Jon paraded out an almost endless supply of accessories and tools at the range. It was clear he enjoyed it as much as she did. Even so, it quickly became apparent that there was far too much to learn. She took care not to be overwhelmed. Days before, she would never think drowning in knowledge was possible. Oh, how naive that girl was.

The recurve bow was tested first. Its elegant simplicity, at least relative to the compound bow, let Keya pull her eye in. After a few blissful rounds of that, she attempted the compound bow. Upon loosing the first arrow, it became clear. The spirit of compound bows differed from all that came before. Deceptively easy to use, but demanding of perfection in each release.

Keya ignored frivolous parts to focus on its core functionality. She would take her time to memorise every hitch, beam, and creak as it bent to her will.

“Master? I cannot feel my magic anymore, it was present on the ship, but now I sense nothing. Are we perhaps magically shielded in your domain?”

“Oh! That’s some extremely vital info gave me right there! No, we’re not shielded; my ‘domain’ is in a world without magic, see. Well, your magic anyway. We are not in Kanzas anymore as it were. How were you using magic on the ship, might I ask?”

“I sensed the Earth form of the bow. ‘Tis why I called it ‘art’. Looks aside, its Earthen feel was nothing short of miraculous. Grandpa spoke of greater Elven marksmen that might assist their pull, or guide their fletches as they shoot. I am barely a novice, but the feel of the bow alone can be indispensable.”

“I’ll fucken bet it can! Your magic is starting to sound pretty epic.”

She continued, “Practice without magical assistance may still be useful, but your range in this subterrane is somewhat limited. Please take no offence, but a mere fifty paces or so and the ceiling, lofty as it is, make it less ideal for archery.”

“I hear ya; an FOB world-side is next on our list of priorities. I’ll get you the space and time you need as soon as possible.”

“Foul Orcish Body?”

“Forward Operating Base.”

“I see.”

She did not. However, her Master appeared attentive and forward-thinking. She was sure he would give her the opportunities she desired in due time. Meanwhile, there were all manner of things to occupy her despite magical impotence. Remarkable and trumpeted as the bows were, the array of arrows on display boggled the senses.

Shafts of black material she could not even begin to understand: ‘Kabun’ fibre he called it. Arrowheads, varied and razor-sharp, for innumerous uses. Keya was bestowed with her first codex of archery, detailing all she might wish to know. Each page contained pint-sized, prismatic paintings framed in writing. The burnished parchment was whiter than a swan’s feather and smoother than polished stone. Truly, decadence swamped his world; his obliviousness as he dispensed treasure after treasure attested as much.

Restraint was prescribed for the use of the stranger items ‘world-side’. The black arrows, in particular, were only to be used if essential. For all other times, the wood crafted shafts and natural colour fletches were to be favoured. It went without saying, but the wood arrows were no less masterpieces themselves.

He left her to tinker and test as he attended to other matters. Cleaning and repairing a fan was cited, though why he would bother with such a frivolous trinket was beyond her. Fans were simple things of wood and cloth; why not just buy a new one? She recalled him asserting the airship used fans. Their application to the ship was not something she could envision, and presently she spared it scant attention.

Instead, Keya gladly lost herself in the priceless opportunity before her. Served porridge went generally ignored on a nearby table. She shot until her fingers tired, read until recovered, and then shot again. Each breath and draw cherished as though it were the last. That is where Jon found her again after noon. Lounging with her back to the wall, she was tracing each contour of the compound bow in her lap. Hundreds of arrows lay downrange, and she would retrieve and catalogue each one carefully by and by.

“Good thing I led with the underwear. Doubt you’d have even noticed anything else otherwise.”

“Ah, Master, forgive me, I was lost in reverie. Is there something you wish of me?”

“Yeah, we’ve arrived?”

“Arrived?” She had utterly forgotten her request to go to Elgelica. “Oh my, how the time flies!”

“Uh-huh. Well come have a look, and we can discuss next steps.”

She got up, and they moved down the colourfully furnished curved corridor of his home toward the travel room.

Master spoke as they walked. “So, I don’t know why we’re here, you share that, and we can work on a plan. What’s the deal?”

The thought of a believable motive left her stunned for a moment. It was astounding Jon would come all this way, without even asking for one. She set aside how that spoke of his trust in her, and considered the problem. The compound bow was still clutched in her grip as they strode, to feel it with magic again would be thrilling. Mulling ideas over she stroked a finger across its taut strings.

“I… I wish to seek answers about the fate of my parents. Elgelica is the place of my birth, and if the note rings true, more clues will be there.” Half-truths were better than lies; better to pierce two hares with one shaft.

“Alright, where’s your stuff?”

“My pack, with the note and book are still on the flying ship.”

“Cool.”

