Though to be sure, none had proven overwhelmingly dangerous. No, they seemed to be simple little things. Dart traps. The occasional block from a ceiling or a wall to pummel you. Shallow pits. Catch boards to twist an ankle on. They were all minor inconveniences, but together they added up.
Because I could only heal myself when it was absolutely necessary—reserving most of my Energy for Lynnria’s sake—I was close to the point of shaking from hunger and more than a little wounded. If we did not find some sort of sustenance soon, I would be forced to eat Gems of Power just to remain upright.
“Maybe try your new skill,” I suggested with a quiet and distracted air. I was on edge from being surrounded by so many points of ingress. Still, and despite the mood, I was grateful to have an excuse to end the silence between us. Even if it was over something impersonal. “We could use a bit of luck right now.”
“I’ve been trying it,” she replied, clearly frustrated but still keeping her voice down. “It keeps fizzling.”
I started to answer, but that strange creaking sounded again from… somewhere. The two of us sat in near perfect stillness, eyes skipping from one path to the next for quite a while. Another of the strange quirks of this place was that sound seemed to bounce about at random and erratic intervals, leaving you wondering where the source had originated from. Even our own voices would jump about, sounding at times like a second pair of us was out there, rehashing our own conversations in apparent mockery. However, as the silence returned we eventually allowed ourselves to relax. Somewhat.
“Let me see what you’re doing,” I suggested finally, my voice so low as to be near inaudible. Yet in this place, I still felt as if I were yelling. “Maybe I can give you some tips.”
The outline of her shoulders bunched upward in a shrug, though they stayed there perhaps a half-second too long. She was tense. “May as well.”
Then she lifted her hand with her thumb and first two fingers extended. What followed was a fairly slow yet complex series of finger twitches culminating in a brief and very dim sputtering of light. If it had not been so dark, I would never have noticed it.
“That was it?” I asked after a moment.
She nodded. “Yeah. And it didn’t work. I don’t know how I know that… but I do.”
I pursed my lips in thought. “Okay… and what were you trying to accomplish?”
“I don’t know,” she replied, shrugging a bit more dramatically this time. “Something lucky? Like… a way out of this place? Or maybe stumble onto some treasure? I could sure use something more than this little dagger. Whatever is stalking us out there is starting to fray my nerves. I feel like I’ve been walking on eggshells for hours.”
“Same,” I said. “And maybe add a nice sandwich to that order.”
She chuckled before giving me a concerned look over. “You’re sure you can’t afford to heal yourself? That last flying block trap hit your shoulder pretty hard.”
I waved her off, though I was very much putting on a brave face. In reality, my shoulder was absolutely throbbing. And that was hardly my only injury. I felt like I had been going through the world’s slowest boxing match. And losing. “Ah, that one was already wounded anyway. Besides, I’m a mage. I don’t need arms.”
A reluctant sort of smile twitched at the corners of her lips, then she glanced away, apparently unable to find much levity in my suffering.
I cleared my throat. “Anyway, the charm is supposed to impose your Will onto the fate of an outcome, right?”
“That… sounds correct,” she affirmed after a moment. Then she glanced up at me out of the corner of her eye. “You must have a pretty high Intelligence to remember that so exactly after having heard it just the once. The wording is a fog for me, and it’s my skill.”
“It’s only so-so,” I said with perhaps a touch of false humility. “But don’t change the subject. I think the charm would have a hard time working without some sort of established scenario to work off of. I mean we’re just sitting here. What outcome is it supposed to affect? And how do you expect the charm to know what you want?”
“I dunno. Magic?” She huffed. “None of this makes any sense. All the magic I’ve ever seen is… well, like yours. You say the Words, and then whatever the spell does… just happens! The way you talk, you’d think the spell was some kind of… of conscious thing. It’s ludicrous.”
“That’s because yours seems to involve Will.” I flattened my lips into a line. “Mia, did you not explain any of this to her?”
“Of course not, horse cock! I want to watch you fffuh—“ She grunted with effort, only just managing to rein in the tic. “That is… I’m not her Faen. Until she figures out just where her loyalties lie, she can figure it out on her own, for all I care.”
I quirked an eyebrow. Loyalties? She was upset that Lynnria was having some doubts about the situation? How could she not be? I did not understand, but I decided to hold off from commenting. I was already in the middle of one difficult conversation.
