"Why are you here, my grandchild? You are a creature of human buildings and companions. Why are you in this white building?"
"Because I'm crazy," Ring said, flatly, his face blank and his eyes staring at nothing. "I dream things and then they come true. I see things that no one else sees."
The blue-eyed man frowned. "But those are signs of prophecies, of an future-seeing..."
Magnet stared at him, blankly. "A whosawhatist?"
The corners of the white man's eyes crinkled in amusement. "Few of the People have it, but all of our halfling brethren have always been oracles. But never has one developed this power so soon..."
"That boy is much more intelligent than he lets on." No one had heard Metal come in, but no one was surprised, either--he was a doctor, after all, so he could have gotten in easily. "He plays the innocent because he knows it comforts other people to see someone stupider than them. He's able to harness his power so effectively I can barely even see his aura."
The blue-eyed man instantly recognized who Metal was--although it would be hard to say if it was from the prominent, twining black spirals on his neck and face--the mark of the gods--or from intuition. "Healer," he said, respect in his voice and manner. More than he'd had for Magnet, anyway. "You show an impressive amount of knowledge of our lore."
Metal inclined his head briefly. "My Lord has had me doing research on unicorns and unicorn mages for the past few weeks. Only now I realize that it's not some passing fancy of his--he /knows/."
"Knows what?" Magnet growled again, wishing someone would start making sense.
"Knows what Ring is, who he is, and exactly what he wants to do with him. No, don't scowl at me like that, it's not anything perverted." Magnet /was/ scowling. "My Lord doesn't care what we do, but he's by no means kind. He listens to me only because I save him millions in damage repair."
"No mere human could control one of our kind," the blue-eyed man scoffed.
"Perhaps not by force." Metal's voice was light, contemplative. "But what if he had some sort of advantage over him? Say, something that meant the world to him?"
Magnet felt light-headed. "No," he said. "Never Ring..."
"Because I'm crazy," Ring said, flatly, his face blank and his eyes staring at nothing. "I dream things and then they come true. I see things that no one else sees."
The blue-eyed man frowned. "But those are signs of prophecies, of an future-seeing..."
Magnet stared at him, blankly. "A whosawhatist?"
The corners of the white man's eyes crinkled in amusement. "Few of the People have it, but all of our halfling brethren have always been oracles. But never has one developed this power so soon..."
"That boy is much more intelligent than he lets on." No one had heard Metal come in, but no one was surprised, either--he was a doctor, after all, so he could have gotten in easily. "He plays the innocent because he knows it comforts other people to see someone stupider than them. He's able to harness his power so effectively I can barely even see his aura."
The blue-eyed man instantly recognized who Metal was--although it would be hard to say if it was from the prominent, twining black spirals on his neck and face--the mark of the gods--or from intuition. "Healer," he said, respect in his voice and manner. More than he'd had for Magnet, anyway. "You show an impressive amount of knowledge of our lore."
Metal inclined his head briefly. "My Lord has had me doing research on unicorns and unicorn mages for the past few weeks. Only now I realize that it's not some passing fancy of his--he /knows/."
"Knows what?" Magnet growled again, wishing someone would start making sense.
"Knows what Ring is, who he is, and exactly what he wants to do with him. No, don't scowl at me like that, it's not anything perverted." Magnet /was/ scowling. "My Lord doesn't care what we do, but he's by no means kind. He listens to me only because I save him millions in damage repair."
"No mere human could control one of our kind," the blue-eyed man scoffed.
"Perhaps not by force." Metal's voice was light, contemplative. "But what if he had some sort of advantage over him? Say, something that meant the world to him?"
Magnet felt light-headed. "No," he said. "Never Ring..."
