The First Cultivator

Coralline was anxious. Her little girl was out there, and she was stuck in bed. A coughing fit reinforced that it was the correct decision. Still, it was hard. She wanted to protect Azura, although she knew that, in reality, it would be the other way around. Or could she? She mentally felt inside her body for the mana within. It was small, of that she had no doubt. It would have awakened on its own if it were of any significant size. Even Azura's had been too small to use. But she had found a way. How had she done it? She had taken mana and changed it to something grander. Could… Could she do the same?

Her musings were interrupted by a commotion near the entrance. Fatania was already there, yelling at the rat-kin and whatever the source was. Coralline cursed her frailty. A brief visual inspection indicated that there was no immediate danger. This was further proven as several more kin joined her in the cave. A family of squirrel-kin and mole-kin. They must have been the ones Hamal had been escorting here. There were so few. A moment later, Hamal was there looking worried.

"Where's Azura?" His head swiveled back and forth as if he expected she was hiding and would jump out at him. In all fairness, she did tend to do that a lot.

"She went to look for Toren and Gerald."

Hamal swore, turning back toward the entrance.

"Where do you think you're going?" Fatania asked sharply.

"I'm going to look for Azura," Hamal stated firmly, his tail twitching.

"No. We have more important things to do."

"More important!" Hamal shouted. "She could be in trouble."

"I have no doubt there is trouble, but it won't be for that girl," Fatania said as she glanced at Coralline.

"I have a job for you. I want you to find out where the kin are being held. Take ten of the family and scout the area."

"That could take all night!" Hamal protested.

"So?" Fatania countered.

"I think it might be easier than you think," Coralline rasped. They both turned to her. "Mages are prideful. If we think about it logically, there are only a few places to look. They were taking the kin out of the slums for some reason. So, where are they to take them? They wouldn't take them into their part of the city. It would be some holding area. Either in the slums or outside of town."

"That makes sense," Fatania said, nodding. "Have two kin search the slums, and the rest scout outside the walls. It should be obvious once you're near if they are all crammed together. After you find it, come back immediately."

Hamal looked like he wanted to protest. Instead, he nodded and quickly gathered up more rat-kin before leaving.

"He's a good kid," Coralline said after he left.

"That he is," Fatania said proudly as she sat by her friend. "You should try to sleep."

"Been sleeping a good portion of the day. I think I'd rather talk."

"Don't strain yourself. Azura might beat me to take out her frustrations if anything happened to you."

Coralline chuckled. The pair talked for another ten minutes when another commotion happened up front. This one sounded different. There was fear this time.

Fatania shot to her feet, but Azura was there before she could take a single step.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

It was her little girl, yet not. Her perpetual playfulness was gone. Her eyes were hard, her visage grim. This was further reinforced by the blood on her pale skin. In her arms, she held what could only be a body wrapped in a bloody blanket.

"Oh no," Coralline whispered, her fingers covering her mouth. Azura gently set the wrapped bundle down. Suddenly, Coralline knew who it was. She also knew precisely what Azura was thinking. It was going to get her killed. There was no way to stop her, except…

Coralline coughed. She intentionally made herself cough long and deeply, quickly becoming real as she stressed her body. The violent coughing had its desired effect. Azura was there, and her hard look changed to concern. Coralline hugged her daughter till the fit passed, after which she refused to let go.

"Mom, I have to go," Azura said, carefully prying her arms off her. She was gentle but unstoppable. So she played her last card. She let her emotions show with tears as she met her daughter's stony face.

"Please don't leave me!"

Azura hesitated.

"I can't lose you. I won't survive without you." Coralline cried. She hated herself for doing this. But she would do anything to protect her little girl, even from herself. She had to reach through the shell of hate Azura had created, or it would consume her.

Fatania wisely didn't interfere and instead ushered everyone away to give her privacy. Once they were alone with Toren's body, she continued, not letting her daughter go. Azura had stopped trying to pry her off, at least.

"What happened?" Coralline laid back down, trying to pull Azura with her. There was a moment of resistance. She was afraid she had failed. That Azura would speed away and never return. Instead, Azura relented, allowing herself to be dragged onto the cot.

Azura was rigid for a few seconds before it happened. She broke. Her body went limp, and she began to cry. She snuggled into Coralline's soft fur and wept. The tears kept coming, followed by soul-destroying sobs. Coralline rubbed Azura's ears and stroked her hair. She wrapped her arms and tail around her daughter and whispered comforting words. Azura didn't protest or try to pull away. Her misery was all-consuming.

Coralline wasn't sure how long they had lain like that. It took at least an hour for Azura's crying to end. She clung to her mother like a raft on an endless ocean.

"I was too late. Toren's family was gone. I thought he might have gone to Gerald's place or Hamal's. I was about to leave when I found his body." Her voice was scratchy and muffled by Coralline's fur.

Coralline didn't interrupt; she just kept petting her daughter.

"Some mages came after that. There were five, I think. They must have heard me screaming."

Coralline hands trembled, but she kept stroking her daughter's hair.

"I killed them. Only one got away. It was… easy."

Azura's voice went dark. "I hate them. I hate them all. They deserve to die!"

"Perhaps," Coralline said. "But I know for certain that I want you to live. Toren would want the same. Don't throw away your life trying to kill others. I need you. Not for your power, but because I can't live without my little pig-kin."

Fresh tears filled Azura's eyes as she clutched her mother. "What are we going to do?" Azura choked.

"We'll lay Toren to rest and see if we can help his family. We also have to find Gerald and the rest of our friends," Coralline said. She felt Azura's acceptance as she snuggled in closer. Her grief replaced the darkness, for now.

"Okay, Mom."

Fatania poked her head around a corner, and Coralline nodded. They stood where they were as Fatania approached.

"I'm sorry about Toren," Fatania said. "Hamal is going to be devastated when he gets back. Toren was like another brother to him."

"Is he okay?" Azura asked.

"He's fine," Fatania replied. "He evacuated two families before I sent him back to gather some intelligence. Don't worry. He knows how to sneak around."

"He's a sneaky rat, that's for sure," Azura mumbled.

"Damn straight," Fatania said proudly, leaving the pair alone.

They didn't say much. They didn't have to. Coralline continued to stroke Azura while her daughter held tight. This continued until Fatania returned. Her face was grim.

"We found them," Fatania said.

This got a reaction from Azura, who turned toward the rat-kin.

"The mages dug a massive pit to the north of the city just outside the walls. The kin are kept inside, with mages patrolling above. They must've had a team of Geomancers do it since it wasn't there yesterday."

"We have to rescue them!" Azura said.

"We will, but it will take careful planning," Fatania said, but Coralline shook her head.

"Azura ran into some mages. She killed four of them, but one got away. Our biggest surprise will soon be gone."

"I'm sorry," Azura muttered.

"Don't be," Fatania said, joining Coralline in petting Azura.

"We will act tonight, then. We can't free all of them, but we can get a good number out and teach those mages a lesson. I'll need your help, Azura. Can you do it?"

"I can," Azura growled.

"Good. I'll send the kin back out to get what we need. We have about two hours. Rest up. The remainder of the night will be long and bloody," Fatania said.