S01E08 - An unexpected gift

*****

Crossing the threshold between two large stones, I left behind the red brick road and terrors of Alefin. Brice and Colin hurried through a moment later, supporting a gasping Simon. Ryllae appeared after a long minute and the golden glow surrounding the henge faded, leaving us in the evening gloom.

Simon had flopped to the ground and lay there, watching the stars appear in the evening sky. Brice and Colin joined him, enjoying a brief rest from our death march through the Alefin Way. I was tired, but not nearly enough for a man who had just spent the last couple of hours jogging. There was a pleasant ache in my muscles that me feel more like I had a nice warm-up rather than run a marathon.

"How's the neck?" I asked Simon, who was tenderly rubbing it.

"Much better," he replied, hardly any frog in his throat at all. "Elves make the best healing salves."

Ryllae knelt down and removed the gauze, examining the injury. "You should be fine by morning." She said, twisting his head left and right. "Wash up before you go to bed and you shouldn't even need a bandage."

A voice came from the shadows behind us, causing me to jump. I turned to see another elf had entered the henge, his dark green garb and leathers making him nearly invisible in the deepening twilight.

"Ryllae, you've had trouble on the Ways?" he asked, his voice a rich baritone filled with music and concern.

"Yes, Morthil." She replied, rising to greet the new elf with her palms pressed together. "We will speak of it later. Please attend the Loiaiam until I return."

"I will do as you request." He responded, repeating her gesture and adding a slight bow.

"Come," she addressed the rest of us. "I must deliver you to the septemhate to complete my duty."

The henge was placed on a mound of earth, and I followed her down a dirt path that lead through the thin grove of trees that surrounded it. Simon, Brice, and Colin followed as Ryllae led us towards a large building to the south. Not quite a castle, although it may have started out that way. It reminded me of a fortified government complex, with a secure bottom floor and elaborate layers built on top to cater to important officials in style.

She presented a gold medallion to a pair of guards as identification, and one motioned for us to follow him inside. Passing through the thick stone walls, we navigated a series of hallways until we reached a large foyer filled with a desk manned by a single middle-aged civil servant uniformed in orange and brown. The guard deposited us there and returned to his post.

Presenting her medallion again, she said "I am Ryllae Miavalour, keeper of the Alefin Ways. I have brought these men from Cerise to Kaliana for the purpose of meeting with the Septumhate. I release them into your care."

Clasping her palms together, she left us with a small bow.

Colin poked Brice with a surreptitious elbow and whispered, "Never seen that happen before."

Paperwork appeared, and Simon produced a letter which caused much mouth puckering, hurmphing, and quill scratching. Bureaucracy requires a sacrifice of ink and pain, and it was a long, uncomfortable time before I was shoved out the front door with a temporary visa for Kaliana.

"Let's get to the embassy," Brice said, cracking his neck and rolling his shoulders. "I'm fecking shattered."

I had learned that the boomerang-shaped island of mages was called Kaliana in casual conversation, but the capital city was named Ubrid and considered the height of civilisation. It was home to a population of about 34,000 people with paved roads and enchanted streetlights on every street and alley.

There was a small retirement village on the western coast named Sezion with a population of maybe 6000 and the port of Chinterlis on the eastern side was home of another 20,000 individuals who kept Ubrid supplied with goods and trade.

I followed Brice out of the protective walls of the keep and into the streets of the city proper. He led us towards the Cerisian embassy located near the centre of the city proper, and we entered with a minimum of fuss and were assigned rooms for the duration of our stay.

I was assigned a largish suite which contained a soft bed, writing desk, table and sofa. Simon received a similar one across the hall, while Brice and Colin had a smaller servants room adjoining mine.

I shrugged off my pack and opened it for the first time. Inside was a change of clothing, and a half dozen thin books which contained charcoal diagrams of spell forms that Magus Indred thought might be useful. Not actual spell books, which require expensive materials and inks to protect the contents from being consumed by magical energies, these were probably part of a collection that he planned on gifting Simon some time in the future.

With that thought in mind, I recalled one world where spell form was bound to playing cards and wondered if such an idea was worth pursuing here. Depends on the reagents required, I suppose. If you're going to make a magical spell deck, you'll need a steady hand for the tiny runes and acceptance of the fact that you're only going to get a few uses from each one.

A thicker, more serious tome was a part of his valuable personal collection. It contained the names and aspects of dozens of spirits and celestial entities known to the mages of Avelan.

