Chapter Two - Flight

Jade couldn’t decide if it felt like a funeral procession or a parade. There was hope in the faces around her, but it was simply a mask over the shadow of sorrow. They knew disaster had fallen upon the royal family, but they dreamed she would do what she had promised.

She felt her danger sense tingling, but it was her keen vision that picked out the tiny figure trying to push through the crowd. She saw the moment the tiny figure managed to make it to the front, only to trip and go flying forward in front of the crowd. Diving to the tiny figure, her heart lurched as she realized she was too far away to catch the child. It was only after they hit the ground hard that she realized she could have used wind to catch them. Mentally cursing herself, she continued her race forward even as the child sniffled and began to cry.

“There there, it’s okay. You’re all right.” Jade was there, her hands lifting the small child. With a twitch of her fingers, the dirt flew away from their clothes and face as Jade reached up, straightening their clothes and hair while the tiny boy stared at her in awe and she quickly healed the tiny scratches he’d gotten. He couldn’t be more than three years old, and he was staring at her with huge blue eyes. She smiled at him, asking softly, “What’s your name?”

He tucked his thumb into his mouth and mumbled around it as he stared, “Henwy.”

Smiling, she nodded as she remained crouched at his level. “It’s nice to meet you, Henry. Can I help you find your parents?” He nodded and she smiled, scooping him into her arms as she turned to meet the curious gazes of the crowd. She turned to the little one, asking softly, “Can you see them?” As he shook his head in denial, she nodded again.

Concentrating, she made them lighter until they started to float into the air. Over the gasps of the crowd, she heard a panicked voice from her left. “Henry? Henry, where’d you go? Henry!?”

She pinpointed the mother as a harried looking young woman who was clutching a small baby girl to her chest. She was looking around her frantically, ignoring the fact that everyone else had broken out into excited whispers at Jade’s display. Motioning to the woman, Jade asked Henry in a whisper, “Is that your mom?” When he nodded, she smiled, lowering them back to the ground and walking towards the woman. The crowd parted before her until she was face to face with the woman.

Her eyes were wide with fright as she realized Jade was holding her son. She moved into a deep curtsey, saying softly, “Lady Jade, I’m so sorry if my son has bothered you!”

“Please, stand up. He was no bother at all.” Jade had let little Henry down, and he was smiling up at her as he grabbed her hand.

“Mommy, we fwew!” Henry happily announced his news, much to the horror of his mother, who’d started to stand up straight only to stop at his pronouncement. Jade reached forward, touching her shoulder gently and pulling her upright. She tucked a curl behind the baby girl’s ear, smiling.

“You have very beautiful children. Take care now. Stay with your mother, Henry. Okay? Don’t make her worry.” She gave the little boy as serious of a look as she could with a smile, and he nodded solemnly, transferring his tiny hand from hers and back to his mom’s.

“Thank you.” Her voice was almost lost in the cacophony of voices all around her, but Jade nodded and turned, walking back through the parted crowd to the walkway, nodding to the royals before she continued on as if nothing had happened, head held high.

Her babies had been sitting so quietly on her braid, and she smiled as she thought of something. She paused, holding her hand out. One by one, they alighted as she gave them trails of dark sparkles that could be seen in the bright sunshine. “Fly around me, let them see your beauty.” She mentally asked her babies to obey, and they happily flitted through the air to the oohs and ahhs of the crowd.

She may not be able to do much, but she could leave them with an image of confidence and wonder. She could give them hope. So she smiled until they reached the gate.

The makeup of the crowd shifted from civilian to uniformed guards. As she passed through the gates of the inner wall, all civilians except the royal family had been left behind. Instead she was met with a group of people being supervised by Marcelle. Several people behind her were tending to animals that, if she had to describe, were something of a cross between a horse and a reindeer.

“Jade! You’re here. Wonderful. Let’s get you set up with a capall and then we can be off.” Marcelle had walked over, greeting Jade with a kiss to the cheek. Jade reached over, grabbing her hand before she could pull away. She sent a healing surge through her, easing her exhaustion and putting a personal vitality buff on her. Marcelle visibly straightened, a grateful smile on her face. “Thank you. I needed that.”

Nodding, Jade smiled and said softly, “I’ll be right there. Just going to say goodbye.” Marcelle nodded, and she turned back to Victor, Camille, and Will. She had scanned the assembled crowd, and noticed one person conspicuously absent. “Your dad decided to not let Brodie come, didn’t he.”

Victor and Will exchanged glances before looking back at her. Victor nodded. “Yes, he decided...we couldn’t risk anyone else…”

Jade smiled, patting him on the shoulder. “It’s okay, I understand. I’ll bring them back for you. Have faith in me.” She hugged each of them once more as she said quietly, “I’ll stay in touch. It’s going to be okay.” They nodded reluctantly, and she turned, walking over to where she had spotted Christopher holding the reins of a slimmer capall. She smiled at his nervous look and asked quietly, “Is this one for me?”

