[Kabrin Road] Copper for Your Thoughts [Sondra]

[Hadrian]

15th Summer, 511 A.V. night The time had come around again for Hadrian to keep the first watch while the others slept, the which he didn't mind terribly. Between the sense of Cathan, Ethan, and the horses, he felt they would have plenty of early warning if danger were crouching toward them in the darkness. All the same, he kept his Auristic sense active. The more advanced he got with it, nearly on a par with Master Stitch of Syliras, the easier it was to keep it active, a gentle, passive thing that required minimal energy anymore. He could sense night creatures out there, of course, but if the scent of humans, a Konti, and horses enticed them at all, surely his carnivorous Bloodbane and Cathan's wolf scent confused them and sent them off looking for easier prey. It was, after all, summer, and prey was not so scarce as all that. At least, between Cathan and Ethan, they were all well fed. Hadrian was going to have to go looking for mushrooms and edible roots to make himself more useful on that score. He felt something crawling over his hand, but didn't jerk back with atavistic instinct. The little bug's aura was within the purview of his senses, and so he just pulled up his hand to peer at it, some woodland beetle that meant him no harm. "I'll need to find another of you one of these days soon," he said quietly to the little thing, his own aura suddenly oozing with hypnotic power. He wasn't especially good at it, but his aura was of such a greater scope than the beetle's, he required little effort to lull it into sleep, forgetting the hunger that drove it into nocturnal scavenging. "That's right," he cooed, a long, tapering finger stroking its smooth, shining carapace. The nail on his finger slowly darkened as he focused djed there, the human substance shifting slowly into the chitinous exoskeleton of a beetle. "You're useful," he whispered. "I can learn a lot from you, and you'll lie down like a lamb if I make a circle for you, and then I can copy your soul and bring a little thing into a sort of life. It won't hurt you. I won't hurt you. But it will help me understand this thing that was done to Kendall. He wouldn't want me to know this knowledge, but I need to be equipped with it in case... in case we do find the one responsible for this and he won't fix it." After a moment, he blinked and muttered to himself, "I'm talking to a beetle."

[Sondra]

“Yes, you are and it’s petching weird. Even for you.” Ah Sondra, the consummate charmer. Her voice rose behind Hadrian. Evidently he wasn’t the only one feeling wakeful. The Konti was a notoriously light sleeper. There was often some sort of rustling coming from her tent at night as she tossed and turned through dreams. Her mouth was flirting with a smile, showing she was not entirely serious. “Lady-Lis,” she mover her face and stared at Hadrian’s hand, “What are you threatening that thing with?” The scholar’s eyes had that pointed hungry look. Hadrian would call it curiosity, but when the Konti looked at mages she saw a dangerous tinge to their intellectual desires. Sondra’s skin hummed with a shudder. Though she wouldn't speak it, part of her feared for Hadrian and his ambitions. He was kind enough to hover over Kendall protectively, but who guarded Hadrian? Who could? Unchecked desire couldn't be stopped by a hammer to the temple, not without destroying the vessel. Walking away from both Hadrian and the subject, Sondra stretched her scale-marbled arms. In the moonlight, they had the gray shine of armor. She then stared at the summer stars, as if trying to perceive Zintila’s expression. The Konti was quiet for a while, untying her thoughts and releasing others into the indigo ether. “So, Hadrian,” she looked at him with a tired smile, “Any closer to knowing the minds of the gods?”

[Hadrian]

Hadrian snorted at her and made a rude gesture marred by one blackened fingernail. After her questions, he paused to consider his answer, then became engrossed in his Morphing as the carapace on his fingernail split and a somewhat retarded pair of gossamer wings attempted to beat about in flight. First time was rarely successful, though. He let the magic recede, his finger returning to normal. "I think I'm going to quietly..." He glanced at the tent where Kendall was sleeping. "I'm going to study Animation more. I know the basics, but I need to understand it better if... well, Kendall may need someone who knows about it." He didn't really want to share Kendall's secrets with the others. "I'll practice making little, easily destructible things. But you need a soul to copy for each one. I could copy a beetle's and make a little thing that scuttles about and not much more. Practice, you know. It doesn't hurt the beetle..." He hoped it didn't hurt the soul of the magus. There were many who said Kihala deplored the practice. To his mind, the gods should have made it impossible if they didn't want people mucking around with the mechanics of the world. "Not really, though. About the gods. When we get to Ravok, I won't want to know a thing. Not about Rhysol. I may be intellectually ambitious, but I'm not a moron who thinks his mind, however clever, is strong enough to withstand Rhysol or the Voice. But perhaps if we move on to Avanthal I might make the acquaintance of Queen Morwen, magecraft for her, begin a dialogue." He shrugged. "Perhaps I should go to Mura and meet your Lady-Lis?"

