Stone Cell, Underground Cavern, Troug, 13th.

Olea Munroe

I sat alone on the cold, hard, damp stone floor.

It was here where I pondered all the mistakes that had led me to my capture, the assumptions of the world, assumptions of the system, and even the assumptions of myself. I thought of the way I had lived my life after my translocation, the friends I had made and the flippancy with which I treated every day.

Though there were some more serious moments that I would not change, even if I could.

I had made some friends on the mean streets of South Jaga, found a new big sister, performed low-level pest control, and even joined a small guild of adventurers or mercenaries.

They were never fully clear on the whole adventurer’s guild thing; I think maybe because they did not want to glorify the potential road to death that more challenging tasks could end in. Or maybe there was some other reason, I might even remember to ask for clarification sometime.

I was about to go down a tunnel of what-ifs when I noticed a certain golem entering my little stone motel.

Rocky had arrived!

“You came back!” I exclaimed.

The little guy shook his head back and forth, possibly checking to make sure I had not been heard.

Paranoia in elementals, another odd concept for future exploration. I suppose after seeing my other elemental get so thoroughly decimated that it was killed would make the little guy wary if he had been made as aware of it as I had via the notification.

I reached out my arms and grabbed the little guy up in a hug, and almost gave up as I felt his weight. I really was not sure what was in my head, but the little guy was made of solid stone; he was heavy!

His little rock arms wrapped around the front of my torso as I held him for a moment before we let go of the hug and I placed him back on the ground in front of me.

It had been almost an hour since I was left here to my own devices. I had since seen several guards pass by going to and from the large, cavernous area where the others were being held. It meant that a guard could be walking by my cage as often as every twenty minutes, and rarely on schedule.

I had much less privacy in this stone room, even the hole that would serve as a privy was in no way private. There were no walls, no windows, only this open section that was grated with iron bars running from floor to ceiling with two horizontal bars running a few feet apart to anchor into the walls on either side.

It was spacious at least. I had plenty of room for the nothing I had with me.

I was wondering if I would be able to get a blanket or something to keep myself warm when I had a thought. I knew someone who could help with my furnishings.

I sent a quick mental nudge to my raven companion and was rewarded with a shove back before I dove into my Soul Vault.

“Olea!”

I was instantly attacked by a boy of roughly the same age and height as myself. My second hug in less than an hour, I will admit I am not normally a hugger, but it felt nice to be wanted. I embraced him for a few more moments as we had time in this timeless space for such frivolous practices, even in my situation.

“You…” I started, not really knowing a proper greeting as we had not yet discussed his name, and if we had I was unaware of what it was as I was sure I had already been under control of the curse by then.

“I missed you, are you okay?” he said to me, excitement barely contained.

I took a minute to observe the guy more carefully, as I had been out of sorts during our first meeting, and I recalled that he had assumed a more aged appearance at the time; something closer to a thirty-year-old version of his current form. It was a little vague in my memory.

He stood at a height close to mine as I said, possibly five foot six. His hair had the same black coloring with almost shimmering locks of purple thrown in randomly. His hair was also much longer than my own in his current form, tied back by a band of black material in a way like a certain Highland sword master from the super-old TV show, coming together at the join and then flowing in a wave down his back and not held upward in that odd top-knot or bun style that picked up steam in the late twentieth century; it seemed regal, even if incomplete. It was also a little odd now that I was looking at my hair on someone else, I noticed that the colors were not different strands of hair but that each hair had both colors, as if they were highlights done all along the hair instead of the tips or roots. His eyes had a vivid blue-green hue for the irises and a dark violet-almost-black pupil. A pupil that seemed to shimmer with magical intellect. The last part was not too surprising considering that he was my bonded companion, after all.

His frame was that of a typical slender male of whatever our non-descriptive race was; Matilda’s revelations had me rethinking the elf assumption. He lacked the broad shoulders that came with a slightly older human male, not having reached that final upper body growth spurt most men see before twenty-five. His face also had more of a squared look than mine, his jaw more firm and less angular than my own.

“Olea…” I could hear the worry in his voice as I continued to assess him without answering his question, so very strange of me.

“I am fine, just distracted.” I replayed my more recent memories in my mind, knowing that with our proximity in this space it would actually transmit my thoughts and perspectives on the events than words could alone. I was unsure of how I knew this but chalked it up to magic.

Because Magic!

“Oh, that seems scary. You are alright though; did you need something from me?” He paused for a moment with an unfocused look in his eyes before he groaned. “Did you call me here just to ask me to get you a blanket and some essentials? Really?”

I could tell he was a little irritated as he assumed I was only wanting to use him as a metaphysical pack mule, but I swear I had other things to talk about!

