A Day In The Life

Lara's body ached as she woke among the hay and cooing hens. She was in the habit of waking just a little before sunrise before the roosters screamed her into consciousness. It was getting cold out, and she was getting older, which made her unfortunate residence the likely cause of her discomfort this morning. She scooted her way to the low door of the raised straw and wood coop, and slid down the small ramp to the dew-wet ground. The small fence around the structure passed her daily morning inspection to make sure neither wolf nor goblin had made it's way in during the night. That was the last thing she needed- she couldn't risk any mistakes any more. 

The sun painted its own introduction to the horizon just before it rose into view, alerting her two boys into their morning song. She lifted the safety hatch on the front of the coop and let her 17 chickens and 2 roosters spread out for their breakfast hunt. Lara watched with quiet compassion as her flightless flock fluttered around peacefully in the morning light. Coming to, she went in to collect eggs and loose feathers to take into Hanta to sell like she did every day. She placed 16 eggs in her carrying crate, bagged what feathers she could find, and took one egg for herself. She hopped her own gate and moved to the fire pit she had made nearby and began the slow process of starting a fire, bringing some water to a boil, heating her egg for breakfast, and getting herself ready for her daily trek into town. She looked around. Leaf-sliced sunlight danced on the floor of the small wood, Lara's coop with it's small storage box on the ground beside it, and her tiny cooking area just outside her small gate. She could hear the faint trickle of the nearby creek as she ate her boiled egg, which reminded her to check her water skins. Inspecting the 3 worn pouches she made a mental note to make sure she refilled them when she made it home this evening. 

“Uh…sorry to bother you…is this your…uh…coop?” A voice startled Lara from behind her. She turned to see a man peering out of an open door that…had just appeared? It was almost as if the door were built into the fabric of reality itself, opening into what appeared to be a very large and eclectic home. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes to make sure she understood what she was seeing, Lara traced the edge of the doorway, until it simply turned into the backdrop around her home she was used to seeing. Finally, she forced her attention back to the man.

“It is. It’s my home, actually, and I am a bit concerned about your just showing up here out of thin air. How are you doing this?”

The tall, lean man looked at Lara dumbfounded for a moment, then wore realization on his face as he stepped out of the doorway, looking back in. “This? Oh. This is just a touch of magic. It’s more convenient than just carrying everything with you.” The strange man had somewhat shaggy hair with waves, a salt-and-pepper stubble beard, with spectacles resting on severe cheekbones, magnifying intense brown eyes. He wore a dark grey, high-collared fitted vest that turned into a robe-like waistcoat near his mid-section. Lara knew only of wizards through second hand tales and the children’s books her mother would read her before she died, and this man only vaguely looked the part.

“Magic.”, Lara echoed. “So…why are you here, then?”

“Oh! I am on my way into Hanta to look into a little…maintenance issue, but I wasn’t due to arrive until this morning, so I decided to stop here for a good night’s sleep. I saw the coop and figured it would be relatively safe, what with a farmer nearby and all.”

“There’ll be no farmer’s here. It’s just me and my chickens.”, Lara replied.

“Oh! So. Where is your home then?”, the wizard asked, absentmindedly looking around. Lara caught his eye, then averted her own to the coop.

“How cozy!”, the man stammered. “And efficient. So! How well do you know Hanta? Could I possibly pay you to guide me to the outskirts of the uh…Chancellor’s house?”

“What’s the pay like?”, Lara quickly replied. She typically made around three copper a day from her eggs, and would then look for odd jobs in town to make ends meet. She was lucky to pull in five to ten copper a day, so if she could get a silver or two from this man, she’d be ahead of her finances for a change.

“Would 10 gold be enough for the day?”

Lara did her best to keep a straight face. He was offering her more than she could make in months just to walk him to the center of town? “All I’m expected to do is guide you? Nothing fishy?”

The tall, strange man grinned widely. “I’m paying you for local knowledge and the quickest routes. I assure you nothing ‘fishy’ will be required of you.”

“15 gold.”

“Done.”

Lara could hardly believe her luck. “Uh. Good then. Just… let me gather my things. Also, I guess I should ask. Who are you?”

“My name is Alius, Court Wizard of The Bekon Empire. And you are?”

“Regretting not asking for a higher rate now that I know who you are. But you can call me Lara.”

 

 

“So…how does the house from thin air actually work?”, Lara asked Alius as the two set out on the nearby northwest trail into Hanta.

“Well. The short answer is magic, of course. But to give you a better understanding, you need to understand the fundamentals of how magic works on Almora. You know the basics of the Quiet Gods, right?" 

"The old myths about how we were created?" 

"Yes. Well, no. They aren't myths, but yes those gods. So we all know the story of how Aemben brought Nidel and Urdir into this grand conversation in order to flesh out the whole of Almora, and once they completed this task they stopped speaking to marvel at their work. But what most people forget is that the gods we know and seem to have more interaction with were created by the Quiet Gods. The last major act in this conversation they had was to create 12 gods each to maintain and speak for some of the most important aspects of their perspective on the conversation. These are known as the Spoken Gods, and they are, generally, balanced. For example, Zendik, God of Magic, one I'm particularly fond of, he's one of Nidel's twelve. His counterpart in Urdir's court is Chira, Goddess of Crafts. One is about making something from nothing or very little, finding mysteries but not revealing them, things like that. The other is about making things with your hands with the resources and tools available to you, and teachable trades. Their balancer in Aemben's court is the God Orches, though, the God of the Arts. Because art is about both of those things. You need finely crafted tools and resources. Paints and brushes, delicate musical instruments, quill and inks, and so on. But what comes from those tangible tools is something...mysterious. It's so much more than just the result of tool usage. It's the process of turning craft into magic, and that's how Aemben balances to two ends of that spectrum." 

