Tampering with the soul-bomb enchantment directly would’ve been a mistake. As I’d first observed, reviewing the image again confirmed it had protections against such.
It also had a remote trigger.
At any point Starbreaker’s sister could simply cause the apprentices to detonate, ripping away the aura of anyone within a hundred miles of them.
Thankfully, that particular issue was easier to address. They couldn’t leave the area, but we had several locations where we could park the kids and it’d shield the rest of Cape Aeternia from the torrent that could get released. For the moment, Tender’s Halls of Eternal Rest were the best choice. Since Bevel was strong enough she’d just get a bit of a headache if the kids were sacrificed, I’d asked her to watch them. A task she’d taken with a surprising amount of enthusiasm, which was… concerning. The underwater trial area wasn’t just the closest safe space she could take them, it was also designed for the capture and storage of powerful souls.
Which was similar enough to a soul-detonation.
Simply having the kids hang out in Tender’s Halls was a temporary solution at best. At least if I wanted to save them. Even if Bevel didn’t seem to be making friends with them, I wouldn’t have been able to abandon a bunch of kids who just wanted to learn magic and help their family.
After making sure they were secured, the next thing Nexxa and I set to work on was increasing the interference to keep the kids safe. Their souls couldn’t be detonated remotely if the signal couldn’t get through. That increasing interference also increased the difficulty of scrying on the entirety of Mistvale was a happy bonus.
“You know this is also going to make it harder to use worlds and celestial magic in the valley, right?” Nexxa asked even as we finished the last of the enchantments at the head of the valley. It’d been wasteful to get it done the same night Starbreaker had arrived, but I felt it was worth the cost.
“More expensive too, I know,” I said, smiling as I plopped down to look over the valley. Even needing less sleep, it’d been a long day. “Worth it though.”
“Hmm,” Nexxa said as she sat beside me, bumping my shoulder. “Kinda nice, having a project to work on together. Been too long.”
“Sorry. There’s always something these days,” I said, running a hand through my hair. It was getting long enough Calbern or Ari would probably start pestering me about cutting it soon. Unless I was proactive. Kinda liked Ari making a fuss though…
“I get it.” We sat there in silent companionship for a few seconds before Nexxa slugged my shoulder. “So, my niece mentioned there was something you wanted to talk to me about? Something about re-swearing my oaths?”
“Right. Meant to talk to you about that weeks ago,” I said, chuckling as I shook my head. “You heard about the Wardens and their oaths, right? About how Keeper’s an oathkeeper and such?”
“I got the half-cast version. Something about their power being tied to protecting non-ensouled, I think?” She leaned back, kicking her legs out, rocks tumbling down the steep hillside whenever her ankles struck it.
“Yeah. The important part was we discovered oaths could be changed. Specifically, the oaths you and I swore can be amended.”
“And that’s important because…”
“Because it means we could amend your oath. I could stay and be the Magus Protectus, take over your duties for you territory…”
“What’d that make me? Chopped dragon bits?”
“Was thinking more like champion of kicking ass and rescuing people.”
“I do like kicking ass,” Nexxa agreed, lifting her leg and miming the motion. “What would an oath like that even be? I shall beat down all the baddies? Our oath already covers that, doesn’t it?”
“Not far off, though it can be adjusted a bit. Maybe something more specialized. Like, it could be about killing monsters specifically.” I pointed to one such monster, a fire attuned raptor near the lake’s edge before gesturing to the starry sky overhead. “Or it can be as general as any threat to the people of Ro’an.”
“Sounds like more than a bit, Per-per.”
“A little, yeah,” I chuckled.
“Seems like something we should consider carefully.”
“Yeah. Sorry I didn’t mention it sooner.”
“Somehow, I shall find it in my heart to forgive you. Maybe,” Nexxa said, shoving my shoulder. “Not like I have to do it. And even if I do, it’s not like I’m gonna hop up and re-swear my oath this minute.”
“Fair enough.”
“I missed this too,” Nexxa said, levitating one of the nearby rocks and dropping it into her hand. “The two of us staying up late and talking about nonsense late at night.”
“Re-swearing oaths is nonsense?”
“You know what I meant,” Nexxa said, cocking her arm back before launching the rock forward with enough force it sent my hair flopping in my eyes.
Definitely time for a cut.
“Yeah. I get you. You know, if you stopped by in the evenings, you could join us for our extended stays inside my Memory Palace.”
“Extended stays?” Nexxa asked, arching her eyebrow as she picked up another rock.
