Biomancy

by Desdemona Gunn

  “You indeed do not, Liz. You are correct. Now then, I see Elon’s already got the tea broken out. I’m assuming, since your boyfriend is drinking it, you aren’t offended by me partaking?”

  “Lea, if I got offended every time someone did something I disagreed with, I’d be a hermit.”

  Another rich laugh. “A healthy take on life, my dear. Now, what are we talking about?”

  “Wait a sec.” Anixemeter piped up. “Why do you got tea if you don’t partake in plant life?”

  “Most people I know drink it, especially this guy.” She leaned back into his arm again. “And remember, I said sometimes. Occasionally, I’ll partake if he talks me into it.”

  “How long have you been on the all-meat diet, Miss... I’m sorry, I forgot—”

  “Don’t be. Liz is fine. I’ve been on it for a bit more than a hundred turns, since I started going to school. And like I said, I occasionally do partake in plant stuff. Every so often, I’ll join him for tea or something. I have a mental scale of egregiousness.”

  “A mental scale of egregiousness. Well don’t we all?” She went back and tended to her leaves.

  “Why you up so late, sis?” With conversation between the sisters started, Liz and Elon went off into their own conversation.

  “Oh, I’ve gotten my rest already. I’ve been working on a ritual that cuts necessary sleep by a factor of five. It’s a two-cent body-rejuvenation process that refreshes all your bodily functions as much as a healthy sleep would. What’s your excuse?”

  “Insomnia. The sunset’s got me paranoid. I don’t like being in unfamiliar territory without good sight.”

  “Relax, we got the Construct on watch up top. They see arcanely, so they see all.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “Sorry to interrupt, guys, but we’re headed to bed.” Elon stood up, and helped Liz up with him.

  “Oh, shall I show her to her room?”

  “It’s quite all right, Lea. We can share a bed.” She giggled lightly as Elon rolled his eyes.

  “Yeah, we’ll see you guys after waking.”

  “Have fun,” Anixemeter smirked at them.

  “You know it,” Liz smiled as she smacked Elon’s ass. He turned to look at her.

  “Must you?”

  “What? I’ve missed you.” They shared a peck of a kiss as they ducked into their room. Anixemeter looked back to her sister, waiting to hear the door close.

  “You’re not trying to fuck him, right?”

  “What?” Lea practically squeaked as her tea sloshed.

  “I’m just making sure.”

  “No.”

  “Well, I mean, you walk out here with your boobs hanging out…”

  “Oh.” Lea awkwardly cinched the robe tighter.

  “You don’t have to now. I don’t give a shit.”

  “Did they? I had no idea.”

  “Yeah, girls have a tendency to use their chest to get what they want. Which you’d know if you had ever left the house.” Ani made sure to add a smirk to the sentence.

  “I didn’t even think about it. Sorry. No, the thought of him that way didn’t even cross my mind.”

  “Is it now?”

  “Not really, no. Why are you pressing the issue?”

  “Well, I mean, it wouldn’t be terrible if you were interested in him…”

  “Yeah. It would,” she said skeptically, sipping her tea. “They have a solid relationship, love each other, and haven’t seen each other for turns. Not to mention I’ll be working with him for the foreseeable future, and that would create an awkward tension.”

  “Yeah, but come on, when was the last time you liked a boy?”

  “Can’t really think of a time.”

  “Well that’s just ‘cause you never met any.”

  “Yeah I did. You brought them over before my sickness got bad. All the time. You were always trying to hook me up.”

  “Not my fault I wanted my sister to be happy.”

  “I am happy. In fact, I’m happy that I have two research assistants so happily in love. It’ll boost their productivity.”

  Gods I wish she’d just let herself go for once, Ani sighed as she sipped her absinthe. Be good for her to just date, to fuck someone. I mean, she’s three-forty and still a virgin. Life expectancy ain’t far pas— Oh. That’s not an issue anymore… Huh. Eh, I’ll hook her up with someone. We just gotta get settled first.

