completely unharmed, but cannot hear or see us..instead they are getting to watch episodes of 'Three's Company'. "And so we can now return to matters at hand."
I wanted to protest that it would hardly seem harmless to the people inside the 'privacy pill'. but what was the point? Lorius had been a perfect gentleman. If I didn't trust him this far, I should just plan to kill him. 'Three's Company' must refer somehow to Hadrian, Dora, and Bishop-- but I didn't understand it at all.
"Your question intrigues me, Prince." I smothered a smile, "I should like to tell you that Demonology or Neuromancy***were avid interests of mine--- that I feel underprepared to deal in. Yet I've studied both enough to see that I have my interests satisfied for now."
"Or I might wax in animated fashion about the puzzle of Illusion, which many say is not a separate craft, or Runic magic, which some say is the underlying roots of all crafts."
"The answer to your question is -- any and all of them. I do not turn aside from any knowledge. Not even the darker arts."
"But I honor the implications of your question. Which is, I feel, what variations on the magic arts that I feel are essential do I consider myself underprepared for."
I sat back in my chair, "That question has a more limited answer."
"First, would have to be Xenomagery. The art of rare sentient species and their specialized, personalized magics. The Dragons, the Fey, the Weir, those sentients which have grounded themselves in magic and pass it along in their blood-- only waiting for it to be awakened by study and practice. This has always fascinated me. I can never get enough of such learning."
"Second, I would say is Cosmostratamancy. The art of order in the echelons of the universe and drawing meaning therefrom. Our exchange here today has increased my knowledge of those theories. Which is, after all, the object of this duel."
"Third, and last, is Oneiromagery. The art of magic in the DreamLands. A realm where the mind is unfettered by the mundane forms and strictures. And by this, I do not mean Oneiromancy and divination."
"I have little desire to pick possible futures out of the night." I thought about my nightmares in Ersia of a few days before. How could such symbolic ghost chasing be a means to plotting a life's course? I shuddered. Of course, the dreams did point to the reason why Lorius was so wrong about his answer to my last question. He had been honorable so far, and so he must believe in his answer.
But that only meant the flaws in his personal style were ever-so-much larger than most power-crafters. Fortunate for him, that he had sufficient skill and talent to cover them over. A day of reckoning might never appear.
It wasn't my purview to educate him. Not that he would listen to me.
"So, on to your next question."
"I would like to hear from you as to all knowledge you have acquired, and the sources you believe in the delicate matter of the Xenomagical founding of the family line. In other words, What of the blood relationship we have to the Unicorn? If this issue is a myth, as I have always believed--- then slant your answer so as to fully dispel these tenacious fables which have served to develop religious overtones."
*** this is NOT misspelled. she did NOT say necromancy. :-) neuromancy the study of brain and nervous system types and configurations with regard to magic. Has some overlap with Xenomagery.
Lorius listens with interest and with bright eyes as you detail the lists of various magics of which you know much, and of which you know little. Finally, your own question in response almost causes him to react with a surprised sound.
Almost.
"Well now, that is a fair question, given your ultimate ancestry, and none of the buisness of those outside the family." The red haired sorcerer begins, with a smile.
"I do not know if you have read any of the versions of the Book of the Unicorn in full." he says, glancing briefly at the Privacy Pill before resuming.
"I have had the advantage of having the information divulged to me by my mother and uncles, as well as my own speculations and odd research. That, I suppose, would be the extent of the pool of information with which to answer your question."
"Dworkin is indeed our ancestor, that much is certain. It is intimated, and implied his origins are in the Courts, and indeed there was a House Barimen whose status now is quite unclear. Court Politics and Law, you understand."
"As for the Unicorn, you must understand, Bhangbadea, that she is of an order of magnitude of being greater than a mere intelligent horned herbivore."
"As the Serpent of the Logrus is, as well. Call them Great Powers, or Greater Beings. Their origin is outside of and beyond our multiverse, possibly existing on multiple levels of reality simultaneously."
"I do think it is possible that there is a direct blood ancestry to the Unicorn. Certainly it explains part of the vigor of our bloodline...greater, on average, than the general run of the Great Houses of Chaos."