"So...you get your magic from Zendik? I don't understand what this has to do with how magic works." 

"Well. Sometimes. I get my magic through subversion. That's technically how all magic functions. Here's a better example, maybe. Gital, God of War, he doesn't like being "balanced", so he offers his powers to any who further his cause. A lot of the spells we know as the school of evocation come from him as a source. Raining fire and lighting on your enemies is pretty good for war, and that's how he sneaks his influence beyond the balance that Aemben has placed between him and his counterpart Haelu, Goddess of Healing. See, Quiepam, the balancing Goddess between Haelu and Gital, is the Goddess of Hearth or Home. Because we often go to war for the resources necessary to build and sustain our homes, but homes are also where we heal and grow. Gital wants his influence unmitigated, though. So he subverts this divine order by giving some of his power to the mortals." 

"But wouldn't this upset the balance the Aemben has created?" Lara found herself deeply interested in what Alius was teaching her. Most of her time was spent trying to survive, so the wizard's lecture was a welcome change of pace for her. 

"It would certainly upset the balance if Haelu wasn't doing the same thing. This ongoing competition, this Subversion as we call it, it's what fuels all magic in Almora. The gods are constantly finding ways to sneak their influence into things. So, the spell I use to store my home is one that borrows the essence Iridloc, the God of the Planes. It carves out a little space for me to keep my things and myself." 

Lara walked on in thought for a while, until a thought occurred to her. "What about Aemben's Gods? Can't they tip the balance?"

Alius gave Lara a surprised but pleased look. "You're more right than you even know. And that's why their divine court doesn't give their powers to the mortals. They give their gifts to Almora itself. Things like fate, luck, decay, or fertility, those are the domains beyond us mortals. They are indifferent to us, no matter what species, gender, size, or history we come from. A God of War may favor a massive burly warrior, The Trickster God may love those with nimble fingers or sneaky feet- but Decay will come for them both. The Gnomes love Chira for crafting, and the Loxodonta respect Toln for wisdom, but neither of them are immune to the power of a beautiful song. Aemben's court is magic for magic's sake, some say. I think it's just the result of two immovable forces. But get a few wizards in a room and you'll hear all sorts of theories and strong opinions. The truth is, we are only doing our best to explain something that is well beyond what we are capable of understanding." 

Lara took a hesitant breath, watching Hanta grow closer before asking, "Is...there a way to use magic give me a home? One that isn't...a chicken coop?" 

Alius stopped walking. "You really do sleep in there?" 

"I don't have anywhere else. I don't...uh. I don't make much money usually." 

A pause. "I see. Well, unfortunately that spell is a bit advanced, but I do wonder if you have the mind for magic. Maybe we could talk more about this later, but for now I need you to do me a favor- part of the job." The last part of the sentence was said in a calming female voice that caused Lara to look up just in time to see Alius transform into a pretty yet plain looking woman in nice but ordinary clothes. "Don't call me Alius while we're here. Once we enter town you are guiding Alina, the cousin of the Chancellor's wife to see her family. Can you handle that?", the wizard turned low-noble asked. 

Dumbfounded Lara simply nodded while gaping at Alius...Alina. 


Lara and her client reached the outskirts of town by midmorning and slowly made their way through the broken cobblestone streets that led to the Chancellor's home. Hanta was a tired, old, decaying town. Where it once saw tremendous trade for a small coastal town, things had been on a steady decline since the new Chancellor, a human man named Rovus Kine, took over from his father. Rovus, of course, blamed the decline on the failings of the town on their alignment with the Bekon Empire, and spent many years threatening to leave the Empire and bring other dissenting towns like Mokita and Lun with him. That sentiment seemed to calm down significantly after meeting his new wife, Astrid. While she couldn't stop him from making a fool of himself at public events, she did ease the burden of administration from his shoulders, and seemed to be particularly apt at it, despite coming from a low-born family with no real education off the island of Vos. Rovus saw her doing great things for Hanta and giving him all of the credit for it, so he never intervened. All success is won from the jaws of a man's ego, it seemed to Lara. 

With all the good Astrid had accomplished, though, there was a lot left to do here. The roads needed repairs. There was still a lot of hunger here. There weren't enough healers and clerics. The churches were mostly run off by now. But things were slowly on the upswing, and people took hope in that. People other than Lara, that is. For Lara it was all the same. She had been a penniless child when she arrived here a few years ago, and she wasn't much more than a penniless teenager now. The charity of those in power didn't extend as far down as her, and she just accepted that. As long as she could keep the chickens in good health, she'd be able to scrape by. And the insane amount Alius was paying her for this simple job would keep her in good shape for a while. It gave her something she hadn't had since she watched the life leave her parents when she was a child. She had security again, or at least a kind of it. She could take this coin and protect herself and her flock for a long time, and try to continue to save. Maybe she could buy another few hens to help make her a little more money per day. The options were overwhelming, but Lara had felt this kind of overwhelmed before. The positive, floaty feeling that had cushioned her thoughts evaporated when she saw the town guard standing outside of the Chancellor's home, though. 

