"Einervaene! Stay inside!" Vadei called out to me urgently as our airship shook about. The sky around us was booming and pure magic nearly carved us open. I hadn't been told what was going on, but I wanted to see it myself.
"Get us away from this storm!" I called back to her before I stumbled outside. Tightly gripping the nearest railing and letting my draw drop at what I saw. A lone mountain surrounded by a sea of molten gold. One crowned with a partially blocky and partially sharp head.
This was the Anvil-Peak! This was one of the holiest sites in the world and I could just sense how it was! I have never seen such pure lightning magic before, even the arcs that kept my homeland together weren't so pure! I could barely describe it and I just kept getting goosebumps every time a golden lance struck by.
If it wasn't for the fact I was more disciplined than a child, I would have probably tried to reach out for it. Just so I could get the briefest of understandings as to how pure this magic was. But, this magic wasn't the only reason I was so excited. Down below, at the base of that mountain, the molten gold sea!
That was all thunder-gold! Gold filled with so great a quantity of this lightning magic that it far surpassed even the greatest steel mill! One of the softest metals out there had become probably the strongest in all of existence... And I was staring at a molten sea of it...
If I could just find a way to drink or eat some I could solve my own magic probl-
"EINERVAENE!" someone shouted out to me before their large hand grabbed me and swung me indoors. A loud groan of pain left me while my head spun about. A sense of anger came to the forefront as I realised what had happened.
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" I shouted in fury as the sensation that magic gave me became dull.
"Saving your life is what it was." Nin told me as he sat down and repeatedly jabbed his arm forward at Vadei.
"I know, I know!" Vadei said back to him as the airship suddenly tilted to the left. A speed that did not even allow the footing stabilizers to activate. So, while I was standing up, I fell down again and rolled across the ship until it did sort itself out.
"Bring down! Bring down!" the older of the two slavers called out as he and his daughter rushed about. Vadei on her own clearly not being enough to handle this situation.
"Alright, until that storm has either passed or, more likely dulled down, we're staying close to the ground." Nin ordered as he stood up and shivered. His head then twitched about as he looked at all the lightning.
"If we stay close to the ground then we risk setting off an explosion with our engines!"
"What do you mean? This place is covered in magic!" Nin retorted back with as he turned towards Vadei.
"Na, she is right, it's why we chase this aaareaaa far aur deaaals. The maaagic is anly in the sky aaand gald!" Heiya explained somewhat as she and her father began to guide Vadei down to the ground. A loud boom soon shook its way through the airship as well. But, their calm faces suggested it was something else.
"Was that our magic reacting with the ground?" Larishazza asked from her seat as she tightly clutched it. It seems she was not a fan of this part of our journey.
"No, it was me turning the airship off." Vadei explained as she got off of her chair. All the lights and computers turned off just after she did so.
"It's alright, I got it." I said to everyone as I let some of my magic out. Holding up my arm as high as it would go so I could serve as our living torch.
"No." the older slaver told me as he rushed over to me and slapped my arm down. His face showed no reaction to the shocks he just got. But, what he did do was start handing out little tools.
"Maaagicless lights, yau aaall need ta keep maaagic ta baaasicaaaly nathing." Heiya said to us as she used a manual means to open our doors.
"Why are you all looking at me?" Nin then asked as he got up from his chair and helped out with the doors.
"Because you are someone who has either had magic for just a single year or under one. If you use magic at all when we go outside then you risk catastrophe!" Vadei commented worriedly as she got up close to him. Her hands frantically gesturing in his face to emphasise her worries.
"Are there any tools we can use to restrict our magic?" he then asked while looking at the two slavers.
"Na, there might be, but I daubt yau're willingness ta use haaandcuffs." Heiya told him as she orbited around the osibindah.
"Great... Okay, give me some time alone, I will try and get it under control, you lot go make a camp or something. Ideally away from the airship just in case, something does happen." Nin said to us before he went through the door he brought me back in through. A loud bang and shudder then went through the airship frame shortly after he disappeared. The signs of blue fire just flickering through the open door.
"He's going to kill himself at this rate." I commented with a frown as I felt myself becoming more relaxed. He was now going off on his own so that meant I wasn't forced to share a room with him. I could just let whatever frustrations I had about him flow out of me. Even if I still did not understand why I was so annoyed with him.
It was all to do with that stupid bracelet he has refused to put on since our talk in the garden...
