Felicity bad claw-paw biscuits on Tristan’s head, “Yup! It’s a fantastic place.”
Obadai looked over at the market and crafting area and ran over to the tree made of steel. “Did you do this or was it always like this?”
Tristan walked over with a grin, “I did that. I can control this Realm by…connecting my essence crucible, in a way.”
“How do you do that?” Obadai asked as he turned with an astonished look.
“I spin my crucible two different directions,” Tristan replied as he crossed his arms. “Sucking in essence while also using it.”
“An advanced technique.”
Felicity flew off Tristan’s head and swapped to her Elfanoid form, yelling out “Boo!” as she did so. Obadai jumped a bit before laughing, and Felicity giggled in response. A few fairy dragons up in the tree canopy above also began laughing at the sudden jump-scare. “Got you to flinch!” she said as she walked over to Tristan and tried the same on him.
He just shook his head, “Felicity, is that any way to treat a guest?”
She frowned and made a pouty face, “I suppose not.” She turned to Obadai, “Sorry for scaring you.”
“It is okay,” Obadai replied as he looked up at the fairy dragons overhead, all looking down upon him. “Are these your friends?”
“Siblings,” Felicity replied. “Not blood related, but fellow fairy dragons.”
Obadai began asking questions as he craned his head up, and Tristan left the conversation as the Archon was fully immersed in discussing with the fairy dragons. Felicity followed him closely, and both went into the Queen’s Wood.
“You know,” Felicity said as she followed him up to the top boughs on foot, “I think you having a teacher is going to be fantastic.”
“I thought you were my teacher for some spell types,” Tristan replied. “Enchantment and illusion.”
“But you did not want to go above First Order spells yet,” Felicity replied with a curious expression.
“I want to start,” Tristan said as they arrived at the top boughs. The Matriarch was scribbling at a writing desk near the small study and bookshelf. “Ah, Matriarch, you’re up here.”
She looked back and smiled faintly, “Yes, Lord Tristan. Just writing down another spell for you to memorize before I go to sleep.”
Tristan stood next to her as she wrote, filling her in on the conversation with the Archon, ending with, “I don’t fully trust a hostile agent, but I do owe him for helping me out back in Bhant.”
The Matriarch set the quill down, capped the inkwell, and then cleaned the nibs with a small bit of rolled-up evapalm. “Well, Lord Tristan, I think you are making a wise decision. And he is correct in that non-Elves cannot access the Realm’s essence. The worst he could do is open up a portal to the Demon Realm from here. I did not know about the development of a new spell type, and perhaps we should utilize him as a resource. You can perform artifice, he cannot. Perhaps we could use that to our advantage.”
“That’s a good idea,” Tristan replied. “We can see what spells he could put into items of artifice for us. Oh, I also wanted to let you know that I’m just about ready to start my journey into Second Order spells.”
The Matriarch stood up and put a hand on his shoulder, her delicate hand atop the pauldron. “I commend that idea, but before you do,” she pointed to the item she had been working on. “This has one more enchantment and one more illusion spell of First Order. If you truly desire to master all at your disposal before moving up, I would spend some time this evening reading those. There are more, but I focused on the most important or most useful day-to-day.”
Tristan nodded and grabbed the now-dried parchment, sitting down on one of the cushions. He glanced up at Felicity who was looking at him expectantly. “Yes?” he asked her.
“I’m just thinking about the best way to get you to jump like Obadai did.”
The Matriarch grabbed her by the nape of the neck and lifted the elfanoid-form Felicity off of the ground. “Did you go scaring our guests?”
“Yes, but-”
“No buts! We do not scare guests! Yes, joke with them, insult them, and the like. Unless…”
Felicity sighed and crossed her arms, “Unless they ask us to stop.”
The Matriarch nodded and set her down, “Good girl. Now, go apologize.”
“But I did already!”
The Matriarch shook her head, “I mean a real apology. Go bring him some starberries or something.”
Felicity looked to Tristan who was baring containing the grin on his face at his companion being admonished, “Any help here?”
Tristan shook his head, “Nope! Go give the Archon some starberries.”
Felicity groaned, shifted to her fairy dragon form, and flew off the top bough. The Matriarch dipped her head, “Lord Tristan,” she acknowledged before swapping forms and flying over the edge of the platform as well.
Tristan let out a chuckle as he focused on the two new spells and worked to commit them to memory.
Distraction (First)
Spell Phrase: “Tee tuolla ??ni? joita tahdon.” (Make the noise I envision over there).