  Shit, maybe I should get laid first. I mean, it was really nice to get that out of the way with Cobus before I left, tie up all that tension there, but it’s been over three turns. She wants a staff here, right? I’ll just make sure I get to pick someone to hire on somewhere…

  “Ani?”

  She shook her head and looked at her drink. “Sorry. Absinthe’s got my head in the clouds. What’s up?”

  “You were mumbling to yourself…”

  “Oh, sorry. Just…” She stumbled for words and couldn’t find them, so she decided to divert the topic instead. “You trust them?”

  Lea took the bait handily. “Yeah. He’s a loose cannon, so we should probably watch him, but she seems genuine. She wants to be with him, but this job holds exciting prospects for her too, not to mention the pay.”

  “Good, which reminds me. We have a walking suit of armor up top, one of the top mages in all of Adra, and a plant master that we brought along for this. Now, the ship’s paid for. How are we supposed to pay these guys?”

  “Have you not been paying attention, Ani? Why do you think we’re in the ass-end of nowhere? Why do you think I’m not renting out a lab in Kandra or Terathor? Tell me. Why are we on the coast of an unexplored island?”

  “Last time I asked, you said ‘All things in good time.’”

  “Oh. That I did.”

  “Now’s as good a time as any.”

  “Look. I have a new kind of magic on my hands here. In fact, this is beyond a new school, this is a new way to look at magic. Most common folk would call this ‘playing god.’ You think A: I want some up-and-comer off the street finding out about biomancy and just stealing it out from under me? And B: I want stones thrown in my windows and guards at my door for doing horrible things to both animals and men?”

  As if on cue, Amber made herself known by hopping into her lap as she sipped at her tea. “No. Look at this. Look at this beautiful little lady rabbit. She’s got a mind now because of my arts. We have a bond the likes of which takes a small council of wizards to normally accomplish, but I did it on my own. I’ve cured a terminal disease, healed limbs, repaired muscle tissue, and effectively brought myself back to life, if I ever had life to begin with.

  “Biomancy will spark the next age. I can heal people like never before. I can cure anything, probably including old age! As with any new, world-changing idea, people will take poorly to it. We’re out in the middle of nowhere, Meter, so that I can work. I’ll set up base here, build a lab and slowly expand it, get a staff that will slowly grow, and slowly but surely expand my empire.”

  “Your empire?”

  “You know what I mean. When I have everything down, I’ll start letting word leak out. People will know of my accomplishments, and will come to me from all ends of the world to heal their sick. After a while, I’ll open up a school and teach others my art so the world can benefit. But for now, I have to be careful.”

  “And by careful you mean paranoid?”

  “If by paranoid you mean prepared and intelligent about the situation, yes. No one will bother us out here, and I’ll have everything I need. For everything else, I’ve got a mage who seems to have mastered teleportation, and I’ve got you as my ambassador.”

  “Your ambassador?”

  “Yes. Come on, Ani. You’re charismatic; people love you. Just because
I’m not a crippled freak anymore, I mean, aside from my legs here, doesn’t mean that I can do what you do. My skin is mended, my bones fixed, and my voice brought to normalcy. Now that I look normal, I’ve been elevated in people’s eyes from ‘Oh gods, look away’ to ‘What? Oh sorry, were you talking to me?’”

  “Lea—”

  “I’m still average charismatically. You know how to play the game, get people to like you, listen to you, et cetera. I need you as the face of biomancy until it becomes mainstream.”

  “You’re the face of biomancy, girlie.”

  “No, I’m the body of work. While I sit back making everything function mostly out of sight, you act as the public image, making sure everything looks shiny while I make sure it actually works.”

  “Lea—”

  “Look, help me or not, you need sleep. I have a few induced sleep elixirs spare, take one and rest. It’ll be a big dess. I got work to do.”

