“There is a cave here!” Alice exclaimed with exasperation.
“There is a wall there,” Waylan said skeptically, pointing to the uninterrupted smooth stone.
“My senses clearly tell me that there is a wide hole right in front of us, leading further into the rock!”
To which Waylan stepped over, poked the wall three times with increasing smugness before saying: “Do you want to know what my senses clearly tell me?”
“I wonder what it is,” Elizabeth said. “Illusion? Material that confuses spatial perception? Some kind of superposition?”
“It cannot exactly be an illusion if it physically stops Waylan,” Irwyn noted.
“Why not?” Elizabeth asked with a bit of a knowing smile.
“I thought that’s the obvious way to check for illusions,” Waylan frowned.
“And you are the expert among us, I presume,” Elizabeth shot him a full grin.
“Point noted, mouth shut,” Waylan mock saluted, then stepped away from the wall/hole.
“How can an illusion stop you physically?” Irwyn questioned.
“By being well made,” Elizabeth shrugged. “You can deceive a great many things with enough power and skill. More than just sight. More than even just touch. You can keep convincing the world that there is a wall here until it indeed is.”
“Even magic itself can be deceived…” Irwyn made a connection. The fae he had met long ago had said something like that.
“And more, but that is getting too high in terms of power,” Elizabeth nodded. “What I will note is that historically there have been many Life based Names that you wouldn’t naturally associate with the element.”
“So, cave or no cave?” Alice tried to return them to the topic.
“We could dig,” Elizabeth suggested, stepping to the side. Another needle of Void magic appeared in her hand, which she proceeded to once again throw at the wall. It sunk into the smooth rock easily, no retaliation. “It’s not attacking us this time at least.”
“The hole is there,” Irwyn quickly approached and felt over the cavity with a finger. He could indeed even perceive the indentation. “Feels real to the touch.”
“No difference from what I can tell,” Alice said. “Just all empty to my senses. Maybe a bigger hole would be noticeable?”
“It went several meters deep before dissipating,” Elizabeth nodded. “About as far as I would expect from the power it had.”
“The hole is gone,” Waylan suddenly said. Everyone turned to stare at the spot where it had been, finding that it had, indeed, vanished.
“There is definitely something wrong,” Alice muttered.
“How did it disappear?” Elizabeth questioned.
“It was there, then wasn’t,” Waylan shrugged.
“Did you see it closing or something of the kind?” Elizabeth pressed.
“I think it was when I blinked,” Waylan nodded after a moment of thought.
“Let’s try this again,” Elizabeth nodded. “This time, everyone keeps staring at it.”
She proceeded to throw another such needle at the rock, leaving a new distinct hollow. Except no one looked away. All four of them kept it intently in their line of sight.
“It’s not disappearing,” Irwyn commented after about 30 seconds.
“Weird,” Waylan nodded, not that anyone could see that given where their eyes were focused.
“Not necessarily,” Elizabeth sounded like she had an idea. “On my mark, all of you close your eyes for half a second. Three, two, one, now.”
Irwyn executed an extended blink and when his eyes opened again the hole was indeed no more indentation, leaving the rock once again smooth. “Some kind of… sight-based trigger? No, sense-based since I touched it without seeing it before which did not make it vanish.”
“Exactly my thought,” Elizabeth nodded. “The wall recovers to the original state whenever it’s not being perceived.”
“That seems advanced,” Alice noted.
“If it was too advanced it should also fool your ability to sense space,” Elizabeth shook her head. “But I cannot feel any magic from it. Can anyone?”
“No,” Irwyn confirmed, shaking his head.
“Nay,” Alice added.
“Noy,” Waylan jumped in just in case.
“No formation or sign of magic… here is a thought: What if it’s another golem?” Elizabeth suggested.
“How would that even work?” Irwyn asked.
“There are golems of pure Flame, why not of pure illusion?” she shrugged. “Almost anything can become a golem if the artisan is skilled enough, though I have honestly never heard of anything like this.”
“That would suppose that intelligent rings like Alice’s would be more common,” Irwyn noted. “And you never referred to it as such either.”
“Firstly, there are major issues with downscaling golems to that size for some reason, I don’t remember why exactly,” Elizabeth explained. “And the difference between a golem and a magical item gaining soul by chance is massive. The vast majority of what goes into making a golem is keeping them ‘alive’. Power sources, inner magics, metabolism in some cases, etcetera. I don’t know the exact details. But golems all have complex magical mechanisms that allow them to claim a semblance of life. Enchanted accessories or weapons instead have only their effects to invest all design space and power into, that makes them… maybe five to ten times more potent than golems made by similarly skilled artisans, perhaps even more when the downscaling difficulty is taken into account for small ornaments. It’s just not economic, not to mention making such golem rings would require a wider skillset. I am sure it’s done, just not often.”
