PSTH: Chapter Thirty

Shade essence! Finally, we’re back in the category of reasonably named things. We’ll start with the first thing: shadows aren’t real. And that’s true if you’re removing essence from the equation. But shade essence is undeniably linked to shadows, and is one of the more conceptually grounded mage types. It has a few okay offensive and defensive spells, but its real utility shines in utility spells. Shade’s got it all! Walk through walls, layer curses on someone, or turn invisible, all this and more is the power of the shade! Though admittedly, if you’re a magian looking to access some of those spell forms, you’ll be required to register with your local community and greater government, at least here in Oceanseed, where I am, and I think it’s also true in many other spots? Anyways, let’s go back to the sheer utility of the shade type!

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Intro to the twelfth in a video essay series about essence types and their unique factors, 454 Modern-Era

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The following morning, I was forced to rise early and make my way to the train station. I sent a quick message to a bunch of people – my mom, Rane, Laurel, and more – to let them know where I was going, as well as when I’d get there, before scanning my augpad at the station and getting onto the lightning railway. The rail was reasonably clean and well kept, though there was the faint odor of urine clashing with the lemony burn of cleaner that it seemed like every train managed to accumulate. Still, the people who worked on the train were well paid to keep it clean, so the seats were all sanitized, and I took my window seat as people shuffled in. 

A few minutes later, the lightning enchantments on the train began to activate, and crackling blue light streaked down the side of the train. I felt a sharp draw on my anima, and allowed the power to flow from me. It joined with streams of essence from everyone else on the train as unawakened passengers pushed out what small strands of power they could manage while the tamers, primals, and magians donated more potent magic, where all of it was drawn forward. Though I was too far near the back of the train to sense the conversion, I knew that the engine room had a powerful converter built in, and the magical energy donated from everyone would be converted to lightning anima to power the enchantments. 

The train began to pull forward, moving slowly out of the station as it passed by the trees lining the center roads of the city, underneath the lucrim-powered loop on the outside of the city, and then out into the countryside. There it began to build up speed as the enchantments really started to kick in, and the landscape began to start to blur around me as we zipped along the tracks. I kept my eyes glued to the window basically the entire time, Scales sleeping at my feet and Hex curled up on my lap. 

The landscape changed, but it wasn’t as dramatic as the changes between the ocean and the approach into the city. There were still trees everywhere, with dotted villages and towns on the way, but the trees were largely the oak, maple, and poplar that were around the outside of Tourmaline. Just because they weren't different, though, didn’t mean that they weren’t beautiful. The leaves were a riot of yellows and reds, with the rich green of pine scattered throughout, and as the train zipped through the tracks it was like we were flying through a painting. 

One way the land did change as we moved was the stone and elevation. It was slow at first, with us slowly encountering more and more hills, before the hills slowly gave way to mountains, and those mountains revealed the sheer stone cliff. It wasn’t the same sharp, jagged peaks that belonged to the mountains well over a thousand miles west, but the slower, older, sloping mountains that had stood for countless eons, bearing the weathering of endless disasters and sheltered human life for at least fifteen thousand years. 

Many sections of these mountains had been torn apart by pre-magic and early post-magic cultures in the search for minerals at the cost of topsoil, and even now, there were sections where I could see the bare, exposed stone of the flattened land. Magic was a potent and amazing tool, but nobody’s resources were endless, and the restoration projects were slow, especially in places that were far away from people, and had already stood that way for centuries.

But it wasn’t all bad. Large swatches of the forests had grown back on their own, the massive towering ancient growth forests spreading their acorns and helicopter seeds over the wind and allowing the earth to regrow. It simply wasn’t everywhere.

After an hour and a little longer passed by, the train began to slow. It was gradual at first, but as we drew nearer and nearer to Arkose Town and the nature preserve there, we slowed to a crawl before eventually coming to a complete stop in the station. Despite the fact that everyone should have known the best way to exit was in an orderly line where people filed out, there was still a long, massive rush as people fought to be the first out of the train. With a sigh, I extricated myself from the weight of Hex and Scales before joining them a little late and working my way thought the crowd. For an instant, I thought that I saw a familiar form with long dark hair and lavender-eyes in the crowd, before he was gone. 

My mind must have been playing tricks on me. Sure, there was every chance that I’d encounter Gawain again, but it wouldn't be so soon. I pulled out my augpad, then texted Laurel and River, sharing my location. They shared theirs, and I slowly worked to make my way through the crowd and out onto the street. 

