Libriohexer ~ 29!

Fingers of purple and gold were peeking over the horizon by the time Sam and Bill got back to the Irondown burrows. They swung by the barracks and found the beds full with snoozing bodies, all except for Kai. That guy was a rockstar of self-discipline. Not even a long night of hard partying would keep him from his morning yoga routine.

Sam hadn’t slept a wink, and though his body insisted he pass out face down on his bunk without so much as taking off his boots, his brain was too excited for sleep. He knew that if he tried to take so much as a power nap, his internal monologue would be nattering at him incessantly. If his internal monologue wasn’t up to the task, Bill certainly would be.

So, instead of hitting the hay like any sane person, Sam splashed a little water onto his face in the bathing hall, then headed for the kitchen for a bite to eat and a small pot of highly caffeinated tea. Octo-Chef whirled to life the moment he entered, and broke into impressively efficient motion as soon as Sam placed his order. Mechanical arms cracked oversized eggs into a sizzling hot frying pan, others diced precooked chicken into small cubes, and a third whipped up a creamy hollandaise sauce, all while the chef brewed a strong pot of burbling black tea.

Watching the android work never failed to impress. With a breakfast sandwich in one hand and a steaming cup in the other, Sam made his way to the Husbandry-Pen-turned chicken coop. He let himself in through the iron gates only to be hailed by a flurry of happy clucks and flapping chicken wings. Even though most everyone else was asleep, his formidable chicken army was already up and busy.

The mechanical chicken keeper was zipping through the pen, sprinkling fresh hay along the floor and harvesting large brown eggs, which it stored in its belly—ready for eating or selling. Many of the hens loitered in their hatcheries, but a legion of fluff ball chicks scampered around the pen, chirping happily under the watchful gaze of the Brood Matriarchs.

Floof had grown significantly even in the span of a few days’ time. She now stood as tall as Sam, with wings that looked like they belonged to a California Condor and legs as thick as a horse’s. Her fiery gaze softened the second Sam and Bill appeared. She dropped whatever she’d been doing before and rushed them like a velociraptor ready to eviscerate him with her formidable talons. But at the last minute, she slammed into Sam like an overgrown puppy, nuzzling his chest fiercely and chirping love songs at Bill.

“Yeah, yeah,” the book groaned in faux-grumpiness. “It’s good to see you too, Floof. Looking better than ever.”

She clucked at him and dropped her head. Blaze was slower to approach, naturally deferring to the Prime Matriarch, but still interested in getting a few head pats. Although Sam would have to be a little more cautious about patting her in the future. She hadn’t gotten any bigger since the last time he’d seen her, but her plumage had changed. Her rear tail feathers were no longer just reddish in color; they tapered at the end, transforming from feather to actual golden flame. Thin plumes of smoke drifted up, and glittering embers rained down when she moved. Those embers didn’t set anything on fire, but they certainly gave Sam pause.

“Celestial Feces,” Bill snorted when he saw her, “I think our chicken has a smoking problem. Should we get her into counseling?”

Sam facepalmed even though he knew it only encouraged Bill. “Not sure counseling’s going to help with that.”

The bird came up on Sam’s right, dipping her head low then scooping his hand onto her beak. She cooed happily. Tentatively, Sam ran his palm along her silky plumage, pausing only a moment before brushing his fingers through the tongue of flame. They felt warm to the touch, but didn’t so much as single his skin. If anything, they were soothing.

“On a serious note,” Bill flew a little closer, but still well away from the flames, “what’s happening to her? I’m not really an expert on chickens, but I’m ninety percent certain they aren’t normally on fire unless they’re roasting over an open flame.”

Sam pursued his lips as he stroked Blaze with one hand and Floof with the other. “Well, they’re monsters, right? I mean think about the bunnies out in the wild areas. The longer they survive, the stronger they get. The bigger they get, and the more they change. These things aren’t any different and I’m pretty sure they level up passively through eating and egg laying. They’ve been doing a lot of that. I think they’re evolving. It’s the only explanation.”

“Evolving into what? They’re chickens.”

“I guess only time will tell,” Sam murmured as he stroked the flame feathers. “Though I’m guessing they’re going to evolve a lot faster once we’re done with the binding.”

“Eh, about that. I’m still not so sure this is what anyone would call a good idea. I mean, the idea of creating an Interspatial Library is awesome, but the idea of tying our collective soul to a bunch of chickens—even magical ones—seems, I dunno… demeaning, I guess? I’m a simple book really, all I want is fame, power, knowledge, money, and the adoration of the masses. Seems like this will make people look down on us.”

“They won’t be looking down on us for long when Floof gouges their eyes out,” Sam offered with a shrug. “Besides, all of the pieces are adding up. Our conversation with Auntie Owl brought us here, and what are the chances that we met with an old friend of yours who knows how to spilt our core in order to bond with a bunch of lesser monster cores? This is a jigsaw puzzle, and we finally have all the pieces.”

“Yeah, but there’s no going back from this, you know that right?” Bill’s words were more statement than question. “Are you sure I can’t persuade you to walk this back a few steps and maybe try for Biblio Blade instead? We’d make a great Paper Samurai. Eventually. Assuming you could master the foot work.”

“Sorry, Bill. This is what I want, but…” Sam faltered and glanced at the floating book. “But it’s not just about me. This is your core too. You heard the Bakkuo, we both need to be of one mind to accomplish this. If you really hate this idea, I’ll reconsider. We’re partners. Either we’re going to forge this new path together, or we won’t do it at all.”

Bill was silent before begrudgingly agreeing. “Fine… let’s become Soul BFFs with a bunch of cluck heads. This is probably a terrible choice, but who knows. Maybe not. Like I always say, there’s a fine line between crazy and genius. I’m too egotistical to think anything I do is crazy, which only leaves genius on the table.”