“That is why sapient items like mine are so valued,” Alice nodded. “My ring has all the original power it was built to contain, then it has a Soul that is an additional source of mana and mutates some of those abilities - generally for the better. Lastly, it is also an artifact which means it has the centuries accumulated power from people’s awareness of it, developing additional abilities corresponding to its legend or empowering existing ones.”
Irwyn nodded, thinking back. When first learning of Alice’s ring even Elizabeth had expressed a degree of jealousy over its power. And that only the genuine heir to Steelmire could wear it, rendering it pointless to steal despite how enticing the prospect would otherwise be. As had been proven by history.
“So, the wall,” Waylan desperately brought them back on track. “Or not wall?”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“What is a wall?” Alice asked with a grin.
“Hard place,” Waylan said. “Irw, have a pot?”
“It’s rock and a hard place.”
“Tomatoes, potatoes,” Waylan shook his head in mock disbelief.
“Digging in might not be the best idea, we might get entombed,” Elizabeth opined, interrupting Waylan’s atrocities. She had approached the wall and experimentally patted it. Then she leaned back and swung at it, her arm moving at blinding speed before anyone could react. There was a loud crack as her fist sunk halfway to the elbow into the wall. “Feels like normal rock, I think.”
“What feeling is that? Broken bones and shattered knuckles?” Waylan inquired.
“I am no expert,” Elizabeth smiled withdrawing her hand. It was somewhat covered in dust and she shook it around a bit but showed no other discomfort or injury. “I would say mostly hard and dusty.”
“How far can you actually feel?” Irwyn turned to Alice.
“The tunnel does not go that far, maybe 5 meters before opening into a small cave,” Alice described. “It seems empty otherwise. Hard to tell.”
“Do we…?” Irwyn was about to inquire.
//ARE YOU COMING IN?
a booming voice inquired from behind the fake wall. It sounded like rocks smashing into each other, caverns collapsing, and caves howling - yet somehow happening to make sounds similar to language.
//YOU DID KNOCK
“Ah,” Elizabeth paused. There was no wall anymore. Just a hole leading into darkness. “That might be an… issue.”
“What do we do?” Alice asked, flinching slightly.
“I don’t think we want to refuse that invitation,” Elizabeth slowly said, then took a hesitant step forward.
“Very ‘abandoned’,” Waylan muttered but followed as did the rest. Irwyn tried to summon light against the engulfing blackness but it did little.
“It’s not actually dark,” Elizabeth said, noticing his actions. “It’s an illusion of being unable to see. I am as blind as you.”
//NOT IDIOTS, CONVENIENT
“We did fail to quickly leave,” Waylan pointed out the contradiction to Irwyn’s befuddlement.
“Do we just continue going forward?” Irwyn redirected before whatever entity was talking to them had a chance to take offense.
//NO
the grating voice said, then the ground vanished beneath their feet. Irwyn tried to immediately hold them despite the lack of sight but his magic did not materialize. There were several seconds of mute shock as all of them tried and failed to save themselves and the others with their own spells.
“Alice do you know how close the…” Irwyn began to speak once he gave up on that. Then they hit said ground before he even got to it in the sentence.
There was no sound of cracking bones despite the dozens or so meters they must have plummeted. In fact, it was as if they had gently drifted down rather than been in a deadly freefall like they had all just experienced.
“Am I the only one miraculously unhurt?” Waylan said, attracting all their gazes. They could also see each other again.
“Same here,” Alice added. “I never noticed there being any hole beneath us. In fact, I am feeling we are currently in the middle of the ground.”
“How are our legs not broken?” Irwyn questioned. Maybe with the magic enhancing his body he would have survived the fall but 'painless' was doubtful. “Maybe… we never really fell?”
“The impact was made into an illusion,” Elizabeth made an educated guess, only slightly shaken.
//COME
There their host stood in the middle of a small cave. Its voice had sounded like rocks, yet the being itself was made purely from leaves, swirling around into a vaguely humanoid form. Except rather than a single type of leaf, every individual one was different. Many looked normal, others had intricate shapes that Irwyn doubted any tree actually produced. Some were… exotic. Glowing, actively combusting, formed from literal lightning. There was no shortage of strange flowing petals, more appearing in the line of sight every second as the creature’s form moved around, constantly replacing what was visible. They also sat at a wooden table, several chairs surrounding it. Dark mahogany… actually, the make was strangely familiar for some reason.
//PLEASE, TAKE A SEAT
“If you say so,” Waylan stepped forward first, literally taking one of the dark wooden chairs and lifting it up. Then he moved over a bit and put it down next to the table at a different spot, sitting while everyone else in the group stared at him. He looked back at them as if there had been nothing strange with that. “Come on, it would be rude not to take one.”
//YES
A slight but noticeable change overcame the creature. For a moment a particular leaf flashed on its head, right where a mouth would be. Almost as if had just briefly grinned. At least there was no malice or real hostility so far.
“Is there any way you could be a bit quieter?” Alice asked as they indeed replicated Waylan’s esoteric actions.