[Sondra]

“All my encounters with Rhysol’s sort have been wretched.” She thought of bodies exploding in ash that covered her skin and hair and dozens of unmarked graves. “Kendall must want whatever is in Ravok pretty damn bad,” she shrugged, “I know I’m reckless, but I figured he liked Caiyha’s sweet tit more.” Avanthal. Fear frosted her bones at the word. “You’re going north?” she turned away, happy for the dim, “The cold disagrees with me, I avoid that city like the plague.” She smiled to hasten the fear’s departure, “I wish you luck with the white queen.” Sondra settled on the night damp earth, resting her arms on her knees. “As for Mura, it’s lovely there, but be prepared for my sisters. If you think I’m vexing, try having strangers look at you with pity, knowing your shames and pleasures until you feel perpetually naked.” She was tearing a piece of grass to pieces between her fingers, unable to sit peacefully like a normal person. “Animation for Kendall,” she observed, “I know the pair of you are sitting on secrets, they’re yours to keep, but would he be happy knowing you dabbled with so much magic on his account? Do you never hear sweet whispers?” Her slate eyes rested on him, full of patience for his reply.

[Hadrian]

"I can't imagine the children of chaos being anything but," he admitted, nodding. But he was troubled to know that Sondra didn't know why they were going to Ravok in the first place. He couldn't understand why she would go to such a place without knowing the reasons why, but perhaps she was a more loyal friend than he was. Chlorine blue eyes reflected coppery firelight back at her as he peered in her direction. "There is a person he's looking for. Animation is his game, and he's dangerous. Kendall should really tell you the rest. But I suppose he's lucky that you like him well enough to follow him all the way to Rhysol's bedchamber without knowing why... And Avanthal is just a possibility at this point. I'm focusing on not dying or worse in Ravok for the time being. "And I don't know why they would care to look into my secret heart. Is that not considered rude on Mura, to pry into the secrets of others? Perhaps Lady-Lis would grant me such vision..." He peered at Sondra's aura, curious as to what he might see with the power he had worked so hard to attain. Sometimes he was jealous of those blessed by gods as he wasn't, but there was something to be said for acquiring one's own power. "I came around to magic differently from most," he admitted. "I studied the theory before the practice, and my foundation is in the world magics, which require less use of personal djed than other disciplines. They're more of an intellectual pursuit. But I've dabbled in many other forms trying to understand them all better... Meditation helps. I meditate quite a lot, and it helps me separate out who I am from those desires that would make me a power addict. I'm addicted to the pursuit of knowledge more than I am to power, but yes... I feel sometimes the desire to take on more than I can handle. I get headaches sometimes if I'm not careful. A time or two I have had to stop practicing altogether so as to recuperate properly." Finally he shrugged. "I am as careful as I can be and that is the best I can do. If we were not meant to touch the djed, the gods would not grant us gnosis. Or they would otherwise prohibit its use. I understand the risks better than most, learning magic as I did in the presence of pre-Valterrian architecture and their ruins. I know what the price can be. I respect the power. If I am unwise, well... time will tell."

[Sondra]

At its center, Sondra’s aura was a thing tightly wound. It looped over itself and constricted in a way that was almost painful. There was something at the heart of it being protected, or imprisoned. The sensation was unclear but there was a brackish, metallic taste in the core. Around its edges, the aura was vastly different. It was slowly unraveling like a sail flown in storms, unable to catch a guiding wind. When Hadrian peered at her aura, there was a fast flicker of doubt in her eyes, as if she felt something out of place. For all her posturing there was still a sensitive Konti underneath the soot. Any recognition soon faded into the static hum of the race’s usual empathy, no more bothersome than a rumble in her stomach. As Hadrian detailed who they were really seeking in Ravok, Sondra’s expression didn’t alter much. The decision to come had been made, regardless. She was afraid, but it didn’t matter with so little to lose. Sondra nodded slowly with Hadrian’s explanation. She would not have done the same, but she could perceive a portion of the mage’s motivation. “But what is knowledge, but strength?” she asked slyly. “You aren’t learning the names of flowers, you are gathering tools for victory about yourself.” Sondra tilted her head back to look at the sky again. “I suppose everyone must, there is little forgiveness for weakness. I don’t know much, but I do know cruelty roams like wolves, just looking for what is weak enough to devour.” With a heavy breath, she looked back at the mage, “I hope you never know, for all our sakes.” She smiled and teased, “Don’t worry, if you start going nutters on us, I’ll do my best to hammer holes in your skull. Can’t promise success, but I’ve always been a scrapper.” While the line was delivered with a grin, her aura flushed with a disturbingly grim certainty. It was true, the moment he turned rabid, the Konti would do it without question, even with Kendall fighting in the background. Veering to a different subject matter, Sondra asked, “So is Ethan your bondmate? Where did you pick him up?”

