Ian McAre isn't Lucas' father-figure; he's more like the cool uncle. All the monks at the Monastery are like his cool uncles. Lucas has a pretty good relationship with the Monastery, but he still lives with his parents on their estate/farm.
Chapter 5
Lucas stretched, squeezing his eyes shut against the light streaming through the window of his room. He cringed at his stiffness; he could barely move. He rolled his head to the side and raised his hand to his face, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand.
Cold, smooth metal met his face, instead of his skin. He snapped his eyes open and froze, glancing about, trying to figure out where exactly he was. He obviously wasn?t back home, in his own bed. His room didn?t have a window in it, and his bed wasn?t this high off the ground.
Before coming to a conclusion about the room, he pulled his hand off of his cheek and held it in front of his eyes; he was wearing an armored glove.
Details flooded into his sleep-logged mind.
Liez?rial, are you there? I need you.
Graf?s voice replied to his mental call. Let the pactio die. He has violated the conditions and abused my power. Grip the hilt of the dagger and squeeze it for a moment.
Lucas reached forward and did as the voice commanded him, his mind blank. McAre looked at him curiously, a soft aura of moving air surrounding him. He didn?t move to stop Lucas, though, when the young man reached out and gripped the dagger.
The dagger began to glow after Lucas had gripped the hilt, and a burst of light flashed out. After the glow had diminished, McAre could no longer sense the life flowing through Graf?s body. The Azure Cinquedea had stopped his heart and stole away his life, killing the man instantly and ending his lingering pain.
Lucas released the dagger and stepped back. He slumped a bit, sagging like a puppet whose strings were cut, before catching himself and rising up to his full height.
He blinked his eyes back into focus, and noticed that McAre had stopped sustaining his magic. Lucas looked at Graf?s body; the wings, pinned between his limp body and the desk McAre was situated behind, began to straighten out and push Graf?s body upright. The rest of the wings on the suit he was wearing began to straighten out, as well, all pointing away from the dead man?s body. They began to let out a soft light, and the body rose off the ground. It straightened upright, no longer slack from the lack of motivation. The man inside was still dead, but the suit he wore began to move about as though a healthy man occupied it.
?Graf has died. I am using his body as a vessel to talk to both of you, for I?m aware that McAre does not have the required Mentalist abilities to communicate with me.
?I am Liez?rial, the Puppet-master Outer God. You have slain Graf, the Pactio. Please remove the Azure Cinquedea, before its essence begins to remove the enchantments I?ve placed upon this armor; it is an anathema to the paranormal.?
Lucas reached forward tentatively and gripped the dagger?s sheath, which was still capped around the base of the hilt. He gave it a quick tug, and it slid freely out of Graf?s collarbone. That can?t be normal; I?ve had more resistance from a slab of meat in the kitchens.
The dagger was clean; no streaks of blood stained it.
?Thank you, Lucas.
?My Pactio violated the conditions of our Pact; I had updated it when the Inner Gods gave me a task, and Graf agreed to the changes, but did not honor them. He continued to use my armor to suit his own needs. He was originally a Cleric, but lost his abilities because he became corrupted by my powers. I am now free of the Pactio; if either of you would like to form one with me, touch the armor.?
With that, the glowing light from the wings ceased, and the body dropped to its knees and sagged down, bent forward at the chest but remaining upright. Liez?rial?s presence diminished again.
Lucas looked at McAre. ?A Pactio, with a God? Just by touching the armor? Shouldn?t it be more complex??
McAre shook his head. ?Once you touch the armor, it?ll become bound to you, unless you and Liez?rial both will it to come off. You?ll be granted all the powers needed to maintain the suit in flight, and have access to some of Liez?rial?s own powers, in exchange for him siphoning energy from you. That?s the condition of the Pactio. If you should happen to die while wearing the armor, it?s likely that Liez?rial will consume your spiritual energy before death.?
?The Gods consume the souls of their Pactios??
