Chapter 265: Decay_Millennial Mage

Chapter 265: Decay

 T fell into a pattern as she loped northward across the rolling, craggy ins.

 She read books that t found pertinent.

 They also discussed what information should be given to whom and when, after they had full ess to the Archive once again. They didnt want to try to think of what to do when the time came, so they made ns and preparations.

 Terry hunted and ran beside her, resting in Kit less frequently than previously, likely due to her encounter while the terror bird had been so indisposed.

 No matter how many times T told Terry that she had chosen not to call him for help, he still seemed irritated with her.

 She ran through the night, not even stopping to eat, instead pulling out easily consumed foods and a waterskin to keep herself in good shape.

 Roughly one-hundred-fifty miles north of Howlton, she came to the edge of the forest.

 Shed seen the dark line of the trees for hours before in the dim starlit night, but she wanted to be closer to the tree line before she turned east. That way, she should miss any of the other viges, at least ording to Paresh, and hed seemed at least mostly genuine.

 Before T turned east, t tried reaching out to the closest city, Makinaven, but from what she could tell, she estimated that they were still three-hundred-thirty miles or so from the massive tree city.

 Too far for a proper connection, eh?

 -Were more powerful, T, but not enough to more than decuple our Archive connection range.-

 Decuple? Oh, ten times. Yeah, thats fair.

 The run east and a little south, along the edge of the forest, was almost as monotonous as the trip across the ins. The forest barely seemed to vary to her left, the in simrly uniform on her right.

 Terry hunted anything dangerous from their path before she even saw it, and she stayed well back from the tree line, though she thought she saw eyes watching her on asion.

 Leshkin?

 She didnt know, and the zeme in the forest was somehow obscuring her magesight more thoroughly than it had when shed been going to and from Makinaven. A greater defense to the south? I thought the forest used to be the enemy of humanity, not the arcanes.

 It was worth looking into, if she could.

 I doubt theres a Leshkin library, but who knows? The next Leshkin war could provide all sorts of opportunities.

 Night had fallen after the short, winter day when she finally reached the southeast edge of the forest and could turn north, towards the narrowest portion of the great woods.

 She loped on through the night and the next day, t finally stopping her well into the following night, next to a portion of the forest that was seemingly identical to all the others shed passed.

 -Here. This is where we turn west-northwest, and cut through.-

 T staggered a bit. I think I need to sleep.

 -That is probably incredibly wise, yeah. In all likelihood, well have to fight something in there.-

 Probably Leshkin. Yay

 T nodded, tossing Kit against one of the increasingly infrequent crags, stepping through and copsing onto her bed.

 Terry had asked to be let into Kit a few hours earlier, so hed be fine.

 Sleep imed her before she truly settled atop her luxurious bed.

 It felt like she blinked, and she was awake once more.

 She took a bit less than half an hour to cook up a heartier breakfast, stretching and limbering up while the bacon and other ingredients cooked.

 Terry flickered in for a brief appearance. She checked with him briefly, but he had no interest in traversing the forest with her. Hed stay within her sanctum. He tried to snatch some of her breakfast, but when she shooed him away from the meat that was magically matched to her, he got grumpy, squawked at her, and flickered away.

 The cat didnt make an appearance, sadly, but T left out another strip of nonmagical meat for it.

 I was going to offer Terry some, but he left in a huff. She shook her head, smiling. Hes a funny bird sometimes.

 T enjoyed her breakfast, looking out at the darkndscape of her sanctum. It was somewhere in the middle of the night, and dawn was still quite far off.

 She wasnt going to wait until morning, she didnt need nearly that much sleep.

 Her breakfast done, she exited Kit, and called to Terry, asking onest time if he wanted toe.

 His disinterested squawk was her only reply.

 Fair enough, I suppose.

 She hung Kit from her belt and looked at the forest looming before her, barely three hundred yards distant.

 The trees were tall.

 Id forgotten how tall they really are.

 Shed considered reducing her own weight and vaulting through the upper branches, but t had convinced her that trying to learn such a skill in a decidedly hostile environment would be foolish.

 So, she would run.

 Assuming the forest doesnt find a way of blocking me.

 She recalled the frustration of the caravans path being blocked or redirected.

 Only a few hours. Ill be through the forest well before mid-morning. Rust, I might be through before sunup if Im lucky.

