The Bloodforged Kin

Chapter 244 - 238: Jaidyn - Bargaining for Life or Death

Jaidyn was sobbing, holding onto her skill as tightly as she could while watching its hold slip off of the sprites. If she didn't let it go then they'd all break free and get Lady Tutu, but if she let it go then everyone would be going so fast that she could never keep up or stop them.

A thought occurred to her in a flash of desperate panic. She wasn't fast or strong or in control here, but there's somewhere else she was - her domain. But could she do it? It only worked on real things, and only ones that agreed. Dumb creatures could get trapped in it but these things weren't dumb at all. If they said no then…

She couldn't think about that. She felt for her Playground and realized that it felt so, so full - like it had been waiting to grow and just waiting for her to tell it how. She knew then and she closed her eyes tightly, squeezing her fists and poor Teddy as she concentrated. The skill tried to move forward to its next natural progression, but that wasn't what Jaidy wanted. It wasn't behaving. It wasn't being nice. It was being rude and stubborn and bad and it was bad to be bad. It would do what she said or it would be punished!

The skill trembled between trying evolve onto its next path and going somewhere that it had no blueprint for, but Jaidyn's force of will pulled it back and pushed it where she needed it. She didn't just need a Playground anymore - they were fun, but that was for kids. She still wanted it, and she wasn't going to get rid of it, but she needed something else. Something she realized that she'd been missing this whole time - and maybe something that other creatures that were missing too.

She needed a home.

The skill stopped trembling, backing up and writing a new path forward. This skill path was normally limited - powerful, but limited in how it grew. But now that a new intent was fully formulated and the desire fully understood it could rewrite the path. The will behind it was strong enough.

The space around Jaidyn was suddenly lit with the soft glow of sunset, warm and comforting. Peace filled the air with palpable thickness. Jaidyn didn't see any of this, so she was surprised when she heard a deep, melodic voice speak to her.

"Young one, what have you done?"

Jaidyn opened her eyes in shock. The sprite was standing in front of her, head cocked at an unnatural angle as it looked every inch of her over.

"You have a domain, which should not have affected us. We are able to sense them and, if properly invited and welcomed, enter - but never forcibly transported into one. This should be an offense worthy of death - we are not to be kidnapped - but there is a peace here that feels true. So I ask you again, what have you done?"

"I don't know, exactly," Jaidyn's voice quivered.

"You lie." It didn't speak it as a question. "You lie to The People at great risk. This has been your one chance. Speak another lie to us for the rest of your existence and the offense will be repaid in blood."

"But I don't know!" She cried.

Its hand lashed out, nails growing long faster than her eye could follow. She was fast here - faster than almost any human - but to the sprite she was moss on a stone before a rushing flood. Its claws stopped close enough to her face for her to feel it against the skin, stopping at the gentlest touch. It looked at its claw, at her, then pulled its hand away and looked again.

"It appears that, while within your domain, I cannot cause you harm. This is reasonable and fair. It will be honored." If it was upset at its inability to hurt her, it showed no sign. It seemed to accept the reality of her domain without concern. "Regardless, you have done something. You will tell me how you brought us here."

"I do-" she interrupted herself when she saw its expression. "Okay, I think I know - but I'm not totally sure! I have a playground where I can bring people. We play games and whoever wins gets a prize - but we have to agree on the prize first!"

"You have a Contract domain. This is normal and expected. Many have domains that require contracts. Yours appears to be one of Trade, which can be powerful indeed. There have been those whose Contracts have spanned space itself and bargained with the old gods." It looked around, waving its hand through an errant ray of light. The light seemed to stick to its hand before it shook it off. "This isn't that, though. This is different. So I will ask you thrice and for the final time. Once asked it cannot be unasked, and if you do not answer truthfully we will savage your domain, your companion, and you until nothing remains. I ask you now: What did you do?"

"I…" Jaidyn considered what she'd done. She knew what she had wanted, she knew what she had asked, but what exactly did she do? She didn't want to say something wrong and have it be a lie. Even accident lies were lies. She looked at the sprite with fear - was she taking too long?

It understood her look and simply nodded its head for her to continue. It had the patience of ages.

"Okay, I'm going to try explain, but if I get parts wrong I'm not lying, okay? I'm telling the truth and trying to explain! If you think I'm lying, is it allowed if you just ask me more questions?"

It smiled gently at her, its eyes softening, if only slightly. "You are young indeed, aren't you? I believe you mean what you say. What you ask is allowed. As long as your intentions are truthful our deal is met. Just know, young one, that we know a lie when we hear one."