Sam nodded and sat cross legged on the floor. He smiled and patted at his knee, calling the two massive chickens over to his side. With confused clucks they plopped down beside him, Floof on his left, Blaze on his right. Sam wrapped an arm around each of them and felt their feathers envelope him like a goose-down blanket. Their warmth was a comfort and he felt oddly at peace about this decision, even knowing what they were about to attempt was insane—and those were the Bakkuo’s words. So many things could go wrong, and if even one of them did, it would be the end of his path as a mage.

“Let’s take it nice and easy,” Bill muttered as Sam closed his eyes and cycled mana through his core in a rhythmic hum.

Sam breathed deeply—in through the nose and out through the mouth, just the way Kai taught him—and focused on the thump of his heart and the air rushing through his lungs. Fear and doubt warred with each other in the back of Sam’s mind, but he knew those emotions were anathema to his purpose. If he doubted or faltered, it could undo everything. According to Bakkuo, the key to success was utter confidence and complete mastery of self. Sam banished his nagging fears.

Everything had guided him here, to this time and place and circumstance. This was meant to be. The dominions had all been carefully arranged and now, all he needed to do was push over the first one and start the cascade.

Finally centered, Sam envisioned his core.

In an instant, he stepped into the Soul Chamber that contained his power. His core was far smaller than it had been before, refined by the process of advancement. Floating in the air was a dollop of shimmering mercury, no larger than a penny, and swirling around it like a beautiful halo was a gaseous cloud of white, gold, and opal. Tendrils of gas snaked away from his core, disappearing into the yawning tunnels that connected to this central chamber. Those were visible representations of his mana channels. One thin tether also zigzagged away from the circle of quicksilver, connecting to a secondary ball of swirling, golden energy.

That was Bill’s core, connected to his own by an immutable mana bond.

Stepping out from behind the secondary core was a Bill, decked out in his ridiculous frilly outfit—foppish hat perched on his head at a rakish angel, his sword quill at his side.

“If we’re going to do this thing, we better get busy. Assuming my buddy is right, this could take a while.” Bill extended his hand and conjured a three-legged stool and a mahogany desk, heavy laden with ink wells, parchment, and quills. He took a seat with a groan and began working his way through the binding spell the Bakkuo had taught them. Sam conjured a seat and desk of his own and did the same, carefully working through the spell script, which was ridiculously complicated. In theory, Sam could’ve used Auto-Writing and Transcription Twining to move the process along more quickly, but he didn’t dare.

This was a new spell form, and one that he was unfamiliar with. Making a single mistake inside his Soul Chamber could have devastating consequences, and compounding that mistake ten-fold could break his core irrevocably. Still, it went faster than normal since they never had to worry about running out of ink or parchment, mostly because none of it was real. This was a place of the soul and imagination.

The spell forms they were making didn’t actually exist. The scrolls were simply a mental manifestation of his intention; a crutch designed to help Sam channel and manipulate the vast flows of mana that would be required to first shatter his core and then reassemble those shards into something new and whole.

He and Bill worked in silence for the next hour, and then came the utterly tedious work of covering the walls of the cavern with the spell scrolls. He and Bill hung each sheet like wallpaper, canvassing every square inch with carefully overlapping pages until they had a mosaic of parchment. It was a time-consuming endeavor, true, but this was actually the easy part. Once they were finally finished with the task, it was time for phase two: tethering the other two monster Cores to his own, just as he’d done when he first bonded with Bill. Thankfully, he wouldn’t be doing that part alone.

Bill would forge the bond with Blaze, while Sam would confront Floof.

Sam focused on his left hand, feeling Floof’s warmth and the silky feel of her feathers. He tapped into his Core, sending a thread of mana coursing through his channels and down his arm. He pressed his palm flat against Floof’s chest, feeling the thump of her heart and the gentle throb of her beast Core. He homed in on that and forced the mana flowing along his arm into the creature. The enormous chicken stirred uncertainty—trying to connect with her Core was like trying to walk through a bog filled with knee-high quicksand. Every inch was a battle that sapped his strength and the only thing that kept him moving forward was sheer force of will.

After a time, the resistance lessened than dissipated entirely like a thick fog being burned away under the light of a new day. He blinked his eyes as he found himself in a Soul Chamber very different from his own. He wasn’t in a cavern, but a giant nest—the walls built from woven hay, tall grass, and tree limbs. The floor was also made with twigs and debris but was liberally coated with metallic feathers in all hues. Sitting in the center of the nest was Floof’s Core. Naturally, it looked like an enormous chicken egg. The egg had a translucent shell and inside was a swirling universe of blues and blacks, littered with sparkling motes of light.

It was one of the most beautiful things Sam had ever seen. Like peering at the spiral arm of a far-off galaxy. The egg-core wasn’t the only thing in the room.

The floor rattled and rumbled as a creature emerged from one of the many mana channels that connected to the central nest. It was Floof—or, at least, a version of Floof. Perhaps this was how Floof saw herself. She dwarfed Sam, her body long, serpentine, and graceful. Not a chicken so much as a dragon covered in metallic plumage. She stalked forward on powerful hind legs, while her enormous wings were tucked up against her sides. Instead of tail feathers, she had a lashing tail covered in spikes. She canted her oversized head and stared at Sam with the golden eyes of a predator, nestled back in a reptilian face.

In biology, Sam had learned that there was one theory that suggested that dinosaurs hadn’t entirely disappeared, but rather had evolved into modern birds. Floof was like that but in reverse.

In her soul, she was a Dino-Chicken… and she was terrifying.