He started, only just now seeming to notice her as he quickly nodded. “Jade! Yes, this is Daisy. She should treat you well. Do you know how to ride?”

Shaking her head, she smiled. “Not at all, but I’ll learn quickly, I’m sure.” I kinda have to, she added mentally. He nodded, helping her up to the padded saddle as he explained the different commands Daisy was used to. She paused, looking down at him from her high seat. “You’re not coming, are you.” It was more statement than question.

He shook his head. “No, I’m no good in the forest. But you’re in good hands. They’ll take care of you.”

She laughed softly. “It’s not me I’m worried about, but thank you.” She glanced at the giant reindeer horns in front of her and asked quietly, “Does anyone ever impale themselves on the horns?” She was rather worried about it. If you got tired and fell forward in a daze, if there was a jump and you went forward on the landing…

Christopher just smiled at her. “A few. But like you said, you’re a fast learner, I’m sure you’ll be fine. Besides, Daisy has been with us for years. She’ll take care of you.” He patted the magnificent white beast fondly and she shook her head, looking around. Daisy had beautiful white fur with black socks, but when she looked around she saw all sorts of colors. They were more like the coloring of horses, then. She did notice hers was the only white one.

Raising a brow, she asked quietly, “Is there a reason I got the only white one?”

Nodding, he replied in a low voice, “Yes. They’re bred to be the fastest, but also…” He paused as if hesitating, then shrugged. “Daisy belongs to Princess Tisha.”

Oh. She swallowed, nodding to indicate she understood. It was funny though, Daisy’s head had popped up a little at the sound of Tisha’s name. Patting her neck, Jade crooned softly, “There there girl, let’s go find your master.” She’d noticed the group beginning to move towards the gate and directed Daisy to follow with a last smile at Christopher.

The road in front of her was smooth stone, flanked on either side by wildly waving stalks of grain. The sky was brilliantly blue above it, and she felt like she could see forever now that there were no buildings blocking the way, just mountains and forests in the distance. It was breathtaking. She moved Daisy up to Marcelle, who nodded to her and continued her quiet conversation with whoever was in the mirror.

“We’ve found the entrance to Basaigh they used. However, it seems they took to the trees from there. This is as far as we were able to track them.” The disembodied voice entered Jade’s ears clearly, even though he was talking quietly.

Marcelle looked thoughtful, then nodded. “Wait for us there, then. We’ll be there in a few hours and then your squads can return to the city.” She didn’t know what the man did, but the connection was cut and Marcelle turned to her, nodding before projecting her voice to the ten men and women behind her. Jade had been a little surprised at the small number, but figured they were there mostly to help her; it was she who’d be doing the heavy lifting. “We’ve got our direction. Let’s go.”

“I’m going to move to the middle.” Jade spoke into the quiet, maneuvering Daisy to the center of the group as she saw disappointment flash across a couple faces as she took the ‘safe spot.’ Ignoring them, she concentrated as the group began to move forward, Daisy following the others obediently. Jade held tightly to the antlers, which were apparently also used as the reigns in this world. She’d taken the sparkles off of her babies, and they now flew above the group, spreading out and scouting for any possible dangers to the group.

It took her about fifteen minutes of quiet travel before she finally managed to get the hang of pushing her aura out for more than a few inches. Another five minutes passed before she felt confident in controlling the size and shape of her sphere of influence. Or maybe she should call it a low dome? She was purposefully not affecting anything beneath the ground, because that would just be a waste of energy.

Taking a deep breath, she fixed her magic in her mind’s eye and added the thought that it would only affect the twelve riders, their mounts, and her babies when they entered. Satisfied that she’d thought of everything she could, she pushed her aura out, enveloping the company. There were a few startled cries as eyes turned to her.

Smiling innocently at them, she said cheerfully, “I finally got my aura to work. It only goes out about thirty feet in any direction from me, so try to stay in that range.” She glanced at Marcelle, who was smiling in approval. “Let’s pick up the pace, shall we?”

Marcelle laughed softly, “You heard the lady, let’s go.” Marcelle led by example, turning to the front and urging her mount on, with everyone following closely behind. Jade was observing the looks from the guards around her. They’d turned from mild distrust and distaste to speculation. It was then that she noticed a younger guy in the back, and her grin turned up a few watts.

She met his hazel eyes and waved, and Sir Dalton grinned and moved forward until he was riding next to her. “Coming to save me again?” She’d never forget that he jumped in front of the first mesmer to save her.

He laughed, shaking his head. “I don’t think you need it these days. It seems you’ve got even more tricks up your sleeve than before. Did I hear right in that someone said you flew on your trek through town?” She could tell some of the others had perked up and were intently listening to their conversation, even if they were trying to appear nonchalant while they pounded down the path.

“I did. In my old world, in every hero story where people had magic powers, a ton of them tried to use it to figure out how to fly. So far, gravity and wind magic are the easiest ones for me to use, but I think you could use earth, metal, fire, and water as well.” Now that she thought about it, she’d already used water, just not on herself. She’d pulled Glen through the air at the obstacle course to heal him.

