Jennifer Jones
Stories
4
Chapters
1,292
Words
687.3 K
Comments
0
Reading
2 d, 9 h
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Tala waited just within the Constructionist Guild for one of the two Archons she was seeking a meeting with. She stood in the entry hall, specifically not looking towards the waiting room, from which she could easily detect the smell of fresh coffee, if only faintly. Her eyes flicked to the side, glancing over and taking in the earthenware mugs set out for easy use. Tala resolutely turned away. A change of air currents, likely due to open entryway behind her, brought a particularly strong waft of…-
211 •
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Tala was excited to test out the iron salve improvement, which is why she’d asked how much it cost. “Half a gold per gallon.” He handed over the test vial, complete with little brush mounted to the lid, just like the glue she’d used to protect her palms for the application of her iron salve. “It is a bit more expensive than the salve I made for you last time, yes.” Though, as she thought about it, all the bars she’d purchased together would likely have been less than a gallon. The paint…
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211 •
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Tala had a lot of time on her hands, unexpectedly. She was used to sleeping later, at least until morning was near at hand. As she stood outside the Constructionist Guild, on dimly, but sufficiently, lit streets, the question was, what now? She could find a place to train, or a place to anchor Kit, and train in there. She could… Her head twinged with ignored pain, and her stomach rumbled. She was walking through the virtually deserted city streets, aimlessly searching for an open restaurant. She…
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211 •
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Tala looked at the new door out of the room. She then looked back to Boma, as he held out a slate to her for confirmation of the work done, and her payment therein. She fuzzily confirmed the transaction, still awed by the nearly entirely ordinary seeming door. “So, this is what it allows?” Boma froze, tablet halfway withdrawn after she’d touched it. “Excuse me?” Tala sighed and waved at the door. “This is what the fascia allows, then?” He slowly finished pulling back the empowered…
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211 •
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Tala told the tale of her interactions with the Culinary Guild in about fifteen minutes, during which Rane and Lyn were consummate listeners, never interrupting and paying rapt attention. In truth, Tala felt there really wasn’t much to tell, but she humored them nonetheless. Lyn and Rane then peppered her with questions for the remainder of their time. They dug deeper into the situation that Tala thought was warranted, as it seemed pretty cut and dry, in her opinion. Rane, in particular, seemed…
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211 •
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Tala, Rane, Lyn, and Terry entered the Archon compound, and Tala immediately felt a difference. It was subtle, likely something that she only noticed because of her heightened mage-sight. The power within the building was held on a much shorter leash, as it were. Even the little magic in the air was all claimed by various spell-forms, in one way or another. Honestly, it felt like Makinaven, but where that city had had a single, unified overlord, this felt like a patchwork of authorities overlapping one…
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211 •
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Tala and Rane walked over to one side of the Mages’ training area and through a door before walking up a flight of stairs to a small room that overlooked the private arena. There were a few seats set up so that people could watch the goings on, but neither of them sat. They stood and watched as another set of Archons fought, but Tala didn’t really register what was happening. Instead, she was waiting for Rane to say something. He obviously would, at some point. So, what did she want? But she…
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211 •
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Tala sat in the lap of a giant, the comfiest chair in the world. Before her, a book lay open, a massive finger pointing at funny black lines. A steady cadence of sound washed over her, and though she couldn’t understand it, yet, she knew it had meaning. More than anything, she knew that she was happy to be here, held by the giant, safe, loved. * * * Tala came out of her memory, cheeks damp and eyes swimming. Tala grimace. There was silence for a long moment, to the point that Tala thought that…
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211 •
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Tala and Lyn sat in the park nearest to the cheesy little caravan restaurant. Blessedly, that place seemed to keep odd hours. Lyn had been a bit cold, but Tala had produced a couple of blankets to put down on the bench, and then pulled out the massive bearskin to enshroud them as they ate. Terry curled up between them, on the blanketed bench, content simply to sleep. Even so, the night was getting chilly, so Tala had used her hot air incorporator to complete the bastion in the snow. Lyn had laughed at…
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211 •
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Tala frowned, forcing her thoughts in order against the subtle push from outside. That was a solid plan. The other her had noticed the influence, and she only had access to the same senses as Tala, herself. She delved through herself with her mage-sight and as she concentrated on her mind, she was able to see ripples of magic slowly moving through it. A weaker, but more precise one acting internally seemed to be coming from the inscriptions at the base of her neck and in her right breast. But then,…
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211 •
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