McAre shook his head again. ?They don?t consume the souls of their Pactios. I know this, because a good portion of Clerical magic involves the human soul, and I?ve worked with Pactios before. Their souls aren?t damaged by the Gods? siphoning. They tap into something else, some other form of energy we produce. Liez?rial may be able to explain it to you better; he?s a God, I?m not.
?And before you ask, I?m not forming a Pactio with him. My place is here, at the Shrine, as a Cleric, not an avatar to the Gods. And, I?m not particular about becoming a swordsman. I will work with swordsmen, but I will not become one.
?Seeing as how I need to be pure, I cannot willingly wound someone, or I will doubt my convictions and lose my abilities.?
Lucas nodded. ?I don?t particularly enjoy that myself, but I don?t have any such stipulations about becoming a warrior. And near as I can tell, I?m not a Mage, so I don?t even think I have any cleric abilities. And? even if I actually did become his Pactio, nothing says I would have to kill. Right??
The cleric nodded.
?Also, remember, you don?t have to become his Pactio. The people worship him enough at the direction of the Inner Gods. If you decide not to become his Pactio, the armor will shift away and dress an empty statue at a Shrine like this one, until someone else touches it.?
?That?s not very fair. The Pactio would be suckered into the pact, without any forewarning!?
Liez?rial spoke into Lucas? mind, still using Graf?s voice. Anyone could nullify the pact at any time. It takes some time, and I do prefer to take some power from the Pactio before leaving them. It?s a negligible amount, barely enough to make the host yawn. I never suit a statue that isn?t designated in the Shrines as one dedicated to me; they all have placards in front of them warning of the touch-contact Pactio.
There is a purpose behind me seeking another Pactio, aside from Graf?s inability to control himself. I need to create an avatar that could lead people. There are changes in the world that need to be wrought, or the Gods plans will go awry.
McAre must have noticed Lucas? surprised expression at Liez?rial?s sudden words; he didn?t say anything until Lucas wiped the confusion off his face.
?Liez?rial was speaking to you? What did he say??
?Pactios can get out of the pact on their own, it seems. He didn?t mention anything about me not having to kill, but he said he wanted to create an avatar to lead people, or something like that.
?I don?t think I?m much of a leader-type person, though; do you? And shouldn?t a leader show that he?s willing to fight, rather than send his followers into danger??
?You understand this, so I?m sure you won?t become addicted to blood-spilling. Here, however, you?ve shown your capacity to kill when the need arises ? especially in someone else?s defense. You?re not traumatized by it, and you don?t revel in it. That alone is enough to make a leader out of you; with Liez?rial?s guidance, I?m sure you could be the kind of avatar the Puppet-master wants.?
I could be horribly wrong, and the taste of a God?s power may corrupt you to the point of becoming a murderer. If that happens, I fear Liez?rial may arrange to have you killed, just as he did for Graf. I will pray this does not happen to you, but I feel you have the right kind of purity that the God is looking for. McAre kept his thoughts to himself, though he did utter a silent prayer to the Inner Gods, and a small utterance to Liez?rial as well, for Lucas? safety.
The boy was silent for a few moments, before asking McAre, ?Why is he called the Puppet-Master God??
McAre laid his hand atop one of the books strewn across the wide desk he was situated behind. ?In all your time here, you never looked up Liez?rial? Your devout study of the Outer Gods, and you missed that?
?Nonetheless, I found myself curious as well, and came here to get some reference material myself. Liez?rial himself could explain it best, but I?ve got a feeling he won?t talk to us again until we form a Pactio.
?Liez?rial never really shows himself in our realm of existence; he hasn?t crafted a human form for himself since he became a God, and some people believe he may have forgotten what he originally looked like. That?s highly unlikely, though, as most of the Gods have perfect memories. Instead of coming to Kaetir in a corporeal form, he instead controls inanimate objects such as suits of armor and weaponry. If someone was to be struck by, or hold onto, anything that he?s possessed, he can in turn control said person. One of his past Pactios had the idea of making small spiked pellets, which he would then fling into people. If any of the pellets struck their skin, Liez?rial could then control them as though they were he. That was, however, many generations ago, and most of the spiked bearings have since been lost or destroyed. The Pactio that developed the idea never gathered them after throwing them, and his ? or her ? name has been lost to history.
