What We Do to Survive

I was sitting in my usual spot in Professor Meadows’ class, reviewing some of my notes from the previous class and annotating some of the diagrams I’d hurriedly copied down earlier in the week. I had time, I’d shown up even earlier than I usually did and for once there wasn’t any sort of pressing concern hanging over my head.

It was nice, for a change. I’d always worked well under pressure, but sometimes it was important to just be able to take your time. I’d finally caught up with a lot of my classwork, skimmed several books that I’d noted down but never had a chance to read, and finally went through my mountain of notebooks and put things back into some semblance of order.

For the first time in weeks, there wasn’t an urgent deadline hanging over my head. Sure, I still had a lot to do, and some of my deadlines were coming up worryingly soon, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been the last few weeks. I had a lot to prepare for, there was dealing with Brenda, of course, and more immediately finalizing what ritual I would be conducting and some spell practice I needed to get in.

The winter recess was rapidly approaching, though with Avalon’s nearly unchanging weather you wouldn’t know it, with only five more weeks until the end of the term. I’d already completed the minimum passing requirements for most of my classes, only the ritual in Professor Williams’ class and some specific alteration spells that Professor Yana required were left. The ritual was merely a matter of time at this point, and acquiring some specific reagents. Similarly, the simple shape-changing spells I needed to learn shouldn’t be too complicated. I’d formed my shifter’s foundation the week before so it was just a matter of practice.

Still, it wasn’t time to slack off yet, not that I ever really let myself slack off. I was not content with merely passing my classes. There were always rewards given out at the end of each semester to the best performing students, typically nothing special but still very good to have. High placement also brought with it certain other benefits. When you selected classes for next term was greatly dependent on how well you did the previous semester. The top few students also were allowed more one-on-one meetings with professors and greater access to Academy materials.

Beyond that, doing well was particularly important in the next two years. Professors really started watching students around this time, now that the herd had been culled to a much more reasonable number. At the end of my fourth year, I would be paired with a faculty mentor, and I’d heard that having a well fitting mentor was crucial to succeeding during the last few years. Each professor could only mentor a handful of students at a time, typically no more than two or three, and students who were viewed favorably by the staff tended to get better mentors. After all, why waste the teachers’ precious time on someone who was just going to end up dead anyway?

I shook my head and made a small correction in the diagram I was looking at. There was no point thinking about that sort of thing just yet. One thing at a time. There was no use daydreaming about what could be if it meant screwing up and killing myself now. I didn’t even want to know what would happen if I tried to manifest All-Material with that bit messed up. If the backlash didn’t kill me, the unstable matter formed by a failed transmutation would make me wish it had.

I looked up from my work when I heard the classroom door open, and was surprised when I saw Miranda step into the room. I didn’t think I’d ever seen her come this early. Class wasn’t going to start for at least another twenty minutes. Even I didn’t typically come this early. I had been the first person in the classroom this morning and didn’t expect anyone else for a few minutes yet.

Her eyes immediately zeroed in on me and she purposely began to walk down toward me. That was rather strange, I had barely spoken to her in the last week and she rarely sought me out. It was typically the other way around, with me keeping her constantly busy with small tasks I felt she was well suited for.

With a respectful nod and a small smile, Miranda sat down beside me and set her bag down before turning her chair to face me. I carefully set my pen down into its case. A minor enchantment on the nib ensured that the ink left no unintended marks, but even such a minor luxury had not always been readily available.

“Yes?” I folded my hands and quirked an eyebrow at the silent girl.

“Sorry. Um, there’s some news I think you will probably want to know. There should be an announcement soon, but I overheard it a bit early and thought you probably would want to know. It's… it's nothing, like, serious, but um…”

I continued to stare silently as Miranda slowly stumbled through whatever it was she wanted to tell me. She didn’t often get like this, but it happened occasionally. Clearly she thought I would have some sort of reaction to the news, though I couldn’t think of what it might actually be. What would they be announcing soon that could…”

“Well. The portal, right? We’ve been connected to Arika for a few weeks but, like, that's just a temporary thing. The portal is moving again in just a few days and, well…” she trailed off slightly.

“Yes?” I asked again, more firmly this time. What had her so stressed out? Honestly, I could never understand what was running through her head.

She took a deep breath and blurted it out in a single breath. “The portal is going to be in Xethis starting next Friday. Just outside the capital.”

