Ends of Magic

The Heirs took their seats, examining Sarya while they did so. She wasn’t an imposing woman, dressed in a somewhat battered leather jacket and without any obvious adornment apart from a nose stud and an unobtrusive necklace holding a multicolored stone. Nathan wouldn’t have looked twice if he’d spotted her in an coffee shop back on Earth.

His magical senses put the lie to that particular impression. She wore nearly a dozen enchanted items that meshed with each other well enough to present a united front of magical signatures. He avoided narrowing his eyes as he habitually started figuring out what the various enchantments did.

Her jacket would shrug off blows better than Aarl’s armor and could change into almost any type of garment she desired. The tiny rings in her ears would dramatically enhance her senses, and the stud in her nose carried potent healing magic. She carried daggers up each sleeve whose signature reminded Nathan of the black-bladed sword Aarl had taken from Brox, and small dimensional bags with potent enchantments rested at the small of her back and in each boot. The real treasure seemed to be the stone on her necklace, which carried the signature of a divine protective enchantment that reminded Nathan of the shielding magic Khachi and Kia used, but as powerful as the artifact that had destroyed the Ascendent Academy. There were a dozen other effects on her person, but he didn’t have time to go through them all.

Luckily she hadn't been waiting waiting for him to speak. As soon as the Heirs finished adjusting themselves, Sarya gave them an acknowledging nod. “I'm glad for your presence. Eolinne spoke of your journey, and it was more exciting than my prophecy would've said. But you triumphed nonetheless. You pushed through Badud’s revenge to stand before me, and he further weakened himself in the attempt. Assassins from Zhark mean that he begged agents from Amoh, and ships from the Maelstrom are expensive purchases.”

Her attention narrowed from the Heirs more generally to Nathan in particular. “But you, Nathan Lark, are a treasure amongst a dragon’s hoard. You carried the battle after Brox was slain. You slayed Badud to avenge him, and destroyed the slave-state of Giantsrest.” She wrinkled her nose at the mention of Giantsrest as if it gave off a foul odor. “Truly a victory worthy of any questor.”

Nathan dipped his head to accept the praise, but spoke up to correct the record. “I didn’t kill Badud to avenge Brox. I did it because he was trying to conquer Gemore. My team was involved in bringing down Giantsrest.” He gestured to his friends sitting on either side.

Sarya’s gaze remained fixed on him, a polite smile on her face. “Eolinne tells me you have many advanced Insights. Tell me, where are you from, Nathan?” The question was quiet, but spoken like it carried a great weight.

She knows there's something there. It's time to take the leap. It's not a giant secret anyway, all she'd need to do is ask around Gemore.

The Heirs tensed, but Nathan smiled back wryly. “I’m not from Gemore. Heck, I’m not from Davrar.” He let that hang for a moment, drawing a shocked look from Eolinne and a raised eyebrow from Sarya.

The Questor's eyes jumped around the room, scanning the Heirs before refocusing on his face. “Is that verified truth? You're not a Questor, unless I am much mistaken.”

He smirked and nodded. “I was summoned from my home by some kind of dimensional magic. It was cast by one of Badud’s proteges. An archmage of Giantsrest named Taeol dho Droxol.”

“Did Badud command this?” Sarya was laser-focused on this, obviously hoping for a specific answer.

“No,” Nathan replied, and Sarya exhaled in disappointment. “He was surprised to learn of it. I think Taeol was operating on his own initiative for that. He kept trying to capture me after I escaped, likely because Badud told him to. I killed Taeol before meeting Brox.”

Sarya's expression softened, and her voice became gentle. “It grieves me to hear that you were kidnapped to Davrar. Would you tell me of your home?”

Nathan nodded, brows scrunching together as he thought about how to describe Earth. Especially to somebody he suspected of coming from a much more advanced civilization than existed on Davrar. “The third planet of a yellow-dwarf star. I was a scientist working towards the highest degree my world offered in the study of life.” He met Sarya’s eyes as he said it, watching for her reaction.

Both of Sarya’s eyebrows shot towards her hairline, and she leaned forward to examine him again. “That breaks some mysteries.” She tilted her head, as if to study him from a new angle. “Your world. It would please me to hear the state of it.”

What’s a three-sentence summary of Earth? What is she interested in? Probably population, level of government and technological progress.

“Population of eight billion, globalized trade but no world government. A few simmering conflicts held in place by mutually assured destruction. Space-capable but haven’t expanded off our world.” He let that hang for a moment. “Yet.”

Sarya’s lips twitched in response. “An astute answer, but not one relevant to Davrar.” She glanced sideways at Eolinne, who looked completely lost, and then at the Heirs, who weren’t completely following Nathan but weren’t looking at him in shock either. She gave a small nod. “This the source of your Insights?”

Nathan shrugged. “Pretty much. I have a lot of ideas about how Davrar could be better.”

Let's see if I can guide her to talking about how she wants to change Davrar.