Spell Gesture: Using your non-dominant hand, curl all of the fingers into the palm, palm-side facing the ground. Then, pull the index finger along the top of the thumb, and as you finish the spell phrase, ‘flick’ the index finger forward toward the destination.
Other Notes: This spell will cause an audible distraction depending on what noise you envision. The effective range is one-hundred feet, and you have to have line of sight to where you want the noise to come from. Normally, you could not use illusions for the sense of hearing until Third Order spells of the illusion spell type, but this is an exception to that rule, because the types of noises are very limited. Something brief, such as a door slamming shut, would be an appropriate effect. Envisioning something too complex, loud, or otherwise ‘advanced’ for the spell’s capacity will result in the spell not working.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Liar’s Countenance (First)
Spell Phrase: “Katsokaa kasvojani ja pit?k?? minua ep?rehellisen? ja ep?luotettavana.” (Look upon my countenance and find me dishonest and untrustworthy).
Spell Gesture: Take your dominant hand, and put your index finger and middle finger out, extended and split apart from each other. Curl in your other fingers, face the palm inward, and cock your elbow out sideways so that your index finger lines up with the bottom of your eye, and the middle finger extends above the eyebrow. (You are effectively inverting the gesture for Persuasive Charm).
Other Notes: This spell is similar to Persuasive Charm, but instead of being seen more favorably by those affected, you will be seen as more dishonest by them. Unlike most enchantment, they will not know they are under the effects of a spell; but if they are already friendly or view you with favor, this spell will not work. Best used on neutral parties, such as with merchants, shopkeepers, or rumormongers.
Tristan spent the next thirty minutes practicing each over and over, repeating them, drilling the spells into his memory through rote repetition. Once he was sure it was cemented, he pulled the other spells The Matriarch had written down out of his hip pouch, put the illusion and enchantment spells into neat little piles, and placed them on the bookshelf.
And with that, he thought, I’ve memorized every spell of the First Order I have a primer for. The only spell types that I have no spells for are fire and smoke elementalism, and fortune. I think fortune will be hard to find, but smoke came from the demon dragon. Maybe Obadai can teach me some smoke elementalism spells? Maybe fire as well? Tristan stood up and stretched as he observed the five moons high in the sky. Oh, it’s past time to retire.
Heading down to the depths of the tree, he found Felicity had already snuggled up underneath the blankets of the bed, and Tristan quietly removed his armor before getting into the bed next to her.
The morning came rapidly enough, and Tristan extricated himself from Felicity’s grasp. Getting equipped, he left the lower levels and got out to the central arrival point. The horses were being brought over, and Obadai was exiting his small house on the outskirts of the area.
“Tristan! This place is wonderful! Did you know that cooked starberries taste like beef?”
Tristan nodded, “I did. You will be riding Midnight,” he said as he pointed at the female black destrier.
“No bridle?”
Tristan walked over to Midnight and rubbed along her jawline, “You don’t need one. I can talk to them.”
Obadai’s eyes widened, “Full of surprises, Lord Tristan. I did not know that Elves could control beasts with their speech alone.”
“They can’t!” Felicity shouted as she flew over and landed on Tristan’s head. “You didn’t wake me up,” she growled down towards Tristan, batting at his ears.
“I wanted to let you sleep,” Tristan replied as he shifted his gaze to an enthused-looking Archon. “And she is correct, we cannot control animals. I can talk to them, and they understand me. But I don’t know what they are saying in response…just sort of feel what they are trying to emote, if that makes sense.”
Obadai nodded, “I understand, quite well.” He mounted Midnight and Tristan mounted Onyx. “Do we need to wait an hour to depart?” Obadai asked.
Tristan shook his head, “No. Midnight, get closer to Onyx please.” The horse complied, moved over, and Tristan spun his essence crucible, activating his ring as the world turned white. The two travelers, their mounts, and a now-invisible Felicity were in the same copse of trees they had originally emerged from.
Tristan spun his crucible further and activated the Disguise Form spell on himself, taking on the guise of a traveler from Bhant. “Permission to change your appearance with a spell,” Tristan stated as he looked at Obadai.
“It would be wise. I do not have a means of disguise except a deep cloak.” The Archon pulled his cloak’s hood up.