  Ani sighed annoyedly. “All right. We’ll talk this over later.”

  “Lemme grab you a potion.” She stood up and made her way into her bedroom, then returned in a flash with a green liquid in a small vial.

  “What’s in it?”

  “Mostly herbs and water, but with just a hint of arcane infusion. It’s less elixir, more tisane.”

  “Hrm. All right.” She went to swig it, but stopped. “Wait a minute. We’re going out and exploring. What exactly are we looking for?”

  “A clearing? An opportune landmark? Something that presents itself to be either a prime spot to build or a good area to build a lab into? I’ll know it when I see it. There’s tons of building materials out here, I’m expecting to build a lab somewhere clear.”

  “We’ll be working out of a log cabin?”

  “A log laboratory. S’fancier.”

  “If you say so, Lea...” She slammed it back and drifted to her bedroom.

  Even after cents of trudging through the wilds, Ani couldn’t help but stare at the woman at the head of the party. She opted to wear tight leathers to provide some armor against the wilds, and even as a Noji she looked fine. Her face was awkward, her hair, eyes, and lips all colored in nicely but the rest left a void, but her body...

  That wasn’t the only reason she was staring, though. She’d seen magic at work before, after all, Lea had snapped bones in place, built muscle before her eyes, and reformed limbs. She’d seen fire formed from nowhere, people appear from a mass of ethereal tendrils, and men float in midair with naught but glowing hands. This was something else entirely.

  Magic had always been something otherworldly and ethereal, something that messes with the world unseen. A wizard shoves magic tentacles into an arm and suddenly the limb snaps into place. He holds his hand before him, and a ball of vines turns into a ball of fire. This wasn’t behind the scenes meddling or outright visual magic feats, but something amazing in its own right.

  With her open palms facing the forest floor and magic pouring into the dirt, the flora moved around her and the party. Tree limbs would bow out of the way, roots dig into the dirt, vines pull themselves up, leaves crawl away, all only to lean back in and rest back as they were when the five of them were past. It wasn’t her making some arcane spectacle, she was bending the world to her will, making the natural world change its place and course for her convenience looking totally natural. It was powerful, fascinating, and frightening all at once. Not to mention the magic was fascinating. Numerous tendrils shot into the soil, and as she continued walking at their slow pace, they would wrench out of the dirt, dart forward, and sink back in. It was like she was walking long, green spiders.

  Lea smacked her on the back. “Stare much harder, you’ll burn the leather out entirely.” She chuckled quietly to herself as Ani raised an eyebrow at her.

  “I’m respecting her druidic abilities.”

  “My druidic abilities come from my hands, not my ass.” Liz turned her head to look at her, still facing forward, and smirked. Before she could blush, she calmly stated, “I don’t mind, I know how your mind works. Don’t worry about me. Worry about what my boyfriend’ll do to you if he catches you.”

  “What about your boyfriend?” Elon piped up from the back of the line, words mangled slightly by the pipe hanging in his mouth, behind Lea and The Chief, watching their tail.

  “He’s adorable and I love him?”

  “Oh, why of course.” He went back to watching the vines close behind them. Liz turned again and raised an eyebrow at Anixemeter, who was looking anywhere but her direction.

  “Where’d my suave, seductive sister go?” Lea elbowed her in the ribs.

  “Fuck you, Lea.” She chuckled back at her, the red from her face just beginning to fade.

  “And you’re usually allowed to look.”

  “I just said she’s allowed to look, just at her own risk.”

  “Risk, pah. He’d think it’s hot.”

  “Your ass on the line.”

  “I thought it was your ass.”

  Liz looked back again and smiled, shaking her head as she turned ahead again.

  “Do you even know where we’re going, Liz?”

  “Nope. Lea said forward, I’m going forward.”

  “Forward indeed. As I stated, I’ll know what I’m looking for when we get there.”

