Royal blooded, p.6
Royal Blooded, page 6
part #1 of Royal Blooded Series
Lilly and Freya entered the room. Aria turned to Lilly and asked her to do something in the same foreign language, which Eli realized was probably Elvish. Lilly slowly removed a ring from her right hand, and as she did her skin shifted from pale white to green. Her dress seemed to disappear from her body, leaving her mostly naked except for strategically placed leaves and vines to preserve her modesty. Her hair turned green, with flowers seeming to sprout directly from it. She smiled kindly at Eli, the shock clearly written across his face. Her emerald green eyes gleamed for a moment before she placed the ring back onto her finger, changing back into a human.
Freya’s turn was next. Nodding to Aria, she began to glow as she transformed. She shrank immediately, becoming only two feet tall. Her face shrank in, becoming more and more avian until no trace of her human features remained. Her arms turned into blue feather-covered wings, and her legs turned into talons. Flapping her wings twice, she hopped in the air and flew around the room before landing and settling on Eli’s lap.
Without thinking, Eli reached out and pet the bird’s head. Her body was surprisingly cold, but she nuzzled into his hand at the motion. When he realized what he was doing he stopped and the bird looked him in the eyes. He realized this was still Freya – the same bubbly woman as before, just in a different form.
Aria chuckled, breaking the silence. “She likes you. She wouldn’t have let you touch her otherwise.”
Eli shook his head. “How come Freya didn’t need to take off a ring? Isn’t she an elf too?”
Aria explained. “Not all races are descendants of elves. Phoenixes lived in their own realm long before elves first travelled there. Sometimes they’re referred to as ‘bestial’ or ‘instinctive’ magic users, like dragons or gryphons. They learn how to take on human-looking disguises by actually learning the spell, rather than using an enchanted item.”
Eli shook his head. Every answer just led to a hundred more questions. He decided to ask the most obvious one. “Aren’t phoenixes supposed to be red and fiery though?”
Freya’s talons tightened slightly on Eli’s lap at him comment. They were sharp, and he could feel them even through the bedsheets. “Sorry.” He said to her. “I’m new here, I’m sorry if that was offensive.”
Freya relaxed her talons, and Aria smiled. “Not all phoenixes are the same. Freya is a coldheart phoenix – she embodies ice magic, not fire magic. Normally when she transforms she’s much bigger – big enough to carry me on her back as she flies!”
“Wait, why is she small right now then?”
“Every ten years a phoenix ‘dies’, then is reborn as an egg which hatches into a chick. That chick retains all the memories of the previous phoenix – they’re the same person, essentially. Freya went through her rebirth a few weeks ago. She’ll be back to her old size in the next few months.”
Eli furrowed his brow. “So she can’t die?”
“No, she could die. She just won’t die of old age.”
The small phoenix cawed at Aria’s statement, before flapping her wings and flying back to her spot beside Lilly. She began to transform back into the bubbly woman Eli had met before. The two women then bowed respectfully and stepped back out of the room, closing the door behind them. Aria continued her lecture where she left off, ignoring the look of amazement on Eli’s face. “Lilly’s mutations give her the ability to learn life magic much more quickly than she would have otherwise. It’s a bit of a double-edged sword though, because when someone specializes so deeply that it’s ingrained in their DNA, they can never learn other schools of magic. Nobody entirely understands why, but they just can’t do it.”
“If mana can cause mutations, could it mutate humans too? Or does it not work that way?” Eli asked, suddenly worried. More and more, mana started to sound radioactive – not something he wanted to expose himself to long-term.
“Not naturally.” Aria responded. “There are those who research mana and its uses, who you could think of as scientists. In the past, they’ve made attempts to inject humans with mana directly. The more ethical scientists used cadavers, so they could observe the effects of mana on human tissue without harming a live subject. That resulted in the creation of what you’d call zombies – mindless, shambling creatures who feed on the flesh of the living. We tried injecting even more mana into some bodies to see if the effects could be overcome, but that resulted in something even worse – the creation of a lich, who killed many of our finest warriors before it was finally put down.”
“What about trying it on a live subject?” Eli asked. “Maybe the results would be better that way?”
“That’s what some of our less ethical scientists did. We ended up with beings who could control their mana to a limited extent, but had significant drawbacks too. You know them as vampires and werewolves. We count them as part of our community as well.”
“I don’t know, I can think of at least a few people who wouldn’t mind being transformed into a vampire or a werewolf.” Eli smirked, thinking of some internet forums.
“Sure, the increased strength and speed is great, and they gain some other abilities as well, but they also have to deal with the thirst for blood, or the need to transform at the full moon. Also, the original test subjects weren’t exactly willing volunteers. We’re not proud of it, but I’m pretty sure every society has done some things that they’re not proud of in the past. But that brings us back…to you.”
Eli’s eyes locked with hers again. She made sure he was paying complete attention before she continued. “Royal bloods are special, rare, and dangerous. As humans, they can’t regenerate mana by themselves, but they can absorb mana when it’s directed towards them in the form of a spell. I’m sure too much mana would probably kill you, but admittedly there hasn’t been a royal blood in almost 100 years, so I’d have to research a bit to know for certain.”