//YES
“Would you please be less loud?” Waylan rephrased.
//Fine
The voice lowered, it still sounded like the crashing of rocks, yet somehow also at a reasonable volume.
“What might be happening here?” Irwyn asked.
“Anything might be happening,” Waylan tsked before even the creature could answer. “What is happening?”
//We will be having a bit of fun gambling,
The creature proclaimed.
//Also may I have your names?
“No,” Waylan immediately said. “You could just hear them though?”
//That will have to do.
The creature manifested eyes just so it could squint at Waylan. Not ‘leaf’ eyes. Actual uncanny human eyes that appeared for half a second just to perform that action and then vanished.
“Waylan,” the sneak did not let that unnerve him.
“Irwyn.”
“Elizabeth von Blackburg. But just Elizabeth will do.”
“Uh, Alice,” the Steelmire heiress slightly hesitated.
//Good, you may call me Her Perfect, Vast, Frondulent, Deciduous Majesty Skyeater
“I choose to call you Rustling,” Waylan said with confidence Irwyn really wasn’t feeling.
//Rustling will have to do.
It surprisingly agreed.
“You are a fae,” Elizabeth concluded. Irwyn had already been suspecting the same. Waylan meanwhile clearly felt more than just sure and confident. Was he… somehow experienced with them? Irwyn did not recall that ever coming up.
//Duh. Any better questions?
“Were you laughing yer bollocks off when we were talking about how no one would be here?” Waylan asked
//Nay, I have none as you can see.
“You did seem full of nonsense and such,” Waylan frowned. “My mistake, I suppose.”
//Heee heee heee!
The fae probably laughed, sounding close to flying leaves grinding against rocks at incredible speeds.
//I like you, here, have a cookie
One appeared on the table in front of Waylan. It actually looked really good.
“Is it poisonous, cursed, or otherwise dangerous?” Waylan glanced at it dubiously.
//Tsk
The fairy made a face. Literally. The leaves turned to make seven different squinting eyes. At least they stayed leaves that time.
//You humans, so paranoid.
“That was not an answer,” Waylan noted.
//Fine
The fae waved her hand and the cookie vanished. A second later a different one appeared in its place.
“Is this one poisonous, cursed, or otherwise dangerous?” Waylan asked with a wide grin.
The fae waved her hand again and the sweet was replaced with a third. Waylan gave her a look. They stared at each other for good five seconds before Rustling decided it was not worth the effort and just removed the treat again, without a replacement.
“I want to propose the first bet,” Waylan spoke first once that had been resolved.
//Yes, do.
The fae eagerly allowed.
“I will ask you a very difficult to answer question. If you cannot answer it correctly, from then on all of us can impose a single condition that must be followed for each further bet. If you do get it right, then instead you can impose those conditions."
//Alright!
“What is the biggest secret of my friend Irwyn?”
//That wasn’t a riddle
The fae immediately pouted.
“You knew it wouldn’t be,” Waylan smiled. “A man cannot help himself taking advantage sometimes, you know?”
//Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
she squinted at Irwyn. Magic clearly surged from her form but it was so well controlled Irwyn couldn’t feel any of the mana. In fact, he could not tell anything magical about the fae in front of him at all. Just like back when he had met the gathering on his original escape from Ebon Respite, their magic was too foreign for him to understand or perhaps just far too well hidden.
//You have some Empyrean blood in you! A child of Stars!
Rustling decided after almost five seconds.
“That is not my biggest secret,” Irwyn shook his head. For a moment he felt it more intensely, the thing always at the edge of his awareness, even though he had learned to mostly ignored it: A Name.
//Anemonechicken, there was a reason you asked about him.
The fae grumbled.
“What do we bet on now?” Irwyn asked when Waylan did not answer.
//How about this?
Rustling shook, a wave of leaves surging from her form, quickly enveloping the cavern wall behind her. A moment later they sunk back down into the ground beneath, but not before revealing a strange collage of sights had replaced the whole side of the cave. These windows were separated from one another by tree root which was seemingly growing in between these realities. In the middle, there was a larger image of what could only be called an arena. A circle of sand surrounded by tall walls with grated gates around its perimeter. There were even empty seats placed all around the place, abandoned lounges and marked exits included. It would almost seem like something from the surface far away were it not possible to see a chunk of rocky cavern wall above it all. That sight was displayed as if from the top of one wall - like they were part of the audience. Well, they technically were.
In the many windows around the central one, there were monsters. A dozen or so bizarre, malformed creatures, each seen in its natural habitat. Most were visibly in a jungle, likely the one they had just passed through, some in caves or hollowed out trees. But several were in unexpected places, from bitterly frozen tundras to the sunny shores of a lake. The images were also shifting, only a dozen monsters visible at a time but being randomly replaced every few seconds.
//Who do you think wins?
The fae asked with cheer. She even made the leaves form grin on her forehead.