Lara had learned quickly to avoid the guard. Their job was more to protect the wealthy in town from the poor than anything else. When the town had a bear problem two years ago, it wasn't the guard who helped them. It was a travelling group of mercenaries who used the guard's inaction to demand an insulting price for the job. When the poor got a little too drunk and fought in the streets, the guards stood by and took bets. Only when the Chancellor or one of the nearby nobles needed something done did the guard find their commitment to service. When Lara first came to town as a 9 year old, fresh from the wilderness and orphaned, she found food in the alley of some of the more well-to-do residents. She knelt down to eat the food like an animal, growling and grasping at anything that looked edible, until the guard found her there. They beat her so badly that she couldn't breathe without wheezing for months. She asked the last local cleric for help, but said he would need at least three gold to help her. So instead, Lara went to the woods to heal or die. She hoped for the latter, but her body decided otherwise. Slowly but surely, scrounging on roots and berries she healed, but she kept a wide berth when it came to the town guard from then on. 

Alius, or rather Alina, didn't seem nervous in the least, however. Walking up to the guard with a firm but modest gait, the disguised wizard addressed them. "Good Morning. Alina of Vos, to call on Astrid, the Chancellor's wife. We are family, and I should like to see my kin as soon as possible. It has been a long an unfortunate journey, and I need to rest." 

On either side of the gate a guard stood placidly, slowly looking from one another to this foreign woman, to Lara, then back to each other. "Hoos de gurl?", one of the guards said with a thick accent. New hire, apparently. 

"My servant, and the only survivor from the wreck of my ship besides myself. Now can you please fetch my cousin? I've endured enough on this journey to afford me a break from your insufferable inquisition." 

The two guards poorly hid their smiles as the one who spoke before slowly turned toward the house mumbling, "Ov course, as de laydee desires." The guard casually walked toward the front door and entered. A moment or two passed before the guard returned through the door looking a little more pale and chastised than before, followed by a beautiful young elven woman Lara knew to be Astrid. 

"Alina, my dear, what took you so long?", the Chancellor's wife called out. 

"Only the ocean and my feet, dear cousin."

"Ah, you and your servant must be deathly tired. Let's see to your woes before dinner. Come, come." 

Lara felt another surge of panic rise up in her as she was ushered through the immaculately kept front garden of the Chancellor's manor. She was just supposed to guide Alius here, not walk into the home of the most powerful man in town. Alius shot a quick apologetic flash of the eyes toward her as they walked toward the door. "This better pay more.", Lara thought.  




For all the decay and disrepair in the streets of Hanta, it seemed the Chancellor had successfully protected his home from the negative impacts of his own administration. Lara had never seen so much opulence in one place, and it sent a flash of anger through her to know how much she had struggled to even eat at times mere miles away from such decadence. She kept her composure as best she could, not wanting to ruin things for Alius, but she felt the warmth on her face suggesting her body was betraying her. Astrid must have noticed it too, as she looked at Lara quickly and called out to unseen servants to bring her some cool water, before ushering her and Alina into a sitting room. As soon as the servants brought the water and closed the door, however, Astrid's entire demeanor changed. 

"What took you so long Alius? Do you understand how close we came to..."

Alius raised his hand in a shushing motion, gave her a broad eyed look, then began muttering under his breath. The room suddenly felt different. Lara had to process the change for a moment before she realized that all the sounds from the house around her had been silenced, as though they were suddenly underwater. 

"Ok.", the wizard let out. "Now you can chastise me." 

"You are, by no uncertain measure, the most powerful living wizard in Almora, Alius. I say this not to flatter you but to explain my confusion as to why you couldn't just fucking teleport here when I told you this gods-forsaken bauble of metal and mediocrity wasn't working right." She spat the last part of her statement quietly but forcefully through her teeth, turning more and more red as she spoke. "And when you do finally show up, you come with the chicken girl?

Lara was so shocked that Astrid even knew who she was that she couldn't really take offense to being known as the chicken girl. 

"Her name is Lara, and I needed someone local to help me who can move under the radar. As for the teleportation issue, I might remind you that what we are doing here is of the utmost secrecy, and that having the Court Wizard of Bekon simply pop into your manor is not uh....not quite clandestine. Appearances matter, Astrid. Now, can I look at your amulet or are there other critiques you'd like me to address first?" 

Astrid's face softened a bit as understanding washed over her. She hesitated before asking, "Are we safe here?" 

"No one can come in or out, and if they touch the door they will suddenly remember there is something very important on the other side of the manor. You're safe." 

"And the girl?" 

"Can be trusted.", insisted Alius in Alina's body, thrusting his...her... hand out impatiently. 

Astrid reached behind her neck and untied a pretty but simple pendant. As she moved it further from her neck, however, she lost her elven features and slowly evaporated into a dark-blue scaled Dragonborn woman. She watched Lara from the corner of her eye as she changed, slightly grinning at the dumfounded look she must be wearing. Handing the pendant over to Alius, she used her other hand to raise a single finger to her mouth, directing her to keep this a secret. 

Lara tried not to stare for too long, shifting her gaze to her feet, the door, and finally to Alius who had taken the pendant and began examining it. Without looking up Alius quietly asked, "What do you think you are seeing, Lara?" 

"None of my business, really." 

"That's not what I asked.", replied Alius calmly. "What do you think all of this is?"

