My frown deepened as thunder once again boomed overhead. I was crouched in the mud and shivering as the heavy rain continued to dampen both my worn-out cloak and my spirits. It had been obvious when I first awoke to the sound of thunder this morning that it would be a miserable day for hunting, but at least it made tracking easier. So far, I had not had much luck to speak of though. All of the game birds seemed to be staying out of the rain, probably somewhere warm and reasonably dry, oh how I envied them.
“It looks like my fortune may be changing for the better,” I muttered as I knelt down to examine the deer tracks in the mud. The tracks were less than an hour old and there were three sets of them, two adults and a fawn. “Please, Narrisse, let one be a stag,” I pleaded in silent prayer to the Goddess of beasts and the hunt.
Once, long ago, I could have prayed and made an offering to the Goddess at the holy circle of the Gods. That time was long gone though, along with the holy circle, destroyed by the Church of One and a great temple to their God had been built in its place. The church was established over fifty years ago, after an ancient ruin was discovered in the Duke’s forest, and now it ruled the city of Greendell and the lands surrounding it.
Now, the church’s influence over Duke Garen and his people was near absolute, and it was quickly spreading to other nearby towns and villages under Duke Garen’s rule. Not many in Greendell followed the Old Gods or the old ways anymore, and none did so in public for fear of ending up in the church dungeons, a place from which nobody returned from alive. It was almost as dangerous as being exposed as one of the Touched.
The priests of the church said that the Touched were cursed and the consorts of demons, that they needed to be cleansed. However, they also disapproved of music, theatre, or anything else remotely entertaining, claiming that they were frivolous and took people’s attention away from where it should be focused, on their God. Sometimes, I sometimes felt that they feared the magic of the Touched, gifts given by the Old Gods to their favored mortals.
Five years ago a man from the church had come to my family’s home to search it and then murdered my parents for being Touched after my father had healed a friend who had been injured in a fall. My mother’s gift was minor and harmless but they had killed her too, claiming that my parents were both consorting with demons and plotting against the church and the Duke, and using my mother’s favorite brooch as evidence. This left me, a girl of only twelve summers, to try to survive in a city that seemed hostile to everything that I was.
I could still remember that night in vivid detail. The man and the priests with him had made me watch as he killed my parents and the men of the city guard had just stood by and watched. Then he had warned me that he would come for me one day as well, if I did not give up the old ways or if I turned out to be Touched. The church had of course offered to take me in and place me in a church-run orphanage until I could learn the skills of a ‘proper wife’ so I be married off. I would not have taken that offer even if they had not been the ones to murder my parents though. So, I gathered some of my belongings and some keepsakes from my parents, such as my mother’s instruments, and fled the city proper.
I shivered again, but this time not from the cold. This time it was from the thought of what would have happened had I been in the care of the church when I had become Touched less than a year later. My gifts were meager, I could sense magic and manipulate metal to a small degree, but it would not have mattered to them. Indeed, it was best to keep a safe distance from the Church of One.
So now, I lived in an abandoned hunting shack in the forest, little more than a shed really, with a small hearth and barely enough room for me to sleep and keep what meager possessions that I had. I survived on what food that I could grow, hunt, or forage; mostly a few vegetables, berries, truffles, quail, and deer on rare occasions. I truly hoped that today would be one of those times, the winter had been a long and lean one, expending most of the money that I had saved, and it would be at least a month before my small garden produced anything worth eating.
On those rare occasions that I managed to kill a deer, I would disguise myself as a boy by binding my chest tightly and covering my long hair with a hunting hood. I was fairly short, but that, along with my rather plain appearance, lean figure, and some well-placed dirt gave me the appearance of a boy of maybe thirteen or fourteen summers. Dressed like that, I could usually blend into the crowds fairly easily and somewhat safely take the hide and some of the venison into the city to barter in the marketplace for eggs, bread, and anything else that I could get.
Of course, I would need to be cautious around the priests in their black and red robes though. I did not often venture into Greendell, and usually I would try to avoid the sickening feeling of the magic coming from the Church but if I killed a deer today, it would be worth it to barter or make some coin. I had not eaten much more than dried meat, thin soup, and bakery castoffs for months.
I attempted to shake off my grim thoughts as I rose and followed the tracks southward, my bow held at the ready and each step carefully measured to make as little noise as possible. The rain began to fall harder beating a steady staccato on the ground, the leaves of the trees, and my cloak. The sound of occasional thunder seemed to shake my very bones as I followed the tracks for what felt like an eternity. Finally, I heard a rustling in the bushes ahead. Swiftly, I reached behind my shoulder, slipped an arrow from my quiver, and was ready to put it to the drawstring. Then it all happened at once.
I felt it first; an unfamiliar type of magic not far ahead and moving toward me quickly, though rather than becoming stronger as it approached, it seemed to be fading. Not far behind it, there was a second, stronger source of magic. That magic was dark, chaotic, and disturbingly familiar. Not even a second later, there was a distant shouting, I thought it to be a man’s voice, but I couldn’t make out the words over another boom of thunder. Then the three deer that I had been tracking; a stag, a doe, and a fawn burst from the bushes bleating in terror, the stag snorting and knocking me into the mud as they fled back along the game trail that I had been following.
“Torr’s balls!” The curse fled my lips silently; my heart beating rapidly as I hurriedly snatched my fallen bow and arrow and dove into the cover of some thick brush at the side of the trail. Once I was somewhat shielded from sight, I rose into a crouch and again nocked my arrow. Deliberately, I slowed my breathing in an attempt to remain calm and ease the wild racing of my heart as I watched the trail and tracked the pair of magical presences with my mind’s eye. They were almost on top of me and my heart leaped into my throat as I heard the rustling of the same bushes that the deer had burst through only moments before.
A woman, or perhaps a slender man, wearing a dark grey robe limped through the foliage and stumbled, falling with an audible splat into the mud, mere inches away from the spot that I had so recently vacated. The person wore a dark green cloak over their long grey wool robe, had three black arrows protruding from their back, and cried out in pain as they hit the ground. They tried to get to their knees; shaking, their breathing haggard, and groaning in pain, but they fell back to the ground, succeeding only in falling to their side this time instead of on their face. It was that face, desperate eyes looking imploringly at me through the foliage, which caused me to let slip a gasp of surprise and nearly drop both bow and arrow.
The woman, for it surely was a woman, was not human. Long and muddied locks of silver hair half-covered a pale face distorted in agony, and those pained and pleading amber eyes continued to stare at me as though the brush between us did not exist. Beneath her cloak, near-transparent iridescent wings twitched in pain. “A Faerie!” The thought caused my heart to race once again. I had heard the stories, of course. Everyone had heard stories about the Fae but I had never thought that in all my life I would see one in the flesh. Yet now there was one right in front of me, not ten hands away… dying.
“Who would do such a thing?” I wondered as my heart clenched in revulsion and fear. The Fae might be mischievous at times, but generally, they were helpful to those who respected them and the woods they cared for. The wrath of the Fae on those who had wronged them could be terrible indeed; foul curses if they could not physically find you, but if they did, they never forgot a debt owed and had powerful magic at their disposal to catch their prey. Not many eluded them for long and once they caught you, you would suffer an eternity of the worst tortures that the fair folk could dream up. What kind of fool or monster would risk such a fate?
My question was answered as a man with a bow stepped through the brush. Long dark hair hung wetly where it fell from beneath his helm, framing a scarred and clean-shaven face with dark hard eyes. He wore dark leather armor and boots, a sleeveless black and red tabard bearing the crimson nine-pointed star of the Church of One, and a cruel smile as he stopped to look down upon his prey. His smile was joined by a laugh as the Faerie in the mud tried to crawl away. “You led me on a merry chase, I’ll give you that,” he said with a sneer, “but it’s time that I finish the job.” He tossed his bow casually to the side and licked his lips as his hand erupted in black flames.
A Touched working for the church? No, I recognized this man; his face had been forever carved into my memory five years ago, the night that my parents were murdered. A sudden urge to run as far and as fast as I could nearly overwhelmed me in that moment. Hate and fear warred within me and my hand turned white-knuckled as I gripped my bow tightly enough for the wood to creak in protest. The man did not seem to sense my presence, I could slip away, run to safety, and he would be none the wiser. And the Faerie would die.
The pleading eyes of the Faerie burned themselves into my mind’s eye as that thought assailed my mind, as surely as the face of my parents’ murderer had been burned into it on the day that my parents had died. Now he stood in front of me, threatening one of the forest folk, and I knew in my heart that leaving the Faerie there to die at his hands would be wrong. I could not do anything when my parents were killed, but I could now. In the same instance that my decision was made, I took aim through the brush, pulled back the drawstring, and let the arrow fly.
A child could not have missed at that range and I had been hunting with my father since I could walk and carry a bow. The arrow pierced the man’s neck with enough force that the arrowhead came bursting out the other side in a spray of blood. My parents’ murderer just stared ahead in shock for several seconds before the black flames in his hand vanished, then he made a gurgling sound, began coughing up blood, and fell to his knees. A moment later, he collapsed to the ground in a lifeless heap beside his intended victim as a foul black smoke rose from his corpse.
I rushed from my cover to the fallen Faerie. “Hold still,” I told her, trying to sound reassuring, “I am going to try to get those arrows out.” The silver-haired woman nodded tiredly but said nothing as I pushed her cloak aside to examine the wounds. Two of them had pierced her gossamer wings before burying themselves in her back, and the third had penetrated fairly deeply.
My focus shifted to the arrows as I carefully inspected them before attempting to pull the first one free. The shaft came free, but it seemed to have snapped just shy of the arrowhead, causing me to grimace. My frown only deepened as the same thing happened with the other two. While it had made it easier to extract them from her wings without doing further damage to them, each had snapped in the exact same spot, it was as if the arrows had been designed to leave their heads inside the victim.
I took the woman’s hand gently, telling her, “I think that I can remove the arrowheads, but it will probably be very painful.” The Faerie nodded again, her eyes pleading and her face a mask of pain as I closed my eyes and used my mind’s eye to search for the metal of the arrowheads within the wounds. I found the first one easily enough, it had not gone in too deeply, so I reached out with my power to slowly pull it out, trying to be as gentle as possible. The second was similar to the first and came out easily enough, but the third had penetrated deeply and it was near her heart, or at least where the heart would be on a human.
I knew that I could not leave it inside though; the previous two arrowheads had been fashioned from cold iron, toxic to the Fae. I had to be careful not to physically touch them since my mother had warned me that some touched could be sensitive to cold iron was well, so once again I reached out with my power. The Faerie had managed to stay silent while I had removed the first two arrowheads, but it was not so this time. The screams of pain as I removed the final arrowhead made me cringe in sympathy and nearly stop altogether from loss of concentration before I finally removed it and used my gift to hurl the arrowhead into the woods as I had its predecessors.
With the arrowheads removed and far away, the wounds were now bleeding even worse than before. I was not sure how the Faerie was still alive, but I knew that if I did not act quickly that the ethereal creature would not be alive for long. Quickly, I cut strips from the hem of my tunic, shortening it to just above my hips before I felt that I had enough. The thick linen was damp, but I hoped that it would be enough to staunch the bleeding as I proceeded to bind the wounds as best I could.
With the arrow wounds taken care of, I took a moment to take mental stock of the creature that I was tending to. There were many types of Fae in the stories that I had heard from my parents as a child, but this particular Fae looked to be one of the Faerie since she resembled a Pixie and had similar wings while being similar in size to a human. She was perhaps a little taller than me, slightly pale, and inhumanly beautiful, even while covered in mud and blood. She was slender and fragile-looking, especially in her current condition, but what really made her stand out, other than the wings, were her long and pointed ears and her amber eyes with their slit pupils.
She also had a sword that I had not noticed earlier. The sheath that housed it hung from a sturdy leather belt and it looked to be a long and slender blade with a slight curve to it, if the sheath was any indication. It was the Faerie’s pained golden eyes that had my attention though, and I found it difficult to look away. “Are you injured anywhere else,” I finally asked.
“M… my ankle,” the Faerie replied in a near whisper. Even in pain, her voice had a musical quality to it, as if she was singing. I moved to inspect the ankle in question but I was stopped when the Fae suddenly grabbed my wrist firmly. Despite her frail appearance, her grip was like iron as she shook her head and said, “Please, the Demon will come here to attempt to finish its work once it has taken another willing host, and it will not come alone this time. We must hurry, child, you must help me get to Tarin’dol.”
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The Faerie, whose name I learned was Sharai, spent over an hour leading me southward toward their destination as I supported her weight. She did not have to do much leading for half of that time though, once I began to feel a source of magic radiating from the direction that we were travelling. The magic was strangely familiar and comforting and I tried to keep up as fast a pace as Sharai could manage on her injured ankle.
I was thankful that our destination did not seem to be far. If this was to be a long journey, I would have preferred to return to my hunting shack for supplies, what money I had, and my mothers… no, my instruments. I had promised to help this Faerie though, she needed proper medical care, and I did not dare turn back while a Demon might be on our trail.
Still, this was further south than I had ever ventured before and Sharai seemed to know the area, so I let her lead the way until we arrived at our destination. Not only did it give the Faerie something to focus on other than her injuries but also, with her determining our direction, I could focus on keeping my senses peeled for danger. I did not want to run into a pack of wolves, a bear, or something while half-carrying an injured person. Even if the Faerie might have some way to calm any beasts we might encounter, I was worried about Sharai pushing herself too hard in her current state.
I was also wary of pursuit, keeping my magic sense alert for any signs of that sickening Demon magic following us. The Church of One was relentless when it came to hunting down the Touched or those who followed the Old Gods and I had a feeling that that would prove doubly true for the Fae. I did not think that it was a coincidence that the one chasing Sharai had been a Demon either.
That sickening magic that I had felt from the Demon-possessed man who had killed my parents was the same that I had felt from the cathedral in Greendell, and the various members of their clergy that I had painstakingly avoided whenever inside the city walls. The church was obviously responsible for these Demons but that just brought other questions to my mind. Were the Demons possessing these people against their will, or were the people aware and in control?
The thought of either possibility made me sick to my stomach. As horrible as it sounded to not be in control of one’s own body, it was the second possibility that disturbed me far more. Who would willingly give up their bodies to such creatures? What did they get out of it? Would such a person do it for power or something far more sinister? It was not hard to picture the latter with the church’s campaign against those who had magic.
With my mind occupied and Sharai conserving her strength, our conversations were limited as we made our way southward through the forest paths. While I had many questions that I wanted to ask the Faerie woman, I felt it better to wait with my senses focused on avoiding danger and my thoughts straying toward the Demons and the Church of One. My questions could be answered once we arrived at our destination and Sharai was recovering from her injuries.
The thick scrub and pines that we had been traveling through on the straightest possible route to our destination began to thin and we emerged from the tree line atop an embankment overlooking more of the forest below. Not far ahead, I could see a large clearing with a massive oak tree at its center. “That is our destination,” Sharai said tiredly, pointing to the clearing with a trembling hand.
I had been expecting a city of some sort, so I was surprised at this turn of events. Pleasantly surprised since it would allow Sharai to see a healer or doctor soon. “Let’s find a safe way down for you then. We’re almost there, Sharai,” I told her encouragingly.
It took a while longer than I would have preferred to find a relatively safe path down the embankment and, even then, I had Sharai wrap her arms around my neck as I carried the injured Fae downward. It was not easy, given my small stature, and I had to stop a couple of times to rest. Once we made it to the bottom though, it was only a short walk to a copse of hawthorn and ash trees that surrounded the clearing.
“This is Tarin’dol?” I inquired dubiously as we stepped into the clearing and I found myself gazing at the massive oak tree before me that was as large in girth as a small cottage. It stood in the center of the clearing, which in turn stood at the center of the circular grove of hawthorn and ash trees. It was also brimming with that comforting, soothing, and familiar magic that I had sensed getting closer with each step for the last quarter of our journey through the woods.
I had been helping to support Sharai’s weight for the entire journey since her ankle was not in any condition to carry her weight, as were her wings for flying. Even if either wings or ankle had been in any shape to carry her, she likely would not have gotten far on her own. But even with my help, the Faerie was now pale, shaking, and far too warm to the touch. I was not even sure how she had managed to travel this far with her strength so spent.
Sharai shook her head slowly at my question, a pained expression on her face. “No, it is much further, in Nightglade Forest, far beyond the borders of Evalis. This is one of our old Woodwarden outposts in the center of one of Hespira’s sacred groves, perhaps one of the last remaining in the Dukedom of Caspia. You should be safe here, for now, while you do what is needed.”
My eyes widened as the Faerie urged me toward the tree. Hespira was the Goddess of Nature, Love, and Compassion. She was rumored to be one of the oldest of the Old Gods and the Fae were her chosen people. Still, the other part of what the Faerie had said concerned me most.
“And what is it that I need to do? I thought that you wanted me to get you to this Tarin’dol place?” I asked tentatively. I knew better than to make deals with the Fae without knowing all of the details beforehand. Even getting her to that far-off destination was seeming like a more difficult prospect with each passing moment though. The Faerie was weakening with every assisted step that she took and I had never left Evalis before, I had not even left the Dukedom of Caspia and this was the furthest that I had ever ventured from the city of my birth.
“We both know that I will not make it that far in this condition, young Kaelyn. This outpost should have everything that we will need for the task ahead of you,” the Faerie countered as she put her shaking hand upon the bark of the tree. Then I felt my companion using her magic as she said, “Naevus’ta kosa.”
The bark of the tree split open, the gap growing ever larger until it was large enough for us to step through. I gaped in wonder at the sight and feel of what had just happened. This was not a Touched gift, this was true magic and I was seeing and sensing it for the first time. “Wha…”
My awed exclamation was cut off, as Sharai seemed to lose all of her remaining strength and collapsed into my arms. “Quickly… inside. The opening… will close in… a moment.” Hearing that, and seeing that the Faerie had no strength to use such magic again, I gritted my teeth and picked Sharai up in my arms for long enough to carry her through the temporary doorway that began to close almost as soon as we were through. Sharai was so light, and she was burning up with fever.
The interior of the great oak came alight with a half dozen ghostly silver faerie fires as I stepped inside, giving me a good look at the inside of the shelter. The interior of the tree had been hollowed out into a comfortable living space and the wood of the walls and floors looked so smooth that I was sure that the place must have been formed by magic. Stone steps to my left led downward but I ignored that for the moment.
Of more immediate concern to me were the four small wood-framed beds that were piled high with rushes, with woolen blankets atop for comfort. I quickly placed the weakened Faerie atop one of them to rest, cut off her soaked clothes with my hunting knife, checked the bandages, and covered her up with blankets to keep her warm. Then I shed my own sopping wet, torn, and filthy clothes and wrapped a blanket around myself in hopes to cease my shivering.
It seemed warm inside our current shelter but I needed to ensure that Sharai was taken care of, and I did not want to get sick in the process. If that happened, I would not be able to be of much help to either the Faerie woman or myself. The faerie fires seemed to be providing heat as well as light and I felt myself beginning to warm up under my blanket as I frantically searched for anything that might be useful. My eyes darted around the large living space, taking in cupboards filled with clay pots, bows, quivers of arrows, and what looked like clothes.
Surely the pots must contain healing salves and the like, or at least ingredients to make them, so I quickly headed for those. Some of the dried herbs I recognized as healing herbs; vervain, comfrey, mint, anise, basil, and feverfew. There were also a few that contained contents that were more questionable, deadly ones such as belladonna, and some things that I could not even identify. “You need me to make some sort of healing salve or infusion, right?” I guessed as I looked toward the Faerie in concern and hoped that she had not fainted from exhaustion.
“No, it is too late for that,” Sharai responded with a strained voice and a weak shake of her head. “I have lost too much blood, and the cold iron was inside me for too long and too close to my heart. I am dying; I can feel it. There are more important matters to take care of than fruitless attempts to save my life. If you wish to save my spirit, then please do exactly as I tell you. I am sorry, young one, but I must ask you to travel to Tarin’dol in my place, they must be warned of what evil has taken root in Evalis before it spreads further. If you do as I say and all goes well, I will remain in spirit to guide you.”
For a moment, I stared uncertainly at the silver-haired Fae. I had only gotten involved to save Sharai’s life. I was ill prepared for a journey into the unknown and although Sharai seemed to have good intentions, I had the feeling that she was being deliberately vague about what was needed. Which meant that she might be worried that I would refuse her. But it could also be that she did not have enough time left for explanations.
I hesitated, and Sharai could see it in my expression. “Please, I have little time left, Kaelyn,” she pleaded with a desperate expression on her face. “You helped me at great risk to yourself, now I ask you to help countless others, human and Fae alike. You are Touched, a descendant of a union between a human and a Fae. So, I ask you as kin, do as I ask and I will tell you everything that you wish to know when the task is complete.”
My eyes went wide at her revelation. The Touched were part Fae? A flash of memory came to mind from when I was a small child. A glimpse of my mother’s slightly pointed ears as she had taken my father and me to a grove, very like the one that I recently entered. We had gone to pay homage to Hespira, though few humans who still worshipped the Old Gods ever did so. Was that why this place felt comfortable and familiar? I had so many questions, and now it seemed that the only way that I was going to get answers was to help Sharai. “What do I need to do?” I asked.
I followed Sharai’s instructions as quickly and accurately as I was capable of while Sharai became weaker and her voice more strained with each passing moment. I took a mortar and pestle to the bed where Sharai laid and measured out ingredients under her supervision. Belladonna, vervain, wormwood, mint, feverfew, and comfrey were followed by a golden powder that Sharai claimed to be from the ground horn of a dragon. Sharai told me that the last was supposed to serve as a magical binding agent for what I was making.
Once all the ingredients were thoroughly ground and mixed, Sharai instructed, “Now you must add nine drops of my blood. From a fresh cut, my wounds were caused by cold iron and that could make the magic far less effective. Nine drops, no more or less, and then mix it all well into a thick paste.”
I pricked the Faerie’s left hand with the tip of my bronze hunting knife, followed the instructions carefully, and once I had a thick muddy-looking paste I looked again to Sharai. “What do I do with it now?”
“I must… infuse it with mana,” Sharai replied weakly. I placed the mortar with the paste into the Faerie’s hands and could sense a brief and very weak pulse of magic from the Faerie, who barely managed to hand the mortar back to me before collapsing back onto the bed several shades paler and covered in a sheen of perspiration.
“Now what?” I pressed, not wanting to waste words while Sharai seemed to be weakening further by the minute. I could sense a faint aura of magic from the mixture in my hands but I had no idea what its purpose was, much less what to do with it. For all I knew, I could have been required to rub it all over my body and dance around the room naked while chanting something in the Fae language.
“Swallow it… all of it.” When I heard those words, I hesitated. That mixture could very well be poisonous, given the belladonna that it contained and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to swallow someone else’s blood either. Sharai weakly insisted, “You must. Your magic is too weak; this will… bring out your true potential. Neva’kul will only submit to one with Fae blood, a strong will, and powerful magic… and there is no time… to find another. Please.”
The Faerie’s face was pale, her lips were turning blue and her breathing was haggard. Frowning, I scooped up the paste with my fingers, quickly took it all in my mouth, and swallowed. It was the worst thing that I had ever tasted and my stomach immediately attempted to reject it. I shuddered and had to fight against an overwhelming urge to vomit.
Then I felt a warmth flowing through me, a warmth that turned to a heat that threatened to consume me from the inside out as the embers of my magic were fanned into a roaring blaze. The discomfort in my stomach was briefly forgotten in that sudden inferno and I was only vaguely aware that Sharai had removed her sword from its sheath, was gripping the blade hard enough to draw blood, and was speaking haltingly in her own language. Her gaze then settled on me before speaking once again. “T-take… my sword… grip the blade… and swear… by blood, blade, and magic… to bind yourself to Neva’kul and… see its will done.”
I attempted to ignore the increasingly uncomfortable cramps in my stomach as I took Sharai’s sword from the Faerie’s shaking hands. As I had thought, the blade was long and slender with a slight curve to it, but three glyphs that I did not recognize were engraved in the flat of the blade and glowed with an ethereal azure light. My hand shook as I gripped the blade, and I winced it bit into my flesh and drew blood, which flowed along the edge of the blade to mix with Sharai’s. “I s-swear by blood, blade, and magic to bind myself to Neva’kul and to see its will done,” I repeated tremulously.
Holding the sword, I could feel the magic coursing through it. The magic had a will and it threatened to overwhelm both my mind and my magic. I gritted my teeth and pushed back with all of the mental fortitude that I possessed, pushing my own magic into the blade in an attempt to fight back. For a time, my mind was lost to everything but that battle as I pushed every bit of the magical inferno that now burned within me into winning. Something deep inside told me that to lose would cost me far more than just my life.
I was uncertain how long that battle of wills lasted but finally, the will of the blade stopped fighting me and I could feel its approval in my mind. Then the presence in my mind faded. It was not gone completely, I could still feel it at the edges of my consciousness, but that was when my attention returned to the world around me. I was in agony, a burning pain unlike any that I had ever felt before in my life, and I could hear the sound of screaming. Then I realized that the one screaming was me.
The excruciating cramps in my stomach had spread and were now shooting through my entire body in wave after wave of agony. It was like my skin, muscles, bones, and everything else were being stabbed, burned, twisted, and stretched all at once. Eventually, it faded to a feeling that was more like millions of ants crawling just beneath the surface of my skin. I was barely aware that I was on my hands and knees on the floor beside Sharai’s bed, the sword laying on the floor forgotten as I panted and whimpered.
Was it over? The hypothetical ants moved away from my face and extremities, leaving numbness in their wake as they all decided to migrate toward my upper back. White hot and visceral agony returned, focused on those two spots on my back, the pain causing me to arch my back like an overextended bow as I screamed once more. Something burst and warm wetness cascaded down my back and when the pain finally faded, I felt a strange brief buzzing sensation.
I collapsed to the floor once more, spent and shaking in exhaustion. I ached everywhere and it seemed that I was lying in a small pool of blood, but at that moment, I just could not make myself care. I was spent and there were far more important matters to take care of at the moment, such as fainting.
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When consciousness returned to me, I was no longer in pain; in fact, I had never felt better in my life, at least physically. I was not so sure about how I felt mentally though. There was the discomfort and itchiness of dried blood on my skin, my body felt strange and unfamiliar, and there was a presence somewhere in the back of my mind that made me feel as though I was being watched.
It took a moment for the fog of my mind to clear enough to recall what had happened before I had passed out. “Torr’s balls!” I cursed, wondering just how long I had been unconscious as I shot up to check on Sharai, trying to ignore the dried blood, the strange sensations in my back, and that presence at the edge of my mind. The Faerie was deathly still though, her chest absent of the rise and fall of breath, her eyes sightless, and her skin reduced to a deathly pallor.
“Shit,” I cursed again. “She was supposed to answer my questions, and how am I supposed to find this Tarin’dol place without her? I don’t even know what she wanted to tell the people there.”
-Fear not, Kaelyn. I will answer your questions as you wash and dress,- Sharai’s voice said, tickling the edges of my mind.
My head snapped around in search of the source of the voice. “What…”
-Look to your sword, Kaelyn,- the familiar voice instructed.
“My sword? But I don’t have a…” I started to argue as I looked around and my eyes settled upon the Faerie blade laying on the floor. Strangely, I could see no traces of blood on the gleaming blade, only those four unusual glyphs along the flat of the blade, alight with azure radiance. For a moment, I just looked at it in confusion. I had been certain that it only had three glyphs before.
-Neva’kul belongs to you now. You made it submit to your will and magic. Its power is now yours, so long as you are willing to see its will done. We are both bound to it now; your oath has bound you as its wielder and the instrument of its will, and mine bound my spirit as its voice and your guide. I replaced my guide and set her spirit free, as you will one day do for me when your life nears its end and you pass Neva’kul on to another.-
“Its will? But it is just a sword, is it not?” Even as I spoke those words, I did not truly believe them. I had felt the will and the magic of the blade resisting me until I had felt that sense of approval from it. I was slightly distracted though by the disturbing news that Sharai’s spirit seemed to be trapped in the sword until I took her place to set her free.
-Neva’kul is one of five Vos’oraik, they would be called “oath bringers” in your language. They were forged by the Elven sage Darion during a time of great evil, when Demons threatened all life on our world,- the spirit explained. -Darion infused each of the Vos’oraik with his magic and a will to protect the weak and innocent, and to see the Demons banished from this world. It is just blind will and raw emotion though; the Vos’oraik cannot truly communicate with their wielders. That is why my predecessors and I have bound ourselves to Neva’kul in death, to teach those who come after us, interpret its will, and infuse it with our gift.-
“Your gift? And there are four other swords like this?” I asked.
There was a short silence before Sharai answered. -Yes, Neva’kul and the four others were made for five of the most powerful Fae warriors and magic users of the time. The Vos’oraik can sense one another’s presence when close. As for the gifts, that is what the glyphs represent, the gifts of those who wielded Neva’kul before you. You may use each glyph once per day by focusing on them. All Fae are attuned to magic, it is a part of who we are. Each of us can sense magic, use the magical abilities unique to our species of Fae, and has a magical ability unique to ourselves. The last are our gifts. It seems that the Touched have inherited that, even though they cannot seem to sense magic or use it in other ways as full-blooded Fae can. Your gift is to manipulate metal.-
“But I can sense magic just fine, it was how I knew that you and the possessed man were approaching before I hid,” I countered with a frown. “I have never heard of another Touched being able to do that though, except for my mother.”
-Some Fae lineages have magic that is more powerful and a stronger connection to magic in general than most, while others have difficulty connecting to and manifesting their magic. The magic catalyst that I had you make and swallow was created for those who have trouble manifesting their full magical potential. I had hoped to draw out enough power for you to gain Neva’kul’s approval, but the catalyst has never been used on a Touched before and I certainly did not expect you to change physically. Perhaps you are descended from one of the stronger lineages and the part of you that was human was holding you back. It would explain a few things.-
I had carefully avoided looking down at myself since waking. I had a feeling that my body had been changed, and it seemed that Sharai had just confirmed that, but I had no idea how I had changed or what I now was. “Sharai… w-what do I look like now?” I asked hesitantly, not certain if I truly wished to know the answer.
-Fear not, child, you are not misshapen. In fact, you are quite striking. I do not know if it is due to the influence of your Fae lineage or some effect from my blood being used in the catalyst but you are a Faerie now, as I… was.- There was an awkward, heavy silence before Sharai continued speaking. -Perhaps it would be better if you look for yourself, you should cleanse yourself anyway. There is a place where you can do both in the cavern beneath us. Keep your sword with you, you must be near Neva’kul if you wish to speak with me.-
I sheathed the blade, removed the sheath from the belt of Sharai’s corpse with shaking hands, and asked uncertainly, “Sh… should I bury you? I do not know what your customs are.”
-No, child. Without my spirit, the Fading will soon take my body. It will vanish as what magic remains in it returns to the Weave. I must thank you for removing the cold iron, it interferes with most types of magic and would have prevented the return of my body to the Weave.- Sharai must have sensed the next question on my mind before I could even summon the words. -The Weave is the flow of the world’s mana, it is everywhere and in everything, though some places and creatures have more than others. We Fae possess a lot of mana while most humans have very little, not even enough to use without draining themselves of it completely, and that would kill them.-
I nodded silently as I made my way to the stairs and then downward with the sheathed sword in hand. The stairs went down a fair distance, lit by faerie fires like those in the room above until I ended up in a small underground cavern. It too was lit by silvery faerie fires, and had a pool of water fed by an underground stream running through the cavern. Cubbies had been formed in the stone walls of the cavern to hold towels and hand cloths, soap, brushes, and a small clay pot. There was also a tall mirror of polished silver metal that immediately caught my attention.
More accurately, it was the reflection in that mirror that held my gaze. A young woman stood there naked, half covered in blood, and staring back at me. Before I would have been looking at a short and wispy girl of seventeen summers with tanned skin, black hair, dull brown eyes, and lacking much in the way of feminine curves. Indeed, with my long hair tied back and my modest breasts bound flat, it had been easy for me to appear as a boy of twelve or thirteen. A very plain boy.
The ethereal creature that I now saw reflected back at me was anything but plain and would never be mistaken for a boy, human or otherwise. I was certain that I had grown quite a bit taller for one thing. Where before I had been dusky, short, and slender, now I was tall and lithe with ivory skin. My feminine curves were more pronounced with somewhat wide hips for my lithe frame, a flat tummy, an apple-shaped bottom, and noticeably larger breasts. I was still nowhere near having the full figure with expansive bust and wide birthing hips of some of the women I had seen in the marketplace though. Compared to them, my charms were modest indeed but there could be no doubt that my reflection was of a young woman, even if I was no longer a human one.
My face was angular, smooth, and beautiful as if it was sculpted from white marble. I could still see some of my old self there, but there were a lot of both subtle and blatant changes that combined to make me look different overall. Longer pointed ears, slightly higher cheekbones, a more delicate nose and chin, fuller pouty rose-pink lips, and large slit-pupiled eyes like shining amethysts beneath thin arched eyebrows. All of this atop a long and slender neck and framed by waist-length ringlets of lavender hair that shone with an almost metallic sheen.
I gasped at my reflection in stunned awe. Was that truly me? Tremors erupted in my back, and that buzzing that I had felt earlier returned, as a slight pale blur could be seen behind my reflected body. I turned around, pulled my long hair over my shoulder, and tilted my head so that I could get a good look at my back and saw a set of four gossamer wings, like those that Sharai had in life. On closer inspection they looked like the wings of a dragonfly, only they had a violet tint to them and were much larger, hanging down to my knees once I managed to keep them still for a moment.
I tore my eyes away from the mirror and went to take care of getting myself clean. I needed time to think about this. My feelings were conflicted on both my new appearance and my apparent change in species. Other than my family, I had been largely mistreated by other humans, and humans working for the Church of One had been the ones to kill my parents, but I had never even seen a Fae before Sharai and had had no desire to be one.
This was going to make dealing with others difficult as well. I knew nothing about the Fae aside from legends and folk tales and I was not truly one of them. As for humans, those in Duke Garen’s territory would likely kill me on sight. At the very least, humans would not trust me. How would the people of Tarin’dol react to me? Would they trust whatever message that Sharai wanted me to give them?
Those thoughts weighed heavily on my mind as I bathed. Eventually, I managed to focus on getting properly cleaned though. The bath was far more comfortable than I was used to, even if the water was cold. The soap and the pot full of herbal mixture that Sharai had had me wash my hair with both smelled wonderful, for one thing. I did not know what material the towels and cloths were made from but they were far softer and less irritating than the coarse scraps of cloth that I was used to drying myself with on those rare occasions where I could bathe properly.
Finally, as I finished drying myself as best I could and headed back up the stairs I asked, “Sharai, you seem to know this place. Have you been here before?”
-I have been here before,- the Faerie spirit admitted. -My troupe inhabited this forest and I was a Woodwarden here until I received Neva’kul from the previous wielder and decided to go explore the world beyond our forest. That was almost seventy summers ago. I came back to see how my troupe was faring and when I arrived I found that darkness covers these lands. The Seeming that had protected my village was gone and my people were massacred. The village was destroyed and I found weapons of cold iron in the corpses, preventing their bodies from rejoining the Weave.-
“I bet it was the Church of One,” I spat bitterly. “That man who was chasing you was one of theirs and they kill the Touched or anyone who follows the old Gods, so it would not surprise me if they were involved. I could feel their sickening magic whenever I was in Greendell.”
-Yes, I went to investigate the source of the darkness and I found the very Demons that the five Vos’oraik were created to fight against. I was outnumbered and the courtyard of their ‘church’ is rife with cold iron that dispelled my glamour and prevented me from using my magic. I was seen as I approached and managed to get away, but not before taking one of their foul arrows,- Sharai replied as a chill ran down my spine.
“So, that black smoke that I saw was a Demon possessing that man?” I asked, swallowing a lump in my throat.
-Indeed They can possess those with little natural magic and take control of them but it is far easier for them to possess those that they have made a pact with, They offer power, and that is something that humans crave far too often. Those foul creatures were banished thousands of years ago, and only servants of one of the Gods could have summoned them to this world, the God who created them. He has no worshippers though. All likenesses of him in the circles of the Gods were destroyed, all artifacts related to him were ruined, his worshippers were wiped out, and his name has been unspoken since. Now that evil is spreading once more, so you must warn Tarin’dol and find the other Vos’oraik bearers.-
The chill that had taken up residence in my spine quickly became a shudder. “The Unspoken One,” I gasped. My parents had warned me that few people even dared speaking that name for fear that it might bring his gaze upon them. A God so terrible that the other Gods had struck his name and likeness from all memory thousands of years ago. It was said that he caused the fall of the Ancient Ones. Moreover, he had had over fifty years to establish a foothold in Caspia, perhaps even the entire kingdom of Evalis. I gritted my teeth, clenched my fists, and grimaced as I asked, “How do we get to Tarin’dol?”
-First, you get properly dressed and gather what supplies we will need for our trip,- Sharai replied carefully.
It took me less time than I had feared to find clothes that fit decently and get myself dressed. My old clothes were far too small, not to mention that they were wet, torn, dirty, and threadbare. Thankfully, there were clothes in one of the shelter’s cupboards that seemed designed with Faerie, and their wings, in mind. It looked like there were clothes for other types of Fae as well, but Sharai suggested that the Faerie clothes would work best for me and would be easier to adjust if needed.
The clothes were meant for Woodwardens who were patrolling the forest so they were lightweight and easy to move in but they were also different from what I was used to. I found a pair of dark brown soft-soled boots, matching bracers, and a belt that fit decently, as well as a thick dark green wool cloak that fell to my calves and would hide my wings if needed. The rest of the clothes were in a similar shade of green but the material was unfamiliar to me.
As Sharai told me how to put on the unfamiliar garments, she also informed me that they were made from the woven silk of star-spiders that some communities of Fae cared for and harvested like humans did sheep. The massive spiders were named for the bright green star-shaped pattern on the back of their otherwise black bodies. They were poisonous, easily as large as a grown man’s hand, and bred quickly but clothing made from their silk was durable, somewhat stretchy, and felt nice on the skin.
I started with the unusual loincloth, placing the patch of cloth between my legs as instructed and then used the attached laces to tie it above my hips on either side to hold the garment in place. The long skirt that I put on after was split along the outer part of my legs from my thighs to where the hem ended just below my knees and met my boots. I knew that it would show an indecent amount of leg whenever I moved and was not certain that I liked the idea. Even the whores in the city only showed little more than their ankles and I would be showing far more than that every time that I took a step.
The blouse, if one could call it that, was even worse. My new wings made blouses difficult and I could not wear a chemise or any sort of breast binder. The blouse was basically just a piece of cloth similar to the loincloth that tied behind my neck and lower back to cover my front and leave my wings free. As a result, it molded itself to my chest and midriff while leaving my shoulders, back, and arms all bare. Even what it did cover left little to the imagination. I frowned at myself in the mirror before adding my new cloak and buckling on my sword belt.