?If you were to form a Pactio with him and don the armor, Liez?rial could at any time speak through you, and assume control of your body. When he does, your mind would essentially fall asleep, getting the same amount of rest for however long Liez?rial has your body in his control, equal to the same amount of time spent sleeping. I?m inclined to believe that Liez?rial won?t do this without your permission, or forewarning at least. He uses the same method of controlling to properly maneuver the armors? wings. You?ll also notice that the swords are ridiculously long for a one-handed sword ? he handles that in combat, as well, controlling the trajectory of the blades as the Pactio swings them, or throws them. The whole idea behind the armor was elevated combat; while the wearer hovers off the ground, they have full mobility in any direction. By turning and releasing a sword on its martingale, you could essentially swing it through a wider arc, striking people at a further distance than you would if you were holding the swords for melee range. Because Liez?rial crafted two swords, both on martingales, he has created an interesting fighting style that involves a fair amount of rotating and flipping around in mid-air. I?ve never seen it, but I?m sure Liez?rial will demonstrate to you what you can do with the armor before he takes off for whatever cause it is that he?s fighting under.? McAre placed his hand on top of a book that was lying on the desk in front of him, and slid it to the fore of the desk.
?This text was the most useful for reading up on him and his Puppet-master ways.?
Lucas looked at the book, then at the slumped form of Graf. The swords had slid across the tile floor, oddly without scratching it. Because of this, the points had spread away from Graf?s body and the hilts were angled down farther. With the way the wings were curled around his limp body, he seemed almost majestic.
But, despite his majesty, and Liez?rial?s manipulation, he was still dead. The taste of a God?s power had lead to his corruption, or perhaps Graf wasn?t a very moral man to begin with. If he could resist that temptation, he could avoid the older man?s fate.
With a glance up at McAre, he reached out towards the armor. He hesitated and looked at the cleric again; McAre blinked solemnly, but didn?t say anything, or nod, or give any sign one way or the other towards his opinion of Lucas? choice.
Lucas brushed his fingers against the armor. The smooth metal began to emit a soft glow, steadily getting brighter.
?Congratulations, Lucas. I?m proud of you, and will pray for your safety and sanctity for as long as you remain a Pactio,? McAre said. Lucas tried to focus on him, but the glow began to blot out his sight.
Liez?rial spoke into Lucas? mind, no longer sounding of Graf, but McAre instead. I am proud of you, too. I have no worries about your performance as a Pactio, and you have nothing to fear from me. I will be forthright and honest with you in all manners regarding the Pactio and your role in it.
Lucas looked down at himself. Indeed, he was still wearing the suit of armor, body stretched out, rather than curled up on one side as he normally slept. Oddly, for having worn something as restricting as armor to sleep in, he wasn?t sore. If he wore anything other than loose pants to bed, he woke up covered in aches and felt as though his muscles were swollen and stiff.
It took me a fair amount of energy to fit the armor to you; you don?t have the same physical properties as Graf did. I took the liberty of using some of your own energy to do so, which caused your body to fall asleep. I took possession of you, and told the cleric Ian McAre that the Pactio was formed successfully and explained what had happened. He brought us to this chamber, where I set your body on the bed and let you recover.
Lucas sat up. You sound like McAre. Why is that?
It?s a voice familiar to you. Unless you want me to take on someone else?s voice, this is what I felt would be the most comfortable voice for me to communicate with you with. I could?ve looked about your memories and used your parents, but I felt that might cause some loneliness and homesickness if we were far removed from your family. I understand you?ll also want to explain to them what happened?
Lucas turned and swung his legs off the bed. The greaves touched to the ground with a light tap, and the wings unfolded off of the calves and flared themselves out.