 That was motivating to say the least. On the other side of these trees were the ins containing her human cities. Home.

 She ensured that her bloodstars were in theirbat configuration.

 Then, remembering how shed been ambushed, she moved those for her mirrored perspective outward.

 One went above her head as far as her aura reached, looking down and around.

 Another went forward to that extreme and another back.

 There. I should be less prone to ambush like this.

 -I dont like it as much, but I can see the utility.- The forward and trailing perspectives were those granted to t.

 Hey, thank you for watching out for me.

 -ttery does nothing when I can see youre only saying it to manipte me.-

 Eh, doesnt make it any less true.

 t huffed, but there was some mirth in the mental noise.

 Now,e on. We need to get going.

 T almost coated herself in white metal but realized how much shed stand out in the gloom of the forest in all white. Why doesnt the through-spike hide that?

 Now that she thought about it, the through-spike really didnt ever hide her clothing at all.

 Shed noticed before, obviously, but never really thought deeply about it.

 And nows not the time to do so. Lets go, T.

 So in she went.

 Terry wouldnt be clearing the forest for her passage. He really didnt like the Leshkin, and while T could provide him with weapons to throw, hed barely practiced and doing that would slow them down, incredibly.

 That was probably why hed declined to run beside her through the forest.

 Yeah, Terrys very good at picking his fights.

 Thus, T was going to be alone as she traversed this shadow-shrouded ce.

 Her magesight opened before her as she crossed the treeline.

 It was as if the forest didnt want anything outside seeing in but didnt have any issue with those inside seeing around themselves, magically speaking.

 Physically speaking? It was dark.

 Pitch was a shade lighter than under this forests canopy, forcing T to rely almost entirely on her magesight.

 Her physical vision was good, but it was still human sight and required at least low levels of illumination. For now.

 There were spots of white where some bit of snow lined up well enough with star light peeking through the clouds above, and even where the snow wasnt in near-direct light, it almost seemed to glow, solidifying the wisdom of her choice not to d herself in white.

 Without the snow, her mirrored perspectives would have been fairly useless, as she could only mirror a fraction of her magesight, just that portion that was fully ingrained and truly a part of who she was, truly an aspect that could be mirrored.

 In any case, she was far more blind than she liked.

 So, of course, T took off running as quickly as she was able.

 Lets get this ce behind us as soon as possible.

 t didnt distract her with books, nor ideas or conversations.

 Instead, both T and her alternate interface were focused intently on the all too quiet, winter forest around them.

 t was getting better at navigating so even while they had to circumnavigate the massive trunks of this ancient forest, they always stayed on course.

 To be fair, t was also putting the finishing touches on the information sets that they wished to grant various people ess to as soon as they could.

 Thus, T was left to contemte the dull scenery as she passed on mostly silent feet. Huh. The size of these trees cant be because of age alone. Paresh said that the forest was expanding southward. I wonder how old these trees actually are.

 -Based on human research the forest is interconnected somehow, and a new tree, either at the forests edge or growing to fill a gap in the interior, can reach full height in less than a decade. They then seem to grow from within, hardening over time.-

 So, they grow like softwood, then slowly be hardwood if given enough time?

 -Thats what the book we have on it says, yes.-

 She did recall that, now that t directed her attention to the information. It was odd to think that, externally, it was nearly impossible to tell old trees from new, especially because they could move around.

 Speaking of which, she was finding herself having to weave around more and more trunks, and she wasing across far fewer gaps that aligned with her desired direction of travel.

 Great, the forest knows Im here, and it isnt happy about it.

 She saw the first Leshkin less than a minuteter.

 Blessedly, it wasnt oriented toward her.

 Instead, it stood utterly still, seemingly staring off into the distance, looking north as T approached, moving almost east to west.

 T felt an internal shudder, remembering how those things had gued her when shedst been in the forest.

 She was stronger now, though.

 I wonder

 -It might work? But it also might just tick them off. Were not even a dozen miles into the forest yet, T.-

 If it works, it will be worth it. Flow ate a vestige, t.

 -Alright. I agree it would be good to know and useful if it works.-

 T changed her trajectory just enough to pass behind the lesser Leshkin. With a flick of power, T cleaved it in half with Flow in void-sword form.

 In the same motion, she whipped Flow around and thrust the void-de into the greatest concentration of power she could detect.