Lara thought for a moment. "Well. Rovus is a known racist. He only likes elves and tolerates humans. But the Bekon Empire is ruled by Dragonborn, mostly. If I had to guess, and I suppose I have to, I'd say this is someone's plan to get Rovus under control. Astrid was the only trustworthy person for the job, but couldn't make any progress as a non-elven noble. So you did something to that pendant to make her look like an Elf." 

Alius grinned in his Alina disguise and looked up to Astrid. Astrid did not seem to share in his joy. "If she can figure it out so fast, what hope do we have of fooling this town for much longer?" 

"Relax Astrid. There are a lot of things you're not considering here. First, Lara was given a significant hint in unravelling our mystery before she did. She sat in the room as you took off the pendant. But you're not going to do that in front of just anyone are you? Second, the people of this town are not going to look too closely into you because they like you. You are improving things here, and they know it. They don't care who or what you are as long as you keep that up. Lastly, and most importantly, Lara is... unusually bright. Though I guess she has to be. She has been living on the outskirts of this village in a chicken coop and somehow managing to survive. You don't do that without some wit and wisdom." 

Lara was embarrassed. She wasn't used to receiving praise, more or less praise that cut so deeply to the truth of her situation. She knew he was right- her situation was bad, and the only thing that kept her afloat was her mind. Still. She felt exposed, vulnerable hearing him lay it out so plainly. If it was obvious she was embarrassed, though, no one said anything. Astrid broke a short silence. "I suppose you're right. But I think you may be overly confident, Alius. You have an answer for a lot of things, but you can't protect against bad luck. This is risky." 

"It uh....it wouldn't be fun if it wasn't.", grinned Alius, focused mostly on the amulet in his hands. "So what exactly is going wrong with the pendant?" 

"I think it's getting confused. There was a dinner, I sat beside Rovus, but noticed his eye wandering, which isn't uncommon for him. As he eventually came back to look at me he gasped and told me that I looked almost blue. I held my hand up, and he was right- my typically almost golden skin had a blueness to it that wasn't unlike my natural color. I played it off as a severe chill and excused myself to go warm in a hot bath, apologizing profusely to our guests. By the time I got back to my rooms, however, everything was back to normal." 

"Have there been any other incidents like this?", asked Alius. 

"None yet, and I don't want to risk it." 

"I see. I believe the problem is ambition, then. I may have reached a little too far too quickly, without thinking of the various possible...side effects." 

"So you'll dial this thing back a bit?"

"Of course not.", laughed Alius. "The solution to failed ambition is more ambition. That's what's wrong with people anymore. They make a mistake and shrink away from the problem. Learning is a journey, though, not an objective. If you go down the wrong path to where you're trying to go, you don't just turn around and go home. You find the right path. Lara, this is a free bit of advice from someone who is apparently a great wizard- Mistakes require tenacity, not obedience." 

Lara gave a hesitant nod of understanding. 

Astrid sighed. "Gods, Alius, you missed your calling at Abilon. You should have been an academic, not a Court Mage." 

"I've never heard anything more insulting in my life, Astrid. The University is for learning, not for withering away. What would the empire do without me making unheard of trinkets and protecting our Empress?" 

"Learn humility, perhaps?"       

"Unlikely. Now listen. This is important. You remember how this works right?" 

"It polymorphs me into an elf as long as I'm wearing it, and when I'm close to Rovus it reads his mind to make small changes to reflect exactly what he wants on me. Yes, Alius. I remember how it works."

Lara stammered, too curious not to ask, "I'm so sorry. It reads his mind?" 

"See!", Alius smiled approvingly at Lara. "She's inquisitive! At least one of you has an interest in what I do. Lara, the pendant keeps a check on Rovus' mood, desires, likes and dislikes, and so on, and uses that to make minor changes to the form Astrid is pretending to be. It doesn't do anything dramatic, of course. But let's say, perhaps, one day he fancies redder hair more than blonde on his wife. The pendant won't change her hair red- that would be too obvious. Instead, it subtly becomes red-ish. Maybe he likes longer hair on her that day- it gains a small amount of length. That was the problem though. Astrid, you said that this happened after he had been ogling some of the other women at the table during your dinner, right? See, in that moment, Rovus had no idea what he wanted. Or rather, he wanted too much, and the pendent couldn't determine how to respond, and began to fail." 

"That makes a surprising amount of sense for you, Alius. But what's the solution?" 

"I told you. More ambition. I need to place a small amount of sentience in this pendant that can make judgement calls when Rhovus is less....uh...singularly minded."

"Oh, right, of course, just go down to the shops for some sentience jewels and attach them to the necklace I have to wear at all times. That doesn't sound inadvisably difficult at all."

"It isn't!", scoffed Alius. "We just have to sacrifice the girl!"

Lara and Astrid both shot a glance up to see a grin they were both coming to hate. "No. I'm joking.", he acquiesced. "I just need to go to the Eoran Badlands and find an Eveling Stone." 

"Aren't those typically filled with the souls of Dwarves though?", asked Astrid. 

"Yes. Who better to help you dupe an Elf-supremacist?" 

Astrid thought for a moment. "Fair enough, I suppose. But what about..."

"They shouldn't be an issue. We'll be in and out in no time." 

"We?", asked Astrid. 

"They?", asked Lara. 

"Well I can hardly fix the pendant if it's on the other side of the world, can I?", Alius shot back at Astrid, ignoring Lara. "And I have a feeling you won't let me just take it with me?" 

"Why can't you simply bring the Eveling Stone back here to fix it?", asked Astrid.