Pulling himself completely off the bed, he looked down at himself.
The breastplate and leggings were featureless and smooth, rather quite bland. The only decoration was where the wings met the armor proper, an ornate set of connections, between what looked like organic wings and the metal of the armor, held together by a patch of armor that looked a lot like muscles. The gauntlets he wore on his wrists and forearms had a few decorative lines etched into them, focusing on where the wings met the bracelets locking the martingales to the wrist. Just as the wings on the boots were folded flat against his calves, the wings on the gauntlets had folded down flat upon his forearms. As he held his hands out to inspect them, the wings uncurled and straightened out as well.
"I suppose that explains how they don?t get crushed if I?m lying down. But, what about the wings on the swords? and on the helmet?"
The wings are on martingales long enough to be set on the floor; that?s what I did with them before laying your body down. The helmet simply comes off, it?s sitting on the nightstand on the other side of the bed.
Lucas twisted around; sure enough, the helmet was sitting on top of the small table, wings already outstretched. He felt a moment?s embarrassment at not realizing that he wasn?t wearing it. After collecting his thoughts, he reached across the bed to pick it up. As he took it into his hand he felt resistance at his wrist; looking down, he saw that the martingale had pulled taut across the bed, and sliced a fine line into the bedclothes. Tracing it over the edge of the bed, he spotted the two long-swords sitting flat on the floor, wings fanned out over each other. The full length of the swords and the wings had them nearly spanning the entire room.
?These martingales are going to be a bit tricky to get used to. I didn?t know they were sharp, either. Can they cut through the armor? What if I accidentally get one looped around myself, or tangled up??
That?s what I?m here for. I will make sure they always follow the best trajectory through the air, and even if someone were to somehow grasp them and pull it against your throat without slicing their own fingers off, they will not cut you, nor will they strangle you. You are, in effect, another piece of the armor, under my enchantment. None of my artifacts can harm another, short of simple cosmetic damage.
Lucas mulled that over as he put the helmet on. "And the swords?"
You could prop yourself up on their points and they won?t harm you, nor will they pierce the armor. However, that doesn?t mean that man-made weapons won?t pierce this armor; it is in fact fairly thin compared to most suits of armor. After any skirmish that damages it, I repair it with the Pactio?s faith.
?Why don?t you enchant it so it?s indestructible??
Consider if a ballistae bolt hits you in the chest. As it is, yes, the bolt will pierce you and likely continue on. A wound like that I can easily heal; however, if the bolt hits the chest plate and doesn?t pierce it, the kinetic energy won?t just vanish. The bolt will slam the armor back, and you inside of it. Depending on the distance and velocity of the bolt, the pressure wave generated by the impact inside the armor could destroy your entire body. I cannot repair complete bodies without a considerable amount of faith; in which case, I?d have to draw it from you, my Pactio, and in doing so I?d kill you. Better to take a smaller wound that would be painful, yes, rather than damaging your entire body beyond repair. Not to mention, such an enchantment would severely drain me of my power to maintain. I don?t just wave my hand and the armor is magically indestructible forever; I have to keep the enchantment going for as long as I want it to be maintained.
Lucas rose from the bed and looked down at the swords. It?s going to take me just as long to get used to those swords as it will to get used to? all this.
I imagine McAre will let us get accustomed to each other while we?re here. You should ask him; this is, after all, a shrine to the Outer Gods. I also happen to be an Outer God.
Lucas blinked. ?Do you always read my mind??
Of course. Especially when you?re thinking of things related to me.
The young man sighed, and then stooped over to pick up the swords.
?How about this; unless it is related to you, or I?m speaking aloud, don?t register my thoughts. It?ll be weird for you to respond to sub-conscious thoughts.
?Such as this; how do I holster these swords??
Lucas? mind started to fog over, as though he were drowsy. Observe, Liez?rial said, still using McAre?s voice.
His hands began to move on their own. He reset his grip on the swords, settling them in his hands as though he were going to actually use them.
