The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage

[75] ANOMALY DETECTED

Knight Commander Harald barreled into the room, his familiar was too large to enter. His magic rose in wisps around him and the air quivered under his influence. There was no hesitation in any motion as the man took a knee with his bow drawn. He had his orders, but at this moment he needed to take out the biggest threat. The monstrous familiar that had blown a hole through a gate of the inner fort. A feat so maddening if he had not seen it with his own eyes he wouldn’t have believed it. He took aim, ready to put his all into killing the familiar before it became an even bigger threat to the Salstar Domain.

The world seemed to slow as everyone realized what was going on. The Knight Commander loosed his wind arrow, not aimed at Joha who was still disguised as Tyr, but at Bjorn. Tanisha’s eyes opened wide as she turned to get to Bjorn before the arrow reached him. She pushed everything she had into her movement, breaking through the maya clouding her emotions as fear and anger erupted. 

Bjorn wasn’t far from her, just a step behind, but she couldn’t turn fast enough, she couldn’t stop her momentum or reach out and grab him. The arrow drew closer and closer, its power enough to rend stone. She screamed her defiance of her limitations, her failure to protect Bjorn even after she gained so much power. What would it all be for if after all of that she still couldn’t protect him like he did her? 

Maya wrapped her form as mana flowed around her, and in an instant she was against the wall several feet away with Bjorn in her arms. She’d done it, she finally used Blink again and saved him.

There was an explosion as the arrow sailed past everyone and through the building. Joha immediately engaged the Knight Commander as Tanisha tried to stand, only to throw up blood. Shortly after exiting her it disappeared as maya. She felt cold as she collapsed onto Bjorn, finding it harder and harder to breathe. Something was happening to her core, something wasn’t right. 

Everything became fuzzy after that; Svan picked her up and they fled as Joha fought with Sir Harald. 

“You're the demon not the patriarch!” Haralds voice boomed in surprise and outrage.

They entered the shop and escaped out through a secret tunnel, then she saw nothing for a little while. A jolt brought her back to reality; she was being carried by Joha now but they were still in the tunnels. It smelled really bad, so it didn’t take long to realize this was the sewer system. She looked around and saw Bjorn was fine; Svan and Joha looked to be okay as well. Meaning they were now on the second part of the plan. They needed to get through the gate before it was too late. The tunnels would get them close and behind their pursuers. 

“Tanisha, you are fine, you’ve been unconscious for only a minute,” Joha said. “We are almost back at the gate. Can you walk?” 

“I-I don’t know,” Tanisha responded.

Something told her to look inwardly at her core, which she did. The first thing she noticed about her core was that more of the chaotic mess which made up the majority had retreated a little and she had more pure mana–no, it wasn’t just mana anymore, it was something else with a white-gold hue mixed in. It came from the familiar bond and fixed the broken formulae from the substance Bjorn called, or wrote as, aether. Her own mana took to the aether and mixed it within her core as if it had been waiting to do this from the beginning. The maya swirled in protest, which felt like hot coals being raked across her soul. 

She shivered in pain and immediately activated Sage Spell Form Crafter. She dove into the runes and maths and geometry that made up the fundamentals of her core. Maya, mana, aether and chaos all fought for the right to her innermost self. She needed to calm the storm, she needed to find a way for the different energies to coexist. If she didn’t and her core became unruly she would lose her mind and become a skinwalker.

She had the option to evolve; becoming a Nature’s Wrath would remove the maya, or Herne Hunter would remove her mana. Either would fix the issues with her core but would cost her something else she held valuable: her soul. She needed a third option, one that would allow her to control the energies within her without the drawbacks of the two she had right now. Well, there was another option. She could sever the bond with Bjorn, which would stop her core from taking in the aether. She couldn’t do that though; if she did and Bjorn left her she didn’t know what she would do.

Tanisha gritted her teeth and dove deeper into herself. First she had to stabilize the boundary between the chaos and the mana-aether mix. 

Once she focused on it she could see the formula that made up the boundaries. It was a mixture of mana and what she could only describe as fractalized aether. She pushed the mana to become rigid, following the patterns of the aether, and examined the formations as they spread. The boundary was solidifying and only allowed the non-corrupted mix through. Ď̸̮̖͗ȏ̴͇͋͜s̸̢͔̍̔h̵̞̐̐i̷̛̳̲̐á̷͓͊ ̵̱͋ḧ̵̠́͘o̵͚͐̅ỉ̸͔̙a̸̭͍̍l̷̬͋ ̵͔͛̀h̴̼͆a̸͍̓s̸͚̆ͅi̴͈͊͋m̶͇̋a̷͕̥̽n̴̨͇̒͠ị̶͙̐; the words of power came to her as a mixture of mana and aether.