 The Leshkin didnt make a sound as it was obviously dead at the first strike.

 Void-Flow pulled, devouring the concentrated bundle of power, even as that power tried to pull away from the vegetative corpse to move off through the forest.

 With an odd flex, which registered to Ts voidsight like the fragment of reality they upied pushing the magic into the void, the bundle of power vanished.

 A strange ripple radiated out from T, seeming to sing through existence.

 -Oh Thats Interesting.-

 T got the distinct feeling that the bit of power, whatever it actually was, had been subsumed into Flow but wasnt powerful enough to even attempt to truly influence the weapon, let alone her directly.

 It was a drop of ink on a ss surface. Noticeable, but not able to cause asting change.

 T sucked in an extra breath as power sizzled through Flow from an outside source, the source that had been consumed.

 It did seem to touch her, the reinforcement and enhancement scripts in her right hand seemingly growing infinitesimally more powerful for a second or two.

 All around her, from as close as a mile to seemingly hundreds of miles distant, Leshkin screamed.

 -And thats not good.-

 It was a primal, unholy, unified screech that literally seemed to fracture reality, the edges of the protuberances which made up Zeme became clear though they stayed pressed together, and T felt like she could almost see into the Doman-Imithe.

 You know, if void is effective against the Leshkin, there has to be a good reason why humanity doesnt use it against them more often.

 -Yes. That would have been good to consider before you rusting ticked off the entire forest again!-

 Flow was done with its meal, and T was already running once again.

 She sheathed Flow in its dormant form and did her best to increase her pace.

 The zeme below the canopy was just as thin as she remembered, much of it seemingly absorbed and repurposed by the trees and the Leshkin connected to them.

 As she focused on that, she could actually see Leshkin moving even though they were beyond trunks, the flows of power highlighting them in ways that it hadnt before.

 Or my magesight is more effective.

 That is also how T noticed that the zeme leveled out to the north.

 A territorial border? The Leshkin have a border in here?

 She could have gone a few miles north and avoided them entirely.

 Someone had to know about this She was not happy. She considered turning that direction, but realized that the Leshkin wouldnt stop without a good reason, and so their border had to be with something, and thest thing she wanted was to run headlong into something that was holding the Leshkin back.

 Better the enemy you know than the fatal unknown.

 A dozen lesser Leshkin descended on her in the next minutes, and she blew through them without slowing down, their acid blood doing absolutely nothing against the magical defenses of her elk-leathers.

 Of course they werent affected, they were literally enhanced with Leshkin Juggernaut armor.

 She grinned. This might be more fun than shed feared.

 And I can get some more loot. Loot was always useful.

 Shed used void in both her weapon and on her elk-leathers as she specifically struck at the bundles of power that seemed to be the manifestations of the Leskin souls, or at least the core of their being that was used to animate the vegetative manner.

 Each one sent out a ripple through reality and caused renewed shrieks from the Leshkin in the region.

 Thankfully, reality didnt seem to degrade any more than it had with the first shriek. If thats even degradation? It might just be a rifying of reality, a revealing of what is always there?

 She didnt have the time to truly theorize.

 As to the bundles of power, each one seemingly bolstered Flow in its void-form, or the void-aspects of her elk-leathers, building the strength of those magics, even as the power also seemed to leak into her.

 After a few swarms of lessers failed to slow her in the slightest, she encountered the first warrior.

 It stepped out from behind a tree in one of their favorite ambush tactics, swinging a massive war-pick at her chest.

 The blow connected, the tip even piercing just enough into her magical defenses to gain purchase.

 T didnt slow, and the Leshkin had a firm grip.

 Thatbination ripped the things arms off, even as T cut it in half with a back-swing of void-ive-Flow, making sure to pass the de through the bundles of power from the two lessers that made up the warrior.

 They stuck to Flow and came with T as she continued on, the void-weapon quickly devouring those bundles.

 With a quick motion, T pulled the war-pick free and dropped it into Kit.

 Alright, then. Lets do this.

 There were far more Leshkin in the area than shed expected, but now that she knew that this was their border with something it made quite a bit of sense.

 Did Paresh know?

 -Probably not. He tried to send us through a thin part of the forest and gave several options. He also said that his people try to stay away from the forest.-

 Thats fair. But if we meet him again, Im going to have questions.

 -Thats fair.-

 She cut through a squad of warrior Leshkin next, only missing three of the bundles of power.