With a bit of a flourish, he spun the blades around and held them in a reversed grip, tips pointing down and wings angled up. His wrists bent, folding the blades down along his forearms on the outside. Leaning his torso forward and ducking his head down, he presented his back to the sky and flexed his arms up, folding back at the elbows and sliding the blades across his back. The hilts caught in a pair of brackets, seizing against the armor. He released the hilts and straightened his arms out, causing the martingales to swing wide over his head and back. Standing up straight, the fog over his mind lifted. He wasn?t kept unaware of his own actions; instead, he observed them as though he were watching someone else.
?Well, that was interesting. Is that what it?s like to be held in your control, Puppet-master??
Call me Liez?rial. Puppet-master is a title the humans have come up with, not one of my own choosing. But yes, if I keep you conscious while I control your body, that?s precisely what it feels like. Obviously, I did just that, now. However, while you?re like that, it takes only a small amount of effort to be able to break some aspect of the control I have over you; you?ll still be able to speak, for instance, or maybe you?ll focus on your arms or legs instead and regain control of your body that way.
Of course, I could just knock you unconscious and control your body that way, too.
During actual combat, though, whenever you release the swords in a swing, I will take control of them. So long as you don?t strike an unyielding surface ? crystal, stone, thick wood ? I will force the blades to go through it, or at least to continue on their swing. If ever you find yourself needing to swing a blade in such a fashion, imagine the angle of the swing to be uninterrupted, regardless of what?s inside it. I will ensure that you always catch the blade where you expect it to end up. I will also maintain control over the wings while you?re in aerial combat; imagine where you want to go, and I?ll move you there. I will maintain such an intimate connection with your mind that you will notice no delay in your movements; outside of battle, however, you will have your privacy, and you will come to understand how to control the wings on your own. They will eventually feel like an extension of your body, as though the human system was meant to have such wings on it.
And before you ask, because several Pactios have, yes, I will keep you airborne and en route if you?re flying long distances and need to sleep. I will maintain your health, within reason ? you?ll still need to eat and rest occasionally, but you?ll find you?re more resistant to infection and extreme temperatures.
Lucas flexed his shoulders, feeling the weight of the blades hanging off his back. The wings attached to their hilts rustled slightly as the top joints on each rubbed against the other.
?I would like to practice controlling the wings before I learn swordplay. I?m not eager to kill anyone, unless I absolutely have to.?
I understand that much. As my Pactio, I present to you two choices; become an avatar to my will ? someone who will inspire people to follow you, and indirectly, me, and witness our acts. Eventually you will have a following, a group of people who could be fashioned into an army to attack the Maging Guilds head-on, or alternatively a group you can form into saboteurs, and infiltrate the Order of Seers with stealth. The other option is to become a saboteur yourself; since you have only minimal mage abilities of your own, the odds of you being discovered would be very high, and you?d be a short-lived Pactio.
I would personally prefer the icon choice. That will allow me more followers; more people to offer their faith and worship to me, and in turn increase my power. This way, I?ll be better able to support your army if the need arises.
?What do you have against the Maging Guilds??
The Inner Gods have become aware of a new power in control of the Maging Guilds ? their Order of Seers has been changed, altered, to meet the needs of the new master. This master is somehow masking his identity, location, plans, and actions from the Gods themselves; as he is now, there is no immediate danger to leaving him or her where they are, but if things continue as they are, Kaetir will undergo a chaotic period, and all of the Gods plans will become derailed and sent awry. They have requested of the Outer Gods that we uncover this person?s identity, and if possible put an end to their actions or their life. Someone able to hide from the Gods is a danger to their plans and to Kaetir itself.
Lucas sighed. ?And I?m supposed to be a match for that? I barely have telepathy, and I?m not a magus. The only thing I have going for me, really, is you. Maybe my nondescript appearance, as well.?
So you think. You have potential to be a magus; your mind can tap into the same energy ? the faith-mana ? that other Magus can use. In addition to acquainting yourself with the armor and flying, perhaps we should see if you couldn?t learn to use magic.
