Heretical Fishing

Book 2: Chapter 48: Forbidden Knowledge

In disbelief, I read the screen again.

New Domain established!

[Error: Insufficient power.]

“No way...” I said, too shocked to be bothered by the return of my insufficiently powered nemesis. Everyone was in a loose circle surrounding me and, one by one, their eyes cleared.

“A Domain...?” Theo asked. “What on Kallis is that...?”

Ellis started writing with a shaky hand. He looked up, staring at nothing as his pencil pressed into the notepad. With a soft snap, its tip flew off.

“Domains,” he said, his voice distant, “were thought to be long extinct. The capital’s tomes mentioned little about them, other than that they were something to be feared.”

“Feared?” Barry took a step forward. “Is it something we should be worried about?”

“Something we should be worried about...?” A smirk slowly spread across his face, and low, steady laughter flowed from him. He raised his face toward the sky, his arms wide and chest heaving as his laughter grew hysterical.

When he could speak again, he wiped his eyes, shaking his head.

“No, Barry. Not us... them.”

The weight of his words hit me, and a silence stretched across everyone present.

“Just to clarify... you don’t mean everyone, right?” I glanced back through the trees toward Tropica. “We’re pretty close to the village.”

Ellis shook his head, still smiling.

“No, not everyone. A paragraph from a book in the royal library springs to mind. Its pages were old, more than half of them lost to the ravages of time.” He clenched his jaw, a hint of fury crossing his face. “I swear, if I could go back in time and throttle each archivist that failed to re-transcribe the texts, I’d likely need a lifetime to strike them all.” He took a deep breath and held up a finger toward Keith, whose mouth had opened. “I know, Keith—I’m getting off track. The book is titled: ‘On Warfare and Cultivation’. Page 245, chapter seven, paragraph three.”

He cleared his throat.

“On fighting within another’s domain, there is only one tactic that can produce reliable results: don’t. To enter the Domain of another is to forfeit control. Perhaps you are lucky and the Domain is one of little power. In such a case, your abilities may only be dampened. If you are unlucky, however, and the Domain has matured over the course of decades, if not centuries, your life—and those of your followers—will be forfeit.”

Again, Ellis’s words caused a silence to stretch over the clearing, the only sound that of the bees buzzing above our heads.

“So that’s all we have to work with...” Barry sighed. “Usually, I’d say we should do some testing, but in this case, I hope we never have to.”

Ellis nodded, and as if just remembering the events that set the Domain’s creation into being, his gaze snapped to mine.

“Have you had enough time to process your experience, Fischer?” He removed a sharpener from his pocket—because of course Ellis carried a sharpener in his pocket—and started twisting his pencil within it. “I would appreciate getting an account of what happened while it’s still fresh in mind.”

“Uh, yeah—give me a second.”

I spun on the spot, facing the tree. Even before looking at it, I could feel a sort of connection there, like the spirit was just waiting for me to call out. I reached out with both hands to press my palms against the blue tree trunk. The moment we connected, my awareness expanded. I faintly sensed the spirit within the tree, its network of roots, and what I had to assume was the Domain. A bubble of aura bloomed out from the clearing, encompassing a vast swathe of land. I furrowed my eyebrows, and the spirit joined with me, helping me navigate. The domain’s bounds stretched from the middle of the bay to the mountains west of Tropica, and just as far to the north and south.

I pulled back, returning to my body. The spirit let me go, and I opened my eyes, gazing slightly up toward where I knew its main body was located within the trunk.

“Is it okay with you if I tell them what I saw?”

A leaf sprouted before me, and as she made it wave up and down in a nod, I felt a surge of... emotion? I didn’t know how to describe the sensation, but the meaning was clear.

Yes.

Perhaps a simple yes wasn’t enough to encompass the message; she held an indescribable amount of trust for me, which was also communicated with the surge she sent my way. I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around her trunk. In response, I got shock, surprise, then contentment from our mental link.

Trust. Trust. Trust, she sent, and I squeezed her trunk tighter.