“Uh… did I not tell you about that either? Swear I did. When my Memory Palace is synced up with someone else’s the time dilation is stronger. We have to use a third Order spell, but then… Like forty hours per real world hour.”
“Perry, seriously? How long have you… no, don’t tell me. I might just kill you if it’s been…” Nexxa had picked up another rock, those this one had cracked into shards when she squeezed it a bit too tight. “Kinda hurts you didn’t invite me.”
“Pretty sure I did. You’ve been busy.”
“And I’m pretty sure you left out the part about it being forty times faster, Per Per.”
“Oops?”
“Forty times is damn impressive. My sister would be jealous.” The words came from over our shoulder. Starbreaker was standing there, hand on the hilt of his sword. He’d appeared out of nowhere.
Neither Nexxa nor I handled it calmly.
By the time he was halfway through his first word, we were both in motion, putting distance between each other and him. Both of us had spells on our lips, though we stopped ourselves.
“Oh, do get over yourselves. If I wanted to hurt you, you… ah, that’s better.”
While we might’ve reacted to defend ourselves quickly, we were just as quick to return to our spots on the ridge after a quick glance and nod to each other.
Starbreaker plopped down on Nexxa’s right. “You two are a problem. My sister’s going to be incensed at whatever you did to the valley. Sets my teeth on edge.”
“You always come interrupt people when they’re having private conversations?” I asked, giving him my best glare. Just ‘cause I was helping his great-grandkids didn’t make him less of a jerk.
“Not that private when it’s out in public next to the biggest mana anomoly this side of the Everstorm.” As if to prove his point, Starbreaker gestured towards a group of Untethered flying by on their gliders overhead.
“Conversations in public places can be private. Especially if the people holding them are miles from anyone else. It’s implied.”
“What Per Per said.”
“Eh, guess you shouldn’t talk about things that’ll get my attention then. Powerful time dilation and oath modification aren’t the sorts of gossip I’m used to being subjected to. It was almost pleasant.”
I grimaced at that. He kinda had a point. If someone had been talking about similar subjects in public, it would’ve got my attention too.
Doubt I would’ve inserted myself into the conversation though… Probably.
Damn. I totally would’ve.
“Aren’t you Djinn-soul? Why would your sister be so impressed by Per Per.” Yes. Thank you, Nexxa.
Starbreaker copied Nexxa from earlier, picking up his own stone and throwing it out across the valley. Once more my hair went fluttering as we all waited for it to land. Despite the distance, the splash was visible. Showoff.
Brushing his sleeves, he shrugged. “It might surprise you, but not every mage is equally capable in all areas. Particularly not those who’ve reached Djinn-souled. Even for my sister, who’s spent the last century trying to squeeze every extra second out of every day, a forty times dilation that can support others would be… impressive.”
Much as I hated the false credit, there was no way I was informing the man of how I achieved such a strong dilation. Not that I’d want to live through the experience again. Taking Conflict’s non-dauntless trials again had been relaxing, even if the benefits were negligible in comparison.
“If Per Per can do it, it’s not that impressive,” Nexxa said, throwing another rock forward.
“Thanks Nex,” I said, rolling my eyes.
Starbreaker snorted. “Some advice, kids. Don’t let what you’ve got here die. Keeping friendships as you ascend… well, that’s rarer than a Dragon.”
A shadow passed overhead, blotting out the stars. Nexxa and I exchanged a glance, then started laughing.
“Something amusing?” Starbreaker asked, arching his eyebrow at us.
“Oh. We had a surprise reserved for dinner. But with the distraction, we ended up not sharing it.”
“Why do I feel as though this is somehow worse than what I overheard you discussing earlier?”
A thud from behind us punctuated Starbreaker’s question.
Once more, Nexxa and I started laughing as Starbreaker turned around. He found himself staring blankly when he came face to face with Bahama, who blotted out the entire sky as she spread her wings.
Despite claiming she was going to test me, the dragon had mostly just been hanging around eating our food. Still, as a minor favor, to repay our hospitality, she’d agreed to show up to our negotiations partway through. Right after the main course. And while she wouldn’t speak in support of us, she’d been totally on board with throwing her weight around.
With dinner going off the rails as much as it had, we’d somewhat spoiled her fun.
As Bahama flicked Starbreaker out across the lake with her tail, I couldn’t help but think she’d really wanted to throw her weight around.
Even if this time it’d be a bit more literal.