«Oh really?» Taiven said challengingly, crossing her arms in front of her chest. «And what did this ‘vision’ of yours tell you about the job?»
«That it will be the death of you,» said Zorian bluntly. «And me as well, should I choose to follow you down there. Please, Taiven, I know it sounds ridiculous, but I’m serious about this. The visions are rarely as clear as they were this time around. I won’t go down into the sewers and you shouldn’t either.»
As seconds ticked past in silence, Zorian began to think she would actually listen to him. This impression was destroyed when she suddenly started laughing.
«Oh, Roach, you almost had me there!» she wheezed, breaking into uncontrollable chuckles after every couple of words. «Visions from the future… Roach, you have the funniest jokes. You know, I missed that quirky sense of humor of yours. Remember… remember that one time you pretended you were asking me out?»
How Zorian stopped himself from physically recoiling at that he would never know. She just had to mention that, didn’t she? He forcefully pushed away the memories of that particular evening, determined not to dwell on it.
«Yeah,» said Zorian emotionlessly. «What a funny guy I am.»
Why was he trying to save her again?
«So…» she said, finally getting her giggles under control. «How did you know I was coming?»
«Hi R—» Taiven began, only to stop when she saw his vacant, hollow expression. «Whoa, Roach, what the hell happened to you?»
Zorian kept staring off into space for a few more moments before shaking his head, as if to clear his thoughts a little.
«Sorry,» he said in a subdued voice, motioning her to get inside. «I just had an extremely vivid nightmare tonight and I didn’t get much sleep.»
«Oh?» Taiven said, collapsing on his bed like usual. «What about?»
Zorian gave her a long look. «Actually, you were in it.»
Taiven stopped fooling around and gave him a shocked look. «Me!? Why the hell would I be in your nightmare? You’d think a beautiful girl like me would automatically make for a pleasant dream! Now I got to know what it was about.»
«I was walking through the sewers with you and some other two guys I never met,» began Zorian in a haunted tone, «when we were suddenly set upon by a swarm of giant spiders. There… there were so many of them… They just swarmed over us and started biting and…»
He took a couple of deep breaths, pretending to be on the verge of hyperventilating, before finally calming down.
«I’m sorry, it’s just… it was so real, you know?» he said, giving Taiven the most vacant stare he had. After a few moments he looked down on his trembling hands and balled them up into fists in a very visible motion. «I’m sorry, it’s just… it was so real, you know? The feeling of their fangs sinking into my skin, the poison coursing through my veins like liquid fire… they didn’t even kill us in the end, they just wrapped us in spider silk and dragged our paralyzed bodies off to their lairs to feed upon later. Such a horrid, vivid vision — I don’t think I’ll ever look at a spider in the same light again.»
Taiven shifted nervously where she sat, looking extremely uncomfortable and vaguely ill.
«But it was just a nightmare,» Zorian said in forced cheer. «To what do I owe this visit, anyway? Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?»
«N-No!» Taiven blurted out, a nervous laugh escaping her lips. «I just… I just stopped by to have a chat with one of my friends, that’s all! How has life been treating you anyway? Aside from the whole… nightmare… thingy…»
She found an excuse to leave in a matter of minutes. He would later find out she went into the sewers anyway and never came back.
«Spiders?» asked Zorian, doing his best to appear alarmed. «Taiven, don’t you listen to rumors from time to time?»
«Umm… I’ve been pretty busy lately,» Taiven chuckled awkwardly. «Why, what do the rumors say?»
«That there are some mind magic using spiders prowling the city sewers,» Zorian said. «Word is the city is trying to root them out, but the creatures are evading them thus far. They’ve been trying to suppress the information, since it would make them look incompetent and all that.»
«Wow, good thing I talked to you then,» Taiven said. «I never would have thought to put a mind ward on myself before going down otherwise.»
«You’re still going down there!?» Zorian asked incredulously. «What makes you think this mind ward of yours is enough?»
«Mind magic is a subtle thing,» Taiven said. «It uses tiny amounts of mana in very sophisticated ways, which makes it easy to counter with brute force. So long as you know in advance you’re going to face a mind mage, it’s easy to make yourself effectively immune. Trust me, now that I know what to expect from those crawlies, I won’t fall for their tricks.»
Zorian opened his mouth to protest, but then reconsidered. Was Taiven right? Maybe he was looking at things from the wrong perspective. He was trying to get Taiven to survive, which didn’t necessarily mean stopping her from going into the sewers.
«I guess,» he finally conceded. «But I won’t be going with you.»
«Oh, come on!» Taiven protested. «I can totally keep you safe!»
«Nope,» Zorian insisted. «Not happening. Find someone else to go with you.»
«How about—»
«No fighting,» Zorian interrupted. «Look, there is no way to talk me into going along with this. Do tell me how the whole thing turns out afterwards, though. I don’t want to have to check to see if you survived.»
She actually did visit him a few days later, telling him the sewer run was a failure as far as finding the watch went, but that nothing attacked them either.
Huh. Maybe Benisek was onto something when he spoke so highly about the power of rumors and gossip.
Zorian’s eyes abruptly shot open as a sharp pain erupted from his stomach. His whole body convulsed, buckling against the object that fell on him, and suddenly he was wide awake, not a trace of drowsiness in his mind.
«Good morning, brother!» an annoyingly cheerful voice sounded right on top of him.
«Good morning, Kiri!» yelled Zorian back, engulfing the shocked Kirielle into a hug. «Oh what a wonderful, wonderful day this is! Thank you for waking me up, Kiri, I really appreciate it! I don’t know what I would do without my wonderful little sister.»
Kiri wriggled uncomfortably in his grasp, not used to receiving such a gesture from him and unsure how to react.
«Who are you and what did you do to my brother!?» she finally demanded.
He just hugged her tighter.
«Something I can do for you, sonny?» asked Kyron. «The class has been dismissed, in case you haven’t noticed.»
«Yes, I’ve noticed,» Zorian confirmed. «I just wanted your advice about something, if you can spare the time.»
Kyron impatiently gestured him to get to the point.
«I was wondering if you knew any means of countering mind magic,» Zorian said.
«Well, there is your basic mind shield spell,» Kyron said carefully. «Most mages agree that’s all you need as far as mind magic protection goes.»
«Yes, but that spell is a bit… crude,» Zorian said. «I’m looking for something more flexible than that.»
«Crude, yes,» Kyron agreed, suddenly becoming more interested in the conversation. «Often useless, too. A simple dispel is enough to strip the protection off the target, and a proper mind mage will ensnare your mind before you even realize you’re being targeted.»
«Then why do most mages think it suffices?» asked Zorian.
«You know why most mind magic is restricted or forbidden?» Kyron asked. It was a rhetorical question, apparently, because Kyron immediately launched into an explanation. «It’s because it’s most commonly used to target civilians and other mostly defenseless targets. Most mind mages are petty criminals that use their powers on the weak-willed, and cannot be called a master of anything, let alone mind magic. It’s rare for mages to encounter mind mages that know how to use their powers properly. Still, even a moderately talented mind mage can easily ruin your life, to say nothing of magical creatures with mind-affecting powers on their disposal. There are methods of dealing with mind magic without resorting to warding spells, but most find it easier to practice mind shield until it’s completely reflexive and they can cast it on a moment’s notice. Or just carry a spell formula for the spell on their person at all times.»