Shadow of the Avatar

Chapter 27 -- Kel'Varan Nola

It has been maintained by several parties that I meant Wren ill. That is not the case at all. I simply didn't realize her value until slightly later in our relationship. A fact my daughter is always quick to point out...

--Cassandra

"So, let me get this straight," Desiray was saying. Everia sat behind her, rubbing her back with a soapy cloth. "You've heard of this Kel'Varan Nola?"

"Sure. You've heard of Mandrimin, right?"

Desiray glanced over at Wren. "Oh, pain, my head."

Everia drew her hands away. "Did I hurt you?"

"No. Sorry. Mandrimin has come up once or twice in the last little bit. Makes my head sore."

"It's not that bad," Everia chided.

Wren looked at the girl sidelong. "Even that stuff about the extraction of simulcraic derivatives and interpolated particulate helices?" Whatever that meant.

Everia wrinkled her nose. "Fractal compression theory as applied to a zero-latency matter to energy transfer? It's interesting. I've only studied a little of it."

"Thank Isis," Desiray muttered.

"Mom, it's standard study for any kind of understanding of how teleportation works. I don't see how you can feel safe popping around without understanding what it is you're doing!"

Wren laughed. "Have to agree with her there. The feeling sick part was my first clue there was something inherently unsafe." What Wren found curious was that if Desiray didn't understand it, how in Ishtar's name did she do it?

The mistress scowled. "Look, I don't have to know how to forge steel to use a sword. It's sharp. It cuts things."

"Ewww!" Everia clenched her fists. "I hate that. Haven't you heard that what you don't know can hurt you?"

"Sure." The mistress replied. "Ever hear me say I learned everything I needed to know by the time I was seven?"

The classic street smarts versus noble schooling argument. Wren had heard that verbal battle in the Plaza of Philosophers a dozen times. She also knew it was a never ending debate.

"We're getting off track here. Your Mother and I, while we may not agree on everything, we both know you can get along fine without books. I didn't learn to read until I was your age."

Everia put a hand over her mouth, sincere shock on her face. "Oh my, that's terrible."

"Perhaps not. Some day," she glanced at Desiray. "We'll teach you some practical foraging skills."

"Well, maybe." Everia didn't sound enthused. Of course, she was happy in her book insulated little world. Wren figured that annoyed Desiray the most.

"Let's get back to the Nola."

"Yes, lets!" That Everia was enthused about.

"What if this Nola person were an enemy?"

The girl paled. "Nobody lives long if a Kel'Varan is their enemy."

"Why?"

"The Kel'Varan Nola is one of the prime savants. Do you know anything about them?" Wren shook her head. "There are six, and never more than one of a type at any given time. The foremost savant is the Garmtur'Shak Nola, the savant of reality. He's like all the others wrapped up in one. He can reshape probability. Then there's the Latis Nola, the savant of time, who affects the causative and perceptual passage of events. The Chakta Nola, the savant of space who can make distances between objects shrink and grow without moving them."