I let go, pressing my back to the blue bark as I spun back toward everyone. A sea of raised eyebrows, smiles, and generally amused faces greeted me.

“What?” I asked. “Like you guys have never bonded with an ancient tree spirit before...”

Ellis’s gaze bore into me, and if looks could kill, he may have accidentally drilled a hole right through me.

I chuckled.

“Don’t break your pencil again, mate. I have her blessing to tell you all about it.”

I took a deep breath, sent a surge of appreciation through my back toward the tree spirit, and started talking.

***

In a room high above the capital city of Gormona, lit only by the afternoon sun filtering through a small window, a screen blinked to life.

Some would consider this event—the reawakening of a dormant artifact after millennia—as rather noteworthy. In this room, however, it was becoming more and more commonplace. So, as the guard watching the room caught sight of the blinking screen, he merely raised an eyebrow before leaning back on another relic that was currently serving as his daybed.

“Huh. Another one.”

The door swung open, the guard posted outside poking his head in.

“What was that? I heard a noise.”

“Oh, I was just speaking to myself.”

“... why? We’re supposed to be on the lookout, Deklan.”

Deklan shrugged, shuffling his back around to get comfy on the rock-hard slab of metal.

“Right—and you’re watching the door, Jack. I’m just resting so that when it’s my turn to watch, I’m alert and sharp.”

Jack opened his mouth to protest, then closed it again, narrowing his eyes.

“All right, that actually makes some sense.”

“Right?”

Deklan yawned and covered his mouth, to which Jack just shook his head.

“What did you say, anyway?”

“When?”

“You said you were speaking to yourself—what did you say?”

“Ohhh. I noticed that another artifact had lit up.” He leaned over and flicked the artifact between himself and the open door. “They just keep popping up.”

Jack nodded.

“Yeah, I was surprised the first time, but I’ve become a bit—wait, what?”

“What?” Deklan repeated, shimmying his shoulders as he tried to find the position.

“Another screen lit up?”

“Yeah, the big one right here.”

Jack rushed over, his armor clanking together as he did so. He slid around the side of the artifact, coming to a stop as he peered down at the lines printed across it.

“Foreign Domain...?”

Jack blanched, the blood rushing from his face. Deklan cocked his head at his fellow guard.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Jack. It’s just a screen—it can’t hurt you.”

“I... I need to tell someone...”

“Tell someone what?” Luke asked as he entered the room. “Why aren’t you at your post, guard?”

“S-sir!” Jack snapped to attention. “Another artifact has powered on, sir!”

Deklan watched as his new boss sprinted forward and slid around the corner, mimicking Jack’s movement. It was impressive for a man of his, er, sphericality.

“Triton’s divine shaft...” he said as he caught sight of the screen.

He ran from the room, already beginning to puff.

“Huh.” Deklan covered a yawn. “Wonder where he’s off to.”

“To get the king!” Jack slapped his gauntlet on Deklan’s greaves. “Get up—the king will probably come to see it immediately!”

Deklan watched him through half-lidded eyes as Jack dashed from the door and closed it behind himself. Deklan shook his head.

“They’ll all get ulcers if they don’t relax a little...”

***

Augustus Reginald Gormona rushed through the halls of his castle, having left the sweating and out-of-breath servant in his wake. He fought down a spike of annoyance that flared as he pictured the unfit man still leaning against a wall five floors below. He would have to talk to the guard captain about organizing...

When he recalled the quartermaster, Danny, was one of the men that had disappeared, his lip twitched. The guard captain was filling in as quartermaster until they could promote a suitable guard.

The afternoon sun shone through windows as he strode past them, and while the light and warmth may have been a welcome reprieve at another time, he barely noticed them. With his thoughts consumed by frustration at the ineptitude of his servants, the king arrived at the doorway. The guard there, who had been expecting his arrival, snapped a crisp salute and opened the door for him, shutting it after the king stepped through.

When his gaze landed on the other man he’d assigned to watch the artifacts, his eyebrow raised.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

The man was lounging on an inert artifact, and at Augustus’s entrance, he merely nodded.