Sensing my discomfort, Sharai tried to reassure me. -You are dressed no less modestly than any other Faerie and you will need to have your wings free if we are going to get to Tarin’dol quickly. We will have to get you some light armor once we get there, the smiths there are amongst the best on the continent.-
“But I do not even know how to use my wings,” I complained.
-As we make our journey I will teach you everything that you need to know. How to fly, and how to use that sword as well,- the spirit promised.
“What about magic?” I pressed eagerly.
-You can already sense magic and use your gift reliably, and you will improve through practice. I will teach you to use your Faerie abilities as well. Any other magic you will have to learn through study and hard work. I was not a mage, I was a swordswoman, but I will teach you the basics of magecraft and what few spells that I do know.-
With that promise made, Sharai had me pull a leather pack from one of the cupboards and fill it with a change of clothes and a pair of wool blankets. I would have to forage for food so I also found a bow more suitable for my new size and a pair of quivers filled with arrows. Once the bow and quivers were lashed securely to the pack, I shouldered it and pressed my hand to where Sharai told me the exit would be.
-Close your eyes, feel for the enchantment, and then push a little bit of your mana into it as you say, “Naevus’ta kosa.” It is not a spell, just a phrase meant to activate the enchantment already in place,- Sharai instructed.
I did as instructed and as the words left my mouth, I felt the enchantment activate and the hidden door was revealed once again. The thought that I had just used magic, even if it was a premade enchantment brought a grin to my face and excitement bubbled in my chest. “I’ve never gotten to do something like that before. I could sense magic but what I could do with metal was never more than a parlor trick.”
-Do not discount your gift, Kaelyn,- Sharai offered sagely. -You are much more powerful now than you were before and you can manipulate metal. You have manipulated cold iron, our greatest weakness. That gives you a defense that no other Fae has. Now hurry, the shadows grow long and tonight you learn to fly.-
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Despite still trying to adjust to my new body, and how it moved, I managed to make quite a bit of distance before sunset. The longer legs certainly helped with that and I felt more energetic in general as well. Once I had stopped moving as I felt that I was supposed to be and just let myself move naturally, I found myself to be very quick, agile, and graceful. I was travelling northwest, which was a little unnerving since we had been traveling south to get to the sacred grove and it felt like I was heading back toward the danger. When night fell and I finally stopped to catch my breath, I worked up the nerve to ask, “Why are we going this way?”
-Between the rain and mud and you having to support me, we left a trail that a child could follow. The Demon, and others like it, will be able to track us to the sacred grove. When they find it, they will likely destroy it, as they have the others in the Dukedom of Caspia, and send one or more of their number to follow your tracks here. Now that it is dark, you will be able to fly with far less risk of being spotted and we will head southwest,- Sharai explained.
I considered that for a moment. While I was eager to learn to fly, it was also a daunting prospect and I was worried about being seen. From what little that I knew of the geography of Evalis, southwest would take us out of Duke Garen’s lands, but the capital city of Majair was also in that direction. “Should we risk going so close to the capital?” I asked uncertainly.
-We must see if this darkness infects the entire kingdom or if it is so far confined to Caspia,- the spirit insisted. -If it has spread as far as the capital and the King, then there could be a war on the horizon. It is not far out of our way since we must continue southward regardless. We will need to pass through the kingdom of Kalidar to get to Zhahimel and the gates beyond.-
My mother had told me stories about the legendary city-state of Zhahimel when I was a small child and those stories had fascinated me. It was the last major city on the southern end of the continent before the Southern Divide, a great mountain range. Zhahimel was a massive fortress city that sat between sheer cliffs in the only pass through those mountains and they had built great gates between their city and the remainder of the pass that led through those mountains and to the Fellwoods beyond.
The Fellwoods were the forested lands that covered the entire southern tip of the continent and people claimed that those woods were haunted and hosted such horrors that only the Fae dared to venture there. Many thought that the gates had been originally built and sealed to keep out what creatures laid beyond, though there was no record of those gates ever being breached. In addition, in case anything did manage to get through that mountain pass and the gates that sealed it off, there were the Daughters of Zhahime, an order of warrior priestesses that controlled and defended the city.
As a small child, I had often fantasized about joining that order. They accepted women of all races who were willing to swear their service to their order and Zhahime, the Goddess of War, Honor, and Justice and the twin sister of Hespira. They trained in all forms of combat and those with the potential to use magic were taught that as well.
My eyes went wide as Sharai dictated our course. “We’re going to Zhahimel? And through the gates? But that would take us into…”
-The Fellwoods?- Sharai finished with a laugh. -Do not believe everything that you have heard, young one. What others call the Fellwoods we call home. Its true name is Nightglade Forest; it has been called that since before the time of the Ancient Ones. Tarin’dol is on the southern coast, so we have quite a journey ahead of us.-
“But didn’t you say that your troupe inhabited this forest?” I asked.
-Yes, some troupes travel to ancient forests like this one in other lands to preserve them. Most humans know better than to enter a forest under Fae protection,- the spirit explained patiently. I could not argue that fact since if I had known Fae were living somewhere in the forest I would have stayed out. It was too bad that the church and its Demons had no such reservations. -In tense times, such as those that I fear are ahead of us, those troupes also act as ambassadors of the Fae to the local rulers, or as spies if needed.-
I placed my pack on the ground and sat beside it to begin braiding my long hair. I was afraid of it getting tangled up with my wings if left loose while I was flying, or attempting to anyway. I would likely have to put my cloak in my pack for the same reason. As I worked though, another question came to mind. “Sharai, if we have to go into the Fell… umm… Nightglade Forest, how am I going to get past the gates that bar the pass? Is the forest truly haunted?”
-The Daughters of Zhahime are our allies and have spread those rumors for well over a thousand years. The order was founded in part by Fae, and the fortress and the rumors about the forest were built to defend our home. Zhahimel is now an independent city-state but they still guard the pass and keep anyone except Fae, or those accompanied by us, from entering those gates. Since you are a Faerie, you simply need to ask to enter, or fly right over,- Sharai offered in a teasing tone.
I returned to my task as I blushed in embarrassment. As I braided my hair and kept my senses alert for any approaching danger, Sharai took the opportunity to explain what abilities that I should have as a Faerie. The first was flight, of course. While I was slightly worried that my wings would not be strong enough to support my weight, the spirit assured me that I would be fine.
Not only were Faerie a lot lighter than they looked, as I had discovered when I first carried Sharai, but their wings were usually very durable and would draw mana from the air around them to magically reinforce themselves when in constant motion. A side effect of this was that the air around them would heat up, giving the added benefit of keeping a Faerie warm while in flight. Sharai said that the heated bubble of air around her had always made her feel lighter somehow as well.
Faerie could also cast faerie fires. This ability was common to several types of Fae. It was used to create a ghostly fire or several if the caster was so inclined, like those that had been lighting the interior of the great oak in the sacred grove and the cavern beneath it. The spell was just light and heat but it did not burn what it came in contact with and could be moved in response to the caster’s desires. Sharai said that I could learn that later since I would be flying soon and would not need the light with my acute night vision.
The Faerie’s final inherent magical ability was to cast glamours upon themselves. Sharai described it as forming an image of what she wanted to look like in her mind and then either drawing in mana or using some from her reserves to place that appearance over top of her own. I decided to wait to attempt that ability until it was needed or I had a better idea of how magic worked in general. With my gift, all that I had ever had to do was to feel the metal with my mind’s eye and then move it how I desired.
All Fae have the potential to use magic; it was one of the benefits of being a magical creature. Some needed to draw that ability out though, which was why that horrible concoction that I had swallowed had been created in the first place. As Sharai had told me earlier though, if I wished to learn magecraft I would need to do so through study and practice, and I would need someone to teach me more than the basic cantrips that Sharai had learned in life.
Next, Sharai gave me a quick overview of what magical abilities had been bound to my new sword, along with the spirits of its former wielders. My spirit guide was hoping that we could avoid combat for the moment but she figured that it would be best if I knew what both Neva’kul and I were capable of. -The glyph closest to the guard of the blade is an ability that belonged to the first wielder of Neva’kul, Joarra. It allowed her to concentrate the mana around her into the blade of her sword and release it in a blast of destructive magical energy along the path of the swing or thrust of her blade. It was a terrifying ability, and why she was chosen to wield Neva’kul. A thrust could destroy whatever was in its path and even blow holes through the walls of a stone keep, while a slash could send all but the most stalwart of opponents in its path flying.-
I was still in awe of the thought of having such a power in my hands as Sharai went on to describe the second glyph and the ability that it represented. Gaivin, the second wielder of Neva’kul, had been an Elf and while he was a fair swordsman, he had a reputation as a bit of a jerk and a shameless flirt who would bed anyone, whether they were Fae, human, or otherwise. His ability was a simple charm that would affect humans and people of other non-magical races unless they had some form of magical protection. It would render anyone looking at him at the time love-struck, lusting, and very eager to please until the next sunrise. I immediately decided that I would never use that unless my situation was dire indeed.
The third glyph had come from Tamisun, the Faerie who had passed Neva’kul on to Sharai. She could greatly increase her speed and reflexes for short bursts. Even if it could only be used once per day it was something that Sharai told me could be very useful should I find myself facing a more powerful or experienced opponent.
Sharai’s ability would prove useful in the same way. She had been able to create a pair of illusory copies of herself that could act independently after being summoned. It had allowed her to win or escape a lot of fights that she never would have otherwise as her opponents tried to attack or counter one of the copies instead of the real Sharai. The illusions would not leave tracks and disappeared after roughly ten minutes but they were a good distraction. She admitted to having to find cover or use a flash cantrip so that her opponents would not know which of her was the real one though.
Finally, I had my hair in a tight braid and my cloak in my pack as Sharai finished her explanations. Now it was time to fly or, at the very least, attempt to. I still was not used to having wings or the extra muscles in my back to control them yet and the sensations back there felt strange and difficult to control. As a result, both Sharai and I soon became frustrated with my lack of progress. -You should be able to do this. All Faerie are born with natural instincts for using their wings and flying. Flying is easier than walking for most of us.-
“I was not born a Faerie though,” I pointed out dejectedly as I slumped back down on the ground.
-Kaelyn, you are a Faerie, no matter the circumstances of your birth, you would not look as you now do otherwise. Will you allow me to take over?-
“What do you mean, take over?” I asked in confusion.
-We are both bound to Neva’kul. I can use that connection to control your body for short periods, though it is something that you need to allow to happen. It will be tiring for me even with your cooperation and I cannot do it if you fight against me, If you can feel what it is like to use your wings when I am in control then perhaps it will help your repressed instincts to take hold.- Sharai gently explained.
I worried at my lower lip as I considered it. The prospect of someone else controlling my body was unsettling but I also knew that Sharai and I were going to be together for a very long time and that I would need to trust her if I was going to live long enough to get to Tarin’dol. After a long moment, I let out a sigh and asked, “What do I need to do?”
-You will feel a sense of pressure in your mind. Do not push back against it but rather relax and allow it to push you backward.- Almost immediately after the words were spoken in my mind, I sensed something pushing inside of my head. I took a deep breath and relaxed as I tried to just let it push me as instructed. It was a strange sensation, I could see from my eyes and all of my other senses seemed to be working as well but I was suddenly aware that I was no longer the one in control.
My head moved from side to side and my body moved in a series of unfamiliar stretches as my voice said, “It is very strange being on this side of a takeover. Ah well, no time to dwell on that. We are going to need to start training your body for combat and teach you to use a sword properly soon but for now, let us work these lovely wings of yours.”
“Well, we had better hurry because I can sense the dark magic of one of the church’s Demons approaching,” I thought back to her. It was on the edges of the range of my magic sense but it was approaching, probably following the trail that I had left from the sacred grove.
“Yes, you are right,” Sharai agreed in our body’s voice, “your magic sense is very acute; your range is farther than mine was.” I attempted a mental nod in response. My range seemed much further now than it had been before. I had not been able to sense Sharai and her pursuer until they were almost upon me before our meeting but now I could sense almost to the sacred grove and we had covered a fair distance before darkness had fallen.
My hands reached out under Sharai’s control to grab my pack and then she started slowly moving my wings so that both she and I could get a sense of them, and how it felt when they moved. “I am afraid that we have little time for you to practice flying, Kaelyn. I thought it would take them longer to gather a search party, find our trail, and follow it to the grove. I will fly us for as long as I can keep control. Focus on your wings as they move, try to become familiar with them and how I move them and the rest of your body when I turn, hover, or move up or down. Once I release control, you and your instincts will have to take over.”
With that, my wings began to buzz behind me and my body took to the sky. Even though I was not in control of our flight, it was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. After a few minutes, I lost my terror and began to enjoy myself as I allowed myself to relax and just feel what it was like to fly and how Sharai moved our currently shared body. I felt so free. It was so quiet and peaceful up in the sky with only the insects, birds, or occasional bats to be seen.
The enjoyment lasted only until I saw the malevolent orange glow to the east. Those monsters were burning the sacred grove. Had I been in control of the body I might have gone to do something about it but I was not. “I understand how you feel, Kaelyn, but your life is more important. We must find out how far this evil has spread and report to Tarin’dol,” Sharai insisted in our shared thoughts.
Sharai pushed herself to keep control for as long as she could, flying as quickly as my new Faerie body was capable of, but not long after the ominous glow of the burning grove had faded into the distance her time ran out. When her presence faded to a dull sense of her exhaustion, emanating from Neva’kul, I was suddenly in control once again. On the other hand, perhaps not, since in my panic at the sudden shift, I began falling.
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The closer the trees of the forest beneath me became, the more I panicked. I tried to calm myself and focus on moving the muscles in my back and my wings as I had felt Sharai doing, but it was very hard to think clearly and do that with the air rushing past me and the ground coming ever closer. Sharai had said that flying was as easy as walking for Faerie but I did not have to think to walk, I just did it. If I could do it with flying too then I would not be falling, at least that was what I thought. Maybe that was the problem though; maybe I was overthinking it somehow.
I was truly afraid that I was going to hit the forest canopy. The treetops were close enough that my now acute night vision could see the shifting of the leaves from the evening breeze and I lost all focus on trying to control my wings consciously. The foremost thought in my mind was how much it was going to hurt when I collided with the ground. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see my end coming
I could not breathe, could not think, I could only wait for the inevitable as my heart hammered in my chest. Suddenly, my wings began to buzz rapidly and I could feel the same sensations coming from them and my upper back as I had felt when Sharai had been controlling my body. Maybe Sharai had been right about it being instinctual after all. My eyes shot open as I began to hover just shy of the treetops and I let out the breath that I had not realized I had been holding.
Sharai still was not responding, so I seemed to be on my own regarding how to control my flight now that I was actually flying. Well, hovering, but it was a start. I just needed to put some of the advice and secondhand experience that Sharai had given me into effect. It took a while but eventually, I was able to turn my hover into forward motion and gain some altitude as well.
Once I had gained some altitude, I got my bearings and then continued on my way southwest. As I flew I experimented, putting into practice things that Sharai had done earlier while trying to coach me. I kept on flying until I began to grow weary and could see the woodlands below giving way to farms and fields in the distance.
Not wanting to venture into human lands without Sharai to help me figure out how to cast a glamour first, I decided to gather some food and find a place to make camp for the night. I managed to lower my altitude and dropped the last hand length or so, stumbling a bit when I hit the ground. “Not the most graceful of landings,” I muttered to myself, “but it was my first time. Hopefully, my flying and landings will improve with time and practice.”
Just to be safe, I removed my new cloak from my pack and put it on to obscure my wings in case I encountered any people. I did not think that was very likely but it was possible, and the cloak helped ward off the evening chill now that my wings weren’t moving and warming the air around me. With the cloak on and the hood up to obscure my face and ears, I began to search for food and a place to sleep.
My search netted me some wild mushrooms, berries, and nuts. There was enough game that I could have hunted but I did not want to risk a fire and only wished to eat and find a secure place to sleep for the night. Despite my short rest earlier, when I had fainted after my transformation, I was tired from flying and from what was probably one of the most stressful days of my life to date. I had not eaten at all either, and I had been hungry even before all of the excitement and the physically taxing transformation.
Now I was starving and my stomach confirmed it by growling loudly in protest, so I gathered and ate as I walked. By the time that I found a place to set up camp for the night, I had managed to sate the hunger that was gnawing at me. I found a hollow beneath the roots of a large ash tree alongside a stream that would do for the night and made myself as comfortable as I could with my pair of blankets.
I could not lay down and it was a somewhat tight fit but I thought that it would be safe for the night, even if I was not very comfortable. As tired as I was, comfort fell below security on my list of priorities. It would be secure and that was the important thing, comfort was of little concern, and as tired as I was, I soon fell asleep.
Confusion briefly gripped me when I awoke. I was uncertain of where I was, how I had managed to sleep in such an uncomfortable position, and what the source of the discomfort in my back was. It was several moments before I awoke enough to remember yesterday’s events. Once that had happened I quickly discovered that the discomfort was from having one of my wings pinched in an awkward position between myself and the wall of my small den.
Somehow, I had managed to twist the wing it seemed. It was uncomfortable but there was no damage that I could find, at least not once I left the den and had a good stretch to work out the kinks of sleeping in such close quarters. As Sharai had said, my wings seemed very durable but they were also quite flexible and only really seemed to harden in flight when drawing in mana to reinforce themselves. They were very pretty too, especially when the early morning sunlight hit them just right.
I wasted no time in shaking the dirt and leaves from my blankets and placing them in my pack. Once that was done, I put on my cloak, adjusted my sword belt, and went to gather some nuts and berries for breakfast. As I ate my scavenged morning meal, Sharai’s presence in my mind seemed to grow stronger. -My apologies, Kaelyn. I should have relinquished control to you sooner. I overexerted myself trying to put some distance between us and the Demon that was following our trail.-
“No harm done, Sharai,” I assured the Faerie spirit. “I was worried about you and a bit scared when I started falling, but it seems that you were right about me having the instincts. I think that perhaps I was still thinking of myself as human, regardless of my new body. I was able to get some practice flying on my own and kept my course to the southwest, but I decided to stop when I saw farmlands in the distance.”
-If you continued following the course that I set us on, those farms are probably those surrounding the capital. That means that we are beyond the Dukedom of Caspia. If the influence of the Demons has spread to the rest of Evalis, Majair is where we shall discover it,- Sharai offered thoughtfully.
“Do you know much about Majair?” I asked.
-Sadly, I do not,- my spirit guide replied. To me, it felt like the spirit might be frowning and her tone was wary. -I did not have cause to pass through the capital on my way to visit my troupe. Human cities can be stifling and I preferred to stick to the forests and glades. We shall have to rely on your knowledge of humans and their cities, Kaelyn.-
I gave a frown of my own at that news. I had only rarely gone into Greendell since my parents had been murdered and I had fled to eke out what life that I could in the forest. I had only interacted with its people when I had meat or hides to sell or needed food or supplies that I couldn’t grow, make, or hunt myself. If we needed to rely on my familiarity with humans, then we may well be doomed.
Perhaps I was exaggerating, but it certainly felt like I was as unfamiliar with them as a normal Fae would be. I had some money, but it was not much and probably would not go very far. I was a little worried about how I was going to navigate an unfamiliar city as well, one that was likely much larger than Greendell. “Can we not just wait for nightfall and then fly over the city? It would be faster, and I am certain that I could detect the dark magic of the church.”
-It would not be wise to fly openly over a human city. In fact, it is probably best if we do not fly in human lands at all, to be safe. If this ‘church’ of yours is present in the city then they will be on guard against our kind, as they were in Greendell,- Sharai countered.
“They aren’t my church,” I snapped, clenching my fists at my sides. “They killed my parents and would have killed me too if I had not kept my distance.”
-My apologies, Kaelyn, I did not mean to imply that you supported them, only that they are a human organization.-
“Well, I am not exactly human anymore, am I? If you asked the Church of One, I never was. They call us Demons when they… they…” I stammered, trying to collect myself as I closed my eyes, shoving away the memories that threatened to overwhelm me as tears stung my eyes. “The possessed man who was chasing you, he… he was the one who killed my parents. He threatened to kill me too if I ended up being Touched. I was so scared when I saw him, but I could not let him kill someone else in front of me… not again. And then you…”
-My death was not your doing, Kaelyn. You did your best to save my life and you did save my spirit. For that, I am grateful.- the spirit chided gently. -This only makes it more apparent that we must be cautious though. The Demons and their church are hunting the Fae and Touched. They know what we are capable of and they know our weaknesses. I believe that it would be wiser to attempt to blend in and gather information from the city’s inhabitants. For that, you will need to learn to cast glamours.-
With that in mind, Sharai spent the morning teaching me to use my other Faerie abilities in preparation for our foray into the capital of Evalis. She suspected that my instincts would give me a natural sense of my abilities, much as they eventually had with flying. Surprisingly, she began by teaching me to conjure faerie fires. I was able to learn the trick of how to summon and control them fairly quickly, as Sharai had guessed, but I was not entirely sure why I was doing it at all.
I looked at the faerie fire as I moved it with my thoughts, much as I would a piece of metal with my gift. It was an almost rose pink in color and Sharai had told me that the color varied from Fae to Fae. It would not change the properties of the fire though, only the appearance. It was the properties that concerned me though, as I reached out to touch the pink flame. Despite the heat that the flames gave off, they did not burn me, but Sharai had insisted that I needed to know this as well as how to cast a glamour.
“Why, Sharai?” I finally asked. “I do not see how this will help us in the capital. Using it to provide light and heat would only draw attention to me and it will not burn anything.”
-That is not entirely true. It will not burn anything in the physical world. Faerie fire is a purifying flame, the embodiment of light. As such, they will burn away darkness. Should you use it on the Demons while they are not in a host and their shadow forms are unprotected then you can harm them. You can even destroy them if you can completely consume their shadow form before they can take a new host or they return to the pit that spawned them,- my mentor explained.
“So we can return them to where they came from?” I inquired in piqued interest.
-The Demons require a host to be corporeal; they cannot remain anchored to our world for long without one. It is easier for them to possess people who they have made a pact with, but they can force themselves upon those who are weak in will and magic. It is far more difficult for them to hold that type of possession for long periods or use their demonic magic unless they get that person to make a pact and stop fighting against them though. As you saw, they will search for a new host as soon as theirs is killed and even if they are returned to the pit, those who summoned them before can merely do it again unless they too are killed. In either case, the Demon will return. It is far better to destroy them, in my opinion.-
I frowned as I thought about the Demons returning repeatedly and extinguished my faerie fire as I asked, “How do you know all of this, Sharai?”
Sharai responded in a solemn tone, -The knowledge on the Demons, and how to combat them, has been passed down from one wielder to another since Joarra first passed Neva’kul on to Gaivin, to ensure that we would have it should they return somehow. It is one of the reasons why we bind ourselves to Neva’kul again in death just as we did in life.-
Once she felt that I could reliably conjure and manipulate a faerie fire on command, Sharai moved on to teaching me how to cast a glamour. It was significantly more difficult than conjuring the faerie fires. First, I had to get an image of what I wanted to look like in my mind and hold it there while I drew in enough mana from the world around me. I could do it from my mana reserves as well but Sharai wanted me to learn to actively drink in the mana around me as well, so she had me work that way throughout the morning lesson. It also ensured that my mana reserves would not be drained should I need to use my gift for some reason.
When I had that image firmly in mind and the mana gathered, I had to focus on pushing mana into that image until it felt stable and then will that appearance to cover my own. It was not limited to just disguise either since she said that I could create glamours of clothing as well, so long as I had a solid image in my mind. To anyone that saw or touched me, the glamour would be as close to reality as I could imagine it. With that in mind, Sharai had me working on not just how I wanted the image to look, but how I wanted it to engage the other senses as well.
I had trouble at first with just the image but adding things like scents, textures, and other details took a lot of mental discipline, especially while trying to gather and manipulate mana as well. My instincts seemed to help with the magic portion but keeping all of the details straight in my mind was extremely difficult. Sharai kept encouraging me though and told me that I could do it. Fae minds were built for this type of thing, and I merely needed to keep my thoughts organized and build the image in my mind one piece at a time.
It was not until almost midday that I was able to produce a glamour that Sharai felt was acceptable. The image that I had used was that of a lanky young man who was toned and tanned from working outside wearing simple clothes; tunic, breeches, boots, and a cloak. It was not too different from what I was wearing and I had attempted to make the young man look as forgettable as possible with slightly shaggy brown hair, dull brown eyes, and otherwise bland features.
Once Sharai had given her approval, I was allowed to gather some food for a midday meal, which included berries, some tubers, and an injured rabbit that I had stumbled across and put out of its misery. Sharai felt that it would be safe to have a fire to cook it and we had decided to put off going to the capital until early the next morning. The rest of the day would be dedicated to improving my ability to cast glamours through repetition, with occasional mental breaks to exercise my body as Sharai began to teach me the basics of using a sword.
The latter did not go well. While my Faerie instincts and Sharai’s patience seemed to be helping with the glamour casting, learning to use a sword was considerably more difficult. Sharai had to keep correcting me on seemingly everything, and that took time since she had to explain what she meant since she could not show me. By the time I settled down for sleep that night, I was mentally and physically exhausted.
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Chapter 6: Kaelyn in the Capital
I awoke before dawn the next morning. Sharai seemed to be already awake and I had to wonder if the spirit trapped inside of Neva’kul could sleep at all. I had not been able to rouse her after nearly dropping from the sky but did she sleep? What was it like for her to be dead and bound to the oath-bringer and me?
“Sharai, are you… okay with the way things are? Being bound to Neva’kul, I mean? I am fortunate and happy to have you guide me, but what is it like for you?” I asked the spirit hesitantly.
-I chose this, Kaelyn. I swore the oath to bind my soul to Neva’kul just as you swore to wield it. I have known that this would be my eventual fate since Tamisun passed the blade on to me. I could have just allowed the Fading to take me, but the Demons have returned and you need a guide more than any of the previous bearers of Neva’kul.- Sharai replied patiently.
“I… understand. I guess that I am just worried about whether it is uncomfortable or unpleasant for you,” I admitted.
-Worry not, this existence is not unpleasant. It feels like I am floating and I am not entirely trapped, I can sense what is happening around us and I have you to talk to. Now enough of these worries, let us get in some sword practice before we leave for the city.-
Once again, Sharai started training me but it was not long before we stopped. It was taking ages just to correct any improper stance or motions on my part because Shari had to resort to describing what I was doing wrong rather than being able to show me. “Could you take over and show me?” I finally asked in frustration.
The spirit seemed to consider it for a moment before admitting, -It would allow you to see and feel how the movements should be done. If you keep training in doing the movements properly, eventually your body will start to remember how it should be done when in a battle and will react instinctively. This is why repetition is used in training. Very well, Kaelyn, please allow me to take over.-
Almost immediately, I felt Sharai’s presence pushing at my mind and I relaxed and allowed myself to be pushed backward. Sharai wasted no time in smoothly drawing Neva’kul from its sheath and then sheathed it just as effortlessly. “Efficiency with the sword begins the moment that you draw the blade. In battle, wasted movements or fumbling will kill you,” she explained in our voice as she repeated the motions, allowing me to get a sense of how she tilted the sheath ever so slightly, how she gripped the hilt, and the motion of pulling the blade free.
Sharai repeated each action twenty times before going through a series of blocks, thrusts, parries, slashes, and other movements that I had no idea about. She repeated each movement twenty times and once she was done, she combined them all, flowing from one movement to the next in a long and intricate dance that she performed with liquid ease. The entire time, I concentrated on how our body moved from one position to the next and how those motions felt to me.
Finally, Sharai halted as the sun peeked over the horizon. “That is enough for the day; I do not wish to exhaust myself as I did when flying. We shall practice like this before dawn every morning until you are able to reproduce the first dance on your own. The first dance is the basics of swordplay. When you can perform the first dance fluidly on your own without thinking, we will move on to the second dance.”
“How many dances are there?” I asked as our body sheathed the blade once again.
I felt Sharai’s presence pull back to allow me control of my body once again before the spirit replied. -For most Fae, there are five; Säel’Eräde, Säel’Uíre, Säel’Phíera, Säel’Wühir, and Säel’Sülwaír. The fifth dance is one known only by the greatest of swordmasters among the Fae. There is a sixth that I will be teaching you as well eventually, Säel’Fäerie, but it is meant for aerial combat.-
Sharai may not have been in control anymore but that did not mean that training was over quite yet, I wanted to practice my archery as well before leaving for the capital. I was a fair archer and knew the proper stance and use of the bow, but I would be using both a new body and a new bow and I was sure that it was going to affect my shooting. I was right, but thankfully it did not take me long to compensate. Still, I would have to practice until it became a habit or I was used to the way that my new body felt and moved.
With that finished, I scavenged some food for breakfast and tried to cast a glamour for my trip into the city. It took three tries before Sharai was satisfied that I would not be detected but I was soon disguised as a tall and willowy blonde girl close to my own age in a simple dress, shoes, and headscarf that I had seen commonly worn on my trips into Greendell. With my glamour in place to hide both my appearance and weapons, I began walking toward the capital.
Even walking, I had set a much brisker pace than I had been expecting to get to Majair. Maybe it was because of my now longer legs, the fact that my new body felt more energetic, or a mix of the two, but that pace quickly ate up the distance from our camp in the forest, through the farmlands, and to the capital. As a result, it was still fairly early in the morning when I arrived at the city gates. It seemed though, that I was not early enough to avoid waiting in line.
“Torr’s balls,” I cursed under my breath as I took my place in line behind a cart loaded with vegetables from the farmlands surrounding the city. They were probably bound for the marketplace and despite my frown in the direction of both cart and vegetables; they were not the source of my current upset. No, that honor belonged to the line itself, and the guards that surely waited at the city gates at its end.
I should have realized that this could be a problem. Those guards would be checking papers and making a note of everyone who entered and left the city. Greendell had had similar checkpoints to enter the city but I had never used them, I knew secret and little-used ways in and out of that city, but I had no such knowledge of the capital. I could probably get by with a traveler’s pass but I would need to give them a reason for my visit and a name, and I dared not use my own.
Once again, I wished that I had been able to return to what had passed for my home before setting out on this journey. I had had more money hidden away and if I had my instruments with me, I could have possibly passed as a traveling musician or street busker. They would have provided a familiar comfort on this trip as well.
It was not until midmorning that I was able to get inside the city gates. I gave my name as Laesa Miller and claimed that I was passing through on my way south and just had to take the opportunity to see the capital. Once inside, I had spent much of the time until noon wandering the streets and making my way through the slums to the marketplace where I now found myself. I had used a pair of copper coins from my dismally barren coin purse to purchase a meal from one of the street vendors; two meat-filled pastries and a mug of cider. Now I was sitting on a bench and watching the people frequenting the market as I ate.
The pastries were dry and bland and I was not sure what the meat was, but at least the meal had been cheap and filled my stomach. The cider was considerably better, with a slightly spicy and earthy flavor that I found myself enjoying far more than the bland meat pastries. I was still getting used to the idea that I could eat meat at all now since I had heard that the Fae could not.
It seemed that ‘could not’ was actually ‘would not’ though, as Sharai had explained yesterday while I had cooked the rabbit that I had put out of its misery. They were a practical people and, while they would normally not intentionally hunt and kill other living creatures to fill their own bellies, there were rare occasions that they would kill denizens of the forests that they protected. Such as with the injured rabbit; it had been suffering and would have died anyway, due to a predator eager for an easy meal or by starving because it could not move. Sharai had said that it would be a waste to let the animal’s corpse rot when its death could feed me instead.
Another case would be if the animals were an invasive species or a danger to the balance of the life of the forest. No matter what the circumstances though, the Fae would always make sure the death was quick and clean so the animal would not suffer, and they would thank it for the food that it provided. As for my current situation, the animal was already dead and cooked, and eating what was available would help me to blend in among the humans.
Majair was much larger than Greendell, intimidating in both size and the sheer number of people walking the streets and going about their daily business. I would have expected a city this large and active to be more boisterous with people hurrying to and fro, but most kept their heads down and watched their surroundings furtively as they moved quickly from place to place. There were not even as many cut-purses or beggars as I would have imagined for a city the size of the capital.
It made for a very tense atmosphere and between that and not knowing my way around, I was afraid that I was going to stick out like a country girl on her first trip to the big city. Sadly, that was not very far from the truth. As a result, blending in was not as easy as I had hoped. I just wanted to finish our business and leave this place.
So far, I had not felt any dark demonic-feeling magic, but I had only really passed through the slums and into the marketplace. This was a very large city so there was still a lot of ground to cover, it might take me several days to explore the entire city. I was not certain if I would have enough coin to stay at an inn though and, even if I did, doing so could expose me if I was not extremely cautious.
-Perhaps an inn or tavern would be a good place to listen to the talk of the capital,- Sharai agreed in my mind. -Tongues loosen under good food and drink but we have very little of your human currency left to procure such a room for our stay, and no way to make more. I loathe suggesting such a thing, but could you use your gift? Coins are made of metal, after all.-
A long sigh escaped my lips as I thought back, “My gift doesn’t work on all metals, Sharai. Believe me, I have tried. Steel, iron, and a few other metals are easy to control but I cannot seem to grip gold, silver, or copper easily and it becomes more difficult the purer they are. The purity of the metals used in the coins of Evalis is very high. My father once told me that it is a point of pride for the kingdom.”
With a shake of my head and a long sigh, I stood up once more to continue walking the city. I had wandered into a wealthier looking area past the marketplace when I passed a small shop with musical instruments displayed in the window. It looked like the shop was closed, and had been for a while, but I still stopped to stare longingly at the hanging instruments. -Why do those instruments call you so?- Sharai inquired.
“My mother taught me to play a few instruments; I was strumming on a harp and playing the pipes before I could walk. My father used to tease her that it was not very practical so he taught me to hunt, but he always loved to listen to us play. After my parents… died, I took what I could carry and left Greendell to live alone in a small hunting shack in the woods. It was lonely there, especially at night, but with my instruments, I had my music to keep me company,” I thought back to the spirit sadly as I stared at a beautiful cherry wood lap harp.
-I am truly sorry, Kaelyn,- the spirit said regretfully. -You saved me and I have gotten you involved in all of this Demon business, pushed you to bind yourself to Neva’kul, and even changed who and what you are with little thought to what you might be leaving behind to take up this quest.-
It was a moment before I could reply, my thoughts racing and my mind focused on the ghosts of the past. “I was already involved, Sharai, they killed my parents. I am glad that I was able to at least save your spirit and being a Faerie is not the end of the world. This is important, I want to help you with it, and speaking honestly, I had little to leave behind. If I had an instrument though, I might be able to earn enough coin to help with our expenses while in cities like this. I would have done so in Greendell, if I had not been trying to avoid the Church of One and they did not see musicians as much better than the Touched.”
We were both quiet for several minutes as I stared at the lovely little harp in the window. I saw a nice flute, a lute, and a fiddle that soon caught my eye as well. It was not until I felt the distinct sensation of being watched as I examined the latter that I was able to tear my eyes away. It wasn’t a bad feeling, and no sense of the Church’s evil magic accompanied it though, so I turned from the window and was about to walk away when a woman’s voice with a strange accent spoke behind me, just loud enough to be picked up by my newly sensitive Fae ears. “It is strange to see a lone Faerie travellin’ alone in this city, especially one as young as yerself. Do ya play, girl?”
My head snapped around in surprise, my heart thrumming wildly in my chest. I had not even heard the woman approach and she had apparently seen right through my glamour. With the rest of what she had said, the comment about my age barely registered. Sharai had explained that Fae are not considered adults until around fifty years old, when they receive silver rings from their troupe to wear on both forefingers that mark them as adults. Despite looking to be sixteen or seventeen by human standards, I still had over thirty years to go before the Fae would consider me an adult. Even if I did have a troupe to induct me into adulthood.
When my eyes landed on the speaker though, my surprise became even greater and my eyes nearly jumped out of my head. She was a Ravieri. Her cerulean skin, contrasted starkly by white hair and silver eyes would make that apparent to anyone, as would the large fuzzy white cat-like ears atop her head and the long white tail swishing behind her as she smiled, showing the tips of her long and sharp incisors. Her hair was long and fell around her in dozens of braids, each tied off with a colorful ribbon and ending at her waist. She was also nearly as tall and svelte as I was, though with a more prominent chest that strained her dark blue tunic near to bursting. She was dressed in simple traveling clothes with several instrument cases slung over her shoulders and sticking out from her pack.
My mother had told me stories of the Ravieri, along with some of the other non-human races. It was said that they were as gifted with magic as the Fae and they lived in the Spearhold Mountains far to the north in Galandir, though they rarely left their mountain home. Seeing one as far south as Evalis was practically unheard of. This one appeared not much older than I was, but appearances could be deceptive. My mother said that Ravieri aged slower than humans do and could live to be many centuries old.
I was still trying to get over my shock when the Ravieri woman shoved a wooden case in my arms without even giving me a chance to answer her question. Not that I could have answered in my currently stunned state. I fumbled with the case for a moment before staring at it, unsure of just what was happening.
“Well, go on, open it an’ play me sumthin’. Ya were lookin’ at those instruments there wi’ such longin’. That means ya either play or ya want to. Let’s see what ya got then, aye?” the Ravieri pressed.
Not seeing any way to get out of this situation, other than running, I carefully unfastened the stays on the wooden case and opened it to reveal a fiddle and bow. They were worn with age but seemed well cared for, and a quick test showed the fiddle to be properly tuned as well. This woman took good care of her instruments. With a nervous swallow, I allowed the strange woman to take the case from me as I took both fiddle and bow in hand and got a feel for them.
The fiddle was not my best instrument but I could play it well enough, or rather I had been able to before I changed species. My new body was graceful and fluid with dexterous hands though, so I was confident that it would not take long to get comfortable with it. After a few minutes of fingering and bow exercises to get a feel for both my hands and the unfamiliar fiddle, I began to play a jaunty jig that my mother had said was popular in her youth and was well suited to the fiddle.
Singing wasn’t easy while fiddling but I had gotten used to practicing that years ago, it was the unfamiliar clear soprano coming from my lips that nearly made me hesitate as I began to sing To Zhahimel I Go in time to the music.
I have left my hearth and home
To journey far away
And ever southward I shall roam
To reach my goal someday
Each step takes me further
From everything I know
I am on a grand adventure
To Zhahimel I go
Zhahimel, it calls to me
The city of the free
I am certain this must be
The call of destiny
I was born a simple village girl
‘Twas not the life for me
So now I am travellin’ the world
And such sights I will see
I will climb through mountains high
Sail river valleys low
Pass through the forests of the Fae
To Zhahimel I go
Zhahimel, it calls to me
The city of the free
I am certain this must be
The call of destiny
To Zhahimel I have run away
To go and join the Order
Then I will train hard every day
To become a great warrior
Zhahime, I vow to fight with honor
And courage I will show
When I battle Fellwoods horrors
To Zhahimel I go
Zhahimel, it calls to me
The city of the free
I am certain this must be
The call of destiny
I finished the tune with a flourish before allowing myself to look at the Ravieri, who was staring at me in surprise with her hands tightly clenching the fiddle’s wooden case. It was a moment before the cerulean-skinned woman spoke, an intent look on her face as she seemed to assess the Faerie girl in front of her. Then, her voice nearly a whisper, she asked, “Girl, who is yer Master?”
