How to Make Friends and Influence People
Rachel stood motionless for a long while. All she could do was stare. She was a bit shocked and quite amazed.
Now she fully understood. She smiled. Then and there she decided that she wanted Ambruce on her side.
Many realms were born from the Trannisa realm. It had an abundance of magic and continually created more. This abundance caused for an overflow that caused new realms to spawn.
That said none of the new realms had the same magics as Trannisa. None of them had any source of the flow of rainbow magic. They were just chips of Trannisa and did not have the fullness of it's resources or its possibilities.
But here in Ambruce there was an origin well. Not a regular well that fed a realm and kept it sustained so it could grow and learn and possibly become sentient.
Ambruce had a rainbow origin well.
Rachel had seen many realms but she had only seen one rainbow origin well and that was in Trannisa. The well there was massive. It was the size of a medium sized walled city and it was overflowing with rainbow magic.
The one on Ambruce was two times the size of an average water well and, from what Rachel could see from her position, it was perhaps a quarter of the way full.
She was not sure what the size of the well and the amount of magic within it exactly meant, but she did understand that Ambruce had room too grow. Even with this possible growth Ambruce could be formidable if it knew how to wield its defenses and if it had battle experience.
Rachel doubted that this realm had actually battle experience. Looking down upon the origin well she could see that no one had ever gotten actual access to it.
"This is going to be a bit harder than we thought."
There was an odd quality to Rachel's voice that caused the other three to tense.
"Everyone get ready. This realm wields rainbow magics and I am going to have to split my attention between this fight and Smral."
This news shook the other three but they still readied themselves.
Smral was in a moment of raucous laughter. He liked Ambruce. He was amazed by this but there was no doubt in him. He knew he liked this realm.
The manipulator in him was thinking fast. It was natural. He was always thinking of ways to achieve some end, some goal. But what did he want to achieve this time?
He smiled inwardly. He wanted Ambruce. But not as a conquest, not as a thrall. He was actually trying to figure out how to make Ambruce a friend or, at the very least, an ally.
Had he changed so much since he lost a part of his soul? He had to admit he liked the changes. He was more powerful, his mind was clearer, and he felt as if he belong somewhere. He felt like he had family and a home.
It was pretty insane. A solitary creature like a dragon of ailment wanting family.
It was hilarious, but that's not why he was laughing. He was laughing because he was genuinely enjoying himself.
'You have broken three of my illusions and you are not even trying.'
Smral quieted and just smiled at Ambruce. It was true. His innate abilities were continually chipping away at the illusions around him. He was actively slowing the process but he could not stop it.
Ambruce sighed. 'I feel I should let you and the others leave, but I do not want to.'
'Why not?'
'Because that is not what I have done in the past.'
Smral nodded at this and let out a low snort. He had been the same way. He looked at Ambruce 'And have your old ways been satisfying to you?'
Ambruce looked into the rainbow sky. A seat materialize behind him and he set down in thought.
Smral didn't see anything because he was too focused on the rainbow sky. 'What is a rainbow sky doing here? Is Rachel destroying the illusions from the outside?'
Rachel, and Struns were casting spells, with Cramnal using magics. Rachel was focused on Smral but she had six beings out and interspersed amongst the other three. There were runes of different colors and types moving in all directions and not all of them were coming from the cohort.
The Ambruce Realm was fighting like a sentient being.
They had been stunned at first but had quickly regained themselves.
Cramnal was thrown back by a stream of earth magic that turned into an obsidian Boulder just before it hit him. He landed heavily but rolled, stood back up, and went to re-engage without any hesitation.
Whirling winds were causing paper cut like slices to form on their bodies.
Struns was bleeding from a gash in his neck. They learned too late that whatever offense they used Ambruce sent it right back. Struns had used his daggers and wind magic quickly retaliated and had sliced his neck.
Rebecca's spirit beings continually had soul and spirit magics flowing between her and them. Feeding them and strengthening them. They moved forward and everything they touched withered and died. She strained as she sent more magics forth. Her mind reeling from excessive magics use, as she maintian4d her watch over Smral and protected her companions' backs.
