“Why would you swear a Sourcevow with your own soul?” I interrupted to ask. “I thought those were only sworn between two or more parties.”
“Because the dragons that fought alongside your people back then were young, brash, and determined to placate their consciences at any cost,” Mara admitted bitterly. “We were so determined to save the ship-saints that we bargained against our very souls for more power, promising our own hearts to grant them their deepest desires—to save those guarding the night sky itself—in exchange for the power to do so, and nothing else. And so when the vessel-saints died, our hearts lashed out and ravaged our souls in vengeance. The rest of my family escaped their unjust punishment by Advancing a final time, and hopefully going to a better layer, but I was unlucky. I bounced off the heavens and tumbled back down, losing several stages of growth from every Source in the process. Had I been as I once was, I could have torn apart that degenerate ursine as easily as stretching. As I am now, my part-soul will allow me to exist for mere decades, two or three hundred years at most. But if you do not agree to my bargain, I will not even bother. I will dissipate as soon as my body dies, and go to whatever reincarnation or afterlife waits in store for me. And so you have it, young rider. Make your choice. Or tell me what more I can offer you, so that you can make the proper choice,” she beg-challenged, defiantly and desperately. “I have already offered you all the treasures in my hidden lair. I have already offered my grand-children as pact-mates. But dare me to find a way to offer more, and I will not disappoint.”
“I will admit that those are generous terms,” I said carefully, and the woman’s eyes flashed in anger.
“They are beyond generous,” she growled. “Had I been less tired, I could have chosen to pass on right now. I could have my part-soul threaten you, possibly even harm you directly, at your mere level. You are already going to gain much of my Source energy when I die, and since you are at least a partially formed Anchor Knight, you will be able to use all of my essence, qi, and mana. Don’t think I don’t realize you are a tri-practitioner, young one. And don’t think I am any less myself. The vessel-saints did not realize that our two breeds had managed to follow behind them on their own path to Advancement. So yes, young rider. You are not only getting my Source energy, my forgiveness for taking it, my treasure, and my grandchildren, you are also getting one who can instruct you in the use of all three Sources. I suspect not even your own master would know how to do such a thing.”
“Leaving mention of my master aside,” I replied, privately noting that being a tri-practitioner was turning out to not be anywhere nearly as rare as Vessa had claimed earlier. “Please explain why you are the only one aside from my master who has noticed the fact that I can wield all three Sources. It is quite easy for me to tell another’s power, and yet they always assume I have two Sources at the most, and therefore far weaker than they expect.”
“Yes, and I have seen you use that to your advantage,” the old woman calmly praised. “Well done. The reason for that is three-fold. In the first place, it is difficult for a practitioner to gauge a Source they are unfamiliar with, even if they have passing knowledge concerning it. In the second place, you have done well in concealing it, both with suppressing your power and with saving your abilities in a way that lets you catch your enemies by surprise, like you just did mere moments ago. You will have to stabilize that energy soon, by the way, especially if you plan on taking mine afterwards. Finally, it appears that your master has put a ward of her own over you which hides your powers further, probably at great cost to herself. And she was apparently kind enough to omit that fact from you, instead of hanging it over your head as an obligation.”
“That is very much within her character,” I sighed in defeat, quickly reliving my last fight with the kind, beautiful ship-woman, and doing so just after Mara had finished praising her entire race.
“There,” the old woman sighed, still in pain from her wounds, and looking as if she was growing closer and closer to death’s door as we spoke. “I have given you one lesson, free of any agreement or Sourcevow at all. Challenge me to offer you more, son of ancient heroes. For the sake of my daughter’s eggs, I will not fail to secure your help.”
I turned to look at Nestor, the little mouse who had wormed his way into my soul and forced me to grow a second conscience.
She offers us two lives directly, as well as the power to protect many more, I told the lifemouse. What say you, concerning her bargain?
Don’t take, the tiny Sourcebeast said quickly, with a firm shake of his fluffy head. Save-save!
That still does not seem possible, I told the creature, even as thoughts formed in my mind.
Not-true! Nestor lashed his brush-tipped tail angrily. You-see! You-know! You-want! Save-save!
He had me again. I wanted far more than this dragon-turned woman was offering. So far, she had been squandering the greatest incentive she could possibly offer me.
“So to do this,” I began. “I would probably need to open my Soulscape, and take your part-soul inside of it, all while trusting that you would do me no harm once you were inside.”
At my mention of such a task, her eyes grew damp, and her lips clamped tightly together.
It was then when I knew that Nestor and I had our answer.
“Blast you,” Mara finally said. “Blast you for asking the most merciless question possible, for toying with a dying woman. No, rider-son, you do not need to absorb my part-soul into your Soulscape. That would both prevent you from absorbing my Source energy and remove my ability to linger close by as a guardian, which is why I did not even offer it to you as an option. Just swear the vow and save my eggs, and you would gain everything I can offer. In fact, I will add to my vow that if I can even think of a way to help you further, I will do so freely, so that you need not think of a hundred more questions to ask me as I continue to bleed out over your own blankets.”