They turned right off the passage, through a conjoining room, and into the portal area from whence she had first entered Master’s abode. The central rift they mainly used stood seven feet tall, the most complex by far with an adjustable ramp and articulating orifice. Akin to the one in Jon’s bag, but gilded and grand. The rest of the room sported various metal disks and rings of all sizes and orientations. They were arrayed on the walls, on the floor, hung loose, and even on the ceiling. This was the Rift Room. Although the underground keep, from Master’s descriptions, used rifts elsewhere too; here was doubtless meant to be the main thoroughfare.

They traipsed across the hole between worlds onto the ship, and for the nonce, Keya hardly broke her stride. The transition was seamless. She might think his manor afloat upon the sky, were it not memory said otherwise. A perverse sense of how the gateways worked had becalmed in her mind: a balance between lunacy and sanity. I was there, and now I’m here; ‘tis knowledge enough. The midday sun bore down upon the land, blazing with colour, while the cabin was in shadow, perfectly temperate and idyllic.

“What of the shadow of our ship, Master? Surely you cannot erase this too.”

“No, I can’t, but the physics of optics are on our side. This high up, our shadow is mostly faded and blurred by the sun before reaching ground. Add to that our speed and constant motion; any shadow would be fleeting and impossible to anticipate. Still, perspective's a bitch, someone looking could likely spot us from one angle or another. England is England, though. Plenty of clouds to hide us on most days.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Indeed, there was no shortage of clouds about and below them. Two words by which I never conceived to detail clouds. “Erudite and cunning, as always, I see.”

“Why thank you, my dear.” He gave an exaggerated bow.

Spying through the floor and dappled brume, a settlement of sorts nestled in a river bend. From this height, it was insignificant compared to the land. Whether it was indeed Elgelica, she would be none the wiser, being far too young when she left. Few had likely seen it from this vantage either, but the spires and edifices clamouring below the canopy of a towering forest were undeniably elven. Human settlements with their deforested hovels were utterly antithetical. True confirmation required she set foot inside their walls and converse with the people.

“How will we venture down? Do you plan to land at night?”

“Hell no, landing and lift-off are like the most vulnerable things you can do with a ship. Just watch every series and movie ever. We’re porting in. The HAS will deploy a rift device from this altitude in a remote and hopefully discreet location outside the city. We will move through, secure the area and then begin infiltration.”

“So we will leave this ship aloft, travel by magic and enter the city on foot?”

“You’re getting good at this cliff-notes thing, keep it up!” He raised a thumb.

Keya shook her head in acquiescence. Her pack was on a seat, and she retrieved the note. After rereading it, she passed it to Master.

With a momentary glance, both front and back—which was blank—he gave a single nod. “Awesome, so we need a cover. Your name may tip off the wrong kind of attention. Got any ideas for a codename?”

“I need another name? Surely you jest, this is no tale of royalty and betrayal. I am no one.”

“Let’s see…,” he said reading air with enchanted vision. How he managed without the visor, was perhaps an advanced technique. “The note’s highlighted keywords are ‘bloodline’, ‘gift’, ‘curse’ and of course there's the mysterious blank book. I’m pretty sure I know where this goes. Hand the book over will ya.” She retrieved the tome. Yesterday she thought it best that they were close at hand should she need to flee. A very long time ago.

They stood centred in the airship. Book in hand, he paged casually before looking up. “Your magic, can you feel it now?” Her compound bow was still with her, and she found senses effortlessly extend into its frame the moment she tried.

“Yes! And might I say once more this bow-”

“Ja, ja, ja, it’s amazing. I’m a super cool dude. I get it. Now focus on this book.” Frowning at his curt manner, she did as commanded.” The book was there, it’s dry pages, and wood binding beneath aged leather was all unremarkable.

“It is a book; there is nothing particular about it.”

“Yes, there is, there always is. Focus on the pages; there’s writing there, trust me.”

Again, mildly frustrated, she felt with her magic at his currently open page. Nothing untoward appeared, but it did feel dirty as though begrimed with something she could not quite make out. “There is nothing, but the page is quite dirty.”

He turned the pages to her: a little yellowed but most unequivocally blank. Not nearly as besmeared to the eye. Strange.

“Very interesting, dirty, but clean. Can you identify the ‘dirt’?” Asked Master.

“I am trying, but it appears to be resisting me. I would not believe such a thing possible were I not experiencing it first hand. It is almost as if shielded like living things.”

“Maybe it is.”

That was preposterous. “Do not be silly Master; there is nothing alive in that tome!”

“What were your affinities again?”

“Earth and Water, very weak in each,” said Keya.

“And... how are you looking at this book?”

“With Earthen sight, of course. I seldom use Water; its use is rather narrow on land.” Or bestriding the heavens.

“Okay, try Water.”

“That would be completely pointless!”

“Humor me,” said Jon.

Sighing, she attempted it nevertheless. The book was naturally nowhere to be found, for it contained no water. But queerly, the dirt from the pages once more emerged from the void, only to resist her prodding. That she could sense it at all was bizarre. With the absence of the Earth sense, the oddity of the smears became all the more striking.