Jaidyn gulped but started. "Okay, so I saw you getting hurt and I saw you hurting Lady Tutu and I wanted it to stop! I don't want Lady Tutu to die, and I don't want you to die!"

"She has taken a life of The People, she will pay with her life."

"But I don't want that! And I didn't want that, so I thought maybe there was something else I could do. Okay, so, I don't have a home. I mean, I have a house, but not a home - not really. I have people there, but none of them are my family. There's a mom, and I thought she'd be my mom, but she's not. Everyone forgot about me and then I never feel safe or comfortable and nothing feels right. And I hate it!"

It watched her with interest, not rushing her to finish her story.

"Okay, so then I thought that you guys were just trying to play and have fun and be nice, and it was fun! You are all so beautiful and magical and wonderful and I thought it'd be fun to play with you! But not in my Playground, not like that."

"No, child, that was wise. You have paid us compliments and I will return them with knowledge - never, under any circumstances, undertake a Contract with the Fae. We are creatures of contracts and are not to be bargained with."

Jaidyn nodded seriously. "I understand. And I didn't want that. I just wanted to be in a place where I was strong enough to stop Lady Tutu and all of you, but not to hurt you! I just wanted to be where I am super strong and super fast and people have to do what I say. It was the only thing I could think of to save everybody! So I made this."

"And what is this, child?"

"It's home," she said with a beaming smile.

It tasted the word as she said it, smiling. "I believe it is, and it is impressive that one so young and new to The System has managed to create one. The ways of the universe are infinite, but something such as this is not normally done. Most don't have the power or intent. To do this you needed to have a desire beyond all others, and the power to fulfill that power. You wanted our safety and protection this badly?"

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"I did!" She hopped in place. "I want you to be safe, and I knew in here I would be strong enough to keep everyone safe!"

"This is impressive, but I am afraid it is only a temporary measure. You will not be able to sustain this domain indefinitely, and once it drops the toll must be paid."

Jaidyn chewed on her bottom lip, hugging Teddy to her chest tightly. Teddy was always so smart, what would he do? She closed her eyes and listened for him. Sometimes he spoke inside of her head and she was hoping he'd do it now.

He must have, then, because an idea came to her. "Wait! Okay, so how about this. You aren't from here - Earth I mean, not Wisconsin, right?"

It smiled and nodded. "You are correct. We have been… dislocated." It said the word in a quiet, even tone that did nothing to disguise the disdain and anger. "Our home was not unlike this," it waved a thin hand at the woods around them, "only more so. The System decided it had other uses for us, and here we are."

"But you're not, like, bad, are you?"

"Bad?"

"You know, like, evil? Like, you like to hurt people and eat innocent people and stuff? Do you like to do bad things?"

It chuckled. "Even were you not so young, I doubt you would fully understand the concepts of 'good' and 'evil' as it pertains to us. I will swear to you, though, that we only do to others what they have earned. Nothing more, nothing less."

Jaidyn didn't understand everything it was saying, but she got the gist. "Okay, so how about this? What if you lived here, with me? In my Home?"

For the first time the sprite looked shocked. It turned slowly, looking the area over. Jaidyn couldn't be sure, but she felt pretty sure that it was looking with more than just its eyes. After a time it turned back to her. "You invite us to stay here with you?"

"It would be so nice if you did!"

"Know that this is not an agreement to be made lightly. It would require understandings. Contracts."

"Okay, I thought so, but that's okay! I think as long as we're nice to each other and can be friends we can live together!"

"Please share this skill with me. I need to see the full details."

Name: Home

Type: Domain Enchantment

Level: 1

Description: This ability allows Jaidyn to create a safe space within her domain where those inside are protected from harm. Once activated, the space transforms into a comforting, secure environment, where residents are free to rest, heal, and recuperate without fear of attack. The atmosphere within the "Home" is calming and nurturing, providing a temporary refuge for those within its borders. This space can be expanded or contracted based on Jaidyn's will, but it is always defined by a sense of peace and safety, making it ideal for moments of respite or regrouping.

Effect:

Safe Haven:

All individuals within the "Home" are unable to harm each other, or be harmed by others. This includes both physical attacks and mental influences. The tranquility of the space extends to the mind, ensuring that any hostile actions or negative emotions are temporarily suppressed. However, the effect is limited to those who willingly enter the space and remains as long as they stay within the boundaries of the domain.

"This is interesting. It appears that your intent created the skill, but there are no requirements or effects beyond your initial desire. This gives us opportunities to write the rules. I will propose them and you may counter. Know that all requests that benefit one of us must be balanced by a benefit to the other. Are you ready?"

"Uhm, I'm not sure how to do that. Will you help me?"

It smiled at her. "You would trust me with this?"