“Why am I so dangerous? Is it because I can absorb mana?” He asked.
“Not exactly.” She replied. “That’s a rare ability by itself, but some other very powerful spellcasters can manage it. No, what makes you unique is that you can use that mana in whatever form you want. Certain schools of magic are naturally good at countering others, so the flexibility to learn from any lore of magic means you can counter just about anyone.”
“Like the satyr’s fire magic against ice and life magic?” Eli interjected.
“Exactly. The legends also say that royal bloods can learn new spells in months instead of decades, meaning that their power scales very quickly. Typically if a new royal blood is detected, a team is dispatched by a council of representatives from each of the races of magic users. That team hunts down and kills the royal blood before they can do too much damage.”
“Wait, what? Killed? Damage? I haven’t done anything! Why are they so scared of royal bloods?”
“A fully awakened royal blooded human who knows how to use their powers can be extremely powerful. Access to every lore of magic would give them the ability to level entire armies and destroy kingdoms if they wanted. There are other beings which could do the same thing, but we can use magic against them to stop them. Royal bloods would just absorb the mana and keep fighting – they’re incredibly hard to kill. And that’s not even mentioning the doomsday scenario, where a royal blooded human could break the secrecy around magic. They could definitively prove that magic exists to other humans, and now you know how that would end. That’s why the council spends significant resources trying to detect royal bloods as soon as they awaken, before they gain access to their full powers. That way they can kill them quickly.”
Eli thought the whole thing over. “Isn’t that a bit hypocritical? A royal blood is a magic user too. Wouldn’t they be killed with the other magic users?”
Aria shrugged in response. “It’s possible. But as a human who was raised on Earth, they’d have a lot more in common with other humans than with the rest of the magical community. Besides, if some humans felt differently and wanted to go after the royal blood directly, I’m pretty confident they could defend themselves.”
“How come you’re telling me all this? Aren’t you worried I’m going to go on some sort of a crusade, demolishing kingdoms and showing humans that magic exists?” Eli asked.
“No. I know we don’t know each other that well, but you fought a satyr bare-handed to protect complete strangers. Sure it led to you awakening, but you didn’t know that at the time. Even if I didn’t already owe you my life for saving me, protecting people seems to be who you are. I believe you’re not going to hurt us.”
“Thanks.” Eli said, blushing at the compliment. “What does that mean, ‘awaken’? You’ve said that before.”
“I’m probably the wrong person to explain this. Other people have a lot more of the knowledge and history, but I’ll try. A very small group of humans are born with the potential to become royal blooded – it's something to do with your genetics. But the potential isn’t enough – you need to actually be exposed to mana before you become truly royal blooded. That’s another, less talked-about reason why nobody wants to go to war with the humans – we’d risk awakening every royal blood, which would even further tip the scales in their favor.”
Eli started to put the pieces together in his mind. “So when the satyr hit me with the ball of fire last night, he was using his mana. That’s what awakened the latent royal blood in me, transforming me into what I am. Is that right?”
“Yes.” She grinned. “Looking back on it now, putting yourself in that situation was incredibly brave and incredibly stupid, but it worked out in your favor after all.”
He laughed at the half-insult, half-compliment. “Thanks I guess.” Then another thought occurred to him. “Hey, why is it called royal blooded? Who chose that name?”
“It’s because the royal bloods who live typically go on to become very famous, powerful individuals who change the course of human history. You probably know some of their names – Alexander III, Genghis Khan, Leonardo da Vinci, Henry VIII, George Washington, and Catherine II to name a few.”
Eli reeled again from the revelation. He was part of a group of the most influential people in history. These people weren’t just leaders – they were legends who shaped civilizations, with entire chapters of history books devoted to their exploits.
Aria interrupted his thoughts. “So, I guess now I’ve got two questions for you. The first is: do you believe me now?”
He searched his feelings. At the start of the conversation, what she was saying seemed impossible. The more questions he asked though, the more it made sense with everything that he’d seen – much more so even than the other explanations. “As much as I’m not sure I completely believe you…I’m also not sure the other explanations make more sense. Let’s say I’m on the fence for now. What’s your next question?” He asked.
Aria locked eyes with him.
“What are you going to do now?”
Chapter 6
“What do you mean?” Eli responded.
“Well, I’ve just given you several hundred years of magical history. You now know that eventually the council will come after you. What do you plan to do about it? If you’ve got a plan I’d like to help.” Aria said.
Eli suddenly felt very exposed. Working under the assumption that Aria was telling the truth, his new abilities put a target on his back, and he wasn’t sure how to take it off. “How long do I have to decide? Will they come for me today?”
“No. Nobody knows about you right now. Eventually they’ll be able to detect you whenever and wherever you are on Earth, but that could take weeks, maybe even months. There’s no chance your awakening would have been spotted that quickly.”
“Wait, why are you helping me?” He said, furrowing his brow.
She raised one eyebrow. “If you’d like, I can stop.”