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I just stood there stunned, unable to think of whatever response the Ravieri seemed to be waiting for as those silver eyes of hers watched me intently. “M-m-master?” I finally managed to stammer, “I am not sure of what you speak.”
For a moment, I thought that this might be some aspect of Fae culture that I was unfamiliar with, but Sharai had not offered up any suggestions. In fact, she seemed as confused as I was on the subject. Finally, the Ravieri gave me a strange look and said, “Yer Master, lass. Ya may be a wee bit rusty, but toward the end ya were gettin’ used t’ playin’ an unfamiliar instrument. Ya checked the tunin’ an’ did proper fingerin’ an’ bow exercises before startin’ t’ play too. Ya got talent an’ some proper trainin’, guild trainin’ if my ears don’t deceive me.”
-Perhaps she is speaking of the Bardic Guild?- Sharai wondered pensively.
“The Bardic Guild?” I asked uncertainly. I recalled my mother once telling me of such a guild for musicians when I was young. She had not mentioned it since that time though and the one time that I had brought it up when I was a little older, she had told me not to speak of such things in public where those with the Church of One might hear. It was less than a season later that she and my father were murdered.
“Aye, lass,” the cerulean-skinned woman replied with a nod of her head that caused her white braids to bob and sway. I blushed as I realized that I had responded to Sharai aloud and that the Ravieri woman seemed to think that I was speaking to her and was responding in kind. “Not that I’ve seen ‘ide nor ‘air of another Bard since enterin’ Evalis a fortnight ago, not ‘til I saw ya lustin’ over yon instruments. The Guild Hall ‘ere has been closed down an’ not a harp t’ be seen, so I figure that yer all hidin’. Worry not, lass, ya can trust me. Nirlyn Snowmane, Master Bard, at yer service.”
As she said the last, the woman winked and shifted the cloak she wore to reveal a gold brooch in the shape of a harp that was worn over her heart. In the body of the harp were three tiny gemstones; an emerald, a sapphire, and an amethyst. A sharp gasp slipped unbidden from between my lips. It was not because I recognized the name, or even knew much about the Bardic Guild, but because I recognized the brooch. My mother used to have one that was very similar but silver instead of gold and without any of the gemstones.
“What…” I began in a gasp before trailing off as confusion about the striking similarity of the brooch to my mother’s took my voice.
Nirlyn, seemingly believing that the aborted question was in regards to her introduction, shrugged but her grin did not lessen any. “Don’t worry, lass I don’t expect ya t’ recognize the name. I only recently passed the master’s exams. That’s actually why I’m in Evalis, I’m headin’ t’ a town called Greendell t’ look fer my sister an’ hopefully catch up an’ share the good news wit’ her.”
I was so disarmed by the Ravieri woman’s casual air and confused by the brooch that for a moment I could not speak. When I did finally find my tongue, I was so stupefied by the thought of a Ravieri, or any non-human, in Greendell that I sputtered, “Your sister?”
“Not my real sister, o’ course,” Nirlyn quickly corrected. “Her name is Kalara Sparrowsong, and we had the same Master in the guild and trained together. We became journeymen together too but then she got married an’ decided t’ stop travellin’ t’ go an’ raise a family with ‘er man.”
She knew my mother? And my mother was a Bard too? There was certainly no other Kalara Sparrowsong in Greendell. Kalara was not a common name in Evalis, and having a second name was even less common for women here. My mother was not originally from Evalis though.
In the years before her death, my mother spoke little of her life before coming to Evalis, perhaps because she feared how the church might react with their views on musicians. All that I really knew about her past was that her people were travelers, she had earned her name through her people’s traditions and refused to give it up, and she and my father had met back when he was working as a guard for a traveling merchant caravan. When they had gotten married, they had come to Greendell to take over my grandparents’ farm.
I was so shocked by her casual mention of my mother’s name that my suddenly numb fingers nearly dropped the fiddle. Shock and confusion must have been written all over my face because Nirlyn smiled widely, displaying her sharp canines as she asked, “Ya do know ‘er then, lass? I thought that ya might. That was one o’ her songs ya were singin’ an’ playin’ after all.”
“I… she…” I started and aborted my reply before shaking my head.
-Kaelyn? Are you alright, child?- Sharai asked in apparent concern over my currently racing heart and mind.
“That was my mother’s name,” I managed to think at my spirit guide as I tried to get a handle on my wayward tongue so that the Bard in front of me would not think me some sort of simpleton. It was as my eyes nervously darted around that I noticed that we were gathering a crowd. To be accurate the crowd was probably Nirlyn’s doing since people were staring and while I was wearing a glamour, the Ravieri was very obviously not human. Finally, I managed to stammer, “It is… complicated. This… may not be the best place for this conversation though.”
“No, maybe not,” Nirlyn agreed, though she made no move to lead us away from the gathering crowd. Instead, she took her time taking the fiddle back and placing it in its case as she spoke cheerfully, loud enough for the crowd to clearly hear her, “Ya’ll need to get used to gatherin’ crowds with a voice like that, lass. Like honey, it is, sweetest I’ve heard in all my years o’ journeyin’. Yer a bit rough ‘round the edges, but I’m sure that we can work on that, aye?”
She was really laying it on thick. Moreover, why did she keep stealing glances at the people who were stopped in the street staring at her, and by extension, me? That was when I noticed the children in colorful clothing slipping in and out of the growing crowd. There were a half dozen of them, four girls and two boys and their colorful clothing was a stark contrast to their dusky skin and dark hair. In appearance, they reminded me of myself before I was changed, right down to the slightly pointed ears, and I could sense a faint feeling of magic on each of them.
Only once the last of them had slipped out of the crowd and around a corner, did Nirlyn sigh and say, “Yer right, lass, we should be off somewhere a might more private fer our talk.” Then she took my hand in hers and half dragged me around the same corner that I had seen those children go around. She did not stop leading until we were in a tight little alley between two large buildings that seemed to serve as both homes and businesses, set on the edge of the marketplace.
The six children were all there waiting, pulling pilfered purses from their voluminous and colorful skirts or, in the case of the boys, from inside their vests. Whoever they were, they had gotten a good haul. Each of the boys had two coin purses that had been hidden in their vests, while the eldest-looking of the girls had managed to snatch five of them. They each handed their haul over to the Ravieri Bard who placed their ill-gotten gains in an empty lute case, though I guess it was a loot case in this instance.
I had overheard people complaining about ‘Gypsies’ once when I was a child. They had described people who looked much like my mother and me, and said that they were thieves, beggars, and always up to no good. Many of those complaints had come from a young man in the red robes of a neophyte priest of the church who was complaining about how they were sneaking into the city somehow, so I had largely ignored them. He had said they were like the Touched, more demon than human, and could not be trusted though. That part had stuck with me, as had that word.
My mother had frowned at that term when I had repeated it later and told me to never use it again, that it was a slur created by humans who did not understand them and they preferred to be called Voyagers. “Are these Voyagers?” I wondered to myself as I watched Nirlyn smile and congratulate them all on a job well done.
-Yes, I have met their kind before in my travels, though I do not know much about them. They are a secretive people,- Sharai offered.
That was when the Bard closed up the lute case and returned it to its previous place, slung over her shoulder. “Alright, off ya go, back t’ camp with ya. I’ll meet ya’ll back there in a wee bit, an’ I’ll bring sweets.” Then she pulled a feather from her pack and held it out to the children who were grinning at the promise of sweets as they reached out to touch the feather.
As soon as they had touched it, the features of the children began to change and shift. They shrank in size, sprouted feathers, and their lower faces elongated into beaks. The process took only seconds and a moment later six young hawks took to the air from piles of fallen clothing where before there had been human children. My shock was mirrored by Sharai’s as she exclaimed, -By the Goddess, they’re Changelings!-
“Changelings?” I wondered, this time managing to remember to think it rather than speaking aloud.
-They are one of the types of Fae,- the Faerie spirit explained. -Nobody has heard from them since the fall of the Ancient Ones, and many of us believe that they were wiped out in the war with the Demons. Our entire people nearly met the same fate before we purged the world of all traces of Demons and their foul God. The stories say that they could be taken for humans at first glance and that their species' ability was to be able to change their shape to match animals or other species by merely touching them.-
I was just thinking that the rumors of their death had been exaggerated and considering what that meant for me when those thoughts were pushed aside by Nirlyn speaking to me as she picked up the children’s discarded clothing and stuffed it in her largely empty pack. “So, it seems that Tanna was right after all, no’ that ‘er gift has been wrong yet when it gives ‘er a peek.” At my look of confusion, she smiled and clarified. “Tanna’s gift is precognition. Sometimes she’ll get a sense o’ what the future will bring, an’ she said that if I came into this city today an’ looked for a music shop near the marketplace I’d meet someone who could answer our questions ‘bout Kalara. She said that I could lead ya t’ what yer lookin fer too.”
She was not the only one with questions to be answered; I had a lot of my own now. I did not want to be discussing anything that either of us might want to talk about in this city though, especially with all of the attention that a Ravieri would bring to us. “I will answer any questions you have about my mother after we are somewhere safe and more private than this dingy alley,” I offered, wincing as I realized that I had said more than I wanted to.
Nirlyn’s look of sudden look interest told me that she had caught my slip-up, but she did not press the issue. She seemed mildly surprised by it, but she did not seem to disbelieve it. Instead, she nodded her agreement and offered, “I can take ya t’ our camp once we find whatever it is yer lookin fer, lass. It’ll be plenty safe there, an’ the troupe may ‘ave questions fer ya as well. So, what brings ya to Majair, lass?”
“We… I mean… I need to find out if the Church of One has gotten a foothold in the capital. Have you seen anyone in black and red robes or anyone who stinks of dark magic?”
The Bard looked thoughtful for a moment before sighing and nodding. “My kind can’t sense magic like ya Fae can, but I’ve got good ears an’ I’ve seen plenty of those black an’ red robes since we got ‘ere a week ago. They’ve got a grand cathedral in the nobles district an’ it’s said that the King ‘imself attends the midnight service on Sundays. We avoid that area when the others sneak into the city, they say that the feel o’ the dark magic is suffocatin’. Those robed ones watch the Guild Hall like hawks though an’ there’s nobody out buskin’, ‘cause the robes watch that too if they hear ‘bout it. An’ no one will spare a copper while they’re lookin’ on.”
I nearly fell to the flagstones as all the strength left my legs. So, they had spread to the capital after all, and it seemed as if they had the King’s ear too. I wondered if all the musicians had left the capital for greener pastures or if they had been hauled off to the church dungeons with their earnings taken by the church. It was likely a mix of both.
“I guess that confirms it then,” I said with a defeated sigh. “That is most certainly them. To be honest, I am surprised that you and your camp have not been dragged off to the church dungeons yet if you have been here a week. They hate the Fae and the Touched and hunt us like animals. Non-humans have been unwelcome in Greendell for as long as I can remember and, from what I have seen there, the church will try to stamp out anything that might take people’s attention away from working and paying tithes.”
“Aye, tithes. From the grumblin’ I’ve been hearin’, the folks ‘ereabout aren’t happy ‘bout that. Seems the King recently proclaimed that all citizens will ‘ave t’ pay tithes fer the church as well as their usual taxes,” Nirlyn replied in a near-whisper that I doubted anyone but a Fae would have heard.
-Of course,- Sharai commented bitterly in my head. -Demons will always try to make humans feel powerless and overwhelmed. That makes them easier to tempt and corrupt into desiring, and then accepting, the power that they offer.-
“As fer people tryin’ t’ find the camp, they ‘ave been, but we move the camp daily an’ cover our tracks. That an’ a wee bit o’ magic t’ keep folks lookin’ away keeps them off our trail. An’ when the others enter an’ leave the city, they don’t go by the gates.” the Ravieri continued quietly, unaware of my brief distraction.
“And what about you?” I asked quietly as we made our way toward the tents of the main market square. “You stand out.”
“Oh, aye, an’ that makes me a fine distraction when the troupe wants t’ gather some coin,” she agreed cheerfully before adding, “they only take from those that can afford it though or those who deserve it. Coin means a lot in cities like this. After dark falls, the gate guards are very happy t’ take a bit o’ coin that they don’t ‘ave t’ report fer taxin’ an’ tithin’. They can feed their families, an’ I can come an’ go as I need to. I usually don’t even need to enspell them.”
“Why walk so openly in a city hostile to non-humans though? Is that not reckless?” I asked.
“No’ when I went straight t’ the King an’ told ‘im I was investigatin’ the disappearances o’ several Bards in Evalis an’ why we’ve no’ heard from the Guild Hall ‘ere in over a year. No’ even a king will interfere with the investigation o’ one o’ the major guilds, even if that robed fellow who was sittin’ in on the meetin’ didn’t like it. If one guild cuts ties with Evalis, we can convince the others to as well, an’ then they’ll lose access to the best craftsmen on the continent, An’ if I disappear it’ll only make the guild more suspicious,” the Ravieri told me seriously.
“Was what you said about knowing my mo… Kalara even true? Or just part of your investigation,” I asked suspiciously, almost slipping up again.
“It’s true, Kaelyn. I count yer mother as my sister an’ friend,” she insisted, stopping to place a hand gently on my shoulder. She had used my name and suddenly my chest was full of butterflies since I had not introduced myself. “She used t’ send letters to us through other Bards passin’ through, but those were infrequent an’ the last was a little over five years ago. It was why I volunteered fer this. The troupe I’m travellin’ with, they’re family to ‘er, an’ a fair number o’ us are Bards too. We have more reason than most fer findin’ out what’s goin’ on ‘ere. In the letters, she mentioned you an’ told us about the Church o’ One.”
She paused and let out a deep sigh before quietly continuing. “Kalara thought that they were goin’ to be a problem an’ was sendin’ us what information she could on ‘em. I’m sure that the King at least suspects sumthin’ an’ is lookin’ the other way, but I’m even more certain that those priests ‘ave sumthin’ to do with yer mother’s disappearance, an’ the others. The Guild Hall is bare as a newborn’s ass, so no clues there. I guess that they’re hopin’ I won’t find anythin’ incriminatin’ and will ‘ave to give up. They’re right though, I’ve no’ found anythin’ to take to the guild yet, or ‘ave I?” As she finished speaking, her eyes settled intently on me.
I looked away, not certain if I could trust this woman, even if she truly did know my mother. She was far too accepting of the idea that I was my mother’s daughter when I was not even the same species anymore. Her attempts to be friendly and make me think that I had family out there were only making me more suspicious, and angry. “If you cared about my mother, then why did it take you five years to come to look for her!” I snapped, barely keeping my voice down to a heated whisper.
The Bard looked as if I had slapped her and a pained look settled over her features as she told me gently, “We’ve been lookin’, lass. ‘Bout six months after ‘er last letter was dated, a mutual friend passed through Greendell with a letter fer ‘er an’ couldn’t find a trace o’ either o’ ya, so we got worried. We’ve ‘ad other Bards goin’ there and lookin’ fer signs regularly since then. The troupe took a travel route that would take them there, an’ anywhere that Kalara or ya could ‘ave went, as regularly as possible to search fer any new signs an’ talk t’ folk, but nobody was talkin’ an’ we ‘ad nothin’ else t’ go on until Tanna’s recent prediction. The Masters o’ the guild didn’t even think we ‘ad enough grounds fer an investigation, aside from the disappearances themselves, an’ they wanted a Master to ‘andle the investigation. I ‘ad to take the tests just so I could be the one to come ‘ere in time to be ‘ere on this day. Wasn’t expectin’ ya t' be a Faerie though.”
“I… as I said, it is complicated,” I managed to tell her as I tried to regain my composure. I still did not know whether I should trust her, and certainly not whether I could tell her the whole story.
“Aye, lass, I’m sure ya ‘ave quite the tale t’ tell, though I wonder what could be so complicated that ya would drink Faerie blood of all things.” I was about to protest when I remembered one of the ingredients in that foul substance that Sharai had had me make and swallow. The look on my face seemed to confirm her guess though. “That’s no normal shift yer doin’, lass, yer usin’ a glamour. Voyagers can’t use glamours, an’ tryin’ t’ use magical abilities of a species they’ve copied through touch doesn’t work, it disrupts the shift. Drinkin’ blood though, that makes fer a permanent shift an’ grants you the species’ abilities too. Do ya know nothin’ o’ yer heritage?”
I tried to ignore the feeling of intense guilt I felt from Sharai as her presence in my mind faded enough that I could barely feel her there. I would have to talk to her about it later. As for the Bard’s question, I shook my head. “No, I do not. I thought that I was just Touched until I changed into this. I think that my mother was limiting what she said so I would not accidentally let something slip in public. She mentioned some things when I was small, but then told me to be quiet about them when I was older.”
“Perhaps she was waitin’ t’ see if ya started showin’ signs of a gift first,” she suggested. “Yer only half Voyager, she probably wasn’t even sure that ya were goin’ to show any abilities. A personal gift is usually the first sign in mixed breeds since it can be used accidentally. Even then, it could just be because yer Touched, unless ya ‘ave magic sense too. I’m told that shiftin’ requires both trainin’ an’ intent t’ change while touchin’ some part of the creature though. Ya probably would ‘ave never known ya could do it unless ya were taught.”
“I came into my gift a year after Mama and Papa were… after I lost them,” I admitted, tears starting to flow as thought again about that day. We reached a tent where they sold sweets and Nirlyn stopped to buy a small sack for the Voyager children as promised. Then we stopped at a booth selling ale in wooden mugs. She bought two and handed one to me as she whispered, “Take a quick look over my shoulder, lass, but don’t be obvious. We’re bein’ followed, I’ve been smellin’ them fer a while now. Perhaps that church fellow thinks I’m takin’ too much o’ an interest in ya, an’ he’s worried that yer no’ runnin’ off. Can ya use those wings o’ yers yet?”
My heart did a flip when I did as she asked and saw a man in a black and red robe trying to look like he was browsing a tent’s wares while his eyes were on us. I did not sense any dark magic, so our pursuer likely was not possessed by a Demon. He was far too interested in us though and so were the two guards with him. “I see them,” I whispered back behind my mug before taking a long pull of the warm ale and nodding in response to her question.
“Good, ‘and me yer cloak and pack an’ be ready to follow me when my ride gets ‘ere,” Nirlyn replied, having already downed the entire contents of her mug. “She could take a few minutes though, so we may need a wee distraction if he decides t’ come… Torr’s ‘airy balls!” she hissed as the priest and the guards gave up on guile and started walking right toward us. Then she let out the most ear-piercing whistle that I had ever heard in a series of quick notes.
I winced at the sound and then sighed, shrugged off my cloak and pack, and took one last pull from my mug for courage before drawing Neva’kul with my free hand and handing the mug back to the Bard. “Hold my ale.”
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Taking a deep breath, I started toward the priest and the guards with Neva’kul in hand while the Ravieri Bard downed the rest of my ale and gathered my pack and cloak. I was well aware that one lesson did not make me an expert, or even a beginner swordswoman, but I needed to buy some time. As I held my sword uncertainly between myself and the approaching men, I tried to get a read on them and come up with some manner of plan.
Neither of the guards had drawn their blades yet, fortunately. They seemed too surprised at first, as I seemingly pulled mine from thin air due to the concealment of my glamour, and stopped in their tracks uncertainly to stare at me. “Magic,” the priest said with an expression and tone that hovered somewhere betwixt jealousy and disgust.
As much as I hated the Church of One, a single priest was not a good reason to cause mass panic or use any of the abilities that Neva’kul could offer. I would hold Sharai’s and Tamisun’s abilities in reserve in case this went badly, but I did not want to cause mass destruction by using Joarra’s ability in a crowded marketplace. Most of these people were victims as much as I was and held firmly under the thumb of the church if the grumblings that Niryln had heard were accurate.
Gaivin’s lust-generating ability was the last thing that I wanted to use in this or any other situation though. I did not want those three men lovestruck and lusting after me, nor any of the bystanders who were taking an interest in our standoff. That left me with my own limited abilities. Swordplay was not one of those yet, but keeping my blade at the ready would hopefully make my opponents overly cautious.
I almost asked Sharai to take over, she probably could have handled two guards and an unarmed priest with no problems. She probably would have done so if I had asked. I could still feel her guilt like a darkness in the back of my mind, but I knew in my heart that she would not allow her feelings to put me in danger if she could help somehow. Still, I felt the need to prove that I was adjusting and would at least try to handle such situations for myself before begging for her help. She was my guide, not my wet-nurse, so I could not go running to her every time a situation made me uncertain.
As I gripped Neva’kul tightly and considered the situation, a grin lit up my face as I looked toward the priest. He had become guarded and afraid as soon as the word magic had left his mouth and was now moving slightly behind one of the guards to use him as cover. If he wanted magic, I would show him some magic.
I focused my minds-eye and felt around for the sense of metals that I would be able to manipulate. My gift seemed more sensitive now, and much stronger, just as Sharai had promised. I had had little time to work with it since I had been trying to adjust to my new form and new abilities, but it was something that I was familiar with. Even as I sensed the metals around me, I reached out for one of the guards’ steel swords before his hesitant hand could reach the hilt and caused the blade to lurch upward, still in its sheath.
The weapon sheath reoriented itself before the guard could get the hilt of his blade in hand; the pommel and hilt jerking suddenly down and away from his reaching hand while the loosely secured sheath flew upward. The tip of the sheath managed to strike the priest moving behind the guard in the groin with enough force to make him collapse, wheezing as he clutched his manhood. As the pair of guards whirled toward their groaning companion in confusion, I summoned a large ball of my rose-hued faerie fire in my hand.
“Do not worry about him, his punishment was far less than a priest of that foul organization deserves. This is what you should be worrying about,” I told them with a manic grin as I sent the ball of pink flames flying toward them. Since it was faerie fire it would not burn or harm them, but none of them knew that.
The two guards reacted instantly, their eyes going wide as they dove aside and out of the path of the fiery projectile. The priest, who was still kneeling on the ground and trying to recover from the pain in his groin looked up at the movement and shrieked like a soprano in an opera as he had just enough time to see the ball of flame flying toward him. When it hit and I dispersed it he had his eyes closed and was still screaming as if he was actually on fire.
That was when I became aware of the sound of wingbeats and since I was keeping mine still for the moment I risked a quick glance at the source. I was just in time to see what looked like a Dragonkin land beside Nirlyn to snatch the Bard up in her arms as Nirlyn called out, “Time to go, Kaelyn!” Then the Dragonkin, a female from the brief look I got, leaped back up into the air, her large wings beating furiously as she took to the skies once more. I wasted no time in moving my own wings so that I could follow. My business in Majair was done, and I hoped to never see the place again.
We flew northwest, landing in the forest that I had left earlier that morning. By the time that I had touched down, only slightly more gracefully than my previous landing, the Dragonkin girl had released Nirlyn and they were both looking me in interest. I had dispelled my glamour while in flight since I saw no use in hiding myself. Niryln had seen right through the glamour while in the city anyway.
“Yer very strikin’. My kind can’t sense magic like ya Fae, but we can see it. I could see the magic o’ yer glamour, an’ could get a sense o’ what ya really are, but I couldn’t see what ya really look like ‘til now,” the Bard commented casually as she looked me over. Then she gestured to the Dragonkin girl who was gaping at me and added, “This is my apprentice, Vesha. I found ‘er as a hatchlin’ a few years after yer mother left us, an’ me an’ the troupe ‘ave been carin’ fer ‘er since. Vesha, this is Kaelyn.”
As she was speaking and the Dragonkin girl was staring at me, I found myself looking at Vesha with similar interest. I had never seen a Dragonkin before, but then, I had not seen any non-humans until I met Sharai. Since then, I had met Nirlyn, the Voyager/Changeling children, found out that my mother was a Voyager, and now I was meeting a Dragonkin as well.
Vesha looked to be around the same age as me and was dressed simply in boots, hose, and a thigh-length tunic, all in dull brown tones. She was pretty with a human-looking face, soft features, and plump lips but she had bright amber eyes with slit pupils, and curved black horns emerging from her temples that swept back along the sides of her head above her slightly pointed ears. The black horns were a sharp contrast to her long crimson hair and before she closed her mouth, I could see elongated canines.
She was also tall enough that I was at eye level with her chin. That was impressive since my new body was quite a bit taller than the average woman now, Niryln seemed to be of average height if you did not count the catlike ears atop her head, and the tips of those were just below eye level for me. And since Vesha had seemed to have very little trouble carrying Nirlyn, I assumed that the Dragonkin was as strong as she was big.
She certainly had the muscle tone under that lightly tanned skin of hers, at least from what I could see of her bare arms. I could see that she had curves too from the way that the tunic was belted tightly at her slim waist but seemed to strain the fabric in both her chest and hips. Her long crimson-scaled tail and the matching large draconian wings probably made it difficult to find clothing that fit comfortably though. I saw those same crimson scales along the sides of her neck, the back of her hands, and the outer parts of her arms as well and I found myself wondering just how far they went.
We both stared at one another for a long moment until Vesha managed to compose herself. With a smile that set my stomach fluttering more than my wings ever could, she said, “It’s nice to meet you, Kaelyn.” Her voice was husky, soft, and slightly deeper than I was expecting with a slight rumble to it.
What was this strange feeling? I felt warm, my knees were weak, and the words lodged themselves in my throat for a moment before I managed to reply nervously, “Umm... you as well, Apprentice Vesha.” I took a deep breath to try to calm my racing heart and turned back to Nirlyn to ask the Ravieri, “You said something about taking me to your camp?”
Nirlyn nodded and replied, “Aye, we’ll need t’ wait ‘til dark though, lass. Too much risk that people might‘ve seen which direction we flew off in. That’s why we flew ‘ere, t’ lead ‘em in the wrong direction. ’Til then, we can walk an’ talk.”
We did not walk in any specific direction, merely wandering the natural paths of the forest. As for the talking, Nirlyn and I did most of that, though Vesha did contribute her opinions occasionally. Each time that she did, I found my eyes being drawn to her and my heart seemed to quicken.
I was still unsure whether I could trust Nirlyn or the troupe she spoke of and she seemed to sense that so she started by telling me about my mother and their relationship. As she had mentioned before, the troupe that she was traveling with was the one that my mother was born to. They had met when the troupe came across Nirlyn as a young adolescent, injured at the side of the road with no memory of her past. Like they had later with Vesha, the troupe took Nirlyn in as a foundling and raised her as one of their own. Apparently, troupes of Voyagers raise children communally so she was treated as any other child of the troupe and she and my mother bonded over a shared interest in music.
A couple of years after they found Nirlyn, the troupe met a traveling Master Bard named Orrus Silvertongue. He saw potential in my mother and Nirlyn and took them on as apprentices at a time when a lot of Guilds, including the Bardic Guild, were against recruiting females, non-humans, or Voyagers. Even though Voyagers could pass as human well enough, there was a lot of stigma about “Gypsy filth” among the Guilds back then.
His decision to take on a Voyager and an obvious non-human, and girls at that, was not a popular one. It took Niryln and my mother twice as long as any other apprentice to be allowed to take the Journeyman exams and they had to work five times as hard as any other apprentices to prove themselves. They did it though, despite all of their detractors, and now the Bardic Guild and several others were starting to take on apprentices by skill and talent rather than race and gender.
She told me other things too, things about my mother that I never knew, and offered to show me all of my mother’s letters when we got to their camp. She had kept them all and had practically memorized them. She told me that the early ones were mostly about my mother’s life in Greendell and there was a lot about me after I was born as well, but the later ones started to include more and more about the threat of the Church of One to those with magic.
After my mother’s last letter and hearing that the Bard passing through had not been able to find us, Nirlyn and the rest of the troupe had become worried and attempted to find us both physically and with whatever magic they could, but they could not find any trace of myself or my mother with scrying magic. They figured that my mother was probably dead because of that but they had nothing connected to me to properly scry with so they held out hope and kept trying to find me or some information about what happened to us.
Then one of the troupe elders, Tanna, predicted that they would find what they sought if Nirlyn was in a certain city on a certain day and in front of a certain shop. The troupe changed their route to take them to the main Bardic Guildhall in Derevik so that Nirlyn could make an appeal to look into the disappearances in Evalis. Then they stayed long enough for her to convince the Guild Council of the need and then to allow her to take her Master’s exam and lead the investigation.
She even answered my questions about the Voyagers. They, and by extension me, were indeed Changelings, though they had not called themselves that since the Demons were defeated after the fall of the Ancient Ones. The Changelings had been nearly wiped out and since hostility had increased between Fae and humans and they could pass as humans if they were careful they decided to reinvent themselves, something that was a common enough concept among their kind. Except they reinvented their culture to appear as secretive and mysterious wanderers so that they could travel the continent freely and watch for signs that the Demons might return.
Finally, she finished with a sigh as the sun was near setting. “They didn’t change who they were at their core though; they still worship Hespira, they still care fer the land, they still ‘old grudges like nobody’s business, an’ they still enjoy a good bit o’ mischief like what ya pulled on the guards an’ that priest. Yer mother would ‘ave been proud, lass.”
I looked down at my feet and took a deep breath. “I guess it is my turn then. My mother and father were murdered by a man from the Church of One. But that is not all. The Demons are back, the church is worshiping their god, they’re corrupting and possessing those that they can, and persecuting the Touched and those who still follow the old ways. They wiped out an entire troupe of Fae in the forest outside Greendell.”
Since I had gotten the ball rolling, I told them everything. Nirlyn’s face shifted from sad to furious and then to sympathetic as I told her about watching the man murder my parents, how I had been living for the past five years, my encounter with Sharai, and everything that had happened since. I finished by telling them that I was on my way to Tarin’dol to warn them about the Demons’ return.
The Ravieri Bard and her apprentice needed a few minutes to process everything that I told them but I knew exactly how they felt after receiving so much information about who and what my mother was, and what I am, not long before. While they sat there thinking I focused my thoughts on my spirit guide. “Sharai, please do not blame yourself for me changing as I have. You could not have known that I was a Changeling or that your blood would have that effect. You thought that they were wiped out. Besides, I like my new form and I like having you with me. I am not angry with you. So please, stop hiding and be my partner again. We have a long journey ahead and you still have much to teach me.”
-I… are you certain, Kaelyn?- the Faerie spirit asked tentatively.
“Yes, we are partners, Sharai. I need you if we are going to bring down the church and the Demons,” I told her with all seriousness. “And I think I would miss you if you continue to shut me out.”
I was about to say more to try to convince her but I could feel her acceptance and maybe a little affection in my mind. That was also when Nirlyn spoke up again. “Yer right, lass. Tarin’dol needs to be told ‘bout this. I’ll talk t’ the elders ‘bout us takin’ ya there. We will need t’ go t’ Derevik first though.”
As much as the idea of not having to make such a journey by myself appealed to me I asked, “Why Derevik?”
“I need t’ report t’ the Guild Council, lass,” the Master Bard replied. “The guild needs t’ be told ‘bout this an’ what happened t’ Kalara, an’ likely our other Bards as well. I’ll need ya t’ act as a witness. They can then spread the word t’ others who need t’ know as we make our way to Tarin’dol. I also need t’ inform the guild o’ my new apprentice.”
I looked toward Vesha but the Dragonkin seemed as confused as I was. I realized that I was staring again and flushed as I quickly tore my eyes away to direct my gaze back to Nirlyn. “New apprentice?”
“Aye. Kaelyn Bladebearer, I am askin’ ya t’ join the Bardic Guild, as my apprentice,” she said formally. “Kalara taught ya well, ya inherited ‘er talent, an’ any fool can see ‘ow much ya love music.”
I could barely make myself say the words, “I cannot. I need to learn how to use this sword and I should learn more about magic as well if I am going to be fighting Demons.”
-You should do it, Kaelyn,- Sharai encouraged. -I will still teach you swordplay and we can find someone to teach you magic, I am certain that some of the Changelings in the troupe that she mentioned would know some. I can feel your longing when you think about music though. If this is what you truly want then I will help you, as your partner.-
“I didn’t say it’d be easy, lass. It’ll be hard work but it’ll be worth it too. Ya can set aside time t’ learn to use the sword an’ yer new abilities. Yer already a fair musician from what I’ve seen, better’n many yer age. As fer magic, I can teach ya that well ‘nough,” the Ravieri said with a hearty laugh, completely unaware of Sharai’s encouragement.
I should have realized she would know some magic since my mother had told me that Ravieri were nearly as talented with it as the Fae but I had yet to see her use any. “But if you know magic, why did I have to distract those guards?”
“I was testin’ ya, lass, seein’ if ya were yer mother’s daughter after all,” she responded with a shrug as she pulled aside her cloak to reveal her harp brooch. “Consider this yer first lesson as my apprentice. Copper harps are fer apprentices, silver fer Journeymen, an’ gold fer Masters. Only the Master pins ‘ave gems though, an’ they represent the different areas o’ mastery. The emerald on mine means vocal mastery, the sapphire means that I’ve mastered at least five instruments, but the amethyst is new. Since I’m the first non-human Master Bard, an’ humans usually can’t use magic, there’s been no need fer it ‘til now. It means I’m a spellsinger.”
I turned my attention back to Vesha, worried that she might be jealous that her master was so interested in taking me as an apprentice. It would take attention and teaching away from her and for some reason the thought of her resenting or hating me hurt far more than it should have for someone that I had only just met. To my surprise though, the Dragonkin was smiling wide enough to show off her long canines. My heart skipped a beat and I almost failed to notice the sense of familiar dark magic heading toward us from the direction of the city. “A Demon is on its way,” I near whispered as I tried to suppress a shudder.
“We’d best get goin’ then,” Nirlyn half-growled. “Much as I’d like t’ stay an’ give it what it’s got comin’, we don’t know who or what it might be bringin’ with it. They could ‘ave soldiers since they ‘ave the King’s ear. I’ll not endanger ya girl’s by fightin’ at a disadvantage. Let’s get back t’ camp so we can pull up stakes an’ get out o’ this cursed country. We got what we came fer.”
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We were very careful to fly around the capital and to avoid the Demon and any other possible searchers who may have been sent by the Church of One as we flew southward to where the troupe had made camp. I could sense the magic well before we came close to the camp and wondered, “Is that them?”
-Most likely,- Sharai stated in reply to my errant thought. -They have set up a temporary Seeming. It will keep most mortals from sensing their presence and encourage them to ignore anything that seems out of place. Only Fae or other magical beings can sense them like that. I believe that the Demons should not be able to sense it unless they are very close. They did not sense my glamour until I was inside their Church and the cold iron there dispelled it.-
“But how did they find your troupe then?” I asked as I saw the glow of a large campfire in the distance.
I could feel the stab of pain and loss in her thoughts as my spirit guide responded. -One of them likely came upon our Seeming by chance while scouting the forest and returned to their lair to gather others of their ilk. Our village did not move as Voyager caravans do so they merely needed to lead their cohorts back there. It is the only sensible explanation for such a large and organized attack. There were enough of them to wipe out my troupe and they had weapons of cold iron.-
I did not know what else to say and tried to send her comforting thoughts as I followed the Dragonkin who was carrying Nirlyn to land in the center of a circle of eight large wagons painted in bright colors. A few young men with swords or spears patrolled outside the wagons where dozens of large white creatures grazed, and at the center of the camp was a large bonfire with close to two dozen people relaxing and talking in small groups as they ate their evening meal and soaked in the warmth of the fire. To my eyes, most, if not all of them, looked like Voyagers, very similar to how I once looked with their dark hair and dusky skin.
Except for the six children that I had seen in the city earlier and two adolescents, all of them seemed to be adults, though none showed a trace of gray in their dark hair. I supposed that made sense though. My mother was still very youthful-looking and I recalled people complimenting her on how good she looked for her age and trying to learn her secret.
Now that I knew that she had been a Voyager and that the Voyagers were Fae, I realized that any secrets she had told them likely would not have done them much good long-term. The Fae are immortal unless someone manages to slay one of them… us. Sharai told me that, like other Fae, I could expect to stop aging completely once I reached full maturity. The idea of that was going to take some getting used to.
Vesha glided downward in tight circles and then, once she was roughly a grown man’s height off of the ground, she pulled in her wings and allowed herself to drop the remaining distance. She bent her knees with the landing before placing her Master gently on the ground. I carefully touched down beside her and took an uncertain look around. People were staring and I heard the word ‘Faerie’ whispered here and there before Nirlyn suddenly stood up from where she had stopped to offer the promised bag of sweets to the children and took charge.
“I got good news an’ bad news, folks,” she started with a grim expression and serious tone. “Good news is that I found Kalara’s daughter. The bad news is that things ‘ere are worse than we thought.” The Master Bard told them everything that I had told her, not even sparing the children’s ears. She told them about my parents’ murder, the Demons' return under the guise of the Church of One, everything that had happened to me, and how I had become a Faerie and the bearer of one of the five Vos’oraik.
As she explained things to the troupe, small platters of food were given to Niryln, Vesha, and me, and Nirlyn paused occasionally to eat as she talked. From the hurried way that she did so, it appeared that she wanted things done quickly so we could get on the road. The food was good but I was a little too distracted to appreciate it since the more that Nirlyn revealed, the more that those gathered took an obvious interest in me.
After that, there was a brief discussion on what to do. Brief because people seemed to agree with Niryln that we needed to take me to the Bardic Guild headquarters, and home of the Guild Council, in Derevik to report about everything that I had told the Ravieri Bard about. After the Bardic Guild knew and could send out Bards to circulate information to other nations and guilds, then we would make our way to Tarin’dol to warn the Fae there and hopefully find the four other bearers of the Vos’oraik.
During that discussion, she also split the gold that the children had managed to heist, giving an even share to each wagon. To my great surprise, she had split the share for her own wagon three ways and I had gotten a share as well as she and Vesha. I had tried to object, but she had sternly told me that I was one of the troupe too, and old enough to use it wisely.
With the discussion over, the camp became a flurry of activity as the gear was packed and secured in wagons. We weren’t excluded from this as Niryln half-dragged me to a bright blue and gold wagon. It had a bench and some sort of rigging and harness that looked like it was meant for animals to pull it. I had seen large animals that I had trouble identifying grazing just outside the circle of wagons, so they here probably the beasts of burden.
The wagon was large, half again wider than I was tall, and three times that in length. The wheels were large and looked to be made of ironwood so they were probably durable as well. All in all, it was like a small cottage on wheels, mostly made of wood, with a shuttered window on each side and a slightly curved roof of wooden shingles that had a metal chimney of sorts sticking out of it near the end with the door. I wanted to think of the end with the door as the front but since it was on the opposite side of the harness and driver’s bench, it was probably actually the rear of the vehicle. There was a small door behind the driver’s bench as well though and expensive oil lanterns hung on each outer corner of the wagon.