"Well. I...suppose that's fair. But I'd like to have someone watching my back. Just in case." 

Astrid looked to Lara. "Lara, dear. What would it take to have you accompany our mutual nuisance to the Eoran Badlands?" 

"I...have to get home by nightfall. I have to take care of my animals..." 

"Oh!", interrupted Alius. "That's not a problem. This shouldn't take more than a few hours. And you'd be paid accordingly, of course." 

This got Lara's attention. She remembered the 15 gold she was still going to get just for walking Alius here. "How much?" 

"Well. I'll be taking you a lot further. And it is a little more dangerous, but not very. Oh, I don't know...100 gold?" 

Lara nearly collapsed, then heard Astrid add, "Oh, I'll give you another hundred as long as I don't have to go." 

Lara suddenly felt dizzy, nervous, and giddy all at once. "So...", she tried to breathe calmly. "So, 215 total?" 

"Sure!", answered Alius. "And if this goes really well I may be able to offer some other perks. But we can talk about that later."

Lara's senses finally came back to her, and she realized she wasn't asking a fairly obvious question. "Why? Why am I worth that much money? Why is this job worth that much money? Is it dangerous? What don't I know that I should be asking?" 

Alius beamed at her before looking at Astrid. "See? She's sharp.", he directed at the Dragonborn before addressing Lara. "There are a few things to consider here. First, and possibly most importantly, is that what qualifies as a lot of money to you and to us are very different numbers. Based on the face you made this morning when I offered you 15 gold, I'd venture to say that's enough for you to live on for a few months, right?" 

Lara nodded, embarrassed. 

"See, we're lucky if we spend less than double that in a day. Is it fair? Probably not. But it simply is, for now. The second point to keep in mind is that I am, well, important. My life is worth a lot. Well, rather, what I am capable of is worth a lot, I'm not so sure my life is as important to that transaction. None the less, the Empress sees it appropriate to dedicate a considerable sum of gold to my survival and happiness. Which brings me to the direct question of danger, I suppose. Is this a dangerous task? Moderately so, I'd say. The Badlands are a rough terrain, with all kinds of inhabitants that aren't particularly fond of visitors. But they are also vast, barren, mostly empty lands. The likelihood of running into anyone is rare, though anyone you run into is very likely to not be friendly. So I'd say that puts us in moderate danger. Which is why I'd like to have you around. You're smart, you're a survivor, and your eyes and mind will do better to keep me alive than if I were alone. Which is why I'm willing to pay a modest fee to bring you along." 

Lara looked at Astrid. "So...then why are you willing to pay me double?" 

"Because I really don't want to go, dear. It's sandy, hot, and I have enough to tend to here." 

Lara thought for a while, finally shrugging in acceptance. "I don't know how to fight, though. If anything happens." 

Alius lifted his hands to catch a fine looking dagger that appeared to fall from thin air, then handed it to Lara. "Here, this is simple enough, and with me there it's more than you'll likely need. Plus when we get there I can teach you something simple from my bag of tricks!" 

"Alius, we don't have time for you to tutor the girl, just please get the eveling stone and come back.", Astrid said, exasperated and placing the amulet back on her neck, transforming into the beautiful young elven woman she pretended to be. 

"You're right, of course. No unnecessary distractions." Alius said, turning his back to Astrid in order to wink at Lara. "Now, you'll have to re-arrange once we're gone, but it shouldn't be too bad." Alius dropped his disguise as Alina, swept his hands out, and the furniture in the center of the room gently moved away. He muttered under his breath words that Lara didn't understand, but that she suspected were some great arcane secret. The floor beneath them began to illuminate in a light blue circle, and as Alius pulled Lara close to him, it seemed to break apart in geometric shapes leaving them suspended in midair, darkness surrounding them save the odd flashing incomprehensible light that came and went impossibly fast. Before any sensation of falling or movement could set in, however, Lara found her feet in sand, with light returning to her eyes. She looked around and found herself in a landscape she'd never even imagined before. 

Vast stretches of dry, barren land surrounded her, broken only by red and brown hills and mountains or sudden drops into unfathomable canyons. Towers of impossibly balanced stones confused and fascinated Lara as she tried to take it all in. The plants were sparse and odd to her- dry, scraggly things, rarely showing a hint of green. There were no trees to be found, which left an eerie sensation of seeing just a little to much of the sky on the horizon. From where she stood she could literally see the shape of Almora bending up to form the mountains in the distance, the scars on her landscape, and it made her weak in the knees. Lara had never felt large in her life, being one bad day away from starvation and ruin. But in this moment, Lara felt impossibly small. She began to understand that her understanding of the world, of the area surrounding Hanta, was so comically insufficient as to be insulting to the creation of Almora itself. She was an ant, she thought, and until this moment the work of survival had blinded her to that fact. 

Alius gave her a moment to revel in her existential crisis, but stepped in before it got too overwhelming. "So, I'd say teaching you how to defend yourself is a necessary distraction, so if I taught you a simple spell, we wouldn't really be breaking our word with Astrid, now would we?" 

Lara grinned and felt an odd excitement rise up in her. "Seems reasonable to me." 

"Good! So since we're in the desert, where it stays pretty dry and hot, I'd say teaching you how to burn things isn't going to be very helpful. How about how to freeze them?" 

"Makes sense.", Lara agreed, trying to stifle a grin. 