 It was interesting how they seemed to stick to the void magic as they were slowly consumed, and T definitely noticed that Flow or her elk-leathers seemed to gain some temporary strength from the consumption.

 Also Am I moving faster?

 She hadnt slowed her loping run, though she was having to go around more and more trees that just happened to be in the way. Rusting moving forest.

 -You are actually progressing at the same pace, but with the detours, I would estimate that you are, in fact, speeding up, yes.-

 Do you think the power is bleeding into me? I mean more than just fractionally?

 -Odd way to ask, but maybe? I can analyze the power flowing through your scripts.-

 Please do so.

 Flow licked out a dozen times even as she rammed her fist through the breastte of a Leshkin knight, lifting it bodily and carrying it along with her.

 Flow transformed into a void-knife so T could stab it into the four bundles of power within the thing before she dropped the remains of its body, still bearing armor and weapons, into Kit.

 She was starting to definitively feel something, and whatever it was, it felt good.

 -The power is definitely flowing through your inscriptions, but its not discing your own power, its somehow flowing in parallel?-

 T shivered, her every sense slowly growing sharper.

 More.

 She wanted more, and the Leshkin kepting.

 A few minutester, T noticed that a cluster of Leshkin wereing up from the south, but she would pass them by before they got in her way.

 She diverted to intercept them.

 -Oh This is-

 T mmed into the group of knights, whipping Flow in tight patterns the made the air crack and scream at the weapons passing.

 Stolen power washed through T, suffusing her scripts, including those that made up her alternate interface.

 -This is amazing. Yes. Lets keep going.-

 T grinned.

 She still needed to get out of the forest, though she was less sure of why, but that was alright. The Leshkin wereing to her after all, so she neednt divert her journey too much.

 The world almost seemed to fade, just slightly, but she came back to herself.

 A single juggernaut was toppling, T riding it to the ground as she drove Flow in pinpoint strikes at the power that animated the creature.

 That power washed through her, helping level out the bnce of powers in her scripts.

 Many of those scripts were meant specifically to help her keep her rationality in tense situations, and those finally got sufficient power to match the overwhelming feedbacking from everything else.

 Oh Rust.

 -T? Why Oh.-

 How long?

 -Only an hour or so, and weve been keeping on a rtively steady course, despite our state.-

 T shook her head, trying to fully clear it. It feels like Im recovering from being drunk.

 Absently, she picked up the massive mace that the juggernaut hadnt been able to bring to bear against her, dropping it into Kit as the opening to the pouch distorted to ept the weapon.

 She took a moment to look at her left hand. Im d I had enough presence of mind to at least be extra careful with my left hand. If this is cut off, I dont get home.

 She expanded her focus and really saw the forest around her.

 Dozens of juggernauts were closing in on her, and those were just the ones she could easily see in her moment of renewed rity.

 How far to the edge of the forest?

 -Were more than half-way, but barely. I think well need another three hours unless we can improve on our pace.-

 Alright. Help me direct the power to keep our focus and direction through this.

 -Good call. Im with you.-

 Alright; progress, not ughter. Lets do this.

 That became her mantra as she continued to fight the juggernauts.

 Progress, not ughter.

 Towards that end, she purposely took quite a few hits, always biasing them towards her right side.

 They were nothing she couldnt heal, but they still hurt.

 She allowed them because those she let hit always threw her in the direction she wanted to go.

 As it was, around three hourster, she rounded a trunk and found open ins beyond.

 She almost copsed in relief, but even as she thought she left the forest and the Leshkin behind, two massive forms fell from the sky,nding nearly directly in her way in the pre-dawn light.

 The two forms might have been mistaken as boiling, their shapes not distinct and almost seeming like they wereing together as she watched.

 By this time, T was incredibly proficient in picking out the nodules of power within Leshkin.

 One for lessers, two for warriors, four for knights, and eight for juggernauts.

 The two Leshkin before her each held thirty-two bundles of power, tightly encircling a singr, vastly more powerful source of power.

 As she watched, they shrunk,pacting until they matched her in size, their flesh sopressed that it resembled stone or metal more than the vegetation it had previously seemed to be.

 A voice like a spring breeze across a field of corpses issued from the air around the two beings.

 Running away, hungry little void? But youve only just arrived.