Lucas blinked. Never once did anyone ever sense any magic potential in him; his family, friends, teachers and tutors always sensed just his Mentalist traits, weak as they were. None had ever managed to find the dark spot in his mind that would signify the ability to bend magic to his will.
But, once he stopped and thought about it for a moment, who better than a God to detect magic?
He stretched his arms out experimentally; the martingales dangled harmlessly below his wrists, looping around to meet the blades on his back without wrapping around any of his limbs. He flexed his fists in their gauntlets; having never worn armor before, he had no basis for comparison, but they didn?t seem to be too restrictive. As he rolled his wrists around, the wings on the forearms began to slowly fan out, curling about, seemingly of their own accord. It took Lucas a moment to notice that they were presenting themselves to him as he wished to inspect them. Holding his wrist still, he tried flexing the empty space outside of his arm, the area the wing was occupying ? just beyond the exterior of his skin, as though he could feel another extension to his wrist, or ? as creepy as it made him feel ? another wrist on his wrist.
The wing flexed as he imagined it would, as though he were twisting his fingers around on another hand.
A wave of nausea stuck him. Dropping his hands to his side, he nearly sagged so much to the point of being unable to stand properly. Liez?rial instead took hold of his body, keeping him in a predominately upright position, slowly lowering him down into a sitting position on the bed.
It always takes some getting used to. I myself am no longer sure why exactly that upsets many of my Pactio?s, but seems to do so a great many times.
?I have control of something that isn?t physically attached to my body, yet I?m moving it in the same manner as I move my limbs. There?s an overpowering sense of wrongness when I look at it in motion, and know that I?m the one causing that. It?s unnatural, not right.?
The God was silent for a moment. Consider telekinetic Mentalists, then; they move things about as though they took it up in their own hands and swung it about. That is mostly how they are taught to use their telekinesis, actually. The trick is to remove those psychic hands from your mind and detach them from your body. They can get used to the feeling of ?wrongness? very quickly, the more they deal with their telekinesis. With time, you?ll get used to it.
Don?t forget, too, that you can always take off the armor if you want.
Lucas blinked, and rested his elbows on his knees. ?I thought your Pactio?s couldn?t remove the armor unless you let them??
No. That is false information; several of the manuscripts you have on the Gods are deliberately filled with some misinformation. Stop and think about it; would you really allow lists of your strengths, weaknesses, and general abilities to get around?
?How is being able to remove the armor at will a weakness??
If people only see you in flight, hovering in the air, with the helmet and facemask on, they won?t know what you look like or how tall you are without the armor. If you need to, I can simply Shift the armor away if you can duck out of sight of anyone pursuing you, and you can blend into the crowds. They won?t be able to track you, because my presence will mask yours, and I can even have the armor continue to fly away without you. There are things I have discovered work very well when I have a cooperative Pactio, and of course, still things I?m learning.
Lucas straightened out of his slouch and rose from the bed. Keeping his arms down at his sides, out of his sight, he strode to the door.
He turned his head to the side as he reached for the doors lever. He rationalized this by using his free hand to pull the black material that comprised the facemask out of the recession it rested in, at the top of the chest plate, and pulling it up over his nose.
It?ll take both hands to put the veil up. It has to rest on your ears, not your nose.
Lucas sighed, and strode out the now-open door. Abiding the God, he used both hands to loop the mask over his ears so it would rest snugly against his face. He did his best to keep his forearms twisted and the wings flattened against them so he couldn?t see them.
Do you still want to work with the wings, instead of the swords?
?This?ll be easier if you aren?t teasing me about this. And yes; because I?m so affected by them, I?d rather get over it now, rather than while I?m in-flight or fighting someone.?
Of course. Let us find the Cleric and ask about using the shrine grounds for acquainting ourselves to each other, shall we?
OH MY GOD THE FORMATTING AAAAAAUGH
I started tweaking this to be forum-friendly to the readers almost a half-hour ago.