"And, hopefully, he won't kill us too!" Vadei said to me while she looked like she was remembering something.
"One at a time?" Larishazza then asked as she slowly came up to me. Her question likely was about how we get off this haphazardly parked airship.
"That would probably be for the best." I answered her with as I remembered the lecture that set Nin off. The root cause of our journey beginning the way it did back at the Academy. How magic reacted with little to no magic individuals and environments...
"Next, go." the father told me as his small hands began to shove at my thighs. I resisted the urge to kick him away and instead focused on getting down. Tightly gripping the rope ladder the others had apparently used. Just barely avoiding catastrophe when my heels nearly hooked me to the rope steps.
"Yay, we made it!" Larishazza nervously cheered while her feet became grey from all this gravel and powdered stone.
"Now watch as those two steal the airship." Vadei growled out as the two slavers did not appear for quite some time. Initially leading to some worries about what might happen. But, well, we also had not seen them because they were about as tall as children. So when we did see them again, I smiled just a little.
A smile that quickly disappeared as I saw blue flashes in the distance. Nin was still trying to get used to using no magic again. Or, he was enjoying himself as I swear I also heard laughter in the distance. Well, I assume it was laughter, the main noises I heard was thunder and lightning.
"We make camp there." Heiya's father said to us as he got down with his daughter. His small, furry hand gesturing over at the nearby pile of rocks. If it was actually meant to be a mountain then it wasn't a very funny joke. Yet, we went towards it anyway.
"So, what was earlier about?" Vadei asked me with a tone that sounded like she really wanted to mock me. Soft and quiet but still loud enough to be heard.
"I was just..." I began with nervously as I looked at my copper frame, "Testing something." I told her dishonestly while I worried about my clothes. These were designed to aid my magic so would they cause any issues in this land of dust and nothing?
"I don't think you should be testing how to kill yourself. Nin's body should tell you why that is a bad thing." she snorted out while keeping her tail high and away from the ground.
"I wasn't testing that..." I mumbled as my mind went back to what I thought before Nin brought me back inside. That thunder-gold might be the solution I was looking for! The solution to my impure lightning magic... If I could just digest some then I might be able to make my lightning golden!
I could solve all of the problems my mother faced with a single display! No longer would she risk deposement because of mere claims that I was born from the seed of a commoner! I could save my mother and finally be able to go home, knowing that it was safe for me... But how would I even consume some of that gold?
The mountain was too dangerous to just be walked up to, especially given my type of magic... It could tear me apart and make me a part of that storm for real! Just like the tales back home of how cocky and arrogant witches were permanently turned into lightning for the land's use! It might be false, sure, but who was I to test such a risky hypothesis?
"It's alright, Einervaene, I think I know what you felt when you saw that mountain." Larishazza said to me as her hands shook one of my arms.
"You do?" I asked back as I tried to think about what could possibly make her think that.
"Yeah, when I first saw the all-coast it just left me entranced! There was so much of our magical element in one place that it just called out to you!"
"I don't think the quantity of lightning is what catches my attention..." I said to her while thinking about my homeland. Each metallic piece of land was held together with the others by lightning. Lightning was an everyday occurrence and part of life back in my homeland. What wasn't, however, was a site belonging to a god and his leftover magic.
This holy site was perhaps one of the single most important holy sites in the world for me! It was where Thunder itself crafted our world and his greatest works! That mountain was even one of his first works! This entire land was his workshop by circumstance as well!
"Can we just focus on sorting camp out? I don't want to be sleeping on dust that stains my skin, clothes and fur!" Vadei commented with a moan as she failed to find a dustless rock.
"We're all just going to have to learn to ignore the dust, Vadei." Larishazza said to her with a smile.
"Easy for you to say, you have been filthy since we stepped off that airship!" she loudly retorted back with while pointing down at Larishazza's increasingly grey feet.
"Ooops." the grey-footed woman let out with a giggle as she kicked some grey powder at us.
"Stop that!" Vadei snapped back with as she tried to run away from the dust-kicker. A smile came to my own face as I watched one of them run in fear while the other just enjoyed herself.
"I wonder what we will be eating..." I then let out with a curious mumble while I looked about. There was no other life out here with us, no plants or animals. So what exactly would we be eating or would we just bring some stuff off the airship?