The Questor smirked at him. "So do most Questors. Your world doesn't have Endings. Is that why you wish to stop them entirely? Keihona is safe from the dangers of the Endings.”

Nathan’s eyes turned hard. “But the rest of Davrar isn’t. Millions - trillions die in every Ending.” He gestured upwards, towards the sky beyond the mossy branches overhead. “Davrar is the size of a ten thousand worlds, and the Endings kill most of the population each time. The people here live lives of danger and violence, and can barely build up to prosperity and peace before the Endings crush them down again.”

His attention was locked onto Sarya, and he was only just able to prevent his next words from being an accusation. “Before I killed him, Badud taunted me with the Ending of History. He said he would make it happen in a hundred years. Is that something he can do? Do Questors control the Endings?”

Now to see her answer. If she deflects, then she’s not going to play it straight with us from here on out.

Sarya grimaced as if she’d bitten into something sour. “I made a deal with him to start the Ending of History early on your continent. It will begin in seventy-nine years. There'll be a period of transition take some time to fully commence, but within a hundred years all of the cities will be destroyed. I am truly sorry.” She stopped talking, watching Nathan and the Heirs as their expressions tightened.

Nathan took a moment to restrain his anger and stop himself from snapping. He wasn’t entirely successful, and his voice was flat and demanding. “What did you get for it?”

The Questor exhaled a deep breath and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and clasping her hands together. “Three continents of our choosing, and a millennia and a half of nonaggression from Badud in particular.”

“Pieces in a game.” Khachi’s voice was nearly a growl.

Sarya raised her hands. “It was the correct decision, and much to justify it. We would have fought for those continents until the Ending of History came, and then they would have fallen and death spread across the land. Now we can enforce peace across those lands, cleanse the dungeons and build them up such that more than a fragment will survive the Ending of History. They will become bastions of peace and civilization, through this Ending and beyond.”

She met Khachi’s angry gaze. “Your victory didn't carry the reward you desired, but it saved three entire continents. I know it is a caustic burn, but it was a worthy trade. I doomed one underpopulated continent that would have died regardless in exchange for three that have a hope of holding strong through the next Ending.” She pressed her lips together tightly. “It was not a just decision, but it was a necessary one. If I do not make choices like that, then more shall die and I would have been able to save them. Do you disagree, cleric of Dieman?”

Khachi breathed out a shaky sigh and shook his head wordlessly, breaking eye contact with her.

Aarl spoke up next. “Didn’t Ushia control Agmon? Did you abandon them too?”

The Questor nodded sharply. “We did. They were intended to hold back the influence of Giantsrest, not to conquer the continent. But now the continents of Valedra, Keryssan and Serrona may have a future.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Nathan butted in. “You seem to be focused on mitigating the damage from the Endings. Is that the primary goal of your grid?”

“We also seek to guard our territory and attack Badud’s grid.” Sarya’s lip curled. “Their idea of civilization deserves being burnt to the ground so something better can grow from the ashes. But often both activities are the same. I wish to discuss the nation of Sangrad with you - it is likely where Badud fled to. If he truly is weakened, then it would be primed for…”

Nathan held up a hand to halt Sarya’s proposal. He could see Eolinne tense as he interrupted the Questor, but he hadn’t given way to Brox, and he wouldn't to Sarya. “Help me understand why you’re working to make civilizations survive Endings when you can move them around? Could you stop them?”

Eolinne burst in, answering before Sarya had a chance to respond. “The Endings are a truth of Davrar, the one power that cannot be defeated. The only melody is to build civilizations that can survive them.”

“Then help me understand how you can change their timing, but can’t stop them,” Nathan replied, keeping his eyes locked with Sarya.

She looked away, sighing and running her hands through her short hair before responding. “The Endings can be moved, but their happening is sure as prophecy. They are a part of Davrar, and no grid has the power to stop the Endings.”

“But all of the Questors together do.” Nathan’s words were soft but direct. They cut across the conference table like a knife.

Sarya’s attention rotated back to him, her entire mien deadly serious. “What Insight stirs that belief?”

“Because Davrar was created and is maintained to entertain the Questors,” Nathan said bluntly. “There may be a group that controls it, but you know who they are and if all of the questors demanded a change, you could make it happen.”

“It would, wouldn't it.” Sarya spoke under her breath, the words bitter. Then she addressed Nathan more normally. “Should this be a meeting between us alone?” She glanced towards Eolinne, whose mouth was slightly open. The white-clothed and black-crowned woman seemed like she might not be breathing.

Nathan shrugged. “My team has my trust.”

Sarya’s frowned slightly. “Eolinne, I seek your pardon for withholding these secrets. They are matters of the Questors, and I will explain it to you later. For this moment, you may take your leave so that I may speak of things that should not be known.” It was phrased pleasantly, but it was a command nonetheless.