[Hadrian]

Though he peered at her aura for some time, he would probably have to be in a trance to work his way through the labyrinthine defenses she had up around that secret heart. He let it go, his senses lapsing back into the more mundane spectra. He nodded, a grim smile of his own for the promise of preemptive violence. "There are strategists who claim foresight is the greatest strength, which means that your race is the best armed for conflict." But while he was not wrong, he didn't mean to deflect what she had said. Everyone was so nervous about another Valterrian, but they didn't have to remind him. He had been inculcated with that knowledge since he began to study anthropology, long before he began to dabble in magic. "Ethan is... I don't know if he's my bondmate. I suppose? I don't think he was well treated before we found each other. He's fascinated by my magic. I've taught him Auristics just to arm him against danger. More knowledge, better equipped to evade... whoever might be after him. He's an innocent. It's strange. I suppose we are bonded, because I feel the need to protect him too. And I've always warned him of the dangers of magic. Not just lip service, but... scared straight stories and all. "But in the end, he will have to make use of the free will he was given the same as all of us. I can't protect him from everything. The best I can do his educate him, and I mean that in every sense of the word."

[Sondra]

“Sounds like having a child with claws,” the Konti remarked. “He’s curious as you, maybe worse. You were meant for each other. Or deserve each other, I can’t decide which. Already cornered me for ‘wisdom’ on the Konti race after a swim. First time I’ve been interrogated in just my small clothes.” The Konti paused to let the smirk in her voice dissipate. “For all that. I like him. These Kelvics, they make me nervous, but I’ve yet to really have a problem with one. Other way around, likely, I almost lobbed off Cathan’s head the first time he showed up as a wolf.” A theme was developing between Sondra and those she called friends. Hadrian would recall their last meeting had a measure of violence to it as well. The Konti was afraid of many things, but a fight wasn’t one of them. “Must be hard to need another half of yourself so fiercely, like they do.” A strange observation, Konti were known for seeking out calls and mates with single-minded intensity. Sondra was quick to change the subject, for fear of her empathy stirring what was best dormant. “So this Animator, what do we intend to do once we get a hold of him?” Interesting, she included herself in the venture.

[Hadrian]

"It is like having a child," he admitted, having thought of that before, but reflecting upon it again now Sondra reminded him of it. "His is a more childlike curiosity, I think. I can get that way, excited by some new discovery, or something that is new to me, at least... For example, I can now work Earth as well as Water... after many years of practice with the elements. It was exciting. Not because I could hurt someone with it, though I could, but for all the other useful applications and innovations I might work with it. Ultimately I feel like I'm working for the betterment of people. Not that I would force anyone to think a certain way or accept what I come up with... But it's good to have options, I think." He was reminded of a certain book-seller in Zeltiva who had particular views about wisdom, but quickly brought his mind back to the here and now to give Sondra the respect of his full attention. "He's curious, but he's also loyal and loving... I'm not very good at making friends, so... I value that in him." Chlorine blue eyes fixed on her for a moment, sure he had seen a flash of something almost vulnerable, but she was hurrying past the talk of need and so he let it go, not challenging her on it. If anyone was going to get her to spill her guts, it was likely Kendall with the power Ivak had granted him. "The Animator..." He sighed and rubbed his face. "Ultimately I suppose it's up to Kendall, I suppose. I can work a little hypnotism now and then, but it's subtle work I do because I'm not powerful with it yet. And I hasten to add that I would not normally use it on someone like this except a crime has been committed against my friend... Mostly I've been using it to keep Adrasteios calm so he doesn't take a pound of flesh out of any of us when he's in a mood." His Bloodbane was as wicked as most of his breed, castoff or not. "Kendall will get his retribution or... well, I suppose we can come up with options when we have a better idea of what's happening."

[Sondra]

The Konti laughed when Hadrian said he didn’t have a talent for making friends. “And yet, here you are surrounded and moderately-liked,” Her smile was quick and lifted mirth into her eyes. “Despite yourself.” Sondra gently bobbed her head as Hadrian detailed the nascent plan for dealing with the animator. Hypnotism, the answer seemed so easy. She said nothing for a time, drawing her legs into her chest and wrapping her scale twined arms around them. The Konti’s aura was one of mild fear and deliberation. “Something barbed is in our path, but I can’t see the substance of it in my mirror. I can only feel — I don’t know—the temperature of it. Stupid sounding, I know, and perfectly Konti for all its vagueness. I am not so much afraid for myself, but I wonder what impression it will leave on the others.” She traced her finger over the ground, maybe writing a word in Kontinese. “Perhaps it is something only for me and I wring my hands without reason.” She looked at Hadrian, “If this jaunt into the wretched city goes as sour as I suspect it might, how far shall we go? I know what I am willing to do.” Her mind was pulling out memories and observations, and trying to arrange them into answers. “Do I worry too much, Hadrian?” her smile was wan, “Is there nothing of innocence left to protect? Perhaps I am just wasting my mothering, but I think deeds leave marks, even when necessary. Retribution asks its own price. And I don’t want any of this ruined.” The Konti was talking in watery circles, betraying the instability of a mind dwelling in other places. But Hadrian could tell “this” was their little fellowship. Surprising since her connection to them, though steady, seemed lacking in depth.