Nirlyn had me place my few belongings inside while she and Vesha did the same. It was as spacious as the outside indicated and the ceiling was high enough that I had to stand on my toes to reach it with my fingertips. Since Nirlyn had been spending most of her time in the city and Vesha had been there as well while keeping to the rooftops and listening for her Master’s call, most of their things were already stowed away. With that in mind, we just had to worry about my things and what Nirlyn had taken with her into the city. As a result, it did not take us long to finish once Nirlyn had assigned me an empty cupboard to place my belongings in. Not knowing what else to do, I looked in interest around the interior of the wagon.
Seeing my curious gaze wandering around the wagon, Vesha decided to give me a tour and explain some things while we waited to get underway and Nirlyn went to go help someone named Joak and his son gather the beasts to secure them into the wagon harnesses. “Let me show you where everything is,” she said with a smile that did funny things to my heart and made my knees go weak. What was wrong with me anyway?
She started the ‘tour’ by taking me to the small door in front that led to the driver’s bench, telling me that it would let us change drivers while underway so that we could all properly rest on longer trips. Then she gestured to the walls to either side just back of the door where she pointed out two handles. I thought might be for cupboards since they were near the four small closet-like cupboards where we had stowed our gear but one was really high on the wall and the other was about halfway down.
The Dragonkin girl reached for the upper one and pulled downward to swing out a comfortable-sized cot with a mattress stuffed as thick as my hand was long with rushes, and covered with warm-looking comforters that had been folded before but became disheveled when she pulled the hidden bed from its cubby. “These are the bunks; there are two on each side so you’ll have somewhere to sleep. Master Nirlyn and I usually use the bottom bunks on either side so you’ll have to use one of the top ones. You can sleep above me if you like. You’ve already seen the storage cupboards, of course.”
“That certainly saves space,” I murmured thoughtfully, my face reddening for some reason at the thought of sleeping in such close proximity to her.
Vesha smiled and nodded in agreement, as she led me to the rear half of the wagon and gestured to other cupboards that filled the wall space to either side of the middle third of the wagon’s length. “We usually store food and supplies in these ones; it’s handy in case we need to travel without the rest of the troupe for some reason.”
Behind the cupboards and toward the rear of the wagon was a counter on one side that looked to be for preparing meals, with cupboards underneath holding pots, pans, and other cooking implements. Between it and the rear wall, there was a door that I thought might be more cupboard space at first but I was shocked to find that it was a small privy. I found out later that it emptied into a bronze chamber pot that could be retrieved from a cubby on the underside of the rear of the wagon to be emptied.
On the other side of the rear third of the wagon was a bronze basin with some sort of small water pump over it and a tray of rough soap beside it to wash up or to fill kettles or pots for cooking. The basin also had a cork plugging a pipe at the bottom that when removed would drain the water outside when you were finished with it. Vesha showed me the bronze water reservoir in a cupboard underneath the basin and beside the basin was something that resembled a wood stove. It was so interesting, there were thin metal trays that could be pulled out and filled with coal or other fuel just beneath the steel grate on the top.
I supposed that the trays would allow people to cook using pots and pans while regulating the heat better than using the residual heat of the metal of the stove itself. The inside did use wood for fuel though, to both provide heat for the wagon and allow baking in a small oven compartment above where the wood was placed in the very bottom. “This is so inventive,” I commented with a smile.
“The Voyagers have been doing this since the fall of the Ancient Ones. They have come up with some ingenious ways to make travel more comfortable,” Vesha agreed with a nod. “The ride is a lot smoother than you would think too. They use something called suspension to keep the wagons from bouncing or shaking too much.”
I looked around thoughtfully as something occurred to me. “How can they afford such luxuries? The basin and such are bronze but that stove is steel, those were oil lamps outside, and the wheels are ironwood. Surely picking pockets is not that profitable?” I could see why they had to use steel for the stove, cold iron would have been deadly for our kind, but good steel with all traces of cold iron smelted out of it was expensive.
“We,” the Dragonkin corrected as she placed a hand gently on my shoulder and caused my breath to quicken in response. “Everyone contributes to the troupe by doing what they do best and everyone shares in what we earn. Sometimes things might be lean for the Bards and dancers and sometimes we might get more than enough so we can help those who are having a lean time. The little ones have light fingers and aren’t learning a trade yet so they’re doing what they can by lifting a purse or two from those what can afford it. We busk the streets and play for those willing to pay well for a bit of music, Wilden offers his services as a Healer and apothecary, and Godan, our wagonmaster, often makes wagons like this for wealthy merchants while we winter in the south.”
It was not long after that explanation that Nirlyn returned. “We’re almost ready t’ leave; Joak an’ Sten are gettin’ the last o’ the kirgens in the harnesses now. I imagine that Kaelyn ‘ere has never driven a wagon afore so I want ya t’ show ‘er the ropes, Vesha. Ya can also tell ‘er ‘bout ‘er duties as my apprentice, an’ my duties t’ her.”
I almost said that I had not agreed to anything yet but there was no harm in seeing where this went. I had until we arrived at the Bardic Guild headquarters in Derevik to change my mind after all. “Of course, Master. I’d be happy to. It’ll be a good way for me and Kaelyn to get to know one another better,” the Dragonkin agreed with a toothsome grin.
I had little time to say anything myself then as Vesha half-dragged me toward the small door at the front of the wagon and through. After getting out herself, she helped me to navigate my way into the driver’s seat beside her and behind two of the biggest animals that I had ever seen up close. They had the muscle and bulk of oxen but were easily twice the size of any ox that I had seen before. They had short stubby tails, were covered in luxuriously thick white wool, and their heads were vaguely like a ram’s, especially those massive spiraling horns.
“Nirlyn called these kirgen?” I asked as I gaped at the rears of the pair of unfamiliar beasts.
“Yes,” Vesha confirmed as she giggled at the look on my face. “Most Voyager wagons like this use teams of six horses but Joak got a good deal on some kirgen about four years ago when we met a Ravieri trader, and he’s been raising and breeding them since. The Ravieri use them for a lot of things. One pair is enough to pull a wagon like this, they aren’t scared of anything, and Zenna weaves cloth from their wool for clothing. We have some females too but they don’t pull the wagons, we mostly keep them for breeding and their milk. We have a herd of around thirty kirgen now but the females should be near birthing season soon.”
“It sounds like you have more kirgens than people in this troupe,” I said, hoping to lead her into telling more about the troupe.
“Yes, including you, there are only twenty-five of us in this troupe,” she replied with a smile that told me she knew exactly what I had been trying to do. “Usually, when a troupe gets over seventy or eighty people some break off to form their own new troupe. Our old troupe was getting too big and since some of us wanted to keep searching for signs of you or your mother when Master Nirlyn lost contact with her, those of us who wanted to do that broke off to form our own troupe.”
“How do you all know my mother?” I asked uncertainly.
The Dragonkin looked thoughtful for a moment before answering. “Well, obviously I didn’t, and you know about Master Nirlyn. Our troupe elders are actually your grandparents, Lorne and Vaela. Bryden is your uncle, and he of course brought his wife and their daughter, Shava. She was the oldest of the children who came into the city to pick some pockets. The others were close friends and troupe-mates of your mother, and their spouses and children.”
For a moment, I was too stunned to say anything. I knew that the troupe seemed to care about my mother but I had not considered that I might have actual family among them. That adept little thief was my cousin? I found myself just staring blankly at the rear end of a kirgen as I tried to process that. Sharai didn’t help matters when her voice slipped into my thoughts. -That settles it. We will travel with them and you will accept the apprenticeship that Nirlyn offered, Kaelyn.-
“Do I not get a choice in the matter?” I thought back as I worried my lip in thought.
-You and I both know that you want this, Kaelyn. This is your troupe; you have family here and a chance to follow a dream that is dear to your heart. What reason is there to refuse when not only do our goals align, but they will also accompany us to Tarin’dol, making our journey safer? I will not allow you to give it up out of a sense of duty to me when they can help us as well as give you what you long for.-
I was surprised when Vesha took my hand in hers and asked, “Are you alright?” Her hand was warmer than I had expected, and butterflies danced in my chest as I saw the warmth and concern in her eyes as she continued to embrace my hand with her own.
“I… uhh…” I tried to answer breathlessly.
“We are ready to start moving,” an unfamiliar woman’s voice said from the darkness beyond the light cast by the wagon’s lanterns. A woman and a man were approaching, the elders that had been holding up most of the discussion of plans with Nirlyn earlier. My grandparents. They looked not much older than me but they had this air of experience and wisdom to them and their eyes were misty as they seemed to look at me longer than was necessary Then my grandmother smiled and said, “We will introduce you to everyone on the road, Kaelyn. We do not wish to overstay our welcome in Evalis so we should move swiftly. Your wagon will be following ours, Vesha.”
I nodded, unable to speak and uncertain of what else to do. Then, after we took one last long look at one another, my grandparents turned and left. Vesha was still holding my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before letting go to take the reins. Moments later the caravan was on our way out of the secluded forest glade and making our way toward the road that would take us southward and away from the capital of Evalis.
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For the next little while, Vesha told me everything that she knew about the kirgens and driving a wagon while I watched and listened carefully. Then, she had me get some practical experience by taking the reins myself. It was a new experience for me since I did not have much experience working with animals. Since we were following behind the wagon in front of us though, and the kirgens were more experienced than I was in this, I did not have to do all that much and it was an easy way to get some experience in the driver’s seat.
It also allowed me to get used to driving while being distracted, in a not-so-dangerous way. The Kirgens pulling the wagon knew to follow the wagon ahead of us, so I only needed to make sure that they were giving the wagon ahead of us enough space in case we needed to stop and that they did not drift off course. The distraction was in the form of the Dragonkin girl sitting beside me. I often found myself taking quick glances in her direction as she talked to me and every time that I did, my heart fluttered for some inexplicable reason.
Maybe it was because I had never seen a Dragonkin before, but I quickly dismissed that thought. I had never seen a Ravieri before either, and Nirlyn was not eliciting this type of reaction. I tried to put it out of my mind and focus on what Vesha was saying. “…usually don’t travel at night, but we’re trying to put as much space between us and the Demons in the capital as we can. Kirgens have a lot more stamina than horses and can keep up a grueling pace for a lot longer, but it’s still going to be at least a good three or four days before we reach the Kalidar border. I imagine that we’ll only be stopping long enough to rest ourselves and the kirgens for a while before moving on, at least until we reach the border.”
“We are going through Kalidar? I thought that we needed to go to… umm… Derevik?” I asked, turning toward her and making my heart flutter nervously once again.
Vesha nodded and then explained, “Evalis is a big country, the biggest on the continent, and the closest border to us is the one shared with Kalidar. That route has the best road too. Once we get to Kalidar we should be safe enough to travel as usual and then we’ll turn east and pass through Nalean to get to Haydin. Derevik is Haydin’s capital, on the coast of the Sea of Storms. Once we’ve finished our business there, we’ll make our way back to Kalidar and toward the city-state of Zhahimel at the northern edge of the Skyreach Mountains. Then we’ll have to convince them to let us through the gates to the pass and the Fellwoods beyond.”
-That should not be difficult,- Sharai told me. -Many of the Daughters of Zhahime are Fae or the children of Fae. The current High Priestess is an Elf. You are obviously a Faerie and if one of your troupe can demonstrate their shapeshifting ability to show that your people are the lost Changelings, she will surely allow the caravan to pass through the gates.-
I quickly passed that on to Vesha and she nodded thoughtfully. “That is a possibility. We’ll have to mention it to Master Nirlyn. Speaking of Master Nirlyn, we should talk about your apprenticeship, Kaelyn.”
With that, the Dragonkin began to tell me what my apprenticeship to Nirlyn would entail. Basically, my duties were to listen and learn, practice what I was taught, and do any tasks that she asked of me, within reason. Nirlyn on the other hand was to provide her apprentices with shelter and food, to teach us to the best of her abilities, to protect us, and to help us to pursue our talents and goals within and outside of our craft as she thought necessary for our development.
The caravan kept moving until dawn lit the sky and we found a small clearing to set up a quick camp to let the kirgens graze and rest while the troupe got a bit of sleep. It wasn’t a proper camp since we would be taking off again as soon as everyone was awake, but my grandmother did set up a Seeming to keep us from being noticed. I was stretching my legs a bit after the long ride when Nirlyn decided that I needed to meet everyone in the troupe officially before we all went for a short sleep.
First, she took us to where a man, a woman, and a boy of roughly fourteen summers were tending to the kirgens. I almost didn’t see them in the herd of massive white beasts until we were nearly upon them. The man was larger and more muscular than most of the Voyagers I had seen in the camp, and he looked up at our approach and nodded. “Bringin’ Kalara’s daughter to meet everyone, Nirlyn?”
“Aye, seemed like a good time, afore we’re all in dreamland,” the Master Bard agreed with a nod. “This is Kaelyn, as ya might’ve guessed. Kaelyn, this is Joak; his wife, Glimma; an’ their son, Sten. Joak is our Beastmaster, an’ Glimma and Sten ‘elp ‘im with the animals.”
“It is nice to meet you all,” I offered, shuffling my feet nervously.
“Welcome home,” Sten offered with a friendly grin. Like his father, he was probably going to be big when fully grown and he wore a similar style of black leather vest, pants, and boots as his father with a dark green tunic underneath, a brightly colored sash about his waist, and a headscarf to match the sash. It seemed to be what most of the men of the troupe wore, though the color of tunics, sashes, and scarves varied.
“Aye, welcome home, lass,” Joak agreed with a grin that matched his son’s. “I’m glad we finally found you. Bryden and I are spirit brothers, and your mother was like a little sister to me, Nirlyn too once we found her.”
“You take care of the kirgens right? That must be a lot of work,” I said as I looked around at the three dozen or so massive white beasts of burden.
“It’s a labor of love, lass. The kirgens are fine strong beasts, and as smart and loyal as a good horse if you treat them right. To be fair, Sten and I take care of the kirgens, Glimma is our Owl-keeper.”
“Owl-keeper?” I asked with a look at Glimma. She was very pretty in the way of most Voyagers with dusky unblemished skin, bright near-amber eyes, a curvy but slight figure, and long wavy black hair tied back with a bright gold scarf that matched the hoops she wore in her ears. She was dressed much like the other adult women of the troupe with a tight leather bodice with an inner lining that looked soft like silk. She wore no chemise underneath, so it left her shoulders bare and a rainbow of brightly colored ribbons were woven around her bare arms before being tied in a series of bows around her wrists. Plain sandals peeked out from beneath the hem of an ankle-length skirt that was dyed in a rainbow of colorful patterns.
Vesha had told me that she and Nirlyn usually dressed similarly. Niryln had toned it down while in Majair though since she did not want the king or the Church of One to know of her connection to a Voyager troupe. The only sign of her allegiance to the troupe was the colorful ribbons that she had tied off her braids with and it was not exactly an obvious one. Vesha had chosen simple clothes that would allow her to blend in atop the buildings and that she would not care about getting damaged or dirty.
“Aye,” Glimma said with a gentle smile. “We Voyagers use owls for many purposes. We train them to carry messages to drop points in various cities, to search for injured or sickly animals that we can put out of their misery rather than hunting healthy ones, and to keep watch at night and wake us by ringing the bell if danger approaches too close to the Seeming. After breakfast, come to our wagon and I’ll introduce you to our flock. We just had some hatch the other day.”
“We could use owls to send a message to Derevik,” Nirlyn explained, “but this is the kind o’ news that needs to be delivered directly to the Council. We’ll be sendin’ a message lettin’ them know that we found ya an’ are on our way to Derevik though.”
Next, we went on to meet Daivin and his family. Daivin had become an apprentice Bard not long after my mother and Nirlyn, and they used to practice together. He was not a Voyager himself, but he had met his future wife, who was, through my mother and Nirlyn. He was a human man in his mid to late thirties with long dark blond hair and hazel eyes but if it were not for that, you would have thought he was born a Voyager from the way he talked and dressed.
You could tell from looking that he and his wife, Selice, were very much in love and they had two children together, Torin and Korine. Like me, before my transformation, they were half-bloods who took after the Voyager side of the family in appearance. Torin had been one of the boys picking pockets in the city along with the other pre-teen kids. Korine was fifteen though, and her father’s apprentice, so she would probably be practicing with Vesha and me often.
Then, Nirlyn took me to meet our Wagonmaster, Godan, and his family. He was a jovial man who promised to have many stories about my mother as a child. His wife, Zenna, was a kind and outgoing woman who was the seamstress for our troupe. She wove cloth from kirgen wool, dyed it, and made many of the clothes for our troupe that did not require leatherwork. She also wanted me to stop in and visit with her so she could measure me to make me some proper clothes for a Voyager.
The friendly couple had a pair of six-year-old twins, Kegan and Kirla. Those two were a bundle of energy, as I had borne witness to during their picking of pockets in the capital. They were also very outspoken as Kirla proved by asking, “Mama says you’re like us, why haven’t you changed back yet?”
I winced at the feeling of guilt that seemed to bring up in Sharai. I was trying to think of an explanation when Nirlyn squatted down to pat her on the head. “She used a permanent shift, l’il one. She’s like that fer good now, though she can use glamours now to make ‘erself look different. ‘Tis the price fer gaining the abilities an’ form she has now.” She turned to me and then explained further, “Physically, yer a Faerie now, ya gave up yer shiftin’ abilities when ya made a permanent shift. Technically yer still a Changeling though, so it’s a toss-up what yer kids’ll be like.”
I was still trying to reassure Sharai that I did not blame her and that I liked my new form when we made our way to the wagon of Wilden, the troupe Healer. He was a quiet man for the most part and seemed knowledgeable on herb lore and various other healing methods. He had a healing gift, like my father had, though it was not very powerful. Nirlyn told me that most Voyagers have fairly weak gifts, but our shapeshifting is near limitless as long we have some piece of a creature to work with.
Maybe that was why my gift became so much more powerful when I shifted into a Faerie. I only knew of Sharai and the two other Faerie that had wielded Neva’kul, Tamisun and Joarra. All three of them seemed to have powerful gifts compared to what mine had been like before changing, so maybe Faerie just had more powerful gifts in general.
Wilden’s wife was Tanna, the Seer who had predicted where and when Nirlyn would find me. I thought that Seeing was a fairly impressive gift, but it wasn’t something that she could control consciously, and her visions only came rarely. She mostly helped Wilden with his work by gathering herbs and other necessary ingredients found in the wild for his craft. They had an eight-year-old daughter, Jaya, who wanted to be a Healer like her father, though her parents thought that might change when she reached puberty and her gift manifested. As we walked to the next tent, I wondered though why gifts manifested at puberty but even the children could shapeshift once they had been taught how.
Sharai provided the answer, and I was glad that it was able to distract her a bit from her guilt. -The racial abilities that most Fae possess, and the ability to detect magic, are present at birth. Most are taught to use them as children. You did not know that you could shapeshift and your ability to sense magic was very weak before, though it may have strengthened when your gift manifested. Half Fae are unpredictable that way. Gifts are granted to us by Hespira though. We believe that She has a plan for each of us and some of us, like you, may need strong and unusual gifts. Some may need no gifts at all aside from the abilities of their species, though it is extremely rare that a Fae is born with no gift at all.-
“Thank you, Sharai,” I thought to her as we arrived with Nirlyn outside another wagon, this one belonging to Hagen and Mara. The pair acted as scouts and hunters for the troupe and had a five-year-old daughter, Cylia, who was the youngest of the children in the troupe. Mara practically crushed me in a hug when we were introduced and Cylia looked at me in awe, especially my wings.
It seemed that Mara had fond memories of Nirlyn and my mother singing and playing for her and the other children when she was a child and saw them as big sister figures. She had never had the talent or drive to join the Bardic Guild herself, but some of her happiest memories were those spent with my mother and my new Master. I was told that if I needed help with anything at all to come to see ‘big sis Mara’.
I did have one question for her. I thought that the Fae did not hunt, so I was wondering about that. She explained that they usually tried to go after injured or sickly animals but that they also looked for signs of any imbalance in the ecosystem that we were traveling through. Sometimes, if there were not enough predators there could be too much prey, all competing for the same food, and some would starve as a result if it was not taken care of. The same went for predators; they could wipe out the local prey and end up starving. Mara’s gift was actually sensing what type of wildlife was in the area, which was very helpful.
They always said a prayer to Hespira over the animals they killed and tried to make the kill quick and painless. They also used everything that could be used from the animal’s corpse. Hagen was a tanner of sorts and prepared the furs and leather for the use of the troupe or for trade. Sharai seemed thoughtful at Mara’s explanation, but she did not seem to disapprove, as I had feared that she might.
There were only two wagons that we had not visited yet, that of my grandparents and my mother’s brother, Bryden, and his family. Nirlyn took me to the latter first and did not seem surprised to find the troupe Elders there waiting along with their son and his family. My uncle looked a lot like my mother, even with the similarities in coloring that all Voyagers seemed to share, though that was not surprising. Seeing the three of them, I could see the family resemblance and their resemblance to my mother. Even though the skin tone and general coloring were different, my new face still bore some familial similarity to one or the other of my grandparents in things like the shape of the eyes, the high cheekbones, and the delicate nose.
As soon as we approached the wagon my uncle Bryden and his wife, Sivelle, both wrapped me up in a tight hug. It was getting less awkward and more welcome as I began to think of these people less as strangers and more like a family that I had not met until now. “Thank Hespira that we found you,” my uncle said with a choking breath. “You look like your mother, even with those Faerie features.”
They had barely released me when my grandparents had to get their embraces in as well. “You’re here now, Kaelyn. You’re with family and we’re going to take good care of you. Kalara would have wanted that,” my grandmother Vaela, spoke soothingly in my ear.
“Aye, an’ she’d want us to make sure that the bastards that killed her paid in blood too,” my grandfather agreed. “We’ll get this news to the Bardic Guild and the Fae in Tarin’dol, and then we’ll make those Demons wish they’d never returned. And this time, we’ll be sure to make certain there’s nothing left to remember the cursed God that they serve.”
-They are definitely Fae,- Sharai said with a tone somewhere between amused and angry. -We shall get the sweetest of vengeance together. I owe them for my death and the death of my troupe too.-
I passed that on to the family gathered around me once my cousin claimed her hug as well and every one of their faces clouded over with cold fury, even my cousin Shava who was only ten. “Aye, we’ll get vengeance for Sharai and her troupe as well, mark my words,” Sivelle vowed with steely determination. I found out later that Sivelle’s father was an Elf and she and her mother had lived with her father in a village outpost much like Sharai’s during the winters before she had met and married my uncle. It did explain why her ears were slightly longer and more pointed than most Voyagers.
“Aye, but we’ll ‘ave to wait patiently fer that, an’ find out what we’re up ‘gainst,” Nirlyn muttered, her tail and ears twitching anxiously. “Vengeance well-planned is vengeance well-earned. Best we get a good rest, we should be movin’ again soon, an’ each mornin’ we wake gets us closer to our goals.”
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Despite how tired I was, it took me a while to fall asleep. It was not because I was sleeping in a strange wagon with people that I barely knew, nor did the thoughts of my very long and very strange day keep me awake. No, it was my bed. It was comfortable, far more comfortable than anywhere else that I had slept since my parents’ murders, and that was the problem. I was too used to sleeping on hard-packed earth and sleeping in comfort was relatively new to me.
Surprisingly, even though I fell asleep after Nirlyn and Vesha, I was the first of us to wake up. It was not because I had not slept well, I felt fully rested and the comfort of my cot had been welcome once I got used to the idea of not sleeping on the ground with one eye open. As I was mulling the answer while silently getting dressed to not wake anyone, the answer came to me. Or rather, Sharai gave it to me.
-The Fae require less sleep than most of the other races of Esmere,- my spirit guide explained as I padded silently toward the door of the wagon. -Your body was half-human before so you likely required as much sleep as your Human father, but now that you are a Faery, you will find yourself needing roughly half that.-
With that newly acquired information, it was no surprise to see that most of the troupe was already awake. Most seemed to be preparing a morning meal or going about other chores so that the caravan could leave as soon as the few non-Fae or half-Fae among us woke and ate. Since I did not know what I could do to help and I did not want to be in the way, I found a spot that the kirgens had already grazed clean of grass and allowed Sharai to take control so we could do my daily sword training.
As we did before going into Majair, we ran through the various key motions repeatedly and then Sharai guided our body through the first dance as I attempted to absorb it all. It was as she smoothly returned Neva’kul to its sheath that a voice said, “Whoa, that was beautiful. I wanna learn to use a sword like that. Can you teach me, cousin?”
Sharai turned our body and we were greeted with the sight of my cousin, Shava, leaning against one of the wagons as she gaped at us in awe. “Child, I am not Kaelyn. I am merely using her body to teach her how to properly wield a sword. I am Sharai, the spirit bound to Kaelyn and the blade that she bears,” the Faery spirit explained in our voice.
Shava did not seem the least bit concerned by this information. “So? You could still teach me, right?”
“Even with Kaelyn’s consent, my time using her body is limited. However, should you wish it and your parents allow it, I will consider teaching you the movements as I guide Kaelyn’s body through them each morning. For now, I must rest as Kaelyn continues her training.” With that, Sharai relinquished control of my body and I found myself facing a very eager cousin that I barely knew.
Despite her claim, Sharai was not as tired as she let on. However, she was correct that I needed to continue my weapons training before my new Master and fellow apprentice awoke. Sharai did not think that I was ready to attempt a repetition of the first dance on my own yet so that left archery practice. I gave my cousin a nod and a smile and offered, “Good morning, Shava. Sharai is very good with a sword, but I am afraid that I am still a beginner without her guiding my movements. I am much better with the bow, but I still even need to practice with that since my body is different now than it used to be.”
“Hagan an’ Mara use bows,” my cousin said thoughtfully as I looked for a suitable target. I found a jagged stump of a fallen tree that I would not feel terrible about shooting and then a flash of inspiration hit. I summoned a rose-colored faerie fire and sent it flying toward the top of the stump while Shava watched intently. The distance that I had sent the ball of flame was straining me slightly, but this way I could practice both my archery and one of my magical abilities.
“That is a faerie fire,” I explained to my cousin. “It gives off warmth and light but it will not burn anything so my goal will be to send my arrows through the fire.” I put an arrow to the string and, remembering to compensate for the changes in my body, I let it fly. It passed through the pinkish flames, just barely. Good, but not a bullseye. I continued to release arrow after arrow until my quiver was empty and my aim steadily improved, though I would be glad when I adjusted enough to my new body to not have to think through each shot and compensate before firing.
With Shava’s help, I retrieved the arrows from the stump behind the faerie fire and my cousin’s curiosity had her touching the pinkish flames tentatively. They were warm to the touch but not overly hot and, as promised, did not burn her so she just held her hand there for a moment. “You can do magic. I can sense it, but the only real magic I can do is change my form,” she said, sounding a little disappointed.
“Well, that is something that I cannot do, at least not anymore. I never even got a chance to properly learn to. I think that is a wonderful ability, and I am sure that you will come into your gift soon as well. Would you like to give archery a try?” I offered her my bow and one of the retrieved arrows and her eyes lit up. She quickly nodded and we walked back toward the wagon, though I stopped us about a third of the way there and cautioned her, “This bow will likely be a bit too big for you so do not expect too much. Maybe we can make a bow and some arrows closer to your size later though.”
My cousin nodded and I turned her to face the target and helped her to nock an arrow. Then I corrected her stance as much as possible for someone using a bow that was too large for them and stepped back to give her some space. I could see the strain on her face as she pulled back and fired and then the look of disappointment as her arrow fell short and wide of the target. “Aww.”
“It is your first time,” I encouraged, “and you are using a weapon too large for you with too high a draw weight. You will do better once we have a bow and arrows more suited to you. We will try again then.”
With that, I dispelled my faerie fire and had Shava collect her arrow, and then my cousin led me to the fire where it seemed breakfast was ready. Breakfast consisted of mint tea and hearty oatmeal with fresh kirgen milk and some dried fruit. It was simple fare and yet far better than I was used to. The milk was somewhat sweet and a luxury to me. I had not had fresh milk of any sort in a very long time.
I was mostly finished with my breakfast by the time Vesha and Nirlyn emerged from our wagon to eat as well. As much as I wanted to sit and talk to the pair about music and get to know them both better, my new master sent me off with Zenna so she could measure me. The clothes that I had gotten from the Woodwarden outpost were well suited to roaming the forests but they made me feel a bit exposed and Zenna thought that I would feel less self-conscious and more comfortable once I was dressed as a proper Voyager.
The hardest part for her was going to be making something that would leave room for my wings to remain free since the women of the troupe usually wore bodices. She did get my measurements though, including some around my wings, mumbling all the while about possibilities and what would look good with my coloring. Finally, she shooed me off so she could get to work before the caravan was underway once more.
It seemed that breakfast was over and Joak and Sten were starting to guide the kirgens toward the wagons and their harnesses. It looked like it might take a while and seeing them reminded me that Glimma had asked me to come to see her before we got underway as well. It was not hard to find their wagon since it was the one with the hooting sounds coming from it.
It seemed a bit larger than the other wagons but that could have been due to the wooden enclosures on the sides. There was this sort of long box built into each side of the wagon that ran the length of the wagon above the wheels. Both were roughly three and a half hands high and wide with a shingled roof of their own just beneath the wagon’s windows, and along the outer side were a dozen round holes cut in the sides that would have been just a bit too small to stick my head inside. I found Glimma peering into one such hole with a perplexed look on her face.
“Good morrow, Glimma,” I said as much to warn her of my approaching presence as to greet her. I could sense some faint magic coming from where she was and I did not want to interrupt her if she was using magic or her gift for some reason. Since I had heard earlier that her gift was to speak with her owls, I could not discount it.
She turned toward me and the look on her face softened into a smile. “Good morrow, Kaelyn. It is going to take a while to get used to seeing a Faerie in our midst, but we are all so glad that Nirlyn found you.”
“It is going to take me a while to get used to having a troupe, but I am equally glad,” I countered before asking, “Is something the matter? You looked worried or confused about something just now.”
“We had another owlet hatch this morning, but her mother wants nothing to do with her and won’t feed her,” Glimma explained before gesturing me toward the hole. “Come take a look.”
I looked inside but the owls I saw were nothing like the ones that I had seen in the forest. The adult was a bit smaller than the grey owls that I was used to and had a sleeker look to it with predominantly black feathers. There was a splash of white at its neck, the tip of its tail feathers, and its wingtips and its golden eyes regarded me cautiously, moving to cover two of the small owlets in the nest. That was when I noticed that the magic was not coming from Glimma, it was coming from the owlet in the corner of the nest.
She looked much like her siblings, still having her dark grey and downy baby plumage, though rather than the golden hue of her siblings’ eyes; hers were a bright and unnatural emerald hue. She tried to approach her mother but she shrieked at the owlet, warning her away. “She’s mana-touched,” I whispered in realization. Sharai had told me about them, and a few other things, while telling me more about the Weave and how living creatures are connected to it.
Normally animals are like humans and are born with very little natural mana. Just like humans can sometimes be born with more than the average mana capacity of their species, so can animals. It happens very rarely in both cases and when it happens, the creature in question is altered somewhat by the extra mana flowing through them and finds itself drawn to magic eventually. Humans tended to become mages when born like this, which is why human mages are rare. Mana-touched animals, on the other hand, either die because their parents will not care for them, or a mage or other magic user finds them and takes them as a familiar.
“Aye,” Glimma agreed. “We use Tharian Hawk-owls because they’re fast fliers and very intelligent, so it’s easy for me to speak with and train them. Nara there refuses to allow the wee girl to get close though, she thinks she’s a Tainted.”
“She is not!” I exclaimed, reaching out a hand to tentatively stroke the mana-touched owlet’s soft downy feathers. Tainted are nothing like mana-touched. Mana-touched are born that way, a sort of natural adaptation, while Tainted are people, animals, or other living beings who are changed into monstrous creatures by long-term exposure to tainted mana. Sharai told me that there are sites all over Esmere that the Fae avoid because the mana flow in those places is still contaminated by the dark magic once performed there by the Demons and followers of the Unspoken One. It was one of the biggest reasons that the Fae had fought them and tried to prevent them from ever coming back, because they irrevocably damaged the Weave.
Glimma put a hand gently on my shoulder. “Aye, I know that, lass. Nara and her kind may be even smarter than most owls but they still rely largely on their instincts, and her instincts are telling her that the babe is unnatural. I fear that none of the owls will want her near them.”
“What can we do?” I asked as I continued to gently stroke the owlet’s feathers and she nuzzled against my hand.
“You can take care of her if you like,” she suggested. “I can’t keep her here with the other owls but I can help someone else to care for her. We’ll need to prepare some things before we’re underway though.”
My response was to nod and gingerly take the owlet in my hand to remove her from the nest. “What do we need to do?”
Glimma hurriedly took me inside her wagon, which looked very similar in layout to Nirlyn’s. There she found a small wooden crate that was empty and still had some packing straw inside to serve as a nest. I placed the owlet inside and then she led me to the food storage cupboard nearest their stove. It was tightly closed and once she opened it, I was surprised to find that it was cold on the inside.
“We use this one to store meat and vegetables that would spoil quickly otherwise,” she explained as she removed a bowl that contained tiny scraps of meat. “There is one in each of the troupe’s wagons. An Ilari enchanter in Scorcia spelled them for us and it cost us a good deal of gold, but it is well worth it for the convenience. Place this in the one in your wagon to keep it fresh and feed her as much as she’ll take every three hours or so when she’s awake. She will probably let you know when she’s hungry though. When you have time during our next stop, come see me and I will teach you more about how to care for her.”
Glimma helped me by carrying the crate with the mana-touched owlet to Nirlyn’s wagon while I brought the bowl of meat scraps. Then she left me to go finish preparations to get back on the road while I fed the green-eyed owlet scraps of meat. She did not eat much, but then, she could practically fit in the palm of my hand. I had placed her back in the crate and was getting to my feet to put the meat in the cold cupboard that Glimma had shown me when the door to the wagon opened and Vesha stepped inside.
“All ready to go?” she asked. As she made her way closer and I placed the meat in the cold cupboard, she looked down in the crate. “Glimma said that you were taking care of one of the owlets. It’s not like her to let one out of her sight unless… oh. Well, I guess that explains it.”
The way she just shrugged it off and turned to smile at me sent flutters through my chest. Her smile was enough to set my heart beating faster and found myself having trouble speaking. Why did she affect me so? Was it some sort of Dragonkin thing? Robbed of speech, I merely bobbed my head up and down in a nod.
My lack of speech did not seem to bother her, but it seemed like not much of anything bothered her. “Anyway, the kirgens are in the harness and we’ll be moving out soon. Master Nirlyn is going to drive and one of us will take over after lunch. That’ll probably be me since she wants to get a feel for what your strengths are and what she’ll need to focus your training on. Until then, I guess I have you all to myself. We can have some free time to play and get to know one another better,” she offered with a smile that set my heart and cheeks aflame.
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“Play? Get to know one another better?” My mind seemed to be stuck on those words, and for some reason, my heart skipped a beat at the thought of Vesha having me all to herself.
“Of course. Master Nirlyn says, ‘If yer no’ doin’ anythin’ important, ya ‘ave time t’ practice.’ We’ll have a lot of time on the road, and practicing our playing will keep us from getting too bored. It’ll help you get used to playing with others in a group too. We’ll need to take breaks though, so we can talk and get to know each other while you feed your new little friend there,” the Dragonkin girl offered.
A giggle escaped my lips as she impersonated our Master’s accent and I managed to nod as the heat from my cheeks and the fluttering in my heart subsided. “Right, playing our instruments. I used to play with my mother, but I’ve been practicing on my own whenever I could since I lost her and my father.”
“Aye, and since I didn’t see any instruments on you, you can borrow some of mine or Master Nirlyn’s until we can get you some of your own in Derevik. Some of the best instrument craftsmen on the continent live and work there. The Bardic Guild doesn’t just include those who play instruments, but those who make them as well.”
I let out a sigh at that. I missed my mother’s old instruments. They had seen better days and I had to be careful when I used them, but they were hers, and it was a connection to my mother that was solid and real. They were the only thing that I had left of her. Only now, that was not the case. I no longer had her instruments but I had her family and her people now. I had her troupe… no, our troupe.
I attempted to shake off my melancholy as I considered Vesha’s words. “I do not think that I would have the money for such finely made instruments,” I told her with a sad smile.
“You will make plenty of money as we make our way to Derevik, Kaelyn,” my fellow apprentice assured me. “The journey will take weeks, we will be plying our trade as we travel, and there will be little else to spend it on during the journey. Master Nirlyn pools the money that we get for busking and playing and then splits it equally three ways, probably four ways now. One share for each of us and one to the troupe to buy communal food and supplies and contribute to other expenses. If Daivin and Korine join us, or Selice dances for us, then they’d get shares too, but generally, we split up for security.”
“Security? Such as city guards and the like?” I asked, somewhat confused.
The Dragonkin let out a throaty giggle that made my heart do strange things. “Aye, I guess that could be the case sometimes. If we’re not all caught that means there’s someone to come to the rescue. ‘Tis true that not all people, or their cities or towns, are welcoming of Voyagers, like Majair. You, Master Nirlyn, and I would make fair targets in some of those places too since we’re not Human. I was talking mostly about financial security though. We’re all Bards and members of this troupe so we support each other. If we split up there’s more chance that at least one of our groups will make some good coin. If one of our trios has a good night, and the other does not, we’ll share the wealth. It helps us to all save up some for when the really lean times hit.”
“I have never known people to be so kind and supportive of each other before, not since my parents died. It is why I chose to live in the forest. Well, that and fear of the church,” I admitted sadly.
“It’s the Voyager way,” Vesha said with a warm smile. “We take care of our own, and avenge them if needed. I wasn’t born a Voyager, they found me as a baby and raised me as one of their own though. It is because of their kindness and love that I am here and alive today. You’ll get used to it, Kaelyn. Come, let’s find an instrument for you to practice. What do you play?”
As she took me by the hand to help me to my feet, I looked up at her transfixed for a moment. It was not her kind smile that had me staring. It was the feeling of my hand in hers, the warmth that it seemed to infuse me with, and how beautiful she was. Her face was so very pretty, and with those amber draconic eyes, her bright crimson hair, and the horns, she was exotically so.
She might have passed for a Fae if not for the horns, those majestic wings, and her tail, and the scales along the sides of her neck and arms looked so smooth, like polished rubies against her otherwise tanned skin. She was such a contrast, beautiful and fierce looking and both strong and gentle. The soft prettiness of her face and the curves of her body were captivating, but equally captivating were the less pronounced curves of the powerful muscles in her arms and shoulders.
She had such strength to her but she held it back, choosing to be gentle rather than fierce, and I could feel that in the grip she held my hand with. What was this heat building up inside me at her mere touch and smile? Why did she make me shiver, even with this heat building up inside me? Why did looking into her eyes seem to make me forget how to breathe?
Wait, she asked me a question, did she not? I had not answered her yet and with each second that a reply seemed to elude my lips, I became ever more self-conscious. “Oh… I… I play the fiddle, pipes, lute, and harp,” I managed to respond haltingly after a long and awkward silence where my words refused to heed my call.