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"Believe it ar nat, nathing." Heiya answered as she looked out at the empty plains of grey.
"What do you mean?" I asked in disbelief, unsure if she was joking as her expression was stern in its aspect.
"Aaas in, we will nat be eaaating aaanything during this trip, naw." she reclarified to me as she turned around to face me.
"We can't live off of nothing..." I said to her while leaning my head forward.
"Me aaand Paps haaave been here regulaaarly, we knaw much mare aaabaut it then yau." she told me while gesturing to her father. Maybe if this was something else it might have made me go quiet. But she was saying we would starve on our way to Nin's homeland!
"You want us to starve!" I loudly said to her just to make sure I was getting through to her.
"We eaaat ta supply aur bady with mare maaagic. If yau aaare in aaa law-maaagic enviranment, yau wan't need to eaaat aaas much ar drink far thaaat maaatter." she explained to me with a little smile.
I looked up and over at the other two while I thought on it, "She's not telling any jokes, is she...?" I asked Larishazza and Vadei. My tone showed off just how confused I was right now.
"Couldn't tell you!" Larishazza answered as she hopped up onto a flat rock. Her feet soon tapping about its smooth and abrased surface.
"She's being honest, and, as much as I hate thinking on it. Certain experiences give me an idea of how long we can go before we starve..." Vadei answered before she growled at Heiya. And, despite Vadei's inability to use magic here, Heiya was still scared enough to back up.
"Would it be the same for all of us or would we all need to eat at different times?" I then asked as I was assuming how strong you were played into how long you could go.
Vadei nodded, "Yes, we would all have to make the call on our own. So, we should see if the airship has anything intended for travel and is fine cold."
"So should someone or some of us go back into the airship to get rations?" I asked while walking back towards the airship. Not initially to volunteer for it, but rather, to just bring their attention to the airship. And perhaps it was just me, but the lack of any systems being active on the airship made it seem like it had died.
"We should have a look, yes, but we will need to be careful." Vadei said as she began to climb the rope ladder again. Her hand took mine before she started going up so she could likely bring me along.
"Aw, I wanted to go." Larishazza complained from her rock as her tapping picked up in intensity.
Vadei swung from the rope ladder and extended one arm out, "Keep an eye on those two." she then ordered before climbing up again. And soon she was impatiently waiting for me as I carefully moved up. My heels not exactly being best suited for this kind of climbing. Or climbing at all, actually.
"H-Hey!" I let out when Vadei's impatience brought her to drag me up the rest of the way.
"Be slow on your own time." she commented before she opened one of the doors with a groan.
"Be careful! Little blue embers were appearing around you!" I commented when I saw those little flickers she let off. It becoming abundantly clear that putting too much effort into our actions could be dangerous.
"It's alright, my magic is weak anyway." she laughed out in a rather miserable way before she disappeared into the darkness. A light soon turned on as I entered in after her. My own light that I had gotten earlier went on too.
"Are you sure you know the way to the kitchen?" I asked while shining my light around the near-black control room.
"Yes, we have used the hallways many times." Vadei sarcastically mentioned as she headed down the main hallway.
"No need to be like that..." I mumbled in embarrassment as I only knew the way because of the signs. I never actually learned the layout of the airship, I just followed the signs.
"Do not worry, Einervaene! There will be plenty of time to make fun of you throughout our journey!" Vadei said to me with a giggle before I swatted at her tail. Smiling myself when she jumped forward with a squeal before she hugged it.
"Do not worry, Vadei, there's nothing behind us." I said to her before dull thuds echoed about behind us. Sharp taps followed it as something seemed to touch metal.
"W-Who's there!?" Vadei called out as she shone her light down the hallway. Her body clearly became stiff as she did so.
"Okay, that's enough now, Vadei." I said to her as I shone my light on her. An odd feeling built up inside me, however, when I saw she was not making any noises.
"I'm going to close the door behind us..." Vadei then said as she nodded, turning around before then smacking into something. Her light quickly illuminated an open jaw filled with dozens of sharp teeth. And when she screamed, I screamed too and we both ran back towards the control room. Loud laughter chasing us.
"Now that's just harsh." Nin said as his laughter boomed out towards us.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Vadei shouted at him as our lights lit him up. He wasn't wearing any of his clothes so he must have been waiting for us. But when did he get back? He had only just left to try and sort out his magic control!?