“So… Thanks for the pie!” I said instead of answering, “Also, thanks a lot for everything else. The letter helped me stay a little more stable though I lost a bit of that an hour ago.”

He nodded in my direction, ceding to my stressful day in confinement.

“Okay, next point of business. You can talk now, here and I assume out there with other people.” He nodded again at my obvious statement, “What name have you been using? I have no idea what to say when I talk about you or to you.”

His face lit with a grin at my question, as if he had been wanting me to ask that very question, which I honestly knew because of the link we shared. Adding voice to it though made it more of an intimate question and sharing of knowledge than it would have been if I had just pulled it from his memories that were buried in our shared consciousness.

“I was thinking about calling myself Corvin, a word from your old world.” Said my raven familiar.

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“Why Corvin?” I was curious, though I remembered the meaning from old Latin as a form of raven. That fact surprised me only before I thought about how lazy it was to pick a name that was the embodiment of a physical characteristic instead of being somewhat original; that line of thought ended when I remembered my own name meant Olive in a similar language. Yeah, it all made so much sense now.

He smiled again, having read my thought stream. I was right, and he knew it.

Unfair.

“So, Corvin.” I said, enjoying the smile that it brought to his worried face. “You were right, of course. I would love a blanket! And a pillow!”

He rolled his eyes at my confirmation of his assumptions, “Anything else, your highness? You do realize I sleep on a branch in the forest, or on dirty rooftops, right? I have zero sympathy for your rough accommodations.” I could feel the inferred air quotes around his description of my plight.

Mean.

“Could you possibly ask Sicily or Doogan if they know of any items I could use for conjuring elementals? I have a feeling I will be able to get some powerful helpers for the day after tomorrow if I can secure some new elemental sources.” I relayed what I had learned so far of my spell, its spiritual aspects, and the power of the beings I contracted when using the full scope of the spell while Corvin nodded along as he listened.

“So, you named your earth elemental, a being of spiritual might and majesty, Rocky?” he made a scoffing sound before finishing, “And you insult my choice of name, lame.”

“It was more a passing thought of convenience, besides he seemed to like it.” I was genuinely surprised at the feeling of acceptance when I had named the little creature, there was no way he did not approve.

“Anything else you need brought in here?” He asked again, “Also, you may want to consider tidying up, you realize there are mushrooms growing on your things, right?”

I growled, as I knew that he knew what those were for.

“I know, but it seems like your plans have changed. I do not think that your first path will work now that you are no longer in with the general populace, gen-pop comes up from your memories as the right word.” He said as his eyes unfocused for just a moment, “Why is it that your mind has so many negative reactions to that word, oh, never mind.”

“Okay, okay. I suppose you are right, but the mushrooms and potatoes will not expire here. I doubt they can even grow as time does not pass in this space.” I responded, wanting to defend my little collection.

“Wrong!” he said, “I discovered something you did not it seems.”

“What do you mean, the skill even says that things don’t age in here.”

“Yes, yes. It does say that.” He admitted, “Though one thing that is missed is the exchange of time.”

“What?” I was genuinely lost for a moment before his thoughts began trickling through my own mental barrier.

“You are here now, while here time is stilled out there as you are removed from it. If I left here to get your things but you stayed, I would be frozen out there as time passes here. Time must keep flowing, this skill only alters the river of time to flow down a different path.” He continued, affecting the cadence of a British professor. “By being here, you make time flow here, though it seems at a very reduced speed, while this affect ceases when you leave the space. The way I see it, this place only exists within the stream of time while being accessed.”

Wow, just wow. “I had no idea. So, what you are saying is that I should probably be eating those meat pies soon if I plan to be in this space more often?”

Another eyeroll.

“What I am saying is you have less than two days before Doogan has his little group of guild members raiding your location to free you, and that you should be as ready as possible to escape.”

“Should I not stay and help fight after I get loose, maybe aid in the rescue of the other people here?” I said, not wanting to cut bait and run away from a fight, a fight that was mostly happening due to my own involvement.

“Listen, I know how awesome you think you are. I also know you are not as impressive as you think you are, you should face reality and realize that getting away saves the better fights the need to worry about protecting you while they are fighting a force of unknown strength.” He continued after breathing, “You should know that as soon as Doogan mobilizes and leave town here that the spies that woman has in place will probably alert her to the raid, we need you ready for that. And before you yell at me or claim to know better, I was told to let you know that your big sister is the one who said to do just that.”

I grumbled about it in what I believed to be an audible manner, letting me thoughts on the matter radiate out from me like steam from a kettle before I relented and slowly nodded to the uppity bird-boy.