Tristan nodded, “Naamioi heid?t niin, ett? he n?ytt?v?t joltakin mit? he eiv?t ole.” (Disguise their form so that they appear as something they are not). He passed his hand over Obadai’s face and made a circular, scrubbing motion, and the man’s appearance shifted to mimic Tristan’s own. “And just like that,” he said, “we appear as brothers. Albeit with very fine mounts.”
Obadai grinned, “Lead the way!”
The day was uneventful, but after a few hours of travel and repeating of the Disguise Other and Disguise Form spell, the duo arrived in a town called Priam’s Overwatch a little past midday. The rift that the traveling bard, Shandra, had told Tristan about was clearly visible from the central crossroads of the town – an enormous tear in the land that extended down to the crashing waves and rocks below. It kept going onto the horizon, slowly expanding in size.
A series of pulleys enabled travel up and down to the calamitous ocean below, and a variety of fishermen were sitting on platforms suspended over the canyon. “What caused this?” Tristan asked.
Obadai frowned, “Elemental Realm of Earth. There was an Incursion here, millennia ago, and this is the remains of that calamitous event.”
Tristan looked around and saw a signpost amongst the milling populace. Guiding Midnight over to it, he was able to read the Standard Tongue on it. To the south was Jewel’s Point – the capital of the region. “That’s our destination,” he stated as he began to turn Midnight.
The Archon rode up behind him, “Hmm. There is something off. Look over there,” he pointed to the horizon, to the west of the town.
Tristan followed his finger and saw a shimmering in the air, “A powerful spell at play?” he asked, as the warbling akin to heat on the paving stones in the capital of Bhant’s Holdfast would play a similar visual effect as the higher Order spells would recreate during its casting.
Obadai shook his head, “No, that would have a slight bit of sparkling to it at this distance. I think…that an Incursion is about to occur.”
Tristan frowned and leaned down toward Onyx, “Go towards it, boy.”
The horse complied and Tristan made his way to the edge of town. Felicity atop his head was making paw-claw biscuits, “It looks weird,” she said. “Not like when a rift opens into the Fey Realm and The Matriarch has to close it – that has a more…vibrant color. This is just…warbly air.”
Tristan could see the ripples more clearly as they got closer. “Obadai, you mentioned something about sympathetic-”
“Sympathetic Incursions,” he interrupted. “Yes, a theory that if a rift is opened by a spell, then the rest of the veil between the Realms is weakened, making spontaneous Incursions more likely. But that was just a theory!”
Tristan dismounted Onyx and seeing him do so, Obadai dismounted as well. Tristan leaned into Onyx, “Go wait for us over those hills,” he whispered to the horse. Glancing back at Midnight, he repeated the instructions a little bit louder, and the two horses went that way. Lastly, he looked up at Felicity. “Keep the horses safe,” he said.
“I could help in a fight!” Felicity said as she transformed her front paw-claws into scything blades and waved them in the air.
“I need you to keep the horses safe,” Tristan replied. “If we don’t have those, travel will take a lot longer. And I know how much you hate boring travel.”
Felicity sighed and shifted her paws back. “Fine. I’ll go mind the horses.” She flew off, and Tristan drew his sword as he began to spin his essence crucible.
Obadai shook his head, “Why prepare for combat? The odds of a rift like this opening spontaneously are nearly nil.”
Tristan glanced back at the man, “It’s not a coincidence that you let a demon dragon out across the continent, and then Incursions happened down here, and demon bats started to kill people. This sympathy thing you spoke of? It is happening. This is proof enough to me.” He turned to face the warbling in front of him and saw small rips appear as fragments of a black sky were visible beyond the tiny apertures.
Obadai cursed, “Damnit! Well, I guess we are making theory reality. Can you hold it?”
Tristan looked at the width of the rippling air before him. “It’s ten feet across? I can block it.”
“Good. I can close it. But I have to wait until it opens.”
Tristan glanced around; they were on the edge of the town proper, outside of the walls that had a few curious guards looking out. Tristan raised his voice, “Get ranged weapons! A rift is about to-”
He heard a loud rrrrip that forced him to his knees from the pain of the sound against his enhanced hearing. Blinking through tears, he saw the whole space before him, on the road leading out of the town, ripped apart. Black skies lay beyond in a lush, jungle landscape. Bubbling pools of black ichor with small, crimson bursts of flame belched black smoke up into the dark skies. A lighter black on a darker black.
And as Tristan kept looking, he saw a dark cloud begin to approach. Thousands of flying shapes. Shouts of alarm sprung up from behind him on the walls to the city, and he heard a loud bell begin to ring.
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SerasStreams / Alex Econome