She moved on to the part of her core that was malleable. She pushed it with her will and somehow knew she needed it to flow. Its stagnation was hurting her. She needed it to follow paths around her body. It had to strengthen her in the same way the maya did.  Luckily she already had a pathway; the maya had been digging out channels and veins in her since she’d first had access to it. She only hoped that she could push the power through the meridians. 

Moving mana and aether was easy, but as soon as she tried to push it into her maya meridians pain like she had never felt rattled her body. She again vomited blood, which caused Joha to stop in place. He turned her over so she wouldn’t choke, and soon the gore burned away as maya. He said something, but she was too delirious to understand. She went back inside her core, examining what had happened. The maya was currently in use, which meant the channels were full. She deactivated all of her buffs, allowing her maya to settle before trying again, only to have another violent reaction.

It was the maya in her mind, the maya holding her together through all of the pain, anxiety and death. She had to release it and feel everything she’d been suppressing. She took a deep breath; she didn’t have a choice. This would kill her otherwise. 

“Joha,” Tanisha whispered. “I have to undo the maya in my head. If I don’t, I think it will kill me.”

“What is going on?” Joha asked.

“I don’t have time to explain,” Tanisha said. “My core is evolving without the rest of me. I have to calm it.”

Tanisha let out a long breath, calming herself as much as possible as she slowly undid the binds she had placed on her mind. The first was her jealousy, of so many things, other’s talents, magic and even beauty. Then her anxieties, which came with tears as she faced rejections at her stall back when she was selling things with Joha in the market, or facing off with far more skilled Isi disciples while sparring. Then fears; the fear of death was the most prevalent, of losing more people, of losing Bjorn. Each emotion was targeted and brought with them memories that she’d also locked away.

Finally she came to her fear of Bjorn; something she’d let the maya take away weeks ago. She hadn’t faced that fear yet, but now she could. She wasn’t afraid of Bjorn, she was afraid of living without him. She finally put that to rest, but now she had to face the hardest thing. Now she had to face the death of Helina, the civil war, the lives she and Bjorn had taken, the people she saw die in front of her. It was too much all at once, she wanted it to end. She wanted to curl up in Joha’s arms and close her eyes until it was over, but she couldn't, she wouldn’t, she needed to press forward. 

This was no time for weakness, so she tugged on her bond with Bjorn and felt his determination. She let it fuel her when she had nothing left. Tanisha was happy that in this time of utter defeat, when she had nothing left in the tank, she could always turn to Bjorn. He never quit protecting her or believing in her. She could let his drive bolster her own, and together they could get through anything. She held onto the bond as tightly as she could, delving back into her core. 

Tanisha guided the mixed power of maya, mana and aether through the meridians. She felt the next words of power radiate through her being as she fed the power through her limbs one by one: F̸͈̰͠â̵̰̓l̷͓̐d̶̪̣̾ú̷̱̝t̵̩̯́́h̸͙̋̚ ̴͎̎̊ū̸͕̕n̶͚̩͆̾d̷̟̑̐o̶̲̘̔͝d̸̪͉̒̑ǎ̸͜ő̵̼ ̸̬̓g̴̞͛́͜ǘ̶͇͊a̸͎͘d̵͖̈̕h̴̭͗î̷̬͠ ̷͓̮͝v̸̗͑ǎ̵̟͝ ̶̼͍̅d̸̜̘̑͊ľ̶̲͒i̵̞͒̏h̶͖͚̃̀a̴̯̖̍͝.

As soon as the line of power reconnected to her core she felt something in her fundamentally shift. Her core began to spin, slowly at first as the chaos that made up the majority started to sink into the center. In the middle of the murky coalescence of chaos was a star which shone brightly. The pure mana-aether mix and the barrier became a ring that fully encapsulated all chaotic power within her. A second ring formed just outside of the first one; it was made of pure maya. It spun at an even greater speed, appearing solid and stable. Tendrils of power from both rings intermingled, flowing into the meridians. The sight was beautiful. 

Tanisha had never heard of anyone doing this before. She felt the words of power, the phrase that made up her place in the cosmos. She realized she wasn’t learning a spell. She was learning the name of her soul made into a song. It was the code written in the fabric of this world, the proof she was alive and that she had lived. U̵̥̓̈d̴͈̻͗͝ī̷͙̺ ̶̢̎̃k̵̲͛o̸͙͗̃a̷̼̪̿v̴͔̑ḯ̵̡ ̸̱̿̀g̴̢̭̈̊a̸͍͋l̶̰̔̃ȋ̷̠̕d̵͖͘͝i̵͓̟͊ ̷̩̍v̸̡͉̆a̵͉̿̈́h̵̝͗͜l̷͈̣̈́̈a̴̪̅̚͜k̸̨̥̓͘ ̴͙̎̀d̸͛̄ͅo̵̠̻͛͑a̴̯̖̓̾u̵͎̓.