Alius took a postured position, and encouraged Lara to do the same. "Magic tends to have three main ingredients. Sometimes you need the right words. Sometimes you need the right motions. And sometimes you need the right items. There are occasions where things can be a bit more complex, but for the most part, any spell will have some combination of these elements. What I am going to teach you requires the right motions and the right words, but no items, which makes it useful in situations where you don't want to go searching for the right component. Spells with no material components go with you basically anywhere. As long as you can speak and move you will always have power. Now. Move like this." 

Lara did her best to mimic his movement, and though he had to correct a few minor issues, Alius seemed pleasantly surprised with how quickly she picked it up. "Good!", he said. "Now, do that again, but say these words as you do. Each syllable has a place in the motion- you should be able to feel the rhythm come naturally to you." 

Lara read some unfamiliar words Alius had written in an old leather book he pulled out, memorized them, and put it all together. As her fingertips locked into the final position of the movements Alius taught her she felt the air around her cool dramatically before watching snow and ice shoot forward from her palms. From thin air, somehow, she had conjured actual, real ice and hurled it forward with alarming force. At first Lara was scared, as a feeling of guilt and confusion swept over her. Alius immediately began laughing with joy, however, which came as a comfort to her. "So...that was right?" 

"Right?! Lara, dear, that was perfect! You're a natural! Are you sure you're not a sorcerer? Have you ever made anything magical happen before?"

"No...no, never. Even when I wished I could."

"Well, my young new friend, you have a gift. You should be proud of yourself. It usually takes the students at the University weeks to master that." 

"Weeks? Then how did I..?"

"Talent, Lara. You are talented!" Alius clapped his hands with joy. "Alright, just keep that all in the back of your mind, keep that dagger within reach, and lets get what we came for and go home!" Reaching out into thin air, a small, forked twig simply fell into his hand. 

"Where do these things keep coming from?", Lara asked. 

"Well where do you keep the things you're carrying with you?", Alius asked, mock confused. 

"In my pockets...", said Lara, feeling like she knew where this was headed.

"So do I. I just keep my pockets somewhere different from you." 

Lara sighed as Alius smiled and focused on the twig, muttering more arcane words under his breath. He turned the twig in various directions, until he locked into one area, and began heading towards one of the canyons in the distance. 

Lara followed behind, stunned by everything that had happened so far today and trying to process it all. Eventually, after about half an hour of walking, a thought occurred to her. "Alius. Are you, were you...when you were learning magic, were you talented as well? Or did you have to work hard to become as powerful as you are?" 

"That's a complicated question. I'm not...normal.", Alius replied. 

"Not normal how?"

Alius stopped walking, gave Lara a hard look, then let out a tense stream of air. "Well. This stays between us, ok?" 

"Of course.", Lara assured him. 

"I'm part celestial. Or rather. I have the soul of a celestial in me. It's...he's....kind of my adoptive father? But he isn't human, exactly. Or at all. It's hard to explain, but what you need to know in order to understand is that I was raised by a Ki-Rin, and when his death approached, we sensed a need for his soul to continue on. So I let him, or rather his essence, live on in me. I'll live a lot longer because of it, and he guides me to do the good he'd like done. And when I do eventually perish he will be able to re-form and continue his work in the world for a while longer. It makes me really good at magic though. Really good at magic." 

"So you didn't have to work at all to learn all this?"

"Oh, I didn't say that. I went to the University. I just...did better than all of my peers. I expanded their knowledge even. Lan-K'o, or his spirit, I guess, wasn't content in academia. Do good in the world, I would feel him urge. Go out, do good. So I left. Found work in the Bekon Empire. The Empress trusts me to do as I please as long as I meet the needs she has of me, which allows me to you know. Serve my first calling." 

"So...is fooling a someone into a false relationship for the benefit of the Empire something that you'd call 'good'?", Lara joked. Alius seemed to take the comment very seriously, however. 

"Good is complicated. Killing is evil, right? But killing someone you know will rape or torture others if they are allowed to live, isn't that good? I don't pretend to understand the fabric of reality so well as to define exactly what 'good' and 'evil' are. But I think evil is do harm, and good is when you abate harm. I know that may be too simplistic, but I'm trying to understand Lan-K'o every day, and probably failing, but that's where I am for now. And stopping that man from ruining more lives like yours and the people in Hanta, well. That's probably good." 

Lara looked at Alius with a newfound respect. This morning she thought him a rich, privileged wizard of whimsy, fluttering around to anything that caught his interest. She saw him in a new light, now. He was a complex man, and though infinitely brilliant, he was also infinitely confused. For some reason this was a comforting revelation to her. She figured it was nice to know that even gods among men didn't have all the answers. 

They reached the canyon after roughly an hour of walking. Lara could swear they had only left around lunchtime, but it seemed like the sun was already setting here. 

"Its because Urdir's eye moves across the sky. Well, actually we move under the gaze of the sun, but, perspective. We teleported somewhere where it had mostly passed already. When we go back it will be the normal time again."

"How did you know I was..."

"Because you kept staring at the sun, which isn't a wise thing to do, by the way.", said Alius, half joking, half teaching. "Now, I think....yes! This is where we will find our eveling stone!", he said, hopping down into a somewhat deep ditch near the edge of the canyon. He began a spell and before long was moving the sand and clay from the side of the ditch, sifting quickly through the area, and somehow magically pulling out any stones that seemed promising. "We're looking for a stone that is light blue, maybe purpleish. Imagine a sunset, look for that color." 

