Changeling (94): Stranger

Nestra woke up to the sounds of distant battle. She stood up in a rush, only to overshoot and almost plant her forehead in a branch. Her panicked brain latched on the relaxed shape of Sereth sitting in lotus position over a lush carpet nestled under a magnificent tent not ten ters away from her improvised moss bed. A fire burnt, carrying a peculiar wood sll the scents of roasting at. The air was blessedly devoid of flying critters.

Safe. For now.

“Gah, I hate surprises,” she grumbled.

Sereth nodded as he sipped from a tiny plate. His massive Aszhii form gave the entire setting an exotic vibe even before the quiet ambient mana reminded her of where she was.

An alien world. She had created her first portal.

She had left Earth behind.

“What’s happening?” she asked.

“An intrepid trader detours to a fated demise. Trapped! Predated upon!” Sereth enunciated in English with obvious pleasure, his tongue rolling on every consonant.

“Should have beco a journalist,” Nestra grumbled.

“One day we may achieve poetry.”

He was in a good mood.

“Right. So, soone is dying?” Nestra asked.

Sereth took another sip.

“Likely.”

“Well,” Nestra replied, a little hesitantly. “I want to see. Unless there are risks?”

Sereth shook his head.

“Not here.”

Nestra took off. This world’s forests were strange. There were indeed flying critters but the trees were all squat and bulbous under the thick moss. It was as if soone had taken a normal Earth forest and then made it go through a chubbification filter. The higher gravity might have sothing to do with that, now that she thought about it. The battle had chased every other animal away so it didn’t take long until she found herself on a branch overlooking a cleared strip of land snaking through the forest, following a placid river. Seven large carts were grouped in a tight circle on the other side, with two laggards gutted alongside their passengers and beasts of burden farther off to the left. The defenders were clearly intelligent creatures who fought with an assortnt of spears and hooked polearms, with so using short blades. After an instant, Nestra realized the short blades were, in fact, parts of the creatures’ anatomy. They were humanoid with short and massively stout chest covered in thick hides of earthy colors. Garish paint covered the skin of the largest specins up to their flat faces and forward facing horns. Only the large ones had blades on one arm while the smaller ones, back on the carts, were much thinner with longer arms. The warriors fought in tight formation, a group of D-class infantry backing one she believed to be a C-class warrior of good skill. He was the only one wearing armor, a sort of gray plate that didn’t look like it was made out of tal. Interestingly, mana flashed on occasion to form a shield that pushed back the monsters, fed from the painting — or tattoos maybe — shining in the morning light. The intelligent beings fought fiercely with fast and decisive movents.

By comparison, the monsters were buff hyenas showing a really wide array of minor alterations: so had scales, so had fur, so had two tails or longer ones, or spiked ridges, and their sizes mostly varied between Labradors and lions on steroids. Their attacks were almost coordinated as the defense, showing those were native lifeforms with self-preservation instincts. The smaller creatures circled and harried the formation, jumping in and trying to flank the circle while the heavier ones, led by a single creature as large as a rhinoceros, just kept the C-class busy. They were patient and clearly used to taking down larger prey.

All of this, Nestra took in in less than a second. Sereth appeared by her side.

“They’re going to get eaten,” she comnted.

She felt Sereth shrug.

“Probably.”

“Unless I do sothing about it. Are there… rules?”

Sereth understood she was asking about the worlds in general. She knew many were connected and the Aszhii couldn’t be the only ones who knew how to exploit portal boundaries. Perhaps there were guidelines? Like a sort of Geneva convention? Sereth disabused that notion imdiately.

“Only the rule of the jungle. This region of the universe isn’t all that threatening although you should expect third and fourth ascension nobility, but this is the boonies. Nothing can challenge us. I will warn you if we start encroaching upon known empires where it is wiser to hide.”

“There are empires then?” Nestra asked, watching the battle enfold.

She realized they were talking at B-class speed. Riel, that was so weird. She could feel the rest of her body struggle to keep up with her nervous system. The imbalance wasn’t uncomfortable but it did feel limiting.

“Yes,” Sereth replied. “The kind of civilizations that cross bridge worlds to invade and enslave, or exterminate, the newly included species. They span many worlds. They also tend to be touchy about territory and then we have to carve bloody paths. I prefer to hide myself instead.”

