Reborn From the Cosmos

Miniarc-Meet the Parents-19 (Kierra)

Few things inspired concern in Kierra.

Wyverns were chief on that list. Arrogance ran in the Atainna blood but only a fool didn’t respect the sovereigns of the world. Their closest relatives could be nearly as frightful. She salivated at the idea of challenging draconids, even dragons themselves, but she didn’t do so carelessly or fearlessly.

Second on the list was a cage she could not break out of. She didn’t know if she could survive another indefinite imprisonment. She knew she couldn’t endure decades of silence a second time without losing her mind. Her Lou was a once in a lifetime encounter. There would be no more cute, naive, irrationally gifted, natural shapeshifters dropping into her life to relieve her loneliness again. More than the experience, she feared what she would become after decades alone once more.

Madness also ran in the Atainna blood.

But third on the list of Kierra’s worries, well deserved to considered amongst dragons and madness, was her mother. Oh, she didn’t fear the normal Morgene. For all her faults and oddness, Kierra understood her mother. Most times, she was a caring woman, in her own way. She may have set Kierra against horrific beasts and terrible struggles, but she did so with the complete belief that they would make her stronger. And when she emerged victorious, for there was no other option, Morgene nursed her back to health. Congratulated her. Hired or threatened others into making her favorite foods or custom weapons. She was a mother, with all it entailed.

The problem was when Morgene the Warrior emerged. If Kierra had to point to one trait that defined her mother, it was ambition. Everything she aspired to, she had to exceed in it. It didn’t matter if it was as a fighter, a thief, a general, or a mother. She was driven by a need for greatness and to achieve it, there was little she would not do. Even less she wouldn’t sacrifice.

It was not Morgene the Mother that watched the bout between Lou and her father with an intensity that would make a Twilight matriarch blush. If it were, she would be smiling and laughing, enjoying a display of her partner’s prowess. Or perhaps she would be frowning, making scathing critiques while pointing out Lou’s failings. Perhaps a mixture of both. Whatever her reaction, it would be vastly preferable to the silence she stood in, body rigid with tension.

It was so unnerving, Kierra couldn’t stand it. “Mother?”

Despite being prompted, Morgene didn’t look at her. “Do you see it?” she asked, her voice clipped, reminding Kierra of days spent in harsh training, practicing the same sword forms until they met the woman’s approval.

“I see Father has become much faster in his fleshcrafting.”

“Stop,” Morgene hissed. “You’re preparing to defend your little lover but I’m not about to criticize her. The opposite. You’ve been with her much longer, seen her transform dozens of times. Tell me, do you see it?”

“Lou’s shapeshifting ability is incredible—"

She stopped as her mother hissed, dark green eyes narrowed in reproach turning to her. Kierra frowned as a strong hand grabbed her shoulder and squeezed it painfully. “I won’t fault you for enjoying your union. Blades dull when they’re not put to good use and no one can always remain vigilant, not even me. But you and I are going to have words if you do not open. Your. Eyes!”

“…I am not a child,” Kierra grumbled but she swallowed her rising offense and turned back to the bout. She smiled as she watched Lou and Orum wrestling on the ground, a ball of writhing, shifting flesh as they used their changing shapes to break grapples, claw, and snap at one another. It was a ludicrous display. Her father had already demonstrated that he could handily beat Lou. She could only assume that he was playing with her, fighting on her level to understand her better. Or maybe he was bored. Orum outclassed Lou in skill but in stamina, Lou was peerless. But no matter how much she looked, she couldn’t see what had interested her mother. Something she was loathed to admit.

Her silence did it for her. After several minutes, Morgene clicked her tongue. “I suppose I shouldn’t blame you. Sometimes, I think that pure affinity of yours is nothing but a burden. Everything comes to you so easily, it’s taken the hunger out of your journey. Because you have the answer to every problem, you don’t know how to ask questions. How do I make this faster? How to I cut this mana cost? What variables can replicate the natural abilities of this manabeast or the signature spell of a rival? While I, dear daughter, seek inspiration everywhere. Your partner is certainly inspiring.”

“…will you tell me what you see?”

“Not what I see. What I sense. What I taught you to sense.”

“The ripples of disturbed space.” Kierra’s brows furrowed as she looked at the scene again with a new perspective owed to the clue given to her. Still, she saw nothing.