“Just watching the screen for any updates. Er—my king, I mean.”

Augustus gave him a flat, withering stare; it had no effect, and the simple man continued smiling at him.

“Watching what screen, subject?” the king asked, his words clipped.

“That one,” the guard replied, pointing at a large, rectangular relic that the king could only see the back of.

His eyes pinned to his subordinate—who remained lounging—the king rounded the relic. When he saw the words on the screen, his blood turned to ice.

Warning! Foreign Domain detected.

Effect: 20% Suppression, 20% Bolstering, 20% Growth.

Local Domain detected.

Effect: 5% Suppression, 5% Bolstering, 10% Defense, 5% Growth.

The king’s world tilted sideways, and the next thing he knew, muscular arms were lowering him to the ground. The man who had been lounging in the room had caught him. He peered down at Augustus with... was that pity?

The king tried to sit up—it was a mistake. The guard caught him again and softly lowered him back down to the ground.

“Don’t rush back to your feet, frien—er, king,” the man corrected. “There’s no shame in a little dizzy spell—you just have to rest a moment.”

Too disoriented to lash out with fury, Augustus Reginald Gormona, king of this continent and ruler of these lands, laid on the bare stones, being gently patted by one of his guardsmen.

***

Luke straightened, pouring with sweat and taking heaving breaths.

He had just conquered the last of the stairwells, and he ambled on shaky legs toward the relic-filled room. He cursed his fitness, not at all looking forward to the chewing out that would come his way. When he finally caught sight of the guard outside the door, Luke straightened his back and forced his legs to walk straight.

The guard opened the door for him, but before Luke could enter, the guard jolted.

“King!” he yelled, running into the room.

Their ruler was prone on the floor, and when the guard reached him, the king slapped away his extended hand.

“I’m fine.”

“He just needs a little space is all,” the lackadaisical guard that was already inside answered, squatting by their king’s side and petting his shoulder.

A spike of adrenaline coursed through Luke, banishing his weariness.

“What... what happened?”

The king’s eyes flashed with annoyance. He took a deep breath before letting it out slowly, then sat up and looked at the man that was now supporting his arm.

“What is your name, guard?”

“Deklan, my king.”

“Right. Thank you, Deklan.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied with a wide grin.

Luke narrowed his eyes at the lack of deference, but before he could chastise his subordinate, Augustus Reginald Gormona’s gaze met his.

“What happened, Luke, is that the spirit beasts have created a Domain within our—no, my lands.”

Luke swallowed.

“What does that mean, king?”

“It means that things are worse than any of us could have possibly imagined. The ascendant creatures must be working together, and they are advancing at an incredible rate.”

“H-how?” The question sounded stupid even to himself, and Luke cringed inwardly.

“Wow. That’s kinda wild, huh?” Deklan asked, raising his eyebrows. “How’d they do that?”

“Wild indeed,” the king answered, patting Deklan’s hand in thanks as he sat up. “There’s only one possibility: they have a master—someone is leading them.”

“A... a master?” Luke asked, his eyes wide. “A cultivator?”

The king tilted his head, then let out a soft chuckle.

“No, Luke. Don’t be absurd. A human could never hope to tame a spirit beast.”

“Then… who?”

The king’s eyes hardened, all mirth disappearing from his face.

“There can be only one answer.” The king clenched his jaw. “It has to be Lizard Wizard—it takes a being of incredible arcane might and knowledge to establish a Domain.”

At the pronouncement, the room went still—except for Deklan.

“What’s a domain?” he asked, scratching his head. Suddenly remembering his company, he gave the king a wincing smile. “Sorry—is that a dumb question?”

“No, not at all, Deklan.” Augustus patted his hand. “It is forbidden knowledge for anyone but the royal family—which is why you will all keep it to yourselves.”

Luke dropped to a knee, bowing before his lord.

“Of course, my king. What shall we do?”

Augustus Reginald Gormona answered immediately.

“Recall the expeditions. It’s time to go on the defensive.”