“Hm. Is it ok if I intervene?”

Sereth smiled a little sadly.

“I wouldn’t risk it if it were just ,” Nestra protested.

“You would definitely consider it. I do not bla you, Nestra. Just rember: to them, you are an alien of a kind they have never t before. At least as long as you haven’t created a mask. By the way those are Ogol and the ones in the cart belong to the crafter caste. And by the way, I an this in a biological sense. They move towards one or the other during their puberty.”

“Alright.”

Nestra dropped from the branch. As she fell, she considered her options.

She could go as an Aszhii and be done in very short order. The lead monster and a couple others were C-class but the rest was D-class with even a few dokkaebi. Honestly it was just over kill.

But she hadn’t really tried her human C-class form. And that would be a fair and interesting fight.

Fuck it. Might as well give it a go. She put her mask on and thought she might have heard Sereth laugh but that might have been her imagination. Pouring ice into her armor turned it into a spiky shell while she hit the ground running towards the point of contact. The Zero Aura turned the short grass brittle and white around her. Her first step on the river froze it completely around her, the ice spreading like paint thrown on a canvas.

A few of the combatants on both sides noticed her. The Ogol froze in surprise but the nearest hyenas imdiately charged her just as she expected: pack creatures would always hunt the isolated quarry first. The first smaller ones jumped on her from the shore. She drew and lunged in the sa fluid motion. The sharp Threshold-made blade pierced the beast’s scales. With a terrible choking sound, it fell in the calm water. Reddish foam surged as the wounded beast tried to escape the encroaching ice and its inevitable death. The other creatures sohow didn’t register that Nestra was using mana to stay afloat, and they went into the drink head on. That almost stopped Nestra.

Reminder to self: not suicidal didn’t an smart. In any case, she had an opening.

Nestra readied an ice spear then she threw it at the head creature as it charged the lead defender but her spell was slow and it avoided it easily. Nestra tsked.

What now? The monsters were avoiding her but only because of where she was. The Ogol might attack her if she approached. Even if they didn’t, she didn’t think she could work with them. Shinran’s training world discouraged trying to cooperate with unknowns on first contact in case miscommunication led to friendly fire. They were supposed to stay out of each other’s way, only fighting the sa enemy.

Nestra frowned. She could make herself simply too annoying to ignore. Walking upstream towards the monster-controlled spot, she readied another lance and fired it at the thick of the pack. It looked like she might miss again but the spear exploded, sending shards like shrapnel all around, wounding several of the beasts including one of the lesser C-class.

That was all Nestra needed. A thunderbolt found the fragnt embedded in the hyena’s flank, sending it to the ground with a pained yowl. It shuddered. Not dead but definitely out of the fight.

With a scream of outrage, the alpha charged her. Nestra carefully stepped back. She overloaded herself with electric mana.

The hyena jumped and attacked in the sa savage jump. Nestra used her superior speed to sidestep the body to the left, then pierced the flank. Her attack was too shallow and the beast’s mass almost tore her sword away from her hand. With surprising grace, the hyena lashed out with a paw swipe as it recovered on the ice. Nestra rolled with the blow.

She was sent careening on the icy surface, then into muddy waters, freezing the mont her body made contact. She erged from the newly ford iceberg with a crack and yell of anger only to realize the alpha was limping away, body wracked by her freshly discharged electricity and one paw ran through by half a dozen spikes. They’d detached from her armor.

The rest of the monsters imdiately fell back with it, leaving a handful of corpses and a lot of blood behind.

That was the difference between portal and native monsters. If a pack felt like it couldn’t take a fight, it backed off before being destroyed. Even then, the wounds on the leader might lead to starvation down the line.

Still a good victory.

She hadn’t gotten much power from the encounter but it had been fun and interesting anyway. It had also been her first fight alongside a presumably allied force and no one had shoved a halberd in her ass just yet so, all in all, very promising.

She turned towards the Ogol, still arrayed in their defensive formation. They had really flat faces and downward facing features that made them look sowhat between surprised and really, really disappointed clay carvings. From up close they were also short. Their eyes were rather large and mostly focused on her.

