SS [60] Who Are These People

Jocasta Alexandridis was a deep elf though most people called those with her adaptations dark elves. Which is what she had grown accustomed to, especially in Highhall. Dwarves didn’t really know the difference between a wood elf and a jungle elf; she didn’t expect them to understand the difference between a deep elf and whatever a dark elf was supposed to be. 

She couldn’t believe that she spent thirty years in school studying Advanced Applications of Nature Magic with a specialization in Taming just to end up as a stable hand in Highhall. Most people didn’t understand the true worth of Nature when it wasn’t growing plants or healing wounds. 

It was far from the life she thought she would have away from Subterrania. She had only just recently got a job with the Consortium thanks to a friend that had recommended it. The job with the Runeforge Consortium paid double what she would have made in a month in a week. She was finally going to get paid her worth, there was no way she was going to pass up on that.

The problem was her boss, Cornelius. He was a lazy middle manager that let every ounce of power go to his head. After the scandal with the previous Logistician she was secretly hopeful that he was somehow involved so he would also get fired. Unfortunately, he was just stupid not a thief.

Jocasta was far from the center of attention around the caravan. She would tend to animals, make sure they were watered and fed, listen to them if they got hurt or angry and play mediator. As the only Tamer in the caravan she was more of a failsafe should something go wrong which meant she should have had an easy time with this adventure. However, it was only the second day of their journey and Cornelius had already pushed over half of his duties onto her.

The most recent assignment was to present herself to late additions to the caravan. She didn’t know who they were, only that they were not a part of the original plan and were apparently some kind of big shots. Cornelius didn’t want to have to become the driver of some rich folks' carriage which meant she was going to have to play babysitter instead.

As a deep elf she was covered nearly head to toe in special robes to protect her skin from the sun. It was a result of her people living underground. It also meant she had to wear special dark colored glasses for her eyes. She didn’t need her eyes to see however, her magic senses more than made up for her relatively poor eyesight.

The world was always a symphony of color and connections to her. Even when she could use her eyes it paled in comparison to what she could preserve with her magic. All creatures had an aura, and even the world had ambient mana that ebbed and flowed like ink spilled into a current. The nature of things could be perceived by its aura alone.

As she grew closer to where her charges were supposed to be she noticed there was a notable submissiveness to the drakes. Their breathing was careful and they held their heads low in a gesture of timidity. It wasn’t like the normally proud and imposing animals, especially since they hadn’t been like that before they had left Highhall. 

She stopped at one pair of drakes and touched the animal’s side to get a sense of what was causing the discomfort. Normally if drakes acted this way it was because one of them had asserted dominance over the herd. None of the drakes she had seen exhibited any dominant display or call. It meant there was something else that had all of them spooked.

Her connection to the animal allowed her to feel where the presence that had all of them scared was coming from.

“Thats the direction of the client.” She said to herself.

A voice pulled her from her investigation. It came from the elf driver of the cart whose animal she was touching.

“Hail, Deep One.” The man said. “Anything wrong with them?”

“Hail. Well, actually do you know when they started drooping their heads like this?” Jocasta asked.

“Now that you mention it they have been like that all day.” He said.

“Has it caused any problems?” She asked.

“Nope. In fact Brutius there hasn’t been so docile in a long while.” The man said.

“Uh, do you know anything about the people that joined the caravan yesterday?” Jocasta asked.

“Not much, they keep to themselves.” His voice grew more conspiratorial. “They are definitely important though. I heard that Vice President Torik himself added them. And they had something to do with the Worldspine Gate turning black.”

Jocasta furrowed her brows. The last part didn’t sound true, no one could have been involved with something so large causing an earthquake like that. However, if the Vice President of the Consortium himself was involved with the newcomers maybe this was really above her pay grade.

“Are you sure?” She asked.

“Some people said they saw them at the—”

“Not that part. The part about them being connected to the oligarch.” Jocasta said.

“Oh, I am pretty sure that is true. Rufinus, Numerius and even Ismene all went to greet them as soon as they showed up. They even had Numerius running around like a personal servant before we departed yesterday.”

“They did?”

“I heard they wanted him to get hunting permissions before we left.” the man continued “And they only gave him a few minutes to do so. I had never seen Numerius like that.”

“Did Rufinus say anything about it?” She asked.

“Nope, he is acting like it never happened.” He said. “I don’t blame him, I wouldn’t want to go near them with that hydra.”

“Hydra?!” She questioned. “Someone has a hydra here? It must be a small marsh hydra right?”

“Small,” He laughed. “Where have you been that you hadn’t heard about the hydra. It has to be at least twenty feet long. I am not getting close enough to check.”

She put her hand back on the drake apparently named Brutius. A her magic pulsed through him and she could see the web of connections between him and the other members of the herd. She could feel his submission like something other than the driver had forced it to obey without question. She had never seen an animal capitulate so completely even against stronger rivals or large predators.

A hydra? No... that couldn't be right. Even a young hydra shouldn't cow an entire caravan of drakes.

The idea came but she dismissed it. They were just rich travelers with expensive tastes. All she would need to do is drive a carriage smile and do what she was told. So no different than most of her jobs. 

She continued on to the center of the caravan where she expected to find a gilded carriage pulled by mystical beast or some other such spectacular view. Instead she saw a rather ordinary travel wagon pulled by two equally ordinary if not well maintained ox panthers. 