Either way, I guess, it did not matter... I was probably going to hang back now...
"Don't worry about me, you just go on ahead." I then said to her as I nervously clutched my arm while looking away.
"No! You're staying with me!" Vadei told me with an annoyed tone as she continued to look at the still laughing Nin.
"B-But-" I tried to protest before Vadei shouted.
"IT'S NOT THAT FUNNY, BUG!" she shouted at him which only made him laugh louder.
"It's... It's exactly what made it work." he said as his laughter came to a stop. At least, until he broke into a fit of chuckles.
"Eugh..." Vadei huffed out as she dragged me along with her. Using herself and my own body as a means to shove by the laughing man.
"Anyway, what you looking for?" he asked Vadei as he walked past me and ignored me. And, fortunately, in that moment of him getting closer. I was able to slip out of Vadei's grip so I could put some distance between me and Nin.
"Just some rations for our journey, not that you're getting any." Vadei answered as she sneered up at him.
"It was just a jumpscare, no need to be like that." he answered back with as he smiled a little.
"Normally the one giving jumpscares isn't a kidnapping monster that hides in the dark for real!"
"Vadei, there was no need for that." I then said when I saw how Nin's smile disappeared instantly. But he did not get angry, instead, he went quiet and sighed before stepping back.
"No need for it? He was hiding in the dark and intentionally playing into what he is!" she told me as she turned to face me. Her light dashing about the room as she flailed her arms about.
"It was just a joke, Vadei." I told her without looking at Nin. Which felt odd in a way, I was frustrated with him. Yet, here I was, speaking on his behalf over something so trivial...
"Well, then, get others involved with your jokes!" Vadei then snapped up at him as he frowned at the floor.
"I'll bear that in mind." Nin quietly said to her before she disappeared into the airship. Without a doubt towards the kitchen and so on to look for food we could use.
"D-Don't mind her, Nin." I then said to him nervously as I looked away into the dark room to my left.
"Not possible right now." he said before he moved away and came back with his clothes.
"It would be best to put them on in here so you don't get dust and that on them..." I informed him just in case he didn't realise how dusty it was outside.
"Keep that light on me, then." he told me as he began the process of rolling those bandages around him. A process he was still doing when Vadei came back with a bag and a huff.
"All done?" I asked once I saw him stop messing with the bandages. A large fluttering of air came my way as a swoosh also went into my ears.
"Now I am." he told me as he walked past, his cloak brushing against me before he went outside again. I did not want to go back outside, though. So, instead, I walked deeper into the airship. Bringing my light up every now and then so I could see the directions and signs.
All before then falling onto the bed I had been using and briefly bouncing on it. A sigh left my lips just before I picked up Nin's bracelet from my makeshift desk. I ignored all the drawings that I knocked down as right now they did not matter. Only this little piece of jewellery did.
"I hope Nin puts you back on..." I said to it while frowning as I thought about how it made me feel before. Even if it did alter my feelings for him, it didn't feel unnatural, I felt fine while he wore it. Besides, he did say it enhanced already present feelings, didn't he? It's not like he was making me insincere.
Yet, was it actually sincere at all? If it was sincere, then why did I struggle to let out those three simple words? A one-letter word, a four-letter word and then a three-letter one. I have tried pondering it before but I came to no conclusion of note.
If I did actually have those feelings then I should have just been able to say it, right? Maybe it was just the shock I was going through that made me unable? My body had been so used to feeling like that, that I suddenly had doubts when it was gone? Yet, I also remember another thing.
It wasn't that incident in the garden, but rather, one on a roof back at the Academy. When I wore this bracelet after I asked him if I could. He instead grabbed me and held me close and I was so sure he would have... So maybe if I wore it myself...?
"No, it would only be a lie..." I said to myself before I came to a quiet halt. Was this the same kind of feeling that drove Nin to take it off, to begin with? If I felt this way too while thinking about it, then maybe I should just apologize to him. Say sorry about how I have been avoiding him and just let it go...
But, for some reason. I could not even compel myself to do that either. That vision I saw in the temple. That vision that seemed so real of where I was his and he was mine...
If he got this while he was with the gods, and I saw a vision in one of their many houses... What right did we have to deny its purpose? It was clear they intended something for us. And we couldn't just ignore the wishes of the gods!
And yet, I just left it there before I left. I left it on my makeshift desk under my drawings and left it. We would not see it again until we came back to the airship. Something that might take a while or no time at all.