Nestra chanically cleaned her blade on her elbow joint, then popped all of the ice out. She hesitated to remove her helt. The Ogol leader was the first to act. He bowed and planted the blade on his left hand in the ground which might be a highly symbolic gesture. His right hand rested on his knees, stubby digits splayed out. Now what? Nestra wasn’t trained on first contact since Shinran’s training center had decided she should, ah, focus on her strengths.

Yeah, putting it like that sounded better.

Fortunately, Sereth intervened before she just basically waved and left. He crossed the plain and river wearing the guise of an old Ogol using a stumpy staff to move, his hide gray and mottled. Stones rose from the riverbed to accommodate each of his steps.

Sereth spoke in a guttural tongue peppered with clicks that vaguely sounded like soone with a sock in their mouth trying to pick up a peanut from a slippery bowl. The other Ogol leader replied in what might have been a reverent tone but, honestly, Nestra couldn’t tell at all. Eventually, Sereth made a last comnt and the battleline dissolved. The crafters took care of the wounded with slow, careful movent and so sort of herbal paste that instantly stopped bleeding. They moved almost tenderly while the soldiers moved very little. She was still observing their species when Sereth switched to English using a trick of gray mana to modulate his voice properly.

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“The Ogols are very big on honor. He just acknowledged a life debt to you. They consider it a very big deal.”

Ugh the last thing Nestra wanted was so poor sod trying to follow her.

“Does he know I’m an alien?” she asked.

“He’s not blind. It just doesn’t matter from an ‘honor’ perspective. The Ogol have contacts with other races so it’s not that big of a shock, but as I ntioned before, they’ve never t your kind.”

“I don’t think it would be a good idea to keep a life debt.”

The Ogol warrior waited, eyes veering from Nestra to Sereth. He looked surprised but, then again, he always did.

“Well he can keep a life debt or he could be dead with everyone under his charge, so I would say the change is to his advantage.”

Nestra huffed, then she had a look at his armor again.

Actually… but no it wouldn’t be serious. But if it worked…

“Can the Ogol drink alcohol?”

“Yes, like most mammal-adjacent species. It’s done for intoxication purposes… just like for most mammal-adjacent species.”

“Alright, then tell him I will consider his debt repaid if he honors with the highest form of respect.”

Sereth paused, which was telling.

“Which would be?”

Nestra told him. With admirable calm, Sereth replied in the exact sa flat tone as before.

“Nestra you are such a dick.”

The Ogol listened to her demand with, well, surprise. Probably.

“Goo..Eee?”

“Shoey.”

Sereth leaned towards Nestra.

“Do you even have —”

Nestra removed a white ceramic bottle with a bright red cap from her dinsion pocket. Sereth paused again, speechless.

“Why do you even have that?” he asked.

“I prepared a variety of gifts to trade favors with the covens. Assuming we two are representative of the species…”

“They will love it. Devious.”

“Now tell him to take off a boot.”

By then, the rest of the trade caravan was watching the proceedings with morbid fascination. With a hesitant hand, the Ogol leader pulled the chitin boot from his foot. An unpleasant odor added itself to that of blood and offal which was just part of the experience, really. Nestra carefully pulled the crimson stopper from the baiju bottle before pouring it in the offered chalice. The pungent stench of 53 proof liquor overwheld everything else. The Ogol’s face figuratively fell off. Behind him, a few of the other warriors shifted and a couple emitted a low, despondent growl.

Nestra rcifully only left the equivalent of two shot glasses at the bottom of the shoe. She poured herself a thimble in the stopper, opened her helt and threw it back to show it wasn’t pure poison. The potent wave of mana-infused alcohol carved a warm path down her throat.

It tasted vile but then, she found that every first shot of baijiu tasted vile before most of her tastebuds up and left for the night. Her victim shivered, lifting the fetid goblet to his lips.

“Shoey!” Nestra declared, thus sharing one of the pillars of Oceanian culture with another species.

“Goo… eee.”

The Ogol faced his fate with dignity. He stumbled, and so of the liquid dripped down his chin, but otherwise he managed fairly well. His thick throat bulged while he swallowed. Once he was done, he took a few steps back before allies ca to the rescue. They caught him under the arms.

“I accept your offering,” Nestra announced.