Ox panthers were expensive beasts but they were not unheard of, the wagon looked new, but not something carrying people that would make an oligarch personally act.

She almost assumed that this was the wrong vehicle until she saw the person driving. On the surface he looked like an elf, though his posture and build suggested he was a warrior even more than the sword at his side. That wasn’t what made her stop in place and stare as the wagon slowly drifted closer. No, it was the aura he kept contained just beneath his skin. 

She could only sense the barest thread of it. Something not like mana, or the various material energies. It looked older, far older and more chaotic. Like something that hadn’t chosen its final expression and was perpetually stuck in possibility. 

Only one other creature had ever made her feel that before. It was a monster. Creature made from curses and false flesh. 

She nearly screamed but something made her look deeper. She saw not the lifeless hunger of a monster. Instead she saw uncertainty, shame, loyalty, affection, family ties and… suspicion. Monsters didn't possess those things. They weren’t real life. But whatever this man was, he was not a monster.

“That is incredibly rude.” The man said as the wagon drew closer. “Please retract your aura.”

She felt her face heat up in embarrassment. She had just used her magic to probe a member of the group she was sent to assist. 

“Sorry,” She blurted out in panic as she bowed her head. “I deeply apologize.”

The wagon didn’t stop of course it kept pace with the caravan. She lifted her head and followed. 

“My name is Jocasta Alexandridis,” She said. 

“Aurelius Lyns.” He said.

“Hail, Aurelius. Uh, Chaos One,” She said unsure.

“Chaos One?” Aurelius parroted.

“I don’t presume to know.” Jocasta said with her head again bowed. “It is just that your matrix is not one I have seen before. Forgive my ignorance.”

“I see. You mean my aura. You can sense it?” Aurelius asked.

“Yes, I see that you are concealing it. I didn’t… it is just.” Jocasta struggled for words.

“It is fine. I must have startled you.” Aurelius said.

Her thoughts were spiralling even more. Had she just insulted an important client? If Cornelius found out she would lose her job and be blacklisted from anywhere the Consortium even thought about doing business.

“No-no. It was my fault.” Jocasta said, now getting desperate. “I was sent to see if you wanted a driver. I can take over for you and make sure your ox panthers are well taken care of. I went to school for Nature magic and-and my specialty is in Taming. So… so, I will make sure your animals are treated better than ever. Not that you can’t take care of them, they are in excellent condition as it is. It is just that I know some ways that could make them even more comfortable…”

She finally petered out of things to ramble to plead her case. Now she was just waiting for judgement that seemed like it was taking forever to come.

Another male voice cut in.

“Aurelius, what did you do to the poor girl? She looks like she is going to cry.” 

She looked up and saw that a man with green skin and large antlers had joined the conversion. He had walked up beside her. He had on the rugged travel clothing of an experienced adventurer. He also had talismans which hung off of his armor and hummed with power. She knew the tell-tell signs of a lifeshaper when she saw one.

“Why do you just immediately assume that I did something?” Aurelius asked.

“Soren Ahlgren,” The man said as he reached out his hand. “It is nice to meet you. I know Aurelius can seem… well, you sensed it. But he is a nice guy.”

“That sounded pretty backhanded.” Aurelius said.

“It is true though.” Soren said with a smirk.

“You said that you wanted to drive? That would be fine with me. I would like to stretch my legs a bit. Tanisha is asleep but Bjorn is awake. Are you afraid of hydras?” Aurelius asked.

“No, they already told me that you have one. And I will be quiet for the Lady.” Jocasta said. “Marsh hydra aren’t much different from many types of small drakes found around Subterrania.”

“Subterrania?” Aurelius questioned.

“Ah, sorry it is my hometown. It is a Postlumian underground territory.” Jocasta explained.

“Just in case I think you should meet Bjorn first.” Aurelius said cautiously. “Bjorn, buddy, could you come up here for a moment?”

She chuckled at his hesitation. She was a master of nature magic, even if he took her off guard because of his unusual mana matrix she was more than capable of being around some small hydra.

Jocasta raised a hand, “I can assure you it won’t be necessa—”

A head popped out from the wagon curtain beside Aurelius, honey gold scales sparkled in the sunlight and a pair of antlers crowned his head. Those were not the traits of a small marsh hydra. The number of heads grew until four more appeared though only the middle one had antlers the others all had horns. They flicked their tongues tasting the air as was common with serpents and reptiles. 

Without even meaning to she could see this beings aura and something deeper that lay beneath flesh. She didn’t have the words to describe it. All things had a connection, humans, elves, demons, dragons, everything. Part of that connection was to each other, other parts to the world and hundreds of different things. But looking at him, she didn’t see connection she saw source.

“Divine?” Jocasta said.

The word had slipped from her lips before she could stop it. 

The submission of the drakes made sense. Now that she could see him, she could feel it too. The power of a king of those that are scaled. A force of nature pretending to be a hydra. 

“That is a very nice compliment.” Bjorn said.

A tired female voice came from the wagon. Jocasta assumed it was Tanisha.

“Is someone else stroking Bjorn’s ego out there?” Tanisha said.

“Yep. This time they called him a Divine.” Aurelius said.

“Really? I know he is cute,” the woman said. “But shouldn’t people be complimenting me.”

“She is going to be the wagon driver.” Aurelius continued.

Who were these people?