She snapped that last comment out, clamping her mouth shut afterwards in regret, but not apologizing.
I supposed then that begging came hard for a being such as herself.
“Entertain my heartless curiosity further,” I demanded, “and explain what placing your part-soul inside my Soulscape would do, in addition to denying Source energy and restricting you.”
“Idiot!” she snapped, before composing herself. “I mean, honored rider-son. Absorbing my part-soul would squander the benefits I could offer—”
“Explain then, what it would do for you,” I persisted.
“I am not asking you to do anything for me!” the old woman hissed, her weakened body struggling to hold her rage. “I am asking you to save my grandchildren! Turn your attention back to the matter at hand, and stop dangling this hope in front of a poor old woman that never asked you for it!”
“Answer my question, or your request is denied immediately,” I said harshly, not backing down in the slightest.
“Curse you, then,” Mara snarled hoarsely, spitting blood as she did so. “It would save my life. Give me a chance to create a second, newer body, letting me restart my Advancement from the very beginning, but with possessing all the knowledge I have now. Let me watch my grandchildren grow to complete adulthood, instead of just watching them from afar for a century or two! It could even give me another chance one day to ascend beyond this level of the night sky, to where I could follow my family and help them avenge the vessel-saints, with my grandchildren safely in tow. It would give me back all the hopes and dreams I had never even dared to ask for, in place of giving you the power you would need to secure your own interests and desires, which is why I never bothered to bring it up. So curse you, Jasper Rider-son, for reminding me of what I want the most, and why I cannot give it to you.”
“But you would still be able to train and guide me from my Soulscape, and one day you could emerge to battle alongside myself and your grandchildren,” I pointed out, without so much as batting an eye in response to her tantrum.
“Yes!” she shout
ed as loudly as her wounds would allow. “I could do both of those things! In exchange for throwing away enough power to allow you to Advance two full stages immediately, and in every Source! And I could help you stabilize your gains, maximize them even, and then teach you proper skills to make best use of your newfound power! All while being able to intervene in battles as a spirit at the sixth stage of every Advancement, and save your life from danger! You would almost certainly surpass the rest of your master’s pupils, and within the fastest amount of time ever heard of!”
“Would it raise my potential as well?” I asked, still heartlessly calm, refusing to be moved by her desperate grief. “Or would my master’s pupils surpass me once again? And would having you inside my Soulscape refine my potential further, over the long term?”
“Blasted young man,” Mara spat. “Were you not the orphan son of those my own ancestors called pact-mates, I would have taken full advantage of your foolish generosity! Yes, you would gain more potential if you saved my life, both for your body and soul,” she said as she threw up her trembling hands, “but potential tomorrow is not worth as much as power today! You could easily find a foe stronger than you tomorrow, and then all your potential would be for naught when he slaughtered you! Because all the clever tricks in the world would not help you if someone at the striving essence stage, or bronze mana stage, or qi heart-core stage saw you as a mortal enemy! Gain power now, young man, and you will have the opportunity to plan for the future!”
Good, I thought critically, she is willing to lecture me. Defend me, even.
Yes-yes, Nestor said, hearing my unguarded thoughts. Good-life! Kind-life! Need-need! Save-save!
“Hurry up, young one,” Mara said, quivering as her body continued to die. “Make the best bargain you can, and stop toying with an old woman’s hopes.”
“Agreed,” I announced with a nod. “In exchange for directing me to your hoard and comatose grandchildren, giving me all the treasures your grandchildren will not need, instructing me to safely absorb them, help me raise them, and form the most beneficial pact-bonds with me, as well as sharing all of the knowledge you can with me—and my current and future pact-mates,” I added with a nod to Nestor, who jumped up and down in agreement, “including your grandchildren when they hatch, aiding my master in whatever ways I deem practical, refusing to harm her in any way, as well as keeping her existence a complete secret unless she or I instruct otherwise...” I paused, making sure I was properly checking off every item on my long list of demands. “And defending me in whatever capacity your being is able to do so, in addition to any other reasonable requests I choose to make in the future...” I took a breath, hoping that last item would ensure I hadn’t missed anything important, then continued speaking. “In exchange for all of the items I just mentioned, I swear by my Source and Strength to hide your part-soul into my Soulscape, where it can grow and recover, until you and your grandchildren are all one day strong enough to Advance beyond this layer of the night sky, preferably with myself and many others in tow, that we may hopefully one day throw down whatever horrors are responsible for spreading the oppression and tyranny both here and in the heavens above.”
Mara sighed as she closed her eyes.
“Finally,” she muttered, “you allow an old woman to abandon her foolish hope and focus on what she can still gain. Yes, I hereby...” Her eyes snapped open, as if she had finally finished hearing all of my words. “What?” she shouted, pulling her way free of the blankets and sitting up, still shouting, broken body be damned. “What? What?”
“My demands are lengthy, but I did not stutter,” I replied levelly. “You should remember the terms well enough, but I suppose I can repeat them if needed.”
“You said!” she sputtered, raising a trembling finger. “You said! You just gave up everything, and offered the wrong choice! You offered the lesser choice! The stupid choice!”