“The transformations,” her mother hisses. “Every time she takes a new form, space shifts. You told me she was taller than the tallest buildings in Quest and that there was a limit to how much she could compress her body. Do you think a creature that large can fit into a human-sized skin?”

“She must.” She did, time and time again. “And I would feel it if there were space magics happenings.”

“Ah, but would you? I taught you to feel the change in the space around you. But what if there is no change? What if, the space around you is constantly being disturbed? Could you feel the ripple a stone makes while standing in the rapids of a powerful river?”

“You mean to say that Lou is constantly disturbing space?”

“Where else would all of that mass be?” Morgene grinned. If Lou saw it, she’d recognize it as Kierra’s own “bloodthirsty” smile. “I’m telling you, my poor, lovestruck daughter, that your little lover is not only currently disturbing space, but she is also constantly sustaining her own realm, a pocket space where she extends the rest of the mass that she isn’t using.”

“…impossible.”

The grin widened, becoming something manic. “Oh, it should be impossible. I’d have laughed you out of my tree if you tried to tell me as much. But I can’t deny what I can see and feel.”

“Would we not be able to see a trail of ooze leading to this supposed…pocket realm?”

“We would, if it were on this layer.”

Kierra’s brows rose. “Maintaining a separate realm, no matter how small, on another layer of space would be—"

“Ridiculously costly even if someone managed to figure out the spell,” her mother finished for her. “There are masters, our masters, that have dreamed of creating their own worlds but gave up on the idea when simply maintaining a space no bigger than a pocket drained their core to nothing. Yet that thing—"

“Woman,” Kierra hissed. “Whatever she can do or skin she decides to wear, she is my Lou.”

Her offense broke on her mother’s exasperation, the older woman going as far as to roll her eyes. “Distinguishing her from her mortal origins was meant as a compliment. But very well. That woman is doing something generations of elves deemed impossible, passively. She is breaking our collective understanding of magic with the same ease you and I breathe. And, judging from your lack of understanding, you didn’t even realize. Does she?”

“…no.”

“So. Am I right in saying that none of you have explored that absolute miracle of creation? In a magical sense, not the carnal.”

Kierra fought back a laugh. “Not extensively.”

“What are you waiting for? Time waits for no one, not even immortals.”

“Do you remember what you were like in your second decade?”

“Spirit. Are you trying to make me feel old?” Morgene sighed under her daughter’s deadpan look, shaking her head. “Most of the years before my sixth decade are a haze. Of studying.”

She chuckled. “My mother saw my affinity as a tool meant to enrich the province. She tried to shelter me, can you believe it? Refused to allow me into training, as I was too valuable to risk. Of course, her disapproval sent me right into training. I was determined to prove that the null affinity could be just as deadly as any other, that I was as dangerous as any other Atainna. It wasn’t until I was older that I slowed down enough to realize that she was right, that my potential was wasted as a simple brawler.”

“So, would you say it took you sixty years to mature enough to properly begin to understand your magic?”

“What’s your point?”

“Lou has just reached her second decade.”

Morgene paused, her frown easing. “…I see.”

“She will get there.”

“Or she will drown in her own incompetence.” She raised a hand to forestall Kierra’s reflexive defense. “Her circumstances are unique. She is unique. That makes her a target and she doesn’t have a monarch to protect her. For all my recklessness as a girl, I always knew my mother was waiting in the wings with all of Dusk’s forces to protect me from the worst consequences of my actions. You’re talented Kii, but you’re no army. It’s enough for these humans, I suppose, but what happens when the other races hear of her? Spirit, what happens when the matriarchs learn of her? You know they will. They always do.”

“We will be ready,” Kierra hissed, one hand flexing. She knew the threat of the clans very well and, perhaps wrongly, in her mind, they were a much greater threat than whatever lurked in the north. They didn’t know what waited beyond the Bleak Peaks but one thing that put Kierra’s mind at ease was that the estrazi had resorted to deception. They didn’t want to challenge Lou. Even if it was just a fear of the consequences should the two sides do battle, it was a sign of weakness.

The clans would not show weakness. For a morsel as enticing as her love, the warring matriarchs would band together and wage a war against all of humanity. For generations, if that’s what it took. Their dedication and their insanity would put the Victorians to shame.

“Of course you will.” Kierra tried not to make a face as her mother patted her head, something she hadn’t done since she was a girl. “I’ll make sure of it.”

A cold premonition made Kierra shiver as she took in her mother’s smile. “What do you mean?”