Nisi's story was not as complicated as Teluna's. She was taken in by a litter mate of her mother's after she had passed away. Much like Teluna she did not know who her father is or was. Her aunt if you could call her that later sold her to a merchant as a slave for two kilograms of orhicalum and a bottle of human wine.
And that was how that chapter of her life ended. The merchant that Nisi served was also a gnome and unlike all gnomes who are naturally gifted with earth magic, but had never been bothered to learn and refine their manipulation of it to a higher degree, her master had went to a college of magic during his travels and was an advanced earth mage.
She secretly learnt from his books, and practiced so hard she became as good as she was today. Though she did not know what level or classification of mage she was. When she met Teluna, she chose to ran away from her master to keep his secret safe.
Nisi had a good life as the merchants slave, he never maltreated her and treated her like his own daughter. But she gave all those up for the boy she chose to call her brother. And her reasons for doing so gave me an urge to slap myself. Nisi had given up on a good life, because she belived in the message Kael Cor stood for. And much like him she was going to protect this vampire boy. And so they have been together ever since. Both victims of circumstances, but both idiots for believing in all the bullshit I spouted as a human.
I felt like a liar, and that I had deceived a lot of people. I was beginning to understand why Asare told me to stay away. In fact all the nonsense I did, the great cause I had tried to achieve could have done nothing more than make things worse for a lot of other vampires. And if I knew it, then so did they.
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Nisi was able to go on a lot longer than Teluna when it came to her control over magic. But after about an hour she just collapsed, fell unconscious right where she stood. She was so adamant in doing this that she refused to stop when she had depleted her reserves. But in the end she had accomplished a lot.
She had actually carved out a room of about fifty square meters, with the ceiling actually five to almost seven meters above our heads. I was so impressed I ended up feeling intimidated. These kids bought a lot of talent to the table, but the only thing I could offer was the fact that I was a failed revolutionary. Teluna and Nisi were now both asleep. Using a blanket from the bundle I made a makeshift bed, it was nothing much, but enough to prevent the cold from the floor seeping into their bones.
As soon as I confirmed that I was alone I turned my attention to the seal on my hand. I had no idea how I could read it, or understand the basic structures that it was made up off. I only knew that it was bad, I wanted it off. And I wanted to do awesome stuff like Nisi and Teluna.
From among the pile of books Asare had left, there was one titled
INTERMEDIATE INTRODUCTION TO THE RUNES OF SHEARATH AND THE HISTORIES OF WEAVERS.
That book drew my attention because I knew seals could also be called runes or symbols.
I spent hours, pouring into that book and learning a whole lot more than I was expected to know, even in a prison like this. Asare was up to something, or he knew something really important that involved me, he somehow ended up throwing me in the secluded place. At that moment I did not know whether to thank him or be wary of his intentions.
The book did not call it seals, seals were actually just a genre or category of what the symbols or runes could cover. It was made from a language unique and only seen when someone interacted with the WAY. During the course of interaction anyone even animals would be able to understand the runes. But after that, no matter how hard you tried you could never successfully read the runes on a common sheet of paper, regardless of how powerful an enchanter or magus you were.
When the WAY was first formed an elite group of ancient humans were selected to be its guards and keepers, they were called many names, by many different races. The elves called them Rune masters, the dwarves rune smiths, humans called them seal masters or lockers. But surprisingly enough, it was the vampires with their extremely long if not immortal lives that called them the same original names they were known with during their inception.
They called them.... WEAVERS.
Weavers were capable of reading the runes, inscribing it on any surface even water and imbuing it with power to cause a myriad of reactions, from as mundane as making a water boil to as bizarre as changing the gender of any living thing.
As of the time magic already existed and was quite a feared profession. Anybody, with the Way serving as an intermediary and buffer, could access the ether and convert its pure arcane power into Mana for spells and enchantments. It gave them the ability to bend but never break the rules of nature which ever way they wanted.
But the weavers were feared, and powerful. They have never bent the rules of nature, no not at all....they broke it. They could cause disasters with just a flick of their fingers or a brush with ordinary paint on it. They were known as keepers of balance and guidance in accordance to the will of the WAY. (At that moment I felt like I should call them GMS, these guys were like game masters, but I had no idea who or what a game master was).
But there was just one problem, they were all humans. And over the years of their existence their nature caught up with them and they became corrupted. They ruled lands and lavished in power and wealth. With their abilities the human race has been on the top of the food chain and remained there since time Immemorial, until now.
There has never been a weaver outside of the human race, it was what made them so unique and so feared. But I was not stupid, every evidence laying before me was all pointing to one thing. As a human I was born a weaver, and I don't think that information was well known to anyone. In fact I could swear it was a complete and utmost secret. I had the power to change a lot of things but I still foolishly ended up here, another things to check on the list of stupid things I did in my past, well 'things' Kael Cor the hero fucked up on. Kael Cor the prisoner however was a whole different ball game.
For the first time ever there was a weaver and he or she was not human, no it was something much worse. I was a night walking, blood sucking, mind controlling vampire. It couldn't get any better than this.
And I was sure those bozos on the council of light would be tickled pink should they ever find out what they have just created. In fact come to think of it hero me could have come up with all this elaborate plan so that he could become a vampire and shove his race and the abilities he wielded with it in front of their face, while starting a proper revolution. To bad he did not expect to loose his memories.
But I hope this was not just speculation on my part, I really hoped I was still a weaver.
I paid serious attention to the book from then on as I was determined to learn how to harness my abilities and get this damn life sucking seal away from me. According to the book, a weaver drew his power from the soul, and from his mental energy.
Unlike other magic professions which had magically constructed conduits for their Mana reserves built and magically grown around their hearts. Weavers had access to other forms of energy apart from Mana.
The mental energy they cultivated had a myriad of purposes it helped them withstand the full brunt of the sheer volume and force that was nature. No matter how powerful they were once nature's rules were broken, depending on the scope of the laws broken, nature would lash out.
Without sufficient mental energy they would end up with a destroyed mind and be nothing more than vegetables or imbeciles.
As for the power of their soul, it was a little bit more complicated. Nature could be affected by a host of different things and energy, the most commonly known was Mana and its advanced and raw form the ether. Not much is known about the ether than that it was made or comprised of the power of creations and destruction.
A perfect combination of the power of life and death and in complete harmony. The only other thing that could compare with such power, was a soul.
Souls are made up of the same power of creation and destruction as the ether, but much more refined. And it is refined by its owners memories, his very being and existence. Who you are was what truly powered a soul.
And right now, I was a veritable blank slate. If I could weave before, I certainly couldn't weave now. I had to start all over from scratch. The process of being able to successfully cultivate both your soul and mental energy takes a lifetime of growth. I was not sure I had all the time in the world, but right now time was something I had an abundance of.
I had no idea what tomorrow would be like, or how it slowly seems that I was embroiled in conspiracy that was so vague I had no idea where to point fingers at. The only clue that I got from all this was that Asare had a bigger part to play in all this than what was seen on the surface. And me, I think somehow I had been demoted from a major piece in this game to what I could only describe as a pawn.
There was too many inconsistencies, and I couldn't even make sense of a lot of things. Everything could be as simple as it seems and I could be nothing more than just a failed activists who got put in prison with the very people he was fighting for, or it could be deeper. Much more deeper.