Either way, I hoped I would be able to at least not strike up further issues. Nin and Vadei were already going through so much right now and I didn't need to make it worse. I did not want to repeat what happened back at the Academy if I can help it. A friend should never do that...
If I can't show myself as being someone who is actually there for them then what right did I have? What right did I have to say Nin was my friend, that Vadei was my friend if I just left them alone? If I was their friend then I have a responsibility to help them just like they did with me. But I should not act as if it was currency, that I only help if they have paid me before with kindness.
I just needed to give it to them.
"Even if I don't have the strength to help them right now, I should at least give it a go." I quietly said to myself as I walked the dark halls of the airship. A small smile nearly being formed with my lips were it not for my doubts. I had many doubts in my head at the moment and I just wasn't sure how to let them out. But, they also might never come out, we'll just have to wait and see.
Which was potentially going to be the case as my head seemed to empty itself when I got outside again. The atmosphere in the camp did not look good from what I could see. Nin was silent and still, perched upon a rock. And Vadei was unstable, her movements increasingly paranoid.
"Einervaene! Help me!" Larishazza called out from down below as she tried to cheer at least one of them up. Her antics for the moment not doing much if anything at all.
"Hold on!" I said back to her before I tried to get down the rope ladder. But, in my haste to get down, my heel got stuck and I fell. It did not hurt at all because of how much magic I had in comparison to the gravel below. But it was still humiliating.
As now I was tossing and turning and squealing with a foot stuck in some rope. My hair and arms increasingly stained grey as I moved about. At least, until Nin came over and held me still by the shin. And, once I was free, he dropped me to the floor and let out a bemused noise.
It was something but it wasn't particularly enthusiastic. Not that I did that because I was trying to help Larishazza... It was a genuine accident and none of that was orchestrated... And now that I realised that, my head felt like it had started burning.
"Should've taken a picture too." Nin then commented as his joy became a little more pronounced.
I, however, crossed my arms and huffed in annoyance, "At least someone enjoys it." a pout soon formed on my lips just after.
"Thank you for the reminder why I don't want to sleep here!" Vadei then said as she tried her best to stay away from dust clouds.
"You're welcome..." I bitterly say to her as I stared at my stained hair. Steadily and slowly picking away at all the bits of gravel that had been caught up in my knots and braids.
"Yay, people are happy again!" Larishazza then cheered as she sprang up to her feet. Arms and legs wide apart as she bounced with joy.
"Save it for later, Larishazza, we still have a long way to go." Vadei said to her. My eyes watched her as she steadily stopped being so active and more still.
"How long do we have to go anyway?" Larishazza asked as she turned to Nin who shrugged.
"I could not tell you. My first time down here took a short while, and that was using these big hauling vehicles. Not fast by any means, I suppose but it was still motor transport."
"So the answer is that we have a long way to go?" she asked again with her usual smile.
Nin huffed in amusement first, "Yeah, but, if it means anything. While I was practising my magic control, I noticed how it sent you for a violent tumble but didn't hurt, like at all."
"So it was annoying more than anything?" I asked him with uncertainty.
"Pretty much, of course, I am not sure if it will apply to you lot equally. But, it seems as a general rule, we are more dangerous to those around us, not ourselves." he explained before his eyes faced Vadei and the two slavers.
"You're suggesting we get to your homeland quickly by... Exploding there?" Vadei then asked as she raised a brow.
"No, not at all." Nin clarified as he raised a palm.
"Sa, waaalking it is then?" Heiya then asked as her little hands caressed her little feet.
"Indeed, walking and talking as we cross a featureless plain of grey."
"That will give us plenty of time to play games then!" Larishazza cheered before she began to list off games.
"I... I don't think we'll be able to play most of them." I then said in order to make her stop listing them. It was nice to see her so enthused about it I suppose but we'd barely be able to play any of them.
"Sure we can, we can just change the rules!"
"But then no play." Heiya's father said as he frowned at Larishazza.
"Good, I don't want you to play." she said back to him with a disgusted expression.
"He meaaans, thaaat yau wauldn't be plaaaying thaaat gaaame aaanymare. Yau'd be plaaaying samething else." Heiya clarified on behalf of her father who was nodding in accordance.
"Still don't want you two playing..." Larishazza told them with a huff before she crossed her arms.