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Selective near-instantaneous memory editing upon self!
Committed chakra: 32/198
Nightmare Remover Granted!
Cost 1
Remaining free chakra: 33/198
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Don’t have to answer specifically to fill my friends in,
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The Grach halted next to a doorway that, unlike many others inside the fortress, had actual doors. They looked new, made of bronze, and looked heavy.
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The two turtle-like humanoids took hold of each handle and pulled. It wasn’t easy; Rusty marked how they braced themselves, and the play of muscles in their ludicrously thick arms. And indeed, when the doors opened up, he saw they were inches thick of solid metal.
But all that ceased to matter, as the satyr who was busy sorting out various items in the middle of the room looked up, did a double-take, and leaped to her hooves.
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Fortunately, he’d restored his total recall, and flawless memory moments ago. “—Tan the Merill Jannesiva Dok! I… we. We could hug you!”
She threw up one hand in the universal symbol of stay the hell back, growled and started to pull her knife with the other, but both were interrupted by the squealing form of Rusty’s sister charging past him, and practically tackling the satyr into a hug.
Ran shot him look that said this was nowhere near done, and embraced Beth right back. Then she let go, pointedly turned her back on Rusty, and walked across the chamber, arm around Beth’s shoulders, as Beth filled her in on everything that she’d evidently missed that day.
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This room was the armory of the fort. Weapons, armor, and magical things were kept here. And since the Lion was needed on the Western front, Rusty would get his pick of any equipment he pleased to help him on his journey. As would his friends and sister, who absolutely refused to let him go alone.
The room looked rather more barren than he’d imagined in his mind’s eye, really. Fairly empty stone shelves and opened chests and crates held a few items here and there, breaking up the bare stretches of space. Some bundles of arrows, a few unstrung bows. Long spears hanging next to empty brackets, a few salvaged swords that had the mark of the Unicorn filed off. There was armor on stands, but most of it was tattered, patched, bloodstained, or all of the above.
But the plinths held the magical items. Charms in cases, and right in the center…
Runes. Familiar looking ones. These were the crystals that had been growing out of the Lion’s corpse, back in the main hall. He recalled the satyr, Omen, taking his leave and directing a few Grach to haul the Lion’s corpse away. He guessed they must have separated the runes from the dead flesh somehow. Or did they? Each crystal was growing out of a small clay pot now, and morbidly he wondered if some remnant of the Lion’s body had been carved out to feed the crystals.
The Lion opened his mouth.
I’d rather not know,
The Lion shut his mouth.
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The satyr girl stuck a hand in Rusty’s face. “Lay guilt upon this juvenile, then! He’s the individual who hexed my thinking engine in the interests of expedient linguistical shenaniganry!” She lifted her finger, and stuck her tongue out at Rusty. “Then I found my posterior in an exceptional mountain of trouble for NOT archerering him when I was afforded the opportunity. But THEN it turned out to be acceptable because he is the host to the Lion. So you can see the conundrums of complication that he has vexed upon mine horns.”
Rusty had tuned out, realized he was fading a bit. But thanks to total recall, he could sort of stay on track. “I’m supposed to decide who gets what runes?” he asked.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
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Ran squinted at him. “Absent is the royal ‘we’? Curious.”
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Beth glared at him. “Rusty Carl Colfax! I didn’t come here to NOT save you! You need all the help you can get, and if you get killed here I’m not going to go back and tell Mom and Dad AND Cyrus that I could have saved you with magic but you wouldn’t LET ME HAVE ANY!” By now she was shaking her finger in his face.
Rusty looked to the others, helpless.
Ran was grinning. Ken was stepping back, his hands held up. Alice was grinning.
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Rusty wondered. He’d done what he could to mitigate the pain of the third.
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She frowned. “Arrangements?”
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The Lion moved around the runes, pointing with the muzzle-like part of his face. “That dull brown one is ‘apathy.’ This sparkling, translucent rune is ‘viable.’ The multicolored rune is ‘butterfly.’ The steel-colored one here, is ‘obstacle.’ The white one is ‘circle.’ And the bright glowing golden rune is ‘flash.’
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The other penny dropped. “You had six runes?” Rusty said, amazed. Given how the pain had ramped up with each successive one…
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Rusty had wondered why the Lion’s humanoid body had been so misshapen, so large. The guy was practically an ogre out of the old myths and legends. “Okay. I don’t think we’ll be giving anyone butterfly,” Rusty said, moving the pot with that rune out of the way.
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The children looked over the runes. Rusty named each one, and Alice was the first to speak up. “I’m thinkin’ ‘obstacle’ would go well with ‘gravel.’”
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Rusty passed it on. “This is the viable that means capable of life and growth.”
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Beth kicked him, Ken yelped, and Ran laughed. But he took the crystal, regardless.
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He hoped she did. That hope died as she shook her head, and leaned down to squint at the remaining runes.
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The Lion stirred, and gave a warning that Rusty passed on in his own words. “You can do that, but it gets real expensive without another rune involved. REAL expensive. So be careful, and get some practice on the trip to the west. Also he says you should probably get this one in your chest, not in your heart but close to it. Because you might only get one rune, so it’s good to put it centrally. It’s easier on your body that way.”
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She squinted harder, then nodded, and looked away. Not before he saw worry in her eyes, though. Rusty hugged her close, and after a second she patted his lower back until he let go.
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It was the ‘butterfly’ pot.
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The others laughed, as he picked it up. He was practically falling asleep on his feet, and hungry beyond reason.
One quick farewell to Ran, and a nod to the waiting Grach later, and he was on his way back up into the lodging part of the fortress.
They all had a long trip coming, but that would be tomorrow.
Time enough tonight for his friends to suffer for power.