Local Heroes: Vagabond [Epic Progression Fantasy, Book One Complete] RETURNS SEPTEMBER 30th WITH BOOK 2!!

EPISODE 74:
REMANIFESTATION

Vash existed solely in a world of light and pain. Swirls of golden light flowed around and through him. He had no body, and yet every nerve was crying out in agony. There was no up or down, just the endless rushing, swirling light. He wanted to scream but didn't have a voice. The only comfort Vash had was Cass' presence. Like when he had fallen in the Dungeon, she held him close and shielded him from even worse things that he could feel out in the great void beyond.

Slowly, the intense sensations lessened. Vash could feel his disparate parts being drawn back together. It was a terrifying sensation. His physical body was nothing but a cloud of energy orbiting his Core. A formula locked in his mind and drawing immense mana from somewhere beyond pulled his body together, transmuting energy into matter mote by mote.

Vash felt the bones of his skeleton form, then ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Blood vessels and nerves shot throughout his body like the roots of a tree digging into soil. Organs formed and began performing their duties with only a momentary hesitation. Vash felt his heart beating like a war drum, and blood began rushing through his veins.

I never thought about what blood flowing actually felt like. Vash thought, his mind piecing itself together out of fragmented thoughts and memories.
The golden light faded as Vash's eyes finished forming. Skin sealed itself, though now it was smooth and pale as a newborn. His hands no longer had the calluses formed from his work in his youth or his combat training in the Eth Mitaan. Hair sprouted and lengthened, though the hair on his head simply grew out to a ragged general length, flopping down over his eyes and obscuring his vision as the light faded.

At long last, pain and light disappeared, and Vash felt the sudden, urgent need to breathe. His mind panicked, trying to remember how to take air into his lungs. Vash made a hesitant, hiccuping gasp, coughed, then sucked in a long, gasping breath.

He coughed and wheezed, writhing on the moss and fallen leaves beneath his bare skin. How long he lay there, Vash didn't know. It could have been seconds, or hours; either time frame would have felt right in his fragmented mind.

What happened? Vash thought. He remembered Zakarias stabbing him, then he stabbed the sorcerer and shattered the Dungeon Heart. Things were hazy after that. Jabez might have shown up. Corwin was badly hurt. The worm…something happened to the worm. Then what?

"That…was quite impressive." A voice said from somewhere nearby.

Vash opened his eyes, wincing as they adjusted to the light. He felt the extra lenses and muscles of his elvish eyes stretching and moving, awkward like it was the first time he had ever used them.

It is the first time you've used them. Cass' voice sounded tired and weak.

Cass! You're all right! Vash thought, though he didn't know why he might have thought she wouldn't be all right.

I am thanks to you. Cass said fondly. Now I have to rest for about a fortnight. We'll talk later.

Cass's presence faded before he could ask her questions. Which may have been for the best, because someone was standing over him while he lay silently on the ground.

Vash's eyes focused finally, and the small brown and green blur standing over him resolved into the curious face of Master Heggin. The gnomish druid chewed on the stem of his pipe and gazed down at Vash with a curious expression.

Struggling to sit up, Vash felt the morning chill prickling his skin. Then he realized he was entirely naked.

"Where…" Vash started, his voice coming out in a rough croak. He coughed and cleared his throat, willing his vocal cords and tongue to remember how they worked. "Where are my clothes?"

"No idea." Heggin said, shaking his head. "I was just about to have a morning smoke when a bunch of glowing dust appeared, then a big flash of light, then poof there you are."

"Where am I?"

"The Heart Tree," Heggin said, patting the huge root beside him. "Center of the grove."

"How did I get here? The last thing I remember was being in the Dungeon," Vash said, attempting to cover himself awkwardly. That was when he realized he was holding some things. In his left hand was the dagger that Charity gave him, and just beneath his hand was the battered copy of Gideon's Guide to Adventure. His Guild medallion hung around his neck, still old and tarnished. Opening his right hand, he found the double-headed coin.

The coin that…where did I get that? Vash thought, wracking his confused brain. It's important, I know it's important, but I can't remember why or where I got it.

The only thing that came to mind was his mother's urn, hidden away at the little beach on the Summerwine. Vash shook his head, not understanding the memory. The more he thought about it, the more twisted and fuzzy his thoughts became.

Heggin watched him, not saying anything, just leaning against the root of the Heart Tree and puffing on his pipe. The sweet, earthy aroma of Heggin's pipe smoke brought Vash back to reality. "You don't have any clothes handy, do you?"

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Without missing a beat, Heggin reached behind him and tossed a small sack at Vash. Snatching it out of the air, Vash pulled it to himself and looked through the contents. A rough homespun tunic and breeches, no shoes or undergarments, but it would do to get him back to the infirmary at least.

"Just had this with you?" Vash asked, laying the coin and dagger next to his book and pulling on the breeches.

Heggin glanced at the coin and nodded to himself, then took a long pull on his pipe before letting out a great cloud of smoke. "Last time I was in the Green Lands, a little bird told me I should be here this morning and I should bring along a spare set of clothes. I thought it might be a Druid going through their first shapechange, which can be hard on the wardrobe if you aren't expecting it."

"I don't think I changed shape." Vash said, pausing before he put on the tunic. He frowned, searching his hazy memory. "Something changed…I can't remember though."

"Memory loss is common when the body has gone through an intense trauma." Heggin mused, glancing down at Vash's coin again. "Where'd you get that?"

Vash shrugged. The tunic was a bit big, but that didn't bother him. "Someone gave it to me."