Eolinne’s mouth closed, and she pressed her lips together hard enough they whitened before standing. She clasped her hands together in front of her breast and bowed over them. Then she turned on her heel and strode away rapidly.

Sarya sighed as she watched the woman go. “I mislike rewarding her so poorly for her service. She is a stalwart ally, and has completed many missions for me.”

“Then why don’t you trust her with this?” Stella asked, genuinely curious.

Sarya’s frown deepened. “Because this conversation reaches for deep secrets. Things that should be known only to the Questors. Not for the importance of the secret, but because it would serve no purpose to know and would only cause her pain.”

She looked up at Nathan with a troubled expression. “Or such was my thought. Tell me, what do you assume is the origin of Davrar?”

“You’re a multiplanetary civilization,” Nathan said bluntly, referring to the Questors as a whole and watching Sarya closely. She seeemed to understand what he was saying. So Nathan kept going. “Davrar might be a simulation, but I think it’s more likely that it’s a giant spinning cylinder or spindle with some very advanced technology to make the system of levels and Talents work.”

He shrugged. “It’s a game for you. Entertainment. You’re so far beyond all of this,” he waved around to include the forest and the palace beyond, “that for it to have meaning you need to give it an artificial context. I don’t even know if you have physical bodies anymore, and Davrar is a place to have that. To have something that matters, for people who are beyond worrying about anything.”

Like Brox, who just loves being the knight in shining armor coming to the rescue. It provides him an excuse to act shitty the rest of the time, and lets him play the tortured hero whenever he gets confronted over it.

Sarya gave a dark chuckle. “You speak with such conviction, and strike terribly close to the truth.” She sat and thought about it for a moment, then waved her hand as if to banish the thought. “Davrar isn't solely entertainment, but the difference isn't really important.” She studied him again, and this gaze was much more intense than anything she’d subjected him to before. Sarya had been responsive and engaged before, but now she’d gained an extra edge that told Nathan that he truly had her full attention for the first time.

The Questor addressed him seriously now. “You've uncovered a truth of Davrar you were never meant to find. What's your desire? There is no reward for this Insight. You cannot simply declare that Davrar is a game and change that game to your liking.”

Nathan had a ready reply. “We want to end the Endings, and the way we do that is by learning how the game of Davrar is run, then doing what's necessary to change it. I don’t expect it to be easy, but this is the quest we set ourselves.”

“Is removing the Endings all you desire?” Sarya asked with a raised eyebrow. She didn't seem judgmental, but something about her demeanor told Nathan that this was a test.

She wants to see if I'm an idiot tilting at windmills, or if I'm following my moral compass to its logical conclusion.

“No. I also want to remove mental magic, and things like unbreakable magical contracts.” Nathan’s brow creased as his thoughts ranged further afield. “Davrar creates and then kills people for your amusement. That is…” He looked up to Sarya. “How do you justify that?”

She nodded as if satisfied and seemed undisturbed by his challenge. “Without Davrar those people would never exist at all. They owe it their existence, and that existence isn't required to be a paradise." Then her tone became wry. “But we are in accord on the vileness of mind magic. That evil should never have been part of Davrar.”

Nathan had to stop for a moment and think about that.

I don't like it. If you create people, you have the responsibility to make their lives decent. But what now? Do I flip the table on this discussion? Or do I accept that I’m not going to give every living being on Davrar a utopian ending and take what I can get? I need to move on for now, and re-evaluate this question later. Maybe after I've learned what I need to know.

He looked back up at Sarya and swallowed back bile. “Okay. Can you help me change that? Make Davrar better for the people who live in it?”

She leaned in towards him, smiling and offering her hand to him. “Yes. I can. We may not achieve your goals of the Endings, but I will help you make Davrar a more humanist place.”

He reached out and clasped the offered hand. “It's a place to start. What do we do first?"

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Arcane Nullfield 8

Permanent Talent 2: Immortal Body 6

Permanent Talent 3: Airwalking 8

Class: End of Magic level 834

Bottomless Stamina : 84400/84400

Indomitable

The Undeniable Strike of the Antimage

Stamina Burn

Momentum Mastery

Stoneflesh

Arcane Nullification

Galefoot

Close Quarters Mastery

Boundless Aura

Denial of Mysticism

The Ending of Magic

Aura Projection

Selective Dispel

The Living World

Class: Spellslayer level 564

Regenerative Focus: 5740/5740

Catastrophic Blows

Battle Stealth

Mage Infiltration

Forgettable

Sneaky Blow

Antimagic Stealth

Magical Manipulation

Lethal Index

Wizard Resistance

Magic Jammer

Controlled Failure

Utility skills:

Tranquility 3

Inspiration 8

Impulse 3

Mystical Discernment 4

Forewarning 2

Arcane Insight 4

Evasion 1

Mental Vault 5

Tutoring 9

Parkour 9

Visibility Control 5

High-tier Disguise 5

High-tier Battle Cry 3

Aura Control 5