“I will correct you once,” I whispered, “But if you truly think I have chosen the wrong choice, then you have never talked to an orphan. I have chosen the path for greater gains.”
“I don’t understand,” the old woman whispered, still too afraid to believe her ears. “I told you, you need power today, to survive tomorrow.”
“I have survived the last ten years of my life without any power at all, kicked about the streets of my world like a dead dog,” I answered harshly. “And I could grow two full stages right now, and have no guarantee that I would not immediately gain an enemy still several stages ahead of me. All the power in the world would not negate the chance that I might fight someone stronger, luckier, or better prepared, who would then kill me. I will have other opportunities to gain the power you have described. But you are a fool,” I said bluntly, “if you think power, wealth, and longevity are the only things that orphans crave.”
Her eyes blinked again.
“That?” she asked in hollow disbelief. “You would save my life, just for that? Just to hear an old woman check on you, and claim you as child or grandchild?”
“You have clearly been willing to do so for others, or the infants of this world would already be dead,” I pointed out. “If you are still willing to be a parent on behalf of myself, Nestor, my master, and any others that one day join our group, then I will save your life and help you awaken your grandchildren, though I cannot promise we will leave for them immediately.”
“But I already had my chance,” she protested unreasonably, like children sometimes do when they are offered something they are afraid to admit they want, and do not feel they deserve. “I was given the children here, briefly. As well as my own daughter, who is now beyond me. I was already given two chances to be a mother.”
I decided to laugh loudly, and probably uncharitably.
“Honored Senior,” I began, “you could adopt a hundred thousand children this very moment, raise them into healthy and happy lives, and the night sky would still have new orphans ready for you the very next day, should you be willing and able to care for them. There are always more children than parents and grandparents combined. Few children at all would feel unfortunate over having a second mother to care for them, and I declare with confidence that no child at all, no matter what the age, would regret having a second, third, or even eighth grandmother to care for them. Offer all the care your heart has, Honored Senior, and the night sky’s young will not let a single drop go to waste.”
The dragon-turned-woman blinked silently for a moment, before finally turning to Nestor.
“This is your doing as much as his,” she accused, eyes finally leaking clear streams. “In fact, you encouraged him. Helped him come to these thoughts.”
Yes-yes. My little mouse nodded without shame. Not-sad. Save-life. Gain-more.
Mara shook her head at the two of us, at a loss for words.
“Very well,” she sighed. “I accept your generous and foolish offer. I swear by my Source and my Strength to accommodate all of Jasper Cloud’s demands, going beyond the ones he listed, to instead unreservedly offer him anything that will benefit him, as well as comply as well as I can with any request, providing it does not cost the life of an innocent, harm a child, completely renounce my own children, or abandon the fidelity I still have for my husband,” she added the last item with a wry glance in my direction, “in exchange for his dangerously generous offer of saving my life and awakening the lives of my daughter’s children.”
Nestor squeaked happy agreement in witness to our oath, and we both injected essence into our souls. My chest and Soulscape quivered for a brief moment, and then our vow was sealed.
“Very well then, rider-son,” Mara said, closing her eyes again. “Activate your Soulscape, and I will begin the process of hiding the remnants of my soul inside your own.”
CHAPTER SIX
“Be warned,” the old dragon-turned-woman said. “Most of my Source energy will be consumed in this process. As it is lost, my enemy or his tribe may notice its release. We may need to escape, and quickly.”
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br /> “That should be no problem,” I replied as I commanded my Soulscape to begin turning again. “Providing you will no longer die should I teleport.”
“Once I am inside your Soulscape, that will no longer be the case,” Mara confirmed. “Are you ready?”
“As far as I know, Elder,” I replied. “You may begin.”
“Elder?” the dragon-woman said with a raised eyebrow, amused despite her fatigue and wounds. “I thought you were looking for a grandmother?”
“I…” I started to answer her, but could not find the proper words. She regarded my hesitation calmly, nodding in understanding.
“You are not ready to use the title you wish me to take on,” she said wisely. “I can be patient with that, after all the practice my son-in-law gave me. But if you must, call me Senior, instead of Elder. I feel old enough as it is.”
The old woman nodded, closed her eyes, and sighed one final time.
As she exhaled, her body went limp, and a ghostly, serpentine figure spiraled out of her chest. It sported two pairs of legs, wide wings, and a powerful-looking tail, closely resembling the ancient stories regarding the European dragon. Its features were more detailed than the cage-drakes had been, despite being utterly transparent.
But I did not have long to examine Elder Mara’s true form—I couldn’t help continuing to think of her formally, despite her request—because she flew quickly into my Soulscape. She spiraled gracefully into the tiny planet, shrinking further as she did so. I felt essence, mana, and qi burn like kindling as she merged into the tiny world’s atmosphere, weakening herself as she became small and frail enough to exist inside such a frail house as my own soul. But instead of spinning faster to try and absorb it, my Soulscape became absolutely still, as if it was doing everything it could to ensure Elder Mara landed safely inside of it.
Soul Shelter (Soulship Book 2) Page 11