 “D̴͇͑̿o̸̩͗s̴̡̭͛ḥ̴̗̈́ḯ̸̺̌a̶͈͋ ̶̫̻̑̃h̴̢̯͝ő̷̰̐͜ì̴̬̥ä̵̦́͆l̴̢̄̐ ̵̮͂͂ẖ̸̄͝a̶̻͛s̶̗̍i̴̘̯̾͒m̵̧͙̏̇á̶̬n̸͈͐͝i̸̡͈͆ ̴̱̤̅͂f̷̙̐͑a̶̗̻͋̀l̸̦̂d̶͚͈̍ŭ̶͖͎́ẗ̵̳̬h̴͖͘ ̴͕͝ǘ̴̻̹n̸̦̙̽d̶̛̞̗ó̶̼̀d̵͚͒ͅå̶̯̔ọ̸̽͋ ̴̭̙̀g̶̙͋u̵̢̧̐̀ā̵͓̬̿d̶̨̡͌̎ȟ̵̲i̴̮͔͗ ̶͙͖̔̉v̵̤̅a̴͈̤͒ ̵̜͈̽d̵͔̞͑l̶̘͗͜i̴̗̺͘h̴̠̓̚ǎ̶̧̇ ̶̯̿ŭ̶͎d̷̛͕ĩ̵̪̙̎ ̶̘̋̓k̷͕̜͐̕o̶͚̳̿ǎ̵͎͠v̶͙̹̈́i̵̗̿ ̷̜͌̃g̶̱̋̏a̴̖̒̎l̸̪̆͊ḯ̵̱̐d̴͍̪̀̉i̸̩͑̒ ̸̗͛ṽ̵̢̦ã̷̩͙h̷̡̚l̶̡͔̄â̸͚k̴̩̈́ ̸̱̩͋̅d̶̫͍͂o̸̝͚͂̍a̶͙̼͒ư̵̺̖̚.” Tanisha spoke the words as if she had been practicing them her entire life.

Racial Evolution Progress
You have met the requirements to ascend Racial Hierarchy. ERROR… You have created a path of evolution. ERROR… You have broken the restraints of O̴̪͚̳̊̊D̵͖̒̎͌ͅI̷̲̾̄N̴͓̣̲̈̈́̋͝. ANOMALY DETECTED.

Current: ANOMALY (UNKNOWN)
Former Creation of O̴̪͚̳̊̊D̵͖̒̎͌ͅI̷̲̾̄N̴͓̣̲̈̈́̋͝.

Evolution 1: ERROR 

Chains of O̴̪͚̳̊̊D̵͖̒̎͌ͅI̷̲̾̄N̴͓̣̲̈̈́̋͝ broken. 

Evolution 2: ERROR

Chains of O̴̪͚̳̊̊D̵͖̒̎͌ͅI̷̲̾̄N̴͓̣̲̈̈́̋͝ broken.

Evolution 3: Cernunnos (Greater Wendigo)

You have created your own path to ascend the bounds of your race. You have denied O̴̪͚̳̊̊D̵͖̒̎͌ͅI̷̲̾̄N̴͓̣̲̈̈́̋͝, you have denied the Infernal, and yet you have conquered the chains of both. The path before you cannot be walked alone; you are bound to only one and they to you. As the Cernunnos your power and life are inextricably tied to your familiar, and their power and life to you. Your bond is unbreakable even to the most powerful of the Higher Planes. Your familiar shares some of your abilities and you gain access to some of theirs. 

Vitality: +20
Restoration: +20
Constitution: +30
Willpower: +100
Strength: +20
Dexterity: +20
Stamina: +15
Maya: +200
Magic/Aether: +210
Magic/Aether Regeneration: +200

All current magic abilities < gain aetheric effects

All current maya abilities < gain aetheric effects

Gain the following abilities of  your familiar:

Venomous Bite < Venomous Fangs

Poison Cloud < Poison Breath

Plague Fire Breath < Hydra Fire

Poison Claws < Poison Infusion 

King of Reptiles < Queen of Reptiles

Share the following abilities with your familiar: 

Mystic Wind Hands < Air Claws

Mana Armor < Aetheric Scales

Hydromancy < Hydromancy

Water Light < Water Light

Water Missile < Hydro-breath

Please assign Racial Hierarchy within ERROR day(s) or evolution(s) will be lost.
Evolve into ERROR [N/A]
Evolve into ERROR [N/A]
Evolve into Cernunnos (Greater Wendigo) [Yes/No]

Tanisha looked over the evolution. Did she just learn the True Name of the Forest Father? She had many questions as to what it meant by chains, but didn’t have the time to question it further. She could feel the core she created for herself failing without her constant attention. She needed to accept this evolution or she would either die or have to rebuild her core from the ground up. She selected Yes and braced herself for whatever was going to happen next.