Jaidyn smiled and nodded eagerly.

It shook its head. "Oh little one, be grateful that it is my people that you found first, and not any of the other Fae. I will treat with you honestly and openly, this I swear. Are you ready?"

Jaidyn nodded again.

"Then let us begin."

They talked for a long time and Jaidyn was getting tired of it. Thaloriel, as Jaidyn learned was his name - and he was a he she had also learned - went over each detail so much and so many times, over and over and over. He said it needed to be fair and balanced, whatever that meant. Even if she agreed just so he'd stop, he still went back over it again, making it fair and right.

She was yawning when he finally clapped his hands together, exclaiming "It is complete! Please share your skill again."

She looked it over. There were still a lot of words, but at least it was shorter than her Playground skill. She never even read all of that one. The new effects were pretty easy to understand:

Safe Haven:

You can create a safe space within your domain where intelligent creatures must enter voluntarily, while non-intelligent creatures can be forced. Inside, all outside influences are cut off, including lingering effects from external sources. The space provides healing, protection, and recovery, and the longer creatures stay, the more amenable they become to you and your influence. However, prolonged stay weakens their ability to resist your control when called upon outside the domain.

Summon and Command:

You can summon creatures from your domain to assist you in battle or tasks, drawing on their skills and abilities. However, the creatures retain control of their actions and decisions when summoned, only following your commands if they choose. If they act directly against you, they are ejected from the domain and must leave, but they cannot harm you for 24 hours once ejected from the domain.

Playground Empowerment:

You can pull creatures from your Home into your Playground, where they are empowered by your abilities. They gain access to the skills of your domain and may lend their own abilities to the environment, but only if they choose to do so. The more willing the creatures are, the stronger their contributions to the Playground, but they can choose to leave at any time.

"There! That is fair and equitable. I believe we are finished."

"Yay! So Lady Tutu and I can finally go home?"

Thaloriel clucked his tongue at her. "No deal has been struck for her safety. She remains and will pay her debt."

"But we had a deal!"

"We had no such deal."

"Well I want to make a deal!"

"You have nothing to offer."

Jaidyn smiled, the mischievous smile of a child who knows it has gotten one over on an adult. "I never said you could live with me, though."

Thaloriel's voice grew dangerous. "You did, child, and it is a dangerous undertaking indeed to attempt to cheat the Fae."

"But I didn't! I just said it would be nice, and asked if you'd like to live here." Jaidyn was no Fae, but she understood contracts.

Thaloriel looked at her with a blank stare, then played their conversation over in his mind. Then again. He reached into the Fae realm and realized there was no thread of Contract between the two. He shook his head, his laugh both low and tinkling at the same time. "Had you been deceptive I would have seen this coming, but I do not believe this was in your heart. You dealt in good faith and I put myself in this position. Well done, child, well done. In light of this, I propose a deal…"

Jaidyn skipped back to Safehold on her own. Lady Tutu was in her Home, healing from her wounds. She was safe there - the sprites couldn't do anything to hurt her there. Not that they would now anyway. The deal had been struck and Lady Tutu would be safe, so long as she never harmed another of The People, and as long as she tried her best to protect them when they were in danger. Lady Tutu didn't mind, she liked the funny little creatures again and understood that they weren't food. Kinda.

She dipped into the open basement, crawled through the tunnel, and made her way to her bed without anyone paying her the slightest bit of attention. It didn't matter though, she didn't need them. She had her own home and her own family now.

She closed her eyes and clasped her hands behind her head, pulling up the character sheets for her new family.

Name: Wood Sprite

Level: ?

Type: Magical Fae Creature

Description:

Sprites are mischievous, yet protective, fae creatures that are closely attuned to the forces of nature. Their skin acts as natural camouflage and armor, mimicking the appearance of their type. Despite their small size, they are fiercely protective of those they care for and skilled in illusion magic and subtle control over nature.

Abilities:

Ethereal Slash:

The sprite's nails and claws are magically imbued, able to cut through most materials and able to bypass minor magical defenses.

Nature's Grasp:

The sprite can manipulate plant life in their surroundings, causing vines, thorns, or flowers to emerge to bind or entangle enemies for a brief period.

Fae Speed:

Their speed is magically enhanced, growing stronger when in environments attuned to their nature and weaker in others.

Elusive Aura:

The sprite can transform into a subtly glowing aura that allows them to find shelter in elements of their nature (Woodland Sprites in plant life, Fire Sprites in fire or magma, etc.). Enemies suffer a disadvantage when trying to hit targets in the aura.

Natural Armor: A sprite's body is magically hardened to withstand damage, taking on the characteristics of their nature.