Lara hopped into the ditch with him and began pulling out anything that might fit that description. She had gathered a small pile when she heard a new voice behind her on the ridge. 

" Gini ku imoro obo u, enyo eze?" 

Lara started, and turned quickly to see a tall, lean, darker skinned figure standing with the sun. He wore clay-colored robes with dark shoes of strange leather, and a strange, wide brimmed hat that seemed to shade him from the sun. He appeared elvish, but with features Lara had never known an elf to have. Their skin was usually pale or yellow in hue, with fine, lighter hair typically. This man was dark, with longer black hair- yet still seemed elven. 

Alius turned, smiled and said, "Hi! Funny seein....Oh! Wait." He held up the universal symbol for "One moment", and a clay figure dropped into his hand. He muttered a few words over it, and began to speak again. "Hi! Sorry, are we interrupting anything?" 

" Gini ku imoro obo u, enyo eze?"

"Oh! We're just here to find some rocks. We heard one might be able to help us with a serious problem we have."

"Enyo nyoro gi ikiko iworo ekwato unyi?" 

"Oh! I didn't realize anyone would miss them. Would it upset you if I took a few of them?" 

"Gini ku..."

"Eh iyi. Drugotha ​​vo insaunlur urtık barudu."

Lara looked behind her on the opposite ledge and saw 4 brightly red-skinned people standing with bow and blade drawn. 

Alius gave a quick look of exhaustion before turning to face the newcomers. 

"Ah! Genasi! What a pleasant surprise! What brings you to this part of..."

"Bunu insun gibi duvrunmu. Barudu no yupıyersanaz?" 

"Gini ku e kwara?"

"You know," Alius said, louder than the growing argument. "Perhaps, just let me help us all...here... there. Now we should all understand each other.", Alius said, seeming to cast the previous spell a few more times. 

"Perhaps we're better off not understanding Drugotha tongues.", said the only Genasi who had spoken to this point.

"And perhaps we could understand yours better if we removed it from your head!", shot back the strange elf. 4 more of the dark-skinned elves stepped into Lara's view, angry and yelling.

Weapons were raised quicker than Lara could think possible, and and Alius turned to her quickly. In her head she heard his voice. "Pocket those stones- right there. We may have to run."

Around her the Genasi and Elves yelled and jeered while Alius did his best to mediate peace until, with sharp suddenness, there came a silence. The silence was not for lack of trying on the part of the individuals there- they continued mouthing threats and shaking weapons in the pure silence for a few seconds before they realized what was happening. While they could not hear the source, they began to feel a low rumble come from inside the canyon. All turned to see a massive, yellow scaled dragon emerge rapidly from the canyon flying skyward. From its chin to it's tail it seemed as though the beast would never stop growing before their eyes. Lara was no great judge of such things, but she imagined it couldn't have been shorter than 120 feet from head to tail, though she never truly understood how something so massive could be real. Finding a comfortable zenith the air, the dragon spiraled, turned back towards the ground, and entered a dive. 

Alius turned to Lara, gave her a serious look, and began running through the ditch. As he passed her he grabbed her hand and drug her with him as he mouthed inaudible words Lara could only imagine were creative ways to make mild mannered men blush. After a few seconds of running Lara could hear Alius screaming, and her suspicions were true. A flurry of words she'd never heard, much less said, were coming out seemingly involuntarily. When he heard his own voice, however, he cried out in triumph. 

"Ah! We're fine! This is fine! Lara, hold tight to my hand!" He had barely said those words before she found herself enveloped in mist and pulled forward violently. She ran from the mist to find she was at least 30 or so feet further along than she should have been. "Let's get a few more of those in before we try to leave!", Alius cried. 

Looking back for just a moment Lara saw the Genasi and strange elves working together, bows drawn and swords raised high. Before the desert warriors could manage to make an impression on the gargantuan predator, though, it opened its mouth and released a growl so deep that Lara felt it before she heard it. From the mouth of the dragon came sand and hot air. The air was visibly hot, waving and bending the light around it as it heated the gases in the air on its way to end the lives of the helpless souls below it. The sand heated to molten glass and shot through every person caught in it's path, leaving their stunned bodies standing just a moment longer before gravity could do it's part. Then, once more, mist. And mist again, and again, and one final time. 

Lara guessed they were at least 250 feet from the creature inspecting its kill in the ditches they just left. It sensed something, though- it knew some had escaped. Sniffing, it found Alius and Lara running away through the sand. Like thunder its wings threw it forward toward them, an arrow aimed perfectly for their position. Alius began the words for what Lara assumed was the spell he used to bring them here, but the great beast was closing in uncomfortably fast. Doing the only thing she could think of, she began the motions and syllables to the spell Alius had taught her earlier.  Lara stepped forward slightly between the approaching beast and Alius. She had an idea on how to use the force of the blast to her advantage. The dragon was no more than 30 feet from Lara when she finished the last syllable of the incantation, and at that moment she leapt as high as she could. Her hands were aimed at the dragon's eyes, and they hit, blinding the wyrm and sending it sliding through the sand. As Lara had hoped, the blast also sent her flying backward into the teleportation circle Alius had only just finished preparing so that she crashed into him, and they both crashed into....

...the dining room floor of the Chancellor's Estate. Alius and Lara looked at each other and began laughing. "I've never seen a yellow one before!", let out Alius before they both heard a loud and unamused "Ahem" above them. Rovus, the Chancellor of Hanta was sitting at the table they landed beside in the middle of eating. Astrid blanched at the sudden appearance of her co-conspirator, fork midway to her mouth. 

