Mother of Learning. Arc 3 Incomplete

«Later,» Kael grumbled. «I haven’t even ironed out all the details in my head yet. Stupid spider and her big mandibles…»

«I’m pretty sure her speech didn’t involve mandibles in any way, actually,» Zorian said. «It was a pure sound illusion.»

«Really? Wasn’t my mind shield spell supposed to protect me from mind effects like illusions, even if they’re beneficial?» asked Kael, frowning in confusion.

«The matriarch’s spell wasn’t targeting your mind. It created actual sound waves,» said Zorian.

«But then it’s a sound spell, not an illusion no?» Kael stated more than asked.

«Officially, any spell that creates ‘fake’ scenery is an illusion, regardless of the means it uses to do so. Many illusions are made primarily out of actual light and sound, but they’re still illusions.»

«That’s… surprisingly imprecise,» Kael said.

«I understand it’s because a lot of actual structured spells from illusionary disciplines combine mental illusions with… well, let’s call them physical ones. Theoretically, you could separate the two into different categories, and many tried, but in the end the Eldemar mage guild decided to just admit defeat and lump them together.»

«How surprisingly practical of the Guild, then,» Kael said. «I guess even they get an attack of common sense from time to time.»

Zorian said nothing. He didn’t need empathy to deduce that his morlock companion had a bit of a grudge against the Guild for some reason. Personally, Zorian thought the mage guild was doing a pretty good job overall, but he wasn’t so impressed with them that he would defend them in front of others.

The rest of the walk passed in relative silence.

As the start of the summer festival approached, Zorian became more and more certain that Haslush wasn’t going to do much about the invasion. He’s wasn’t sure whether the man had decided Zorian’s ‘suspicions’ were merely a rumor or whether he was ordered to drop the issue, but he no longer seemed very interested in the whole matter. For Zorian, this was a sign that he should take Kirielle and get out of the city before the invasion starts — he had no interest in getting murdered by the invaders again, and even less in having Kirielle die alongside of him.

He would have to see whether he could talk Kael and Imaya into leaving with them.

But although the date was fast approaching, such problems weren’t a pressing concern yet. Currently, he just wanted to have something to eat and lie down a little. Kirithishli had given him some truly mind-numbing tasks to perform today, and he wasn’t in the mood for plotting. Conveniently, the moment he walked into the house he was assaulted by the smell of food wafting from the kitchen. Imaya’s insistence on keeping her informed of his comings and goings was somewhat annoying, but Zorian had to admit it was convenient how she timed her meals to match his and Kael’s schedule.

He entered the kitchen and was immediately tackled by Kirielle.

«Brother, I hurt my hand!» she wailed, waving her hand in front of his face. «Hurry, you have to heal it!»

Zorian snatched her wrist to stop her from moving her hand so much and inspected the ‘grievous injury’. It was a shallow cut — a scratch really — that would probably heal on its own by the end of the day. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Imaya trying not to laugh.

Zorian suppressed the urge to sigh. He knew his family would make fun of him if they knew he was an empath, but he honestly didn’t expect Kirielle to descend to this level. She knew he wasn’t a healer, association between empathy and the healing arts notwithstanding. Though considering his excellent mana shaping skills, he would probably make a good healer with enough training… something to consider, at least.

Schooling his face into a serious expression, he slowly turned Kirielle’s ‘injured’ hand this way or that, pretending to study it in detail. Finally, after a thoughtful hum, he looked Kirielle straight in the eye.

«I’m afraid there’s nothing to be done, Miss. We will have to cut it off,» he concluded gravely. He then turned towards Kana, who was sitting at the table but studiously watching the entire exchange, and gave her a deep, meaningful look. «Fetch the saw.»

Kana nodded seriously at him and motioned to leave the table, only to get stopped by a laughing Imaya who assured her that he was ‘just joking’. Zorian was pretty sure the little girl understood that all too well and was just playing along. Did they even have a saw in the house?

In any case, Kirielle wrenched her wrist out of his grasp at his declaration and pouted at him.

«Jerk,» she declared, sticking her tongue out at him.