  As if on cue, the brambles ceased in front of them and opened up into a stunning clearing. Not only was sun shining through the trees into the grove - a sight for sore eyes to all of them except perhaps for the Chief - but a small town sat before them. It consisted of twenty or so small houses, a blacksmith’s shop, what appeared to be a small lumber mill, and a gigantic looming castle with towers shooting above the canopy.

  “Gods be damned.”

  “Good gods.”

  “What. The fuck.”

  “What? The party speaks, but I can’t freakin’ see past this metal heap.”

  “The Chief appreciates his nickname.”

  “Oh great, he’s sarcastic too. Fuckin’ A. Now what’s— Oh good gods...” They all stepped out into the clearing, revealing the many small wooden buildings, the wood of which matched the trees that surrounded them, and the solid black stone forming the foundation of the houses and the entirety of the smithy and castle.

  “Did you know about this, girlie?”

  “I most certainly did not...” Lea’s voice trailed off as if only half there.

  “How in the seven hells did we not see this thing from the coast?”

  “Magic? Taller trees towards the coast? Simply well obscured? Point of view from the coast? We’ve gone downhill in the last couple cents? Not sure...” She almost sounded ethereal, awestruck as she stared at the castle.

  “I thought Xin was supposed to be uninhabited by intelligent peoples...” Ani had her hammer drawn already and was scanning the hamlet.

  “Xin has no recorded settlements. This, my dear sister, is not recorded.”

  “Is anyone even here?” Liz was looking around curiously, though stationary. She let the vines close behind them.

  “Not sure. Look, guys, we got a town on our hands that may or may not be inhabited or hostile. Lea, you come with me and we’ll scour the castle. Liz, Elon, Chief, you guys wanna scope out the houses and smithy, see what you find? We’ll meet back up in front of the castle.”

  “You guys take Chief. I can hold my own without a walking fortress.”

  “All right. We’ll give you guys your alone time. If there’s trouble, let out a sonic pulse.”

  Elon nodded and the two lovebirds ran off into town, both apparently ready for combat. “Okay, guys,” Ani said with tired confidence. “Let’s go storm a castle.”

  The doors hung open and the corridors weren’t lit, though Lea provided arcane light, illuminating all to see. Ani took point with
Lea in the center and Chief taking up the rear. With the light coming from the center, both got adequate vision and the Chief’s arcane eyes allowed better vision to see any followers they might pick up.

  The further they went, the more it appeared to Ani it was not only long since abandoned, but that every meter of it was made of a pitch black stone. It held no courtyard in the middle, but featured long, open hallways and a fine selection of rooms both large and small.

  She ventured to guess the castle was not built for royalty, as they couldn’t find a throne room, though every twist and turn revealed yet another set of rooms, some obviously closets, living quarters, or otherwise. They found a kitchen, a few large open rooms, and multiple points of access to the turrets and walls.

  After at least half a cent of wandering through the castle, they found a room with a closed and locked door. With simple hand signals, she motioned Chief to kick the door in, which he did with ease.

  Inside, Ani found herself proven wrong. What either had to be a built-in church or a throne room for only the most arrogant of rulers, a long open room stretched out before them adorned with black pillars, rows of pews and a small rise at the end where a woman in a black robe stood. The entire room was lined with lit torches.

  Well, looks like stealth’s no longer an option. She walked in calmly, warhammer over her shoulder, knowing Lea’s hands had a spell ready and the Chief’s crossbow was trained on the mysterious figure. “You! Who are you?”

  The woman frantically slammed a book shut, picked it up off her podium, and walked off the rise. “This is my land. You leave. Now.” Closer, she could tell the woman was a Milaric with sawn-off horns, and she was remarkably old. Well past life expectancy, her face was strewn with wrinkles, pocks, and scars, but there was a notable fire in her eyes.

  “Neither you nor this town are marked on any map.”

  “A fact I hold dear. Now get out of my fuckin’ castle. This is my lot, my village, my land. You’re intruding.”