Then she banged her chest once in what she hoped wasn’t hostile. She turned around before the Ogol could change his mind but she suspected he wouldn’t. As she left, the rest of the Ogol ca to pat and comfort their leader after his terrible ordeal and selfless sacrifice.Sereth followed at a more sedate pace.

They managed to run all the way back to the tent before Nestra guffawed. Sereth slamd himself down onto one of the pillows, laughing all the way.

“Nestra you are a complete bogan. What have we done, unleashing you upon the many worlds? You nace.”

They both chuckled for a while. Sereth wordlessly shared so cooked at and for a while, they just rode the mood. Sereth turned serious while he poured both of them so tea from a bronze pot.

“Ah, I must be wary not to sound too familiar with you after we have headed back. The covens sotis take exceptions if male relatives try to sound a little too friendly with their sisters.”

“Well they can kiss my ass.”

“Or you can just tell them off I suppose. One more thing, you do realize you succumbed to hubris again?”

Nestra froze.

“Did I?”

“Not fully. You were aware of the dangers before revealing your presence, which is good, but if your purpose was to protect the Ogol, then using your true form would have been much faster and much safer. You just realized you would learn nothing and gain very little power, thus preferring your other form so you would face a challenge.”

Nestra tried to object but… he was right. Her first thought had been on how to make the fight interesting. A part of her whispered that she didn’t really care about the lives of the Ogol, that she’d helped them not to feel guilty but ultimately she didn’t give much of a shit, and that her enjoynt had co first.

She shrugged. Yeah, so what? They were still alive. She didn’t owe them anything.

If they had been human or Aszhii it would have been different, but they weren’t. And she was fine with that.

“With every ascension, hubris will have to be brought back under control. I still rember my fourth… everything had simply beco too weak to bother. I was badly hurt attacking a group of fourth ascensions during the previous war.”

“War?” Nestra asked.

Sereth hesitated, then he realized he was no longer bound by secrecy.

“The Aszhii went to war when I was very young, around two hundred years ago. I was on my third ascension when it started but I progressed before the end. The covens might tell you more, as they have seen more. If you are fine, we should be on our way.”

Nestra nodded. Even though Sereth was with her, she was feeling deeply nervous to have revealed herself. They finished eating, then packed up. Having a personal dinsional pocket was so insanely useful. Now nobody would ever steal and destroy her cured at ever again.

Opening another portal happened much the sa way as the previous ti. First she had to focus, then she spotted the yarn of intertwined strands of realities, slowly picked the deepest layer, and tried connecting to it. This ti, it worked, but by the ti she surfaced from her focus, she was still feeling like she’d been through an extra long rugby match playing as the ball. Sereth carried her through the murky tunnel, then through the exit and into a dark forest at night. Tall pines clung to a rocky ridge overlooking a desert of black sand. The moon here was large and shockingly white, shimring like a diamond in the starry sky. Distant figures slithered over the dunes. It was eerily quiet.

Sereth sat Nestra on a rock while he arranged his tent. She collapsed on the pillows with relief. A brief flash of mana made her look up: earth and sothing else.

Sereth’s hand blurred. An escarpnt the size of a small building exploded in a shower of rocks.

Things stayed still after that. Sereth served tea, then he and Nestra grilled food over the fire. There were local prickly fruits she tried to peel until Sereth reminded her she was very resilient. The spikes provided a nice, crunchy texture but just the principle of it made her a little queasy.

“I know for a fact humans eat small fish whole,” Sereth remarked. “If your kind eats bones like that, why would spikes be any different?”

“I know, I know, I just never did it. Do you eat turtles with the shells or sothing? Just because you can?”

The big lug shrugged.

“That sounds like an interesting idea. Maybe if they were stuffed…”

“Ugh forget it. I’ll just get used to it.”

After she ate and rested, Nestra felt like asking more questions. A lingering headache discouraged her from opening another portal again. She supposed they could stay there for a little while.

“How do you travel, then? I think I rember you told you could head ho by yourself?”

“Yes,” Sereth admitted. “All Aszhii can but it is extrely ti consuming. You know that worlds have depth?”

It was another Aszhii term that didn’t translate very well. Depth was the ‘elevation’ relative to the howorld, she knew, though elevation itself was a poorly picked term. the Aszhii depth only made sense to a people who could feel space instinctively.

