Домагой Курмаич - Mother of Learning

"You know, you have been unusually passive yourself," Silverlake remarked. "I would have expected you to move faster and bolder than this. I’m guessing your arrival here has not been very smooth either."

"I guess you could say that," Zorian said. "I’m mostly recovered by now, though."

"What a coincidence. So am I," said Silverlake with a happy laugh. She suddenly gave him a serious look. "Besides, we both know it isn’t my spellwork that really worries you and your friend . It’s the knowledge I possess about your skills, resources, contacts, and tactics."

Zorian frowned at her weird emphasis on the word friend , but in the end decided not to pursue that for the moment.

"Why are you here, Silverlake?" Zorian asked her seriously. "Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you on the spot?"

"Ha ha! What, you’ll attack me in the middle of a crowded park?" she said, sweeping her hand to point at the various people milling around them. Some of them were even curiously observing them, unable to hear what they’re saying but clearly speculating what two mages like them could be discussing like this.

"It might be worth it to take down a traitor like you," Zorian told her.

"Ha. You know, I never told Red Robe most of the information about you that I possess," she said.

Zorian frowned at the statement.

"If I die here, however, the dead man’s switch I made will activate and everything I know will fall into his lap," she said with a triumphant grin. She crossed her legs one over another and threw her head back in a self-satisfied pose. "Killing me here would be a very serious mistake. You’re a smart, sensible kid, so I know you’ll make the right choice."

After a few seconds, Zorian decided she was probably telling the truth. The way Red Robe had been behaving these past few days, it was obvious he lacked the sort of deep knowledge about Zach and Zorian that he should have had if Silverlake had simply spilled everything immediately.

"Alright. I guess you have a point there," Zorian admitted. "That still leaves the question of why you came here. You were clearly waiting for me. What do you want?"

"What? Not going to thank me for keeping your secrets?" Silverlake complained.

"Whatever your reason for doing that, I’m sure it’s purely selfish and aimed squarely on maximizing your gains in this. I’m guessing you were trying to pressure Red Robe into making some sort of concession by not handing all the information over to him immediately, but it ultimately doesn’t matter. All that matters is that any benefit we get out of this is purely incidental. What is there to thank you for?" Zorian challenged.

"So judgmental," Silverlake sighed dramatically. "It’s because I’m a witch, isn’t it? It’s always like this… we’re only good for making potions and doing people’s dirty work, and then it’s back to the woods with you…"

"I don’t have time for this," Zorian told her, turning to leave. "I think I’m going to practice my aim on that raven over there and then go home."

"There’s still time for you to join me, you know?" Silverlake called out, not a trace of panic or annoyance in her voice.

Zorian’s back remained turned away from her, but he did turn his head towards her to give her an incredulous look.

"I know I sound stupid to say that…" she began.

"Yeah, you do," Zorian confirmed.

"…but I really think you should hear me out," she continued. "Remember when we were talking about your friend and how weird I made the word sound?"

"Yes?" Zorian confirmed, finally turning around to properly face her.

"That was your cue to ask me what I mean by that, silly boy. Must I draw a picture for you or something? Zach is no friend of people like us?"

"People like us?" Zorian asked. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I’m sure you know by now that I have entered into a bit of a contract with the primordial trapped in Cyoria," Silverlake said.

"A death pact to release it by the end of the month or die trying," Zorian said.

"Yes, more or less," Silverlake agreed. "But I’m not the only one who made a death pact. Your friend has also made a death pact."

What?

"That’s bullshit," Zorian said. "Zach could leave the time loop at any time. Why would he need to make a deal with Panaxeth?"

"Not with the primordial, you numbskull," Silverlake rolled her eyes at him. "With the angels! He made a death pact with the angels to stop the release of the primordial… while making sure no one could find out about the existence of the time loop. Even if he prevents Panaxeth’s release, so long as there is even a single person who knows about the time loop by the end of the month, he is going to die. Never mind people who literally originate from the time loop like me and you… even people you tell about the time loop must either die or have their memory erased, or he will not survive this month."

Zorian froze momentarily, his brain stuttering for a second. He fully expected Zach to have some sort of compulsion embedded inside his mind, but this…

"How do you know this?" Zorian asked her quietly. "Did Panaxeth tell you this?"

"The primordial cannot directly discuss this," Silverlake said. "He hinted at it, and Red Robe explained the details of it to me later. I don’t know how he knows so much about it, but presumably Zach told him that personally while he still remembered."

"He could be lying," Zorian pointed out.

"Yes, but I don’t think he is," Silverlake said. She gave him a knowing look. "And you probably don’t think so either."

Zorian said nothing.

"Don’t think for a second that Zach doesn’t know about this, either," Silverlake said. "As someone who is laboring under this sort of contract, I can tell you right now that deals with primordials are not that easy to get out of. I already tried to erase my memories to void the contract, and it didn’t work. The pact is branded directly into my soul, and I am constantly aware of its terms. I can forget the details of how I got it, but not the core contents of it. Zach is the same. Remember how he mysteriously knew he had to find a way to beat the invasion? And how he – seemingly foolishly – insisted on trying to take it on all on his lonesome?"

Zorian still said nothing, though his posture slumped a little in response.

In retrospect, there were a number of things about Zach that fit this idea. His strong insistence that he would never use the temporary looper markers, for instance, which always seemed a little strange to his eyes… until he suddenly changed his mind about that.

Or the fact that Zach was clearly a very proactive and social person before he started working with Zorian, but became increasingly passive and even slightly fatalistic once they started working together.

"I understand what you’re getting at, but I think you’ve badly misjudged the situation," Zorian told Silverlake. "I don’t think Zach is out to kill me. And I don’t think he would have been out to kill you if you had kept your trust in us and helped us make an exit for ourselves. With your help, we could have physically left the loop, laden with knowledge and resources of the time loop. Was it really worth it to give that up just for a chance of a younger body that you would have gotten eventually, anyway?"

"In the end, aren’t you and Zach the only ones who successfully left that place?" Silverlake challenged, a defiant look on her face. "How do you know my presence would have made a difference? You don’t. If I stayed, I would have faced extremely low chances of success while working for a person that needs to kill me once we got outside. You can hate me all you want, but I think I made the right choice."

"Hmph," Zorian scoffed, turning back to leave again.