“Ah, whatever,” I muttered before turning back. “Look. I’m not going to claim to have this all figured out, but from what I know, you have to find a way of expressing your Will. So maybe…” I waved my hands vaguely through the air. “I don’t know. Just try saying what you want.”
Of course, when I had done this, I had been trying to get Lynnria to allow my spell to work on her. In this case, I had no idea who or what might be listening. But it was worth a shot.
“Okay…” she said gamely then began slowly working her way through the charm again. “Which… way… to… treasure?”
The charm culminated in another of those little sputtering lights.
“I’m guessing that didn’t work?”
“No.”
Frustrated, she began working the frazzled braid out of her hair and redoing it into a high ponytail. Since her dunking into the ocean some hours ago, it had dried into a bit of a mess. Not that it mattered. Neither of us were exactly fit to attend a social gathering at the moment, but she seemed to find some relief in busying her hands. I could respect that.
And while she fiddled with it, it gave me time to think.
This was supposed to be a luck charm, and as her first skill, it would likely be a fairly low-powered one at that. Plus, she had only just gotten the thing, meaning her skill level would be practically nonexistent. So there was no way the thing was going to drop a random treasure chest at our feet out of the clear blue sky. That seemed far too improbable. We needed to introduce something simple into the equation for the charm to affect. Like a coin flip.
Or…
“Try once more,” I began, “but this time, take out your dagger and hold it upright by the tip. When the charm completes let the dagger fall. Whichever direction the blade points, we go.”
She stared at me blankly for a moment before eventually bobbing her head. “You mean like a divination? Clever. And even if it doesn’t work, we have a direction to try first.”
I assumed an easy smile and patted her back. “That’s the spirit.”
“You too.” She gave her head a quick shake. “I mean, thank you. O-or no, I mean… uh…”
Flummoxed, she abandoned whatever it was she was trying to say in favor of hastily drawing her dagger and once more working her way through the motions of the little ritual. And, I had no doubt, blushing furiously.
You too? Ha!
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
Each chapter is now being personalized with some... passable chapter-inspired AI generated art. I try. But it gives things a bit of color. And you can read ahead!
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
Though to be sure, none had proven overwhelmingly dangerous. No, they seemed to be simple little things. Dart traps. The occasional block from a ceiling or a wall to pummel you. Shallow pits. Catch boards to twist an ankle on. They were all minor inconveniences, but together they added up.
Because I could only heal myself when it was absolutely necessary—reserving most of my Energy for Lynnria’s sake—I was close to the point of shaking from hunger and more than a little wounded. If we did not find some sort of sustenance soon, I would be forced to eat Gems of Power just to remain upright.
“Maybe try your new skill,” I suggested with a quiet and distracted air. I was on edge from being surrounded by so many points of ingress. Still, and despite the mood, I was grateful to have an excuse to end the silence between us. Even if it was over something impersonal. “We could use a bit of luck right now.”
“I’ve been trying it,” she replied, clearly frustrated but still keeping her voice down. “It keeps fizzling.”
I started to answer, but that strange creaking sounded again from… somewhere. The two of us sat in near perfect stillness, eyes skipping from one path to the next for quite a while. Another of the strange quirks of this place was that sound seemed to bounce about at random and erratic intervals, leaving you wondering where the source had originated from. Even our own voices would jump about, sounding at times like a second pair of us was out there, rehashing our own conversations in apparent mockery. However, as the silence returned we eventually allowed ourselves to relax. Somewhat.
“Let me see what you’re doing,” I suggested finally, my voice so low as to be near inaudible. Yet in this place, I still felt as if I were yelling. “Maybe I can give you some tips.”
The outline of her shoulders bunched upward in a shrug, though they stayed there perhaps a half-second too long. She was tense. “May as well.”
Then she lifted her hand with her thumb and first two fingers extended. What followed was a fairly slow yet complex series of finger twitches culminating in a brief and very dim sputtering of light. If it had not been so dark, I would never have noticed it.
“That was it?” I asked after a moment.
She nodded. “Yeah. And it didn’t work. I don’t know how I know that… but I do.”
I pursed my lips in thought. “Okay… and what were you trying to accomplish?”