"Who?"

Instinctively, Vash opened his mouth to answer, then closed it again, brow furrowed. "I can't remember."

"Ah, had it a long time then?" Heggin nodded sagely.

"No…someone gave it to me recently." Vash said, knowing that the coin was new to him, but not where he got it or from whom.

"Interesting," Heggin said, bushy eyebrows drawing together in deep thought. "Because all four of those items are soulbound to you."

"So?" Vash asked, not understanding. He gathered his things together. As he did so, Vash fumbled with the Gideon's Guide, and it fell open, pages flapping in the light breeze.

"Just interesting, that you appear here at perhaps the most powerful nexus of magical energies in the area, with no memory of recent events, and the only items you retain are those that you can not lose."

Vash blinked, unsure what Heggin was getting at, but knowing that he had to see if Corwin and the others were all right. He had a vague memory of Corwin being badly wounded and only having a swallow or two of a healing potion. Vash glanced down at the Gideon's Guide as he reached for the book on the ground. Writing appeared on a previously blank page:

Remanifestation

Rank: Special

Cost: ????

Description: A rare and incredibly potent Talent thought lost since the founding of the Wayfarers. When the user of the Talent is killed, and their body can not be repaired by any known Healing Art, then the user's body will disintegrate along with most of their belongings. After a period of time, the user's Spirit will seek the nearest suitable Nexus point, at which point the Spirit will reconstruct the user's body by converting Mana directly into Matter. The user's Spirit will then attach itself to the new body and continue with the same skills, memories, and powers as before.
Side Effects: Memory loss. The number of memories and the severity of the loss seem to be random effects of the Talent. Equipment destruction. Any item not soulbound to the user will be destroyed during the use of the Talent. Core weakening. For a short time, the user's Core cannot store as much mana as it did prior to remanifesting the new body.

"Now that is very interesting." Heggin said over Vash's shoulder.

Vash started, then closed the book and turned to face Heggin. The green-haired gnome stood just behind Vash. "I don't know what that was."

"You're just full of surprises, Apprentice Ballard," Heggin said with a slight smile. "I was wondering why you soulbound your Gideon's Guide. That particular print run turned out to be quite special. I can see why you would want to hold on to it."

"But what did that mean about remanifestation and the user being dead…"

"I think that would be obvious." Heggin said, knocking his pipe against the sole of his sandal. He cleared out the bowl of the pipe and then stuck the stem through the band of a floppy, wide-brimmed hat. "You died…then you got better."

Heggin set his hat firmly on his head and then walked towards the path out of the clearing. He stopped just at the edge and looked back at Vash. "You coming? This whole Master's Council vote is about you, after all."

Vash scrambled to his feet. "That's still happening?"

"I haven't heard otherwise, so I assume so."

"But you said I was dead."

"When has that ever stopped bureaucracy?" Heggin said, genuinely befuddled.

Vash caught up with Heggin, and they walked side-by-side out of the grove. "So they're going to vote on whether they send me, a dead man, back to Sathsholm where I would be…put to death?"

"When you put it that way, it just sounds silly." Heggin scolded. "I'm sure they have a perfectly rational explanation."

Emerging from the grove, Vash was stunned by what he saw. The little village that housed so many Wayfarers had sustained a great deal of damage. Several houses were nothing but smoking ruins. Bodies of Scalebacks, humans, elves, dwarves, and gnomes lay in the central meadow for identification and burial or disposal. Knots of exhausted Wayfarers moved slowly along the paths; most had wounds of some sort.

"How bad did it get up here?" Vash asked as they walked to the Lodge.

"It was a close thing." Heggin said. "The Scalebacks pushed the defenders back across the bridge and broke the line. By the time we regrouped, there were Scalebacks everywhere. Almost everyone was holing up in the Lodge to make a last stand. Rowan was preparing to send a runner back to Sathsholm for reinforcements. Then, it all stopped. The Scalebacks started shrieking and clutching their heads in pain. Then, most of them just keeled over dead. The ones who didn't ran away in a blind panic. Reports came in from the groups sent down to check out the Underlands that the whole Temple structure collapsed. Every monster in the area ran for their lives. The survivors are probably giving their reports right now."

"Survivors?" Vash asked, voice hopeful.

"Yeah, apparently a group of apprentices took it upon themselves to raid the Dungeon and rescue the folk who had been kidnaped. Wonder whose idea that was?" Heggin said in a sarcastic tone.

"Do you know who made it out?" Vash asked.

Heggin shook his head. "Sorry, no, just that it was a fair bunch of them."

Vash walked on in silence, pondering this news.

"For what it's worth," Heggin said. "You did well, apprentice."

Vash said nothing, just nodded.

They arrived at the Lodge within a few minutes. The big doors were thrown open, and people were everywhere. The courtyard was a makeshift triage ward. Healers darted from one patient to the next. Dosing some with potions, calling upon the power of the gods with others.
Vash looked around, but he didn't see Corwin anywhere. Nor could he spot any of the others that followed them down into the Underlands. He did, however, spot a familiar and unwelcome face.

Jacen Glauch and several other of the red-tabarded Knights of the Hidden Star, guarded the door to the Lodge. A surprised and savage smile spread across the former Inquisitor's face when he spotted Vash.

"Vash," Glauch said, stepping forward and motioning other Knights to accompany him. "Once again, it seems to reports of your death have been exaggerated."

The Knights took Vash roughly by his arms. Faces grim.

"How marvelous for me." Glauch said, smiling coldly.