I tried to focus on my breathing, and not the Dragonkin’s pretty face or those powerful arms and shoulders. Why did I wish to be held in those arms? My heart fluttered, and my efforts to get my breathing under control seemed to be for naught. As she nodded and turned to lead me to the cupboards where the instruments were stored, I despaired in my mind, “What is wrong with me?”
Sharai’s voice was gentle and warm inside my thoughts as she offered, -Love is strange, is it not? The feelings that it generates seem to come out of nowhere sometimes, darting in and out like a playful Pixie and leaving you feeling topsy-turvy with no sense of which way is up and which is down.-
“Love?!” My breath seemed to catch in my throat and my heart beat a wild and frenzied rhythm in my chest as I repeated the word in my mind and allowed Vesha to pull me along to the instruments cupboards.
-Aye, Kaelyn. It remains to be seen whether it is love at first sight or a mere fanciful and brief attraction though. We shall see if it is the lasting kind in time, if you wish to pursue it that is. At the very least, you seem to be attracted to her.-
“But are not love and attraction between man and woman?” I asked frantically in my mind. The church had said as much. Usually, I would not put much mind to what the church said but I did not recall my parents teaching me about such things. They were in love, even as a child I had been able to see that. Such things as this were far outside my experience though.
-Often it is,- Sharai agreed in a gentle tone. -Not always though. We Fae believe that love is a connection between souls, and what matters what flesh or form the bodies wear when two souls are bound so closely? The Touched are proof of that. Your mother was a Changeling and your father a Human, but they loved one another, did they not? In my time I have seen love between different forms of Fae, love between different species altogether, love between two men, love between two women, and even love between more than two people.-
“But I cannot…”
My spirit guide did not let me finish that thought. -Obviously, you can, or we would not be having this conversation, Kaelyn. There is nothing wrong with feeling love for another person, there is even less wrong if she finds that she loves you back. Only giving in to the preconceptions of others and denying both of you that love would be truly wrong. We are Fae; we do not allow others to dictate our hearts, words, or actions, less so if they do so through mindless prejudice.-
I tried to control my breathing and focus my eyes on the three instruments that Vesha was showing me in one of the cupboards as I asked, “What do I do then?”
-You take your time. Get to know Vesha and see if your feelings for her are true or just attraction, though there is nothing wrong with spending a night in the company of someone to whom you are attracted. It can be enjoyable, but it is far too often a fleeting affair. If your feelings for her seem to grow stronger rather than fade away, try to find out if she feels the same. For now though, I suggest that you choose an instrument before you end up looking like a fool.- The words were offered tenderly with a hint of a laugh in her mental voice at the end.
I gave a mental nod of affirmation, took a deep breath, and tried to calm myself as I scrutinized the instruments being offered. The first was the fiddle that Master Nirlyn had me play when we met, another was a delicate lap harp with an intricately carved body that was meticulously maintained, and the third was a set of reed pipes that looked to have been dyed a vibrant blue-green hue. The ten lengths of reed were firmly lashed together with cord and beeswax, smooth to the touch, and it reminded me of music lessons with my mother when I was very young. She had had a set of pipes very much like this one.
I tentatively took the pipes in hand, caressing them as the memory of playing a similar set with my mother brought a bittersweet smile to my face. A sigh slipped forth between my curled-up lips as I said, “My mother had pipes like these. I think that they were even dyed the same color.”
“They’re not dyed,” Vesha told me as she extracted a lute for herself. “Those are kava reeds. They grow along the shore of the Afshan River and are hard to find, but they make the sweetest-sounding woodwind pipes that I’ve ever heard. They’re very durable and their color doesn’t fade over time after being cut. Those are Master Nirlyn’s, she mentioned that their Master taught her and your mother to make them not long after they became his apprentices. I’m hoping that we can find some kava reeds so you and I can make our own sets soon. We’ll be traveling along the Afshan River on our way to Derevik since the city is built where the river flows into the Sea of Storms.”
I barely heard her explanation. At first, it was because I was lost in the memory. I was four summers old, and my mother thought that I was finally a big enough girl to be allowed to touch her instruments. It was a beautiful spring day; the sky was blue, birds were singing, and she sat me in her lap as she showed me where to place my fingers and where to blow. From those first experimental sounds on those pipes, while sitting in my mother’s lap under an old oak tree and a cloudless blue sky, I fell in love with music. More than that. I found a deeper love for my mother, and I wanted to be just like her when I grew up.
I clutched the pipes in my hands as the memory faded, holding them close to my chest as I fell to my knees and started to sob uncontrollably. The cold emptiness that I had been carrying inside me for years now filled with grief, sorrow, anger, and a burning need to make the Church of One and the Demons pay tenfold for what they had taken from me. It was as if all the pain and sorrow that I had not been able to allow myself to give in to since my parents were murdered decided to burst free from me all at once. Hot tears streamed down my face and sobs wracked my chest, leaving my lungs burning with the effort of trying to breathe and set free my anguish at the same time.
I am not entirely certain why I broke down at that moment. Perhaps it was because it was finally safe to do so, or because I was with family now and that just brought it all to the surface of my thoughts. Maybe I had just been detached from it this whole time while trying to survive and it was all just catching up to me now as I held those pipes and relived a cherished memory in my mind. Likely, it was all of the above. It mattered not why though, as all the while I could not bring myself to say a word of explanation to my fellow apprentice as I clutched those pipes, so like my mother’s, tightly to my chest.
For a long while, Vesha said nothing, but her actions spoke volumes. She placed her lute aside and knelt beside me on the floor of the wagon, wrapping me up in her strong arms. She held me close as I cried it all out. She did not try to tell me that it would get better or that she understood what I was feeling. She just quietly held me, rubbed my back between my wings, and made me feel truly safe and secure for the first time since my parents had died.
It was some time before I managed to calm myself, long enough that it was time to feed my new owlet again. Vesha said nothing about my breakdown, nor did she try to push me to talk about it or start practicing as we had planned to do before. Instead, she sat beside me and watched me feed the green-eyed owlet. When the Dragonkin girl finally spoke, it was to suggest, “You should give her a name.”
There was a long silence as we both thought on the matter. I could not think of anything that appealed to me and Sharai had been silent since my emotional outburst. I think that she was trying to give me what space and privacy she could while I sorted through my thoughts and feelings. It was she who finally suggested the name though. -How about Zaiya? It can mean either ‘gentle breeze’ or ‘small treasure’ in the Fae language.-
“Zaiya?” I said, trying to get the feel of it on my tongue as I stroked the owlet’s feathers. She was finished eating for the moment and I nodded as I looked down at the owlet and offered a weak smile. “Your name is Zaiya,” I told her, and I could have sworn that I saw comprehension in those bright green eyes as I spoke the name.
“Seems like she likes it,” Vesha offered with an encouraging smile as I placed Zaiya back in her improvised nest.
I nodded in agreement and moved to retrieve the pipes and the lute from where Vesha had placed them while I fed the owlet in question. Then I handed my fellow apprentice the lute, sat cross-legged across from her, placed the pipes to my lips as I fingered the reeds gently, and then began to experimentally play the opening notes of a dirge that my mother taught me when my paternal grandmother died. It was only half-remembered, but it quickly came back to me, as Vesha seemed to recognize the song and joined in on her lute.
I listened and tried to match her pace and it did not seem to take long before we were in harmony, despite my lack of experience accompanying others. Then I allowed myself to get lost in the music that we were playing, pouring my grief and loss into those pipes and the music. For a long while, as our wagon traveled along the road in the caravan, the only sound inside was that mournful, melancholy melody as Vesha helped me to say my last goodbye to my parents.
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Over the next four days, I fell into a pattern as we made our way toward the border that would take us out of Evalis and into Kalidar. I would wake up long before my fellow apprentice or our Master, feed Zaiya, and then get dressed before going outside for sword practice with my cousin, Shava. First, Sharai would have me go through some of the key movements of the first dance on my own and explain the motions to Shava. Then, as my spirit guide put my body through the movements of the complete first dance and I attempted to absorb them in both mind and body, she would call out the movements for my cousin, who was wielding a heavy stick for the moment.
Sharai was fairly pleased with the progress of both of us by the fifth morning on the road. The movements, and how they flowed into one another, were becoming more natural to me and she felt that I would soon be able to make my way through the first dance on my own. I thought that this was far too soon since I was still trying to consciously remember every movement, but she pointed out how the muscles of my body were remembering the motions through repetition, even if my mind was taking a little longer. She would not start teaching me the next dance though until I had it committed to the memory of both my body and mind.
Shava was learning a lot slower and was not able to move as fluidly from one motion into another as I was, but she was determined to learn, and Sharai would often tell me how to correct her stance, how she held her weapon, or the motions that she was having difficulty with. I found that this ended up helping me to learn faster as well. By the third day, Hagan and Mara had made my cousin a bow and some arrows more suitable to her size so I was teaching my cousin archery as well as practicing myself.
After practice, Shava and I would wash up before joining the rest of the troupe for breakfast. We would usually be mostly done eating and just talking by the time the non-Fae among us woke up to join us. That time talking, while Daivin, Vesha, and Master Nirlyn ate, helped me to get to know the other people in my troupe better and to start to become comfortable with this new life. I was still surprised, and a bit in awe about how everyone in the troupe supported one another.
They would ask how my studies were going and sometimes Korine or I would talk about the instruments or songs that we were learning to play. Shava would excitedly tell the others about what Sharai and I were teaching her, which had resulted in Hagan making some practice weapons more suitable for her size. First, there were the bow and arrows. As we talked this morning though, I could see that Hagan’s whittling had a large branch he had found almost looking like a sword now, one that looked like it was going to be very similar in shape to Neva’kul.
After breakfast, I would go back to our wagon to feed Zaiya again and pack up anything that was loose for travel. Once we were on the road, most of the rest of the day would be spent practicing playing my instruments and singing with Vesha or Master Nirlyn, learning new songs, doing other tasks that Master Nirlyn assigned, and occasionally taking breaks to care for Zaiya. Then, once darkness fell, I would take over for Vesha in the driver’s seat since I was the one with the best night vision. Vesha had no night vision to speak of and our Master’s was decent, but nowhere near as good as that of a Faerie.
The pace that our caravan was setting was far more rushed than usual for Voyagers as we hurried toward the border, only stopping for long enough to let our people and the kirgens get a night of rest under the protection of a Seeming. Vesha told me that we usually stopped at villages and towns for a day or two to ply our trades and try to make some coin, but we had quickly passed by any that we had encountered so far. News about the Demons and the Church of One had to be taken to the main Guildhall in Derevik as quickly as possible, and I had a feeling that they would try to stop us.
The church had the King of Evalis under their sway and while they might not know what information we had, Master Nirlyn had left the capital with me suddenly and dramatically in front of an official of the church. I had also used magic fairly brazenly. They would be looking for us; I had no doubts about that, and the feeling gnawed at the back of my mind more voraciously with each day that we got closer to the border.
Today was different though. I was tired from lack of sleep, we were camped at the edge of a forest that straddled both Evalis and Kalidar, and our breakfast discussion was longer than usual as we decided what to do. “We could be across the border and in Kalidar by late afternoon if we keep following the road, or there’s the forest path. It’ll take longer but there’s less risk of anyone trying to stop us,” my grandmother said as we were all gathered around the dying embers of the fire.
“Maybe we should try the forest path,” I suggested uncertainly. “I… felt Demons pass by us along the road last night. There was nearly half a dozen of them, I think. They probably did not notice our Seeming since they were right at the edge of my magic sense, but they were moving fast, in the direction of the border.”
“Probably trying to catch up with us before we could cross,” Uncle Bryden suggested with a frown. “When they get there, they’ll probably find out that we haven’t passed through yet. They’ll probably wait for us there, and maybe send some of their numbers to check the forest path as well.”
“We will likely have to take the forest path then,” my grandfather stated with a sour expression. “At least if it comes to a fight, we’ll have an advantage there. There are rumors of Fae in Kaazir Forest though, what does Sharai have to say, Kaelyn? Are the rumors true? And how will they react to us traveling through their territory?”
-Kaazir Forest,- Sharai spoke pensively in my mind. -There is indeed a Fae village; I stopped there on my way into Evalis to go home. They should be warned about the church and the Demons. If you and I meet with them first and can convince them that your troupe is mostly Changelings, they should welcome us as kin.-
I passed that information on to the others and my grandparents both nodded as my grandmother said, “It’s decided then. We’ll take the forest path.” With that, we began to pack up camp and prepared to move out.
It was late in the afternoon, and I was riding up on the driver’s bench with Vesha when I felt a discordant clashing of magic to the southeast of us and let out a sharp whistle to let the other wagons know to stop. There were six distinct sources, four of them felt like they belonged, like they were in harmony with the forest around them, but the other two sources were so dark and malevolent that I had to jump off the bench before the wagon was fully stopped to empty my stomach.
Vesha had barely brought the kirgens to a stop before jumping down from the driver’s bench to place a soothing hand on my back. “Demons… up ahead…” I managed to get out as I tried to spit the taste of vomit from my mouth and pointed in the general direction.
The other wagons had stopped and several of our adult members of the troupe quickly gathered around. It was not long before my grandparents started issuing orders. That was one of the sources of magic faded away, and it was not one of the nasty ones. -We must help them!- Sharai’s frantic voice in my mind pleaded.
I could not help but agree. I did not want to feel another source of nature magic fade and then die out like that. I shot into the sky and toward the sources of magic as fast as my wings would carry me. I was only dimly aware the shouts emanating from behind me as I flew toward the battle ahead of me.
Three figures that I assumed to be Fae were pinned down behind some large rocks with what looked like a Nymph lying dead nearby. Between them and me, there were close to a dozen human men in armor and two other men with dark auras hurling black flames and lightning at them while one tried to counter with spells and her two companions fired arrows. Three humans were either dead or unconscious, but the Fae were outnumbered and the humans all had cold iron weapons, even the two throwing that dark magic around. I could sense the metal on them.
Torr’s balls,” I cursed under my breath as I hovered, assessed the situation, and tried to come up with a plan. These Demons and their lackeys had come prepared to kill Fae, but they had no horses since the thick foliage would make riding them difficult. They probably marched straight here from the border station. I was not sure if it was because they knew about the village in these woods or because they thought that I might be Fae and were here to block the forest path to ensure I did not leave Evalis. Either way, I needed to do something, fast.
“Kaelyn, wait,” Vesha’s voice hissed as she caught up with me.
“But I have to…” I started to answer before she cut me off.
“You have to stay and listen to the plan!” she snapped, trying to keep her voice low. “You’re not on your own anymore; you’re part of a family! We do things together and you have people who care about you and worry when you fly off toward the danger like that! I swear, if we get out of this alive, I’m going to shackle our arms together so you can’t leave m… us like that again.”
She was angry, flustered, and probably one of those who I had worried as well. I felt smaller than I had ever felt in my life for not considering everyone else’s feelings. “What is the plan?” I asked, unable to look her in the eyes as I shook my head. “Th… the others should hold back, they have cold iron weapons, and the only people we have with weapons are Hagan, Mara, and Uncle Bryden.”
That was not entirely true, most Voyagers kept at least a knife on them for protection, and cutting purse strings, but those would do little good against cold iron swords and arrowheads. “As I said, we do things together,” Vesha said, giving me a stern look. It was quickly replaced by a wild grin though as she added, “Who said that Voyagers need weapons to fight? Do you think that you can use your gift to help those three while I wreak some chaos down there? You and I will be the distraction while the others catch up and get ready.”
“Yes,” I agreed, not even having to think it over. I would protect those people. “The biggest threats are the Demons though.”
“The guys throwing around that dark magic, right?” the Dragonkin asked. When I nodded, she smiled. “Let’s fight fire with fire then.”
Without another word, Vesha plummeted downward, hurling a barrage of fireballs from her hands ahead of her, and then dropped herself into the midst of the group. She picked up one of the unscathed soldiers before they realized what was happening and threw him into a trio of his companions. Meanwhile, I was flying down toward the trio behind the rocks already summoning my gift and feeling for the metals around me to deflect any cold iron arrowheads.
I landed behind their cover to join the three living Fae, an Elven man, a Faerie woman, and a Spriggan man. They all showed signs of being hit with cold iron arrowheads, and when they had tried to remove them the heads had snapped off, just as they had with Sharai.
“Hello. I am Kaelyn, and the Dragonkin is Vesha, we thought that you could use some assistance,” I offered grimly as I reached for my bow, only to realize that I had not brought it with me. I sighed and offered, “I will try to get that cold iron out of you, but it is going to hurt.”
I could already see the signs of cold iron poisoning in two of them, though the Spriggan seemed to be the worst off. I had to pull two arrowheads from him, one from his shoulder and the other from his leg. How they had managed to keep fighting them off until now, other than grim determination was beyond me. The Elf had one deep in his thigh that had him screaming as I removed it.
I thought that the Faerie must have been the one casting the spells since she showed only minor signs of cold iron poisoning. One of her wings had been clipped and since the arrow had gone right through, I was hopeful that her wing could be saved by a proper Healer. She also had a nasty wound in her right shoulder and a burn on her left hand. From the knife and the arrowhead lying nearby, I assumed that she had taken a shallow wound to the shoulder and had dug the arrowhead out. -With your help, they have managed to avoid serious cold iron poisoning, they will be ill for a while and probably scar, but they should live,- Sharai informed me as I used scraps of cloth to bandage their wounds.
“Do not move,” I cautioned them as I peeked over the rocks separating me from our adversaries.
Vesha’s fists had burst into flame, and she was pounding on the Demon who had been throwing those black flames, which seemed useless against the Dragonkin. “You call that fire? This is fire!” she yelled as he screamed in pain and tried to put some distance between them.
The soldiers were burned and bloodied from her attacks, and their bows were now useless, meaning that they had to try to attack her with swords. That meant getting close though, and whenever someone did that Vesha blocked it with a scale-covered appendage and then bashed them aside with a wing or a flaming fist. She was like a force of nature, and it was both terrifying and beautiful. Where was the other Demon though?
I focused on my magic sense and I could feel the taint of his magic coming closer. He had used the soldiers as cover while Vesha was fighting his comrade and was coming right for our cover to finish off the Fae. He had a cold smile on his lips as he stepped around the boulder, black lightning already sparking in one hand and a cold iron blade in the other. I already had Neva’kul in hand and thrust toward him as I called upon Joarra’s glyph to gather the mana around me into the blade of my sword and release it.
The blast of destructive magical energy that I unleashed along the path of the thrust tore a furrow into the forest floor and sent my opponent flying even as it eviscerated him. The furrow was close to twice my height in width and ten times that in length. I was suddenly very tired and barely managed to stagger toward the black smoke that hovered where the body of a man had been before I had obliterated it. Gritting my teeth, I summoned a faerie fire, determined to not let it disappear until the Demon’s soul was fully consumed.
Sharai had said that Joarra’s attack was powerful, but I had thought that she might have been overstating it. She also had not warned me about how much it could drain the user, or that it would get that much attention. The Fae were staring at me, Vesha was staring at me as she dropped the other Demon’s flaming corpse to the ground, even the enemy soldiers were staring at me as my pinkish flames consumed the Demon’s soul and I sent a second faerie fire to do the same to the one fleeing the smoldering corpse at Vesha’s feet.
I tried to stand proudly and defiantly, and not to show that I could barely stand, as I turned back to my enemies, put a false grin on my face, and asked, “Who is next?”
Cold iron blades dropped hastily to the ground in surrender and that was when a half dozen kirgens burst out from the trees and mercilessly rammed, stomped, and pulverized our now unarmed enemies. “Just in time,” Vesha said with a tired laugh as her flames went out and she walked toward me through the kirgens that were turning the church’s men into a thin paste. “Kaelyn, how did you…” I was barely aware of the beautiful Dragonkin’s expression changing from wonder to concern as she rushed forward to catch me in her arms and I thought that I saw one of the kirgens shift into Uncle Bryden as I lost consciousness.
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I was surprised to wake up in our wagon. We did not seem to be moving at the moment and I could feel the familiar magic of a Seeming around us, though larger and much more powerful than the one that my grandmother usually cast for our troupe’s caravan. Looking around, I saw that the wagon was empty save for Vesha, and me. The Dragonkin was currently sitting on a stool beside my bed and feeding Zaiya for me.
It was a moment before she looked up from feeding the owlet and noticed my gaze upon her. A smile touched her lips and she looked relieved as she let out a sigh. “It’s good to see you awake, Kaelyn. You had us all worried when you collapsed. Wilden said that you weren’t hurt though, only exhausted.”
-You exhausted your mana reserves,- Sharai explained. -You used a large portion of your mana while using your gift to protect those Fae from arrows, and when removing the cold iron arrowheads from them. You did not take the time to properly replenish your reserves from the mana around you before using Joarra’s glyph. The attack may draw on the mana around you, but it still requires a large portion of your own mana to focus the attack. It can be tiring even when your mana reserves are full, which is why I only used it rarely, and only as a last resort. You must always remember to draw on mana from the Weave to replace what you have used from your reserves, Kaelyn. If you were not Fae, that could have killed you.-
“I guess that killing that Demon drained my mana reserves,” I explained to Vesha with a blush. It was not the first time that Sharai had lectured me on properly replenishing my mana reserves. Usually, it was while I was training my gift in what little spare time that I had available since joining the troupe and becoming Master Nirlyn’s apprentice. I let out a sigh and apologized to my spirit guide. “I am sorry, Sharai. I am still trying to get used to consciously drawing on the mana around me. I will practice more.”
-It is I who should apologize, Kaelyn.- Sharai countered, her voice in my mind heavy with guilt. -When you sensed the clash between Demons and Fae, I feared for Thaeria, the Fae village in these woods. I could not let another village fall victim to the church, as mine did. My fear pushed you to act rashly. Had Vesha not stopped you from jumping into battle without thinking, you could have been hurt, or worse. I apologize, and I shall strive to not allow it to happen again in the future.-
“It was not just you, I was worried too. It is something that we can both work on,” I offered and was pleased to feel the guilt that I sensed from her lessen slightly.
Vesha was watching me with concern in her eyes as she placed Zaiya carefully back in her box-nest. “Wilden figured that it was something like that after we told him about that attack that you used. What was that exactly?”
I shrugged as I decided that I had had enough rest and moved into a sitting position so I was not looking up at the Dragonkin, well, not as much anyway. “It was one of the abilities of Neva’kul. There are four that I can use once a day, each representing the gifts of the past users who have been bonded to the blade. That one is the only one that is offensive in nature though,” I replied as I settled into a more comfortable position. Then I asked a question of my own. “Are you okay? You took on that other Demon and the soldiers practically by yourself.”
“I’m fine,” she assured me. “A couple of them managed to get a lucky cut or two in where I don’t have scales protecting me, but Wilden was able to heal those easily. My scales and wings protected me from everything else, and that Demon’s flames barely tickled me. I was more worried about you.”
My breath caught in my throat, my heart skipped a beat, and I found myself flushing as I looked down at my lap. I had to tell myself that she was only worried as a friend and fellow apprentice. There was no way that she could feel about me the same way that I felt about her. Once I felt that I could speak without embarrassing both of us, I nodded. “Yes, you mentioned that everyone was worried before. I am sorry for flying off like that, and for worrying all of you again by letting my mana get so low. I guess that I am still not used to having a family to worry about me.”
“Kaelyn, I wasn’t worried about you like the others. I... you…” Vesha blushed and looked away for a moment and then took a deep breath before suddenly closing the distance between us. Before I even realized what was happening, her arms were around me, she was holding me close, and her lips were on mine.
A jolt went through me as our lips met. Her lips were warm and soft, but they pressed firmly and insistently into my own. For an instant, I was too stunned to do anything, but once I realized that she was kissing me, I quickly reciprocated, my lips mashing as eagerly against hers as hers seemed to be against mine as I realized that this might be my only chance. I wanted to make the most of it before she came to her senses, so I channeled the feelings for her that were growing inside me through my lips and put my arms around her, letting my hands caress her wings and the powerful muscles in her back.
It seemed both an instant and an eternity later that we parted, both gasping for air. Vesha caught her breath first and pulled away with a horrified look on her face. Had I misread her intentions just now? Of course, there was no way that she could feel for me as I did for her. “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have done that! You probably aren’t… I couldn’t help myself… I… I’ve wanted to do that since we met, and I had to do it now, before I lost my courage. I’m sorry, I took advantage of you. I’ll understand if you don’t wish to…”
I silenced her by pulling her down to my level and kissing her again. When I broke it off again, I looked her straight in the eyes and I was mildly surprised that I did not lose my voice or stammer from nerves as I spoke. “Vesha, if I had minded, I would not have kissed you back. I have wanted to do that for a while too, but I did not think that you would be interested in me in that way.”
Vesha gaped at me and I was not sure if she was shocked because I was interested in her, because I took charge, or because of what I said. Her expression turned to one of confusion as she asked. “Why wouldn’t I be interested? Voyagers have no taboos about attraction to or having relationships with people of the same gender or different races, and you are beautiful, brave, and we have many similar interests, such as music. I feared that you might not be ready for such a thing though since you have not been with us long.”
“I have been trying to keep an open mind and I… like you,” I admitted, my cheeks burning. “I think that I have been attracted to you since we first met. You have been making me feel things that I have never felt before. I… just… where does this leave us?”
“Well, since we both seem to be attracted to and interested in one another, I guess that it leaves us courting one another. We should try to get to know one another better, and spend more time together to see if we are truly compatible and…” Instead of saying anything more, Vesha cupped my face in her hands, pulling me toward her to kiss me once again as she wrapped me up in her arms and wings.
The kiss was even better than before now that I knew that she seemed to be as interested in me as I was in her. It was like flying, only we did not leave the ground. I felt so warm and safe in her arms too, safer than I had felt since before my parents died. When we finally broke our embrace and I could breathe well enough to speak once more, I smiled and said breathily, “That is good, because I find myself wanting to spend more time with you and learn more about you. When you fought all of those men and the Demon earlier… I… you were beautiful and amazing. Can all Dragonkin fight and use magic like that?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Vesha replied with a distant expression that made me worry for a moment that I had brought up a bad memory or something. “I’ve never met any others of my kind, and there was nobody around that Master Nirlyn could ask when she found me abandoned and half-starving. From what they found nearby, they think I hatched from an egg, but that is as much as we know about my kind. Everything else, I’ve had to discover for myself by following my instincts. I can’t actually use magic like the Fae or some other races can though.”
“But that fire that you were throwing around…” I began to counter before realizing that I hadn’t actually sensed her using any magic when she was doing it.
The Dragonkin’s brow furrowed and she let out a sigh before saying, “The fire, it’s always there inside me, wanting to get out. It’s been like that since I started to become a woman. I burned down a few wagons when I was first trying to learn to control it and keep it inside. What I used in the forest, it was barely scratching the surface. I think that I can go much hotter, and that there are things that I can do that I still haven’t discovered yet. I have to keep it inside though, or be very careful when I do use it. If I don’t, then the people that I care about could get hurt.”
“Does it hurt?” I asked in concern. “Keeping the fire inside of you, I mean.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s a part of me, but it’s nice when I can let loose and do something good with it. Speaking of that, I should get going. The Fae that we rescued asked if I could gather up the cold iron since it won’t hurt me, and provide a fire hot enough to smelt it until it is no longer harmful.” She leaned in to kiss me again but did not hold it for long before she pulled away. “I should go do that soon, before it gets dark. You were out for a couple of hours, and we will likely be having the evening meal soon with our hosts.”
“Hosts? Are we in the Fae village?” I asked. “I can sense a Seeming around us, and it is powerful.”
“Aye,” she replied with a nod and smile that I thought might make my heart melt. “After Wilden used his healing gift on those Woodwardens that we rescued, and they figured out that our kirgen reinforcements were all Changelings, we were invited to stay the night here while you recovered. Master Nirlyn and your grandparents are with the Woodwardens right now, warning the village leaders about the Church of One and the Demons. They’re also going to try to barter for supplies that we are running low on.”
It was not long after Vesha left to take care of her task that Master Nirlyn returned to the wagon. She was happy to see me up and about, but chastised me for worrying everyone as I did when I flew off, and again when I passed out. She did not seem truly upset with me though, in fact, she seemed very pleased about something as she put away some supplies that she had gotten.
“We warned the village elders ‘ere ‘bout the dangers on their doorstep,” she offered conversationally as she looked through pouches and small wooden boxes and put them away. “You may ‘ave killed both o’ those Demons, but when they an’ those soldiers don’t report in, someone is goin’ t’ send someone t’ check out this forest. The Fae ‘ere are goin’ t’ move further south, t’ the Kalidar side o’ the border. They’ll be gettin’ ready t’ move in the mornin’, but tonight, they’ve asked us fer a wee bit o’ entertainment after the evenin’ meal. We’ll all be playin’, along wi’ Daivin an’ Korine, so ya best prepare yerself.”
My heart thrummed in a nervous excitement. I had never played before an actual audience before, and these were Fae. I had not played accompaniment to more than one person at a time either though, and had never played alongside Korine or her father before. “W-what instrument should I play?” I asked uncertainly.
“Let’s ‘ave ya play the ‘arp tonight, yer probably the best o’ us on tha’ instrument,” my Master replied thoughtfully. “Yer Ma taught ya well on the ‘arp, yer even better than I am. No’ the lap ‘arp, but the grand one.”
I let out a small squeal of happiness. I had of course seen the Grand Harp; but it seldom came out of the large leather case that protected it from the elements. I hadn’t even seen the harp itself yet, only the covering. It was nearly as tall as Master Nirlyn, and Vesha had told me that it was beautifully crafted and meant for performing for nobles. I had been wanting to play it since I saw the case. “Shall I check the tuning, Master?”
“Aye, lass, ya can check it shortly. First, there’s another instrument, tha’ I want t’ show ya. When those Woodwardens tha’ you an’ Vehsa saved ‘eard tha’ ya were my apprentices, the Faerie among them asked tha’ I give ya a gift, t’ show ‘er appreciation.” With that, Master Nirlyn placed something on the floor in front of me. “It’s about time tha’ ya started t’ learn a fifth instrument anyway.”
At first, I looked dubiously down at the box and its contents. What I was looking at looked more like the jewelry box of some highborn lady than a case for an instrument, and the contents made it even harder to believe otherwise. “This is the instrument that you want me to learn?” I asked my Master as I tried to determine how exactly I was supposed to play jewelry.
Inside the box was a set of what looked like rings, numerous bracelets, and perhaps necklaces made from what looked like silver with a bit of a bluish tint and pretty little blue crystals embedded. There was a lot of jewelry in there, some of which I couldn’t identify the purpose of. More concerning was that I had been able to sense the magic slumbering inside as soon as Master Nirlyn opened the silk-lined box.
I was still trying to figure out what I was supposed to do with it when Master Nirlyn smiled and responded to my question. “Aye, lass. ‘Tis an instrument once favored by the Fae in olden times. Aishlin, the Faerie ya saved, said tha’ this has been in ‘er family since the Ancient Ones still ‘ad a thrivin’ society. Ya don’t see ‘em aroun’ much anymore. The Fae call ‘em Tien’jin, but they’re more commonly known as the dancer’s chorus. I’d heard about them, but I wasn’t able t’ get my ‘ands on a set ‘til now.”
-Tien’jin? I have never heard them played myself, but they are not really a common instrument these days, even among our people. I have heard that it is an instrument that is difficult to master though, and many give up long before doing so,- Sharai provided.
“It’s no’ yer standard musical instrument,” my master admitted as she continued speaking, oblivious to Sharai’s comment. “Ya don’t play this wit’ yer hands, at leas’ no’ directly. Ya wear ‘em, an’ the crystals are enchanted t’ respond to the movements o’ the wearer. When ya wear the ‘ole set, the crystals will link an’ respond t’ yer movements by lightin’ up an’ playin’ a note. An’ each crystal plays a diff’rent note.”
“That sounds like it could get very unharmonious whenever I move,” I told her with a frown.
The Master Bard laughed and shook her head. “Nay, they won’t be goin’ off willy nilly, lass. Aishlin tol’ me tha’ the main crystal can activate or deactivate the enchantment fer normal motion, an’ the movements needed t’ set them off need t’ be quick an’ precise. It’s a dance y’see. It’s no’ about learnin’ t’ play the music an’ dancin’ along though, it’s learnin’ the dance tha’ will play the song.”
That sounded hard and I had no idea where to start, or even how to dance, unless you counted my sword practice with Sharai. “Why me? Why can’t you or Vesha learn to play this?”
“Vesha tried dancin’ once. Let’s jus’ say tha’ she’s no’ a dancer an’ leave it at that.” The Ravieri gave a shudder before adding, “Besides, Aishlin wanted you to ‘ave this, an’ this set was made fer a Faerie. We’re also no’ the ones who need t’ learn this, Kaelyn. Aye, this will allow us t’ ge’ some attention an’ mebbe give us a unique sound, but it’s no’ why ya need t’ learn t’ play this. Swordswomen an’ dancers ‘ave one common need, lass. They need t’ be aware o’ their bodies. No, strike tha’, they need t’ move beyond awareness o’ their bodies an’ learn t’ move wi’out wasted movement an’ wi’out thinkin’ about it. It has t’ be natural, flowin’ from one movement t’ the next, each precise an’ deliberate, but comin’ as easily as breathin’.”
My eyes widened as I realized what she was planning, even as Sharai’s voice said, -That’s brilliant!-
My master saw the realization bloom on my face and grinned, showing her overly large canines. “Oh, aye, lass. I tol’ ya tha’ my duty as yer Master was to help ya reach yer goals. An’ ya need t’ become a natural with tha’ sword as quick as possible. Sharai is doin’ a fine job teachin’ ya, but I figure this will ‘elp things along. You’ll be wearin’ these all o’ the time tha’ yer awake from now on, an’ we’ll be addin’ dance lessons wi’ Selice to yer daily routine afore bed each night.”
I looked at the ‘instrument’ in a new light. It all looked so delicate, but my Master assured me that they were plenty durable since they were made from moonsilver. That accounted for the bluish silver hue of the metal, and moonsilver was supposed to be stronger than steel. It was also worth more than gold, especially to the Fae. I did not even want to think about how much this gift was worth. “Why give me such a thing, Master? This is a rare antique, enchanted and made from moonsilver, it must be worth a fortune.”
Master Nirlyn shrugged, meaning that she was probably as in the dark as I was about it. “You’ll ‘ave t’ ask Aishlin ‘bout tha’, lass. She’s waitin’ fer ya by the main fire to ‘elp ya put it all on. Don’t keep ‘er waitin’, ya can tune the ‘arp when ya get back.”
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It was not hard to find the main fire. Several were spread around the clearing that our wagons rested in, surrounded by some of the largest trees that I had ever seen, except for the oak in Hespira’s sacred grove. One fire was considerably larger than the others and was placed in the very center of the clearing. What I did not see were any sort of buildings to indicate that a village existed, much less that we were inside of it as Vesha had indicated. “I thought there was a village?” I thought to Sharai in confusion.
-Look above you, child,- the spirit bade me in reply.
I did as asked, only to stop and stare. There were cottages and walkways high up in the branches of the trees, illuminated by faerie fires in various colors. Occasionally, my sharp Faerie eyes could spot figures moving along the walkways, flying between them, running along the branches, or making their way up or down vine ladders that hugged the sides of the trees. I found myself smiling at the sight before moving on toward the large bonfire at the center of the clearing.
There were few people there yet, some of my fellow Voyagers, a pair of Brownies, and the svelte cerulean-haired Faerie woman from the woods. Aishlin’s right shoulder and left hand had been properly bandaged. Umm… hello… Aishlin, is it? How are you feeling?”
The Faerie looked up and smiled at my tentative inquiry, “Probably a mite better than you, after draining your mana reserves as you did, child. Your Healer managed to save my wing, but I will have to avoid flying for a few days to let the healing take full effect. He also placed an enchantment on these bandages to draw out any further cold iron toxin as his healing spells work on my other wounds. Your troupe is fortunate to have such a knowledgeable Healer among you. I see that you have brought the Tien’jin, as I requested of your Master.”
I looked down at the ornate box in my hands a little self-consciously. “Yes. She said it was a gift, but why would you give me such a thing? It must be extremely valuable.”
Aishlin smiled kindly and gestured for me to sit beside her. “What value can be placed on a life? Let alone three lives. You and your fellow apprentice saved my companions, and me. What is a mere trinket that I will never use again against that?”
“Never use again?” I asked with a mix of curiosity and concern.
“I once attempted to master them in my youth,” she explained with a sad smile and a shake of her head. “I think that all those of my lineage have at some point in their lives. I thought that I would be the one to do so since I thought myself a talented dancer. It takes more than being able to move one’s body properly though. I did not have the proper knowledge or appreciation of the work that goes into making music.”
Aishlin looked thoughtfully at the box in my hands for a moment before a smile touched her lips and she spoke again. “Those Tien’jin have been passed down through my family since before the fall of the Ancient Ones, but never have they been in the hands of someone who could truly appreciate them or use them to their true potential. I think that you are such a person, but I do not possess the aptitude or inclination. They are an instrument and are meant to be played, not hidden away in a box. A challenging instrument to be sure, but from what your Master has said of you, I believe that you are up to the challenge. All that I ask is that you return here someday, once you have mastered them. I would like to see them used at their best.”
“But…” I started to object.
The other Faerie turned serious as she reached out to put a finger to my lips. “Hush, young one. I did not call you here to discuss why the Tien’jin are now yours, but to help you learn about them and show you how to wear them properly.”
With that, she had me put on the Tien’jin under her instructions and observation. Each piece had a sigil in the Fae language engraved on the back of the plate where the crystals were mounted that told where it was meant to be worn. I had no experience with the Fae written language though so I had to get Sharai to translate them for me.
We started with the main crystal, which was embedded in a choker that went around my throat, a delicate chain of moonsilver with the crystal mounted in the center, and a clasp to connect to one of the chain links and secure it firmly around my neck. Similar pieces were meant to be worn on each of my upper arms and thighs, as well as a circlet for my head, each with the crystal displayed front and center. Then there were the clips that would connect to the tips of each of my wings, which explained why this set was made for a Faerie.
After that, things got a little trickier. First, there were the pieces that secured around my wrists. Connected to their crystal plates were short chains connected to other mounted crystals, which would fit over the back of my hands. Then that branched out into five other chains, which in turn connected to rings that would be worn over each of my fingers and thumbs. I had to start by putting on the rings first and then getting everything else in a position to secure the chains around my wrists. The rings on the pinky finger and thumb also housed small crystals. There was a similar setup on my ankles and feet, but with only a single ring to be worn on my middle toes.
The one that I wore around my waist was probably the most troublesome though. First, where a crystal rested over my navel, it had a chain that ran between my breasts to attach it to the choker, with another of the crystals positioned in my cleavage. Two more chains connected to it traveled down along my outer hips, with the crystals positioned over those hips, to connect to the chains around my thighs. It was a little awkward and uncomfortable, but Aishlin said that I would get used to them.
I was worried that the arrangement would be difficult to wear over clothes, especially skirts, and my fears proved true as it caused my clothing to bunch in uncomfortable ways. “I may not be an expert, but I do not see how I am supposed to be able to dance like this,” I complained.
