Chapter: 683 – World Keeper Revelations

Tala looked at the four fragment keepers with a warm smile across her features and a warm cup of coffee in her hands.

The four settled back into their own chairs, the room and furniture preselected and arranged at Tala’s request to be a less formal, more casual setting.

Ma-a, once more, was the one to break the momentary silence. “You have questions, Eskau of War?”

Tala nodded. “Please, call me Tala. What moniker is appropriate for you four?”

“You may address us by our names, Tala.”

She smiled. “Very well. I wish to learn all I can about the world fragment. It might be better to start with the general, and move toward more specific portions? I can ask questions if I don’t understand, and we can go from there.”

Erde’s large ears twitched as the four exchanged furtive glances. This time Pamant spoke, her voice containing a smooth basso musicality while somehow remaining feminine. “I do not think that you understand what you are asking… Tala.” She frowned, the lines on her face looking like ripples in stone. “If I were to ask you about inscriptions, telling you to start with the general, how would you go about it?”

Tala blinked a few times. “Ahh… I think I would start by saying they are lines of precious materials meant to guide magic toward specific outcomes, those being determined by shape, material, and medium, among other things…” Tala gave a slow nod. “I see. My request was so broad as to essentially ask for you to take on an undue burden.”

Jord held up his hands. “On the contrary Esk— Tala. We are happy to do as you asked, but we do not want to begin at too basic a level. We also don’t know your background to a sufficient level to know how to tailor our explanations for best comprehension. Nor do we know how much time you have in order for us to have a meaningful length of time in which to convey the totality of what you have requested. Senior Ma-a has raised up more than a hundred fragment keepers during his tenure, and he is quite skilled at the process, but it is a process.”

Ma-a was nodding along, and when Tala glanced his way he gave a professional smile. “Pamant was an exceptionally gifted student, and she took one hundred years to reach the level of comprehension and mastery needed to be considered a full fragment keeper.”

Pamant smiled warmly at the praise, giving a deferring nod. “Senior is kind.”

“Honor earned should be honor given.”

The stone woman simply nodded again in acceptance.

Tala thought she understood the problem. “So, as I don’t wish to become your apprentice, I need to constrain my inquiry?”

Erde’s tail flicked as he nodded. “If you would, that would help us assist you more… efficiently.”

Tala frowned at that. “The issue is this: I don’t know what I don’t know. I don’t wish to ask a pointed question and think I understand the answer when I am woefully misunderstanding the underlying layers.”

Ma-a grunted. “There is wisdom in that concern, but the issue remains.” He took a sip of his tea before giving a slow nod. “If it does not overstep, could you tell us the nature of your interest? Then, we might better guide you?”

Tala ‘hmmed’, considering before nodding. “I believe so. I will state as the Eskau of War, that this pertains to the war effort and as such I officially forbid you from disclosing this to anyone through any means.”

She watched as her authority resonated with their own, both deeply entrenched in the House of Blood. Hers superseded theirs in this as it was genuinely something that pertained to resources and the upcoming clash with the Black Legion.

The four nodded, clearly understanding the gravity of the situation in their own way.

With that done, Tala smiled.

“Are you all aware of Anatalis and his mate?”

The four each reacted with visible surprise, each slightly differently. Erde’s ears twitched; Pamant’s face became utterly expressionless, despite her eyes widening slightly; Jord’s left eye twitched, his right hand reaching for some pouch or tool, seemingly without his conscious thought; and Ma-a frowned. It was Ma-a who spoke in response. “We are… given the context, I will assume that you have knowledge greater than standard. Very, very few know that he… that they…” The man visibly paled before his eyes flicked up, and he continued in a rush. “That she is united with the only other world fragment widely known to exist.”

The man flinched slightly, eyes closing as if expecting a blow. When nothing happened, the four all seemed to relax, Ma-a most of all. Tala frowned. “That is bound knowledge?”

Ma-a nodded. “We are only able to discuss, or even acknowledge it, with full fragment keepers or those who already know.”

“I apologize for putting you in such a precarious position.”

The man chuckled. “Honestly, our reaction at your question would have been enough to violate the binding had you not already known. I think we were all caught off guard and expected to be struck down for our lack of diligence.”

Tala grimaced. “As I said, I apologize. I had no idea it would be a sensitive subject.”

“Nor could you have known. I guess that you are under no such binding?”

“Not in that regard.” She gave a wry smile.

The others chuckled, and Jord lifted his cup in salute to her. “Understood, good Tala. It seems that we all shall need to exercise care going forward.”

-In case you didn’t understand that, they are bound to more secrets than this, and he is hoping you understand that and allow deflections in the future.-

Yes, Alat, I understood that perfectly well.

-Good. I’d hate for you to kill off the experts before we get our meal.-

We aren’t eating the world-fragment.

-Really? Are you sure? I think you should investigate further.-

Enough.

Alat fell silent, and Tala smiled toward the small beast-kin. “Understood, Erde. So, if you know of that pair, do you know of her origin, what she began her life as?”

They all nodded, almost as one, Pamant speaking up, “A devourling, the base creature behind many less savory beings and features in the wider world.”

Jord shuddered. “My people have a special… dislike of mimics. They and syphons, and others, are often called cousins of devourlings, but the predominant theory is that they are of the same stock, just divergent in their development.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Tala waggled her head back and forth. “That might be the case, but when I met The Devourer, I didn’t get that feeling.”

There was a beat of silence… then that silence stretched out long.

Finally, Jord responded, seemingly speaking for all of them. “Do you speak to god-beasts and Sovereigns regularly… Tala?”

Tala shook her head, starting to laugh and open her mouth to deny it, but then she paused, actually considering.

Alat began cackling in the back of her head, and was promptly ignored.

“I… I suppose I’ve personally met… five? Only four from Zeme, though. And to be fair, I think that the one that was from away, might have only been Hallowed… Oh! That actually didn’t include The Devourer, so five or six, depending.” She chuckled, coming out of her thoughts and actually focusing on the others only at the end of her words.