Jon spoke. “If your expression is anything to go by, you’ve found something odd, right?”

“It is indeed strange, Master. Though the book is most certainly Earth, there should be no water about, and yet I sense something on the page though it resists me still. Whatever its secrets, perhaps I am not ready.”

“You mentioned that great mages are those with a single affinity; hence, purity is best. That's the prevailing wisdom?”

“Yes, you have the right of it. Single element mages are the strongest.”

“And you believe them? Where is all that doubt when you need it most?”

“Only fools or someone as mad as Master would depart from knowledge of ages past.”

“Let’s try one more test. Find the ‘dirt’, as you describe it, with Earth and then simultaneously find it with Water.”

“That is insanity, Master; the elements are to be kept separate and pure to avoid corruption. No mixed magic could ever work properly!”

“I realise I might be dealing with a... philosophical departure from established spiritual truths. So please grant this godless man your patience for the moment. The world is not as you know it; everything is a mix of everything else. Nothing is separate; nothing is pure; it all exists on a continuum of transient states from one form to the next. With that in mind and us bound by ‘honour’ as you said. Please trust me and give it a try.”

That he would call on her pledge so soon, made her feel just a little irritated with the rascal; but the softness in his eyes quickly allayed that discomfort. She would entertain this pointless test if for no other reason than to prove him wrong.

“Very well, by my pledge, I shall try.” At first, with Earth, she found those smears. Then, with Water, she tried reaching too. The task proved profusely difficult, failing several times to hold both senses out at once. Like prodding leaves on the surface of a lake, they repelled one another. “This is impracticable, Master,” Her voice strained. “The elements themselves fight for the same space!”

“Don’t force it; think of them as... one new element. Aspects of both, but not quite being either. Forget starting with Earth, just reach out with nothing and everything. See what you find.”

“Again with your damned riddles!” Her teeth gritted, and then it gave way like shattering ice and plunging to the water below! Immersed in every page, she felt a comforting scrawl there: writing, neither Earth nor Water. Keya felt other things too. An oasis for her magic was nearby.

“Oh my!” said Keya. A hand was on a page, beating and warm, connected to an arm and a shoulder. She followed it up, knowing what it was but scarcely believing it: Skin, muscle, tendons and bone. She saw, nay felt, it as if it were her very own limb, a third one.

“Keya dear, that’s very nice and all, but can I have my arm back?”

“What?” What did he mean? His arm was right there holding the book; she could sense it quite clearly, and then it dawned on her. The shock pulled her right back out. She opened her eyes in abject fear as Jon dropped the book.

“Oh, Master! I am so sorry! This is sacrilege. What I have done, not even the Gods can forgive! Truly I have transgressed this day!” Tears streamed down her face, as on weak knees, she staggered.

Jon said nothing, merely crouching down and retrieving the book. Then he approached even as she backed away. Mercy and contrition were writ large upon his visage.

I have failed the test. Heretic. Keya had done something impossible, unthinkable, and wrong: violated the boundaries protecting life.

Now I must pay. Shall I be cast out? Not before the pillory and the whip, I think. Would he be so merciful? Would her life be enough she wondered? Or would they purge the village too? And what would become of Kel-sun, even if he punished her justly, his name would forever be tainted. She was sorry, she was so, so, sorry. Gods forgive her!

Please punish only me!

“—KEYA, FUCKEN LISTEN TO ME!” Jon was shaking her shoulders; she didn’t quite know for how long.

“I… wha—”

“Oh good, you’re finally back. Shit, don’t freak out like that! That was amazing! Granted, I expected as much.”

“You expected…” How?

“Blood magic maybe, or is it Life magic? We’ll figure out naming conventions later. You did good kid. Here sit down. You’re shaking like a wet mutt.” He guided her to a seat.

“Master, this is wrong, don’t you see! Life is protected and shielded as deemed by the Gods. I have done a bad thing. I-” She clawed at his shirt.

“Not even close, or else why'd your parents give ya that book? Look, the words are visible now. Elven, of course.”

She saw the previously barren pages populated with elegant green chirography.

“It’s not a curse. You are not in trouble. You’re safe. Look about; the world goes on uncaring.”

As commanded, she gazed furtively beyond them. Presently, it appeared Master was right. Keya sniffed a little and regained composure. “If you are unharmed, then that is good for the moment.”

“No, it’s friggin epic, that’s what it is. You’re a badass, a powerful and unique magic-user. Just what the team needs.”

“You do not fully understand the gravity of what you say—”

“No, you don’t fully understand the gravity. You’re amazingly cool. An honest to god Life-magic wielding Elf! Do you know the fan fiction that’s gonna be written about you? On second thought, forget that part, ignorance is bliss.”

He slapped her on the shoulder.

“Go wash up, rest, and read that damn book. My Bunker has magic shielding remember? You’ll be safe.” He winked.

With that, she shuffled back to the sanctuary, emotions raw once more. In such a daze, she graciously accepted any guidance to pacify her thoughts.