It took a moment to process what she’d said, my mind momentarily refusing to accept the words it had clearly heard. Then, I froze, my folded hands clenched into white-knuckled fists. Xethis. Just outside the capital. Xethis. Home.

I exhaled slowly, trying to stay calm even as my mind raced a mile a minute. Xethis. It had been years since I’d fled my old home, and I’d never dared to go back since. At first, it had been far too dangerous to go back. Later, well, it just hadn’t come up. The portal had passed within a few hundred miles of the island nation several times over the years, but it had never seemed like the right time. It still didn’t seem like the right time.

I opened my eyes, not really remembering consciously closing them, and fixed Miranda with a stare. “That's… good to know.” I slowly bit out, “Thanks Miranda.”

“Of course Orion. If you need any help, someone to bounce–”

“Yes. Thanks Miranda.”

She fell silent, turning to face the front of the room as she quickly got her own things situated. I picked up my pen, but I couldn’t focus. It was… not news I ever really expected to here. The longer I thought about it, the more confused I was. What the hell did Xethis have to offer to Avalon.

Avalon’s portal did not just move randomly, the position was typically negotiated years in advance by powerful nations, organizations, or alumni. The Academy brought with it a veritable wave of trade and a small mountain of priceless reagents and unique magic items. Sure, there were some issues associated with the portal’s presence, Academy members tended not to be the most… law-abiding of people, but the Academy did impose limits on what members could do in surrounding regions. Well, what they could do without trying too hard to avoid getting caught.

Who or what had brought Avalon to a tiny, backwater country like Xethis? Sure the islands had some interesting magical creatures and several modestly powerful mage houses, but nothing particularly special. It was certainly curious. Very curious.

We sat in silence for several minutes until I finally asked, “Have they announced when the briefing is?”

“What? Oh, no, not yet. Probably next weekend though, that's when they usually do them. I’ll find out and let you know as soon as I can.”

“Good.” We both fell silent again and I forced myself to get back to work. Hopefully the briefing would clear up some questions. If nothing else, I could use a refresher on who was who back home. I’d been a child when I’d fled, and that came with a limited perspective of who was really important in a country.

Honestly, I wasn’t ashamed to admit that the briefings were one of the services Avalon provided that I had sorely underused over the years. Each time the portal moved, a small group of faculty and staff members prepared a very comprehensive guide to the region we were visiting. I usually picked up the pamphlets they printed, but I had heard the actual briefings were considerably more thorough than those dozen-page packets. I wouldn’t know, I’d never attended one, despite having been at Avalon for almost two and a half years now.

That sort of knowledge was useful, but I had never been able to convince myself to put aside most of a day that could be spent practicing magic to listen to what felt far too much like gossip. I was starting to realize that it was exactly that attitude that had hurt my efforts at connecting with my peers. That sort of information was valuable, expensive, and rarely available to the public at large. I should have been seeing it as yet another facet of Avalon’s education, just like the library of priceless tomes and the freely available reagents.

I continued to breathe slowly and deliberately, focusing on the intricate flow of mana just under the surface of my skin. What would it be like? It had been years since I’d left, and back then I had seen the world with the eyes of a child. Would it be like I remembered, beautiful rocky coasts, ancient forests, the refreshing scent of the sea washing in on the cool breeze? Maybe… maybe I could go back home, it would be something of a trip from the capital, but perfectly manageable in a day or two. Would it be safe though? Of that, I was not sure. I was strong now, at least by the measures of my homeland, but I was still unpracticed and inexperienced. If I ever saw his face… Well, I wasn’t sure I would be able to control myself.

Rea whistled in quiet contentment as she worked, the feather duster in her hand dancing even as most of her attention was devoted to the small ball of light floating soundlessly over her upturned palm. Master had said that it was a simple exercise, something she should have been able to do years ago, but it still took all her concentration to keep the glowing orb from flickering. Still, that only made sense. To Master, this was a simple task. A slave like her could only dream of such power to better serve Master.

An ill-formed current of mana suddenly snapped, tiny imperfections in the structure causing it to collapse into ambient mana. Rea let out an annoyed hum and redoubled her efforts with the duster as the light winked out.

After a few moments of consideration, she concluded that she’d tried to use too much mana this time. She’d wanted an orb the same size and brightness as Master had demonstrated, but her control was just not at the level that Master expected of a lowly slave like her. That was why she had to practice, practice, practice. Her incompetence could not be allowed to reflect poorly on Master.