Once I was there, I had to stop for a moment, and simply take it all in. Arkose was a smaller town, old, having been established during the Obsidian King era, out of the remnants of something even older. Ancient stonework formed the foundation of many buildings, the mortar that had held it together repaired over countless years. With it not being a large city, the roads weren’t large enough to sustain orchards, so instead they had been converted from roads meant for massive machinery into a series of split paths for walking, running, and a small essence powered loop around the outside. There were still some fruit trees dotted along the pathways, and most of the open space was covered in a layer of detritus, freshly fallen golden leaves mixing with crunchy brown dried ones, vibrant red contributions from maples, with various acorns and winged maple seeds.

All around the town, the mountains loomed large. They were covered in greens and reds and browns and golds as well, but there was a mist that pervaded them, rising up out of the ground and creating an almost smoke-like effect. It was burning off now, with the light of the late morning sun, but it was still stunning. I stood there, staring up around me for a long, long moment, before something tapped my shoulder. 

I about jumped out of my skin and let out a very dignified and not shrill whatsoever shriek of terror, then spun and let out a breath to see Laurel bent over laughing, and River looking absolutely horrified. 

“Are you okay?!” River asked frantically. I let out a long, rattling sigh and nodded.

“You startled me, I didn’t hear you coming up behind me. Sorry.” 

“You screamed… like a Kirow… finding a new shiny toy…” Laurel said between wheezing gasps of laughter. I felt my face flush and I looked away, which only set her off laughing again. After a few long moments, she straightened and waved. “Here, you should come with us. We’re staying at Maplegrove. It’s a nice little hotel.” 

“How expensive is it? We do leave tomorrow for our expedition.” 

“Not too expensive, about a hundred credits for the night?” River said. I made a humming sound, but eventually nodded in agreement. They led me to a lovely wood cabin, the dark stain on the wood outside causing it to fade seamlessly into the beautiful landscape. The inside was a similar edifice, with wood stained in lighter shades, and ornamental bones and horns used everywhere. That had surprised me when I first walked in, but I supposed that in regions like this, if an elk or deer population got too out of control, combat tamers or magians would need to take down the animals. 

Just killing them would be wasteful, and while some aspects could be broken down into compost, buried to enrich the soil, or simply had such little value they had to be thrown away, that wasn’t most of an animal. It was better to use and re-use things, rather than wasting en masse. That was reflected on the dinner we ate in the common area. It was in the middle of the rut season, and while essence beasts, coyotes, and wolves did a pretty good job balancing the ecosystem, it wasn’t perfect. As a result, there were several dishes on the menu making use of venison and elk meat. 

I’d had countless fish, living near the ocean as I had, as well as plenty of chicken, tons of turkey, and had even eaten beef on a few special occasions – I honestly didn’t see the big deal about beef – but I’d never had either of those. 

In the end, I ordered an elk chili with a fresh cornbread, and had to say that while the elk was a touch on the gamey end, it was pretty good, a hearty early lunch that suited the season, especially since I’d skipped breakfast.

After we ate, we made our way to the large visitor center for Arkose Nature Preserve, where we met with Lisa Ruth. She was actually working there when we arrived, pointing at several of the maps hanging on the wall to a tourist group there for the trails, and I took the time to examine the displays. They had a dozen of them set up through the room, displaying parts of the park throughout the four seasons, displays of animals that lived and acted during those seasons, current ongoing projects in the park, and even some of the Primals. 

I spotted one Primal that I hadn’t seen online – it somewhat resembled a caterpillar, but the size of a medium sized dog, covered in a soft white fuzz, with a head that was almost like that of a dragon or a triceratops set with elaborate antlers. It was a green color, with golden accents, and I leaned in to read the display plate next to it, mumbling the words aloud to myself. 

“Somewhat reminiscent of a great purple emperor caterpillar, with elements of fantastical dragons thrown in, the epic rarity Apaturegius is one of the more unusual Primals in our park, though Primal searchers rarely bother to look for them…” 

Before I could read further, Lisa Ruth approached, clapping her hands softly. 

“Great! Y’all must be some of the tamers that I was told about. I’m guessing you’re here to take the challenge?”

“He and I are,” Laurel said, jerking her thumb at me. I had an instant to wonder if it should have been ‘He and I am’, before nodding. 

“We are. I’m not sure if anyone else is.” 

“Well great!” she said, smiling and nodding. “I take it you’ve signed up for one of the Primal searching tours? Why don’t you come on into my office here and we can talk about the Councillor challenge you’ll need to complete in order to face me? Oh and we can get all that pesky paperwork out of the way.”