Dalton looked confused. “How would you use earth, metal, fire, or water to fly? That doesn’t make sense.”

She laughed softly. “It’s more thinking outside the box. For earth, metal, and water, you just make a platform and then stand on it. I do that with wind too, actually. Fire is a little trickier. It’s basically shooting fire from the soles of your feet and hands with enough propulsion to get you through the air. You could do that with wind too. You could also use metal on a suit of armor to make it fly, with you inside it.”

Several people had turned to stare at her while she explained, and she smiled as she saw they were turning off the paved stone path that split to the left and right to head straight to the woods. The path turned to packed dirt, showing that it wasn’t used. She figured the stone roads headed to the neighboring cities. She nodded to the road, asking, “Do people go into the woods often?”

This drew their attention back to the road, and most of them adjusted so they could make the transition smoothly, unaware she’d pointed it out for that purpose. One of the others on her left spoke up before Dalton could. “Several squads are sent out at least once a week to help keep the monster population down and gather herbs that grow better beneath the Basaigh. I’m Garrik, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Garrik! Thank you for explaining.” She smiled brightly at the guard. He looked to be in his thirties and bore several scars that she could barely pick out on his arms and hands. His dark brown hair was cut short, which highlighted a prominent nose and his mahogany eyes. There was a bow loosely attached to his saddle for easy access, a quiver on his back, a sword at his waist and several daggers she could see at various points. His armor was a hardened leather with metal bars sewn in. Now that she was looking, she could see similar armor on most of the men. It seemed the people she was with were more the agile fighters who preferred to pick off enemies from a distance if possible.

She actually considered that a fairly sensible choice; the frontline fighters in games were always dying. Why would it be any different in real fighting? It was much safer to kill your enemies before they could get close to you.

There was a change in the men around her, now that they’d left the road. They seemed to be more actively alert, looking for unseen enemies. She quietly recalled her fellacai in for a rest, leaving only two doing aerial reconnaissance. She figured she’d be depending on them more in the forest, so for now she’d just have one pair patrol and switch out frequently so they wouldn’t be too tired when she really needed them. She’d even experimented with draining the light from a specific limb, namely her hand. She constantly drained the sunlight, creating only a small cloud of darkness that she could hide from the others for the most part. It was helping her to maintain her aura. She’d gotten a few strange glances, but for the most part, people were looking outwards, not in.

“So, I’m guessing more monster attacks happen in these parts?” Her voice was almost jarring, the rest of the group having been silent save for the pounding of hooves.

One of the men behind her spoke up, though just loud enough for her to hear and no louder. “This is Tialon territory. Best to draw as little of their attention as possible.” Well, it did make sense to be quiet in enemy territory. But what was a Tialon? Looking at the fields of grain around her, she realized it would be quite easy to hide very large animals in it, especially if they were slinking around or lying in wait.

“Thanks.” Her gratitude barely reached the man behind her as she too made sure she was more aware. She thought the biggest danger would be once they reached the woods, but the lesson was being reinforced that this world was not safe...anywhere. There were just different levels of likely-to-be-attacked. She didn’t really know how to fix it either. It’s not like she could be everywhere, or even use cameras to watch multiple places at once…

Or could she? She remembered Morpheus teaching her about illusion magic windows, which was basically scrying a place you’d already been. It did have the limitation of being somewhere you were familiar with though. She wondered...could you scry a person’s location, even if you hadn’t been there yourself, but were familiar with the person? She’d have to try that when they were stopped. She didn’t think trying new magic with potential backlash should be done on the back of a high speed animal.

It seemed the alertness hadn’t been totally necessary, however. The Basaigh Woods were towering in front of them several tension-filled hours later. The grain had eventually tapered off into sparse trees which were slowly growing larger. She had finally spotted the advanced tracking group, who had stopped in a clearing in front of where the truly giant trees started. The men had a perimeter surrounding a few tents, and it looked like they were taking turns patrolling.

Marcelle waved as they rode up, obviously expected. She watched as Marcelle dismounted and the men around her began to do the same. “We’ll rest and eat here for an hour before we continue.” Marcelle’s voice was firm as she started giving orders, and one of the men came and took Daisy away from her to care for the creature after she’d dismounted.

Walking over to Marcelle, she found the woman talking to her scouts. Marcelle beckoned her to come closer absently as she listened to what the scout was saying. “So we tracked them to this point, and from what we can tell, they went into the trees. There are claw marks on the bark going up, but after that they must’ve been going from branch to branch, because we couldn’t find any further indications of their path. I’m sorry.” The man hung his head in apology as Marcelle put a hand on his shoulder.

“You did well. We’ll take it from here.” She turned to Jade, who was staring at the trees thoughtfully. “Jade, what do you think?”

She turned to smile at Marcelle, shrugging lightly. “I think it’s time I took a look at the treetops. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a short flight.” She bowed her head slightly, walking over to the tree the scout had indicated had claw marks.

With a thought, she lowered her gravity and used wind magic to take flight.