Random stories

# Soulmage

**"Do you know what happens to civilizations that progress too far technologically?"** Tento asked.

I shook my head, eyeing the elf. His lips quirked in a joyous grin, and he leaned in close enough that I could feel his breath tickling my ear.

"*Neither do we,*" he whispered. A shiver ran down my spine, and I stepped back, pushing him away.

"What do you mean?" I asked. For once, the eternally-laughing elf had a hint of something else on his timeless face.

In response, Tanto simply stepped aside, resting one hand on the door behind him. The door I'd come here, into the depths of the Knwharfhelm dungeons, in order to get past.

"Would you like me to show you?" Tanto simply asked in reply.

Warily, I nodded.

Tanto pressed his hand to the door, and in my soulsight, I saw him disable the security spells, draining the small ocean of deadly light that would have killed me a hundred times over if I'd opened the door. Then he fished out a key—I suppose there was no need to trust in magic alone when physical security would do—and opened the door, descending further into the dungeons.

Pale witchlights hovered on the walls, gleaming brighter as Tanto idly refueled them with a thought. The stone was worn by ages of passing feet, and despite the handful of air spells ventilating the room, the atmosphere was dusty and choking.

And then we reached the basement.

The machine was vast, sprawling, and ticking with inscrutable designs. The only apparent interface was a vast array of levers, one of which Tanto pulled while I warily scrutinized the machine.

"GREETINGS," the machine said, and I yelped, jerking back in shock. Tentatively, I opened my soulsight—was that thing *alive*?

"Hello, Truthteller," Tanto said, a thin smile playing on his lips as he watched my reaction. "Would you like to tell my friend here a little about your purpose?"

"I AM THE TRUTHTELLER. KNOWLEDGE WILL BE REWARDED. YOU HAVE THREE ATTEMPTS PER DAY."

Tanto nodded solemnly. "Allow me to give a demonstration. Truthteller! The first of the truths we have to offer is this." Tanto closed his eyes, and I saw his soul shift as he accessed a memory. "Observations of horse breeds over the past two centuries have indicated that certain hereditary traits can appear to override others for a generation, but reveal themselves further down the hereditary tree. We name these traits as 'dominant' and 'recessive.'"

The machine hummed. "THIS TRUTH... IS KNOWN TO US."

"As recompense for my knowledge, I would like to claim a reward."

"...PROCEED."

"What, exactly, do you intend to do, the day that our civilization's knowledge of science exceeds yours? The day that we hand you a truth about the universe which is not known to you?"

The Truthteller paused.

"YOUR CURRENT LEVELS OF KNOWLEDGE ARE INSUFFICIENT TO CLAIM THIS REWARD," it finally said.

Tanto turned to me and gave me a wild-eyed grin. "So that's why," Tanto said, and there was something awful in the way he smiled. "Other civilizations have raced ahead, exploring the secrets of the universe and happily trading them to their Truthtellers for ever more knowledge. But we? First of the changed? We wonder... what happens when a civilization knows *too much?*"

"YOUR CURRENT LEVELS OF KNOWLEDGE ARE INSUFFICIENT TO CLAIM THIS REWARD," the Truthteller repeated.

Tanto's smile widened. "So that's why, human. Now run along and warn the others."

A.N.

This story is part of Soulmage, a serial written in response to writing prompts! Catch up on the rest [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/bubblewriters/comments/uxmwe4/soulmage_masterpost/?sort=confidence), and check out r/bubblewriters for more!

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Submitted by meowcats734 on Sun, Sep 04, 2022 to /r/WritingPrompts/

The prompt

So tell me this, elf. If you're so much better than humans at everything, then how come even though your ancient civilization dates back millenia before we "crawled out of the mud pits", you're still riding around on horses and swinging sharp pieces of metal just like us?