There were two ways to use a scrying spell, and Cillian was instructed to use the first. Direct observance meant that the spell had to have a target, and it would be provided by links. Those could be memory, a specially prepared item by the target of such a spell, or a well enough likeness.
Cillian did not have the second, nor the third. He had considered asking for a likeness of Lady Davar from Lord Muryh, who had a collection of small postcards that he painted himself. But the man was quite possessive and he reconsidered how uncouth it would be, too. So it was only memory that served, and of the fifteen nodes of the first two circles of the Arcana Weaving, ten of those involved freezing an image from his mind and sending it towards the scrying mirror. The remaining five then served to stabilise the image and transfer control of the spell weaving to the next caster.
An image of Yuriko appeared in the mirror. It was of her in a pose that he saw her frequently, perched on a stool next to the railings, gazing out into the wilderness with her chin resting on her palm. Her face was framed by her golden fringe and her long hair was contained by a high ponytail. He couldn’t remember if she used ribbons or ties, so it didn’t appear in the image.
“...You sure she looks like that and not how you dreamed her up to be?” Lady Ferron muttered and Cillian coloured.
“That’s how she looks,” he managed hoarsely.
“Be that as it may. Release your control,” Lady Biera said.
Her hands began to weave the somatic components of the spell, and when he put his hands down, she interspersed the vocal components in between the somatic and the runescript nodes.
The scrying spell required thirteen spell circles for a total of four hundred fifty-five nodes. Each node was a component, whether runescript, vocal, or somatic, and each circle above the first contained five more than the one beneath it.
Weaving fifteen nodes took Cillian nearly as many seconds, but the True Magus spun her nodes faster than he could blink. In a little over half a minute, the spell was complete and the image swirled in the mirror.
The reflection blanked for a long moment, then just when it was supposed to show where the subject of the spell would be, the reflection was suddenly covered in a golden glow, then filled with a snowstorm of white. The Elemental energies summoned by the Arcana Weaving flailed about angrily and Lady Biera cursed loudly.
Her hands spun as she formed somatic nodes, while she spat out charged words. On her person, her rings, her amulet, and certain runescript formations along the weave lit up as she wove a basic dispel in the blink of an eye. The Elemental energies stilled for a long moment, enough for the inertia the Weaving gave them to dissipate, and the scrying spell dissipated.
Cillian’s heart pounded in fear and disappointment. Had he failed? But the image was so crisp! Lady Biera’s words a moment later calmed him down.
“Scrying resistance. The sensor was too close, huh,” she muttered before turning to Cillian. “We’ll have to switch spells from direct scrying to optical sensors. Where was the last place you left her at?”
“The Adventurers’ Guild branch,” Cillian answered immediately. “But that was hours ago. They might have returned to the docks by now.”
“Docks? Why?”
“Their transport is a flying ship,” Cillian said, then added, “It's a small ship, roughly twelve by five paces. It uses a different Arcanatech than I’m familiar with.”
“We’ll begin there then. Step away from the locus.”
Cillian obeyed but remained close by. Lady Biera stood in the centre of the room, then began to incant and gesture rapidly. Parts of her robes and accessories, glimmered with Elemental energies as the runescript sigils activated to bridge the gaps between vocal and somatic components. Another half minute passed until the completion of the spell, then the mirror fogged over, then slowly cleared up. It was an aerial view of the city, with the river at the west side at the centre.
Lady Biera spoke a few words and the view focused and magnified over the docks. The Wind Darter was easily visible as the only true ship there. The rest were barges and rafts. The deck was mostly empty except for the male Chaos Elemental, Devotee.
“That’s Lady Davar’s bound Chaos Elemental,” Cillian said. Lady Biera focused on the elemental for a long moment, the mirror changed viewing mode and exposed Elemental energies instead of just plain sight. Devotee was not leaking any Chaos because of the cuffs, so that was fine.
Where was Lady Davar?
Keeping the Elemental view active, Lady Biera swept the area around the docks, before slowly shifting focus eastward. It didn’t take long for them to notice an unusual concentration of Light energy in the labyrinthian streets of the Commons District, where unskilled labourers and their families lived.
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“What’s she doing there?” Cillian muttered. Well, she did have the curiosity of a cat.
The mirror revealed the size of the area, though the borders were rather vague. Lady Ferron muttered, “At least a hundred paces.” She and Lady Biera exchanged glances.
“Powerful, yes. But…” Lady Biera focused towards the centre of the area and moved the optical sensor closer towards the alley. They saw Lady Davar leaning against a wall, with her arms folded underneath her modest bosom. Her overcoat was open and revealed her white dress shirt underneath. She had her eyes closed, too, though she was smiling slightly.
With the normal haughty expression on her face absent, Cillian couldn’t help but stare and swallow convulsively. Lady Davar was the epitome of beauty, and soon, he found his thought spiralling around her: how she was so pretty, how he wanted to do whatever she asked of him, and how he would follow her anywhere!