Although Indred had promised such knowledge upon my arrival in Kaliana, I had assumed it would be handed over by some colleague or curate. I reevaluated my opinion of the man and found that I rather liked him, despite his stuffy attitude.

"I'm off for a bath," Simon said, poking his head in the door. "It's at the end of the hall when you're ready."

Simon had to show me how to operate the bath, as it operated differently than the communal one in Cerise. Enchantments on the tub filled it with water when evoked, and others heated or cooled it to the desired temperature. A simple plug allowed the dirty water to drain down to the sewers where it flowed off to parts unknown. Hopefully somewhere to be processed and not just dumped outside the city walls.

The toilette was a covered seat with a foul smelling hole in it and a sponge on a stick for cleaning, just like in Cerise. Enough said.

I had just returned to my room from the bath when someone knocked at the door. I called out for them to wait a moment and scrambled to get dressed. Opening the door I discovered a girl dressed in the green and purple livery of Cerise.

"If it please," She said with a small curtsey. "I have come to tell sir there is an elf waiting for them downstairs."

"Um," I said, confused at the message. "Yeah, it pleases. Will you take me to them?"

She gave another curtsey and I followed her down the hall and stairs into the main lobby of the embassy. Ryllae was standing near the front desk, still covered in grime from the day's travels. She held what resembled a short sword on a stick.

"Ryllae," I said, trawling my mind for some formal elvish greeting that might fit in this world, and failing. "What can I do for you?"

"This is an elvish trenchent, what you would call a glaive. It carries no enchantment, but it has a blade of mithril and the haft is gifted Loia wood. It was given to me by my father before Alefin fell." She said, offering me the weapon. "You are tasked with destroying the evil that threatens this land, yet you have been given neither sword nor staff. Accept this weapon, I would not see you defenceless."

I took the glaive from her hands and bowed over it. "I accept," I said, choosing my next words carefully. "And I will seek to always bring honour the blade of your father."

A smile flitted across her lips. "Not quite, Hero Samuel." She said. "But close enough. Should I choose to marry you, I will offer you the sword of my father." She patted the sword at her side.

"Ah, sorry about that." I said, words rushing from my mouth. "I meant no insult."

"I have not found you unworthy," she said, "No insult was taken. Have a good night."

I watched her walk away, feeling confused and embarrassed. It was certain I had just mixed up part of a betrothal ceremony with a gift giving ceremony, but I was uncertain of her response. Was that an indication of interest? How did I feel about that?

I returned to the room with the gifted weapon, mind aswirl with distracting thoughts about Ryllae and how inconvenient inter-dimensional dating would be.

I'd never seen a glaive before and examined it carefully. The shaft was 120cm of smooth wood which had a deep golden colour and a heavy ball of mithril at the bottom. The business end was a thin 60cm single-edged blade of mithril with a hook on the dull side. It shimmered with dull silver ripples where it had been folded countless times during its forging. For a dungeon, it was a horrible weapon. On the battlefield, it was lethal.

Colin walked in from the baths and slowed as he eyeballed Ryllae's gift in my hand. He passed through without saying a word and closed the servants door behind him.

Setting the weapon aside, I grabbed the thick tome Indred had seen fit to loan me and flipped through the directory of celestial beings. Most I was familiar with from my years of studies and work, which lent credence to the theory that there was a higher celestial order reflected in all worlds. Satisfied that my knowledge was relevant and up to the task of saving the world with my daughter, I closed the book and scrawled a quick message to Tracy letting her know I had arrived safely and should be back in a few days. Folding it neatly, I sealed it with wax and tied it loosely with a bit of twine found in the desk drawer.

I invoked a small spirit to carry the letter.

"O Hercinia with thine effulgent wings which soar above all earthly lands, I offer thee a bit of string for thy heavenly nest. Appear before me: Luminous Messenger!"

Light gathered from the lantern on the desk and drifted towards the ceiling like cigarette smoke. It gathered substance and resolved into a large bird with outstretched wings that gave off a soft blue glow. It eyed the letter in my hand and parted its beak, eager to have the string.

"Deliver this to my daughter, Tracy Carter, who is in the city of Cerise." I said, offering the letter to the thin, dexterous beak. "Once you have done this, you may keep the string."

Clamping its beak over the letter, the spirit tugged it from my hand and vanished in motes of blue light.

I sat down on the bed, overcome with a sudden exhaustion. Rolling into the soft sheets, I fell into a dreamless sleep.

*****

Author's Note: next episode eta 23nov

Completion date: 17NOV2019

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