Rough Draft Excerpt from Work In Progress: The Monad Trap
Come to think of it, there was no reason not to create a second trap. I didn't expect Donarr to fall for it; traps of this nature were one of the early developments of my grandfather's generation. But a stupid cheap shot that works isn't stupid. A victory meant I and my family and likely my friends of Treemount survived.
"Milord husband," Petra interrupted, "might I ask you for a lesson?"
"Milady wife may have a lesson any time," I told her, "But I'm need to delegate it to a splinter right now. I'm stretched to near my limit, and I have projects that cannot be delayed or delegated." I was concerned about what Donarr was preparing, and when he would return. He hadn't retreated to play hadul in the Unlimited League. He'd have nasty surprises when he returned.
"So long as the splinter can teach me what I need to know."
"The splinters know everything I do. They may not be able to hold as much power and they may not have as many para, and their effectiveness might be somewhat less, but they can show any basic lesson, and I can refine your control later."
"You've told me of a mixture of matris and farza. You've used it to destroy critical points, even cause things like stones to eat themselves. What if it were augmented by matra, forcing the matris to distort the material?"
"We call the effect of farza and matra a 'phage', and auros can help control it. When you add matris, that makes it more virulent, and difficult to defeat, especially if you have brun and active auros in the spell as well making it more difficult to counter. When you've got all of it correct, we call it an Unbinding or Unmaking. It can be dodged or parried, but once it has connected with its target, it's difficult to stop short of ripping their essence completely apart. An Unbinding is well beyond what I've taught you, but I believe that with assistance you can master it. I'll bid one of my splinters come teach it to you and anything else you may want to know."
"I thank milord husband."
"I am happy to assist milady wife, especially in this."
She smiled and curtseyed, turned and left the laboratory, assigned splinter in tow. I returned to my task of building two monad traps, one for my weapon, one for Donarr, just in case it worked. A thought crossed my mind that I'd just been worked by my wife somehow, but what husband doesn't have those thoughts?
"Milord husband," Petra interrupted, "might I ask you for a lesson?"
"Milady wife may have a lesson any time," I told her, "But I'm need to delegate it to a splinter right now. I'm stretched to near my limit, and I have projects that cannot be delayed or delegated." I was concerned about what Donarr was preparing, and when he would return. He hadn't retreated to play hadul in the Unlimited League. He'd have nasty surprises when he returned.
"So long as the splinter can teach me what I need to know."
"The splinters know everything I do. They may not be able to hold as much power and they may not have as many para, and their effectiveness might be somewhat less, but they can show any basic lesson, and I can refine your control later."
"You've told me of a mixture of matris and farza. You've used it to destroy critical points, even cause things like stones to eat themselves. What if it were augmented by matra, forcing the matris to distort the material?"
"We call the effect of farza and matra a 'phage', and auros can help control it. When you add matris, that makes it more virulent, and difficult to defeat, especially if you have brun and active auros in the spell as well making it more difficult to counter. When you've got all of it correct, we call it an Unbinding or Unmaking. It can be dodged or parried, but once it has connected with its target, it's difficult to stop short of ripping their essence completely apart. An Unbinding is well beyond what I've taught you, but I believe that with assistance you can master it. I'll bid one of my splinters come teach it to you and anything else you may want to know."
"I thank milord husband."
"I am happy to assist milady wife, especially in this."
She smiled and curtseyed, turned and left the laboratory, assigned splinter in tow. I returned to my task of building two monad traps, one for my weapon, one for Donarr, just in case it worked. A thought crossed my mind that I'd just been worked by my wife somehow, but what husband doesn't have those thoughts?
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