An unexpectedly lengthy journey to the Fire Nation.

[nick_garou]

I thought I'd just get away from it all for a week or two and spend some time working with the cabal of Hollow Ones in Portland--the ones I'm tutoring in rudimentary Forces. That actually went well and one of them--Shade--seemed to grasp the difference between simply sensing the existence of a force and cross over to influencing the "direction" of a force. His methods were a bit weird--ritual chanting--but who am I to judge? During all this, I allowed Vlad, who already possessed a rudimentary working knowledge of how to influence Forces, to borrow my ring talisman. He spent nearly the entire time as a cougar. Unlike me, he ate gobs and gobs of meat.

After the ensuing celebration and night on the town (note to self: do not drink the Mystery Drink at Club Twilight ever again), followed by some aspirin and liberal amounts of coffee, I headed out the next afternoon to visit with Pavel down in Colorado.

 

It's getting easier and easier to just live out of this battered old Suburban as I realize I need less and less stuff. A tablet/e-reader, a roof over my head, and a safe place to work magick is all I really need. I think I'm starting to understand Pavel's live-in-a-cave eccentricities just a little more. But he still likes it when I bring him groceries, especially the weirder stuff from the Russian specialty grocery store in Denver. And vodka.

 

I dropped off some blood samples that Val'd given me--a portion from Ghost (a werewolf who occasionally seems to get sick?) and a portion that Val collected from one of those life-sucking "drones" in Saint Claire. I also let him look me over, seeing what one of the drones had done to my Life/Prime pattern to see if he could reverse it. He seemed surprised at what he saw, and said he couldn't see any immediate fix that would not be vulgar and require a sustained effect, which he cautioned against.

 

Well, shit. That sucks, but... it's ultimately just a few years of my life lost. I was an idiot for getting involved in that directly to begin with. Count it as a lesson learned and move along, Nick. Old boy. Ha ha. :/

Pavel summoned up a fire elemental for me to have a chat with while he broke out his science lab--which I swear looks like is 1950's era high school equipment that was sold as surplus on eBay--and went to work on the two blood samples. I used some Mind magick to tap conversational meaning out of the elemental's brain. (There's an awful lot of wanting to burn/consume/purify things going on upstairs in fire elementals: go figure.) The fire elemental seemed impressed with me and offered to take me to the elemental plane of fire for a visit. Uhm. Pass? But after the night ended and I crossed back over from the umbra to Pavel's cave/lab, Pavel explained that that was an honor and that this particular fire elemental, when it offered its protection, meant it. (I'd rather sensed it's sincerity via the Mind magick I'd been using, but.... who wands to go a land of everything being on fire, raise your hand!!!!! *crickets*)

 

The next night, when the fire elemental showed up in the umbra, I accepted his invitation and off we went to a deeper umbral realm, emerging in--well, fire. Fire in every direction. I had my shields up, but the elemental was true to his word and kept me safe. (Naturally, I kept my shields up anyway. Just in case.) I met a number of other fire elementals, talking with each of them, manipulating fire and just having long, lengthy, detailed discussions. After a time, I realized suddenly that I was no longer using Mind magick to speak with these fire elementals. I was simply speaking their language. The language of fire itself. For decades I've just been reaching out with my will to alter and influence fire, sometimes using somatic gestures along the way. But fire is not just something that can be twisted and manipulated and willed. Fire is more complex than just a lump sum of energy. There's a subtle, underlying language to fire. A syntax of sorts.

 

It was like, suddenly, I was understanding what had just moments earlier had been a foreign language. And I was speaking it. A little sloppily, yes, but speaking the language nonetheless. I also realized that, over time, as I'd focused on speaking, the fire elemental that was protecting me from a realm of pure fire had slowly been easing off his offered protections--and I'd been adjusting for it subconsciously with my shielding until I was the one protecting myself. By myself. I felt two pats on my shoulder, turned, and saw nothing. But I knew it was Abernathy. My Avatar. Congratulating me as a proud teacher would a student when they just made a breakthrough. I think that might be the highest praise I have ever received from that normally dour old schoolmaster.

 

I thanked the fire elementals for their time and requested to return to Pavel's place. I got back and quickly discovered that time was not what it seemed to have been in the realm of fire. Nearly two months had passed. I'd spent nearly two months swimming in fire. I sent out brief texts letting those in Saint Claire know I was alive but had been without a means of communication for a while, and I'd be heading back soon.

 

Pavel, who just picked up as if I'd been gone a day and not nearly two months, said he'd completed his examination of the two blood samples I'd given him....

 

Drone sample results:

* Not human

* Not fomori

* Not bane-possessed

* Heard of something similar out in Los Angeles from a pair of other mages

 

Ghost's sample results:

* Poisoned blood

* Appears to be poisoned from heavy and constant exposure, which should kill her, but it hasn't. Not yet at least.

* It's not lethal to things it comes into brief contact with, and likely not lethal if swallowed (unless in larger quantities). (Why in the world is Pavel even thinking along the lines of swallowing poisoned blood? He must have had a recent run-in with something vampiric.)

* Poison type is unknown, but there's an underlying resonance to the blood--something that blends both Spirit and Life

* Something about Ghost's blood reminds Pavel of the Black Ooze.

 

Time to go home.