“I’ll be the responsible coward and run away, fine.”

“Olea… It is not cowardice to retreat from a battle you cannot be useful in. We both know that in time you and I will be much better at this than we are now. Besides, Sicily is going to be all alone and worried about her sweet little sister until you show up back in town, safe.” He continued after watching my safe soften at the words, the manipulative little punk, “Also, Lenn and Keen are both asking around town to try and find you, seems they took your lectures about hard work to mind and got all the local orphans to sign on as junior guild-members. They still live in a warehouse, but I think Doogan got them a regular supplier of cheap food in exchange for them taking over some of the small messenger service routes in town.”

It seemed that a lot of happened since I had been away from town, I was surprised to learn about the orphans doing odd jobs and not being as orphan-like, almost as surprising as Doogan doing something that outed him as being the softy we all knew he was.

“Okay, well… You get those things for me, elemental summoning reagents and a blankie, maybe some more food. Hot food, and maybe some coffee?” I asked hopefully.

“You do know that Doogan has set down rules that anything handed over is paid for out of your pocket, right?” Corvin explained, not letting me forget the toll my request would have on my financial situation when I returned, “That knife was six small silvers.”

I was aghast at the number, “That’s nearly all my savings.”

“No, that was more than your savings, at this point you are in debt, and I think you should thank the guild charter that Doogan cannot charge interest to members in good standing.” Replied my feathered friend.

“That stingy old codger.” I said, more for something to say than from any actual anger. I knew it was done to help me in a way that was not an obvious handout.

“All that aside, what are you planning to do now?” asked Corvin the ever shifty.

I appreciated his attempt to get me thinking about things not involving the perilous debt that future me would suffer through, though I was somewhat at a loss on how to answer.

“I guess I can try to get some things sorted out, maybe finish getting to that next shiny rank by using my existing elementals. I am very curious about what happens when I break through to the next rank.” I said, accepting the topic switch as my mind changed direction.

Corvin chuckled at me as he held a hand to his chin, rubbing at a beard that was not present. I really hoped he did not feel the need to incorporate a beard into his transformation, it would not suit him.

“I think you will really appreciate what happens at Capable. I have learned a little from the guild members back at the hall and most of the younger folks have recently gotten there, it should be quite the surprise when it happens!” He laughed in a conspiratorial fashion after he finished speaking, clearing letting me know he would say nothing more.

I was tempted to delve into his memories but respected the choice to keep it a surprise. Forming boundaries would be good for our relationship going forward.

“Fine, lets call it a day then.” I began before he smiled and pulled something from behind his back, “What is that?”

“Presents from the Mr. and Mrs. Baker.” He said simply.

“Bread!” I took the bag quickly and tucked it under my arm, I could feel the warmth of the oven still clinging to the loaves, and the smell was wafting from the loosely tied bag of bountiful goodness while I held it.

Food first, experience gathering after!

Corvin laughed, knowing I had zero control over my bodily actions where food was concerned. I would totally need to exercise some of this goodness away later, but my magic infused diet had stopped most of the adverse effects of an inconsistent nutrition level.

The benefit of magical calories was wonderful.

“Thanks Olea.” Corvin said, for no obvious reason before he faded out of the vault.

I was a little confused as to why he would thank me when he was the one doing all the work, and making sure I was safe and well supplied but I accepted the heartfelt emotion behind it, nonetheless.

I popped back to normal time, resuming my position in the river analogy.

It took only a second before I felt the familiar tugging of the Soul Vault being triggered. Did we forget something, I wondered for only a moment before I invoked the skill once again.

“Okay, what did we forget this time-.” I began to lament the interruption even as a very anxious and clearly distraught green-haired elf-girl attacked me.

“Olea! Oh my god, I am so scared. You need to help me!” she cried.

Every fiber of my being demanded that I hold the girl and never let go, seeing such dread clear in her expression and only getting worse as time wore on. Had I not just seen her smiling this morning, what in the world could have happened between then and now.

“Slow down, slow down. We should start with what is going on. Why are you so upset, and yeah.” I was almost stammering as my heart took control of my words, I needed to calm down a little to be of any use, if I could “Start from the beginning.”

She started crying even as I held her there, soaking through the thin dirt-stained material of my well-abused clothing. I had absolutely no idea how to handle another woman in distress, what would Dear Abbey say right now…

“I think…” She sobbed again, clear lines of precipitous nostril juice dripping with tears onto my sleeve, “I think I’m about to die.”

Her words chilled my heart and almost destroyed the small amount of projected safety I was aiming to project to put her at ease.

What the hell was I supposed to say to that!