Chapter 19 - Heart Beak
In the evening of the same day, Lilly sat in her bed holding the jar with the phoenix heart, studying the systems with deep focus. Her hand held the top of the heart and sent in whisps of flame to study it with the familiar spell.
“Finding anything?” Mia asked as she was getting undressed for the night.
Lilly kept her eyes closed, trying not to lose her focus. “Yeah, a bunch of stuff. This might be one of the highest-quality materials in the world, so I expected to be surprised, but I can’t even see through all of this. I have to manually follow the threads in my mind to see the full picture of a single system and then remember where it went while looking at the others.
Then there’s the energy going in all directions. I’ll manage to transmute it to fit the staff better, but when it already has so many enchantments, it’s hard to align them perfectly.
The systems aren’t all finished; some seem to be broken or incomplete. I’m guessing that’s because old functions, in the same way as our tailbones, are no longer in use. I’ve been checking it against the staff to recognize the systems there, so I know which ones I should ignore.
The main problem is that I just don’t understand how they function. How does sending mana through these threads give such amazing effects? Unless I can understand that, I can’t hope to know what they do. Eldrin told me it was considered nearly impossible to understand them, and I can see why.”
While she was talking, Mia had gotten under the blanket and seemed ready to sleep. “Oh, please keep talking; this way I’ll fall asleep right away.”
Lilly turned to her, feeling somewhat annoyed. “You don’t find it interesting at all?”
“Well, I totally get the passion and desire to understand the process, but the systems and runes and sensing stuff just seem too complicated for me to care. You sound like I feel when planning how to forge something, so I know how you feel. And your voice is so comforting, I could fall asleep to it no matter what you talk about.”
Lilly smiled, sensing that Mia had gotten better at talking her way out of things. “Then you’re forgiven.” She skipped saying that she found smithing to be too simple to be interesting because that would just be petty.
Lilly put the jar on the nightstand, grabbed the amulet from beside it, and sent a message to Myndia. They had agreed that Myndia could follow what was happening as long as Lilly wore the necklace. This was to protect her privacy, which she felt had been intruded on when she first awakened the flame.
‘Myndia, do you know anything about understanding systems? I’m trying to figure anything out here, but it feels insurmountable.’
The amulet was quiet for a while, but soon enough, she replied. ‘Uhm, no, I don’t have any experience with that. I could ask someone else here, but people tend to get rather forgetful once their ties to the real world are severed. I’ll see if I can find anyone if you want.’
Lilly felt her excitement building at the idea of having access to old masters of the craft, imagining learning of ancient methods she had never even thought of. ‘That would be amazing! You’ll have to hurry a bit if you want to use the heart for the staff, though. The full moon is only three days away now, and it would be a shame to do it on any other day.’
‘Oh, that might be difficult. I’ll see what I can do, though. Until then, you should look at some other enchantments.’
Lilly nodded, already thinking of the enchantments that might suit the staff. ‘I’ll do that. Are you thinking of more combat-oriented, protective, or useful enchantments?’
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Myndia took some time to think before replying. ‘Hmm, it’s already perfect for combat, I think. Protection could be nice, but I’ve never died from a wound before, so it seems unnecessary. I guess you should look mostly into useful ones.’
‘Then we have a plan! Let me know if you find someone; I’ll be going to bed now,’ Lilly said, ending the conversation.
‘I’ll do my best, Lilly. Have a good night!’
She put the amulet back on the nightstand, trusting Myndia to keep her senses in the afterlife. “I’m not getting anywhere on my own. I think I’ll have to ask Gallus for some other material tomorrow, just in case I don’t find anything.”
“Mhm,” Mia mumbled, facing away from Lilly, clearly ready for bed. It was unusual for her to get sleepy first, and it made Lilly feel sort of bored. Then, it made her feel bad since the situation usually went the other way.
“We can talk tomorrow. But did you hear anything from Elly about Rantas?” Lilly asked, hoping to put her curiosity to rest for the night.
“Mmm, not really. But she’s been here all day, so I don’t know if she knows anything more than us… Sorry about being so sleepy.”
“Oh, come on, you’re making me feel even worse. Now that I’m on the other side for once, I realize how boring it is. So I’m the one who’s sorry.”
Mia turned to face Lilly with a smile. “We should align our sleepiness better in the future. But I’m very ready for sleep now, so let’s get to it. Good night, soulfire!”
Lilly smiled back. “I’m still liking that one. I’ll have to think of one myself, something that fits with your image… Hmm… Emerald eyes… chestnut hair. Wood-something? Nah, that fits badly with fire… Life! Lifesmith? Life…forger? Lifeshaper! No?”
Lilly looked excitedly at Mia, who was now sleeping soundly. She smiled a loving smile and leaned over to gently kiss her forehead. “Good night, Mia. Sweet dreams.”
Mia’s forehead creased slightly at the touch, but she smiled contently right afterward. Lilly stared at her sleeping face for a moment, feeling her heart fill with warm and protective emotions.
‘Gods, the things I would do to keep you safe… They’re unpleasant to think about, but I don’t think I could stop myself. Surely, no one is stupid enough to force my hand at this point.’
It was her biggest fear by far. If the king wanted to show the people what a monster she could be, that would be the way to do it.
‘Ah, let’s think about nice things instead. I won’t be able to sleep with this in my head.’ She leaned back in the bed, rested her head on the pillow, and closed her eyes.
‘Let’s see, useful enchantments… It can already fly and heal wounds, so that’s off the table. Maybe some form of sensory input? Sight enhancement? Ooh, spatial storage? But that’s hard to get, I guess. Some sort of cooling function to counter our heat?’
Many ideas swirled in her head, but none seemed too fitting. The best idea seemed to be to visit Gallus again. She knew he would appreciate her continued patronage.
Thoughts of what to use Beak’s heart for if they didn't use it in the staff started intruding in her mind. She knew that any of the enchantments it could make would be invaluable, but perhaps most of all was its healing ability.
It was hard to say which one would do best in the war between that and the attacking enchantment, but she figured they would have enough ways to attack each other. Healing wounded soldiers might be worth way more.
She wanted to consider Beak’s wishes when it came to how his heart would be used, but she hoped he would be fine with whatever as long as Myndia didn’t find a good use for it. She was raising him, after all.
‘Elly didn’t seem to have any problems with Beak today, which seems strange. Did she just keep him in the oven? I’ll have to ask her… I wonder where Selene is right now. I’m sure she’s on her way to the frontlines, eager to start fighting.
She’ll meet up with Eldrin and Thoren. I hope they get along. They probably know each other already, considering they’re great adventurers from the same city… I hope they take everything well once they learn of everything, even though it’s a lot to take in.’
The thoughts of the three of them fighting the ugly soldiers from Dortfell together kept her company until she drifted to sleep. She had many worries, but none were as pressing as they had been while Eolanathel was around. So, with everything taken into consideration, things were quite peaceful.