“Yes.”

“We look for portal worlds bound to planets that are deeper than the one we are currently on, then we break through. Finding Earth again would be even more difficult. You do not need that. You rely find all connected worlds and pick the ones that fits the most. I heard that the older females can open a portal to any world from any other! Although… I am not sure.”

“So the portal-making power gets better?”

Sereth blanched. His long ears drooped a little.

“Ah, it is not my place to speak of coven matters, but I believe this counts as obvious knowledge, so yes. Of course. The female who brought to Earth didn’t get tired. She would open portal after portal.”

Sereth frowned.

“She wasn’t too friendly either. But, err, don’t tell them I said that.”

“My lips are sealed.”

Nestra was still feeling tired. Sereth was finally in the answering mood so she might as well push her luck.

“So, how many worlds are there?”

“We are not sure,” Sereth replied. “None of us really counted. It’s difficult to be sure after the first thirty thousand, according to the old ones.”

Nestra had to blink at that.

“Oh.”

“The difficulty is that, one, many worlds differ massively from one place to another and two, they can change between two visits. Two teams of fourth ascension warriors dishing it out can turn a tundra into a desert… or an ocean.”

“I see. I guess there is much to explore then.”

Sereth nodded with enthusiasm.

“And how many of those worlds are aware we exist?”

Sereth shrugged, the gesture strange on his massive fra.

“Most empires know about us. Many of the more advanced worlds do, too.”

“Are so species stronger than us? Individually speaking?”

Sereth laughed.

“What?”

“No, you are just so young and your questions are young too. Many species have an advantage with worlds naturally having high concentrations of ambient mana. Over the eons, things tend to… even out. It really is up to the person. Besides, have you forgotten? We are made from other species, so if one were that much more powerful there would just be many Aszhii made of them.”

“So no hegemonic power that dominates the universe?”

“No,” Sereth laughed. “Although many try! It is not so simple to open and keep connections open.”

“Alright. Next question. Are we at war? Do people sotis try to… invade us?”

“We cannot be invaded,” Sereth said with an amused smile “I would explain why, but I refuse to rob you of the experience of coming ho for the first ti. As for wars, it takes a lot to move us. Only those who aggressively go after our young, not just in their species, but everywhere else, can succeed in gathering enough attention. Then the females sing their wrathsongs, and then…”

Sereth’s expression grew distant, almost wistful. There was so sadness there at first, but then it faded and his face took on that specific, eager expression she associated with hubris. Oh, it looked like Sereth had had his fun indeed.

“So, that war?”

“I already told you. Ask the covens. They will tell the tale better than I ever could. Just know that such conflicts are rare.”

“Alright…”

They stayed silent for a while and Nestra started feeling better. Informing Sereth of this fact yielded a sharp answer.

“You will rest for the night. If you have not recovered tomorrow, we will remain in this world a while longer.”

Nestra nodded, then drifted off with her thoughts. Sereth took out a flute and played in the night, undisturbed. The delicate lody traveled over the rock, and the sand, without contest. Nestra decided to ditate a little to check her body. The imbalance felt as strong as before: her nervous system was a flashing beacon of magic in mostly the sa body. It was like a high-end processor in an antique machine. It limited what she could do.

That explained the difference between mature B-class like her parents and little babies like Ulysses and herself. She wondered how long it would take for her to gather enough mana to reforge another body part. Hopefully she would beat Ulysses then rub his face in her superiority. Gently, of course. Maybe send him a book on proper ditation techniques with the ancient ‘get good’ incantations handwritten on the cover. Her thoughts moved to the future. The imdiate one. A lull in the music gave her the opening she needed.

“So, hmm,” she started.

Sereth lowered the flute, as calm and reliable as ever.

“So… do you know what I should expect? Any rules I should follow? Anything I should know?”

Sereth laughed.

“Do not worry too much! The covens will welco you. If you were male then it would be either your relative or just a random group depending on where you are dropped.”

“Dropped?” Nestra asked, but Sereth ignored her.

“As for , I will talk to the covens, but then I need to report to our father.”