 A second voice sounded as well, somehow evoking ancient roots slowly pulling down the long-abandoned defenses of an ancient civilization. Marked of human and arcane, unquenchable traitor, we have not given you leave to depart.

 Well, this is new.

 -Master Jevin spoke of more powerful variations that came out during the Leshkin wars. If not, it would fairly trivial for a few higher level Archons to hold back the tide.- t almost seemed to scoff within Ts head. -Weve in hundreds with our running tactics. Wed have done worse if we were defending a position, or facing an army directly, but it definitely shows their weakness to more powerful humans.-

 And to the void.

 -That too.-

 Decay spoke again, Return your stolen power and depart.

 Inevitable Erosion added their piece, We are meant to have nearly two more centuries of sleep. Dont disturb us further or force the waking of the Royals.

 So, these arent Royals, whatever those are.

 -These are what? Generals, then?-

 That makes sense. Four juggernauts around a more powerful, more intelligent core.

 T had slid to a stop well outside the tree line, but still at least a hundred feet from the two theoretical generals.

 She decided to y along for the moment. Return the power? I do not know how. I am new to the magics of the void and sought only to defend myself during my passage through the forest.

 Truth? Inevitability seemed surprised. Of both humanity and the arcane, you travel thesends with those powers, and no one told you of the dangers?

 Decayughed mirthlessly. Someone hates you, human child.

 T grimaced. That is not in dispute.

 Something deep within T felt like she couldnt beat these two, an instinct born of long training with those more powerful than herself. She even doubted that she could escape if she chose to run.

 Another part, the part suffused with stolen power, wanted her to try to kill them anyways. After all, she might get lucky and then all their power would be hers.

 She forcibly suppressed that urge.

 What must I do to be free of the two of you? To allow you to rest once more?

 The two shared a look before they spoke as one. Your death would not go unanswered. One of your rank is too valuable to go missing unnoticed. They nodded and locked hauntingly empty eyes on her. The four eyes seemed both very simr to her own eyes when she used voidsight, while also giving her an entirely different impression. Seize the stolen power that remains within you and eject it. We will remember you and hunt you in theing war, but we will not pursue you, now.

 -That seems too reasonable. If you do that, you will be even weaker and have even less of a chance of escape.-

 I already have no chance. She didnt like it, but she really didnt seem to have much of an option.

 T nodded, though it pained a deep part of her. Agreed.

 The two Leshkin were suddenly standing beside her, and she felt their weaponry at the ready, though they seemed unarmed.

 T swallowed, barely keeping from flinching away.

 She focused inward, grabbed onto the flowing, looping power that had been imed by her void magics, and rejected it.

 The power seemed to scream out of her,ing from her mouth and eyes in a dense, roiling cloud before vanishing back into the forest.

 T slumped, feeling lesser without the stolen power.

 The two Leshkin spoke as one once again. Bargain struck, bargain fulfilled.

 Then, they were gone, T not even able to sense their departure.

 Well, that was awful.

 -Were having quite a few of those experiencestely, arent we?-

 T groaned. I just want to get home.

 She staggered forward, getting back up to speed with effort.

 She felt so slow without the amplification of the stolen Leshkin power, but t assured her that she was fractionally more powerful and coordinated than before shed entered the forest, leaving her with an easier time pressing up against the reasonable upper limit of her speed, while avoiding magical resonance.

 So, some permanent benefit?

 -It seems so.- 

 Worth studying butter.

 She felt ragged, but she pressed on as the sun rose and climbed up the sky over her right shoulder.

 It traversed the entire cool blue expanse above her and was nearly to the horizon before something broke the monotony.

 -Were passing near the Arconaven Ruins. It might be interesting to investigate.-

 Not now. We cane backter.

 -Thats probably wise.-

 Still, T looked off to her right, focusing on her magesight and seeing the remnants of increased power that apanied the fully waned city.

 She was genuinely curious what she could find in a ruin.

 Later.

 She refocused forward and ran on as the sun set.

 Night passed in a haze and as the first light of dawn began to lighten the sky once again, tughed within Ts head.

 -I have full Archive ess! Expanding permissions on the prepared packets of information.-

 

 * * *

 

 All across the southern human cities, select Archons gained ess to new sections of the Archive.

 Most didnt notice right away, but a few did.

 Seemingly of one mind, the mostmon response was simply, What the rust?

MillionNovel

Chapter 265: Decay