"Even those of our family who have not walked the Pattern and not indigenous to Amber clearly show the marks of the bloodline not otherwise easily explained, Bhangbadea. Also, the occassional appearances of the being, not all explanable away as fancy, further solidify its tie to the Realm and our Family."
"So yes...as unbelieveable as it might seem, or fanciful, the Unicorn is indeed the mother of us all. If the tale of the Dreamer is to be believed, apparently he, too, has a ancestral link to the Unicorn through a hitherto unknown second child. A line of research I have barely begun to decipher."
"And now my next question, to you, Bhangbadea." Lorius takes a drink of water and cracks his knuckles. Loudly.
"One topic I find endlessly fascinating, aside from the pure magics, is Local Powers. By this I mean places of power other than the Pattern of Amber, and the Logrus of the Courts of Chaos....and more than a simple congregation of leylines and magical mana pools. Locales and powers such as the Keep of the Four Worlds. The Spring of Hippocrene. The Endless Labyrinth of Labrys."
"Of which, if any, are you most familiar with, and assign any real value to?"
I knew it was going to show on my face, I had no doubt he would see it there. I was too surprised this time, there was no way to smother it. Lorius was saying that the whole fanciful structure was true. The Unicorn. Some kind of Primal Being beyond this simple multi-verse, was a material ancestor. Beyond supernatural, beyond gods.
Mother's Blood, this was-----
Then I realized that my pet curse was suddenly a linkage back thru my own body to something immense and more alien than my pictures of Amber could have ever been. The Unicorn was my--- ? What? Great-Grandmother?
To give him credit, Lorius waited.
I had my hands flat on the table. My mind was beating louder than my heart.
Wait! My heart wasn't beating at all! Something--- I couldn't move--- what?
It took moments, my mind racing to discover the effect gripping me before I came to a workable conclusion. Somehow the shock of Lorius's divine information had hit some particular facet of my mind and created a surge of energy. A surge which had picked up my entire thought process and thrown it into a higher order of efficiency.
My thoughts seemed to have no resistance. They sped and fired about in my head while the leaves of Arden beyond Lorius's head refused to move. My heart hadn't stopped. I wasn't being held in place.
My mind was moving at the pace of storm lightning.
It seemed a long time before I found the lines of force that would alter the effect. I carefully stepped back "down" to my normal channels of thought. Lorius took a breath, I could hear my heart. I relaxed.
But a tiny part of me still turned over the answer, studied it in pure disbelief. Me? A bit of mud mixed with the blood of a trans-universal being?
"Your question follows a narrow line. I'll try to be helpful." I stretched my fingers, and crossed my arms, rubbing the outsides of my upper arms, mostly just to feel the sensation after the false sense of paralysis.
"I have seen many impressive intersections of ley lines. Eregnor has some amazing circle pools, of course, which seem to actually produce ley lines. Frightening in their potential. Yet they do not cross Shadow."
"And that's generally the case. But your examples bend those rules a bit. The cases you quote blend with other Shadows, not so much crossing the lines of Shadow, as forming tangible compatibilities that make the magical potential seem seamless. Am I right?"
"I've run into only one such source." Now I could feel the goosebumps on my arms. I welcomed it at this point, it felt so normal, so mundane within the context of this duel. A duel that was constantly exceeding my expectations.
"Yes. I've heard of the places you mentioned. A few others not as powerful. The Keep seems to be a spot that is often fought over. The others much less so. I would say, while I haven't been in it, that the Keep is the one with the most potential. The others are decidedly local effects."
"The one source I can't explain is not localized, yet seems to be a Shadow effect. It is not powerful in raw energy, but potent in effect none-the-less. It has a few names, for it can appear in alternate locations. Like your Tir Na Nog'th, but wandering."
"I found it once and would not want to face it alone again. It is most often called the Festival of Fear. It appears as a gala, or perhaps it subsumes a celebration that is already in progress. It has been a circus here, a private party there, a wedding fete in one Shadow, or a coronation in another."
"The pattern of this power is that something goes very, very wrong in the middle of a benign occasion. Guests find themselves being subtly separated from the throng and faced with deep fears and powerful illusions of disasters. Some go mad. Others lives are changed forever. Lovers kill each other. Enemies fall in love with each other. It is quite beyond anything else I've come across."