Rhogar broke the awkward silence. "Court Mage Alius. Do forgive my rudeness, but could you please explain to me why you have suddenly appeared in my dining hall during my supper, unannounced and in an uproar?" 

"You are forgiven Chancellor, and you will have to forgive me as well. You see teleportation spells can go very wrong sometimes, and my apprentice and I were just escaping a terrible fate- I must have done something incorrectly. I was hoping for Bekon, but I only seem to have made it halfway there. My sincerest apologies. I will do my best to ensure this never happens again."

With that Alius rose, dusted himself off, and helped Lara to her feet. Bowing to the Chancellor, he walked confidently from the room, Lara in step at his heels. When they were outside, Alius looked at Lara. "Let me walk you home?" The sun wasn't as close to setting as it was in the Badlands, but it wasn't far, and she did indeed need to tend to her animals. "It would be an honor, Court Mage Alius." They both broke into a fit of laughter that lasted most of their journey through town. 

By the time they got back to Lara's coop, however, she found herself feeling somewhat sad. This was the most incredible day she'd had in...well, her entire life. After today she would go back to struggling her way through life with her chickens and....well, at least a lot more gold to hold her over. 

"Lara, listen.", Alius said, more serious than she had seen him thus far. "You have a gift. You're smart, you're quick, and you're determined. I think it would be a shame for you to waste that potential out here in the woods of Hanta. So, if it's ok with you, I'd like to offer you a few gifts aside from the money I owe you. First, I want to offer knowledge. Knowledge about who you really are. A few years ago, when your parents took you a way from Mokita. There was a reason they did that. You see, the guy in charge there he uh....he finds young women to wed, and after a few years has them...disappear. Your parents were planning on fleeing to Bekon to bring you to me. We were friends, once, and they wanted you to have an education. When your parents were killed, we assumed you were killed with them, or taken back to Mokita. Astrid found you, though. She told me when she saw you, and I'm sorry it has taken me this long to get to you. The things I'm responsible for...can be demanding. Either way, Lara, you should know. They died trying to save you, and they would be proud of you if they could see you today. " 

Lara did everything in her power to fight back the sudden well of tears coming up, but failed, and began to sob openly. Alius did his best to comfort her, and sat through the few moments it took to compose herself patiently. When she seemed to be feeling a little more calm, he continued. 

"Secondly, do you remember that door that takes me to my house? I think I may have something that will give you a similar place to stay." He held out his hand and a large, patched, worn, canvas blanket fell into his hands. "Go on- think about all the things you need in a home, and throw it out, like a child making a blanket fort." 

Lara wiped tears from her face, took the blanket, and thought about what she could possibly want in a small home. Safety, shelter, that's all she ever really thought about. Somewhere to keep her chickens, somewhere to keep her warm. She took the blanket and threw it, and oddly enough it took the form of a tent. "I...I mean, a tent will help Alius, but I don't think..."

"Look inside Lara.", Alius interrupted, grinning. 

She lifted a flap and was dumbfounded. There were several small rooms, much larger than what the tent appeared to contain from the outside. There was a small hearth that somehow wasn't burning the canvas. There was a bed...Lara didn't remember the last time she'd slept on a bed. There was a small table to sit and eat at, and storage chest to keep... things... if she ever had any. And right by the entrance was, somehow, and exact copy of her coop for her chickens to live in. She felt tears begin to run down her cheek again. She turned to Alius and hugged him. "This is so much more than I could ask for. You don't have to pay me. This is more than enough." 

He pat her back and stepped away. "No. It really isn't. And it's not all. Not only am I going to pay you for today," he said, handing her a bag that had to have much more than 215 gold in it, "I'd uh....well I'd like for you to go to the University, Lara. In Zephyl. And I'd like to pay for it. I want to cover any expenses you have so you can focus on just learning and taking care of your little familiars here." 

Lara could barely understand the words Alius had said for the roar of blood rushing through her ears. This life was all she'd known, and he was giving her the choice to leave it. Of course she dreamed about her great escape every day of her life, but those were just that- dreams. She didn't have any intentions of following through, did she? But, if what he said about her parents was true. And if he was right about her being talented...she had to, right? 

Alius tried to comfort her. "You don't have to, of course, I just..."

"I'll do it. I want to do it. I'm just shocked. I want to go, though. I...don't know what else I'm going to do here. Sell eggs? No. I'll go. I just...let's stay here tonight, and we can prepare in the morning."

"Of course", said Alius. "I still have to see to Astrid's amulet as Alina tomorrow, which should give you plenty of time to think, pack, prepare, what have you. Then I'll personally escort you to Abilon. But for now, let's have dinner and go to bed. Sound good to you, Dragon Freezer?" They both burst into laughter.

Lara's body ached as she laid down among the hay and cooing hens. She was in the habit of going to sleep just a little after sunset before the roosters cooed her into unconsciousness. It was getting cold out, but she had a warm place to sleep at least. Eventually she would use the bed, but...for now it still didn't feel normal. She scooted her way into the low door of the raised  straw and wood coop, and lay down on the fresh smelling straw. The small fence around the structure wouldn't need her daily morning inspection with Alius sleeping nearby, she supposed. This was the very thing she needed- she could afford to take risks again. The sun painted its own farwell to the horizon just before it sunk out of view, giving Lara her first night of peaceful rest in years.










 

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