The effect lasted only for a long moment before Lady Biera hissed and pulled the sensor away from the close-up of Lady Davar’s face. Cillian found his thoughts still muddled, but not quite as intoxicated. He gasped as sweat poured down the back of his neck, and cold shivers ran down his spine. What was that? He…was attracted to Lady Davar, but that was only a natural consequence of her looks. Where did the desire to devote his entire being to her come from?
He tore his gaze away from the scrying mirror and found Lady Ferron red-faced and gasping for breath, her hands had crept down into her skirt and was twitching there. Lady Biera was flushing too, though not in lust, but in wary anger. She glanced at Lady Ferron and a pebble appeared out of thin air and smacked the other woman’s cheek.
Lady Ferron jerked and came to herself, saw her compromised position and hastily turned away. Cillian averted his eyes just before both ladies looked at him. He could feel their condemning gaze at the back of his neck. It wasn’t his fault!
Still, neither woman said anything, and a couple of minutes later, Lady Biera commented, “Potent anti-scrying defences.”
The mirror had released the image and reflected all three of them, shamefaced and red. Silently, they exited the scrying room and settled around Lady Biera’s desk.
“What was that?” Cillian finally asked.
“I’m not sure,” Lady Biera said after a long silence. “It’s not a spell, I think. Perhaps part of her Domain? Either way, I believe we will need to see her and speak with her before deciding anything.”
“Their stated goal is to return to their country,” Cillian added. “And they want to attempt to open and operate the city portal in Bresia. I convinced them to learn more about it here in Niria.”
“Excellently done, Lieutenant Coinoch.” Lady Biera said, “Though we may have some trouble with Lady Davar’s power. I can’t tell how strong she is unless we fight, and I’d rather not do that.”
“The Light Element is strange around her, not quite like an Elemental Domain.” Lady Ferron said, “I don’t think Light is her element.”
“I overheard Lady Mondero, the Vigilant adventurer, say that Lady Davar’s element is Radiant.” Cillian offered.
Lady Biera’s eyes widened, and the expression on her face changed from wariness to greed. “A Primordial Element!”
The two women exchanged glances, and Lady Ferron said, “Perhaps she could be asked to teach?”
Lady Biera shook her head. “Primordial Elements are not easily learned. But even just collecting distilled Radiant Essence would be more than enough.” She sighed as she leaned back against her chair. “Tell me what she was like during the journey.”
“We encountered three different overflows, in all three towns we had to go through to arrive here,” Cillian began. “In combat, Lady Davar uses Light beams emitted from her eyes to bisect her foes. There were times when she conjured floating swords made of golden energy, though she only used those in the battle for Waterlow against the Wyverns. One of her companions, Lady Gwendith Sharine, is an Ice Magus and uses conjured ice daggers to fight. Another, Lord Heron Muryh, uses his body to fight. Corporal Adan Ortiz identified Lord Muryh’s Elemental affinity as Wind. One of the Chaos Elementals, Devotee, fights with his body and a war maul, while the other, Desire, uses support spells to empower her allies. There are two handmaidens on board, one a menial servant and the other is a rather inept hidden guard, though her combat abilities are greater than mine…”
__________
The chamber was covered in etched runescript patterns, each of which reinforced themselves and multiplied the effect of the seal that kept it contained. Edward Turner watched the Mysterious Divinity from the threshold, waiting for the safe lines to align so he could safely approach. For all that he was the one to build this thing, it was still dangerous to an Archmage.
Barely seen lines converged and opened a path. Edward threaded that knife’s edge, knowing the slightest misstep could cost him a toe, a foot, an arm, and whatever else was not protected by his potent defences. Soon, he was in front of the Divinity, a shard that was smaller than his palm, and completely suppressed by the Seal. There had been accidents when the presence leaked through, and there was little left of the ‘assistants’ that he used to prod it.
But he was not mistaken. His augury and Fate reading was as accurate as it could be, and within this thing lay his path to Ascension.
If only it would open its secrets to him.
From observation and varied tests, he knew he could force the issue, but only if he was willing to lose all chance at gaining its secrets. There was something within it too, something trying to tempt him.
He knew better than to let it out.
Staring at the shard for hours at a time, casting spells that revealed the way the Elements moved around it, and carefully inspecting the crystal’s matrices…
He’d done all of that but nothing was revealed. He thought that opening himself to the thing inside the crystal shard would be the way to learn its secrets, but that would compromise him completely!
And he was going in circles.
Sighing, Edward returned to the threshold and left his treasure behind. He made sure that the Seal was airtight, otherwise the shard might escape.
He strode towards his laboratory, mulling over the data he collected. Perhaps if he found the resonating frequency of the crystal, he might be able to open it up without risking himself…
When he arrived at the lab, he frowned when he saw it wasn’t unoccupied. A dozen well-armoured guards bowed to him as he entered, but it was the fresh-faced young man who clamoured for his attention.
“Grandpa!” The kid was in his mid-twenties and was normally stiff-faced, but it was only in Edward’s presence that Roland could show his true self.
Chuckling, Edward took a seat on his throne, “And what does my little emperor want today?”
Roland Turner vi Ishodir grinned and said, “Conquest!”