"Next to the Fount within the Keep of Four Worlds, this wandering Shadow source is the most absorbing thing I'm aware of. Shadows that don't stay put often are. The other landmarks you mentioned are minor mysteries by comparison."
"That's all I can add to the subject."
"Since we have reached seven question pairs, and since my personal sigil respects seven points of divigence while balancing the enclosure of two poles of reality" I used my hand to indicate the two of us, "I'm going to make this the last question, Prince Lorius. This has been most challenging. Everything I have done in my life has led me to this small moment in Amber, with you."
"It feels right, and I trust my feelings in these matters."
"So---- the final question."
"A bit of analogy--- gardentools can be effective weapons when wielded by a fine mind with a talent for war, swords are not needed-- likewise, magic allows for the fluid construction of tools to act upon the psyche, the immaterial center of an opponent."
"But magic is not always effective in aggression. Even with surprise, an opponent may be able to resist magic with only the bare psyche and tremendous force of vitality. Magical defenses, however, are always effective. A spell upon the self is a fait accompli. This is a sure way to bolster the will before crossing minds with a dangerous foe."
"What is the most potent and flexible spell you know for protecting the mind from equal or greater psyche assault?"
Lorius listens to your response, detailing the Festival, and nods appreciatively. It is clear that he has a less than complete knowledge of the phenomenon, and thus, his interest in your knowledge of it painfully evident.
Finally, though, comes your last question. No relief, no protestations are on the sorcerer's face when you state this, and then your question itself. Instead, he treats it as he did the others. With polished response.
"I see. Well, then, since you are not unacquainted with mental magics, I am sure you are aware of their versatility in defense, as well as other applications."
"So let me restrict myself to that. In preparing a mental defense spell, one must balance speed and flexibility, with its effectiveness. For example, the Tower of Iron Will is a splendid defense, greatly increasing your capabilities to resist an assault, but it takes precious time to prepare and is best for situations when you have preparatory time."
Lorius pauses a moment, draining his glass of water.
"Mind Blank, on the other hand, is the fastest mental defense spell to cast that I know of. Unfortunately, it is also not very effective, especially in a conflict with someone also specializing in mental magics."
"No, the most harmonious balance, I find, good Bhangbadea, is in a defense which allows for relative speed of use, strength, and flexibility in changing in the nature of a mental assault."
"And I have such a spell. I call it...The HELM. It appears, to the caster, as headgear...be it something out of a cyberpunk world, or something more mundane or something ornate."
"It's purposes and uses are several fold. It acts as a cushion against directly targeted psychic assaults, the raw bloody kind that mental monsters try to overpower one with. Also, it acts as a masque, partially disguising and making unclear the next mental move the caster will make. Finally, it helps hone ones concentration, making your own mental attacks more effective."
Lorius smiles. "Don't leave home without it, is what I say. I suppose that at a more convenient time, as per the duel conditions, I will get to you the specifications for the spell. "
" I am not sure you would trust me to impress it directly into your snyapses, would you?" His eyebrows twitch as if waiting for a response.
He thinks for a moment, and then rubs his chin.
"I suppose now that the Duel is complete, we can release your friends, unless you have anything else to say which you would rather not have them privy to. We are a secretive family, after all." he grins.
I had to rise to that remark, "Are we?"
Seeing that he immediately understood my reference, I felt relieved I had expressed my humor without making any mockery of his comment. After all, any person of power is secretive because of covetous fools who might do damage with half-baked stolen knowledge. It is a matter of responsibility. On the other hand, I considered myself more isolated than secretive. By my own choice.
But wasn't that changing?
"Prince Lorius, while the specifics of the Duel have not been carried out-- there is an obligation between us. These uncertain times present something of an obstacle to obligation. Why don't we both admit that we respect the other enough to open to synaptic exchange. You don't fear me. I don't fear you."
I shrugged my shoulders, "If you were trying to respect my privacy, I appreciate it. But if you were to attack or trespass my mind before this lovely arrangement of ours is finished..... why that would violate the conventions that we have so arduously maintained. Certainly you wouldn't be the nobleman that I have discovered this day."
"Not to mention that King Random can not afford to lose two defenders of Amber due to mind damage sustained in a pointless misunderstanding."