Rea was pulled out of her thoughts when a particularly violent thrash from her victim nearly knocked the duster out of her slackened grip. Despite the restraints, the elves did have some minor range of movement, and with elven strength behind it even a seemingly casual flex or arrant thrash could be dangerous.

Rea frowned. This ungrateful cow should know better by now. Master was so very gracious to it, taking care of the useless creature and giving its life purpose. Despite that kindness, the stupid animal continued to occasionally thrash and struggle against its home.

Reaching out, Rea carefully formed a thin coating of mana over her palm just like Master had demonstrated to her. It took her almost a minute to form the barrier, a shamefully long time but Master was generous and had told her to focus on other skills for now.

She flexed her hand, making sure that everything was properly formed. It was. Then, she brought her glowing palm down as hard as she could on one of the cow’s generous buttocks.

Pale flesh warped and jiggled in a way that seemed thoroughly unnatural yet strangely appealing. Rea raised her hand and was disappointed to find that she still hadn’t managed to leave so much as a red mark. Master’s handprint had lasted for almost an hour, yet she could not even hit hard enough to leave a visible trace of her efforts.

Still, even if it had been a pathetic effort, the spank was enough to remind the cow of its place. Rea carefully formed a new orb of light, though this one was slightly smaller than the last, and got back to work.

The feather duster danced across sensitive flesh, making the cow pant and writhe, its dangling breasts bouncing as the milking machines did their unending work. Her efforts were rewarded by a near constant dripping sound, pale-pink fluid accumulating rapidly in the large bucket Master had so generously crafted for her use.

She’d found that a gentler touch was better with this one. She’d initially used her fingers and tongue the way she had been taught years ago, but master had decided that her tongue left too much contamination and her fingers were just not efficient enough. She had spent hours kneeling in penance for that horrific mistake, but thankfully Master had it in his heart to forgive even a useless slave like her.

After that, she’d tried several other techniques, but none had proven more effective than this one. She still switched her methodology around every few hours to ensure the cow did not get used to the sensation, but always returned to this technique. It was not her favorite method, but it filled the bucket faster than any other.

It took another ten minutes to fill the bucket, and she carefully emptied it into the correct holding tank before moving on to the other cow. Though Master had been caring for this cow for longer, it was still much less well-behaved than the blonde-haired one.

Thankfully, she’d found that a much rougher hand worked wonders here, so she could continue to practice the techniques she’d begun to develop when she assisted Master with bringing more slaves under his sway. To think that a lowly slave like her would be trusted with such important tasks! It was an honor beyond her wildest dreams. Though it was not her place to question Master’s plans, she eagerly awaited the day master would command her to prepare others to serve him.

Kneeling down by the chest Master made for her, Rea bowed deeply then carefully opened the container. She carefully set the duster back in its place, mumbling words of thanks to Master for providing his worthless slave with such an abundance of tools.

Her fingers trailed slowly through the neatly organized box, a broad smile on her face and a burning heat in her core as she remembered how Master had given her each gift and demonstrated how to use it. For a moment, her fingers hovered over one of her favorites, she never had managed to fully skin one of her new sisters. Perhaps Master would let her practice on one of them again if they displeased him. Otherwise, she would simply have to wait for the next person Master decided was worthy of serving him.

Eventually, her hands closed around two suitable tools and she reverently closed the box and stood up. In her left hand was a thin metal rod, nearly three feet in length with a handle on one end and slightly springy. Master had made it for her when he’d seen how little effect the wooden cane he’d given her to use on the other humans had proven barely noticeable to an elf. She’d found the new tool worked wonders, leaving thin red lines on flawless skin that took hours to heal.

In her other hand was a short, bulbous rod that Master had given her when he commanded her to start taking care of Master’s livestock. It had of course proven wonderfully effective, particularly on the first cow, just as wise Master had told her it would.

Taking up her position, she made sure the collection bucket was correctly positioned. Then, she gently lay the longer rod across her muscled back and set the tip of the shorter rod where the cow’s back met its butt.

Even without any force behind it, the first touch made the cow flinch away. It knew from experience what was coming. The second made its entire body freeze for a second, then almost buck into the touch of cold metal. Rea smiled again, a cruel little thing with none of the warmth she directed at her beloved Master. Had either of the former victims been around to see it, they would have broken out into cold sweats, even though they were no longer under her direct control. Metal cracked sharply against the tender skin of the cow’s tautly bound thighs and the red-haired elf flinched silently, any sound cut off by the enchanted gag in her jaw. Rea’s smile turned into a grin and she got to work.