“Those garments would make it difficult,” the other Faerie agreed. “You could wear them beneath your clothing, but it would muffle the tones and obscure the light that the crystals create. Traditionally, Tien’jin dancers wore as little as possible, aside from the Tien’jin themselves. The music was only part of the show, you see. The flashing lights of the crystals in time with the tones and the movements of the wearer were meant to enrapture the senses of the audience. Tien’jin dancers often wore delicate scents as well, for this reason. You could have custom clothing made for when you perform though.”
I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks as Aishlin imparted that information. “I… umm… well… I will consider that,” I replied awkwardly. I could see the wisdom in trying to master the Tien’jin, if only to help progress my mastery of swordplay as well, but the thought of dancing in front of others while wearing next to nothing made me feel like crawling into the closest hole that I could find. Maybe I would have to ask Zenna about something that I could wear while practicing, she was already working on trying to make me something like traditional Voyager’s clothing, though my wings made that difficult.
Sharai had told me that the Fae had no taboos about nudity, and from what I had seen since joining my troupe, the same extended to their Voyager kin. People often saw one another naked after changing shapes and nobody but me had batted an eye about it. I was fairly certain that the only reason that they did wear clothing was for the theatre of it; to convince people in the cities or who they encountered on the road that Voyagers were Human travelers from distant lands. It allowed them to blend in, the colorful scarves that they wore on their heads hid the tips of their ears, and vests and voluminous skirts afforded great hiding places for hidden weapons or stolen goods.
“Aye, do that, lass,” Aishlin said with a faint smile. “Now that you have the crystals all properly placed, you can activate the enchantment on them by speaking the word ‘Mivüs’. Speaking the same word will deactivate the enchantment.”
“Mivüs,” I said almost too quietly to be heard in my uncertainty. The instant that I spoke the word, I could feel the magic in the crystals flare to life. The cacophony of light and sound that I expected as soon as I moved never materialized though.
At my look of bewilderment, the Faerie Woodwarden laughed. “Your movements must be precise, quick, and graceful to make the crystals sing for you. Part of the challenge is developing that control and grace and learning to combine your movements fluidly into song. I was told once that a Tien’jin dancer must find the song in their heart and dance to it. Only once they have done that and the song of the crystals matches it will they be able to discover the dances of other songs. I was a dancer, not a musician, and had no song in my heart; I danced to the music of others. I think that you will fare better, young Bard.”
Find the song in my heart? Did I possess such a thing? I loved music, but until now, I had largely played the songs that my mother had taught me as a child. Master Niryln told me that my mother was a composer. Could I do that too? Could I write songs like those she had taught me to sing and play? “I hope I can.” The words escaped my lips with a wistful sigh before I was aware of speaking them.
“I believe that you will,” she told me without a hint of doubt. “I would not have given you the Tien’jin if I thought otherwise. Now that you know how they should be worn, let us return them to their case, they are not meant to be worn over clothing.”
“I… thank you for the gift, Aishlin. I will treasure it and do my best to master the Tien’jin. When I do, I will come back to find your village someday as you asked,” I replied, my cheeks painted crimson by my awkwardness.
Once we had removed the Tien’jin and placed them all carefully back in the ornate box from whence they came, Aishlin said with a faint smile touching her lips, “I should let you return to your Master now, lass. She bade me not to keep you for long, should I value the evening’s entertainment, and I should very much like to see you play. It is not often that we have Bards visit, and there are not many in our village with the talent for music, beyond simple jigs and reels.”
“I am afraid that I have not been a Bard for long,” I admitted as my cheeks flushed once more. “I am not even an apprentice officially yet. I will give my best though.” With that, I picked up the box and returned to the wagon that I shared with Vesha and Master Nirlyn.
With the box containing my new instrument stowed carefully away in one of the cupboards for my belongings, I was in a very good mood as I got to practice with the Grand Harp for the first time under Master Nirlyn’s watchful eye. Not only was I going to be playing alongside Bards tonight, as one of them, but also I was playing a beautiful instrument and I had an instrument that belonged to me, not just something that I was borrowing from Master Nirlyn or Vesha.
It certainly was not the instrument that I would have chosen, or even have imagined before it was presented to me, but it was mine. While I was a little uncertain about some of the peculiarities involved in learning to play it, I also found myself excited by the prospect. It would be a challenge, it would help me to become a better swordswoman, and I would be one of the very few people in all of Esmere to play such an instrument. If I did manage to master it, I might perhaps be the only one to do so for hundreds of years.
As I practiced, I was pleased that Master Nirlyn seldom had to correct my finger placement or strumming. Some of the songs that she had me playing were new to me though and I had never played such a large harp before, so it took several repetitions to get comfortable playing. I could read music fairly well but Master Nirlyn wanted me to practice more so I could learn to play songs other than those I had committed to memory or that she personally taught me. She also wanted to start teaching me to write music, something that she called music theory, composition, and how to read and write more than just the basic letters and words that I had learned as a child.
She said that she had gotten a pretty good feel for my strengths and weaknesses since I had joined the troupe, and these were areas that I needed to work on. I could sing fairly well, though she felt that I needed to get used to the range of my new voice, and I was competent with the fiddle, lute, and pipes. The harp was my favorite instrument before meeting her and she said that it showed in how well I played it.
She had not been trying to flatter me when she said that I was the best of us on the harp, I had learned early on in my lessons with her that Master Nirlyn did not believe in flattery or unearned praise. Whether she thought that I was doing terribly, needed to work on something, or had some ideas on how I could do better she always told me candidly. She believed that apprentices do not learn by being coddled, they learn by being taught and guided. Therefore, if I played a note that she felt would curdle kirgen milk, she told me as much, usually with very colorful language.
Still, the Grand Harp was the most wonderful instrument that I had ever laid hands on, and I took great care in doing it justice as I played. I had been practicing for a while when Vesha returned from her task and took out her dulcimer and hammers to join me. Master Nirlyn had decided to play her pipes that evening and had talked with Daivin who said that he would be playing the snare drum while his daughter and apprentice, Korine, would be singing for us and playing her lute.
Before I knew it, we were heading outside for the evening meal with our hosts. The food was simple fare, a hearty stew, a thick traveler’s bread that was a staple among the Fae, and some roasted acorns and sweet blueberries. I could feel my nerves building as we ate and our performance grew ever nearer. Vesha sensed my nervousness and placed a hand on mine to give it a gentle squeeze that seemed to both calm and excite me at the same time.
Before long, Master Nirlyn and Journeyman Daivin returned to our wagon to retrieve the great harp and place it where we would be playing, far enough from the fire to prevent the heat from warping any of our instruments. Then they and the others gathered their instruments as I took a deep breath and stepped up to the Grand Harp to caress the body gently. It gave me comfort and I lost some of my nervousness. The rest faded as the others joined me and Master Nirlyn whispered, “Relax, lass. We’ll only be playin’ songs yer familiar wi’ tonight. There’s no pressure ‘ere, jus’ a l’il music among friends, aye?”
Those words had barely left her lips when Daivin set the beat for The Ballad of Min Melrue. It was a song that would rely heavily on the harp and I found myself getting lost in the music as I tried to match pace with Daivin, and then the others as well while doing my part. From there we went straight into The Faerie’s Favor, and then I had to switch to the fiddle that Master Nirlyn had brought out for a few songs as we took a moment before launching into a lively jig by the name of Mossfoot Mary.
It was late when we finally had to stop playing. We were all becoming weary and Korine was starting to strain her voice. Our audience enjoyed the performance though and while playing I enjoyed myself more than any other time since the days when my mother was teaching me to play. The encounter with the Demons and my various worries were momentarily forgotten, and that night I fell asleep with a smile on my face.
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When I awoke the next morning, I fed Zaiya, donned one of the two sets of clothing I had gotten from the Woodwarden outpost at Hespira’s sacred grove, and stepped outside to face the morning. I was mildly surprised to find that our camp, and the Fae village in the trees above us, were in a flurry of activity. Only part of that activity could be attributed to those from our troupe making breakfast. Everyone else who did not need more sleep, and was not currently otherwise occupied, was moving supplies and various other objects of interest from the homes of the Fae into our troupe’s wagons.
I had been about to go in search of Shava to begin our morning weapons practice under Sharai’s guidance, but my cousin was one of those currently heading toward one of the wagons with her arms full. Even the smaller children were helping out by carrying various things to the wagons. At the center of it all, my grandmother was directing things.
The moment that my grandmother saw me, she motioned me over to her. “Good, you’re awake, Kaelyn. Our hosts are preparing to leave to rebuild their village further south, on the Kalidar side of the border, and we have offered to help them to move their most valued possessions and anything that they will need for the new village since we’re traveling in that direction anyway, but they have requested your assistance with something as well.”
“Of course, Grandmother. What exactly do you need me to do?” I asked in response. I was not certain how I might be able to help, other than carrying things like everyone else, but it would be nice to feel like I was useful to my troupe and the Fae that were hosting us somehow.
In answer, my grandmother pointed to a space between a pair amongst the ring of large trees surrounding the clearing and into the thicker forest. “In that direction, not far beyond the clearing you will find a small hill by a stream, they await you there, Kaelyn. Aishlin will tell you what needs to be done.”
I nodded and then quickly flew off in the direction that she had indicated since it would be faster than walking. “Sorry, Sharai, it looks like we won’t have time to practice this morning,” I told my spirit guide apologetically.
-One morning of practice missed will not mean much in the long run, Kaelyn,- the Faerie spirit’s voice replied softly in my mind. -Helping the people of this village to move to a safer location is far more important at the moment.-
It was not very long before the hill that my grandmother spoke of came into sight. Awaiting me were five Fae of various types, and when I saw just what they were gathered around, my purpose here became clear to me. Laid there atop the hill and surrounded by wildflowers was the body of a Nymph, the one that I had been too late to save. Watching over her was Aishlin, the two other Woodwardens that had been with her during the battle, and a pair of unfamiliar Fae.
Aishlin and her companions looked better today, though both the Spriggan and the Elf of the group were obviously favoring one leg to keep the weight off the other and the Spriggan had his right arm in an improvised sling as well, to keep it from moving too much. Aishlin had more color in her face, was dressed in Woodwarden clothes similar to my own, and her cerulean blue hair was tied back in a braid. She, much like the others present, wore a somber expression on her face and there was a sadness in her golden eyes as she looked up at my approach.
The Spriggan was the first that I had ever seen, but we had not truly met officially, nor did I have time for more than a cursory look at the time of the fight. I had been too busy focusing on protecting them and removing the cold iron arrowheads. He was thin, almost gaunt, though I later discovered that this was a trait that most Spriggans share, and wore clothing similar to mine and Aishlin’s, but tailored more toward a male and the thin frame of his kind. His bark-like skin was mint green, he had long leaf-green hair that was styled in a mass of braids that fell around his head, and his emerald eyes showed the depth of his mourning.
The Elvish man wore a pained expression from a mix of sorrow and the healing wound in his thigh. He was tall and pale with dark hair interwoven with colorful beads, and this time he was not wearing the leather armor that he had worn on patrol. Instead, he wore dark and loose clothes that looked to be made of star-spider silk and obscured much of his well-toned body.
Then there was the pair that I had not seen before. The Nymph woman resembled the deceased one on the ground too greatly to be a coincidence and from the way that she and the unfamiliar Elf with her held one another in their grief, I could only assume that they were her parents. The Elf was slender, like most that I had seen, and had blond hair while the Nymph shared her daughter’s mahogany-colored hair, hourglass figure, and many of her facial features.
“Thank you for coming, Kaelyn,” Aishlin offered somberly as I touched down on the ground slightly more gracefully than during my previous attempts. “I was hoping that you might be able to help Lorai find peace.”
“Lorai? That was her name?” I asked as I looked down at the Nymph’s body nestled among the flowers. “I… I am truly sorry that I was not able to get there to help sooner, maybe I could have saved her.”
“Do not blame yourself, child, Lorai would not have wanted that,” the Spriggan chided me gently. “You came as quickly as you could to help people who were strangers to you. It is something that Lorai would have done as well.”
Aishlin nodded in agreement. “Grindle is right. You did what you could and Lorai would not have faulted you for that. The Spriggan is Grindle and Narin is the dark-haired Elf, they are my fellow Woodwardens. We and Lorai grew up together and chose to ward the woods together once we were of age.” She gestured to her fellow injured Woodwardens before gesturing to the mourning couple and adding, “And these are Lorai’s parents, Maira and Doren. We were… hoping that you might do us a favor.”
“You need me to remove the arrowheads, right? So her body can return to the Weave?” I asked as I looked down at Lorai’s body once again.
“Yes, please, Lorai’s body must be allowed to return to the Weave, as her spirit has. I will not leave her body here to be fed upon by scavengers as we flee,” Narin said in a choked voice and a hint of desperation before looking away as Grindle placed a steadying hand on his back.
“Lorai was Narin’s intended,” Aishlin explained somberly. “The four of us were all very close, but Narin has most keenly felt her loss. He and her parents. When I suggested that you might be able to remove the cold iron from her body completely, as you did with us, Maira and Doren asked if you would do so. If you could, we would all be very grateful.”
“Of course, I will,” I offered the dismal group. I quickly knelt beside Lorai’s body and stretched my senses to look for any trace of the deadly cold iron. It took a moment, but soon I found what I was looking for. She had taken three arrows to the chest and one of those had pierced her heart. Like the other arrows that the Demons and their followers used, the heads had snapped off the shafts when they had tried to remove them.
Fortunately, the heads were made well enough that they had not broken into smaller pieces, so I was able to extract all three of them without leaving any little pieces behind. I carefully manipulated each arrowhead onto a scrap of silk provided by Aishlin, and once they were all in place I was very careful not to let any of them touch my skin as I folded the silk around them to keep it from harming any Fae. Later I would give them to Vesha to melt down.
Only once I could no longer sense any more cold iron inside Lorai’s body, did I carefully tie the ends of the scrap of silk so the dangerous arrowheads could not easily come free. “I have removed all of the cold iron that I could sense inside of her,” I finally told those gathered around the body and me. “How long do you think it will be before we know if this worked?”
“Her spirit departed her body almost a full day ago; the mana within has already begun to break down and Fade, Kaelyn. With what was binding her to the physical world now removed, we should see soon.”
“I should leave you to say your goodbyes then,” I offered as I rose fluidly to my feet, holding the improvised silk satchel in my hands. Sharai had told me that witnessing the Fading of someone was a personal thing, something generally reserved for those closest to them, those who had an impact on their lives. I had not seen Sharai’s body Fade, I had been too busy getting clean and learning the basics of my new situation from Sharai following my transformation. Her body had been there when I went down to the cave to cleanse myself but had vanished by the time I returned above to prepare for my journey.
“No, please stay.” It was Lorai’s mother, Maira, who spoke.
“I did not know her, it is not my place. This is for those who were important to her,” I countered while trying to look away. I could already sense the mana beginning to leave Lorai’s body. It would not be long now.
“She only Fades now because of your intervention, Kaelyn, I can think of nothing more important than that. Because of you, her body can rejoin her spirit as part of the Weave and perhaps she can live again someday,” Doren said in support of his wife. “Lorai would want you here.”
Sharai had been mostly quiet, allowing me to handle this myself, but I could feel the pride welling up from her in the back of my mind as she told me, -They offer you a great honor, Kaelyn, one that you have earned.-
“I… thank you, I am honored,” I managed to say as I turned my gaze back toward Lorai’s body laying amidst the wildflowers.
Tiny motes of viridian light rose from her body, seeming to drift away at random, as they faded to naught. More motes separated themselves from her to float away to nothingness with each passing moment, and with each particle that vacated her prone form to dissipate, so too did her body become more and more ethereal. I could clearly see through her when finally her wraithlike remains burst apart in a flash of viridian, motes of mana exploding outward to seemingly dance around those of us gathered there, a final gentle caress, and perhaps a farewell, to those that Lorai cared about before they too faded away to oblivion.
It was beautiful and as we stood there in the sudden still silence of the forest, as if it too mourned her passing, an awed whisper escaped my lips. “So beautiful, there is a song in that.” I quickly clapped my mouth shut, afraid that I may have given offense.
“Aye, The Fading of Lorai… it sounds like a lovely tune. She would have liked that. I would be honored… to hear it when we next meet.” Narin choked out in a voice trembling with loss amidst his tears for his lover.
“She was such a… modest girl. She never would have believed… that a Bard would write a song for her, but if one did, it would have made her very happy. When you master those Tien’jin, please come play that song for us,” Aishlin agreed as she wiped at her tears with the sleeve on her good arm.
I stood there on the hill with them for several more minutes in silence for the fallen before we returned to the clearing where they returned to their homes to retrieve anything of value that they wished to take with them. I was almost immediately recruited by Zenna to help her and the village weaver to move the latter’s valuable supplies, including a swarm of star-spiders into Zenna’s and Godan’s wagon. Thankfully, the spiders were well-tamed and trained not to harm Fae.
I did have to listen to the pair of them talk shop though, mostly about clothes that might work for me. However, they also talked about trading some cloth made from star-spider silk for some of Zenna’s kirgen wool cloth. By the time that I was finished helping them, breakfast was well ready and Vesha and Master Nirlyn were already awake and eating.
It was midmorning by the time we had all of the troupe’s wagons mostly filled with the most valuable and personal possessions of the two hundred or so Fae villagers and were able to get underway. A group of Pixies was flying ahead to scout the road for any more soldiers or Demons since they were small and could easily stay hidden. Our progress was slow though because, with the wagons filled, most of us had to walk. Those of us who could fly could not risk it while still on the Evalis side of the border.
Still, by early evening, we had crossed the border into Kalidar lands, and those of us who could fly ended up scouting ahead for possible new locations for the village of Thaeria. It was not until two days later that we arrived at a spot in the forest that the Fae felt would be suitable and made camp there for the night. Those days had allowed little time for practice. Nevertheless, Shava and I managed to slip in our training sessions before breakfast, and Vesha, Korine, and I managed to get some practice with our instruments after the evening meals.
The next morning we said our farewells to the people of Thaeria village. Now that we had helped them, our pace would be quite a bit faster and things would return to normal as we made our way through Kalidar and then Nalean on our way to Haydin’s capital of Derevik. Normal for the rest of the troupe, not for me.
Since I had joined the troupe, we had been either rushing to try to escape Evalis alive or slowed down with our wagons filled to the brim and more company than we knew what to do with. Now, as we made our way to our destination, we would travel at a leisurely but steady pace and stop to camp outside any towns or cities that we came across for a time to make some coin and barter or buy anything that we might need. The others in the troupe thought that this would be a great time to get me accustomed to the life of a Voyager and I found myself looking forward to that.
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Things settled into a new pattern after we left the Fae of Thaeria village to build their new home. The fully Fae members of the troupe would awake well before dawn and while preparations for the morning meal were underway, I would feed Zaiya. Once the owlet was fed and I had shown her some love, I would leave the wagon while Vesha and Master Nirlyn were still sleeping to start my sword practice with Shava under Sharai’s tutelage.
Sharai would start with control of my body while running through the motions of the first dance while I focused on the way our body was moving and how those motions felt, and then she would watch Shava go through it while occasionally correcting her stance or the way she moved or held her wooden sword. Then she would relinquish control of the body to me and Shava and I would go through the first dance again on our own, with her telling me any corrections or adjustments that Shava or I needed to make. After that followed practicing some of the more important individual motions and techniques that Sharai thought were particularly important to focus on.
Once sword training was done, Shava and I would get some archery practice in. Mostly I was teaching her from what I had learned from my father and my own experience, but sometimes Mara and Hagan would watch us practice and give us both some pointers. It was helping too since Shava was starting to improve and I found myself improving as well, and having to compensate less as I got used to my new Faery body and followed their advice. I was beginning to think that I might come out of this a better archer than I was before.
By the time we were done practicing, breakfast was usually ready, and we would eat as the sun rose. Vesha, Master Nirlyn, Daivin, and the half-human kids would usually come for their own breakfast once we were finished eating and while Joak and Sten were hitching the kirgens up to the wagons for the day’s travel. Then, after cleaning up and packing up camp, we would be on our way for the day.
We traveled at a fast pace to make good time but would start looking for places to make camp by midday. Kirgens can move as fast as a good horse at full speed, even when pulling the wagons, and their stamina is impressive. They could keep going hard until midday and cover what would normally be a full day’s trek for other Voyager caravans, I guess that was part of why Joak had wanted them for our troupe.
Once we set up camp and the Seeming was in place to keep us safe and out of the notice of anyone traveling the same road, we would have a simple meal and then work on whatever we had to do for the rest of the day. Joak and Sten cared for the kirgens and found them a spot to graze, Glimma took care of her owls, and the Bards among us practiced and had lessons. With three apprentices now, Master Nirlyn and Journeyman Daivin decided to teach all three of us general music and Bard teachings at once and have us practice together.
Our group lessons covered diplomacy, manners when dealing with wealthy patrons, music theory, voice control, reading and writing music, harmonization, and composition. I was thrilled that we were learning composition since I wanted to write a song that would do Lorai’s Fading justice. It was a beautiful and melancholy moment that deserved to be recognized and I learned a lot more about her as a person from those who knew her best while we traveled with the Fae of her village and searched for a new place for them to call home. I was itching to write a song about it, I just had no idea how yet.
For any special studies that we wanted to pursue, we had one on one lessons with one of them as well. These private lessons mostly consisted of our individual instruments, and magic for me and Korine since Vesha had no talent for it. Since Daivin was human and couldn’t use magic either, he started giving the Dragonkin lessons on sleight of hand while his daughter/apprentice eagerly joined me in learning magic from Master Nirlyn.
Korine might have been half human but she was also half Changeling so she probably had enough mana that she could learn what Master Nirlyn called spellsinging. Not that we were learning actual magic yet. For the moment, it was largely the theory of magic and the basics of how it works since she wanted us to know that before she started teaching us actual magic, but she promised to teach us more once we had a good grasp of the basics.
Our lessons usually took us well into the evening when those who helped with the cooking finished making the evening meal. We would eat with the rest of the troupe and then be able to relax for the rest of the evening until bed. It was a nice time for me to get to know others from the troupe better and spend some time with Vesha as we explored the possibility of a relationship. Korine seemed to always find some excuse to go talk to the other kids of the troupe or her parents and give us some alone time.
I was supposed to be getting dancing lessons from Selice after dinner, but I had successfully avoided it thus far. It wasn’t that I did not want to learn to dance, I was eager to learn, but wearing the Tien’jin with clothing had proven difficult. If I wore them under the clothes, the light and sounds were too muted, and they would not fit properly over my clothing or sense my movements properly when I could get them to fit over top without awkward bunching.
It was four days after we had left the Fae of Thaeria village when Zenna, the troupe’s seamstress, found me snuggled against Vesha’s warm body and enjoying her company after the evening meal. Apparently, she had come to correct my clothing dilemma. “There you are, Kaelyn, I should have figured you would be with Vesha. Come now, lass, I finally have proper clothes for you, and we had best make sure that everything fits right and proper.”
I was reluctant to leave Vesha’s embrace but I had to be practical, and I did not wish to seem ungrateful to Zenna. She had been working hard on new clothes for me and I did appreciate it, especially since I had been switching between the two sets of Woodwarden clothes that I had gotten since I was first changed. So, after sharing one last quick kiss with Vesha, I stood up and stretched to get some kinks out of my back. “Thank you, Zenna, it will be nice to have something else to wear,” I admitted.
Zenna led me to her family’s wagon and once inside she revealed a stack of clothing on one of the bottom bunks. She had me try on all of it to ensure a proper fit, but the bodices were a little hard to get used to. I had never worn one before and these were different from a normal bodice to allow for my wings. They did not lace up as high on my waist, and ribbons at my collarbone tied behind my neck to keep the upper half from falling open and exposing my breasts.
The bodices were black and made from some of the star-spider silk that we had gotten from the Fae of Thaeria village, with leather laces. I would be showing a lot of skin if I did not wear a cloak with them, but I guess that I would not be alone in that. In fact, if not for my shoulders and upper back being bare, the garments looked much like the bodices favored by every woman in the troupe, save Vesha.
The Dragonkin’s wings were larger than mine and more like a dragon’s, so they would have made even something like my new bodices impossible for her. Thus, she usually favored tunics with a long slit in the back to allow her wings through. A button cinching it at the top of the slit kept the garment from falling off.
The skirts were ankle-length, bright and colorful, and made from the kirgen wool cloth that Zenna wove for most of the troupe’s clothing. There were also head scarves, and long star-spider silk ribbons in various bright colors to compliment the skirts and be woven around the arms from shoulder to wrist in traditional Voyager fashion. Rather than loincloths or breeches, there were form-fitting silk undergarments similar to those that I had gotten from the Woodwarden outpost that Zenna called a moonskin.
“Moonskin?” I wondered aloud as I pulled a pair in place and fastened the ties to keep them secure. They were tight enough against my womanhood that they would have left little to the imagination were I somehow exposed.
“Aye, loose breeches and loincloths can get messy when your moon cycle comes along, so the Fae and we Voyager women wear these. Should your moon cycle come, it will hold a bloodmoss pad in place so you’re not leaving a mess with every step,” Zenna explained. Then she decided to answer my next question before I could ask it. “Bloodmoss is fairly common; you might know it as witch’s moss. It absorbs blood and other liquids well, so we wrap some in a strip of cloth and slip it securely inside our moonskin when our cycle comes.”
“Is that the moss that I see Mara bringing back sometimes when she and Hagen return from scouting or hunting?”
“Aye, she tries to bring some back every day in case any of us need some,” she replied with a nod. “Niryln or Vesha can show you what to do and where to get strips of cloth and the moss when your cycle comes around.”
I continued to try on the rest of the clothes after that. Overall, there were half a dozen skirt and bodice combinations, and twice that many moonskins. They all seemed a good fit but Zenna said that we would need to get me some good sandals when we reached the next town. She did make me a good wool cloak to keep me warm and dry though, and to cover my wings if needed. She felt that it would be warmer than the Woodwarden’s cloak that I was currently using, though she suggested that I would probably want to keep that as well, for warmer weather.
“And last but not least,” Zenna said once I thought that I had tried everything on. She produced something else from her worktable and offered the garments to me. I looked at the tiny bits of violet-dyed star-spider silk in confusion for a moment. The first part looked like a moonskin, but the second piece was confusing, a pair of triangular bits of the same material and color that were connected by braided silk ribbons.
“What… wha…” I…” I sputtered, in confusion and some dread. I had an inkling of an idea what they were for, but I could not possibly reveal so much skin in front of others, it would be scandalous. It was bad enough that most of my arms, shoulders, and back would be bare when wearing my new bodices.
“It’s for your dancing,” she explained, confirming my fears. “You said that clothes were a problem with your Tien’jin, but these won’t get in the way.”
“I should say not, they will barely cover anything! I may as well dance naked!” I retorted as my eyes went wide while I stared at the flimsy garments in my hands.
“Ah, right, you were raised human,” the troupe seamstress said with a sigh. Then she put a hand on my shoulder and offered gently, “You know that we do not have any nudity taboos, Kaelyn. You need to get used to that. You are going to see others unclothed; we will see you that way as well. We have already, every time that you have bathed with the women and children of the troupe. Do not be ashamed of your body, there is no need to hide it from those who care about you and know you.”
My cheeks were bright red. I knew what she was telling me, and she was right, but it was not easy to just discard everything that I knew and do something that human society had told me was wrong my entire life. I was not human though, was I? I had not truly been before, and I certainly was not now. I took a deep breath and nodded. It was not going to be easy to adjust to, but I was a Voyager, and our ways were not human ways. We only pretended to be human sometimes to fit in. “I… I will try it.”
“Good, it should allow you plenty of mobility and it will cover the more personal bits when you practice or perform. Let’s see you with it on and see what you think, Kaelyn.” With that, she showed me how to put the garments on.
The bottom part was easy enough; it was much like the moonskin she had shown me earlier, just a bit thicker to preserve what modesty I might have when this was done. It also had a sheer bit of silk in the same color that draped from my hips to my knees to slightly obscure things between my legs, much like a loincloth would. The top was to be tied behind my lower back and my neck to allow the pair of silk triangles to cover my breasts. “I… Well, I can move in it,” I offered uncertainly as I tried a few stretches, my cheeks bright red.
Zenna looked me over for a long moment before nodding in what seemed to be satisfaction. “Good, it’s a fair fit and it will leave your little baubles free to make their music and pretty lights. I based the outfit on something that scarf dancers among other troupes and the Fae use to dance in and entice the men. I would have made you a face scarf as they wear as well, but concealing your face would do little good.”
“Why is that?” I asked as I tugged nervously at the silk top I was wearing.
“You’re the only Faerie in our troupe, Kaelyn, and your coloring stands out. You can also use glamours to disguise yourself should you need to blend in.” She paused for a moment to let that sink in and then smiled at me. “I’d wager that you’ll be fine once you’ve had some time to get used to being a Faerie and part of our troupe. You had best hurry; Selice is waiting to begin your dance lessons. I’ll run your new clothes to your wagon for you.”
“Thank you, Zenna,” I managed to say before hurrying from the wagon. I did appreciate the new clothes and her taking them to my wagon. I also thought that maybe she was right, and I just needed some time to adjust.
Still, that time had not yet come, and I felt exposed and uncomfortable as I left the wagon to find Selice. That was when Sharai’s voice gently soothed me. -This is your troupe they will not judge you and, as she said, you will get used to this in time. What you wear is not so different than what other Tien’jin dancers have worn before you. When you dance, do not concentrate on how you may appear to others; focus on the music that you wish to make and the movements that will make it possible. That is your passion, and with it, all else will fade away.-
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The night was cool with summer yet on the horizon and my sparse outfit, if indeed such a lack of clothing could be called such, provided no protection against the cool night air. I resorted to summoning a pair of rose-hued faerie fires to provide warmth as I dashed across the camp. My heart was still fluttering in my chest at the thought of being so exposed as I found Selice waiting by the wagon that she and Daivin shared with their two children; seven-year-old Torin, and my fellow Bardic apprentice, Korine.
The dancer was waiting for me, sitting upon a wooden bench that had likely been brought out from their wagon, and I stopped in my tracks as she looked up at my approach and seemed to assess both my sparse clothing and the body that it failed to properly cover. My cheeks flushed red in response and I looked down at the floor as I awkwardly attempted to cover myself with my hands. “I… umm… Zenna said that you wished to start my lessons? Should I… go put my Tien’jin on?” I inquired hesitantly.
Selice shook her head and smiled. “No, dear, you won’t be needing them tonight. Wear them tomorrow night though, so we can get an idea of what movements will cause them to make sounds. Tonight I will just be running you through some basic stretches and exercises so I can get a feel for what you are capable of and what we will need to work on going forward.”
With that, Selice stood up and began stretching her limber body in various ways, which she had me copy to the best of my ability. I was surprised at my ability to move my body, she had to correct me on the precise way to place my limbs occasionally, but my Faerie body was already very flexible and my sword practice with Sharai had helped with that. I was not quite able to contort my body in some of the ways that my new teacher could, but she believed that it would not take me long to get to that point. As long as we did those stretches every day at the start of our practice, I would be able to focus on learning the various movements and timing them with the music.
Learning new ways to move my body was something that I was getting used to from learning to use my sword, but while I was starting to get a feel for the sword technique and feeling Neva’kul as part of myself, this was different. Selice was teaching me to be aware of my body; how to move it gracefully, fluidly, and with a smooth subtlety not needed with my sword lessons. It was not just my arms and legs either. There was the tilt of my head, the expression on my face, and the positioning of my fingers when I reached out my hand. Everything was purposeful and meant to be visually captivating to those watching, with an exacting precision that had to appear as if it took little or no thought or effort.
It was much harder than she made it look, though she assured me that, in time and with constant practice, it would come as naturally as breathing. I sighed but nodded as she made that claim since Sharai had told me much the same about learning to use the sword and felt that these dance lessons would help with that. I found that Voyager dancing was not like the simple jigs that I has been picturing in my mind, it was delicate sweeping movements, keeping one’s body in constant motion, and even interacting with one’s environment as if planned without faltering and making it all seem intended and natural.
“Worry not, Kaelyn, much like your sword practice; we will get you used to the flow of your body and the ways to express it,” she assured me as we took a brief break. “These movements are just to get you aware of your body; how it moves, and how to express yourself with that movement, much like how you smile when happy or frown when deep in thought. It is a stepping-stone. Voyagers do not choreograph our movements because each dance is unique to the moment. We do not just move our bodies to the music; we feel the music, we embody it.”
“How do we embody the music?” I inquired as I tried to understand what she was saying.
“A song can change in subtle ways with each playing; the tempo, the way that the environment carries the sound, the mood of the musicians, and even the audience can contribute to this. Don’t think about how your body should move to the music, let each note guide you to become the music as it is in the moment and show that through your movements, the expression on your face, and the way that you carry yourself,” she replied.
“But to use the Tien’jin, will I not have to move the same way each time I play a song?”
“Change can be subtle, Kaelyn. Even if the general movements of the body are the same the nuances of those motions can change, as can a smile when you are truly happy or just attempting to appear so. I believe that the path to learning to make music through dance is to become one with the music. Once you can feel the music as it is in the moment and make others see it, you should be able to feel the songs in your heart as well and play them through your dance.”
“Feel the song in my heart…” I trailed off with a sigh. Aishlin had told me something similar but I was not certain that I would ever be able to truly grasp what either of them meant.
Selice offered a patient smile as she placed a hand reassuringly on my bare shoulder. “I do not expect you to find it quickly, or easily, Kaelyn. Every dance begins with but a single step, as does the journey to finding oneself, and you are here taking that step. Other steps invariably follow that first one and become easier to feel as the dance progresses. Do not overthink the motion, feel it, and allow it to take you to your destination.”
“How did someone who looks so young get to be so wise?” I wondered to myself. It was easy to forget sometimes that she had a daughter who was almost as old as me and Vesha. But then, my grandparents looked as young as she did.
-Remember that she, and most of the other members of your troupe, is a Changeling, Kaelyn. Fae do not show physical signs of aging once we reach maturity. She could very well be hundreds or even thousands of years old or not much older than she looks, the only way to be sure would be for her to offer that information. She likely learned these lessons once, just as you are now. True wisdom is knowing that you are not wise, and accepting the wisdom offered to you,- Sharai chided me from within my mind.
“Aye,” I responded to both of them after a moment of thought. Then I turned to Selice and inquired, “What is the next step then?”
The dancer laughed and smiled patiently. “The next step will be as much work for me as it will be for you, but I must admit that I am looking forward to the challenge. I can help you to become comfortable and natural in the movements of most of your body, but I do not possess wings. You and Sharai will need to teach me so I can help you to properly exercise them and master their movements in your dance as well. May I have a strand of your hair, Kaelyn?”
I managed to shake off my surprise enough to nod and plucked a single lavender hair to hand to Selice. She took it carefully and pondered it with a pensive expression before shrugging and removing her clothing as she explained. “You Faerie are quite tall and I would probably damage my clothes if I shifted with them on.”
She was right; most of the Voyager women in the troupe were at least half a head shorter than me, and even many of the men of the troupe were not quite at eye level with me. I was only now starting to get used to my change in height by having to look down at nearly everyone but Vesha. I tried to concentrate on that thought and not on her now naked body as my cheeks flushed. She was naked, and I was not far off either in my dancing ‘clothes’. Oh look, she is shifting; I should watch that, preferably her face.
I tried to do just that and it was not hard to focus on. The change was somewhat drastic in appearance, much as it had been with me, though she just seemed to flow from one form to the other and thankfully avoided the extremely painful transformation that I had gone through. I guess that was because she was only really shifting to appear as a Faerie on the surface and not changing completely as I had.
I had seen others shifting before, of course, but usually they were shifting into an animal or bird and the changes were more obvious and jarring that way. The shift did not take but a moment, and in that time, her face changed its features as if a master sculptor was working with clay, her skin became paler, she grew taller and her eyes and hair shifted to match my own. Then it was like looking at a living mirror.
She had become my duplicate in every way and it was somewhat shocking to hear my own voice say, “Hmmm, perhaps I should get Zenna to make a second outfit like the one you’re wearing. She already has the measurements and we could do some very captivating paired dancing together like this. I know of some wealthy men who would pay well to see twins dancing together, especially Faerie twins.”
She looked like me, and she was standing there naked where anyone that might walk by could see. “Yes! Please get her to do that if you plan on using my body often for these lessons!” I blurted out, my face bright red. “W-why do you look like me anyway?! I did not look anything like Sharai when I became a Faerie!”
My copy sighed but told me patiently, “You need to get used to casual nudity, Kaelyn. It will be difficult to avoid with our troupe and, believe me; you have nothing to be ashamed of. As for why I look like you, I used your hair for my shift and that means I copy you, not just some generic Faerie. With a permanent shift, like what you went through, it works differently; the blood provides the template of the species that you copy and the physical changes that go with it, but you become who would have been if born to that species. You are still yourself at your core though, and still have the blood and soul of a Changeling, so the surface changes reflect that and not the person whose blood you used. It is why your face still resembles your mother’s and grandparents’ so much.”
“S-sorry, it was just a bit startling. I have never seen any of you copy another person before,” I said as I looked away and tried to stop blushing.
“We do not copy people often,” she admitted. “As you can see, it is an ability that could easily be abused, so we try not to do so without good reason. In this case, it will be useful for your training.”
“And how would pretending to be my twin for the humans be useful?” I mumbled as I thought of her errant comment earlier.
“Oh, that’s easy,” she replied with a mischievous grin. “It would be fun, of course, and a good bit of mischief. I wasn’t lying about the money that we could make doing that occasionally either. I’m not talking about mere coppers or even silvers. We could get paid in gold if we played our cards right.”
I had to admit that it was tempting when she put it like that. Having some gold set aside would make things a lot easier if the troupe hit hard times for some reason down the road, and then there was the allure of mischief. Like any self-respecting Fae, Changelings love pranks and fun little deceptions from time to time, it was part of why the Voyager ruse and hiding their Fae heritage held enough interest for them to try to blend in as mere eccentric and mysterious traveling humans. I was no different. Despite the tension at the time, I had greatly enjoyed making fools of the priest and the two guards that I had fought in Majair.
Despite my current embarrassment, I found a smile twitching at my lips at the thought of pulling one over some rich and self-important humans with my ‘twin’. “I shall consider it,” I told her, not bothering to hide the smile that had now fully formed at the thought.
“Excellent,” she replied with a gleeful cackle. It took us both a moment to compose ourselves so we could get back to the serious work of training. “Now, tell me, Kaelyn. Does Sharai have any useful information on how I can get used to having wings, and any exercises for them?”
Sharai didn’t seem to have much that would help. As she had told me after I first changed, all Faerie are born with natural instincts for using their wings and flying. She did have some exercises for wing control that would help us learn to move each of our four wings independently, but Selice would have to get a feel for having them first. Sharai decided that the best way, since she wouldn’t be able to fly without a permanent shift, was to have me stand behind her and move her wings for her so she could get used to the sensations.
