The World Walkers: Quiar: The Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments (part 9, 108th continuation)

[k_a_webb]

Part 1

Part 9, 107th continuation

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Lucille nibbled her lip as she tried to work it all out. “What about the worlds you created that never became a part of the Web? They would have used up the magic of Athare and not given anything back.”

Meriwether nodded. “At the time I asked the very same question, Lucille, because I couldn’t understand it myself, as we were creating a number of worlds at the same time, but it all had to do with how we chose to do things. We created the races of Athare first, starting with the Weavers, who helped us with the other two, and the others that were being worked on went into stasis until we had somewhere to put them. Even though they were much younger than us the Weavers had a better idea of what we needed to do in order to make the creation of the Web a success, which I later found out was thanks to the connection they had with Athare. She guided them, so they could guide us, because at the time we wouldn’t have been willing to listen to her, no matter how much more she knew than we did.

“Once the races of Athare were created we had much more freedom, because we knew that each of the people we had created would double the magic in the core of our world within a year. The fae, of course, were still using magic, and Athare was working on something that could use what we left over, knowing that it would take something unusual.”

“Life clay.” Lucille smiled. “I heard stories about how it was once normal clay, that the fae used to use all the time, but then one day they went to make some new pots and the pots started walking.”

“That’s exactly what happened. As they were so scared of this clay they hid the pots they’d made in a cupboard and it wasn’t until someone from one of the other races convinced them that the pots could be useful that we realised something created with life clay could reproduce.” Meriwether shook his head. “Now the clay is used to create little creatures that are used in an almost Web-wide game that means a lot of them are destroyed for no reason before they manage to live a life.”

“A lot of the games look after their life clay creatures well, Merry. It’s the creators who often aren’t so kind, especially with the ones who aren’t whole for some reason, but there’s a girl on Athare, Electra, who works with the broken creatures. The last I heard, thanks to her brother, she’d been overrun with wild creatures, all looking for someone to care for them, and she’s been working on fixing the ones who are most damaged. From what he said they know they’ll never be a part of the game, although some of them wish that was different, but hopefully they’ll be able to find someone who’ll care for them until the time comes when they don’t want to exist any longer.”

Sal looked between the two of them. “What’s the game?”

“You have a game board, which is literally a board until it’s placed somewhere, and then it becomes an environment where the creatures will be able to train, or fight, or in some cases explore in order to learn more about who and what they are. It all depends on what the gamer wants from the creature, but most of the creatures like to be a part of the game, because it gives them something more to do with their lives. Without the game they’d have nothing.” Lucille shrugged. “There are people who fight for the creatures’ rights, believing that the creatures can’t possibly want to be a part of something that’s so dangerous, but they do. I know this because I’ve spoken to them before about it and I accept that they’re telling me the truth.”

“I can’t imagine being a part of something like that,” Durai said. “Those creatures sound a lot like us, you know, and it would be like you using us in those sorts of games.” He shuddered. “I’m glad it hasn’t come to Quiar.”

“The likelihood is that it won’t. Several of the creature races are willing to take part, because they feel the same way I do, while others won’t have anything to do with it, and it really does all depend on personal preference. I didn’t like the game myself, but then I realised that I needed to talk to the creatures themselves before I made a decision. When I did…” Lucille ran a hand through her hair. “The last thing I expected was to be told by more than one of them that the game gives their lives meaning, which is something they didn’t have before, and allows them to actually have a life, rather than just be sitting on someone’s shelf. Obviously there are creatures who prefer that, so that’s what they do, but we do our best to make certain that no creature is forced to do what they don’t want.”

“How do you know they aren’t simply telling you that because they’ve been trained to?”

“When it’s more than one and they all belong to different people it’s hard not to believe them. I remember going around during one of the tournaments, talking to the creatures, and they were so excited to be a part of something like that, especially as at the end of it the winner would be gifted a new gaming board, one which would allow the creature to explore a place they’d never been before. The gamer would get a prize as well, but it was the creatures who would be doing the work and they appreciated being able to win something like that. In the end I believe it went to a lion, who’d been taught a number of different magics by his gamer, which gave him the edge. Since then there have been numerous other tournaments and winning the new game board is something all the creatures try to do.”

“Even though they’re owned?”

Lucille nodded. “They don’t mind being owned as long as they’re owned by the right person. If the creature doesn’t like their owner they can petition the Council. We have a place for them to go, there are a number of Moonjumper and ex-Moonjumpers who are a part of it, and we support the creatures in the same way we try to support the races of the Web. The creatures are more forgiving, so you’re more likely to see one of them wandering around the Council buildings than you are someone from Kniroch or Beshaki.”

“Personally I never much liked it,” Meriwether said, “but I was there when it was all just beginning. It sounds like things have changed a lot.”

“I’ve read some of the records, on what happened in the early games, and I’m grateful that so much has changed, because I wouldn’t have wanted to be a part of it all if it was still the same. Now I’m happy to travel with the gamers to my worlds, if that’s where they’re going, to get them settled in, and to show them around the place they’re staying in the hope that then they won’t get lost, but they always do. The problem with the gamers is that they’re just as curious as the creatures, so they have a bad habit of wandering around, even when I tell them not to.”

“Does that cause problems?”

“Sometimes. Fortunately there are normally Moonjumpers staying with them to sort any problems out and I’ve been there a couple of times during my training, because the Council think it’s important for anyone who’s willing to be a part of that to know how things might go. It wasn’t until after I visited my first tournament that I was certain, but now I actually volunteer if they need extra help, as I enjoy having the chance to go to as many of them as possible, especially as it gives me a chance to get to know the creatures, which I think it important. They live much longer than we do, so they can go from owner to owner over centuries if that’s what they want, and the longest living creature currently is nearly two millennia. He’s in the hands of someone who’s training him some new magic, which he’s very much enjoying.”

“This is what happens,” Bertram said, laughing. “We start off on the topic of how the worlds were created and the magic that was used, before moving on to life clay and two millennia old creatures who are learning magic.” He shook his head. “Even though not everything that’s happened has been good I am so glad to have been a part of this.”

Sal looked at Durai for a moment. “So am I,” he replied. “I think learning new things from a Moonjumper and someone who was once fae is the best part of having to deal with the counterfeiters. There truly is a silver lining to almost every cloud.”

Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.