“I don’t know,” she replied, shrugging a bit more dramatically this time. “Something lucky? Like… a way out of this place? Or maybe stumble onto some treasure? I could sure use something more than this little dagger. Whatever is stalking us out there is starting to fray my nerves. I feel like I’ve been walking on eggshells for hours.”
“Same,” I said. “And maybe add a nice sandwich to that order.”
She chuckled before giving me a concerned look over. “You’re sure you can’t afford to heal yourself? That last flying block trap hit your shoulder pretty hard.”
I waved her off, though I was very much putting on a brave face. In reality, my shoulder was absolutely throbbing. And that was hardly my only injury. I felt like I had been going through the world’s slowest boxing match. And losing. “Ah, that one was already wounded anyway. Besides, I’m a mage. I don’t need arms.”
A reluctant sort of smile twitched at the corners of her lips, then she glanced away, apparently unable to find much levity in my suffering.
I cleared my throat. “Anyway, the charm is supposed to impose your Will onto the fate of an outcome, right?”
“That… sounds correct,” she affirmed after a moment. Then she glanced up at me out of the corner of her eye. “You must have a pretty high Intelligence to remember that so exactly after having heard it just the once. The wording is a fog for me, and it’s my skill.”
“It’s only so-so,” I said with perhaps a touch of false humility. “But don’t change the subject. I think the charm would have a hard time working without some sort of established scenario to work off of. I mean we’re just sitting here. What outcome is it supposed to affect? And how do you expect the charm to know what you want?”
“I dunno. Magic?” She huffed. “None of this makes any sense. All the magic I’ve ever seen is… well, like yours. You say the Words, and then whatever the spell does… just happens! The way you talk, you’d think the spell was some kind of… of conscious thing. It’s ludicrous.”
“That’s because yours seems to involve Will.” I flattened my lips into a line. “Mia, did you not explain any of this to her?”
“Of course not, horse cock! I want to watch you fffuh—“ She grunted with effort, only just managing to rein in the tic. “That is… I’m not her Faen. Until she figures out just where her loyalties lie, she can figure it out on her own, for all I care.”
I quirked an eyebrow. Loyalties? She was upset that Lynnria was having some doubts about the situation? How could she not be? I did not understand, but I decided to hold off from commenting. I was already in the middle of one difficult conversation.
“Ah, whatever,” I muttered before turning back. “Look. I’m not going to claim to have this all figured out, but from what I know, you have to find a way of expressing your Will. So maybe…” I waved my hands vaguely through the air. “I don’t know. Just try saying what you want.”
Of course, when I had done this, I had been trying to get Lynnria to allow my spell to work on her. In this case, I had no idea who or what might be listening. But it was worth a shot.
“Okay…” she said gamely then began slowly working her way through the charm again. “Which… way… to… treasure?”
The charm culminated in another of those little sputtering lights.
“I’m guessing that didn’t work?”
“No.”
Frustrated, she began working the frazzled braid out of her hair and redoing it into a high ponytail. Since her dunking into the ocean some hours ago, it had dried into a bit of a mess. Not that it mattered. Neither of us were exactly fit to attend a social gathering at the moment, but she seemed to find some relief in busying her hands. I could respect that.
And while she fiddled with it, it gave me time to think.
This was supposed to be a luck charm, and as her first skill, it would likely be a fairly low-powered one at that. Plus, she had only just gotten the thing, meaning her skill level would be practically nonexistent. So there was no way the thing was going to drop a random treasure chest at our feet out of the clear blue sky. That seemed far too improbable. We needed to introduce something simple into the equation for the charm to affect. Like a coin flip.
Or…
“Try once more,” I began, “but this time, take out your dagger and hold it upright by the tip. When the charm completes let the dagger fall. Whichever direction the blade points, we go.”
She stared at me blankly for a moment before eventually bobbing her head. “You mean like a divination? Clever. And even if it doesn’t work, we have a direction to try first.”
I assumed an easy smile and patted her back. “That’s the spirit.”
“You too.” She gave her head a quick shake. “I mean, thank you. O-or no, I mean… uh…”
Flummoxed, she abandoned whatever it was she was trying to say in favor of hastily drawing her dagger and once more working her way through the motions of the little ritual. And, I had no doubt, blushing furiously.
You too? Ha!
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
Each chapter is now being personalized with some... passable chapter-inspired AI generated art. I try. But it gives things a bit of color. And you can read ahead!
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