It was late and we were both getting very tired when Selice finally had us stop for the night. We had gotten far enough that she had a good idea of what she would need to do to practice working with wings a bit during the day inside her wagon while we were on the road, and she had my strand of hair in a safe place so that she could shift when she had the time to practice. Before I left to return to my wagon, she reminded me to wear my Tien’jin when I came to her the next night after dinner to continue my training.
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Over the next few days, I was very busy as our troupe traveled eastward. It was a good thing that Fae do not require as much sleep as humans because I needed all of the extra hours that I could get. I continued to wake well before dawn to have my lessons in using a sword alongside my cousin. First, Sharai would guide my body through the movements, and then have me try to replicate it on my own before briefly taking over my body once more to instruct Shava.
We would keep going until breakfast, and then after eating, our caravan would be on the road once again. When I wasn’t driving the wagon, I would be either having lessons with Master Nirlyn or practicing with Vesha. We practiced our preferred instruments, vocal work, and various other tasks set by our Master, though we would also occasionally take breaks so I could feed and care for Zaiya. These breaks to care for my owlet also allowed Vesha and me to snuggle and talk.
Despite my feelings and attraction to the Dragonkin, we were taking our relationship slowly as we tried to get to know one another better. As much as I was attracted to her and wanted to give a relationship between us a chance, I was still getting used to the idea that two women, let alone two women of different species could have such a relationship. Vesha seemed to realize that, and she was giving me time to adjust.
Once the caravan stopped for the day, Korine and I would have lessons on the basics of spellsinging with Master Nirlyn while the camp was being set up for the night and the evening meal was being prepared. After dinner, I would return to our wagon to feed Zaiya and put on my Tien’jin and the sparse clothing that Zenna had made me for practicing my dancing. Then I had my dance lessons with Selice.
As self-conscious as I was while dancing in little more than scraps of cloth and my Tien’jin, I did have to admit that Master Niryln had been wise to encourage these lessons. The various exercises that Selice would put me through to warm up were helping me to become more aware of my body and how it could move. Those first few nights, Selice was still trying to get used to having wings while in my copied form so we mainly focused on those exercises, teaching me basic movements of Fae dancing, and experimenting with what movements would cause the crystals of the Tien’jin to create sounds.
Usually, by the time I got cozy in my bunk each night, it was not long before sleep claimed me. I was exhausted, but I was determined to keep it up. I could feel that all of the work that I was putting in was beginning to show results and I needed to keep pushing myself. I desperately wanted to master using Neva’kul so I could get vengeance upon the Demons, send them back where they came from, and ensure that they and their nameless God would never plague our world again.
As much as I wanted that though, I also wanted to become a Bard worthy of my mother and my Master. My mother had taught me to love music, but I did not appreciate how truly talented she had been until I met Master Nirlyn. She said that many of the songs that my mother had taught me had been her own compositions, and I wanted to create music like that too. Few bards have the potential to become a master in the guild, but had my mother not chosen to take a leave to have a family she could have been one of those few.
She was a rare talent, Master Nirlyn said. She had taught me well and Master Nirlyn believed that I had inherited that talent as well as her love for music. If I could show progress toward mastering a fifth instrument, especially one as rare and difficult as the Tien’jin, and devoted myself to my other lessons, then I would probably be ready to take the Journeyman tests with Vesha when we arrived in Derevik. It would take us roughly two months, or a little longer, to get there and I wanted to use that time to learn everything that I could.
The one thing that concerned me was that our detour to the Bardic Guild headquarters would more than double the time that it would take us to travel to Tarin’dol directly. That would be more time for the Demons and their Church to grow in power and spread their influence further. As much as Sharai wanted me to be able to pursue my dreams, I could tell that this was weighing on her mind as well.
We need not have worried. My grandparents had taken my dire warnings about the Church and Demons very seriously, it would seem. The night before we had left the new location of Thaeria village, Glimma had sent owls bearing message tubes. One was from Master Nirlyn and bound for the Bardic Guild in Derevik, and it contained all of the information that my Master had thought was important to relay on the current situation.
The other owl was sent to an old friend of my grandparents who was a warrior priestess in Zhahimel. There were two copies of a letter in that tube, one meant for the High Priestess of the Daughters of Zhahime and the other was to be sent to Tarin’dol by the fastest means possible. The village elders of Thaeria had also planned on sending a Pixie messenger with an oral message directly to the Fae Council in Tarin’dol after we left the village.
Hopefully, by the time that we arrived in Tarin’dol, one of those messages will have arrived and the Fae Council would be gathering its resources and planning a course of action. Maybe they would be able to contact the bearers of the other Vos’oraik by then as well. There was not much else that I could personally do at this point, and the message would probably reach Tarin’dol faster than I could while traveling on my own.
I had to trust in my grandparents and my Master and hope for the best. In the meantime, I would devote myself to working hard so I would be ready to fight when the time came, and so I could learn as much as I could from my teachers until then. So, when I woke up this morning I was prepared for another long day of hard work and practice.
Sharai announced yesterday that I had become fluid and natural enough at the first dance, Säel’Eräde, to move on to learning the second dance, Säel’Uíre. Where the first dance was the very basics of Fae swordsmanship, the second dance was meant to build upon those basics with new footwork, various counters, assaults, and dodging and parrying techniques to buy time and get the measure of one’s opponent while awaiting an opening. As Sharai guided my body through the motions of the second dance, and then had me work on the various individual motions on my own under her instruction, Shava was doggedly working on trying to master the motions of the first dance.
I could tell that my cousin was frustrated that she was progressing slower than I was, especially as I helped her to make corrections to her form while she attempted to make her way through the entire first dance. It was not helping her focus as I guided her through archery practice afterward, which only served to make her even more despondent. She seemed so disappointed by the time we finally stopped to eat breakfast that I decided to have a word with her as we ate.
“Shava, you are progressing well, even Sharai is impressed by how hard you are working at mastering the first dance,” I told her as I placed an arm around her shoulders.
She shrugged my arm off as she looked vacantly down at her meal. “Then how come I’m not ready for the second dance?”
“You are not being fair to yourself, Shava,” I told her gently. “You are only ten summers old, I have been learning longer than you have, and I have Sharai helping to guide my body through the movements until I get used to them.”
-May I have a word with her?- Sharai asked. Without a word, I agreed by stepping back mentally and allowing her control. “Child, Kaelyn is correct. My connection to her gives her distinct advantages to learning what I am teaching. You are learning the way that I did, the way that most people learn, though you are starting your lessons far earlier in your life than I did. You are gifted, determined to learn, and you are learning much faster than I did when I began my lessons. Do not compare your progress to hers; focus on learning and improving as you have been until now.”
Having said her piece, Sharai returned control of my body to me. “And when you focus properly, you have been doing as well with archery as you have with the sword, especially since Hagen and Mara made you a bow and arrows more suited to your size. Do not allow anyone to doubt your ability or resolve, especially not you.”
“I… I guess so, I just want to get better,” my cousin offered uncertainly as she picked at her food.
“And you are,” I told her honestly. “Every day the motions become more natural to you and Sharai has to get me to correct your form less. Your aim with your bow gets better each day as well. I know that you want to learn faster and to be honest so do I, but all that either of us can do to make that happen is to continue doing our best. Now eat up, we need to start breaking up camp soon so we can get back on the road.”
It was not long after that when Master Nirlyn, Vesha, and the few others of the troupe who were not completely Fae, and thus needed more sleep, joined us. Much of the talk over breakfast was about our travel plans. Grandma was hoping that we would reach the town of Loden before sunset that evening. Unlike the small village that we had passed by a couple of days ago, this was a town and with the amount of people there, it would be a good place to stop for a day or two to make some coin and stock up on supplies. I could probably buy some proper sandals there and look through the shops for other things that I might need as well.
After Loden, it would take us roughly a week to get to Hindra, the capital of Kalidar. Hindra was a large trading city on Soren Bay and would mark the halfway point of our trip through Kalidar. Once out of Kalidar, it would take us at least another two weeks to travel through Nalean and then we would have to make our way through Haydin to the capital of Derevik on the east coast. We could either travel there by the roads, which would take upward of two weeks or hope to catch a boat willing to carry our caravan down the Afshan River in the town of Rivermeet. The latter would shave more than a week off our trip, but my grandparents were uncertain whether we could find a trustworthy captain willing to transport our troupe and our wagons downriver.
It was as we were discussing our options once we eventually reached Rivermeet, that Wilden let out a shrill whistle, drawing everyone’s attention to where he sat with his wife Tanna, and their daughter Jaya. Our troupe Healer wore a look of concern as he sat there, his eyes focused on those of his wife. I could not blame him since her eyes had my attention as well, now that I was looking in her direction. They were glowing with an eerie green light, visible even across the fire in the morning light.
Tanna spoke in a voice that did not sound like her own, the pitch and cadence unfamiliar and strange. “Where the path diverges today, so too must the path of the blade bearer and the child of fire. Their Vel’Nassar awaits them near the darkness to the north. If they can solve the riddle, they shall find their proof in the shadows of the past. Blade bearer; seek out the sister of spirit and steel. She is the prize you seek, but not the prize you need. The dark defender bears the key to your safe passage. Child of fire; seek your truth. Deep within the catacombs, the eternal flame holds your answers, and your salvation. Fear not the darkness when embraced by the light.”
The moment that the last word left her lips, that eerie light left Tanna’s eyes and she collapsed. For a moment, silence fell over the troupe, as the words seemed to have frozen everybody. The words had burned themselves into my mind but there was one thing that stumped me. I had no idea what a Vel’Nassar was. -A Divine task?- Sharai asked in a mix of wonder and confusion.
Master Nirlyn was the first to speak, a grim expression on her face. “There can only be one place, tha’ she could ‘ave meant. I am no’ sendin’ m’ apprentices off alone t’ a Gods-damned dark zone!”
A dark zone. One of the places that all Fae avoided, places so corrupted by the dark rituals of the Demons and their God during the war with them, that even thousands of years later the flow of mana was still contaminated. There would be Tainted there, and the risk of becoming Tainted ourselves.
I was beginning to panic about that until my grandmother gave my Master a withering glare. “Nirlyn, I know that you feel responsible for these girls, and care for them, but this is their decision to make. Tanna did not say that they would need to enter the dark zone; she said that their Vel’Nassar would take place near it. For Vesha, it even makes sense; this is near where you found her as a babe after all. I can sense the Goddess’s hand in this.”
“W-what is this all about?” I asked uncertainly.
“The Vel’Nassar is a tradition that we Voyagers began not long after the Great War when there were few of us left, and we first began to wander the world pretending to be Humans,” my grandfather explained. “Instead of forcing our children to wait to be considered adults until they reached fifty years of age, we began a rite of passage. If the troupe believes a youngling who has reached eighteen years of age to be mature enough, they will ask Hespira for guidance and assign that child a task to fulfill in Her name, to prove that they are truly ready to wear the rings of an adult. When they return with the proof that the task has been done, they are considered an adult.”
Uncle Bryden was frowning as he added, “It’s usually a task chosen by the troupe, something to challenge them without truly risking their lives. Only rarely has the Goddess actually intervened with direct guidance like this. It is no coincidence that Tanna has received this vision now. Not when we are so close to the place where we first found Vesha, and on the day of Kaelyn’s birth no less. One of Tanna’s visions guided us to Kaelyn as well, at a very specific place and time, and our path since then has brought us here.”
I did not even realize that it was my birthday today. I knew the date of my birth of course; it was mentioned in my mother’s letters, and I had vague memories of celebrating it before my parents had been murdered. I also knew that it was now nearing the summer solstice and that I would be turning eighteen soon, but I had long ago stopped keeping track of the days to focus on my survival. I found myself considering the words of Tanna’s vision though, they seemed important, and I felt like I needed to do this, no matter how dangerous it might be. It was not about proving myself though, something about this called to me.
There was a lot of arguing while I was lost in my thoughts. Master Nirlyn did not want either of us going anywhere near a dark zone, especially on our own. The troupe had finally found me after all of these years and she did not want them to risk losing me again, maybe for good this time. Aunt Seville pointed out that we would not have to go alone. Our tasks were not mutually exclusive, nor did the vision state that we needed to do so on our own. In fact, it seemed to imply that we should do so together.
Mara also pointed out that we both had the means to defend ourselves or just fly away and join the troupe in Loden if we had second thoughts or things became too dangerous. As much as they all had opinions though, they all knew that the decision was not theirs to make. It was ours, and we both had reasons to want to go. I could feel something; I was needed there, and the vision had heavily hinted that Vesha would find the answers that she sought about herself there.
We had made our decision and as soon as we had done so, my grandparents ordered everyone to break up camp so we could get back on the road. Vesha drove our wagon for the morning so that Master Nirlyn would be fresh to take the reins after the midday meal until the troupe arrived at Loden. I could not be sure whether she was just worried about us, or angry with us for our decision, as she guided me through my lessons, but it hurt to know that we had upset her so. Still, I did not renege on my decision or attempt to excuse it, I just asked her to trust in us.
It was slightly before noon when we reached the crossroads. From there, continuing eastward would have the troupe arriving in Loden in a few hours. The road to the northeast was less traveled, barely more than a rough track that would take travelers to the tiny village of Novare. The third branch was another major road that turned southwest and traveled through western Kalidar and then into Scorcia.
As we all broke for lunch, Master Nirlyn told us that this was the crossroads where she had first found Vesha and the shattered remains of her egg. There was a sad and distant look on her face as she said, “Ya were weak an’ hungry then, lass, an’ I needed t’ nurse ya t’ health an’ keep ya safe. Yer strong now, but yer like a daughter ta me, so I’m always goin’ ta worry ‘bout ya. Kaelyn, yer ma sister’s daughter, an’ ya remind me so much o’ yer mother at times. She was an ‘ardheaded pain in the arse sometimes too. Ya both better come back ta meet us in Loden.”
“I need to do this… Mama, I need to find out who I am,” Vesha said tearfully as she hugged the Ravieri Bard.
“Ya haven’ called me tha’ since I took ya as m’ apprentice,” Master Nirlyn replied, her voice wavering.
“I wanted to be a proper apprentice to you, Mama, but you will always be my mother. I’m sorry if you ever thought that I stopped thinking of you that way. You raised me, and I love you. That will never change, no matter what I discover about myself,” the Dragonkin replied, burying her head in her mother’s neck and wrapping her large wings around them both.
I cursed my sharp hearing as I attempted to let them have their moment. We had already said our farewells to the rest of the troupe and promised to try to be safe. They were all a little worried about us, but they also knew what we were capable of, and we had Tanna’s vision to help us. My grandparents were very particular about that. They made sure that I remembered the exact wording of the prophecy and warned me to use those words as my guide. They told me that Tanna’s visions were almost never wrong, and always contained the clues needed for success.
Once my Master and fellow apprentice had collected themselves somewhat and separated, I tried to appear confident. “We will be fine, Master Nirlyn. We will do our best to keep each other safe and my magic sense should help us to stay clear of the dark zone itself. We will meet you all in Loden soon. Please, take care of Zaiya for me while we are gone.”
“I will, lass, but if yer no’ back wi’ the troupe by sunset t’morrow, I’m comin’ after ya.” she stated after an awkward silence. That was the deal that we had made, to reassure her and the others in the troupe, and we were all bound to that promise. It gave us nearly a day and a half to find what we were searching for before the others considered our Vel’Nassar a failure and sent out search parties to find us, or what was left of us. With that grim thought in my mind, Vesha and I took to the sky and flew northward.
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It took over an hour of flying before we could see the dark zone. I felt it before I saw it, a bone-deep chill and the sickening sensation from mana so polluted by the evil magic of the Demons that I could feel my very soul recoiling in horror at its mere existence. Visually, it was a vast circle of black and blighted landscape, long left within death’s unrelenting grasp. “It is all dead,” I muttered as I looked away and tried not to throw up.
-Aye, Kaelyn, naught grows or lives in the dark zones, at least, nothing good,- Sharai warned. -Be cautious, even outside the dark zone, you might encounter that which was fouled within. Where there are dark zones there are Tainted, and worse yet, Darklings. The latter seldom stray far from the dark mana that spawned them though, lest they lose what mockery of life they possess.-
“Darklings? And why would they do that if they need the tainted mana to survive?” I asked. I knew that Tainted were people, animals, or other living things who were changed by long-term exposure to corrupted mana into monstrous creatures. I had never heard the other term though.
-Aye, Darklings. Souls of Faded Fae who died within a dark zone, forever tainted by dark mana and unable to return to the Weave. Shadowy parodies of what they once were in life and jealous of the living, especially Fae.-
I shivered at the thought but fortunately, the terrifying thoughts that brought to mind were scattered as Vesha’s voice asked, “Are you alright, Kaelyn?”
“Aye,” I managed after a moment and a deep breath to calm my mind. “Sharai was just warning me that we should be wary of Tainted and Darklings, even if we do not enter the dark zone itself.”
Vesha gave a grim nod of agreement. “She’s right. Let’s try and find these catacombs that Tanna mentioned. I want to finish this quest as soon as possible; I do not want to be wandering around here after the sun sets. If we do have to make camp somewhere, I would rather find someplace that can be easily defended.”
I was in full agreement with the Dragonkin and quickly scanned the ground around the dark zone. “Catacombs…” I turned the word over upon my tongue, considering what it might imply, and went over the prophecy in my mind again and again as we flew around the perimeter of the dark zone while keeping a safe distance. It was half an hour later that I spotted what looked like unusual rock formations poking up through the treetops, and one great spire that looked out of place somehow among the trees.
I could see the strange rock formations stretching into the dark zone as well, there was a sort of pattern to them. Wait, those were ruins. “Vesha, look there!” I called out. “Tanna said that we would find our proof in the shadows of the past!”
The ruins were vast, easily as large as the city of Majair though most of it was rubble, long since reclaimed by nature. There was little remaining now except for the occasional intact building jutting up past the treetops and the strange tower, but the fact that anything still stood at all after several millennia was a testament to the Ancient Ones. Ironically, it looked like the ruins within the dark zone fared better than outside, but I was not about to risk venturing there to explore them. Besides, we had a time limit, one that was passing faster than I liked.
It was nearing sunset now, leaving us little more than a day to finish our task and meet our troupe in Loden, and we had yet to find anything in these ruins that might lead us into the catacombs spoken of in the prophecy. We had looked through rubble and inside what few buildings that had, by some miracle, remained standing after so long, but we were getting nowhere.
I sat upon a moss-covered stone near another pile of ancient rubble that had yielded nothing and let out a sigh. There was too much of this ancient city for us to haphazardly search before our time was up. Perhaps it was time for a break while we figured out a proper plan. “Maybe we should find a secure place to make camp for the night, Vesha. The shadows are growing long, and this place makes me uneasy.”
Vesha’s shoulders sagged. I was fairly certain that she was feeling as disappointed as I was, but then she stood up straight and turned to look at me with wide eyes, “Wait, what did you just say?”
“I said that we should probably find a place to make camp,” I repeated wearily.
“No! The other part!” she exclaimed with a grin as she pointed toward the tallest of the towers that we had yet seen, a strange fusion of stone and metal that had withstood the test of time better than its counterparts. “You said the shadows are getting long, what if we’ve been going at this all wrong? What if, instead of looking at the rubble and in the buildings themselves, we need to look in the shadows they cast? In the shadows of the past.”
I was back on my feet in an instant as I realized that she might just be on to something. That was the riddle we needed to solve, and Vesha had probably just done so. “We need to hurry; we do not have long before the sun sets.”
As if by some unconscious accord, we both took to the air and flew straight for the tower, as it cast the largest shadow. I found myself watching the shadows uneasily as we traversed the city, but it was not solely to search for what we sought. This place made me uneasy, and I feared that there might be more in those shadows than our goal, something evil.
The tower cast a large shadow, it almost reached the dark zone to the east of us, and we had to search quickly. I could probably keep searching even after sunset with my night vision, but Vesha had no such advantage. The last light was nearly upon us when I spotted stone steps leading underground. I had almost missed them as they had been partially buried in the collapse of the large building that had once sheltered them.
I quickly called Vesha over and she had to be practically on top of the steps and summon a flame to her hand before she could see the opening in the fading light. “Good job, Kaelyn, I think this is it. Let’s go, maybe we can find a defendable spot to get some rest. We are far too close to the dark zone for my comfort.”
“I can sense dark magic down there. It is faint but moving, and there is more than one source. There are probably Tainted down there,” I cautioned. “At least the tunnel seems to be moving away from the dark zone, judging by where I’m sensing the movement.”
“Torr’s hairy balls!” she cursed in response, a frown darkening her face. “It looks like we’re not going to get through this trial without some sort of fight. Can you tell how close and how many?”
I shook my head, mirroring her frown. “It is hard to say. We are far too close to the dark zone and it has… a presence. It is making sensing magic difficult, especially anything similar to the corrupted mana there. It will become easier as we move away from the dark zone but…”
Suddenly, Vesha shoved me roughly to the side, hissing in pain as her arm took a thrust that would have likely skewered me from behind. Her scales had taken the blow but even they had not completely protected her and I could see small rivulets of blood in the light of the flames that erupted from her mouth to send the shadowy creature back several steps. I had not even sensed its approach with the interference from the nearby dark zone and as I got a good look at it in the light of Vesha’s flames, Sharai’s voice exclaimed, -A Darkling!-
It reminded me of a Demon outside a corporeal body, smoke and shadow vainly holding on to the shape and form the creature had once had as a Fae. In life, she had probably once been a Faerie, like me. I could not make out any distinct features, save for the balefully glowering crimson eyes, but she was similar to me in shape and size, and wisps of darkness behind her parodied my wings.
She wore silvery-blue armor that mostly covered her shadowy form from the neck down, including a full plate cuirass with an attached chainmail skirt of sorts that reached mid-thigh on her. Thick plated pauldrons, vambraces, gauntlets, greaves, and sabatons were also worn over finely woven chainmail leggings and a hooded coif. The armor shone in the light of Vesha’s flames and did not look like it had ever seen a day of battle. The strangest thing though, was her sword; an unnatural swirling mix of light and shadow.
Vesha’s flames had seemed to surprise the Darkling more than hurt her and she turned away from the Dragonkin to leap at me once again with a scream of fury. I let Sharai take control and she rolled our body backward before getting to our feet and drawing Neva’kul to parry the Darkling’s attack in one smooth motion. “Vesha, you cannot harm this one, it is neither living nor corporeal. Only magic can hope to stand against such a creature, and Neva’kul is a magical blade,” she warned in our voice.
“Can we harm it?” I thought at her nervously.
-I… do not know. I have never attempted to fight a shade such as this, and that armor is completely made from moonsilver, heavily enchanted as well to be in such pristine condition. I shall need to attack the unprotected areas,- was her reply as she parried another attack and countered with a thrust toward the creature's unprotected head as I felt her channeling my body’s mana into the blade.
Neva’kul passed right through the creature’s head as if it was the smoke it resembled, only seeming to anger her further. She used the thrust against us, forcing Sharai to roll our body to the side to prevent her strange blade, which had somehow switched hands in the blink of an eye, from getting inside our guard.
“How did she switch hands so fast?!” I seethed as we got to our feet just in time to block another frenzied attack. “And I thought you said that Neva’kul could hurt her!”
-The blade is probably the corrupted remnant of the gift she had in life, and I said that magic was our only hope, not that it was certain to work,- Sharai snapped back. Her frustration was understandable. We both knew that eventually, she was going to tire and when that happened, I would be facing the Darkling alone, without the benefit of Sharai’s fighting experience. If we could not hurt it, even with Neva’kul, how were we going to live through this?
Our fight raged on and sunset had faded into twilight. I was glad for the speed and agility that our body possessed as Sharai, parried, dodged, and backed out of the reach of another rapid flurry of attacks. Without her guiding my body, I would likely be dead by now. Thanks to Sharai, our opponent had yet to so much as scratch me, but that wasn’t going to last. Our breathing was becoming labored, her attacks were coming closer and closer to hitting each time, and we still had no way to actually hurt the Darkling.
Sharai had even tried using magic, but what small spells that she knew were not offensive in nature. They did not bother the Darkling any more than Vesha’s flames had, everything seemed to just pass right through it if it wasn’t stopped by the armor first. She was swiftly tiring from appending so much time in control of my body while casting spells and infusing mana into Neva’kul whenever she attacked possible weak spots.
-Kaelyn, I will need to rest soon. You may have to use Tamisun’s glyph to increase your speed and reflexes. If you must do that, use mine as well. Perhaps you can escape using your copies as a distraction,- Sharai told me tiredly. –I am sorry, I should have learned to use more magic than simple cantrips when I was alive, as Tamisun told me. I always thought that I would have plenty of time to learn.-
How could we beat this thing? It was more annoying than fighting Demons. At least Demons were reliant on a physical body that you could kill. Then they could be destroyed with the purifying flames of faerie fire. Wait. This thing was a Fae soul, corrupted by the tainted mana in the dark zone. Maybe Sharai was right about using magic after all.
“Sharai, cast a faerie fire!” My projected thought surprised her as she deflected the Darkling’s weapon wearily and leaped backward to put some distance between us, but one brief glimpse at what I was thinking had her quickly summoning a massive rose-hued faerie fire that completely encompassed our adversary. Her screams were torturous, and it took longer to purify her than any of the Demons that I had done so with. Sharai relinquished control of my body once she was certain that it was working and Vesha approached as soon as the screaming began and for a time, the pair of us stood there silently as we watched my flames consume the Darkling.
Finally, the screaming stopped, the empty armor crashed to the ground, and a naked translucent figure stepped out from inside the flames, closing the distance between us. She was a Faerie with long red-gold hair and amber eyes and wings, and I allowed my flames to vanish since I suspected that their work was now done. Vesha was about to step between us, but the spirit smiled and shook her head as she simply stepped through the Dragonkin’s extended arm.
I was exhausted but I remained standing as the spirit took my hands in hers, eliciting a shiver all the way up my arms and down my spine. “Thank you for setting me free, youngling, may this gift keep you safe,” the woman’s voice whispered as a burning agony was seared into the back of my left hand. When she removed her hands from mine, I saw a strange golden glyph on the back of her left hand, one that matched the one now on my hand, where the burning sensation had been a moment before.
The apparition stepped away, briefly casting a sorrowful look toward Vesha, or rather her arm. The scales were turning black where the Darkling’s first blow had managed to penetrate her scales. “I am sorry, young Salamander, the darkness spreads. Hurry to the chamber of fire.” She was quickly fading from sight as she gave that last warning and when the last word left her lips, she burst into countless motes of light. The lights swirled around us in one final farewell before floating up into the sky and fading from sight.
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Vesha saw me staring at the black scales and frowned as she attempted to get me to focus on something else. “What is that mark on your hand, Kaelyn? The spirit mentioned a gift.”
I glanced at the odd-looking golden glyph on the back of my left hand, but I had no idea what it might be. Sharai’s mental voice sounded very tired as she offered, -It is a binding glyph, though I have not seen such a thing since I was in Tarin’dol.-
Sharai went on to explain that they were far more common during the war with the Demons, but that some noble families still used them today. Nobles of high station would use them to bind an enchanted object to themselves, or several, since more enchantments could be bound once the mark was imbued in their flesh. The imbuing process was expensive though and only the upper echelon of Fae nobility could usually afford it. The marks could be passed down to a chosen heir when one was dying though, so there were some binding glyphs that had been passed down through families since the war. Any enchanted objects bound to the glyph would then be passed on to the heir as well.
-In your case, Kaelyn, I would assume that her armor was bound to the glyph; moonsilver armor is expensive, even for high nobles, and she would have wanted to ensure that it could not be stolen or fall into the wrong hands. In armor from the war, it was often enchanted so that it could be summoned when needed, to reduce its weight, to magically repair any damage to it, and to keep itself in pristine condition. I would assume, given its condition, that this set of armor has such enchantments,- the Faerie spirit concluded.
“The dark defender bears the key to your safe passage,” I muttered, quoting Tanna’s prophecy. I quickly explained it to Vesha and we both stared at the armor that was laying on the ground. Still, in that brief silence, I found my eyes drawn back to the blackening scales on Vesha’s arm. “What is happening to her?” I asked Sharai in concern.
Sharai wearily explained, -She was stabbed with a weapon made from concentrated tainted mana and I believe that it is corrupting her from within. She is becoming Tainted. It is happening slowly, but being so close to the dark zone is probably not helping her, Kaelyn.-
My heart skipped a beat. “No! She cannot… Surely, there must be something we can do. It... it has not progressed far, perhaps we could use faery fire to purify her?”
-Kaelyn,- my spirit guide gently but tiredly prodded, -I have never seen this happen before, it is possible that trying to purify her could do more harm than good. She could lose her arm, or it could kill her. Remember, Tanna said that the eternal flame would hold Vesha’s answers, and her salvation. The shade also indicated that she should hurry to the chamber of fire. If we are going to save her, this is probably the best chance that we have. Now quickly, we must make our way into the catacombs. We all require rest, and we should not do so in the open here on the surface, lest more Darklings be drawn to our presence.-
“Aye, let us go,” I agreed with a sigh before tearing my gaze away from Vesha’s arm and glancing at the armor once more. “How do I summon it, Sharai?” I asked, glad that the former owner was a Faerie so the armor would have openings for my wings.
-Focus on the mark, and through it call to the armor. Envision it protecting you.- I closed my eyes and thought about the golden glyph on my left hand, pictured myself wearing it, A moment later, I felt a faint pulse of magic in both the glyph and the armor and felt a weight settle upon me.
It was lighter than I thought it would be, but I guess that was not surprising with the enchantments that Sharai had mentioned. It was certainly more comfortable than I had been expecting as well, padded in several places to dull the strength of blows and some that seemed to support my breasts as well as protect my chest. The cuirass was tight in a few places, but there were straps to adjust that and at least it wouldn’t fall off. It felt like I was wearing star-spider silk rather than armor, though I later discovered that I was since there were simple garments of the fabric underneath the armor that Sharai thought were meant to prevent chafing and discomfort.
That was when I realized that those garments had replaced my own, save for the moonskin that I could still feel covering my nethers. There was even a pair of soft-soled boots beneath the greaves and sabatons. The Woodwarden clothes that I had been wearing before, for ease of movement, were now haphazardly piled where the armor had lain but a moment earlier. Vesha looked from my clothes to the armor that I was now wearing, and I could have sworn that her cheeks flushed.
Sharai, meanwhile, was muttering. -We shall have to find an enchanter to see if your sword belt and Neva’kul’s sheath can be added to the summoning enchantment. Being separated from your weapon and me in an emergency would be a problem.-
I gave her a mental nod in response and quickly belted Neva’kul back in place over the armor before adding my cloak as well. Then, after hurriedly packing the remainder of my clothes in my traveling satchel with the food and supplies that were already inside, I turned to Vesha and said, “Let us go, we should find a place in the catacombs to rest for the night, preferably further away from the dark zone.”
I was bone weary by the time we finally found a place in the catacombs where we felt it would be safe to rest for the night. It was a maze of long-forgotten graves, and we were forced to battle nearly a dozen Tainted before I could no longer sense their dark mana nearby. They were monstrous creatures that had once been rats, insects, and various burrowing animals, but between Vesha’s strength and flames, my faerie fires, and Neva’kul, they were easily disposed of. My new armor had likely saved my life several times already and I was getting valuable experience in using Neva’kul in actual combat.
Once we had ensured that the crypt that we had decided to sleep in for the night was as secure as we could make it, we ate a portion of the food that we had brought and then were swiftly claimed by slumber. I was the first of us to wake, though that was unsurprising since Fae generally need less sleep than most other Races. I allowed her to rest until she awoke, while I watched her in concern. Most of the scales on her upper arm were black now and the flesh that they did not cover was an unhealthy gray.
When Vesha awoke, we shared a meal of travel bread, some dried meat, and watered-down wine in silence before continuing onward. As we walked and attempted to navigate the maze of tunnels while avoiding Tainted, I often cast worried looks toward the Dragonkin beside me and the blackening scales on her arm. She had been trying to hide it, but I could tell that the darkness that was trying to claim her was causing her a good deal of pain and that only worried me more.
I was considering calling a brief rest when something diverted my attention from my concern over my companion. I could feel something, an unfamiliar pulling sensation that emanated from somewhere ahead of us. I stopped in my tracks, and I scarcely noticed when Vesha stopped several paces ahead and turned around to ask in concern, “Are you okay, Kaelyn?”
Sharai, whose mind had been slumbering within Neva’kul since we found our shelter the night before, was suddenly very awake. -This feeling… one of the other Vos’oraik lies ahead.-
“The sister of spirit and steel,” I gasped; the words so quiet that it seemed Vesha had not heard them, even in the current eerie silence of the catacombs.
The Dragonkin regarded me with a worried expression. “Is everything okay? Are you sensing more Tainted?”
I shook my head in response before I managed to find the words. “One of the other Vos’oraik is down here, somewhere ahead of us. I believe that is what I am here to find.”
“Wait, so there is someone down here with one of the other four magic swords like yours?”
-I do not know,- Sharai thought in answer to Vesha’s query. -It has not moved while we have been standing here, though it is possible that the bearer is simply resting and waiting for us to come to them. The Vos’oraik are not all like Neva’kul though. Each weapon was forged with the gift and combat style of its chosen wielder in mind. Neva’kul is no mere sword either. It is a mageblade.-
We began navigating the tunnels once more as my spirit guide explained in further detail what had been passed down from her predecessors about the Vos’oraik, and I attempted to summarize for Vesha. Joarra, the first bearer of Neva’kul, was both a fine swordswoman and a competent mage, and her gift allowed her to concentrate the mana around her into the blade of her sword and release it in a blast of destructive magical energy along the path of the swing or thrust of her blade, earning her the title ‘Joarra the Cataclysm’. When the Elven sage Darion forged Neva’kul for her, he created a Faerie-styled blade that would also allow her to not only channel her spells through it, but to amplify them as well.
The other Vos’oraik were similarly well suited to play to the strengths of their intended wielders. Niyr’votak was a wand made for Darion’s own son and apprentice, Cerric. He was a potent mage in his own right and he possessed the most powerful healing gift known among the Fae during the war, so the wand was meant to both channel and amplify his magic as well. Mek’simna was a massive cudgel forged for the Spriggan warrior, Torl, whose gift could increase his strength twentyfold. The fourth was called Fal’hevar, and it was forged for a Changeling swordswoman known as Alara the Unbloodied, due to her gift to make her skin as hard as steel.
The final Vos’oraik was a scythe named Quo’zarin, forged for a Pixie named Cecily. Despite her tiny size, she was a fierce fighter and possessed a gift that allowed her to command the wind itself. It was said that if she wished it, she could batter her opponents with the force of a hurricane while her scythe unerringly sought their weak points.
I wondered which one we would encounter as I followed the pull of the other weapon through the catacombs. Thankfully, I was sensing fewer Tainted as we got further from the dark zone, and it was mostly an easy matter to avoid them. Still, I worried for Vesha. By the time that we had stopped to eat a light meal and rest for a few minutes, the darkness had claimed almost her entire left arm and she was no longer able to hide the discomfort that it was causing her.
We needed to hurry. I would have gladly given up the chance to find Neva’kul’s sister weapon and succeed in my trial if only we had some idea where this chamber of fire was, but we had no idea other than it was somewhere within the catacombs. The only course of action that we had was to continue toward the other Vos’oraik and hope that we would find some clues about the chamber of fire as we did.
Not long after we ate our meal, I found myself staring at the tunnel before me in a mix of frustration and concern. Unlike the catacombs that we had been exploring thus far, this tunnel seemed to be a natural formation with a downward slope and lacked the semi-open burial chambers and occasional crypt doors that lined the walls of the catacombs we had explored until now. I could also feel a source of mana down there, something that I could not identify. It did not feel dark or evil, closer to chaotic if I had to put a word to it, and it was far more potent than anything I had encountered before. It felt even more potent than the dark zone.
“Are you certain that is the only way?” Vesha asked, gritting her teeth from the pain in her arm. Seeing her in such pain was like a knife to my heart. She was usually so confident and powerful, but right then I just wanted to be able to comfort her and assure her that we would find what we needed to purge the darkness. I could not though. I had no idea how much time we had before sunset while underground, and even less whether Vesha would last that long if we did not find what we were looking for.
“Aye,” I told her sadly. “We already checked the closest branches of these tunnels. They all double back or take us in directions away from the Vos’oraik. It is down there, I am certain of it, and so far, all we have seen up here are crypts, nothing that even gives us a clue where the chamber of fire or an eternal flame could be unless it is the source of this mana that I am sensing.”
“I guess it is the only lead that we have so far,” she agreed. “Time may very well be running short as well, so we had best hurry.”
I nodded, took a deep breath to steel myself for the unknown, and then gripped Vesha’s good hand in mine as tightly as I could. We were in this together and I would not give up until we found this eternal flame that Tanna had said would be Vesha’s salvation. “Let us go then,” I agreed, squeezing her hand in mine.
The slope of the tunnel was steep, it curved and twisted constantly, but it did not branch off at any point, so at least we did not have to choose between paths. It also began to feel ever warmer until finally, the tunnel opened up into a massive cavern. Before us lay the ruins of an underground city, or perhaps more like a small town, not as grand and vast as the one on the surface above us, but it looked equally ancient and better preserved. I could feel that we were close now, somewhere inside those ruins, one of the Vos’oraik awaited.
The thought of retrieving the proof of my adulthood was secondary for now though, because Vesha’s salvation was in sight. There were no signs of life that I could discern with my senses, but the vast chamber was almost uncomfortably warm for me, and the ruins were bathed in ruddy light by a pillar of flame at their center that reached to the ceiling of the cavern. It was the source of the chaotic mana that I was sensing, and I knew that it could only be one thing. We had found the eternal flame.
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“Vesha, do you think you can fly?” I asked my Dragonkin companion with a worried look at her. She had been looking worse and worse as we progressed down the tunnel; her left arm was that unhealthy gray with black scales all the way up to and including the shoulder now and she was pale and in constant pain.
Yet, if she could manage to fly, then we could get to the flames of the center of the chamber far sooner. The chamber was vast, and the pillar of flame appeared to be near the center. If we had to walk through that and maneuver our way through the ruins, it would take us much longer, especially with how bad Vesha looked right now. The Dragonkin gave a pained nod and said through gritted teeth, “I can manage flying if it gets us there faster.”
I allowed her to go first, only leaping off the ledge and into the air to follow her once I was sure that her wings were supporting her. I was half-afraid that she would fall and that I would need to catch her and carry her to the pillar of flame. Fortunately, her wings held and were able to support her weight, though not with the usual powerful wingbeats I had seen from her before. No, this time she mostly glided, only beating her wings to keep aloft when absolutely needed.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I took to the air behind her, but I did not relinquish any of my caution, following her as closely as I dared in case I might need to catch her. I had been worried that my new armor might make it difficult to fly, but the enchantments made it surprisingly light, and it had been made for a Faerie. So that worry was quickly dismissed and forgotten as I focused my attention on Vesha flying in front of me.