Rachel was bleeding. She did not like to bleed when it was not due to her intentional action and understanding of the consequence. Today she was bleeding because she had not fully understood. Her comrades were bleeding because of her miscalculations.
She spun through the air. The rainbow strands in her hair reaching forward, out, and around her seeking an enemy to devour. They were fighting spirit constructs. Not sentient sentinels.
In actuality this was better for them because without sentience the constructs could not defend against all of their tactics. They could only do as they were programed to do. It was better but it didn't feel easier.
These constructs were made of a light that Rachel knew but never used. It was a spectrum of light that she had seen in the memories of the Milana. It was a strong ancient thing that only existed in the core of Trannisa but here it was within Ambruce realm as if it had been gifted to the realm for its defense.
She knew where to find it but many Milana before her died seeking it so she never really thought about it. Fighting these spirit constructs was proving so difficult for her that she was suddenly interested in this light.
She drilled her entire body through two spirit constructs in a boomerang type move. Her body actually passed through two gaping holes due to her hair carving a space out for her. She landed behind Cramnal. She watched him use his traveler's magics. Doors opening and causing vortexes to suck things in, projectiles flying out, or even magics released in erratic streams.
She shook her head 'Cramnal needs to use other magics or learn how to incorporate different magic into the traveler magic. Maybe he needs to learn sorcery.'
Her hand out stretched and a spirit construct shattered to the left of Cramnal.
Rachel kept an eye on Smral. She knew Ambruce should have already been alerted, but it had not acted against him. When she saw what was happening inside the illusion she understood why.
Ambruce wanted to be deleted. The realm wanted to lose its status and become a lesser being. This could be a benefit to Rachel. But she wanted Ambruce as it was, not lesser.
As they destroyed a spirit construct another one formed. She saw that Cramnal and Struns were getting tired. She would need to end this.
She sighed… she was always sighing these days and she realized she would be sighing many more times for a long while.
"Fall back! Fall back now! Both of you Struns."
As she watched them move to positions to the rear her skin took on a rainbow sheen. The blood she was losing began moving to her fingertips and the tips of her hair. Sparks lit up around her like fireworks without the loud noise.
A sphere of sparks moved outward from her. She stayed in her position as her blood continued to flow. As more blood moved to her finger tips and the tips of her hair the sphere grew larger and more powerful.
In an instant light streamed forth from her fingertips and hair. The sphere she sent out surrounded the origin well. The spirit constructs stopped what they were doing, standing motionless, one inches from Rachel.
The power she released shattered all the motionless constructs and then flowed into the origin well.
Magic quickly drained from Rachel and she collapsed.
Rachel's spirit body materialized in a beautiful meadow. She walked to a small area where a table sat with four chairs. She sat next to Smral and looked at the tea.
"Would you like tea Milana?"
Rachel smiled. "Of course. Because of you I will need to sleep for several days. I want tea and some type of cake, preferably with goshen berries."
Ambruce smiled as it prepared tea and a spongy soft purple cake appeared on the table.
"Did you hurt yourself?"
She could hear the genuine concern in Smral's voice. She looked at him and said nothing. She patiently waited for her tea and cake to be presented to her. She took a sip of tea, sat back, and closed her eyes.
Ambruce looked to Smral. "She defeated all of my spirit constructs and she has sealed my soul well. She completely drained her magic in the process."
Ambruce paused and looked to Rachel thoughtfully. "I sense that you did not want to destroy the part of me that is this realm."
Smral's eyes widened. "All that and the tethers never faltered and our connection is still stable."
Then he looked to Ambruce with the same wide eyes. "You wanted the realm destroyed?" He sipped his tea and quietly watched the two powerful beings before him.
Rachel opened her eyes and took another sip of tea. "What do the tethers and our connection have to do with my exhaustion." She looked to Ambruce "Would you like to be my Antrunie?"