He began to sputter. “No, please don’t. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the help – trust me, I do. But if this council comes for me, doesn’t that put you at risk as well?”
“No. Let’s just say if they touched me, there’d be a political shitstorm. Besides, you did save my life so I feel like I owe you a debt of gratitude, at the very least. Not to mention that after the satyr attack I’m starting to take a stronger stance against assassinations.”
Not knowing how to proceed, he asked. “What do you suggest?”
“Well, you can’t hide here forever. If you’d like, I could help you pre-emptively get in contact with them, and maybe you could bring them to the negotiating table. I’m sure if you spoke to some of the more reasonable representatives first, they’d be willing to hear you out. You’d probably have to offer them something in exchange for their support though, and I’m not sure you have anything to offer that they’d want except for years of indentured service. I’m sure they’d want to slap a magical collar on you and force you to do their bidding for another twenty to thirty years. At least you’d be alive.”
Eli’s shock registered across his face. He had no desire to be someone else’s servant, even if it meant keeping him alive for longer. He had no idea how she mentioned it so casually, as if it was just something that people did. She sensed his discomfort and sat close to him on the side of the bed. Her presence was warm, soft, and comforting. “It wouldn’t be that bad, you know. You’d basically be like an employee – you’d be paid, fed, and taken care of. You would get time off to go on vacations or do whatever else you want. You just wouldn’t be able to quit until the contract was done.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.” He said. “Most people can’t quit their jobs anyways, for financial reasons. It would sort-of be like that, and at least I’d be taken care of. Still, I’m not enthusiastic about the idea and I can’t help but think there might be another option I’m missing.”
He closed his eyes for a moment and took a few deep calming breaths. Even though the stakes were higher, this was just like any other complex problem. With that knowledge in the back of his mind, he decided he was going to use his very best problem-solving strategy. He opened his eyes and met her gaze before breaking the silence. “I know what I’m doing next.”
She raised one eyebrow before Eli continued. “I’m going to get dressed, go home, and sleep.”
She frowned at him. “Eli.” She said, disappointed. “You know what I meant. What are you going to do about the council?”
“Right now, nothing. I’ve got time to make a decision, so I’m going to use it. Like you said, you just dumped several hundred years of magical history on me. I’m still on the fence about whether I believe all this. So I’m going to do the smart thing – go home, get some rest, and make a decision in the morning with a clearer head. I promise I’m not going to spill your secrets or run away or anything, I just need some time alone to think.”
“That’s…very practical.” She admitted begrudgingly. “At least let me drive you home. The potion Lilly gave you earlier would have refilled your mana and healed most of your wounds, but you should probably still try to avoid exercising for the next few days.”
“Yeah. That’s a good idea. Thanks.” He nodded to her while grabbing the neatly folded pile of clothes on the bedside table next to him. “Now, do you mind giving me some privacy? I’m not exactly decent under these blankets.”
“Oh. Oh! Yes, sorry. Come out when you’re ready!” She said, standing and scurrying out of the room before closing the door behind her. Once she was gone he stood slowly, testing his arms and legs. They were a little stiff, but he felt fine otherwise. He mindlessly pulled on the blue linen shirt and matching blue linen pants before he realized they fit him perfectly – not too snug, not too loose. Wherever the girls had found these clothes, they had done a good job.
Putting his phone in his pocket and grabbing his bag of torn clothes, he opened the door. A quick scan of the room confirmed his earlier suspicions – they were in the basement of the house, with the ‘blue and grey’ motif continuing down here as well. The carpet was soft beneath his feet, and he took a moment to savor the feeling. To his right was a hallway with several doors branching off in different directions, as well as a set of stairs leading upwards. To his left he saw a large TV with a couch in front, and a bar set deeper into the basement.
Lilly and Freya were sitting on the couch and Aria was standing next to them. Aria’s eyes met his and her face softened before blushing slightly while smiling. Eli couldn’t help but return the smile. “Where did you find these clothes? They fit perfectly. Is there a Mr. Hightower somewhere that I should be worried about who happens to be my exact size?”
Aria blushed even further before responding. “The girls made them. Lilly is an excellent seamstress, and she sized you up while you were asleep. As for the second part of your question…no. There is no ‘Mr. Hightower’. I’m only 112! I know it must seem strange, but elves are only considered adults at 100 years old. Now come on, let’s get you home.”
He waved to Freya and Lilly, thanking them one more time as Aria led him toward the stairs. He did his absolute best to keep his eyes cast downwards as she walked up, willing himself not to stare at her perfect ass. He could have sworn she was swaying her hips just slightly extra as she walked though, just to tease him. As they reached the top of the stairs he finally looked up, and his eyes widened.
There was evidence of the fight everywhere, covered by plastic sheeting and construction debris. A thick wooden sheet covered the hole where the front door used to be. The drywall had been dented or broken in several places, and drops of acidic blood had burned holes all along the floor and towards the staircase leading upstairs. Strangely, the destruction around him served to confirm Aria’s story even more than her show of magic. “Sorry.” He said sheepishly. “I guess I made a bit of a mess.”