As we flew, I kept one eye on Vesha and the other on the ruins passing beneath us, watching them for any signs of movement or danger. The sheer amount of chaotic mana being spewed out by the eternal flame was making it as difficult to sense other sources of mana or magic as being close to the dark zone had. I did not want to lose the girl I was in love with to an attack from a Tainted or something when we were so close to what could be her salvation.
Normally the ruins would have fascinated me, but I was so worried about Vesha that I could focus on little else at the moment. I had trouble enough just watching them for potential dangers in my current state of mind. I firmly told myself that there would be some time yet to explore the ruins and find the Vos’oraik within them once Vesha did whatever was needed with the eternal flame.
It was not until the heat in front of us became truly uncomfortable that I called out, “We should land, Vesha!” We were so close to the pillar of flame now that it nearly filled my sight, and the light and heat were making it difficult to keep my gaze on the Dragonkin in front of me.
Vesha’s only response was to begin to circle and make her way downward to the ground. Since my wings gave me more control than hers, I slowed to hover and then made my way downward to a massive pyramid at the center of the cavern and city that had apparently been built around the pillar of flame. Despite my concern for Vesha, I found myself fascinated by the structure.
Had the pyramid come first? Or was it built around the eternal flame? If the latter, how had they managed to do so with the sheer amount of heat that the pillar emitted? I landed near an altar of some sort, giving the impression that this was some sort of temple. Did the people who lived here worship the pillar? I had so many questions running through my mind.
Vesha landed close by, though her landing was hardly a graceful one as stumbled, winced, and hissed in pain. I thought about Tanna’s prophesy and attempted to figure out what to do as I glanced once again in concern at Vesha. “Tanna said that the eternal flame would hold your answers and your salvation, and to not fear the darkness when embraced by the light. So, what do you think, Vesha?”
Vesha did not answer. She was staring at the pillar of flames in rapt fascination and awe as she shuffled toward it. How could she stand the heat? Was it because she was a Dragonkin? I was sweating profusely and lightheaded just being this close. Embraced by the light… that pillar lit this entire cavern, maybe she needed to get closer,
I found myself frowning. I did not like this, how could I help her if I could not get close to those flames? I stepped forward, determined to stand by the girl that I was in love with, and the flames flared, seemingly in protest. The flare was enough to throw me backward and I fell to the ground cursing. Vesha merely continued shuffling forward until she stepped within the pillar of flames. As soon as she had stepped within, the flames turned white hot, and I gaped in horror as Vesha was consumed.
Vesha stared at the flames in wonder. Something about them called to her, right down to her soul, like a song that she could not stop thinking about. It was as if she was incomplete, and that pillar of fire was the one thing that could make her whole. Everything else faded away; the pain, the fear, even the world around her.
She was vaguely aware of Kaelyn speaking to her, but the words were lost in the call of the fire. Even as the flames before her called to her, the flames inside of her yearned to be free with an intensity that she had never felt before. They wished to merge with the eternal flame. She knew, instinctively, what she needed to do.
She shuffled forward, giving herself to the call, and stepped into the flames. A comforting warmth enveloped her and for the first time since she had become a young woman, she stopped holding the fire within her back. She became fire and a chorus of voices sang in her mind, -Welcome, young one, we have been awaiting you for some time.-
“Who are you?” Vesha wondered. It was strange, she felt light and unencumbered, and while she couldn’t see, or use any of her other senses, it was like she was aware of everything around her. There was the pleasant warmth of the eternal flame, the vast cavern, the ruins, Kaelyn starting to get nervous close by, and the thousands of other living presences that she felt in the flames around her. Those presences projected so much love for her.
One voice among the many sang, -We are those who came before you, those who formed your egg. We are Salamanders, fire elementals birthed by and bound to the eternal flame. Once, long ago, we lived in the city that surrounds the temple of fire and the eternal flame. We lived in peace with the Sa’vash who lived in the city of Alustriel above us and shared our power with them.-
Not recognizing the name, Vesha inquired, “The Sa’vash?”
-You would know them as the Ancient Ones. They mastered magic and technology far beyond what the world will ever see again and created wonders that spanned the entire continent, and Alustriel was their capital. They were much like the Fae, tied closely to the Weave, and they strove to become perfect. In their quest for perfection, they became long-lived and powerful, but it cost a great many of them the ability to have children, and thus their society began to decline.-
-And then came the war with the Demons and their outcast God,- another sang in a pained voice. -Humans far outnumbered the Sa’vash and were jealous of their power, even though the Sa’vash shared their wonders with the other races equally. The Demons used that jealousy to tempt the humans. And so began a war that embroiled the entire world. They corrupted much of the city above with their foul rituals and killed those whom we valued as friends. We fought alongside others against the Demons and their ilk in the war that followed, but in the end, the society of the Sa’vash, and their wonders, were forever lost to the world. Few of their kind survived, and those fled we know not where.-
-The war ended, and the Demons were defeated, but in our mourning, we grew weary of our physical existence and returned to the fire that birthed us,- another added. Vesha found herself wondering how they could do such a thing. While she felt strangely comfortable in this state, it was different from what she was used to, and she worried about how her troupe, her mother, and Kaelyn would feel if she had to stay this way.
-We are part of the eternal flame, we shall exist for as long as it remains and the element of fire exists, but we do not need to remain in a physical form. We are the embodiment of fire, child. We only require our physical forms to interact with others. Should you wish to return to that form you shall, and you can exist in that state as long as you desire. The body is but a construct, to contain your fire within when you wish to have a physical form. We are born as physical beings until we reach maturity, and many of us remained that way for most of our existence until the war, only reverting to fire when such forms would be impractical or when we were injured. The war cost us our passion for the physical world-
“I was becoming Tainted. If I return to my physical form, will I…” Even in her thoughts, Vesha could not force herself to finish that question.
-You are fire, child,- a voice gently chided. -The tainted mana that was corrupting your physical form has been expunged and destroyed by the eternal flame. Only in your natural state of fire can you connect with the Weave, when you are ready to return to your physical form, draw that mana into your flames and picture your body healthy and whole.-
Fearing that was a dismissal, Vesha pleaded, “Wait! Who am I?! Why was I abandoned?!”
-Calm yourself, child, you shall have your answers,- a masculine voice urged. -The eternal flame is an elemental node of fire; there are a few others like it, but none quite as grand as this one. Each is connected for fire elementals such as us, just as other elementals are attuned to their own nodes. If you reach out with your mind in this state, you can allow yourself to see through the other nodes, or even travel to them. That is how we discovered some time ago that the Demons have returned. You know this as well, and we have decided to lend our aid in defeating them.-
-We needed one of our own out in the world, to call upon us when the time is right, so we each gave a small spark of ourselves and fused them together to form a new elemental child. You are our child. I am Ulielle, and since I could hold my physical form the longest, I was the one who carried you from here and ensured that I placed you in the care of people who would care for you and raise you with love,- a far more feminine voice explained.
Ulielle paused for a moment, and Vesha could feel a sense of deep affection once she continued to speak. -I followed the caravan of Changelings for days, hoping that they would give you a good life. You were eager to be free of your egg though, it began to crack even as I took you to a crossroads where I hoped you would be easily found by them. I watched from a distance even after I could no longer hold a physical form, and only left once the lone Ravieri among them bonded with you and I was certain that the caravan would give you a good home.-
“Why give me up at all?! Why not raise me yourselves?!” Vesha snapped. Had she been in her physical form, she was certain that there would be tears in her eyes.
-Here? In the ruins of a city long lost to the past, where the creatures of darkness far too often intrude? It would have been far crueler than finding you a caring mother not of your own kind,- another voice pointed out.
Then another added, -Our home has always been here, and the outside world has forgotten us. We have remained in our natural forms for thousands of years, young one, and that takes a toll on our kind. For us, taking a physical form is like using a muscle, if we go too long without doing so the ability weakens. Most of us could only hold our physical forms for a day or two at the maximum after that long without having one. Even now, after nearly two decades of practice, most of us can go no longer than a few weeks. Even if one of us could have retained our physical form long enough to raise you, we knew little of the modern world.-
-It is not that we did not love you, child,- one of the voices sang despondently. -You are the first Salamander born in millennia and each of us has given a part of ourselves to give you life. It is because we love you that we gave you to someone who could care for you properly, and show you the love that you deserve while growing up in your physical form. Please, remember that, and that some piece of each of us will always be with you.-
-You should return to your physical form, child,- a voice suggested, though there was a feeling of reluctance about it. -Your companion is worried, and you will need to leave soon if you are to return to the surface before dark, when those corrupted by the dark zone are more active. When you have need of us to fight the Demons, find a node of fire and contact us. Or… even if you just need to feel our presence or learn more about our kind.-
“I… I will,” Vesha promised. She was sure that her mother would understand. She still loved Nirlyn dearly and saw her as her mother, but now that she knew who and what she was after a lifetime of questioning, she still wanted to know more, to connect with the people who had given her life. For the moment though, she needed to worry about Kaelyn, and getting out of the ancient ruins.
It was a moment before she could filter out everything else that she was sensing around her enough to feel the mana, or at least she thought it was the mana since she had no real experience using magic. It was easier than she had imagined pulling it into her flames and when she felt that she could hold no more, she attempted to regain her physical form. She focused on her body, the familiar comfort of it; scales, flesh, wings, and even her horns and tail.
She pictured herself as healthy as she had been when she and Kaelyn had separated from the troupe and then, with some coaching from her many parents, she concentrated on reforming that body with the mana she had absorbed. Her first indication that she had succeeded was the familiar scent of fire mixed with the stale and earthy scents of the cavern. The only sound other than her own breathing was that of Kaelyn’s, and she sounded panicked.
Vesha stepped out from the pillar of fire, surprised and relieved that she no longer felt the agony searing through her left arm whenever she moved. She glanced down at it, finding her flesh and scales to be their usual colors, and breathed a sigh of relief as she approached the Faerie that she had been smitten with from the moment they met. That sigh turned into a gasp for air as said Faerie collided with her.
Vesha had just vanished, seemingly completely consumed by the pillar of flames. I stood there, paralyzed for a moment in sheer terror at the thought that Vesha had been killed by the very fire we had been told would be her salvation. No, I could not believe that. I could not lose Vesha, I could not bear it, my heart felt ready to shatter at the mere thought of it.
Perhaps the flames were just obscuring my view of her. If I could get closer… The thought was quickly countered as I tried to do so and was once again sent flying backward as the flames flared, almost as if they were trying to protect me from getting too close to the heat of the inferno. I pulled myself to my feet, determined to do something, anything. -Kaelyn, stop!- Sharai’s voice commanded.
“But Vesha…” I started to argue.
-Do you truly think that Vesha, of all people, could be harmed by fire?- my spirit guide pointed out. -The prophecy said that this would hold her answers and her salvation. We need to trust her right now and hope that whatever is going on in there, she can handle it. You are not resistant to fire, if you keep trying to get closer, you will get burned. Do you think your troupe would want that? Do you think Vesha would?-
“I… you’re right,” I admitted morosely. I clenched my fists tightly at my sides and stared intently at the pillar of flames, willing Vesha to emerge from within. With each passing minute that she did not, I grew ever more nervous and worried. It was only once I was starting to become truly panicked at the thought of possibly losing her that Vesha emerged from the flames, seemingly unscathed and looking a lot healthier than when she had gone in.
As soon as she was far enough away from the flames that I would not risk getting burned, I ran to wrap her in a tight embrace, burying my head against her shoulder and holding her tight. “Thank the Gods, you are well! I was so worried about you! You are well, right?” I asked the last as I pulled away and looked her over in concern.
“As good as new,” Vesha replied while flexing her previously injured arm.
Oh, Goddess, she was so muscular and beautiful, and I just wanted to be held in those strong arms of hers. She was also very naked, and I could feel my face flushing from more than just the warmth of the cavern as I nodded, unable to speak for a moment. Once I was able to reclaim my errant voice, I managed to say, “Good, you can tell me all about what happened in there once we have found the Vos’oraik and are on our way to Loden.”
She nodded and agreed as she tried to cover herself. “Aye, we should hurry and find your proof. I was told we don’t have much time if we want to get out of here before dark.”
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I flushed as Vesha suggested that we leave. Her clothes and her satchel had been utterly consumed by the eternal flame and I was not certain what we could do about the situation since there was no possible chance that anything in my pack would fit her. Her current state of undress was very distracting for me. Vesha seemed less concerned, being more used to casual nudity, but she saw the effect it was having on me and tried not to flaunt her body needlessly.
We had managed to get Vesha somewhat covered by my cloak and were about to take off when a voice called out, “Wait a moment!” I turned, surprised to see another Dragonkin woman emerging from the flames. She was wearing some type of robe and stepped forward to wrap her arms around Vesha. I felt a flare of jealousy burn through me until I heard her tell Vesha, “Apologies, Vesha. We were so excited at seeing our child, at having you with us for even a moment, that we forgot to tell you.”
“Ulielle?” the younger Dragonkin asked as she hugged her back tightly.
“Aye, child,” the other replied, stroking Vesha’s hair like a mother would. “Now, as we told you, you must hurry to find what your companion seeks. When you have retrieved it, return here. Leaving through the catacombs would take too long and be too dangerous for you both with daylight waning. I will take you through the temple, to a place where you can get to the city above us much faster.
Knowing that we had little time, I flew through the long-abandoned cavern town as quickly as I could toward the pull of the Vos’oraik with Vesha following close behind. I could tell from the direction of the pull that it was with us down here in the cavern town rather than above us in the great city. I still could not sense any movement as we got closer and began to get a sinking feeling that the bearer was long dead.
That made me wonder how long the enchanted weapon had lain in wait in this long-forgotten place. Had it been here since the fall of the Ancient Ones? Or had they been exploring the catacombs like us and fallen victim to Tainted? For that matter, what had happened to the people who called this cavern home and had built the temple we had found around the eternal flame?
As we flew, I could not see any remains of the people who had once lived in this place. There were no skeletons to be seen, while there had been plenty of preserved remains in the catacombs we had come through to get here, from the city of the Ancient Ones. Had the people fled for some reason? Perhaps when the dark zone was created so close by? Were they the Dragonkin, as I was beginning to suspect?
The questions plagued my mind until the pull of the Vos’oraik was so strong that it seemed to come from all around me at once. It was somewhere below us. It took a moment to get Vesha’s attention so I could point downward. She had been nearly as absorbed in looking over the ruins as I had and she had this look on her face as if she was memorizing things, like this place had some special meaning to her.
Perhaps it did if the flames had truly given her the answers she sought when we came here. Another Dragonkin appearing from the eternal flame made that seem likely. I yearned to ask her, but we needed to hurry, and I had a feeling that such a conversation would only distract me from my goal.
Vesha nodded at my gesture and began to circle to bleed off speed and make her way to the ground while I made my way downward in a more direct manner. I lightly touched down on the ground and looked around, wary of the possibility of Tainted since the mana from the eternal flame was still disrupting my magic sense. For now, I would have to use my other senses and remain alert for possible danger.
Vesha dropped to the ground beside me, landing with an audible *thump* that seemed to shake the ground. It probably would have kicked up dust as well if the rapid beating of my wings had not already dispersed a cloud of it when I made my slightly more graceful landing a moment earlier. “It is somewhere close by,” I warned as I continued to look around cautiously. “Perhaps we should check inside the buildings.”
That such simple stone buildings remained standing after all this time was a testament to those who built this place. I think that was because they were not built from stone bricks or anything like that. Instead, they were smooth and seamless, almost as if they had been molded like clay from the stone of the cavern itself. The streets were still in remarkable condition as well, made of a smooth black stone that seemed to shine in the ruddy light provided by the distant pillar of flame.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Vesha offered in response to my suggestion. “Be careful and call out if you find anything.”
I was reluctant to part after her close call with nearly becoming Tainted, but we both took a building and began to search. These were probably homes, simple two or three-room cottages and almost everything of a personal nature had seemingly been claimed by the ravages of time. There was some stonework and tools that were nearly buried in dust, but no sign of any weapons in the first two buildings that I checked so I went to a third, but found Vesha already inside, dusting off some long-forgotten pottery near the hearth to examine it.
I watched for a moment as she cleaned off several large cups, plates, and bowls that were intact, and stared at them as if burning their image into her memory. Like I had been trying to do with her face for most of the day. She did not seem to notice me at first and there was a solemn look on her face as she went about her task. She looked up, caught me watching, and gave me a sad smile. “Any luck? I found a few things that I wish we could bring with us, as a reminder of this place. We can always use some things like this for our wagon. They’re well made, and I don’t think my… people would mind.”
“I have not found anything yet,” I admitted, uncertain what else to say to the sad expression on my love’s face. Especially as she had just confirmed my suspicion about the people who had once lived here. I dropped my satchel beside her. Then I offered with a weak smile, “You can get rid of my old boots to make space, I have the ones that came with the armor, and I’ll be getting some sandals in Loden, I hope. Wrap them in my clothes to keep them from being damaged. I will go check another building.”
I left Vesha to her task with a grateful smile on her face that made my heart melt. I had checked two more buildings when I found a sword in a metal sheath with a delicate metal chain-like belt attached. The sheath hinted at a curved blade that was similar in shape, but slightly shorter than Neva’kul. Carefully unsheathing it, I found one glyph embedded in the flat of the blade. This was it; I could feel the magic in the blade now that I was up close, though it did not seem to react to my probing magic.
-Fal’hevar slumbers, waiting for a new wielder to give their oath to the blade,- Sharai explained quietly in my mind. -The spirit within is bound to the blade and its wielder, she can speak with no one else.-
“Fal’hevar,” I thought to myself in awe. A weapon made for a Changeling, and I was going to bring it home, where it belonged. Pride swelled up within my chest as I gripped the blade’s sheath in my hand and returned to Vesha. I had my proof, and now it was time to leave this place.
We made our way back to the temple as quickly as possible and once we had landed and were greeted by the Dragonkin woman that Vesha called Ulielle, I could hold my curiosity back no longer as I tried not to cling to my fellow Bardic apprentice. “You’re a Dragonkin like Vesha, are you… related?”
Ulielle gave me a patient smile over her shoulder as she led us toward a large arch that would take us inside the temple. “We are not Dragonkin, child. That is a label created by Humans. We are Salamanders, elementals of fire and we reside within the eternal flame. Vesha is our child; each of us has given a piece of ourselves to give her life. You are her lover, are you not?”
I flushed bright red and had trouble finding my words. “I… we have not… I…”
This only caused the Salamander to laugh. “Never have I seen a Fae get so flustered by the mere thought of sex. Well, you are both adults now, so I imagine it won’t be long…”
“She wasn’t raised among Fae,” Vesha explained as I scanned the halls of the temple for a hole to hide in. Unfortunately, the smooth construction offered no such avenues of escape. The temple was also uncomfortably hot for me, and everything was coated in a thick coat of dust.
“Still, it is obvious that you share feelings for one another, she seems reluctant to let you out of her sight. I wish you both well, and I hope that you will keep one another safe and happy,” she offered gently before stepping into a room to our right, which contained some simple stone furnishings and a large metal chest.
“This doesn’t look like there is a tunnel to the surface,” Vesha stated in confusion at what appeared to be somebody’s sleeping quarters.
Ulielle quickly explained, “When we still lived in our physical forms, I was the High Priestess of the Temple of Fire, and these were my quarters. I have not been here since we formed your egg, Vehsa, but I put some clothes here for when you came of age. They are made of materials created by the Sa’vash and enchanted for Salamanders. The clothing is all durable, fireproof, will repair itself if damaged, and is connected to the wearer in a way that should you need to change to your true elemental form, they too will become flame, and revert to what they were before when you take your physical form once more.”
The elder Salamander opened the large metal chest at the foot of what had probably been a bed of some sort, a loud squeak of protest issued by the long-unused hinges. She had to sort through a variety of clothes since she had put away clothes for both women and men of varying sizes, but she was able to find several outfits that would fit Vesha as well as a satchel with similar enchantments to place them in. For Vesha, the best part was that, in addition to the enchantments, these clothes were made for Salamanders like her and had appropriate openings for her wings and tail.
There were a pair of simple dresses, a trio of simple tunics like those Vesha usually favored, a few colorful skirts, hosiery, and even some undergarments. She also found a pair of boots and some simple sandals that would fit her. The undergarments included strappy garments to keep her breasts from jostling but still leave her wings free. They had several clever clasps to secure the garment in place, which Ulielle had to instruct Vesha on how to fasten properly.
Vesha swiftly donned some of the underclothes, followed by a cream-colored tunic, a crimson skirt, and sandals, and once she had stuffed the rest in her new satchel, Ulielle was once again leading us through the temple. We went down several floors, which felt odd to me since we were supposed to be returning to the surface. Eventually, we came to a large chamber with a strange large metal square in the center of the floor. The metal had a strange violet sheen to it and I could see the magic emanating from it as easily as I had been able to see it on the clothes that Vesha had been given.
Ulielle led us to the one furthest away from the chamber’s entrance before wrapping Vesha in a hug. Then she startled me by nearly crushing me in a similar embrace. Once she had let me go, she smiled at both of us and cautioned, “Once you step upon the telepad, you will be transported to the surface within Alustriel’s great spire. It sits directly above us, and once it drew upon the power of the eternal flame to fuel the city’s many magical and technological marvels. Take flight swiftly, and put some distance between yourself and the ruins before darkness falls. Take care of one another, and be safe. May we meet again soon.”
“We will,” Vesha vowed, wiping away tears. “I want you all to meet my troupe and my mother sometime soon. So all of you better keep practicing at holding your physical forms longer.” Then, she put one of her strong arms around me and we stepped upon the strange violet-hued metal.
My stomach violently protested the feeling like it had been turned inside out as we reappeared inside the tower. I barely managed to not retch, and it took a moment for me to get my bearings. Vesha seemed no better off and a quick look around the large chamber showed that no Tainted or Darklings had taken up residence. The building seemed mostly a ruin filled with unfamiliar and seemingly damaged devices that I could only guess what they had once been used for.
Ruddy sunlight peeked through western windows and damaged sections of the wall and cast long shadows within the building. I attempted to give Vesha a reassuring smile as I clutched my satchel tightly in one hand and my prize, Fal’hevar, in the other and led her across the floor cluttered with the metallic corpses of the wonders of the Ancient Ones. There was much that I wanted to see and know, but given our last encounter with a Darkling, I took Ulielle’s advice to heart and was determined to leave this place as swiftly as our wings would carry us.
When we stepped outside, the sun was kissing the horizon, and the sky above blushed as a result. It made me think of Vesha beside me as the heat from her body made the cooling evening air more comfortable. She was warm, bright, and beautiful and I had nearly lost her. “Vesha?” I barely managed to speak her name.
She turned toward me, and I furiously beat my wings so that I could hover and meet her eye to eye. Whatever her reply was about to be, my lips cut it off as I kissed her with every bit of love that I felt for her. When I finally drew away, gasping for breath, I said, “Do not ever scare me like that again. I l… love you, and I do not wish to come so close to losing you again.”
For a moment, she just gazed at me with a half-stunned grin on her face. “Aye, I love you too, Kaelyn. I have since I first laid eyes on you.”
-Yes, yes, like it is not obvious to everyone with the two of you,- Sharai chided playfully. -Now let us make for Loden quickly, before the troupe worries and decides to send search parties.-
I nodded in agreement with my spirit guide and gripped both my satchel and my prize tighter. “Let’s go home,” I said as I took to the sky. Vesha was right behind me, the powerful beats of her wings sending her into the air. She quickly caught up and, with our senses alert for danger; we flew swiftly southward toward Loden, where our troupe awaited.
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Sunset had given way to twilight by the time that we saw the shadows and intermittent torchlight of the town from above. Loden was not a big city and could likely not afford expensive oil lamps, except within the residences of wealthier residents or the mayor, who served as the local Lord’s vassal. We had to fly around the town for a while to spot the main road and the clearing alongside it where our troupe had made camp. Usually, I would just have to feel for the magic of the Seeming, but I had been told that we would not be trying to hide and were making our stop in Loden easily apparent for several reasons.
It seemed that the people of Loden were used to Voyager caravans passing through since this was a main travel route and many troupes often used it and stopped to stay briefly during their travels. We could use it to resupply and earn some coin, and troupes passing through usually made camp in the clearing outside town since we did not wish to keep our presence secretive here. Loden usually welcomed the excitement that a troupe staying for a few days offered and many villagers would seek us out if they needed an experienced Healer, wanted protective wards cast around their farms, or wanted to have their futures read.
My grandparents had told me that most troupes had fortunetellers for stops like these. They were all well versed in rolling bones, reading palms, tealeaf reading, and Savas cards, the latter of which were named after the God of Luck, Fortune, and Fate. Some few were truly blessed by Savas and had a gift for it, but mostly it was just another way to make money from the locals, like busking or picking pockets. I was told that Tanna exclusively used the cards and was usually fairly accurate, though it was far less precise and more generalized than her visions.
Vesha had been through this route before and knew where the clearing was and as we got close, I could sense the faint magic that the various members of our troupe possessed. After that, I just needed to fly straight since I could not feel any sources of magic in the town below. It was truly a shame that most Changelings seemed to have a much weaker magic sense and magic potential than other Fae.
They made up for it with the versatility that shapeshifting offered, but most of us could not sense magical dangers until they were nearly upon us, as I had proven when I first encountered Sharai and her Demon pursuer. Even my grandmother’s magic sense, the strongest of the whole troupe other than mine since she was our strongest mage, probably would not allow her to sense my approach until we were forty to fifty hands away. Master Nirlyn could see magic, but she needed to be looking in the right direction since it was something to do with her eyes rather than a magical ability. If we were quick enough, I did not think that anyone but my grandmother would sense us until we were upon them.
When we approached the camp from above, my sharp eyes could see the whole troupe gathered around a large fire and having what appeared to be a very animated conversation. It was easy to pick out Master Nirlyn as the lone Ravieri, and she looked tense sitting there with her arms crossed. She sounded particularly unhappy as well as we descended and her words reached us. “Sunset ‘as passed. We need t’ start searchin’ fer ‘em. They could be hurt or dead, we never should ‘ave let them go on their own.”
“Such is the nature of the Vel’Nassar, Nirlyn, there is always some danger involved. You know this as well as any of us,” my grandfather chided. “You are not the only one worried for them, they are both precious to this entire troupe and we almost lost Kaelyn once already. They are of age and we could hardly refuse such a trial when it was given through one of Tanna’s visions.”
“Aye,” my grandmother agreed with a nod to my grandfather before I saw her briefly gaze up as we descended and got within the range of her magic sense. It seemed that she had indeed sensed me coming as she added, “They are brave and capable girls, so let us give them a while longer. If they are not here by the time dinner is ready, I will have Glimma send out the owls while we prepare a proper search party to go after them. Yes, they could be in danger, but they could also be a lot closer to home than you fear.”
Well, that was just the kind of opening that Vesha had been hoping for. Since her hearing was not as good as a Faerie’s, I quickly gave her the signal as she circled downward. Then I allowed myself to drop the remaining distance before catching myself in a hover an arm’s length away from the ground. I was almost off on my timing since I was surprised when Vesha burst into flame, becoming a fiery serpent that shot toward the ground at my side. I was almost as stunned by her appearance as the rest of the troupe as we settled down to the ground by the fire and the flaming serpent once again returned to being the girl that I knew and loved.
Vesha, casually acting as if she had not just shocked everyone, including me, into stunned disbelief, grinned at our Master and said, “Sorry we’re late, Mom, but a lot happened.”
Other than me, my grandmother was the first to manage to shake her disbelief. Master Nirlyn was not far behind though as a look of relief washed over her, followed quickly by a theatrical sigh as she muttered, “Aye, yer both Bards through an’ through, makin’ a flashy entrance like that one. I take it ya found yer proof then?”
Vesha nodded but hesitated as if uncertain what to say. “I found my pa… lifegivers. They were able to give me the answers that I needed, Mom. I’m a Salamander and they didn’t abandon me after all, they just thought that you could give me a better life since they can’t hold physical forms for long. They’re working on it, but it might take a while for them to be able to hold those forms long-term. They want to help us fight the Demons though, when the time comes.”
I held up my own proof for everyone around the fire to see. “This is Fal’hevar, and like Neva’kul, she is one of the five Vos’oraik. Her original bearer, Alara, was a Changeling like us. She needs a new bearer, but I am certain that she will be a great help in our fight against the Demons. It is what she was created for after all. I think she was down there since the fall of the Ancients. Hopefully, whoever binds themselves to her will be able to tell us more when they can talk to her spirit.”
My grandparents both nodded, bearing proud smiles. It was my grandfather who spoke though, as his expression turned pensive. “It must be fate that she has found her way back into Changeling hands after so long alone. There are few of us with the training to use such a weapon though; most of us do not see the need for more than a dagger. Bryden, Mara, and Hagen have some experience with swords, perhaps one of them would do. Kaelyn, what would someone have to do to bind themselves to Fal’hevar?”
I tried to remember what it had taken to bind myself to Neva’kul, but I was uncertain whether we had everything required to make that foul mixture that I had to swallow, and if I would even wish that on anyone that I cared about. Sharai took that as her cue to explain. -Kaelyn, you only needed that to unlock your magical potential. Neva’kul is a mageblade, and would only accept someone of Fae blood with powerful magic and a strong will. I would assume that Niyr’votak has similar requirements, but the others relied largely on physical prowess. Fae blood, a strong will, and a desire to master the blade and destroy the Demons should be enough, and then, they just need to swear by blood, blade, and magic to bind themselves to Fal’hevar and see its will done, as you did with Neva’kul.-
I passed on that information to the others but quickly added, “For whoever decides to take on the blade, I do not think that the decision should be made lightly since you will have to prove yourself worthy. With Neva’kul, it was a battle of magic and wills, and I have a strong feeling that the cost for losing such a battle is far more than being deemed not worthy of the blade.”
-Aye, you are right. Kaelyn,- Sharai said in my mind, her tone sounding almost haunted. -I was not Tamisun’s only apprentice. There were three of us, but when she Faded, I was the only one of us who proved worthy to bear Neva’kul. Bakis was arrogant, he saw Neva’kul as a prize to be won, and himself as the inevitable winner. Sheeva was a powerful mage and had a desire to see Neva’kul’s will done, but her will was not strong enough.-
“What happened to them?” I asked, uncertain whether I wished to know the answer.
-Neva’kul saw through Bakis’s arrogance and selfishness in their battle of wills. He was deemed unworthy, and his mind ravaged for his arrogance. He was left with a mind like an infant’s; his family in Tarin’dol was forced to care for his every need from that day on. Despite her power and wishing to wield Neva’kul for the right reasons, Sheeva’s will was overwhelmed. For over a year, her body slumbered as her mind healed. I guess that she found her willpower while sleeping because when I passed through her Glade on the way to visit home, I was told that she left to join the Daughters of Zhahime as soon as she was healthy enough to make the journey.-
A sigh escaped my lips at this revelation. I had been extremely lucky that I had been worthy and, looking back, I now saw the wisdom in Sharai having me make and swallow the mixture that ended up changing me. I had had enough trouble winning that battle with my suddenly increased magical ability, without it I would have surely lost. I frowned and cautioned those gathered around the fire, “Sharai tells me that the costs of losing such a battle are indeed great. We need to be sure that whoever attempts to bond with Fal’hevar is doing so for the right reasons and that they have a very strong will.”
“I’ll do it,” Shava said clearly over the mumblings of the rest of the troupe. There was not a shred of hesitation or uncertainty in her voice, and everyone turned to gape at her.
I had been half expecting this though and let out another long sigh before telling her as gently as I could. “Shava, you do not need to prove yourself to me, Sharai and I have both seen how hard you are working on your lessons.”
“You are only ten summers old, Shava, you are still a child,” my grandfather stated sternly.
“I’ll be eleven soon!” Shava protested before adding, “And Kaelyn was surviving on her own in the forest when she wasn’t much older than that.”
“Kaelyn’s circumstances were different,” Uncle Bryden pointed out, “and it was only skill and good fortune that allowed her to do so.”
“But I…”
“Enough, Shava!” my grandmother stated, cutting off whatever new protest she had been about to make. “We will discuss suitable candidates later. For now, it is time to eat and there are more important matters to discuss. Vesha and Kaelyn, you have completed your trial and tomorrow we will have a proper feast to celebrate your new status as adults. Bryden, do you have enough silver to make their rings?”
“Aye, Mother, I will get them both fitted, and the rings made before the feast tomorrow,” my uncle replied. I had heard that his gift was somewhat similar to my own, but where I could only push and pull through some unknown force to move and manipulate certain metals, Uncle Bryden could change the state of precious metals and even reshape them with his gift. He had shown me the various pieces of jewelry and some ornamental daggers that he had made with his gift to sell when the troupe made stops like the one in Loden.
As we all ate dinner, plans were made for the celebration to come the next evening and it seemed that the topic of Fal’hevar was forgotten for the moment. Then, after a quick trip to my wagon to change out of my armor and place Neva’kul’s sister blade in our wagon for safekeeping, I returned to the fire. I also brought Zaiya out so that I could feed her and give her some attention after being away, and she seemed very happy to see me.
While I fed the owlet and gently stroked her feathers, Vesha and I told the troupe the story of what had happened while we were gone. My new armor, and the fact that I had gotten it after using faerie fire to purify a Darkling and allowing her to Fade, were keen topics of interest. If faerie fire could be used to purify Darklings, and corrupted mana in general, then there was hope that dark zones could be reclaimed for the Weave, though it would likely amount to a gargantuan effort.
Another big topic of conversation was what had happened when Vesha had entered the eternal flame since not even I knew the full details of that. She told us what she had learned about her people, why she had been born, and how the troupe had been chosen to find and raise her. She was also able to tell us some of what she had learned about the city, the Ancient Ones, and a few things about the Great War and the fall of the Ancient Ones, or the Sa’vash as they were once called. It looked like that conversation was going to go well into the night when I heard a scream come from the direction of our wagon.
Shava ate her meal quietly and sullenly, her thoughts elsewhere. Ever since she had first seen Fal’hevar revealed in the ruddy light of the fire, the blade seemed to call to her. Even now, with it placed safely in the wagon shared by Nirlyn and her apprentices, she could still feel the pull of it. Her interest was not due to her needing to prove herself either, as her cousin and everyone else seemed to believe.
More than anything, Shava wanted to be a warrior. Even before her cousin had joined the troupe, she had been fascinated by her father’s, Mara’s, and Hagen’s weapons, though she had been too nervous to approach them about her interest. It wasn’t until she saw her cousin practicing her swordplay on that first morning that she realized that this was what she wanted to do with her life. Sharai and her cousin teaching her only seemed to make her more certain of it.
She did not want to catch up to her cousin because she felt lacking, but because she wanted to make the Demons and their church pay. They had done so much to hurt Kaelyn, and they had killed her parents. They needed to pay the blood price for that and to be stopped from hurting anyone else. Her cousin was determined to fight them and Shava could do no less.
In the short time that they had spent together, she had come to greatly admire her cousin, and she felt that they had become close while training together. She was close to all the members of her troupe; such was the nature of her people, but Kaelyn was special. She had seen something in her, and she and Sharai had gone out of their way to help her learn about her passion and grow stronger. Her cousin was her hero, everything that she wanted to be, though she did not share her musical interest and could go without the whole Faerie thing.
Shava saw herself as an apprentice of sorts to her cousin, much as Kaelyn was to Nirlyn. She would do anything for her and wanted to fight the Demons by her side when the time came. She needed to get stronger for that, she needed to push herself to become the best that she could possibly be. She knew in her heart that she had what was needed to claim Fal’hevar, but Mara, Hagen, and even her father had no passion for the sword, no drive to fight the Demons at Kaelyn’s side.
Oh sure, they wanted to help her get vengeance, but that could be said of any member of the troupe and Shava did not think that it would be enough to claim the magical blade. Shava knew she was young, and that many among the troupe thought that her fascination with her cousin and learning the sword was a phase, but she also knew that this was what she needed to do. This was her destiny and the blade called to her, even now, as she listened with half an ear to conversations about Salamanders and Ancient Ones.
She slipped quietly away while everyone’s attention was on whatever Vesha was talking about and followed the call toward Nirlyn’s wagon. The doors were locked, she had heard her grandmother tell Niryln to do so once Fal’hevar was placed inside, specifically to stop Shava from doing exactly what she was about to do. Locked doors would not stop her though.
Shava was an early bloomer, possibly because she was a quarter Elf, or so her mother said since she too had blossomed early. She had her first moon cycle not long before Kaelyn had joined the troupe, and had accidentally discovered her gift a few days later, though she had not yet revealed it. Now, it almost seemed as if it was meant for this very moment.
She took a deep breath and focused on the magic within her, pulling it to the surface of her skin until it stretched out over her entire body. It felt similar to shapeshifting, but very different too as she felt it take hold. Looking down at herself, she smiled as she saw that her body had become faint to her eyes, almost as if she was a spirit. Unsure of how long she could hold this state, she quickly dove through the door of the wagon and then willed herself solid again before she could begin to sink through the floor.
The blade sat beside her cousin’s new armor, which had been haphazardly piled atop her cot. Shava reached out but hesitated for a moment as her hand neared the hilt. It felt like she was stealing, and Voyager’s don’t steal from their troupe. “No,” she told herself firmly. “This belongs to the whole troupe; they just haven’t decided who should wield it yet. I’m protecting the others by trying before they can. With this, I can help Kaelyn fight against the Demons; I can protect my troupe from them.”
She reached out once more and took the unfamiliar weight of the sword in hand. It was heavier than she had imagined, she would have to get used to the weight by practicing with it. She removed the blade from the sheath and saw that it seemed to be in pristine condition, not even a fleck of rust or a chip to be seen with her eyes. There was only that strange solitary glyph etched into the flat of the blade by the cross guard.
The edge proved to still be razor sharp too as she reached out to grip it tightly in hand. As her blood ran down the blade, she gritted her teeth and ignored the pain to hiss out, “I swear b-by blood, blade, and magic to bind myself to Fal’hevar and to see its will done.”
Suddenly it was as if something was pushing against her thoughts, a searing agony in her head that was determined to make her falter. Shava screamed aloud, but stood her mental ground, pushing right back. No. She would do this. She would get past whatever this was because she needed to. For Kaelyn, for her troupe, and most importantly for herself. She would get strong enough and skilled enough to take down the Demons by her cousin’s side and protect everyone. Nothing was going to stop her, not even a magical sword.
Just as swiftly as the barrage against her mind had begun, it receded, giving way to a sense of… pride and amusement? Shava collapsed to the floor, her throat raw from screaming and more exhausted than she had ever been in her life. -Well done, lass. You are much as I was when I was your age. I was hoping that you would have the courage to try to win Fal’hevar’s favor. You are young, but determined, and more suitable than the others of your troupe. I am Alara, the first bearer of Fal’hevar, and I have been awaiting you for a very long time.-
“I’m Shava, well met, Alara,” she replied with a weary smile as she heard the door to the wagon being hurriedly unlocked.
-Rest well, Shava, when you wake we will have much to…- Whatever else the spirit might have been trying to say was lost to the Voyager girl as she passed out.
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