I smiled to take the sting out, "I think you know me better now. If you try anything beyond the exchange of information, I'll tear your cerebrum out by the roots."
"From a purely scientific viewpoint, I might like to feel the texture of your thoughts."
"Then we can release my friends."
Lorius rubs his hands together and gives a smirk, after your proposal.
"I, I you can trust, Bhangbadea. Many call me arrogant, overbearing, overweening and other choice adjectives. But our cousin Kyle, on the other hand, is outright dangerous. He would, mark me, take advantage of your mind, and he is full of himself to think he could do it without your consent."
Lorius shrugs.
"He has a tremendous raw psychic power...but a talent too underdeveloped to truly make use of it yet..and he is prone to a rashness which is downright reckless. I would tell you of the mess I rescued him and my sister from, but King Random has not yet heard word on that yet."
"Now, then. Let us begin."
You start to hone your mind, your thoughts for the contact with the sorcerer, and within a moment or two, feel ready to extend a psychic tendril to contact the very surface thoughts of Lorius....as at the same time, he extends an almost identical one to read your own surface thoughts in the same manner.
As you do so, the sight you see is utterly beautiful, if beauty would be something more appreciated by the cerebral sorcerer. Delicate and extensive patterns dance before your eyes on delicate linked chains...a forest of them...as you are drawn closer to one of them, you can see the detail in the chain...it's a fractal sort of landscape, self-similar designs as you focus more and more on the multicolored lattice of mental thoughts. You approach the chain further, and can see, laid out for you, the three mental defenses he outlined in the final question.
It's as easy as touching the long delicate design, and they are yours...the three spells, the particulars and methodology of each, transferred indeliably and reliably to you.
Finally, the contact ends, and your eyes open, to Lorius. Himself finished with his own brief surface scan of your own thoughts....his manners, impecable. He did not probe or try to gain any extra information. Just a brief reading to get a feel for your own thoughts, just like you did. A gentleman, you might say.
"Satisfactory?" he asks. Without waiting for a reply, a gesture causes the privacy pill to evaporate away in a puff of smoke, leaving free, and unharmed for the experience, Hadrian, Dora, and Bishop.
"?Satisfactory?" I swallowed, "Oh, yes." I smoothed the worn silks of my dress, "Quite satisfactory, Prince Lorius." The thrill still reverberated through my mental 'skin'.
Clyminedes, my old master, would have grinned and shaken his head at me. Always drinking deep, my girl. Is everything a savory sensory experience to you?
Oh, my old friend, I still do not understand how others can not see and feel what I the world looks like to me. The most beautiful of places, the most delicate of sensations, to drink of the world's wonders. To see with unclouded eyes, not longing for desire, but finding it everywhere.
I went through the chi of closing off the heat and desire I felt for studying Lorius's mind at length. "Well, Hadrian, welcome back. It seems to me, we were last talking about rest. Yet I feel strangely invigorated now."
I looked at Lorius, "The matter of Triton? Is the kidnapping of a prince of Amber not a state matter? Will someone settle out these loose threads? I do not seek to step between the fractious contest that might exist between Triton and the Golden Entity. Neither does it seem this matter should be abandoned. I will leave it to you, I think."
That was simply a matter of pure respect for his style and capabilities. Let him make of it what he will.
Then to other things.
"Since the Omphalos have been cut down in every respect so far----"
Before the Door people made private time a pure luxury for everyone.
"Indeed." Lorius says, nodding at your words.
"The matter of Triton will not go...unmonitored, at the very least. But, I expect, Lady Bhangbadea, that we will encounter each other yet again."
And then without fanfare, or further warning, the tables and their gear fade away...and so does Lorius, too, in a flash of copper and azure light...leaving you, Bishop, Hadrian, and Dora, alone, in that hilly landscape.
"I think it might be a good moment to leave and regroup my thoughts." I mused openly, letting the idea revolve so that I might feel out the flaws. Perhaps, still I should see Hadrian presented to King Random. Then, no. For that was not really the direction of his search, Gerard had already made his acquaintance. What was needed was for there to be some private time between them.
I put it thus to Hadrian, "My friend, we are here, and close to the matters of your interest. Let us set aside a bit of time now, while we can, to see what else we can do about your quest. Who knows what dire things will rush us about tomorrow?"-end-