He raised his eyes to gauge her reaction. Nestra was fine. Sereth had used an Aszhii term that was a neutral way of saying, well, genitor. It was what their ‘father’ was and nothing more. The low anger she felt when thinking about him didn’t change the fact he was strong and Sereth had no way to refuse him.

“Is it… frequent? I assu he has a clan? I thought we were loners.”

“We are, but we sotis gather to make decisions. Occasionally, warbands must gather to accomplish certain complex tasks. Our father is quite good at that, so he has had so success. We soon return to our wandering ways but there is always a number of warriors ho he can call upon. He… did recruit among the more social races.”

He looked apologetic, as if it were his fault.

“I’m not going to shoot the ssenger, Sereth. I was just wondering if that ans we can travel again together. Sotis. If you want.”

“Of course!” he replied, lighting up like a Christmas tree. “There are no rules, Nestra. We can do what we want!”

“I have to get you back to Earth so you can engage in holy matrimony.”

Sereth coughed violently, then his ears fluttered like a weathervane in a hurricane.

“Better find a good ring because you have zero excuses to be cheap.”

“Yes! Yes! I promise.”

Nestra snickered, though it was without bite. They returned to a companionable silence.

“Don’t worry, Nestra,” Sereth repeated after a while. “Everything will be fine.”

But she had trouble believing him. Nothing had ever gone well without her stabbing sothing first.

***

They didn’t hurry the next morning as a bright red star turned the black dunes into a hellish landscape. It was a picturesque background for a hearty breakfast and Nestra had had a rather busy week. Once she felt ready, they packed up. Nestra sat on a rock and then it was on again.

This ti, when she opened her mind to the available worlds, she imdiately froze. Among the yarn there was an intruder, a single strand as black as the void between stars, like a poisoned dagger hiding in a pile of sticks. This was it. She didn’t need to think. It called to her with a song of ho. It was her destination. It was the Aszhii ho world.

She had never been so sure of it in her whole life. Opening the portal felt easy.

“Ah,” Sereth breathed with satisfaction.

This ti she managed to run with him. The walls of the portal were completely dark, the only visible shape the cerulean glow of the exit. With excitent, she pushed through. The portal swallowed her in and into complete, utter darkness.

Air left her lungs, a diamond powder that disintegrated into nothingness. She was floating. It was very, very cold here, yet oddly it didn’t seem to affect her. She tried to breathe and felt the extrely upsetting feeling of her lungs contracting to full emptiness.

There was absolutely nothing in front of her. Nothing at all. nothing up, down, left, or right, if that even ant sothing here. There was no gravity either.

She was in absolute nothingness. It was very disorienting. The human part of her scread in panic but the Aszhii was just… expectant.

Suddenly, there was montum. Not her ability, just movent. Very fast movent that pulled her from the back. Nestra yelped though she couldn’t hear any sound. Sothing pulled on her again, faster, so fast that she felt like she ought to break from the sheer speed, yet she didn’t. It didn’t prevent her from screaming though. A chi-like laugh rang in her mind, bypassing her ears. It was full of mirth and kindness. What had almost felt like an imminent death turned into a playful prank and a greeting. The emotion that ca was so full of joy, so innocent and pure that Nestra couldn’t fathom getting angry. She didn’t rember anyone being this happy to et her. Suddenly, ahead of her, she spotted Sereth. He, too, was moving, sotis only a dozen ters away and then an instant later, so far she could barely see him. Tens of kiloters away perhaps.

Her mind tried to think of a way to calculate the speed she was moving at but she gave up imdiately. Sereth finally approached, happy too. There was no mana here, yet she felt strangely energized, reinvigorated. It felt very much like taking a deep breath after too long under the water. It was pure portal energy. The zeta radiation had to be strong enough to kill a gleam instantly through a spacesuit.

Finally, Sereth stopped moving around. His smile was contagious.

“Who is that pulling ?” she asked.

Although she made no sound, Sereth understood her aning. Strangely, she could actually hear him when he spoke which… ought to be impossible? No air, no sounds, right?

“Grandmother Voidgale! She is always so happy to et newcors. Co on, it’s going to take a while. Relax! Enjoy the ride!”

“Where are we going?”

He pointed towards a single, distant white dot, the only source of light in this entire universe.

“Ho!”