Seeing my expression, the chief smiled, "You don't exactly hide it. Completely, that is."
I raised a brow.
"Only another magic user would notice." I pointed out.
"I am not magic. But I see." He said. That was impossible. Unless a magic user was actively using magic, as seen by their skin and eyes glowing, it was impossible for a normal person to know if someone was a magician. They were practically invisible to the eyes of the magicless.
"How?" I wanted to know. No. I needed to know.
The chief gave a wry smile, "Walk with me then."
We started walking towards the village center where preparation for the feast was accelerating. The arrival of the boars seemed to spark a frenzy of activity among the beastkin villagers. The men were quick at work, building fires and setting up roasts. The women were as busy, extracting the meat from the boars and preparing the meals to be cooked. There was an abundance of spices sprawled on nearby tables. Onions. Peppers. Gingers. Even garlic.
I thought Beastkin hated garlic? Something about garlic giving too strong of a taste.
"You seem intrigued." The chief said, noticing my gaze.
"You haven't answered my question." I said.
The chief chuckled, "Calm yourself. I mean no disrespect or harm."
As we walked by some nearby huts, I caught sight of the adventurers gathered around a crude smithy. Tov was hammering away at an anvil. The sound of iron pounding against iron filled the air. Children surrounded him, watching in awe. I had to admit that Dwarven craftsmanship was indeed a sight to behold. They crafted even the simplest of tools with such passion.
Though Redtail and Gred were there, cheering the old dwarf on as he toiled, Dalinah was once again nowhere to be found.
I had known these adventurers for less than a month, but I couldn't help but see them as incomplete. Without their healer, were they really a party?
I gave myself a mental note to talk to Dalinah as soon as the feast concluded. Her despair, if left unchecked, will destroy her. It was something I knew too well.
It would be detrimental to my plans if she lost herself. I needed someone like her to grant me an audience with her masters. A crucial step to gaining access to the Shards.
The adventurers had their uses. Nothing more.
"We beastkin mistrust magic," The chief began, "None of us could use it. Yet everyone has used it against us."
That was true. Beastkin were completely devoid of any magical affinity. No blessings. No exceptions. It was as if the gods abandoned them from the onset of their birth.
And of course that was the case.
He then stopped walking and stared at me with his... gleaming eyes? Now this was new.
"I sense no magic." I said.
"For there is none," The lion confirmed, "This is my bloodline ability."
A non-magical ability that could detect magic? It was both intriguing and concerning. As a matter of fact, very concerning.
"My bloodline allows my eyes the ability to see magic in all its shapes and forms." He explained as he looked at my body from head to toe.
"You're not lying." I said, realizing that I was indeed witnessing a power I was unfamiliar with. A non-magical ability that could mimic magic.
"I have seen my fair share of mages," The lion said, "They glow as bright as torches against a gray sea of magicless creatures."
The lion paused, seemingly taking in what he was witnessing in me, "But you?"
Raising his chin, he stared directly into my eyes.
"You are the strongest flame. The brightest sun in an endless sea of stars," He squinted, "You drown everything with the brilliance of your power."
That would explain why he averted his gaze during our initial meeting. I was blinding him with my mere presence. Literally and unintentionally.
"Can the other elders do the same?" I asked.
The chief shook his head, "No. Only those descended from a bloodline are able to wield the abilities they bring."
That would mean...
"You're of important blood." I said, recognizing what was now obvious to me.
"And the last." The chief mustered a weak smile over his face and looked away. We had walked quite the distance away from the village center, finding ourselves on the other end of the village surrounded by sparse, distant huts.
I looked around, using my keen senses to scan the area. There was nothing of note from what I observed, though there was the occasional flicker of dim, bubble-like essence between the fabric of dimensions.
Okay. Maybe there was something of note. But it wasn't any cause for concern, at least for now. The flickering began when the breach opened and continued even after I had closed it. It was a sign of dimensional barriers weakening ever so slightly, at a very slow rate. The slowness of the degradation was an advantage for me, though it still meant I was limited with time. What concerned me the most was the possibility of another breach opening up elsewhere in the world, assuming that it was caused by the same magical reaction. Speaking of magical reactions, I still didn't fully understand what happened with Dalinah and the magicstone. Understanding the cause completely would allow me to better prepare countermeasures against what was coming.
After all, prevention was always better than a cure.
And for what was coming, there is no cure. Only death.
"Whenever the brothers bring back a queen's tusk after a hunt, the village celebrates," The maned lion looked at the festivities brimming in the distance beside us, "But I do not celebrate. I fear."
I furrowed my brows.
"You knew." I said.
The lion looked away and into the shadows, untouched by the light of the many torches aflame nearby. He nodded.
"I have known of the dark magic invading our lands for as long as I have been chieftain," The chief's shoulders slightly slumped, "My father, the previous chieftain, knew of it far longer than I had. And so did his father before him."
I turned to look at the festivities. They were beginning to roast some of the boars impaled on long, thick sticks, spinning them over the bristling fires.
Tov, Redtail, and Gred had all joined the other villagers, followed by their initial audience of children. It seemed like Tov was done with whatever he was hammering.
"Why do you tell me this now," I asked, returning my gaze to the village chief, "But also keep it from your people? Aren't I just a stranger?"
The lion sighed.
"A few days ago, a messenger came from the halfling settlement in the west," The chief said. Finally, some information about the settlement the adventurers were supposed to return to, "He told us that the adventurers were being recalled from their quest, as per the order of the guildmaster."
I raised a brow after hearing this.
"Why?"
There was a long pause. Just a few hours ago, this same beastkin was averting his gaze and lying about the weakness of his age. But now I could sense no attempt to mislead or fool. He was being honest with me.
"I don't really know. But I think it's connected to what happened during the last storm," He said, his tone suggesting he was unsure, "Something about a cataclysm."
I waited for him to continue explaining, remaining silent as the lion paused once more.
"Our village weathered every storm that came every year. But the last one was different," He said, "It suddenly stopped one night. When I went to see what was going on, I saw the sky split open by a lance of light from the eastern mountains."
He looked at me.
"A lance of powerful magic. Not too different from the magic you exude."
It seemed like I was caught. But I didn't think he knew who I really was. Just that I was someone well-versed with magic.
"You possess great power," He continued, "And yet, Mr. Viduri, I have never heard of you."
Of course he hadn't. Thousands of years had passed since the last time someone knew me.
"Are you perhaps," There was a sudden change to his tone and expression, one of deference and possible hope, "The Dragon Hero from the Age of the Gods?"
Excuse me? The what now?