♦
A bearded man with gray hair stood in front of the Griffin Roost lighthouse. “Magi Leonan! We've come to seek your aid!” he called out, knocking loudly on the thick oak door. He was somewhat nervous at the griffins flying through the air above him, going to and from their nests in the cliffs.
After a moment, a brown skinned and black haired young man poked his head out of a window high up in the lighthouse. “Master Hermon, is that you?” the man called down.
“Yessir, Mr. Leonan, Windmage, sir...” Hermon stuttered, “I've come on behalf of the Council to ask your help...er...all official and what-not.”
“One moment, I'll be right down!” Leonan replied. After a moment, a strange sound came from inside the lighthouse, like a cart rolling and rattling down a track. The sound rumbled down the lighthouse and ended abruptly in a loud crashing and clattering, as well as a few muffled shouts, before the door finally opened to present a disheveled young wizard.
His hair and robes—the official blue and cream robes of the Windmage—were a mess and he had a large red mark on one cheek. Behind him some sort of cart had smashed into a shelf and knocked off a variety of strange objects.
“Mr. Hermon, how may I be of service?” the young wizard said breathlessly as he straightened himself up and muttered something about a “work in progress.”
“Well, er...we officially be asking...according to the standards of yer office that is...that you be assisting us in...um,” Mr. Hermon stuttered and mumbled, trying to remember the message he was supposed to bring.
“It's alright Mr. Hermon, we can dispense with the official language, just tell me what's going on,” Leonan told him with a polite smile.
Mr. Hermon, looking relieved, said, “Thank ye, Mr. Leonan. We been a terrible fraught at what the princess has done with Rufarious.”
“Just what has the princess done this time?” Leonan asked with a sigh.
“She done kidnapped or...er...dragonapped him!” Mr. Hermon shouted. “And soon as them pirates hear 'bout us not having his protection they be sure to come to town a blasting their cannons and swingin' their swords and takin' what they want! Plus, Rufarious be a noble creature and our friend. Ain't right to keep him locked up!” he said angrily.
“The princess...dragonapped Rufarious? How on earth did she manage that?” Leonan asked incredulously. The windmage had a working relationship with Rufarious and knew that the mountain dragon was as formidable as any of his race.
“That's one of the reasons we done come to you—with you being a Magi and what-not—because she used magic!” Mr. Hermon told him with disbelief. Leonan had trouble believing it himself; Rufarious was no mere whelp able to be captured by an amateur spell. And as far as Leonan knew, Princess Viliana didn't even practice the arcane arts.
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“How could she possibly know enough magic to trap a dragon? She's never been to the College. She shouldn't be using anything more than basic charms. The kind of magic it would take to overcome a dragon would be incredibly dangerous, even for a trained wizard,” Leonan replied. “What about the king and queen? Why haven't they done anything about this?”
“The castle's closed up tight. No one has been able to get in to see 'em. That so-called knight, Sir Joff, has been throwing out anyone who tried. He done knocked Councilwoman Sheilai into the mud! Imagine that, a knight knockin' a lady into the mud, it's disgraceful!” Mr. Hermon harrumphed.
“Alright, alright, calm down. I'll head over there and figure out just what is going on. Don't worry, we'll get this all sorted out,” the windmage promised.
“Thank ye rightly, Mr. Leonan, we knew we could count on you,” Mr. Hermon smiled, shaking Leonan's hand vigorously before heading down the hill and back toward the town of Saltspray. As the councilman left, Leonan walked to the edge of the cliff and whistled, using a bit of air magic to send the sound up to one griffin in particular. The griffin quickly swooped down and landed elegantly next to him, nuzzling his hand. She had a light brown coat with cream colored wings that ended in a light indigo color, from which she had gained her name.
“Periwinkle, it looks like we're going to have to make a trip to Castle Torrent,” Leonan told her.
“Excellent!” she replied, before hesitantly looking back out to sea. “But what if a storm comes in?”
“I know it's the storm season, but we'll just have to hope nothing too major blows in while we're gone, we've got a dragonapping to deal with,” Leonan sighed.
“A dragon napping? Don't they do that all the time?” the griffin asked in confusion.
“No...I mean he was taken. Come on, we'll figure it out once we get there,” he told her.
“Good enough for me,” she said, clawing the dirt with one massive talon and letting out a screech. “About time we went on an adventure!”
“Hopefully this adventure will be uneventful,” Leonan laughed in reply. He quickly got changed into his flying gear and belted on Periwinkle's harness. Without further preparation, he leapt onto her back and they took off into the air.
♦
Flight was Leonan's greatest joy. He had seen—and performed—great wonders of magic while learning the arcane secrets of the wizard's College, but nothing ever compared to the simple joy of flying through the deep blue sky. That was why he had chosen to become a windmage, and caring for the griffins was an excellent opportunity to share the joy of flight. It required a great deal of experience and expertise to accomplish magical flight without losing control—as Leonan had painfully discovered for himself—so the young wizard contented himself with griffin flight until he could master the skill.
The kingdom of Eclipsia spread out below him with her forests and lakes, rivers and mountains. Ceylon was a beautiful and dangerous land and the various peoples that inhabited it often struggled for survival. The Magi were assigned to care for different areas to keep the people safe and—as he was now—settle the occasional dispute. Ruled by none, the College offered impartial assistance wherever it was needed. Although there were a few places where their help was unwelcome.
He just hoped no storm elementals formed near Saltspray while he was gone. He shuddered to think of the damage that could be done by the unpredictable creatures. Relations with the dragons were far more important though.
Leonan was suddenly brought back from his thoughts by a shriek from Periwinkle; they were in trouble. Without hesitation, he began to tap into the energy of the aether; drawing in power to protect them from what was coming...
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Choose:
[An Arcane Storm]
A storm of tumultuous energy envelops them!
[A Cloud of Creatures]
A cloud of strange creatures screeches towards them...